Ken and Lee's RV Adventures

Escape Day--Four Years and Counting

2012-02-15T23:00:00.000-06:00

Four years ago today, we left our temporary parking spot in Midway City, CA, to head out on our great adventure. We celebrate the day every year as "Escape Day." Our last day at work was February 14, and the next morning we headed out to Buellton to stay at the Flying Flags RV Resort there and attend Romney's square dance weekend in Solvang. We are still very happy to be vagabonds and plan to be on the road for many more years.

Wednesday is usually our day to dance, but not today. Ken woke up this morning with a swollen foot. He fell a couple of days ago, and one of his toes was painful, but we figured it would probably heal by itself. Since it hasn't, Ken had Dr. George look at it. He ordered an x-ray of the foot, which showed a very small chip which has already begun to heal. Dr. George said that it required no treatment except maybe ibuprofen and keeping his feet elevated.

We decided to ride our bikes for exercise today rather than walking, with the thought that this would stress the foot less. We biked about nine miles on the hike and bike trail, over to the Conway trail head and back to the park. Along the way we saw this sign. We googled "Champain Trail" in Mission and found some references to a mountain bike trail.

Ken sold the small compressor today to a fellow resident of Bentsen Palm. We still have a generator and a table we'd like to pass on to new owners.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T23:58:00.001-06:00

Today is Valentine's Day--a time to remember all the people we care about. Ken and I sent e-cards to our grandchildren--no paper valentines in the mail.

Our Valentine's celebration was a Town Band concert titled "Hollywood Goes to War." We went over to Green Gate Grove at 6:30 p.m. to pick up Hardy and Judy, but it turned out that Hardy felt like he was coming down with something, so he stayed home. Jan and Steve are both still sick too. Concert 3, illness 3. The odds aren't good.

The selections were arrangements for symphonic band of movie music. The selection we enjoyed the most was a soprano saxophone solo of "What a Wonderful World." What does this have to do with war? It turns out that it was included in the soundtrack for the film Good Morning, Vietnam in 1987.

Intermission at Trinity Worship Center

We sat with Sandy and John and some other square dance friends.

Pete and Judie. Notice Pete's shirt (Shalom, y'all).

This morning we walked through Retama Vilage again, taking special note of what people were using under their Bigfoot leveling system feet. Choices included nothing, plywood squares, glued together 2 x 4's, orange jack pads from Camping World, and Dica pads (available online for $52 each). We're going to start out with the less expensive Camping World type.

Here are some real characters we spotted by one motor home. Definitely easy-care pets!

This morning Ken ran the new compressor for 10 minutes with no load to break it in gently, as per the manual. It definitely made more noise than our smaller one, but Ken hopes that once we put a hose on it, the noise level with subside a bit.

Today was a lovely warm day with quite a bit of sunshine--after the morning clouds burned away.

Sunshine, Friends, Dancing

2012-02-13T22:36:00.000-06:00

Well, it wasn't raining this morning, but it was overcast and windy, so we walked around the park. We decided to stop and chat with Gary and Judy--and before we knew it, we were almost late for Darryl's dance. We scurried home and ate a quick sandwich.

Hardy and Judy showed up at the dance, back from Gun Barrel City. This was Judy's first dance since her surgery, and she seemed to be feeling just fine. In fact, they planned to go to a C-2 dance this evening. The party for Hardy's mom's birthday was a success. They're very happy that his mom and pop have agreed to move to Paducah, TX, to live with Hardy's sister. But that means they'll be leaving the Valley early to help with the move in mid-March.

When we left the dance, everyone was exclaiming at the SUNSHINE! It was almost 70 degrees and lovely for our afternoon walk.

Jan and Steve are both still on the sick list, darn it. Hope they're feeling better soon.

We watched another episode of Downton Abbey tonight. Looking ahead, we have four more hours to go--yay! World War I ended in the episode we saw tonight, with a cease fire at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918. That was nearly 100 years ago now. Wish the "war to end all wars" had actually done that.

Another Dreary Day

2012-02-12T19:01:00.001-06:00

This morning we got up early and headed over to Angel's Restaurant for breakfast with friends. Usually there are nine of us, but today our little band was only five: Bob and Pat, Jean, and Ken and I. Hardy and Judy were off to Gun Barrel City this last week for Hardy's mom's 90th birthday. Jan has been nursing Steve through some respiratory gunk. He's improving, but not ready for prime time.

We were hoping the weather would improve a bit, but it was after 2:00 p.m. and still chilly, rainy, and windy. We decided to walk on the treadmills. This is definitely a better option than not walking at all, but nothing like as refreshing as being in the outdoors and enjoying nature.

We made ads to put on the bulletin boards in our laundry rooms for some of the items we're hoping to sell. We made some to take to the other parks we dance at too. We're especially hoping someone will want our Honda eu2000i generator.

We tackled the job of sorting through our file drawer today. We remember when we had three file cabinets with ten file drawers. It was a feat to distill that down to one drawer, especially since that included all the manuals for our rig. Well, today we took way more paper and file folders to the recycle bins than we kept. The easiest thing to do with paper that comes in is to file it away, just in case you might need it. The problem is "out of sight, out of mind." Until your drawer is overstuffed, it's easier just to leave the stuff in it rather than sorting through and discarding unneeded material.

We won't have a file drawer in our new home. Fortunately, New Horizons organizes all the paperwork related to your new fifth wheel in a large accordion file. The remainder of our file folders will go in a small mobile file box that will fit inside a cabinet or closet.

Sunshine!

2012-02-11T21:20:00.000-06:00

The sun was actually out this morning. We took advantage of the opportunity and walked through the state park. The parking lot was full, so we weren't surprised to see the park full of birders. Everyone was just so glad to see the sunshine, including the birds, I guess. We saw Altamira orioles and green jays and great kiskadees and red winged blackbirds and chakalakas and more, all color aflash on the wing.

This afternoon the sky clouded over and a cold wind was blowing again. We're lucky we got a little respite.

We worked on our taxes, as much as we could before our mail arrives with the rest of our tax forms (we hope). We did some research to find out what people are selling Honda 2000i generators for. We'll have an Onan 5.5k generator in the Majestic, so we won't need the little Honda anymore. It's a great little generator, and we expect to be able to sell it if we get some notices up and put it on the web. We'll be selling some other things too, and it will probably be easier to do it here in the RGV with so many RVers around.

We watched another episode of Downton Abbey and listened to some of our Saturday radio shows. Nice day.

Unremarkable Day

2012-02-10T23:30:00.000-06:00

Not much happening around here. It's been raining for days, mostly rather lightly. We've been hoping that we wouldn't have any leaks, but that was not to be. This morning there was a telltale residue behind the sink that looks like the coffeemaker overflowed. Only it hadn't. We have water coming in through the light switches by the door again. So we sent Mark an email, but we saw him before he'd read it and flagged him down. I'm soooo tired of leaks! This one isn't major, and it obviously took several days of rain before it showed up. We'll see what Mark comes up with this time.

Today we were hoping for at least partial sunshine in the afternoon. The sun did break through--for about five minutes!

We went out to do some shopping. Our first destination was Sears, to return some Land's End bedding that turned out to be a color that won't coordinate and that we didn't care for. We've decided to wait until we're in the new rig before doing any more shopping for bedding. That way we'll be more likely to find coordinating colors.

While we were at Sears, Ken went to check out the shirts on sale. He actually found a couple of blue and white knits that he liked. We've been looking for some to replace the ones that wore out. Both of us like blue--partly because it brings out the blue in his eyes.

I checked over the clearance clothing too, but didn't find anything that I liked that fit right.

Ken ordered a Husky air compressor to be delivered to our nearby Home Depot this morning. While we were out, he got an email message that it was available for pickup. Nifty way to shop. This compressor is quite a bit larger than the small one we've been using, which was a gift from our friends Dennis and Cheryl. Ken figures we'll need the larger unit to fill the larger, higher psi tires on our new truck and trailer.

Tonight we watched the second half of the two-hour introductory episode of Downton Abbey, Season Two. It's the kind of ongoing family drama that really draws the audience in. We can't wait to see the next episode.

We also watched a Nova special on separating conjoined twin girls, born joined at the head. It was really amazing to see the operations that led to their finally being successfully separated, especially the work of the neurosurgeon who had the delicate task of separating the two brains.

Cold and Rainy--Repeated Daily

2012-02-09T23:36:00.000-06:00

It's been cold and rainy every day this week, with more to come, unfortunately. Clouds and fog have darkened our days. We are definitely ready for some sunshine!

Not much going on today. We got our laundry done, but we still have some damp things hanging around to dry. Somehow the $1.25 dryers don't always dry everything well. We wish they'd put in some of the type that you can add a quarter to add some time rather than requiring an additonal $1.25 for a second complete drying cycle.

Tonight we danced to Darryl at Tropical Valley Acres. Steve is still on the sick list, and Hardy and Judy are out of town. We're missing them and hope everyone gets well at one time and back to dancing. Jan says that Steve probably has what she just got over--after weeks of coughing and hacking and no energy.

We spent some time today checking out tire pressure monitoring systems. We're impressed by one put out by TST (Truck System Technologies). Now we're trying to decide between the model with replaceable batteries in the sensors and the model with the non-removeable sensor batteries. It requires the sensors to be sent back to the factory to have new batteries installed at half the price of a new sensor.

Double Dancing

2012-02-08T23:04:00.000-06:00

As usual today we danced twice, once in the afternoon to Jerry Story at the Peppermint Palace and once in the evening to Joe Saltel at Texas Trails. Lots of the dancers come to both dances, but we have some higher level dancers who come to C-1 only on Wednesday nights to dance to Joe's very challenging, interesting calling. We see John and Sandy there.

Today we missed Steve and Jan again. According to Jan's FB posting, Steve still isn't feeling well at all. Hope he's back on his feet with his dancing shoes on soon. Hardy and Judy are going to Gunbarrel City for his dad's 90th birthday party. It's just as well it's this week, since Judy won't be released to dance until next week. The good news is that her surgeon is happy with her healing and has cut her loose.

It's been cold and rainy still. It actually seemed to be raining all last night. Not the sort of weather that encourages outdoor exercise. We got in a morning walk, but missed our afternoon walk. I'm hoping we'll get back in the groove tomorrow.

Checkups

2012-02-07T23:04:00.038-06:00

This morning we both had appointments with Dr. George to follow up on our tests. The best news is that Ken's MRI was normal, and his headaches are continuing to improve. All our blood work tested normal too, so we're suppposed to come in only on an "as needed" basis.

We felt like kids playing hooky from school today. For the first time in weeks, we didn't feel like we had to spend every spare minute working on the plans for our new home. We actually watched an episode of the new season of Downton Abbey. We've been recording it and looking forward to following the further adventures of the aristocratic Crawley family and their downstairs supporting cast.

We spent some time on planning our itinerary and schedule for this summer, with contingencies in case the production schedule slips at New Horizons. One thing we discovered is that we will be in Southern California just in time to attend Romney's Memorial Day weekend at Golden Village Palms in Hemet. After that, we'll have a week to dance with our Rogues buddies, Romney's workshops, and Trailblazers. Should be a great time--if the schedule holds.

We finally got it together to sign up for Nationals in Spokane. We called and talked to Nanci and Tom about their plans, so we could plan to arrive together with the group and camp together. Right now they are in Southern California, having fun with old friends. They had been visiting Frank and Valerie and were on their way back to the Garden Grove Elks Lodge, where they are staying. That's where we plan to stay also. It's convenient for visiting, although pretty noisy since it's close to the freeway.

Final Go Ahead!

2012-02-06T20:31:00.000-06:00

Today we got the final drawings of our new home for approval, with all the changes we have requested. We gave the go-ahead for construction to begin, so now we are counting the days until we can move in. From this point on, changes may still be possible, but they would require approval and incur an administrative change fee. So of course we're hoping that we won't feel a need to make any changes.

When we stopped to see Gary and Judy this morning, we heard some rather alarming news. Judy had a pretty scary experience of finding her heart racing and skipping beats. They went to the ER, where she was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

This afternoon we missed Steve and Jan at the dance. At first we thought maybe Jan had gone to the eye doctor to have her bruised eye checked out. Instead we found out that Steve was definitely not feeling well and has abdominal pain, so they're planning to call Dr. Alhalel, the gastroenterologist that they referred Ken to. We are sure hoping that all is well and that Steve will be back on his feet and on the dance floor soon.

Judy had a follow-up consultation with a cardiologist this afternoon. We stopped on the way home to check on her, and it seems the news is pretty good. She'll be taking some medication (to prevent blood clots), but no restrictions on her activity. Next week she has a heart catherization and stress test scheduled, just to be sure there are no physical changes detected in her heart. We ended up spending an informal happy hour celebrating the good news with Gary and Judy and neighbors Ron and Marie.

It was cold here again today. We had chicken soup for lunch and butternut squash soup for dinner. Nothing like hot soup on a cold day.

Super Bowl Party!

2012-02-05T22:08:00.044-06:00

We started the day with breakfast at Angel's with our usual gang of friends. Afterward we went grocery shopping to pick up fruits and veggies to make party trays for the Super Bowl party this evening.

