I’m getting a bit of a backlog of posts, so I’m going to increase the pace to weekdays.
So you can look forward to new Sinclair Trails blog posts Monday through Friday. No posts on weekends.
cat
Our pet cat, Paladin.
Travel days from US Virgin Islands
All good things come to an end eventually, and such it was with our USVI vacation.
Driving (on the left, as was the style at the time) our rental car to drop it off:
A couple of cruise ships:
The buses on the island are open air things like this colorful example:
Vodka:
Passing by the end of the airport runway:
Rental car return:
The tiny one-terminal airport:
Some lunch:
“Last sip in the Virgin Islands” on the back of a coffee shop:
Our plane arriving:
Boarding the plane was a bit of a snafu; they announced general boarding, and everyone rushed forward, but they turned people away for not boarding with their group. Then everyone was lined up outside while the plane was still being cleaned:
Boarding:
STT to MIA:
A plane selfie:
A view of the cockpit:
Takeoff:
In the air:
We splurged on business class for this leg. and enjoyed the snacks and beverage:
And dinner:
Miami:
Miami airport:
Skytrain:
We probably should have taken the skytrain, but weren’t sure where it went; we ended up walking the entire length of this terminal; fortunately we had some time to spare:
MIA to DFW:
Another plane selfie, this time in premium economoy:
In the air:
On arrival in Dallas, we caught a taxi back to the hotel:
Hotel room:
The next morning, breakfast at the hotel restaurant:
Then we checked out and picked up Paladin from his hotel:
Paladin:
He was very happy to see us:
It was a great vacation. We’d love to visit there again in the future (and the third of the main Virgin Islands, Saint Croix).
Travel days to US Virgin Islands
To celebrate Jenn’s big milestone birthday in February, we had a six-night vacation on the United States Virgin Islands of Saint Thomas and Saint John.
The USVI consists of three main islands (and a bunch of minor ones) in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico.
This post is about our travel from Dallas, Texas to Saint Thomas, USVI.
But first, after dropping off our coach at NIRVC (as in a recent blog post), we dropped off Paladin at a cat boarding place:
His room:
Checking out the play area:
Even a fish tank to watch:
Then we headed to a hotel near the airport for the night, since our flight was very early in the morning:
We left our truck at the hotel. The next morning, at 3 AM, we took a taxi to the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airport.
Here’s our plane:
A map of our flight from DFW to CLT:
A plane selfie; we wore masks for the flights out, just in case:
The plane needed to be de-iced before we could take off:
Dallas from the air:
Sunrise above the clouds:
Charlotte, North Carolina:
A one hour connection, so we rushed to our next gate:
Rocking chairs in the terminal:
A map of our second flight, from CLT to STT:
Boarding the plane:
Takeoff:
Several other passengers were masked, but many were not; it’s no longer required:
USVI:
Arrival:
We were picked up by our rental car, and taken to their office; we booked a Jeep to handle the hilly terrain on the islands:
Driving through downtown Saint Thomas; notice that they drive on the left side of the road on the islands, though the cars are US ones, with the steering wheel on the left; that took a bit of getting used to:
We stopped for some groceries on the way to our accommodations — and notice the chickens; there were free-range chickens all over the islands:
Next time, a post about our accommodations.
Travel from Lake Conroe to Lake Whitney, Texas
We drove our coach 196 miles, about four hours of driving, from Lake Conroe to Lake Whitney, Texas.
Here’s the map route, heading northwest (fun fact: the dots along the route were to change it from the recommended route, to try to stick to more major highways, since it had recently snowed):
We had a bit of rain, so of course when we brought in our slide-outs we had a stream of water pouring off the slide toppers:
A GIF of the water (and if you look closely, you can see the slide moving in):
Pulling out of our site:
On the (rather narrow) road out of the RV park:
A “stay alert, talk or text later” sign:
Paladin on the step cover:
A 67-foot tall statue of Sam Houston, south of Huntsville, Texas, where he lived:
We stopped at a rest area for lunch:
Parked behind another Tiffin:
Flooded trees:
Paladin expressing displeasure at the rough roads:
A big crane:
Bumpy road:
More flooded trees:
Bridge in a dip:
Horses:
Short wind turbines:
Mart, Texas:
At one point the road was so rough that the retaining bar and some internet stuff fell down:
City of West:
City of Whitney:
Entering Lake Whitney State Park:
Park HQ:
Campsites:
Arriving at our site:
Travel from Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas
We drove our coach 132 miles, about three hours of driving, from Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas.
