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We had a very laid-back day today. It was 87 degrees, so Tom and I decided to wash our trucks. We had both read that the weather is supposed to turn much colder later in the week with a chance of rain, so to insure that we get the needed rain, we washed the trucks.
After working so hard, we deserved a nap, so we went inside to relax. We had an entertainment group tonight in the park, Goldwing Express, which is a Branson family group (three brothers and their dad) that put on a very nice show. I was initially put off by them being late, but as the show progressed, they grew on me. There was the usual silliness of making faces at each other during the show and more stale jokes, but overall they were pretty good. They closed the show with a plea to the audience to have their activity director book the band for next year. Please watch one or more of their videos on the website and see what you think.
So long.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday January 29, 2011-Mission West RV Resort
It's nice and warm down here in the RGV! The high today was 78 degrees with even higher temperatures forecast for the next couple of days. Its easy to see why the snowbirds come down here from their snowy home states.
The only thing we did today was to take Tom and Judy to a small fruit stand that they knew of that is much closer than the one in Donna/Weslaco where we normally go. There is a man that brings fruits and veggies to the park but we missed him yesterday. We all picked up a few items at this stand. There is not nearly as much selection here as the one in Donna but the prices are reasonable and as I said, it is much closer.
Tom has recently taken up oil painting, so we took them to the Hobby Lobby for him to shop. It was a nice little trip through some residential areas that we have never been to. We all remarked about the large houses surrounded by tall fences and wonder about the residents.
We stopped to eat at Hooters but the wait was 30 minutes and we didn't want to wait. Let me tell you, there is no recession in the valley either, based on the number of people eating out! That long of a wait at a Hooters?? We ended up at Furrs Buffet again. It was crowded but the food was good and plentiful.
So long.
The only thing we did today was to take Tom and Judy to a small fruit stand that they knew of that is much closer than the one in Donna/Weslaco where we normally go. There is a man that brings fruits and veggies to the park but we missed him yesterday. We all picked up a few items at this stand. There is not nearly as much selection here as the one in Donna but the prices are reasonable and as I said, it is much closer.
Tom has recently taken up oil painting, so we took them to the Hobby Lobby for him to shop. It was a nice little trip through some residential areas that we have never been to. We all remarked about the large houses surrounded by tall fences and wonder about the residents.
We stopped to eat at Hooters but the wait was 30 minutes and we didn't want to wait. Let me tell you, there is no recession in the valley either, based on the number of people eating out! That long of a wait at a Hooters?? We ended up at Furrs Buffet again. It was crowded but the food was good and plentiful.
So long.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday January 28, 2011-Mission West RV Resort
We woke to another chilly morning but it soon warmed up. I went out for a walk this morning around the park. I am getting some good exercise in at least. Stella fixed us breakfast at home this morning, and she decided to wash our clothes this morning. I took her over to the wash house here and came back and hung out with the doggies here in the trailer until she was done.
When the wash was brought back home and put away, we went over to the golf course to eat a light lunch of tortilla soup that they offered. It was very good and hit the spot for us. It was a good price too, and we decided that eating there made more sense than to fix something at home.
After lunch, we went out to some of the other RV parks in the area to locate other Heartland owners to let them know about the upcoming events that we have planned. We went eight parks and talked to a lot of people but only got seven people to commit to coming. We're offering a potluck dinner and a free meal at a dealership, and who has ever had a bad meal at a potluck and who can argue with a free meal with no strings attached? It took all afternoon, but it was kind of rewarding to meet so many people from all over the US. I hope that more of them come.
We grabbed a quick sandwich at Wendy's before coming home to get ready for tonight's entertainment. We watched performances by The Redhead Express and their little brothers The Walker Boys and The Link Family. Both groups put on a fabulous show and we are planning to see them again on Feb. 8 & 9th when these two groups will team up with two other families at the Chicken House Opry. I can't say enough good things about these groups and will be looking forward to seeing them perform again.
Tom and Judy had gone over to the Casa Del Sol to help with the jam session there and had not returned when we got home a little after nine tonight. I know they will be tired, having been there all day long. We'll see them tomorrow and catch up on whats going on.
So long.
When the wash was brought back home and put away, we went over to the golf course to eat a light lunch of tortilla soup that they offered. It was very good and hit the spot for us. It was a good price too, and we decided that eating there made more sense than to fix something at home.
After lunch, we went out to some of the other RV parks in the area to locate other Heartland owners to let them know about the upcoming events that we have planned. We went eight parks and talked to a lot of people but only got seven people to commit to coming. We're offering a potluck dinner and a free meal at a dealership, and who has ever had a bad meal at a potluck and who can argue with a free meal with no strings attached? It took all afternoon, but it was kind of rewarding to meet so many people from all over the US. I hope that more of them come.
We grabbed a quick sandwich at Wendy's before coming home to get ready for tonight's entertainment. We watched performances by The Redhead Express and their little brothers The Walker Boys and The Link Family. Both groups put on a fabulous show and we are planning to see them again on Feb. 8 & 9th when these two groups will team up with two other families at the Chicken House Opry. I can't say enough good things about these groups and will be looking forward to seeing them perform again.
Tom and Judy had gone over to the Casa Del Sol to help with the jam session there and had not returned when we got home a little after nine tonight. I know they will be tired, having been there all day long. We'll see them tomorrow and catch up on whats going on.
