Scenarios...

Rufus is a good travel cat.  For two days, while we were scurrying around the house getting things ready for loading, he was extremely anxious.  While I fully believe these fur babies understand our feelings and emotions, this was unusual behavior for him... he was downright clingy... he followed us everywhere in the house.  He cried when we went out the door.

Yes, I talked with him and told him we would be heading out for a trip, and that he was going to get to see lots of new scenery.  Little Izzy had been with us in about 35 states... so far, Rufus has only been in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.  But, I digress.

Here's my thoughts: he was reasonably healthy when we got him: muscular and not undernourished.  He had no fear of people, in fact just the opposite: lovey and vocal.  I can't believe he was a stray, so I'm thinking someone just abandoned him.  He wasn't neutered or chipped.  His looks are unique enough that the pound or shelter would connect the description.  His fur was thin and stuck to him, and he smelled terrible.  (Yes, sounds very desirable, huh?)

I think when he saw us packing, he was afraid he would get left behind again.  Yeah, this may all be in my head, but I do understand this boy - he and I communicate well.

On with today: we rolled out of the campground and were immediately into San Antonio traffic.  We've driven through here plenty of times, so it was pretty uneventful (just the way I like my city driving, especially running this rig).  San Antonio is a big city, not just in population, but also in square miles.

Joan kept Rufus on his tower or her lap while we drove through SA.  Once on the other side of the city, he was anxious to get in my lap...

We bailed off of I-10, driving north.  This is what a 75mph 2 lane looks like in Texas...

The most interesting views of the day were while driving through Fredricksburg...

With all the time we've spent in Texas, we have never been to Fredricksburg.  We considered stopping for a night, but it is hot - this is going to be a town best explored on foot.  So, we have put that on our list to visit; maybe on the way home.

Besides that, there was a lot of nothing out there...

Well, there was some road construction...

One small town we went through had a DQ - I stopped and brought us both back hot fudge malts.  Large was probably more than we needed, but it was cool and refreshing.

Rufus spent much of the day on my lap...

When traveling like this, we rarely make reservations ahead of the afternoon of our stop.  That would have been fine, had there been any phone coverage in this area.  Joan had various devices out, hoping for a signal...

When Verizon and AT&T advertise that they cover 95% of the country... this is the 5% where they don't.  We had tentatively planned on stopping in Abilene - didn't get phone reception until we were just south of city limits.  We stopped at a Sam's Club to gas up (Abilene has the highest gas prices we've come across so far), then called the closest campground...a KOA.  For full disclosure, we use KOA if there aren't other options as we travel.  They are generally more expensive than other local RV parks.  My main goal: a pull-through site so we don't have to unhook, and electric so we can run the air conditioner at full blast!  Did I mention: it's freakin' hot??!

I called the KOA and got: "It's a great day at KOA, this is Shawn.  Can you hold?"

Before I could just ask if they had a site available, he put me on hold (without waiting for my answer).  After a long wait, he came back on - I asked about a site for our length.  "Oh, I'll have to check to see.."  Yeah, he put me on hold again.  When he came back, he said, "Oh, I don't know... yeah, we have one site available."

"Can you hold that for me, we are 10 minutes away from you?"  Nope, he made us go through the whole registration process on the phone... and then still had to check in when we got there.  Shawn could use a refresher course in Customer Service.

Not exactly an upscale park...

We drove to our hot dusty site.  Not their fault it is hot.  We pulled in and got hooked up... yeah, looks like we got that last site...

Yeah, plenty of empty sites, almost all that would fit our length.  Shawn is a big ol' douchebag.  I know, that isn't a nice thing to say about douchebags.  After getting hooked up, a truck pulling a 5th wheel pulled up on the road behind us - he got out of his truck and started walking right towards me... "I guess they double-booked us in this site?" the guy said.

"Did Shawn wait on you?" I asked.

He said, "Yeah, this is pretty typical with him.  He worked at another KOA - he's a bit of a screw-up."

"A bit?"  The guy said, "No problem.  I'll walk back to the office and get another site - looks like they have plenty.  My rig won't be in your way there, will it?"  I guess I wasn't the only one (other than Shawn) who noticed that there were plenty of sites.

No matter.  We are down for the day.  We have glorious air conditioning.  (It was 96º when we pulled in.)  The hot weather is following us north.  I am hoping there won't be a clash of warm and cool systems along our route... hot is only an issue when you step out of the coach.  ;-)

Plus, I have a great cat who lowers my blood pressure when I have to deal with douchebags.