Here’s the map route, heading east then north — the route was a bit wacky as we saw that an accident had closed a portion of the freeway we were on, so we took a detour to avoid that:
Leaving the campground:
For the first part of the trip, Paladin sat on the steps, looking out the window:
Looking back across the pond towards the site we had:
A herd of deer:
Onramp to I-10:
Passing the town of Columbus:
We stopped for fuel at a brand-new Road Ranger station:
Due to roadworks, we had to drive on a frontage road for a few miles, before we found an ramp back onto I-10:
Oil containers:
We still haven’t checked out the super-popular and massive Buc-ees gas station:
Exit to TX-99:
A high overpass:
This is a toll road, but we have the “Freedom Pass” transponder in our coach via TSD Open Roads, so we should be covered — but this was the first time using it, so we’ll see!
We saw that an accident had occurred ahead on TX-99, so we took the exit to 290 to bypass it:
Exit to Sam Houston Tollway north:
Another high overpass:
A glimpse of downtown Houston in the distance:
Toll lanes:
Toll transponder readers; here’s hoping it works:
A third overpass:
Exit to FM-830:
The entrance to our destination, Thousand Trails Lake Conroe:
Moving to thrice-weekly posts
Jenn and I have been homebodies over winter, what with having colds, and not feeling like exploring much. So I’m running low on blog posts.
Therefore, I’ve decided to switch from an everyday posting schedule to three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Don’t look so shocked:
I may do extra posts occasionally, and of course may increase the frequency again if I start to accumulate too many posts, but for now this seems a good pace.
Travel from Corpus Christi to Lockhart, Texas
We drove our coach 217 miles, about four hours of driving, from Corpus Christi, Texas to Lockhart, Texas.
The map route, heading north:
The somewhat narrow road from the campground:
Joining South Padre Island Drive:
Oso Bay:
A pitstop at a picnic area for lunch:
A Hurricane Evacuation Route sign; totally reassuring:
Exit 69, nice:
Exit to Karnes City:
Refinery:
Pump jack:
Nixon, Texas mural:
Water tower:
Paladin:
Another stop for a short break:
Another water tower:
Lockhart, Texas:
Our destination, Lockhart State Park:
The welcome center:
A flood gauge:
Corpus Christi KOA Journey
We stayed at Corpus Christi KOA Journey in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A high-service waterfront RV park.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-12-18
- Check out: 2023-01-02
- 16 nights
Weather:
- Mostly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 36-72°F, lows around 25-62°F
- Some strong winds, up to 47 MPH gusts
Noise:
- No road or train noise, occasional plane noise
- Some neighbor noise (especially a frequently screaming kid)
Site:
- #48, back-in, concrete
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
- Mostly level
- Medium site: about 65 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Concrete patio, picnic table, grill, adirondack chairs, fire pit
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
- 40 PSI water, conveniently located (we boosted with our water tank and pump)
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
- We filled the water tank and put away the water pipes, filters, and softener for a few nights where the temperatures dipped below freezing
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 40-75 Mbps down, 5-9 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
- AT&T: 44 Mbps down, 21 Mbps up, 37 ms ping
- Verizon: 20 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster (near entrance)
- Garbage pickup from site
- Package delivery to office
- Heated swimming pool
- Private beach
- Kayak etc rentals
- Weekly propane fill on site
Our review on Campground Reviews:
A prime spot right on the water
We have a motorhome, but very occasionally, I wish we had a toy hauler. This place would have been absolutely perfect for that as we were backed right up to the Laguna Madre with views towards North Padre island. The first few days, we didn’t have a neighbor on the passenger side, so we had unobstructed views, and it was amazing. And then we got neighbors (with the world’s most obnoxious screaming children, which was not as relaxing…so ignore the label at the top of this page that says “no minors”), and the weather turned to freezing and windy, and we both got sick…so we didn’t get to enjoy the campground or the area as much as we would’ve liked. But before all that happened, I couldn’t believe this campground was only a “Journey” when we’ve stayed at KOA Holidays that had fewer services and amenities. The staff are all amazing and friendly, even going so far as to allow us to ship a new mattress there and help us get it loaded into our rig. It may be one of the pricier places we’ve stayed, but it was well worth it. We camped at Corpus Christi KOA in a Motorhome.