So long.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday January 27, 2011-Mission West RV Resort
Here we are in our site at Mission West. That's Tom and Judy's Landmark next to us.It was chilly this morning, about 53 degrees, but not nearly as our friends are at Rayford where weather.com said it was 33 this morning. It warmed up into the upper 60's today and it is supposed to get even warmer over the weekend, perhaps into the 80's!
We ran some errands today and along the way, we stopped off at a couple of smaller RV parks where we saw Heartland trailers to try to talk to the folks there about the upcoming events, but no one was home.
We went to the Crocs store in a mall and found some more shoes. Mine are getting kind of worn looking but I wear them just about every day. The store was very picked-over because they have been having some good sales. We had a hard time finding our sizes, but we did find some, so it wasn't a wasted trip.
We then went to the JC Penney store which is a new store and seemed to be large enough to carry furniture. When we got inside, I discovered that they don't but Stella found a new comforter for the bed that she just HAD to have. I didn't think we needed it, but of course my vote doesn't count when it comes to inside stuff, so I "gladly" carried it out to the truck and home.
From there we went to Ron Hoover RV where we learned that they have sold out of Landmark trailers completely. I made a couple of calls for them and later learned that they will likely have some more before the open house which will be in the 10th. I hope they come in, but if they don't, they will have to show the folks other lines. I'm glad that their business is so good but it comes at a bad time for the activities that we have planned.
We made a couple more stops for groceries and bought a cover for Stella's new Kindle (thank you Kim) and came on back home. It was a very busy day and we got a lot done.
So long.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday January 26, 2011-Mission West RV Resort
It was chilly here this morning but not as cold as it was in Spring! It was 47 here and according to Weather.com it was 33 in Spring. It quickly warmed here to a high of 73, so the weather is certainly cooperating.
We had breakfast in the trailer this morning and got up and about much earlier than yesterday. Tom and Judy invited us to go eat lunch with them at the small golf course in the park. We had a chicken breast, mashed potatoes, fried okra, Texas toast and a drink for $5.00. Wow, what a deal! After lunch we went to look at blinds for the trailer. They had used GT Blinds in Pharr, so they took us to their store. We looked at the displays and picked out three colors and made an appointment with Jose to come out tomorrow to make our decision of the color and for him to measure for the installation. The only rub is that we are only here for a short time. I think we can work it out, but we'll have to see what styles they have in stock. They actually make the blinds up for each customer.
We went to the flea market at Don-Wes after we left the blind store. We walked around a lot but didn't buy too much. Stella bought a tee shirt and I bought a tool that I have been needing . Judy bought one of those solar powered lights with a puppy on it and there was a lot of discussion over who was going to feed the dog and clean up after it. We all had some laughs over it as we drove down the road. We decided to get something to eat before going home and I suggested Martha's for the fried ice cream. Of course, when we got there and ordered, I asked for the low-fat, no sugar ice cream. I trust that is what I got, and it sure tasted good.
Just in case you were wondering what burned in McAllen yesterday, it was a medical supply warehouse. I know you were curious after I mentioned it in yesterday's entry. I didn't want anyone to lose sleep over it. You know me, Mr. Information...
So long.
We had breakfast in the trailer this morning and got up and about much earlier than yesterday. Tom and Judy invited us to go eat lunch with them at the small golf course in the park. We had a chicken breast, mashed potatoes, fried okra, Texas toast and a drink for $5.00. Wow, what a deal! After lunch we went to look at blinds for the trailer. They had used GT Blinds in Pharr, so they took us to their store. We looked at the displays and picked out three colors and made an appointment with Jose to come out tomorrow to make our decision of the color and for him to measure for the installation. The only rub is that we are only here for a short time. I think we can work it out, but we'll have to see what styles they have in stock. They actually make the blinds up for each customer.
We went to the flea market at Don-Wes after we left the blind store. We walked around a lot but didn't buy too much. Stella bought a tee shirt and I bought a tool that I have been needing . Judy bought one of those solar powered lights with a puppy on it and there was a lot of discussion over who was going to feed the dog and clean up after it. We all had some laughs over it as we drove down the road. We decided to get something to eat before going home and I suggested Martha's for the fried ice cream. Of course, when we got there and ordered, I asked for the low-fat, no sugar ice cream. I trust that is what I got, and it sure tasted good.
Just in case you were wondering what burned in McAllen yesterday, it was a medical supply warehouse. I know you were curious after I mentioned it in yesterday's entry. I didn't want anyone to lose sleep over it. You know me, Mr. Information...
So long.
Tuesday January 25, 2011-Mission West RV Resort
Today was our first full day at Mission West. We decided to sleep late and get started with our errands and visits. We went to Kathy and Ken's new carriage house lot at Retama Village to visit with them about the upcoming events for next month. They have a very nice place, but then their old place was very nice too. Their site is a large, back-in RV site with a small carriage house beside the trailer. They had one before, but this new one is a little larger. We talked over some of the details and will try to get together next week some time.
We went to the Ron Hoover RV dealership where the open house is being held to check with them on the plans. My contact there, Joe Diaz was out of the office, so we spoke to Dalia, who told us that everything was in place. We left, and will return to the store later in the week to check on a couple of new trailers that are to be delivered.
