Tuesday January 29, 2013-Retama Village

Today was another great day, but just a little warm in the afternoon. We rode with Jim and Nancy and met with some of our Heartland friends at Gonzales Burgers in Donna. 

It was Jim and Nancy & Kevin and Nelly's first time to go to Gonzales, so it was a treat for them and a fun time for us to be with them. We noticed that the crowds are not as large as seasons past, but there are still plenty of people there. It must be true because I asked the man working there how much meat they go through and he said 100 pounds a day. I had been told that they used over 150 pounds on a visit last season. Also previously, they have stayed open until either business stopped or they ran out of meat, and now they have stated hours of operation, ending at 3PM. Our great economy strikes again!

We went to the Trail's End RV and Mobile Home park in Weslaco tonight for a concert presented by the group Goldwing Express. They do a good show and I know that we will probably see them again.

So long.

Monday January 28, 2013-Retama Village

Here are a couple of sunset pictures taken from our site here at the Retama Village. This one is the setting sun with the palm trees in the foreground.

The second photo is the rising moon over the prairie behind our place. 

Today was the first of four events here in the valley. We had a Meet and Greet at the Retama Village rec hall, as we have done for the last four years, and as usual, the facility is FIRST CLASS!

We had a good turnout with 35 people, and had plenty of good food. I think everyone had a good time and I know we did.

We have a dealer open house scheduled with the Ron Hoover RV store in Donna, a meet and greet (walkabout) in Mexico on Friday morning and a breakfast buffet meet and greet at Furr's Fresh Buffet in McAllen Saturday morning. It is going to be a busy week, but we're having fun and that's what it's all about!

So long.

Sunday January 27, 2013-Retama Village

We had a very good day today. I did chores around here in the morning and we went over to Alamo to Willie's Barbecue to meet Heartland friends Michael and Kelly & Kevin and Nelly for lunch. We all had a great meal and spent about 2 hours catching up between us. It was a good thing that the restaurant was not that crowded even though it was Sunday.

When we left, the other four were going shopping at the Don-Wes flea market and the fruit and veggie stand across the street but Stella and I went to HEB to pick up a few items. I can't believe how busy all the stores are on the weekend. I have been told that the weekends are when the people from Mexico come over to shop. I have seen a lot of Mexican license plates in the parking lots, so I guess there's some truth in that story.

We came on back home but along the way I noticed a couple of people sitting out by a Big Country trailer that I had been trying to find at home so I could invite them to our events next week, so I stopped and had a little visit with them. They are talking about full timing, so I told them to come to the meet and greet and we would take time to chat with them. They said they would try to make it.

When we drove by the Cottonwood RV park, I decided to stop in to see our friends Corbin and Flora. We caught them at home and had a nice visit with them. We were able to help them get the local television channels by finding the channels on the rooftop antenna. We enjoyed our visit with them but soon came on home.

Our friend, and President of the Heartland Owners club, Jim Beletti and his wife Nancy drove in late this afternoon. They had spent a couple of nights at our friend Bill Sims' house in Port Arthur TX, a distance of about 440 miles. I'm glad it wasn't me making that drive.

We knew they would be tired when they arrived, so Stella made some of her goulash soup and we all had a nice supper. Then she surprised everyone by making a single serving red velvet cake for us. She did very well and we were all full. We chatted with Jim and Nancy for awhile but they were tired and soon went home to bed.

Tomorrow will start our Heartland activities and I am looking forward to them.

So long.

Saturday January 26, 2013-Retama Village

It was warm enough last night to leave the a/c on all night. I didn't hear it come on but it was on. It sure felt good this afternoon in the mid 80's temps.

We didn't do a lot today. I took Stella to the laundry next door at Bentsen Palm Village to wash up our clothes which didn't take long. When she finished up we came back home to drop them off and went to Wal Mart to do our grocery shopping.

It's really a small world in the RV world. Last year in Pennsylvania, we met a man who had remodeled his trailer and then painted it and his truck the same color scheme. He was parked on the road behind us and I talked to him a lot about his modifications and paint job while we were there for the huge RV show. He was a vendor for some product but I don't remember what it was. He is staying down the street from us here in Mission...
I met a man with a huge Volvo truck that pulls an Excel trailer while we were at Creede this past summer. I talked extensively to him about his truck while we were in the park together, and today I saw him at Bentsen Palm Village. Small world...