It rained last night, a good solid rain, so now we know that the bedroom slideout we had rebuilt last November actually doesn't leak--yay. It was cold and overcast today, so we took our "walk" on the treadmills in the exercise room. Ken was reading on his tablet, and I was reading on my Droid. It's not nearly as much fun as walking outdoors and talking together, but at least we get the exercise we need.

The Super Bowl XLVI party was at Hardy and Judy's house, co-hosted by them and John and Sandy. The breakfast group was joined by three more couples to make a total of 15. Everyone brought food, so there was no shortage of great things to eat. Jean even brought some of her son Bill's John Wayne Pudding (wonderful stout).

Pottinger's TV in the living room was supplemented by Walenter's TV in the dining area, so everyone had a good view of the Super Bowl ads--and of whatever part of the game and halftime show we wanted to watch, in between talking and eating. Pat knitted one of her nice dish cloths for Jean while we were sitting there, using a multicolor cotton yarn called "Peach Tea."

C.B., G.W., David, Jean, Jan, Pat, and Judy

Since Green Bay wasn't playing, no one was too concerned with who might win. It was beginning to look like the Patriots might pull it off, and they could have won on the final play even, so there was plenty of suspense. At halftime I was winning the pool, but on the final score, David won. That's good, because he and G.W. have a great party house for Super Bowl XLVII next February.

G.W., David, Jean, Pat, Ken, Judy John, Steve, Nancy (taken with my Droid, so not the best, but Ken forgot the camera....)

Lee (mouth open, munching cake), Sandy, and Jean (taken by Judy)

Hardy, Bob, and C.B. (taken by Judy)

One of our own has been published by the Wordsmith in this week's AWADmail! Last week's words were all Dickens characters that have become English words. Hardy wrote in to comment on the word "fagin" (after the character in Oliver Twist):

From: Hardy J Pottinger (hardyp3 yahoo.com)
Subject: Fagin
We had a fagin in our neighborhood last year. There had been a rash of break-ins into storage sheds with the theft of a number of tool boxes, lawn mowers, golf carts, bicycles, and the like. Turns out one of the older residents was hiring local kids to steal stuff and storing it in a trailer which he would periodically haul to San Antonio to fence. Thanks for the reminder about a good name for him!
Hardy Pottinger, Rolla, Missouri

With all the delicious food, a couple of items stood out for me especially. One was some really great potato salad Jan brought. She said it was her mother's recipe. Another was a wonderful bundt cake with bittersweet chocolate chunks that G.W. baked using his grandmother's recipe. Isn't it interesting how food links generations within families--and then draws friends and families together to share good times?

Changing Weather

2012-02-04T21:57:00.000-06:00

When we took our morning walk along the levee, it was a very warm, muggy 76 degrees. Now it's 58 degrees and not likely to be much warmer for several days--and the weather forecast icons are uniformly gloomy, with precipitation likely for the whole week.

I finally got around to defrosting the freezer. I've been working at reducing the amount of food I keep on hand, which definitely makes it easier to empty the freezer. Now there's even more room, since I removed some large chunks of ice. Not my favorite part of the RV lifestyle!

We're continuing to check out potential items for the new coach, ones that will help us organize, reduce clutter, and still keep the things we use often close at hand.

One item that Judy recommended is a foldable step stool from World Market. I ordered two, one for inside and one for outside. They are the handiest, most compact, easiest to open and close stools I've ever seen. Unlike similar shaped ones at Camping World, these are 13" high, which is enough to get me to our highest shelves now. We'll see how things go in the new coach, which is much taller.

Getting Closer

2012-02-03T21:47:00.000-06:00

We expected today to be able to give final approval to the drawings and order for our new Majestic. We did get close, but there are always more issues. Now Phil is talking about moving the generator out of the front compartment to give more cargo space. It will ride back under the coach by the rear axles. They're done this for two or three people now, and it seems to work well. It will actually improve the balance by moving the heavy generator over the axles instead of near the kingpin. We should get new drawings on Monday incorporating this and a few other changes. Once we approve everything, our build can begin. We're hoping to get it all wrapped up Monday, since Phil and Karen will be heading west with the show model on Tuesday.

We spent some more time today with Gary and Judy, and as usual Judy pointed out some important issues to consider with window sizing and outlet placement. We are really benefiting from their experience.

Tonight Ken had to run the little propane tank up to Pony Express to be refilled. We grilled chicken breast for dinner, and it turned out delicious. I'm a bit reluctant to use the grill just because it's such a bear to clean, but the flavor is worth it.

Life must be really stressful! I just realized that I missed blogging the last two days and hadn't even been aware of it. I'm usually very conscientious about keeping up with the blog, and if I miss a day, I usually get back to it the next day. Now I'll have to try to remember what happened on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm lucky if I remember today!

Oops!

2012-02-02T21:47:00.021-06:00

We've been so tied up with working on the plans for our new Majestic that we seldom come up for air. This afternoon, Ken suggested a bike ride to the park. When we stepped out the door, we suddenly realized that our 600 circle was having a party, and we had totally forgotten about it! The get together was scheduled from 3:00 to 5:00 and invited people to bring a dish to share. It was 4:00 p.m., and we didn't have anything prepared. We decided to go ahead a take the bike ride, but definitely with some serious disappointment that we'd missed such a good opportunity to meet people and make friends.

We've been noticing that quite a few people in the park have Weber Baby Q grills. We're tempted to get one, but we actually have a Weber grill already--but it's a smaller, lighter model. We decided to make an effort to use it to see how much we actually like it. Tonight we grilled some turkey burgers.

We went to Darryl's dance. Steve and Jan were there. We had eight squares plus two couples dancing. Some short timers will be leaving soon.

Judy got good news on her thyroid biopsies--yay! The doc told her not to dance for another week, so you know Judy will be going stir crazy. She and Hardy are hosting the Super Bowl party Sunday, along with John and Sandy, so we'll get a chance to see them.

We got some unfortunate news from Miller Insurance today. National Interstate considers an F450 a medium duty truck, and they won't write an auto policy for it. That means we'll be starting over again with new policies, making more expensive insurance premiums even higher. Sigh. We knew it was going to cost more to insure the new Majestic and truck, just not so much more. We guess that's part of the cost of owning a Majestic.

Drawings!

2012-02-01T22:04:00.027-06:00

Today we got the detailed drawings of our new Majestic for final review and approval. We immediately had lots of questions, so of course we stopped by Gary and Judy's for answers--and for some hand holding. The drawings are extremely detailed. We have drawings with all the lights and switches and cabinets and drawers and windows and vents--and just about everything else. It's a bit overwhelming.

The dimensions on this drawing don't seem to match those on the generic 37' RETSS. We're going to have to figure out what's going on and talk to Phil.

We missed Jerry's dance this afternoon. We were too busy with reviewing the paperwork and checking with Selfs. We did go to Joe Saltel's dance tonight at Texas Trails. We had a great time, but missed Hardy and Judy. She's still recuperating from her surgery.

We're reserving the right to change our minds, right up until we've signed off on the plans.

Last Day of January

2012-01-31T21:34:00.000-06:00

Today is the last day of January. We're counting down the time until we move into our new home. Our target arrival date at New Horizons in Junction City is April 17. Let's see--that's 77 days from now. We're expecting to get the technical drawings this week. We'll need to look them over carefully to be sure that everything is the way we ordered it and expected it to be. Then our build can begin.

Cooking dinner tonight, I was working with poblano peppers. The recipe called for first charring them under the broiler and then peeling and chopping them. So far so good--only I neglected to wear gloves. These poblanos were HOT! The fingers on my right hand, especially the index finger, feel like they've been burned. I've been sitting around soaking my hand in ice water, which relieves the pain. Darn peppers! The recipe came out quite good, and I plan to make it again, but next time I'll remember to put on some latex gloves first!

We spent quite a bit of time today trying to figure out how to get our DirecTV service upgraded to HD with a DVR. We've ordered a Winegard Travel'r DirecTV dish on the roof of the new Majestic. It supports HD programming, which we have not had. Our VuQube 1000 is SD (standard definition). You'd think that DirecTV would be eager to help us upgrade our service, but instead they put roadblocks in our way. The customer service rep I spoke with today said that they would only come to our "service address" to install the new HD DVR. Our service address is Ed's house, which is certainly not where our RV will be.

They could not just ship it to us. They absolutely do not go to campgrounds to install DirecTV service (this despite the fact that our original service was installed at Lake Park campground in Lewisville!) We tried calling local DirecTV installers, but it's actually impossible to talk to one of them unless you want to start new DirecTV service. I finally pressed the number for "new service" just to get through to someone. That was useless. It only led to being transferred to DirecTV!

We're planning to request installation of the HD DRV while we're visiting Ed and Julie. When the installer shows up at Ed's, we'll try to get them to just hand us the receiver. Nothing is ever simple.

Lab Tests

2012-01-30T21:35:00.001-06:00

We started the day today fasting because we both had appointments to have blood drawn at 9:00 a.m. It's not a problem for me to postpone breakfast a bit, but not having my morning coffee? Not so good. Fortunately our doctor's office has a Flavia coffee maker, so we picked up cups of coffee on our way out to drink on the way home.

This afternoon we danced to Darryl as usual. Steve and Jan were there, but we are still missing Hardy and Judy. She is recuperating from her thyroid removal surgery. There were 11 squares on the floor, plus one couple sitting out, for a total of 45 couples. That's our high point for the year, since some short timers will start leaving on February 1.

We stopped on the way home for diesel and to pick up some groceries. Ken also bought a new shaver and nose hair trimmer (but not a "body groomer"!).

Pizza and Friends

2012-01-29T23:51:00.000-06:00

We started the morning as usual for Sunday: at Angel's Restaurant with our friends for breakfast. Judy was there, looking and sounding great only five days after her thyroid surgery.

We spent a good bit of the day cleaning inside and out so we could take photos of Venture to send to Kay's RV in Moriarty, NM. We moved most of our stuff out of the way so the photos would show the rig as it will look when we've moved out. It looks surprisingly good in the photos! Ken also compiled photos of the truck to send to Green Ford so they can evaluate it as a trade-in.

We took a break in the middle of the day to take Gary and Judy out for "lupper" at Diaz Diner--only Diaz was closed. So was another restaurant Judy recalled friends talking about. We finally ended up at Peter Piper Pizza. The pizza and the company were great, but the service and noise level left something to be desired, even though we sat in the side separated from most of the screaming kids playing video games. We ordered a California Classic pizza and dinner salads. The crust was crisp and the veggie toppings were appealing. We actually brought three slices home, so we'll have a replay for lunch tomorrow.

We have lab tests in the morning, so we'll be fasting after midnight.

Mexico

2012-01-28T23:27:00.000-06:00

We started the day today with a bike ride to Retama Village for their annual yard sale, which opened at 9:00 a.m. I made some finds and consider the foray successful: a very sharp reversible silver trimmed belt, a Chicago Metallic jelly roll pan, and a two-burner reversible grill/griddle--plus a free copy of Frozen Assets by P.G. Wodehouse. We got to nearly all the sales before we had to head home so we could go pick up Steve and Jan for our trip to Mexico.

This was our second trip to Progresso this season, and as usual we went to Jessica's for drinks and snacks and then to the Red Snapper for lunch. G.W. and Hugh were there, but David was home sick. We sat near Kurt and Jean, Louise, Jean B. and Steve and Jan at both places. There was lively conversation and laughter as usual. Afterwards we went to Ruben's. Steve and I got pedicures, and Jan got a manicure while Ken read his Kindle. Jan wanted a haircut also, but it turned out that none of the guys cutting hair would cut women's hair, so we headed home. For the first time, we found ourselves in a long line of people waiting to walk through US Customs to get back to the States, but eventually we all showed our passports and declared that we were citizens, so they let us through.

By the time we got back to Mission and dropped off Steve and Jan, it was after 4:00 p.m., and both of us were pretty exhausted. We had a date to take Gary and Judy out to dinner at 5:00 p.m., but I went over and talked to them. We rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon--much better.

I talked to Carol and Aunt Iris and Aunt Helene this evening. Carol was getting ready to take Christine to see The Diary of Anne Frank at the Tyler Civic Theater. Carol actually already saw it last week, but decided it was so good that Christine shouldn't miss it.

Aunt Iris sounded good. She had injections in her back on one side earlier this week and said that side felt really good, but the other side was starting to hurt again. This getting old stuff is no picnic in the park! Helene says that she's blind in her right eye and the vision in her left eye is deteriorating due to macular degeneration. She's taking the AREDS vitamins--which I am also taking, in the hope that they will slow the progress of the disease. Helene is still driving at 91, but only to the grocery store and church during the daytime and not in snow or heavy rain. Here's hoping she stays safe.

One of her main concerns is that Honey Bockhoff has advanced Alzheimer's and has been in a fetal position for a year. Steve is going broke at $6,000 a month!

Lunch with Friends--and a Show

2012-01-27T23:34:00.001-06:00

Today we scurried around cleaning the truck. We even removed everything from the bed (the generator, blue boy, milk crate and cover, and the acorns and leaves and needles. It's amazing how nice and clean the truck looks. Ken moved it around to the inside circle to take some photos to send to the Ford dealer in Manhattan, KS. That's because we've bought an F450--or at least it's on order, and the Silverado will be a trade in. We're working with Gary Floyd, and he's been very helpful. He works with Phil at New Horizons all the time. He even said that they will spray in the bed liner and then take the truck over to Phil to have the hitch installed, so everything will be ready for us when we arrive.

This morning we went over to Green Gate Grove to visit with Steve and Jan. We had asked them if we could come over and talk to them and check out their new DirecTV HD DVR. They invited us to not only pick their brains on the DirecTV but to also join them for lunch.

Jan made steamed veggies with cheese and spaghetti squash with fresh herbs grown in her garden. Steve grilled chicken breasts, and we brought over a salad. Later, Jan served a really good pie made with sugar-free white chocolate pudding mix and fresh fruit.

We also called Kay at Kay's RV in New Mexico to tell her that our planned pickup date has moved up. Now we'll have to clean up the rig and take photos to send to her to see how much she'd like to bid on it. Everything seems complicated, but little by little we are unraveling the Gordian Knot! This is all going to work out.

At 6:50 p.m. we went over to the clubhouse for the Freddie and Sheila show. This is the third time we've seen them, and they're always very entertaining. We were pretty much the last to arrive so we got to sit in the back row. As usual, we really enjoyed their brand of humor and music. Freddie is just a virtuoso guitar player, and we really like Sheila's voice. The relationship between them seems warmly genuine too.

We stopped by Gary and Judy's today to pick up the sink covers. We hope they will fit our sinks and match the countertops, but we expect they will. I will probably only keep and use one of them, but Judy said she had no plans to use either, so we took both.

MRI

2012-01-26T23:45:00.000-06:00

Ken had an MRI scheduled at noon today. The imaging center was very conveniently located right near the doctor's office. Everything went well, but of course it still took a couple of hours to fill out the paperwork and wait. Dr. George will get the results in two or three days. This is a precautionary test, and we're certainly hoping/expecting that it will show nothing particular wrong. That will be a relief. Dr. George thinks that Ken's headaches are due to tension, which would be understandable.

This evening we went to Darryl's dance. There were nine squares dancing and two couples sitting out, so we had a full house. Several couples that we hadn't met were there. Some were Canadians who had taken C-1 lessons in Canada over the summer.

Happy Birthday, Jesse--and Gary and Mike!

2012-01-25T23:27:00.000-06:00

January is full of family birthdays. Today is Jesse's second birthday. I grabbed a couple of photos Julie posted on Facebook.

Cate and Sam help Jesse celebrate with birthday cake!

We went over to Gary and Judy's for happy hour to help him celebrate his 71st birthday. Some neighbors came by too. No birthday cake at this event, but everyone had a great time.

Standing: Dave and Donna, Marie and Ron. Seated: Judy, Gary, Lee. Camera: Ken

Ken got in this one.

Today is also my cousin Mike's birthday. Facebook and Geni keep me reminded of everyone's birthdays, and I can send electronic birthday greetings. One of the problems that dogged me through my early years has been overcome by technology, yay!

We missed Joe Saltel's dance tonight in order to celebrate with Gary. That also means that we'll have to wait until next week to get more La Brea Bakery bread from the HEB at 10th and Trenton.

Truck Shopping

2012-01-24T23:28:00.034-06:00

We are going to need a more capable tow vehicle for our Majestic. New Horizons builds for quality and endurance--they're not lightweight! The GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) will be in the neighborhood of 22,800 lbs. By way of contrast, Venture's GVWR is 15,000 lbs. That's a substantial difference. We're looking at the 2012 Silverado similar to our 2007--but with much increased tow ratings.

We're also looking at the Ford F450, which is recommended by Phil at New Horizons. He and Karen have been towing the 41' show model around with one, and they love it. We stopped by a couple of Ford dealers today. Neither had any F450's, but at one, we got to look at and test drive an F350 with DRW and tow package. It certainly had bells and whistles--like auto-extending mirrors. The bottom line is we're torn and plan to do more research tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Jesse's second birthday. It's also my cousin Mike's birthday (more than second) and Gary Self's 71st. He invited us over for happy hour to celebrate his birthday tomorrow. He's got a bottle of Q Tonic which he's looking forward to opening for some vodka tonics, but he says it tastes wonderful all by itself. I had never heard of it, but Googling it led to some intriguing info. It's made with organic agave from Mexico and hand-picked quinine from the Peruvian Andes.

Still Thinking

2012-01-23T23:57:00.001-06:00

Today is Kelley's 24th birthday. Amazing. She's definitely amazing, and we wish her a wonderful special day for a special woman.

We thought we might just relax today after sleeping in. We did sleep until nearly 8:00 a.m., but that was after going to bed at 3:00 a.m. I guess we are still thinking a lot about our plans and decisions.

The big decision we made very early today (actually late last night) was to go ahead and pick up our new trailer when it comes off the production line in April. I had been worried about the possibility of delays and other problems messing up our summer plans, especially going on an Alaska cruise. This morning we realized that we actually will have a backup. If things go badly, we can always just continue on our way in Venture. What a relief to realize that we had a plan to deal with any serious issues! We already figured that the chances of something going seriously wrong were pretty small. Phil is supposed to get back to us tomorrow about the production schedule, so we'll have a better idea of when our new Majestic will be ready.

So we've kind of been on a roller coaster. We've planned out more possible routes and schedules than we can keep track of. Many RV fulltimers say their plans are "written in jello," but we've usually been able to plan everything well in advance. Our next move is to verify what tow vehicle we'll need and try to get quotes and put in an order. We should have a better estimate of our actual dry weight once the design engineer gets some preliminary drawings done.

Now I'm starting to count the days! We're really excited, but we're also still thinking hard about decisions. We need to review our order and make any desired changes before production begins, which will be quite soon.

We spent part of today at Dr. George's office. Ken has been having unusual headaches--not very painful, but not like a usual headache, and they've become chronic. Dr. George has ordered an MRI, just to rule out anything going on in the brain, but he seems pretty confident that what Ken has been having for the last three weeks are tension headaches. Imagine that! Dr. George suggested that head massage might help relieve these headaches. That's a prescription Ken likes a lot!

Hole in the Pocket?

2012-01-22T22:45:00.000-06:00

Our friends Gary and Judy have been asking if we have the hole in the pocket yet. Today the answer is yes! We signed a contract and made a down payment on a new home, a custom built Majestic fifth wheel. We've been very busy for the last three days getting all the details worked out and all our questions answered.

This morning we went to breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at Angels as usual with our friends. We had an appointment at 10:00 a.m. to make some final changes and tweaks to our order. Today was the final day of the New Horizons open house, so we invited our friends to come by and see the show model. It's very similar to the rig we ordered, although at 41' it's four feet longer than ours will be.

We've been very lucky to be working with Phil and Karen Brokenicky, owners of New Horizons. We've been doubly lucky to have such great friends as Gary and Judy Self, who have welcomed us into their home many times and patiently answered our questions and allowed us to poke around and measure everything. They've offered a wealth of information, tips, and suggestions that have been invaluable to us.

Phil and Karen

Finally, we're fortunate to be in Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort, next door to Retama Village, where we've had the opportunity to visit with four other couples and examine their New Horizons Majestics over the last month. Since New Horizons does not have dealers, potential buyers must rely on word of mouth and recommendations from current satisfied owners.

After we had made our final fabric and color selections and signed on the dotted line, we headed home around 3:00 p.m. and crashed for a bit. We probably could have slept through until tomorrow, but we got up and went grocery shopping so we'd have something for dinner. Tonight we're still trying to figure things out. Ken is calculating the capacities of possible tow vehicles.

Fabric samples from Autumn Fantasy color scheme we chose.

We're also looking at possible routes and schedules for our travel this summer. One possibility is that we may want to drive through Albuquerque to show our current Excel to a dealer there who may be interested in buying it from us. Phil recommended her and made the contact with her for us. Decisions, decisions. But also plenty of anticipation and excitement.

We are very tired and might just sleep in late tomorrow (she said hopefully). Actually I haven't slept through the night for weeks because I wake up with my brain racing furiously, thinking of new questions and angles.

Designing

2012-01-21T23:21:00.023-06:00

We spent the whole day at the show model again today, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fortunately, there were fewer interruptions, so we made some real progress at filling out our order sheet. We asked lots of questions and made lots of decisions.

We had tickets for the high school musical, Mame, for 2:00 p.m. today. Foreseeing our busy day, we tried to give them away because we thought it quite likely that we'd be deeply involved in customizing our new home. We didn't get any takers. So the tickets were orphans, unfortunately.

We dashed home for lunch and went back until after 5:00 p.m. again today.

On the way home we stopped by to see Gary and Judy. Their first question was: do you have a hole in the pocket yet? We had to say no, but by this time tomorrow we sure will!

Annual Retama "Walk Through the Village"

2012-01-20T22:51:00.023-06:00

Today is Edward's 44th birthday--happy birthday, son! When I called, it sounded like he was having a good day, out with Julie and the kids.

Our day started with our long awaited 10:00 a.m. appointment to view the New Horizons show model and talk with owners Phil and Karen Brokenicky. We walked over, excited to finally see the 2012 show model "in person," having watched the online postings of photos of its construction.

Purely by coincidence, New Horizons scheduled its open house to begin on the same day as the annual open house for the Village. Flocks of people came to see what owners have done with their casitas and homes. Most of them probably thought the New Horizons show model was just another owner-occupied RV. When they came inside, they were definitely impressed by the elegance and features of the Majestic, though probably a bit confused to find themselves in a "model home."

What this meant is that we really had little chance to talk with Phil and Karen, and they had little chance to stop and take a deep breath. Crowds poured through, and often people had to wait outside for someone to leave and make room for more visitors.

We did take advantage of the opportunity to examine and measure and take pictures of everything. We brought our tape measures and cameras and even our footstool to peer into every nook and cranny. We left briefly to run home and grab a bite before returning to see more.

We were wowed by the scraped hickory wood flooring in the living area and bath, and we were really tempted to change our minds and switch from the choice we had made to have the Permastone tile. So when we left at 5:00 p.m. and set out on our evening walk, we stopped by Gary and Judy's to take another look at their tile floor. It was beautiful, and we decided it was the more practical choice for us. It's easier to care for and weighs less, and if anything happens, it's easier to repair. Gary and Judy offered support and helpful suggestions, as usual, and calmed our jitters.

That settled we went home for supper and spent the next few hours talking and calculating and drawing up lists of questions. We'll be ready in the morning for our 10:00 appointment again, only this time maybe the crowds will be thinner and we'll have a chance to really talk with Phil.

Show Model Is Here

2012-01-19T23:28:00.001-06:00

We walked over to Retama this afternoon to see the New Horizons 2012 Majestic show model with its tow vehicle--just from the street. We'll see the interior tomorrow. Phil and Karen Brokenicky, New Horizons owners, were in Tampa at the big RV show there last weekend and spent three days driving here. We'd consider ourselves pushed if we did that trip in a week, so we're glad they had a day off today to rest up.

Gary and Judy stopped by to check out our new Strongback chairs. We were quite upset to discover that one of them already has a hole worn in the seat where the frame pokes up from underneath! We'll be contacting the manufacturer. Judy liked the way the lumbar support worked. So do we, but we'll need these chairs to be tougher than they've appeared so far.

This morning we did our laundry. It was very quiet in the laundry room, so we've decided to try Thursday next week too.

We didn't go dancing tonight, mainly because we needed the time to get our notes together for our meeting tomorrow with Phil and Karen.

Cloudy Day

2012-01-18T23:15:00.000-06:00

Well, at least it wasn't snowing a foot or more. That's what our friends in Olympia are facing! Very pretty, but hard to get out to go to town. Hope they're snug and warm tonight.

We danced twice today. At Jerry's dance, we had 31 1/2 couples. That's an awkward number, because it means seven people will have to sit out every tip. Jean gave Steve a call and he rushed over to save the day--thanks, Steve! He danced with Charlene at that dance and tonight at Joe's dance. Jan is feeling much better, but not up to dancing yet. Steve rode over to the dance with us and back home with Hardy and Judy.

We stopped at HEB on the way home and picked up the loaf of La Brea whole grain bread we ordered yesterday along with several other things. As we were leaving, I checked the receipt--only to find that the ONE cucumber I bought had metamorphosed into FOURTEEN, so back to ask for a refund.

Hard at Work

2012-01-17T23:09:00.001-06:00

We buckled down today and spent lots of time going over our notes and talking about our options. We have an appointment to see Phil and Karen, New Horizons owners, on Friday morning, and we want to be prepared.

This afternoon we visited the produce truck. They were a bit late arriving, so we stepped into the clubhouse to listen to the jam session while we waited.

The produce vendor didn't have much we that needed, but they always have really good fresh pineapple, so we got one of those, along with some nice poblano peppers, some broccoli, and some Cherub tomatoes. The pile of green leaves on the ground there is cauliflower.

It was hot and sunny today. It seems to go from one extreme to another. I found a zipper bag to use to cover the drying rack. The instructions mention covering the rack when it's not in use for a time, because the plastic covers on the steel rods can deteriorate from the sun's UV rays. The bag seems to fit pretty slickly. It's a portable golf bag that we picked up at a thrift store some time back to carry our patio mat in. (We've since found a better mat bag.)

We had some ice cream with raspberries for a snack. It was good, but we're sure it will be even better when our ice cream is actually frozen!

Still Busy

2012-01-16T23:24:00.001-06:00

We are still busy working on issues related to the new custom fifth wheel we are planning to order. It raises so many questions (like whether an HD receiver will accept signals from a non-HD satellite dish, like our VQ1000. How important would it be to get a blu-ray system?).

We walked over to the clubhouse this morning after our morning walk. The calendar listed an RV maintenance seminar. We can always learn something new, so in we went, only to find out that the main topics were controlling odors in waste tanks and how to clean your RV without water. We decided that we had more urgent things to do and slipped out.

This afternoon we went to Darryl's C-1 workshop. We had eleven squares plus two couples, only the women who were sitting out were asked to dance with one of the two single men. Many of our friends were not there. Jan and Pat are still not up to dancing (though Bob came alone). Judy had an appointment with the thyroid surgeon. She now has surgery scheduled for next Tuesday. It's a one-hour procedure and the surgeon expects a two-week recovery period. Judy says she heals fast and expects to be back at it in a couple of days!

I talked with Chris today. He had marked the cruise on the wrong dates on his calendar. After we got that straightened out, things look copacetic. Annie will be going to Yellowstone this summer with her mom for Edie's parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration, along with their whole family. That will be while we're in Portland, but we'll have plenty of other time to visit with Annie.

Breakfast and a Movie

2012-01-15T22:08:00.000-06:00

Sunday again, so we met our friends for breakfast at Angel's. We had a small group today--just five of us--because the sick ones were still home (getting better, we hope).

This evening we went to the discount theater again, this time to see Tower Heist. It's a classic comic heist film, but with a current events twist: the victim of the heist is a Bernie Madoff type character, played by Alan Alda. He's the villain you love to hate, so it's really satisfying to see him escorted into prison at the end of the film. Eddie Murphy plays the professional thief who is recruited for his nefarious skills.

The film has some funny moments and good lines. Alan Alda turns in his usual great performance. But in the end, the film doesn't seem to hold together very well. It's hard to care much about the characters because we don't really get to know them. The movie ends with one of the most creative, unusual resolutions ever: the workers who have been defrauded are shown opening packages, all of which contain pieces of a gold Ferrari.

I called Ed back and left a message. He returned my call quickly--ending the little game of phone tag we've been playing. He sounded good, especialy for an almost 44-year-old.

RV Show and Beer Tasting

2012-01-14T23:41:00.003-06:00

WE had lots to do today. We picked up Gary and Judy to go to the All Valley RV Show in Mercedes (about 45 minutes east of Mission). We seemingly never get tired of checking out RVs, looking for new features and clever solutions. Gary picked up a handy gadget to hold down the sewer drain hose while dumping to keep it from being knocked off the drain by accident. It looks kind of like a plastic milk jug, but with a cutout to fit over the hose, and you fill it with water for weight. When you pack up, you just dump the water, and you have a light jug to pack.

I finally decided to buy a telescoping clothes drying rack that fits on the ladder in back. I've been eyeing them for some time now. They are kind of pricey, but they work well, are easy to put up and take down, and compact to pack.

This evening we went to Pharr South for Jean's beer tasting party. Unfortunately, some of the invitees didn't make it because of illness (Bob was home nursing Pat; Steve decided he needed to get out of the house, and Jan said she didn't need anyone to share her misery). That left eight of us. Jean's son is an award winning craft brewer in Indianapolis. We had a taste of one of his beers last year, so we were really looking forward to more.

The beer caps have custom labels. The kind Jean had most of was labelled "Happy 65th MOM--John Wayne Pudding." As you might guess, these were a birthday present.

We had a great time today. It's wonderful to have friends.

Friday the Thirteenth

2012-01-13T23:22:00.000-06:00

Despite its being the dreaded Friday the thirteenth, we had a good day today. We got up our courage to go over to Retama and approach Jim and Niroo again. They graciously allowed us to take some measurements and look over their Majestic, and they gave us some good tips. We were especially happy to see their rig again because it is a 37-ft. model, which is the size we are looking at.

Later on our afternoon walk we ran into Lynn and Stuart, Majestic owners in Retama who showed us around their beautiful home a few days ago. They are now ambassadors for New Horizons, evidently at least partly because they called and talked with Phil about giving us a walk-through. Besides, they will be going up to Canada this summer and will be able to meet with prospective owners in the northeast to show their rig. Since New Horizons does not have dealers, the company depends on owner-ambassadors who agree to show their rigs to folks who are interested in seeing a New Horizons "in person." Lynn and Stuart told us that they had never seen a Majestic before they visited the factory and decided to buy one. We've been very lucky to have toured five Majestics in the last few weeks.

On the way home, we stopped to chat with Gary and Judy again and to confirm our plans to go to the RV show in Mercedes tomorrow. As usual, they were very friendly and helpful. Judy showed me the large accordion file labelled "Owner's Paperwork" that contains all their specs and manuals for their rig.

This morning we did a couple of loads of laundry, and this evening I baked some pumpkin fudge brownies for Jean's party tomorrow evening.

Better Day

2012-01-12T23:37:00.000-06:00

Well, today was a much better day than yesterday. We both woke up feeling okay. Ken had a followup appointment to discuss the results of his endoscopy. The biopsies were normal, so that's good news. He got some samples of esomeprazole (Nexium) to try to see if it provides better symptom control than omeprazole, which is what he has been taking.

We spent the rest of the day shopping (Target; Bed, Bath & Beyond; HEB; Dollar Tree; Goodings RV; and Camping World--don't ask!). When we got home, we stopped at Guest SErvices to pick up a couple of packages, and one was waiting on our doorstep. I got the UV curing lamp for the Gelish nail system. We got a dual vent cover. The most exciting thing was the Melitta 10-cup thermal coffee maker. Tomorrow morning we'll see what kind of coffee it makes.

This evening we got back to dancing, finally, but we missed some of our friends. Steve was there, dancing with Jean, but Jan was still at home fighting a terrible respiratory infection. We sure hope that the medications Jan is taking will help her fight off this bug.

Darryl always has something new to throw at us, and it was no different tonight. He used the "initially" and "finally" concepts to modify how the first part or the last part of a call was done. That was as confusing to the dancers as it sounds, but will probably get clearer with practice.

Tomorrow we'll make some brownies to take to Jean's party on Saturday, because during the day Saturday, we'll be at the RV show in Mercedes.

Sick Day

2012-01-11T23:38:00.010-06:00

Not much to report today. We were both feeling very yucky and got very little sleep, so we called John and Sandy to report that we'd be home sick instead of going to the Don-Wes Flea Market with them and the Pottingers.

The weather was beautiful, but we didn't appreciate it much!