We decided that we both were hungry, so we stopped off at one of our favorite restaurants down here, Furr's Fresh Buffet. We had a delicious meal but both of us noticed that they have changed the size of their plates. The new ones are very small for a buffet, not much larger than a salad plate, but we managed to get plenty of food.
We returned to the park and talked to Tom and Judy. Stella decided to go play cards with Judy at the rally hall and I stayed home with the puppies. I couldn't get the air TV to pick up any signals so that I could receive the local television channels, so I missed my favorite show NCIS. I guess I'll make it and I later realized that I had not turned on the antenna booster, so it was completely my fault. I was hoping that I could blame it on Stella or someone else, but nooooo, it was all me! Maybe I'll get to see it on a rerun sometime.
So long.
We went to the Ron Hoover RV dealership where the open house is being held to check with them on the plans. My contact there, Joe Diaz was out of the office, so we spoke to Dalia, who told us that everything was in place. We left, and will return to the store later in the week to check on a couple of new trailers that are to be delivered.
We decided that we both were hungry, so we stopped off at one of our favorite restaurants down here, Furr's Fresh Buffet. We had a delicious meal but both of us noticed that they have changed the size of their plates. The new ones are very small for a buffet, not much larger than a salad plate, but we managed to get plenty of food.
We returned to the park and talked to Tom and Judy. Stella decided to go play cards with Judy at the rally hall and I stayed home with the puppies. I couldn't get the air TV to pick up any signals so that I could receive the local television channels, so I missed my favorite show NCIS. I guess I'll make it and I later realized that I had not turned on the antenna booster, so it was completely my fault. I was hoping that I could blame it on Stella or someone else, but nooooo, it was all me! Maybe I'll get to see it on a rerun sometime.
So long.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday January 24, 2011-Moving Day-Lazy Longhorn to Mission West RV Resort
It rained all night long last night. I woke about 3:30 and heard the rain still coming down, and went back to sleep soon in my chair. I got Stella and the dogs up about 7 so we could get on the road. She fixed us some breakfast tacos and we got off at a little after 9. The sites at Lazy Longhorn are kind of tight but the oleander bushes surrounding all the sites are very soft and don't damage the trailers that all hit as they pull out.
We had filled up from the big tank this morning before we left, so we didn't have to stop for fuel. I made a couple of stops for Stella-all us men know what we have to do for our wives-but the stops were very quick along the side of the road, so it really didn't matter. We made one coffee break at the Loves station in Kingsville.
I have to give you a report on Tramp. He looks more and more like Ralphie. He crawled up into the front seat today and wanted to get into my lap but I didn't want to have him squirming all over me at 65 miles an hour, so he sat in Stella's lap for a long time. When we got out at the station, he was sitting on the console in the front seat, just like Ralphie used to do. Then as we got closer to our destination, he began sniffing the air as if he smelled his old home. I hope he doesn't think we're bringing him back...
My set-up went well. The Carryout antenna did as promised, bu just setting it out with a clear view of the southern sky and then letting it tune and lock the satellites. It's nice to have hi definition television without all the hassle of the dish antenna.
We got here to Mission West about 2 o'clock and got checked in with no problem. We are parked next to our friends Tom and Judy. If you remember, we stayed on their site last year and had a nice time there. Our friends Bill and Ornell came down here to visit and stayed in the site we're in this year. We went to eat hamburgers here at the park this afternoon. They served 527 burgers last week, so this is obviously a very popular place for burgers. There will be some good entertainment while we are here, but I plan to check with some of the other parks to see what they have in store before we decide where we will go. Ted and Donna are coming up next month and she already told me that I am in charge of entertainment, so the pressure is on! I know I can do it though, with the help of the entertainment directors at some of the local parks.
We sat out at some of our neighbor's house after we were done eating. There are a lot of friendly folks here and I recognized some faces from last year. Of course, we have some exciting events planned with Heartland and will see a lot of old friends and meet some new ones. We are looking forward to the next three weeks and of course, the Sweetheart rally after that where we will see even more friends. It will be a busy time but we'll have fun.
So long.
We had filled up from the big tank this morning before we left, so we didn't have to stop for fuel. I made a couple of stops for Stella-all us men know what we have to do for our wives-but the stops were very quick along the side of the road, so it really didn't matter. We made one coffee break at the Loves station in Kingsville.
I have to give you a report on Tramp. He looks more and more like Ralphie. He crawled up into the front seat today and wanted to get into my lap but I didn't want to have him squirming all over me at 65 miles an hour, so he sat in Stella's lap for a long time. When we got out at the station, he was sitting on the console in the front seat, just like Ralphie used to do. Then as we got closer to our destination, he began sniffing the air as if he smelled his old home. I hope he doesn't think we're bringing him back...
My set-up went well. The Carryout antenna did as promised, bu just setting it out with a clear view of the southern sky and then letting it tune and lock the satellites. It's nice to have hi definition television without all the hassle of the dish antenna.