An interactive map of the RV park:
The campground map:
Our site had a waterfront view — from the side and back, which isn’t as ideal as a front-in site, but the sites were angled enough to have a decent side view:
The patio site had everything including a propane grill (with tools), though it was too cold to want to actually use it:
Utilities:
It was time to regenerate the water softener, which involves adding two containers of salt, then flushing it out for a while:
A nice view out or window, at least when there wasn’t an RV in that site:
Views from behind the site:
A pelican on the water:
Working outside:
Afternoon view:
Sunset view:
Info:
Rentals:
A well stocked KOA store:
Playground and private beach:
A heated pool; a few brave people did use it (too cold air for us to want to swim, though):
Pelicans and gulls:
A deck; the map says that they want to add a fishing pier off here eventually:
A shore bird of some kind:
Grackle:
Grackles checking out garbage awaiting collection:
Paladin watching a grackle on our roof:
The staff does a really good job of cleaning sites between occupants:
Other RVs:
An empty patio site, and houses beyond:
A nice-looking newer Tiffin Allegro Bus (a 45FP floorplan); we don’t want a 45-foot coach, but I would like that rear exit door:
Nice paint job:
This KOA only has one cabin (plus a rental house next door):
Weekly propane delivery to sites; we took advantage of that to refill our 20 lb tank. They asked if we wanted to fill the coach propane, but we don’t have propane onboard — it’s an all-electric coach:
A van selling tamales also came around (the office sent text messages to announce these visits):
We tried the tamales, corn chips, and salsa:
As seems to be traditional in our holiday stays, I got sick, with a 100°F fever for a few days, and other fun symptoms. Of course, I did an at-home COVID test, which was definitively negative:
It’s just a cold, but not the most fun way to spend the holidays. On the other hand, it’s a good time to have it, if I must, since we were here for a couple of weeks, and didn’t have any excursions planned.
Oh, just as I was starting to feel better from my cold, Jenn had her turn with it. It’s so romantic how we share everything.
The weather wasn’t great; we had several very windy and cold days, with several fun alerts:
Hard freeze weather alert:
Since we were here over the holidays, we added some festive lights:
And a mini tree:
A nice RV park… probably not worth paying extra for a patio site we didn’t really use, but if the weather were nicer (and we weren’t sick), we would have enjoyed it more.
Travel from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, Texas
We drove our coach 163 miles, about three hours of driving, from San Antonio, Texas to Corpus Christi, Texas.
The map route, heading southeast:
Leaving the campground, along the mile of dirt road:
A fuel stop; a later one would have been better, but this location was cheaper:
Paladin on the dash; not something we encourage. He was feeling a bit stressed about travel; sometimes he forgets about it:
I-37 south:
Paladin on the dash again:
Fortunately it wasn’t too far to a planned stop for lunch, which gave him time chillax:
I like it when I spot a roadside diner with adequate truck parking:
This was Kuntry Korner cafe in Pleasonton:
Menu:
Breakfast for lunch; not bad, if a little slow:
Back to our coach:
Onramp from the service road to I-37:
Paladin on the back of my chair:
There were several oil refineries near Corpus Christi:
Our exit:
Roadworks:
Buildings on stilts near the water:
Our destination, the KOA:
Check in:
Our coach and truck when checking in at the office upstairs:
Being led to our site:
Travel from Junction to San Antonio, Texas
We drove our coach 135 miles, about two hours of driving, from Junction, Texas to San Antonio, Texas.
The map route, heading southeast:
The chickens didn’t want us to go; they roosted on our sewer hose (the feeling was mutual; we could have stayed longer):
Leaving the RV park, past the pecan trees:
Ranch Road:
Steep grade ahead:
I-10:
A stop at a rest area for lunch:
Paladin on the back of the driver chair as we started off again:
But he soon retuned to his safe space next to the passenger chair:
A sign of approaching a big city; a HOV lane appears:
And freeway overpasses:
Exit to I-35 south:
Another exit:
Our destination is appropriately enough on Campground Road:
A rough one-mile dirt road leading to the RV park:
The office:
Paladin on the steps, waiting for Jenn to return from checking in:
Continuing on down the dirt road to our site:
Our site:
