Sometimes our lifestyle has days when it seems almost illegal. As I type this, I'm sitting under a tree on a sunny, 75-degree day, with birds chirping, and of course, the Easter Flamingo grazing close by. We're spending nine days at beautiful Blanco State Park, about 40 miles north of San Antonio. It sits on the Blanco River, just outside of the town of the same name, which here in Texas is pronounced "blank-oh", as in Pee-can (Pecan), and See-ment (Cement). It's a wonderful park for RVs; there's a large circle with ten full hookup, 50-Amp sites, all under the trees with firepits and
picnic tables. The rates are reasonable, but Texas is a bit quirky....the fee for a site doesn't include the park entrance fee. 
Here, the daily RV site fee is $20 a day, but the entrance fee is an additional $3 per person per day. To avoid the daily entrance fee, it's wise to purchase an annual Texas State Park pass, which for $60 is good for 12 months from the date of purchase and gives free access to all state parks and historical sites. We're not complaining; Texas state parks are among the best in the nation and we hope to spend more time in them next year. This park is one of the best, and this weekend
reflected the popularity by being crowded but still well managed. The park has it's own law enforcement people, and in Texas all the parks have a sign that states "public consumption of alcohol prohibited", so the drunks pretty much stay inside their RVs, or at least drink from disguised containers. Another perk here is that no fishing license is required as long as you are on State Park property, so I'll be able to try my hand at catching fish that Brenda will neither clean or eat (unless it's a bass, which is unlikely). We're just down the road from all of the Lyndon Johnson historic sites, and we plan on visiting them later this week. 
One problem with being in a park with trees is satellite reception for the DirecTV. While the DirecWay satellite dish is on a tripod and can be moved to a clear area, the roof-mounted satellite presents a problem. To avoid Brenda going through Barefoot Contessa withdrawl, I purchased a gizmo that attaches a DirecTV feedhorn to the DirecWay satellite dish. It's aligned so that when the internet satellite is locked, the TV satellite is also aligned.
This is the first time we've used it and I'm happy - I'll get to see the rest of March Madness (in between the Contessa, Paula, and Alton). I really need to buy a second satellite receiver. Well, sitting out here under the trees has been pretty grueling, time to head in and take a nap. We hope you all had a fulfilling Easter holiday and that it's warming up wherever you are!