We got here to Mission West about 2 o'clock and got checked in with no problem. We are parked next to our friends Tom and Judy. If you remember, we stayed on their site last year and had a nice time there. Our friends Bill and Ornell came down here to visit and stayed in the site we're in this year. We went to eat hamburgers here at the park this afternoon. They served 527 burgers last week, so this is obviously a very popular place for burgers. There will be some good entertainment while we are here, but I plan to check with some of the other parks to see what they have in store before we decide where we will go. Ted and Donna are coming up next month and she already told me that I am in charge of entertainment, so the pressure is on! I know I can do it though, with the help of the entertainment directors at some of the local parks.
We sat out at some of our neighbor's house after we were done eating. There are a lot of friendly folks here and I recognized some faces from last year. Of course, we have some exciting events planned with Heartland and will see a lot of old friends and meet some new ones. We are looking forward to the next three weeks and of course, the Sweetheart rally after that where we will see even more friends. It will be a busy time but we'll have fun.
So long.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday January 23, 2011-Moving Day-Rayford to Lazy Longhorn RV Park
We didn't get in too much of a hurry because it's only about 15o miles to the Lazy Longhorn RV Park in Victoria. I visited with some friends as I was putting things away and we finally pulled out a little after 11 o'clock. It was an easy drive and we made it to the RV park without stopping. The new truck handled everything without any problems and showed better than 10 miles per gallon on the dash computer. I don't really know how accurate it is, but its probably pretty close.
It started to rain on us just as we got into Victoria and continued to rain for the rest of the afternoon. While traveling along the highway, I noticed another RV park, the Gateway to the Gulf RV Park. It looks pretty good from the road as we roared down the road, and I told Donna about it in an email message to her. I think they may stop there when they come down to Mission next month, so we'll have some user input soon. I chatted with her all afternoon as I got caught up on my blog. We just stayed inside and ate some leftover chili that was very tasty on this rainy afternoon and watched the football championship games on television. At least now, I'm caught up and perhaps can keep up. We'll see...
So long.
It started to rain on us just as we got into Victoria and continued to rain for the rest of the afternoon. While traveling along the highway, I noticed another RV park, the Gateway to the Gulf RV Park. It looks pretty good from the road as we roared down the road, and I told Donna about it in an email message to her. I think they may stop there when they come down to Mission next month, so we'll have some user input soon. I chatted with her all afternoon as I got caught up on my blog. We just stayed inside and ate some leftover chili that was very tasty on this rainy afternoon and watched the football championship games on television. At least now, I'm caught up and perhaps can keep up. We'll see...
So long.
Week of Monday January 17 thru Saturday January 22, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort
Our last week at Rayford was pretty uneventful. I'll give you a brief rundown of what we did.
Monday was a routine day off of running errands and washing at the washateria at the park. We wanted to get as many things done on our day off as possible. We will be in Mission soon and want to get as much done before we leave as possible. When she got through washing, she came over to the Lone Star room to play games with me, Mack and Jim. We played a looong game of Mexican Train that lasted until about 11:30.
Tuesday was another typical work day and I had a committee meeting at Rayford to plan the activities of the month and hosted games in the rally hall after the meeting. Jim and I played a few games of mexican train. I had been talking about the fact that no one had been coming out, so it was nice to finally get someone to come out to play games. When Stella got off work, we went to a new-owner seminar at Tomball Dodge. There were a lot of new owners in attendance and it was worth going to, but I really didn't learn anything new. By going, we now get half-price oil changes and free tire rotation for the life of the truck at Tomball Dodge. They even fed us hot dogs with saurkraut which was pretty tasty, so it was a good night for us.
Wednesday was a regular work day for Stella and I pulled the change out of the machines and swept the floor to do my chores. Gwen had given her an early closing time because tonight was steak night at Rayford. Francis is the butcher at Randalls grocery and had offered to buy some steaks for us to grill. There was a huge turnout and the steaks were delicious. We had a great time with our friends and will be looking forward to other times in the future.
Thursday I had to go to Bellville to renew our trailer license plates. Since our address is now in Bellville, we had to go there to pick them up because we had missed the renewal notice that we got in the mail. It was a smooth trip but while going, the cold front blew in and dropped the temperatures about 18 degrees in less than 30 minutes. Wow...
I did get to meet our friends A.D. and his wife Dee that we had worked with at Stephen F. Austin state park last year. They are having some serious medical problems and it was good to spend some time with them. I also stopped off at Camping World and had a nice visit with Joe French, the Internet manager there. Joe has worked with me on some of our previous rallies and I wanted to stay in touch with him in case CW starts carrying Heartland products again. I stopped off at Ron Hoover RV to see Ray Diab, the sales manager there, but he was in a meeting and was not available to talk to me.
I went to pick up Stella from work and she talked me into going out to eat some oriental food tonight. We had a nice meal and still got home in time to take care of the puppies. Tramp hasn't torn anything up so far this week and I have been working with him when I take them out in the afternoon on his obedience training. He is really coming along well-thanks Tommy, for the training tips!
Friday morning, we took Cassie to the Dogs Day Inn for grooming. We were really early for work, so we stopped at Compadres for breakfast. I had been there last year with Jim and Reta and knew how good their food is, but Stella had not. We had a great breakfast at a reasonable price and made it to work on time. This is our last day to work, so Stella worked a little later than usual, cleaning and checking everything before we leave. We decided to eat some mexican food tonight at the El Palenque. I had borrowed a volt/ohmeter from Ricky and dropped it off at their house before going to eat. It was a mistake to wait so late (6:30) to try to get into a restaurant. The line was almost out the door, so we decided to try somewhere else. We ended up at the new location of Pitmasters Barbecue, and although they were very crowded, we had a good meal and didn't have to wait.
Saturday morning we went to eat breakfast at Luby's cafeteria with Jim and Reta. It was a good meal with our friends and after dropping them off at the park, we gathered up some items that we wanted to put in storage and went to Texas City. We made our drop-off at storage and went to watch Cameron play basketball. I forgot to bring my camera with me, and it was too crowded to really get any good pictures anyway. While we were at the game, our friends Harry and Judy came by to see us. We had been talking to them about meeting for lunch today and when the game was over, we went to Ryan's with them, Kim and the boys. We stayed there for a long time catching up with each other's travels. They just returned from a trip to Hawaii, so there was a lot to talk about. It was good to spend time with our friends. Of course it was good to spend some time with Kim and the boys. Tyler and I talked for a little bit about our summer trip with them and he promised that he will do some research and let me know where he wants to go.
This was a good week but kind of busy. We got a lot done and got to see lots of old friends that we haven't seen in a long time. We came back to the park and sat outside at Jim's trailer around a campfire that he had built in our firepit that I am leaving with them to use while we are gone. It was a fine way to end our stay here at Rayford.
So long.
Monday was a routine day off of running errands and washing at the washateria at the park. We wanted to get as many things done on our day off as possible. We will be in Mission soon and want to get as much done before we leave as possible. When she got through washing, she came over to the Lone Star room to play games with me, Mack and Jim. We played a looong game of Mexican Train that lasted until about 11:30.
Tuesday was another typical work day and I had a committee meeting at Rayford to plan the activities of the month and hosted games in the rally hall after the meeting. Jim and I played a few games of mexican train. I had been talking about the fact that no one had been coming out, so it was nice to finally get someone to come out to play games. When Stella got off work, we went to a new-owner seminar at Tomball Dodge. There were a lot of new owners in attendance and it was worth going to, but I really didn't learn anything new. By going, we now get half-price oil changes and free tire rotation for the life of the truck at Tomball Dodge. They even fed us hot dogs with saurkraut which was pretty tasty, so it was a good night for us.
Wednesday was a regular work day for Stella and I pulled the change out of the machines and swept the floor to do my chores. Gwen had given her an early closing time because tonight was steak night at Rayford. Francis is the butcher at Randalls grocery and had offered to buy some steaks for us to grill. There was a huge turnout and the steaks were delicious. We had a great time with our friends and will be looking forward to other times in the future.
Thursday I had to go to Bellville to renew our trailer license plates. Since our address is now in Bellville, we had to go there to pick them up because we had missed the renewal notice that we got in the mail. It was a smooth trip but while going, the cold front blew in and dropped the temperatures about 18 degrees in less than 30 minutes. Wow...
I did get to meet our friends A.D. and his wife Dee that we had worked with at Stephen F. Austin state park last year. They are having some serious medical problems and it was good to spend some time with them. I also stopped off at Camping World and had a nice visit with Joe French, the Internet manager there. Joe has worked with me on some of our previous rallies and I wanted to stay in touch with him in case CW starts carrying Heartland products again. I stopped off at Ron Hoover RV to see Ray Diab, the sales manager there, but he was in a meeting and was not available to talk to me.
I went to pick up Stella from work and she talked me into going out to eat some oriental food tonight. We had a nice meal and still got home in time to take care of the puppies. Tramp hasn't torn anything up so far this week and I have been working with him when I take them out in the afternoon on his obedience training. He is really coming along well-thanks Tommy, for the training tips!
Friday morning, we took Cassie to the Dogs Day Inn for grooming. We were really early for work, so we stopped at Compadres for breakfast. I had been there last year with Jim and Reta and knew how good their food is, but Stella had not. We had a great breakfast at a reasonable price and made it to work on time. This is our last day to work, so Stella worked a little later than usual, cleaning and checking everything before we leave. We decided to eat some mexican food tonight at the El Palenque. I had borrowed a volt/ohmeter from Ricky and dropped it off at their house before going to eat. It was a mistake to wait so late (6:30) to try to get into a restaurant. The line was almost out the door, so we decided to try somewhere else. We ended up at the new location of Pitmasters Barbecue, and although they were very crowded, we had a good meal and didn't have to wait.
Saturday morning we went to eat breakfast at Luby's cafeteria with Jim and Reta. It was a good meal with our friends and after dropping them off at the park, we gathered up some items that we wanted to put in storage and went to Texas City. We made our drop-off at storage and went to watch Cameron play basketball. I forgot to bring my camera with me, and it was too crowded to really get any good pictures anyway. While we were at the game, our friends Harry and Judy came by to see us. We had been talking to them about meeting for lunch today and when the game was over, we went to Ryan's with them, Kim and the boys. We stayed there for a long time catching up with each other's travels. They just returned from a trip to Hawaii, so there was a lot to talk about. It was good to spend time with our friends. Of course it was good to spend some time with Kim and the boys. Tyler and I talked for a little bit about our summer trip with them and he promised that he will do some research and let me know where he wants to go.
This was a good week but kind of busy. We got a lot done and got to see lots of old friends that we haven't seen in a long time. We came back to the park and sat outside at Jim's trailer around a campfire that he had built in our firepit that I am leaving with them to use while we are gone. It was a fine way to end our stay here at Rayford.
