Bandera! - #48

 On Monday, November 1st we arrived at Skyline Ranch RV Park; our home for the winter. I have to admit, I got a little choked up when I saw the sign and we made the turn into the park. 

We had been 31 days on the road - 2266 miles Stoughton to Bandera with an additional 500 or so miles for extra driving exploration. Charlie has driven exclusively to date.

We had 14 stops; 14 Campgrounds, RV Parks. Boondocking = $1600.  With 14 gas fill ups - total of 283 gallons of gas totaling $850. We estimated about 10 miles per gallon with a fully loaded camper and truck; $3.00 per gallon was the average cost. Total $2450; which surprisingly was $50 under my lower estimate range of $2500.

It was such a relief to be here! Our travels were without incidence - which was fantastic! I was prepared though.  We have Good Sam's RV Road Service Assistance ... just in case. $100 for the year, it is good insurance.  Even though we also have AAA - which is great for our truck, we would need something for the trailer. (Good Sam's actually covers our truck too)

Firstly Texas Hill Country is beautiful. It is definitely different from the flatter areas in Texas, which are more commonly known.

My initial thoughts and first comment to Charlie when we entered Skyline Ranch was "Gee - everything looks so much smaller than the photos".  (You know the feeling you get when you visit your elementary school as an adult and everything seems so small) Anyway - that feeling would soon change. We settled into site 45. Our set up was a little more thoughtful than the temporary sites where we previously stayed.  We share two nice big trees with our neighbor; our site is also gravel, which is great for drainage. It is fairly level - always a plus. We are located well; near the office, the rec hall most commonly used (there are three); the exercise room (it is very limited; there are a few pieces of equipment which is so much better than nothing - but there is space for me to do my video routines - more room than I have in the trailer) The laundry is spanking clean (as are the bathrooms/showers should we need) and very reasonably priced.  Everything is very spread out here; I estimate the size of this park to be about 2 square miles. Half the park is where the RV's live; the other half is like a nature preserve. Herds of deer romping through the woods as you walk the trail down to the Medina River. As we started to uncover all of these amenities and beauty - we became more pleased and so happy we had found this place!

In the northeast, camping season is spring, summer, fall; in Texas it is fall, winter and spring; the summers are just way too hot. Most of the Winter Texans start to arrive after Thanksgiving. The park is fairly sparse at this point; we understand they are fully booked for the winter.

We have now been here a week and just love it! We have already been talking about returning next year. Every afternoon between 4-5/5:30 is a meet up in the small rec hall. We play bean bag (called corn hole up north). It has been so much fun and we have met a lot of people that way. We currently only have neighbors on one side of us right now and we get along well. They will only be here for two months though. We have already signed up for Thanksgiving dinner; Skyline is providing turkeys and ham; the campers will each bring a side dish to share. Tonight we are playing Card Bingo(a variation on regular bingo) and next week we also signed up for Ray's famous biscuits and gravy, which he will be preparing for those of us that opt to get up for it at 8 am.  I will have to set the alarm for this!

Charlie and I have been riding our bicycles down to the river and I walk a lot everyday. It is nice to have such a big park with so many roads. We have enjoyed going into town; so many cute shops and great restaurants.  We have to pace ourselves! 

We love just hanging out at the campground and I don't foresee us being bored this winter at all! Today is 77 degrees and I am sitting in shorts and flipflops.  Doesn't get much better than this!