Saturday February 14, 2015-Buckhorn Lake Resort

Friday was a kind of down day for us. We stayed home all day and sat outside in the nice weather and visiting with our friends and neighbors. We decided that since we didn't sign up for the barbecue dinner, we would eat our own. We had some leftover "cue" from our trip to the Salt Lick Barbecue, so Stella warmed it up and we had another delicious meal. We didn't know when any games would start tonight, so we asked some of our friends to call when the games began. No one ever called, so we just stayed home. 

Saturday morning we went to the First United Methodist church for a funeral service for Kay Conerly, who was married to my step brother Ted. Ted came into our family about the time I moved out to begin my life on my own, so we were not close. Kay suffered from pulmonary fibrosis and endured a double lung transplant and lived with this for several years before succumbing to this incurable disease. 

It was good to see the family, although for sorrowful reasons, and gratifying to surprise them when we showed up unexpectedly and we had some nice visits. Kay was a school teacher until her illness forced her retirement. Ted  is also a musical educator in the Kerrville schools and he had one of his small choirs sing a tribute song for Kay but the most moving moments of the service was when he and Adam, his son, who is also a musician, serving in the U.S. Navy, played their rendition of "Just a Closer Walk with Thee". Ted played the piano and Adam played the clarinet, and it was beautiful! Ted also has a band, the Sentimental Journey Orchestra that plays songs of the Big Band era here in the Texas Hill Country.

We stopped off at the local Wal Mart store on our way back to the park and ran into several of our friends there. I later learned that they had all left the park at about the same time, so it was ironic that we chose the same time to go.

We returned to the park and I spent much of the afternoon visiting. There was a fellow who arrived a couple of days ago and almost immediately was taken by ambulance and air to a hospital in San Antonio where he got two stints put in. His friends, who were parked beside him, said that they had just returned from a trip to Big Bend and said that if this had happened there, he likely would have died because of the distance to any emergency services. Someone was looking out for him! 

I met and answered some questions from our neighbors, who are just starting out their full-time adventures in their Mobile Suites Tradition. It was ironic how many things we had in common with them. He worked in emergency services, I was a police officer. His wife works from "home" as a consultant to her former employer, Stella had clients for her accounting services when we first went on the road. Their home was bordered by a green belt, our home also bordered on a green belt and a county park, so neither house will have a neighbor behind it. I answered some questions and made a few recommendations based on our experiences, and we had a nice chat.

We went to the annual steak dinner this evening. Things have changed with this dinner and not all for the good in our opinion. We had assigned seating for the first time and we were seated with one couple that we knew and two that we didn't know. Both of them seemed distant and difficult to carry on a conversation with. Then we were disappointed with the steak... The normally tender and delicious 32 oz. steak was overcooked and tough. Bummer and not worth the $65 they charge for this night. They had a band for the first time called the Raggedy Cats and it was pretty good. We enjoyed their 1940-50's music and many people danced and enjoyed themselves. We listened and watched for awhile and retired to one of the other rooms for some dominoes. Of course, I didn't win... We'll likely play some more tomorrow. The rally is going well and we're having fun.

So long.