So long.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Saturday & Sunday, January 15 & 16, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort
Saturday began with another huge crowd for coffee including some of the guys from the GMC rally. They are really nice people and we will be looking for them to return in the future. When Jim and I finished our coffee, we went home and soon left to have breakfast at Mel's Country Cafe in Tomball. We met our friends Pete and Gene and their son Kevin. This is certainly one of our favorite restaurants and apparently the word is getting around because their business has picked up. The waitress got our orders all messed up but we finally got everything straightened out and had another good meal.
The weather was bad on Saturday, rainy and cool. It didn't rain very much, but it was enough to make it seem colder than it really was. Days like this makes me wish for summertime again. I stayed inside today and watched the football playoffs on television. Stella and I stayed home tonight.
Sunday was still rainy and cold. We slept in this morning until about 7:30 and ate breakfast at home. Since it was pouring down rain, the doggies didn't much want to go out. It took some coaxing but they finally went outside but never left our yard. I forgot to tell you about Cassie and Tramp wearing their new coats last week when it was so cold. They seemed to know what the coats were for and didn't fight putting them on.
We had an ice cream social this afternoon at the rally hall. Ed was in charge of this activity because Sharon has a kidney stone and is down. He asked me if I would go down early to make the coffee and when I got there, Warren had beaten me down and had already made it. About 30 people came down to eat an ice cream sundae and we all had a good time visiting.
Stella had washed our clothes at the laundromat and I put them back into the truck while we ate our ice cream and took them home when it was over. We came back home and watched the rest of the football playoffs. Congratulations to the Jets, Steelers, Packers and Bears. Maybe next year there will be a Texas team there.
So long.
The weather was bad on Saturday, rainy and cool. It didn't rain very much, but it was enough to make it seem colder than it really was. Days like this makes me wish for summertime again. I stayed inside today and watched the football playoffs on television. Stella and I stayed home tonight.
Sunday was still rainy and cold. We slept in this morning until about 7:30 and ate breakfast at home. Since it was pouring down rain, the doggies didn't much want to go out. It took some coaxing but they finally went outside but never left our yard. I forgot to tell you about Cassie and Tramp wearing their new coats last week when it was so cold. They seemed to know what the coats were for and didn't fight putting them on.
We had an ice cream social this afternoon at the rally hall. Ed was in charge of this activity because Sharon has a kidney stone and is down. He asked me if I would go down early to make the coffee and when I got there, Warren had beaten me down and had already made it. About 30 people came down to eat an ice cream sundae and we all had a good time visiting.
Stella had washed our clothes at the laundromat and I put them back into the truck while we ate our ice cream and took them home when it was over. We came back home and watched the rest of the football playoffs. Congratulations to the Jets, Steelers, Packers and Bears. Maybe next year there will be a Texas team there.
So long.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Friday January 14, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort
Friday began with another large crowd at coffee including two of the leaders of the GMC Classic rally. They are interesting guys that know a lot about their motorhomes. Of course, the big topic was the unit that had burned, and they said the insurance company was probably going to classify it as a total loss. Apparently the owner is planning to drive it back home because he has put a sheet of plywood over the window that was damaged, and it is thought that he will buy it back from the insurance company to restore.
Not too much else went on today. We played bingo and although I came close in all the games, I didn't win. I was excited in the first two games, needing only one number to win, but someone beat me out both times. In the third game, I only needed two numbers and the fourth I only needed three. In the last game I again came within one number of winning and that game is the "blackout" when all squares must be filled in. We had another good time with our friends.
So long.
Not too much else went on today. We played bingo and although I came close in all the games, I didn't win. I was excited in the first two games, needing only one number to win, but someone beat me out both times. In the third game, I only needed two numbers and the fourth I only needed three. In the last game I again came within one number of winning and that game is the "blackout" when all squares must be filled in. We had another good time with our friends.
So long.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thursday January 13, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort
I told you about Jim and I escorting several of these old GMC motorhomes into the park yesterday. Well they certainly made an impression on many of the people here in the park. Some of them have a "less than beautiful color" on them, but apparently they were popular back in the 70's when they were produced.
We had a couple of the men that own these rigs in for coffee this morning and they told us about some of the features. They were actually produced by GMC until nearly the end of production. They had Oldsmobile Toronado front-wheel-drive with Oldsmobile 403 or 455 cubic inch engines in them, so they were very peppy for their day. They said you could buy one brand new for $16-17,000 and some of these are owned by the original owners! They said it was a good idea to be a pretty good mechanic if you want to own one of these. That proved to be true because one came in with a dead battery and another came in with no brakes. Scary...!
This rig had a fire this morning. It was reportedly an electrical fire that was contained to the couch in the living room. Some of our guys coming back home from coffee noticed the smoke and tried to put the fire out with a water hose, but the fire department soon arrived and took over the fire fighting.
It really didn't seem to be damaged all that much inside. The owners were away when i went by and I don't know what their plans are when they get ready to leave on Sunday. It caused quite a stir around the park today. As far as I know, this is the first fire inside a rig in the park, at least the first one that I've seen.Winter is here for sure last night and tonight! It was 26 degrees Wednesday night and about 34 this morning. It was so cold the night before that the water was cut off at both parks as a precaution against freezing. Billy turned the water back on early this morning and nothing was broken. We lucked out again.
After I took Stella to work this morning, I went by Office Depot to check on my Heartland business cards. It was good that I did because I discovered that they had not been ordered after all. I took care of this problem with a promise from the clerk that they will be done before we leave on the 23rd. I hope they are because I will need them. I'll keep you advised about them if anything else happens.
So long.
Wednesday January 12, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort
Here I am again, playing catch-up...
As you know, I am on the entertainment committee here at Rayford. I volunteered to host games and cards both in the afternoon and in the evenings, but so far, no one has come out to play. A month ago or so, Dana and Jimmy came down but all we did was talk about New Year eve, so that doesn't count. I was pretty bummed by no one coming out to play but realized that everyone is busy with their own projects and I probably hadn't done as good a job as I could have at advertising it. At any rate, I have two more dates of games and cards on the schedule before we leave for the valley on the 23rd.
Last Friday, we took Reta with us to meet Ted and Donna at the El Chapparo mexican restaurant for supper. Reta's husband Jim was in Phoenix AZ so we took her out to eat with us. We all returned to the park and Reta went home while the other four of us went to play bingo. You know how I've whined about losing the rigged games?Well, guess what? I won two of the five games tonight! Maybe it was my new friend Keith's calling the numbers. Keith is a retired "Mountie" of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which gives us a lot to talk about, recounting our glory days of being cops...
The weather has been very mild this winter so far until this week when an arctic mass moved in and dropped the temperatures-a lot! We have only had a few nights in the 30's but Tuesday night we had a low of 26. It was so bad that both parks turned the water off at 6 o'clock to keep the lines from freezing. It turned out to be a non-event and no one had any damage.
Some of you may remember that I had scheduled a trip up to the Foretravel motorhome plant in Nacogdoches to take their factory tour. I and several of the guys from the coffee group were all ready to go when I got a message from the factory that all of their salespeople would be out at one of the huge RV shows this week, so we had to cancel our trip. We will reschedule it for later.
There was a large rally of old '70 model GMC motorhomes that came into the park. Melissa had called me and asked if I could help them out in the office by escorting the rigs in when they arrived. I checked my schedule and calendar and found that I did have time to help out, so after I took Stella to work, I came back and began escorting these very nice folks to their sites. They are a very friendly group and we should have a fine time with them. Jim got bored and came over to help me, so we rode around the park on the golf cart, helping people find their sites and visiting.
We got a good group to go out to eat at Double Dave's Pizza. Since the park water was turned off again, we thought we'd give the cook a night off since they couldn't clean up after. What a thoughtful bunch of guys we are! We all had a fine time together, and it gave me a chance to sit down with Keith and exchange a couple of cop stories.
Stella and I are getting excited about our upcoming trip to Mission. We will see many of our old friends down there, but will probably be able to skip a trip across the border into Mexico this time. When we went over in September, we bought enough medicines to last, but we will check before we go to make sure. We have some good events planned with our Heartland friends, a potluck dinner at Retama Village and the next day, another dealer open house at the Ron Hoover dealership in Donna. If you remember, we hosted this last year at the same location and had a great time. We are looking forward to this year's event and will let you know about it later. We are planning to go to the Sweetheart Rally in Kerrville after we are finished in the valley. This will be our first time to go to this rally, which is put on by some people we know. We are expecting good turnouts for both of these and will tell you more about them when we are done.
That's about all there is to report for now.
So long.
As you know, I am on the entertainment committee here at Rayford. I volunteered to host games and cards both in the afternoon and in the evenings, but so far, no one has come out to play. A month ago or so, Dana and Jimmy came down but all we did was talk about New Year eve, so that doesn't count. I was pretty bummed by no one coming out to play but realized that everyone is busy with their own projects and I probably hadn't done as good a job as I could have at advertising it. At any rate, I have two more dates of games and cards on the schedule before we leave for the valley on the 23rd.
Last Friday, we took Reta with us to meet Ted and Donna at the El Chapparo mexican restaurant for supper. Reta's husband Jim was in Phoenix AZ so we took her out to eat with us. We all returned to the park and Reta went home while the other four of us went to play bingo. You know how I've whined about losing the rigged games?Well, guess what? I won two of the five games tonight! Maybe it was my new friend Keith's calling the numbers. Keith is a retired "Mountie" of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which gives us a lot to talk about, recounting our glory days of being cops...
The weather has been very mild this winter so far until this week when an arctic mass moved in and dropped the temperatures-a lot! We have only had a few nights in the 30's but Tuesday night we had a low of 26. It was so bad that both parks turned the water off at 6 o'clock to keep the lines from freezing. It turned out to be a non-event and no one had any damage.
Some of you may remember that I had scheduled a trip up to the Foretravel motorhome plant in Nacogdoches to take their factory tour. I and several of the guys from the coffee group were all ready to go when I got a message from the factory that all of their salespeople would be out at one of the huge RV shows this week, so we had to cancel our trip. We will reschedule it for later.
