Almost in Mexico

30 November

Having done the things we wanted to do in San Antonio yesterday, we had golf on our minds.  And preparing for several days of dry camping.  Taking advantage of the RV Park facilities, we started the morning doing dump and fill chores - dump the gray and black tanks, fill the fresh water tank, and fill the propane tank.  The propane tank took 4.7 gallons, which was last filled in March.

Our golf plan for the day was Alsatian Golf Club in Castroville, TX.  What a nice find.  Most of the fairways were wide, and Texas hard, so balls got extra roll, especially if you hit a worm-burner.  Kris had a drive of 198 yards, and Darrell had one over 230 yards.  The greens were much better that the last few courses we played, and much faster, which took getting used to.  After Darrell four-putted on the first hole, it took him a few holes to tie it up.  A birdie helped.  After nine holes, Darrell was hanging on to a one stroke lead.  On the back nine, it was back and forth for eight holes.  On the 18th tee box, we were tied up.  Kris found the sand trap (which Darrell managed to avoid) on the last hole so Darrell was able to finish one stroke up on the day.

The pro was very helpful in getting us out before a couple of large groups.  For 8 holes, we played at our pace, then we bumped into a six-some.  Although they were bombing drives of 230+ yards, they were gracious to allow us through on the 10th hole.  We played several holes at our speed, then it slowed down for the last few holes.  We finished in about 3 hours.

 The Starbucks app showed no Starbucks nearby - we were faced with a choice of going back to San Antonio to pay up , or heading to Del Rio, TX.  A phone call to the campground in Del Rio arranged the reservation change from Saturday night to tonight, and off we headed.  When Darrell paid up, Kris’ reply was “I shoot an 83 and don’t get to buy.”

As Del Rio was going to be the last “big” city for several days, we went grocery shopping.  Our campsite for the night was at the Southwinds Marina on Lake Amistad which is a Laughlin Air Force Base FamCamp.  As we turned down the marina access road, we came upon a border crossing.  Apparently, the Amistad Dam is a border crossing - so we were that close to being in Mexico.

We arrived at the marina after closing, but had confirmed our site by phone and prepaid before we left Castroville.  The campground was less than half full.  The bath facility was fair at best - based on recent FamCamp experiences, it sure seems like FamCamp facilities are in poor condition and being neglected by base maintenance.  As a former facilities engineer, their condition would be embarrassing to me if I was still on active duty.


We enjoyed a very pretty sunset over Lake Amistad and Mexico.

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