We certainly have felt safe here. The Border Patrol keeps a unit parked down the road from us, monitoring a large field. Although I haven't seen anyone that was apprehended there, it is comforting to know that they are so near. Every night I hear the helicopters buzzing around. I don't know if you remember it or not, but a couple of years ago when we were here with Tommy and Susan, Susan shined her flashlight at one of the copters while she was walking her dogs with Stella and our dogs. The helicopter lit them up with their million candlepower light, just to let them know he saw them.

Our events with Heartland begin on Monday and go all week, so I may not be able to post as often, but please bear with me, I hope it is worth it.

So long.

Friday January 25, 2013-Retama Village

We had another  very pleasant night with temps in the upper 60's. It seems to be more restful to sleep with the windows open. I could do this all year! 

We had made a "date" with Michael and Kelly to go to Gonzales Burgers in Donna today. They agreed to come over to our place and we would drive to the burger place. Our Heartland friends, Dave and Mary also met us here today.

I can't really call it a restaurant because all they sell is burgers and fries. It didn't seem as busy today but there were still plenty of people in there to get a big ol' burger.

Cheeseburger, fries and onion rings! Made a great lunch and I couldn't finish mine. I believe that Stella and I could split one and still have plenty of food for both of us. I didn't take a very good picture of the burger and how large it really is, but trust me, it's BIG!

They changed the seating inside the store but there was still plenty of room for everyone. Maybe some people stayed away today because there seemed to be less people eating today. The burgers were delicious and we all enjoyed them and had a good visit with our friends.

We came back to our place and Michael showed us how to repair our blinds. One had broken while we were in Burnet at Inks Lake and we had ordered a new one from Ron Hoover RV, but after Michael's repairs, we'll just fix them in the future. It probably took him 30 minutes to take it apart and repair it, but that was showing me every step of the way. If I hadn't been in his way, he's probably been done in 15 or 20 minutes. Thank you Michael for saving us a lot of money in the future.

When we finished up the repair, we sat outside in the cool afternoon and watched the folks walking and riding in golf carts for the open village this afternoon. I spoke to one of the leaders of the show and he said they had probably 400 people that came through today. I know I saw a lot this afternoon.

We would love to come back here next season but we'll have to wait to make a reservation. I think there are enough rental units that may be available so we can get a place to stay here. We'll see how this works out.

So long.

Thursday January 24, 2013-Retama Village

We had another very nice weather-day here in the valley. We've been sleeping with the windows open and only having to run the a/c in the afternoon when it warms up into the 80's. Of course, this is a big part of why we come down here to south Texas.

We went out around noon to go give out some more flyers for the events next week and went to 9 RV parks in the Donna area. Man, there is certainly a huge difference in the two areas we have gone into for their reception. When I went to the parks in Mission, the folks there were actually glad to be invited and I visited with a few of them, but the Donna area is quite different. They acted as if they were bothered to answer the door and obviously accepted the flyer only to get me off the doorstep. They would take it and say "we may come" or whatever it took to get me away. 

After finishing up my "chores", we went over to Michael and Kelly's place at the Canyon Lake RV Resort for a supper with them and then a show at the park. Kelly prepared her Mother's recipe spaghetti and meatballs and it was great. Her Mom certainly passed on a delicious recipe!

We walked over to the rally/recreation hall at their park. The park has seen better days and needs some TLC but it holds over 400 RV's and many of the sites were filled, so perhaps the new owners will be able to make the needed improvements soon.

We always make it a point to see the Link Union, which was formerly known as The Link Family. We have been watching this family group for a few years when we come to the valley, and they did not disappoint us tonight. There have been some changes in the group and now the Dad has to work the sound boards, but they are adding their youngest brother and it all worked out. They also changed their act and added more Celtic music and several rock and roll numbers. All in all, it was a great concert and I will be looking forward to seeing them again.

Here is the band onstage, minus Dad and 12 year old John, who has baby-sitting duties for Kyle and his wife Ashley's brand new baby. Ashley was pregnant with the baby girl the last time we saw the group last season here in the valley.

When we got home, we didn't see any coyotes but we sure have heard them every night. They howl and yip all night and seem to be in our back yard, but we haven't actually seen one up close and personal. We'll keep our eyes open and the dogs on a close leash...

So long.

Wednesday January 23, 2013-Retama Village

Gotta love this weather! It was about 65 degrees when I got up this morning and got up into the low 80's in the afternoon. It was cloudy in the morning, but it cleared off nicely this afternoon.

I didn't do an entry for Monday because the only thing we did was go around to the surrounding parks to distribute flyers for the dealer open house for next week. We went to 8 parks and met some nice people that seemed interested in coming to the two events for next week. I guess we'll have to wait until next week to see. I did locate the park where the Redhead Express group is staying but I'll respect their privacy and not say where they are.

I intended to go back out to put out more flyers today but got a call from some of our old friends, Tom and Judy, who said they were coming over from Edinburg where they are staying now and wanted to come by for a visit. Of course we told them to come on over, and when they got here, we sat outside in the shade beside the trailer and the coach house and had a great visit with them. We went to eat with them at a local restaurant, Tio Chuy's. We have been there before and liked it but thought it had closed because we never see any cars in the parking lot. When we got there, we learned that Chuy had been in a serious traffic accident several months ago but he is recovered and was working today. Tom and Judy know Chuy and all of the girls that work there, so they had some good times with them.

Not long after Tom dropped us off at home, I was sitting in my chair and getting ready for a siesta when Ted and Donna came by to drop off some tickets to a show for next weekend at another park that is near by. We had a nice chat with them. Ted put his truck in the shop for a whine in the rear end and Ford is replacing the entire rear end. They are driving a small rental car, so I didn't hear them drive up.

I posted a couple more activities for next week for the heartland owners that are down here in the valley. I am looking forward to seeing them next week and hope that everything runs smoothly. I'm sure it will but am still a bit nervous about it.

So long.

Tuesday January 22, 2013-Retama Village

We had made plans to go over to Nuevo Progresso Mexico today with our friends Michael and Kelly & Ted and Donna. We picked Michael and Kelly up at their place and went to meet Ted and Donna in the parking lot near the border crossing. We got over without any problems and started making our purchases. We stopped at Rene's Bakery for a brunch of pastries and tacos before resuming our shopping.

We had a very good time with our friends and although Stella and I didn't make all of the purchases that we need to, we came on back to the good old USA. You can check on Kelly's blog for a lot of pictures including one of me having my passport checked. She got yelled at by a couple of the Border Patrol officers because no pictures are allowed. You can't see the Border Patrol officer's face but the rules are the rules. I managed to get back into the country and Kelly didn't get locked up for violating the rules, so everything worked out just fine.

So long.

Sunday January 20, 2013-Retama Village

Good morning! We had another great day here in Mission with cool temperatures in the morning and warm in the afternoon. When I woke this morning, after reading the news online, I was cold, so I stole one of the blankets that we keep on the couch, and was instantly back asleep. Normal morning routine... I saw 84 degrees on the thermometer this afternoon.

I went for my mile and a half walk this morning and saw many others in the neighborhood getting their mileage in. I miss my hikes up into the hills above Inks Lake state park, the mountain views in Creede and even the coastal breezes of La Marque, but this is a great place to walk. No traffic, friendly people, no bad dogs to chase me....how much better can it get?

We stayed home and watched the football championship games on television today. I still can't get over the improved picture on the TV after replacing the receiver box. Maybe I'll work on a plan to replace the box every couple of years to keep this great picture. I'm certain that it doesn't take very long to jar something loose by bouncing down our roads and I really do like this picture. On close-ups I can tell if the men have shaved today or not.

Congratulations go to the San Francisco 49er's and the Baltimore Ravens for their wins. Of course I'm sad that there are no Texas teams that made it this far, but there's always next season. It's hard to believe that football season is almost over again. After the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks, I won't have anything to watch on a Sunday afternoon.

So long.

Saturday January 19, 2013-Retama Village

Boy, the weather has been great here for a few days. It has been cool at night and warms into the 70's during the day. We decided to go to the Don-Wes Flea Market which is in Donna TX. This market is about 5% of the Canton market, but it was still large enough to tire Michael and Kelly out. I had contacted them and they met us at the flea market. We bought a few items, fruit and veggies, a belt for me and one for Michael, but Donna, now that Donna knows how to shop! She came with a list of items she needed both for herself and for friends and as far as I know, she found everything. I had been planning to buy a belt when we go to Mexico but I found one here for about the same price and bought it!

I guess the coolest thing we did today was find Tramp's little sister. When we crossed the street to go to the fruit stands, we all split up while shopping and Ted and Donna soon came to find me, telling me that they had found another dog. This was in almost exactly the same place that Tramp came from a couple of years ago. When I got there, sure enough, the dog was an exact likeness for Tramp. I spoke with the man who was selling her (named Lola) and learned that she is in fact Tramp's little sister. The man seemed to remember him, but I know who she is. She looked so sad, but it could have been because she has been in a box all day with people looking and petting her all day. Stella and I both feel sorry for her but we don't want another dog. Two is plenty!

We soon left Michael and Kelly, who were still shopping and went to eat at Furr's Fresh Buffet, another of our favorites. That place was packed!! We've never seen it as full before but the food is good, the service is good and the prices reasonable. After finishing up our meal, we all returned home. Ted and Donna were going to play games tonight and they invited us, but we were too tired and didn't want to get out again, so we stayed home.

We are planning a trip to Mexico next week, so you may want to stay tuned.

So long.

Friday January 18, 2013-Retama Village

We went over to the Bentsen Palms RV Park to meet Ted and Donna and to go to a concert by The Redhead Express.  This is a family singing group that we have seen before and liked, so we came back.

 This is most of the family, Mom, Dad, the four girls and one son. The other two sons don't play with the rest of the family yet, but they are very good too. I guess the talent runs in the family.

Here are the four girls, Kendra (guitar), LaRae (banjo), Alisa (bass fiddle) and Meghan (violin). Kendra is the lead singer and writes a lot of their stuff.  

The three boys perform as The Walker Boys. They do a good job and are very entertaining.

After the concert, we went over to Ted and Donna's trailer to catch up with our friends. We had a nice visit with them before coming back home-right next door- to care for our fur kids. We look forward to many more good times down here.

So long.

Thursday January 17, 2013-Retama Village

Here I am again, playing catch-up. This has been a busy week with friends arriving in the valley and lots of visiting and eating out.

On Tuesday, our Heartland friends Michael and Kelly came over for a visit. They had just arrived from Corpus Christi and of course, their trailer was dirty from the trip. I had just ours washed and waxed and Michael wanted to see the job the "boys" had done on it, so they came to look. We got caught up some with them and decided to go out for supper and if there was time, to drive to Los Ebanos to the hand pulled ferry. To be safe, we followed them to the park where they are staying so they could pick up their passports in case we did get to go ride the ferry but since we were all hungry, we went to eat first. Since they haven;t been to the valley before, we took them to one of our favorites, Martha's Taqueira. We had been there a couple of days ago with our friend Mike and Linda, but we like it so well, and the menu is so varied, we went back today. Stella and I had something different from what we had the other day and as usual, it was delicious. I made it home in time to see my favorite show, NCIS.

On Wednesday, we talked to some of our friends from home, Ted and Donna. We had been invited to meet Mike and Linda at a restaurant they had found, Alejandro's for a seafood dinner tonight, so I told Ted and Donna about it and they said they wanted to go. I called Michael and Kelly and invited them and they agreed to meet us at the restaurant too, so it was going to be a party!

Somehow, we had gotten some wrong information about the location of the restaurant, and since there are three of them in the area, we went to the wrong one, along with Michael and Kelly. We finally figured out where we needed to be and we all came together at the restaurant in Mission. The food was good and reasonably priced and we all enjoyed our meal. Another problem in the restaurant was that they only had booths, and wouldn't seat a group as large as ours. Mike and Linda had brought the other hosts at the Birding Center, so we had a group of nine to seat. We got it figured out and everyone left there stuffed.

We rode over with Ted and Donna and they came inside our trailer to catch up. We have not seen them since last year in the valley, so we had plenty to talk about. It was good to chat with our friends again and we will be looking forward to meeting them again while we are down here.

Thursday, we took care of little projects around here. We found a groomer for Cassie and took her to get all prettied up. While she was there, we came back home and Stella went to Bentsen Palms, the sister park right next door to do our laundry. This is a very nice place but it lacks some of the amenities of a regular RV park. There is no wifi, no mail boxes for visitors to receive mail and no laundry room. It is a beautiful park with very friendly people here, but there are a few things that need attention.

So long.

Sunday January 13, 2013-Retama Village

Today's entry is not going to be about much of anything except some observations that I've made in the last couple of weeks. Yesterday (and today) was pretty much nothing but watching the football playoffs and vegging out. Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers for their underdog wins. I only hope that it carries on to today's games. Go Texans!!

Due to the weather, I've spent more time in front of the television than normal. Have you ever spent time listening to the ads an TV? Would anyone in their right mind actually buy a product because of the ads? I certainly wouldn't. The man playing catch with his son, you may have seen it, the man that throws like a girl and trying to teach his son to throw the ball. That's a Volkswagen commercial. Why would that want to make me want to buy a VW? The well-choreographed I-Pad commercial where everyone dances and twirls around with an I-Pad. It looks really cool and was probably very expensive to make and air in prime football-game time, but again, why does someone dancing with an expensive electronic gadget make me want to buy one? Reduce the price on these items by that much and make it more affordable.

Announcers. No, announcers and reporters. They make some of stupidest statements if we listen to them. One television guy, after a long run by a short player said "when he runs with those legs"... what else would he run on? " Man, you just think I can run on those legs, you ought to see me run on my hands"... A female reporter interviewing someone after some heinous crime. "Tell me what you think Mrs. Smith, after your entire family was killed in that car wreck"...
So ends this rant...

So long.

Friday January 11, 2013-Retama Village

This is our site at Retama Village. It is a beautiful site and we thank Ken and Kathy for renting it to us this season. 

                                 

You know what? I'm gonna brag about myself! We are almost two weeks into the new year and I haven't mistakenly called it 2012. I know it's a little thing, but so far, no mistakes on my blog. At least on the date...

Our friends from Inks Lake, Mike and Linda, came over today to with us to the RV show in Mercedes. I knew it would be a small show but we went anyway. They have a small motorhome and liked our Landmark when we were at Inks Lake, and I think they wanted to look at some more fifth wheels. I knew that Ron Hoover doesn't participate in the show, so I stopped by the dealership for them to look. Sadly there was little inventory and no Landmarks. Oh well, I did what I could.

As predicted, the show was very small and didn't take long to go through the trailers there. They saw a Montana with a bath and a half that was nice. It had a front bath that was huge, with a nice dressing area and I have to admit, it was an innovative design.

After the show, we decided to get something to eat and we took them to Martha's Taquiera, one of our favorites in the valley. Mike and Linda enjoyed it and said it was a good choice, so I am glad that they enjoyed it.

When we got back to our place, Mike was surprised to find a lot of black soot and burned grasses and fibers in his car. He had left his sunroof open just a crack and the farmers are burning sugar cane fields now and this junk gets all over everything in the path. It does blow off a truck or trailer, so it's not a problem, but if there is moisture or a puddle, it really makes a mess.

We made plans to meet Mike and Linda next week and then to find some entertainment that we can all go to. Our friends Ted and Donna will be down here next week, so with all the Heartland events we should be busy. It will be a good type of busy, and we'll have fun.

So long.

Thursday January 10, 2013-Retama Village

This is really a nice place to stay. Everyone here is very friendly and our neighbors came over yesterday afternoon after we got set up to introduce themselves, which I thought was very nice. I went for a long walk this morning and everyone that I met spoke and were very friendly, unlike some of the places we've. The site is immaculate, and I have seen workers doing assorted jobs around the area.

We stayed here this morning because we were tired from two days of driving in the rain. It took a lot out of me and I wanted to rest up a bit, but we wanted to run some errands this afternoon. I wanted some fresh grapefruit, so we went to the fruit stand that we always go to. Man, the area around Donna and Weslaco is changing. It looks more like Mexico now with a lot of dirty lots, dirty streets but brightly colored buildings and stores. Of course, all of the residents are Hispanic. When we got to the fruit stand, the building was all closed up with no cars parked out front and there was a large For Sale sign in front. Bummed out, I drove on by but sharp-eye Stella saw some cars on the side of the building, so I turned around and went back and found that the fruit stand was still open but all of the other shops are closed today. I was told that the other flea market stores only open on Wednesdays and the weekend, so I guess we'll have to come back on the weekend and check it out.

There was one very sad note inside. We saw a cute dog that seemed to be at home there but he had a very sad look about him. We learned that he belonged to the man and woman that owned the flea market and that they lived in a trailer beside the store. The lady had died a few years ago and the dog and his master were inseparable. When the man passed away a few months ago, the dog continued to live inside the store and spends most nights sleeping in his master's recliner. All of the store employees care for the dog now with food and water.  He was just so droopy-eyed and sad looking.... I almost wish we had room for another dog. No Way!!!

We got our errands taken care of and returned home in the five o'clock traffic, but it's NOTHING like the Houston traffic. We returned here and negotiated the front gate for the first time, using the entry code. It wasn't bad but while driving in I felt like I was in a parade, waving at everyone. I told you how friendly these folks are. I really like this place.

So long.

Wednesday January 9, 2013-Moving Day-Gateway to the Gulf RV Park to Retama Village

Another rainy morning! I know that Texas needs the rain but I'm already tired of it! Stella and the pups slept late again this morning but when she took them out about 8:30, it had stopped raining, so we got into a higher gear and pulled out about 9:30. We have about 230 miles to go and it is freeway all the way, so it should be a smooth drive today.

It rained off and on all day long until we got to Kingsville. It remained very cloudy and at one point the clouds in the distance looked like mountains. It was one of those things where you had to be there to see it. I tried to take a photo but it just didn't show up but trust me, it was weird looking. I knew for a fact that we were a thousand miles from mountains, but they sure looked like them.

We got to Mission about three o'clock. It had been a good trip with no problems. We made only two stops today, but saw a lot of law enforcement on the road as we neared the valley area, Highway Patrol, Border Patrol and locals patrolling the highways. If I was a crook, this is the last place I would want to be!

When we got here, we had a bit of a problem with the levelers and the new stabilizer but I got it fixed and we are level and stable once more! I called the dealership and let them know that there is still a problem, so we'll have to go back by there when we return to Houston.

Also after we got all set up, the Dish Network box finally died. It had been expected but I had been hopeful it might pull through but it was not to be. I called Dish Network and got a new box ordered. Stella later got an email from them saying that they had a service call scheduled for tomorrow. I called them back and supposedly had the service call cancelled and the box being sent verified. We'll see what happens tomorrow. It's a constant adventure around here....!

So long.

Tuesday January 8, 2013-Moving Day-Oasis RV Resort to

I am starting this entry very early in the morning. We had been notified that one of our parts had come in at the Katy Frwy. store and we have an appointment to have it installed this morning. We made all of our plans and made our last minute visits and then watched with interest, the weather guessers telling us that it will rain today and heavily tomorrow. They started out with telling us that it was going to start raining in the morning and continue all day, but they revised their forecast, saying it might rain in the morning and pick up later in the afternoon. As it turns out, they were right the first time. I woke about 3 this morning to the sound of raindrops on the roof. I finally got up about 5:30 and while reading the news online it started to rain again. It is now 6:30 and still raining. Its not like we haven't hooked up in the rain before, but it's never fun! I'll continue this later...

Okay, I'm back! We actually got away at a decent time considering that we didn't think we would leave this morning because of the heavy rain and winds that were predicted. Stella took the dogs out about 8:30 and found that it had stopped raining, so after I called the dealership to make sure they still wanted us to come up, we began to get everything packed up. We pulled out of the park about 9:45 but then I wanted to go to Discount Tire to get the road hazard warranty for the trailer tires. We were there for about an hour, while they inspected the trailer tires and checked the pressure on all of the tires, and made our way through Houston to Ron Hoover where they were waiting for us, but since it was near the noon hour, everyone was going to lunch. We unhooked the truck and went to Burger Tex for lunch and when we got back, we were only there for about 45 minutes and we were ready to go!

Of course, it started to rain again, but we made pretty good time down the highway toward Victoria. We made one stop at the Buccee's in Wharton but it was absolutely worth it! We stretched our legs, took care of personal matters and got coffee to go, and were only there about 20 minutes. We pulled into the Gateway to the Gulf RV Park close to 5 but it was an uneventful trip. This is not a bad park for an overnight stop and since they take Passport America, it a cheap stay.

We are planning to leave pretty early in the morning, but as tired as we both are tonight, I'm not so sure. I'll let you know tomorrow.

So long.

Monday, January 7, 2013-Oasis RV Resort

It has been awhile since I've posted any photos here. The last time I tried to, I got a message that I would have to pay for photo storage. I ignored it but didn't post any at the time and investigated the "charges" for storage which had been free for years. The only thing I could figure out was that when Google went public and now has to answer to investors, they now must charge for their services. 

At any rate, I have not done anything about this issue but received an email from another blogger asking me to see if I could post photos and you can see the results below:

Cameron in his new JJ Watt jersey that he got for Christmas. He wears a lot of athletic clothes and was very proud of this jersey and some other clothes he got.

Here is Tyler wearing his "formal" tee shirt with a coat and tie on it. He also got a new coat that he tried on but I don't think he will be going outside in his short pajamas with the cold temperatures we have had.

This is taken on the yellow trail, one of the trails at Inks Lake that I went hiking on. It is one of the deer blinds that I helped to work on for the hunters.

This is the rest of my hiking group, walking down the trail. We probably walked for 3 or 4 miles this day and really enjoyed the trail and the weather. 

Well there you go Donna. I seem to be able to post photos, so now when I take some new pictures, I'll be able to share them.

So long.

Saturday January 5, 2013-Oasis RV Resort

Not too much to report since the last entry. We went out to eat with friends and family a few times, I had a birthday dinner at one of the boys favorite places, Beyond Burger in Texas City. This is a good burger joint that is a cross between Fuddruckers and Red Robin. They deliver the burger to you without condiments but with a good selection including three types of mustard and two of catsup, you can build your own burger. They offer everything from regular burgers to exotic combinations, and everything that we had was good.

Birthdays are just another day when you get to be my age, 66 years old, but one good thing came with this one. I can now go back to work and make as much as I want to and not affect my Social Security. I've had several jobs or things I was pretty good at, at one time in my life, so if you're in need of someone that can work from home two or three days a week for no more than four hours per day for a salary of at least $50,000  year, I'm your man!

It has rained and been cold for the last three days! It has rained hard for the past two days, but at least it hasn't snowed. We heard from Pat and Lori and learned that it had snowed enough on them in Kerrville that they built a snowman. I talked to our friend Becky at Inks Lake and learned that it has been very cold there and that some employees that work in the park and live in Burnet came to work with snow on their cars. By the way, I checked the weather in Creede and it is 14 degrees right now with an expected low of -1....Brrrr!

I also learned that one of the hosts that we worked with at Inks Lake had been involved in an accident. He has been driving one of the Gators when he turned around to answer someone that had called out to him and he hit a rock. Apparently he was knocked out of the Gator and suffered a concussion. He was admitted to the hospital but has been released and seems to be fine now.

We found out yesterday that our part that had been ordered has come in, so we'll be leaving here on Tuesday and then for Mission either later that day or Wednesday. I'll be glad to get down there again.

Congratulations to the Houston Texans for winning their playoff game. It wasn't a pretty win but it's a win and they go on to Foxboro Mass. for the next game. After Houston got blown out 42-14 at home in the nice warm dome, it probably won't be pretty when they play in cold Massachusetts. We'll see...

So long.

Tuesday January 1, 2013-Oasis RV Resort

Well. I'm behind again, but you're probably used to that by now. We have been spend most of our time with visiting with friends and family while we're down here for a short time. It has been good to spend time with them because we'll be leaving again soon.

I tried to put together a small campfire get together here at the park, but it fell through. On Saturday, I went over to storage and picked up my firepit and brought it back so we would be ready if anyone wanted to come out. I tried to talk to Stacy, the manager of the park but she had called in sick. I did talk to Dave, the new General Manager here and told him what I had planned. He only said to talk to Stacy on Monday.

Monday it began to rain off and on all afternoon. The rain stopped about dark, so I went down to the pool area where I had intended to meet with anyone that wanted to celebrate the new year, but no one showed up. I did talk to another couple that are staying here. They told me that they too had tried to stir up some interest but no one came out. They told me about some of the activities they had planned while they were here but they didn't get much cooperation from park management. They are hopeful that Dave will help more in the future. They told me that Ron Hoover himself is supposed to come out to the park to look at the changes that they wish for. I guess we'll see how that meeting goes.

I want to tell you about Cassie. Is it possible that a dog has mental problems? As those of you that know her, she is known for barking at everyone that comes around here but we thought it was what a Vet referred to as "fear aggression", because she had been attacked by a coyote in our back yard and now feels like she has to intimidate anyone or anything she meets. Lately, she has started hiding or climbing into my lap when Stella starts to cook. For a long time, we joked about Stella setting off the smoke detector while cooking, but for the last month or so, every time Stella goes into the kitchen, Cassie either hides behind the recliners or gets into my lap. She is definitely afraid of something, and I can only assume it is the smoke detector. When Stella comes out of the kitchen, Cassie is fine again.

I guess the main thing is to wish for everyone to have a happy, prosperous and safe new year. We have been so blessed with living our lifestyle and plan to travel as long as possible. Please wish us luck as we near another season of traveling.

So long.