There was a large rally of old '70 model GMC motorhomes that came into the park. Melissa had called me and asked if I could help them out in the office by escorting the rigs in when they arrived. I checked my schedule and calendar and found that I did have time to help out, so after I took Stella to work, I came back and began escorting these very nice folks to their sites. They are a very friendly group and we should have a fine time with them. Jim got bored and came over to help me, so we rode around the park on the golf cart, helping people find their sites and visiting.
We got a good group to go out to eat at Double Dave's Pizza. Since the park water was turned off again, we thought we'd give the cook a night off since they couldn't clean up after. What a thoughtful bunch of guys we are! We all had a fine time together, and it gave me a chance to sit down with Keith and exchange a couple of cop stories.
Stella and I are getting excited about our upcoming trip to Mission. We will see many of our old friends down there, but will probably be able to skip a trip across the border into Mexico this time. When we went over in September, we bought enough medicines to last, but we will check before we go to make sure. We have some good events planned with our Heartland friends, a potluck dinner at Retama Village and the next day, another dealer open house at the Ron Hoover dealership in Donna. If you remember, we hosted this last year at the same location and had a great time. We are looking forward to this year's event and will let you know about it later. We are planning to go to the Sweetheart Rally in Kerrville after we are finished in the valley. This will be our first time to go to this rally, which is put on by some people we know. We are expecting good turnouts for both of these and will tell you more about them when we are done.
That's about all there is to report for now.
So long.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday January 2, 2011-Pictures
Here is my truck in front of Jay and Jennifer's house in Garland. They have a very nice older house that seems to be a good size for them.
Here's Ian with the first of his gifts from Pop and MeMaw. He loves trucks and cars. I guess he's like all little boys.
"Wow" says Ian as he looks at another box of toys. Like all of the kids, he destroys the wrapping to get at the loot inside. We all spend a lot of money on Christmas wrap that only lasts a few seconds when the kids are released to open their presents. I think we should all only use newspaper to wrap the presents. Wait a minute, we don't take newspapers any more... Gonna keep on thinking about this one.
We didn't leave Jennifer and Jay out of getting gifts. They are both hard at work opening their presents, just not quite as destructively as Ian. At least they are neater than he is!
"Pop, there are trucks and cars on both sides of this gift! I can't wait to get into it" I may need a little help from Dad."
See, I knew Dad could help me... Now to strow them around the house.I guess the pictures didn't like something about the previous page. They loaded right up on this one.
Sunday January 2, 2011, Rayford Crossing RV Resort
I left out New Year day because we didn't do anything but lay around and recuperate from being up late the night before.
On Sunday, Stella and I woke early and drove up to Jennifer, Jay and Ian's house for our Christmas celebration with them and Melissa. There was little traffic on the road this morning and we made good time, arriving a little after 12. We had a good visit with them and I took some photos of them but for some reason they won't download today. Maybe it's too cold, but I'll get them done.
They took us out to Babe's restaurant in Garland. We've eaten at the location in Burleson a few times and this was no exception, a great meal.
Our drive back home was pretty long but uneventful. We only stopped once at the Love's in Fairfield for coffee. We didn't have to stop for fuel and made the entire round trip on one tank. This new truck is amazingly quiet and comfortable, and apparently gets pretty good mileage too. I can't wait to tow the trailer with it.
So long.
On Sunday, Stella and I woke early and drove up to Jennifer, Jay and Ian's house for our Christmas celebration with them and Melissa. There was little traffic on the road this morning and we made good time, arriving a little after 12. We had a good visit with them and I took some photos of them but for some reason they won't download today. Maybe it's too cold, but I'll get them done.
They took us out to Babe's restaurant in Garland. We've eaten at the location in Burleson a few times and this was no exception, a great meal.
Our drive back home was pretty long but uneventful. We only stopped once at the Love's in Fairfield for coffee. We didn't have to stop for fuel and made the entire round trip on one tank. This new truck is amazingly quiet and comfortable, and apparently gets pretty good mileage too. I can't wait to tow the trailer with it.
So long.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Thursday December 30 & Friday December 31, 2010
We had a pretty good crowd that turned out for our New Year Eve celebration at Rayford Crossing. It was a very laid-back party, with karaoke and light food that was brought by the attendees. We all had a good time sitting around and singing along with the machine.
Here I am again, playing catch-up. Thursday, New Year eve-eve was a routine day for us. We went to Pitmaster BarBeCue with our friends Tom and Marti Thursday night. They rode with me to pick up Stella and we stopped off at the restaurant. Luckily they put us in a side dining area and we had the entire room to ourselves and sat in there for over an hour visiting.
Friday Stella had to work for a half-day, so I took her in and ran errands of my own until time to pick her up and when she got off work, we went and bought some Christmas presents to take to Garland this weekend. We came back home and relaxed until time to go to Tom and Marti's trailer for supper. They invited us over to have steaks with them and they were delicious. We had a good time with our friends until it was time for me to go open the Rayford Room for the New Year Eve party.
As you can see by the photos, we had a good turnout for our small party. We actually started the NYE parties at Rayford with the Houston Boomers on the first New Year after the park opened. We had a karaoke/appetizer party just like this one, but we had more people this year. It really worked out well for us this year that the park decided not to do their usual big and expensive party. We had some technical problems at first because they added a Sirius radio system, but Billy came over and showed us what needed to be done and everything was fine.
We got out of the hall about 1:30, so for everyone that kids me about going to sleep early nah nah nah...
So long.
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