I talked to Carol tonight for the first time in a few weeks. Life has been hectic for both of us. She had visits from all her kids over the holidays. Dick had surgery for his glaucoma and is not yet recovere

At Home

2012-01-10T22:30:00.000-06:00

Ken wasn't feeling too great today, so we scrapped our plans to go dancing this afternoon and we had a pretty quiet day. I did a load of laundry and fixed some barley vegetable soup for lunch. We did our usual walk around the park, but we waited until afternoon when it had warmed up a bit.

I sorted through a couple of drawers. We're trying to consolidate some of our "stuff" in hopes of not transferring too much excess to the new rig. Keeping that excess trimmed out is part of an ongoing battle against my packrat tendencies (but we might need that pack of floppy disk labels someday!).

Tomorrow we'll be going to the Don-Wes Flea Market with some friends. Bob and Pat were scheduled to go also, but Pat has come down with the respiratory ailment that's been affecting lots of people. Steve was out yesterday buying Mucinex for Jan. We're hoping that Ken will be feeling better by morning.

The produce vendor was here today, and I got another pineapple. We'll have an opportunity to buy produce tomorrow at Don-Wes too, but I don't have much storage space left, so I'll have to restrain myself.

More Dancers

2012-01-09T22:37:00.000-06:00

We escaped the possible rain today, though we did have overcast and windy conditions. The butterflies feeding on the purple blossoms outside our window really had to work hard today to stay in place.

This afternoon Darryl had ten squares of dancers. The population of the Valley is way up since the holidays are past. A couple we danced with this summer at Romney's June Fling and again at AACE in Milwaukee are here for a month. Their names are Ken and Steph. They're going to pretty much all the advanced and C-1 dances they can find, since they have to pack in lots of dancing in their month. They're staying at the Drury Inn, since they don't have an RV. I had an interesting conversation with Ken. He's pursuing an item on his bucket list: taking music theory courses and getting back into piano playing.

Chris is in Phoenix this week, so I sent him my cousin Jan's phone number. They got together for dinner tonight. Jan mentioned that one of George's kids lives in Portland, along with their grandchildren, and she has grandchildren in Washington State too. Chris is suggesting that we might try to coordinate a visit while we're in Portland this July.

G.W. and David are proposing a trip to Costa Rica--getting a group together to charter a tour of the country. They went on a tour a few years ago and were really impressed by the rain forest. It might be tough to coordinate a trip to Costa Rica with a trip to see Terri and visit Australia, also planned for 2013.

Fun With Friends

2012-01-08T23:04:00.000-06:00

We started off the day by joining our friends at Angel's Restaurant for breakfast, as we do most Sundays. Jean was there and asked if we'd like to hike in the state park after the meal. Hardy and Judy said they'd like to come along, so all five of us ended up hiking the roads in the park, nearly four miles. We walked a bit more slowly than we usually do because we were all talking, of course.

We didn't see many birds, but one feeding station was attracting lots of Great Kiskadees (along with some green jays and cardinals and red wing blackbirds). Ken got some super shots of one bird.

Jean is interested in geocaching, so Hardy showed her the Texas State Parks geocache hidden behind a tree in the park.

When we finished our walk, we stopped by Gary and Judy's to talk to them about going to the RV show next weekend. We interrupted their lunch, but they invited us in and we talked for some time. We learn something new every time we talk with them. Today's best tip: make coffee and cookies for the workers who are doing the final fixes on your new rig--and tip them if they go out of their way for you. We can see that Gary and Judy are really good with people, which no doubt motivates the workers to take good care of them.

This evening we met Hardy and Judy, Steve and Jan, John and Sandy, and Bob and Pat at the discount theater to see Moneyball. Jean had already seen it and recommended it highly. We'd second that recommendation. We really enjoyed the movie. Like 50/50, it's based on a true story. Michael Lewis, who wrote the book on which the movie is based, also wrote the Blind Side, another book based on a true sports story and made into a movie we really enjoyed.

We talked with John and Sandy after the movie about our planned trip to the Don-Wes Flea Market on Wednesday. Bob and Pat also want to go, and they offered to drive all three couples in their van. Should be fun.

Catching Up

2012-01-07T22:22:00.000-06:00

We removed all the floor registers some time ago and wire brushed them and sanded them to remove the rust and prepare them for painting. Then we sat them back in their holes until we had a calm day to do some spray painting. Today was that day, finally (we actually bought the paint for this project over a year ago).

We had to wire brush and wipe them before painting could start, but that was relatively quick, and the painting was a breeze too, using Rustoleum spray paint. They're a bit lighter than the original color, but they look much cleaner and nicer.

Next we tackled our aluminum folding step. It's a great step, very light and sturdy, but soon after we got it, the non-slip tape started to come up. After a while so many of the strips were torn up that we decided to replace the tape. In the process of removing the old tape, we also managed to chip the finish, so we decided to paint the step before replacing the tape. For this we chose a great Rustoleum product, Hammered Spray in silver. This paint is supposed to hide flaws like chips and scratches--and it does. We were very pleased by the finished look.

After we finished our painting, we sat down to enjoy our new Strongback chairs.

Today was a lovely day, sunny and warm. I got my Gelish Basix kit I ordered, but I'm still waiting for the curing lamp. We also got a nice thank you note from Kelley.

Laundry Day and Another Tour

2012-01-06T23:44:00.000-06:00

Even though we are enthusiastic about the New Horizons Majestics we've been lucky enough to tour here and at Retama Village, we decided it would be a good idea to check out other manufacturers. Some of those that people mention positively for fulltiming are no longer made. Several high-end RV companies have gone out of business, most recently Carriage. One that remains is DRV (formerly Doubletree), which makes three levels of Suites: Select, Mobile, and Elite. Many people are very happy with them, both for the quality of the units and the good customer service.

We looked for a dealer nearby, but the closest is in Corpus Christi, over 150 miles northeast of here. We did find two relatively new Mobile Suites inour park and stopped to talk with both owners. Bo and Dona Brewer of Arlington Heights, TX, warmly welcomed us into their nearly new Mobile Suites, which has many upgrades.

In addition to the other features, they have upgraded residential quality carpet and very comfortable leather sofa and recliners. They had DRV make them a matching storage ottoman, which Bo uses by his recliner to hold a drink and remotes. Another really clever touch is the sewer hose holder mounted under the rig. That part is pretty standard, but they had this one made with 6" PVC so that not only the hose but the elbows and such fit in it, rather than needing a separate storage area. And to add the finishing touch, they had it painted black so as to be unobtrusive.

Like all the couples who have been gracious enough to show us their homes, they also gave us some good tips. For example, it's important to be sure the truck is clear before operating the leveling system!

We did our laundry in shifts today. The park is nearly full, and the management requests that people use only two machines at a time. We had one disconcerting experience: when we returned to check a dryer, the door was standing open. It had evidently run for some time and then when the door opened, it stopped. We had to put another $1.25 in to dry the clothes...

Happy Birthday, Terri!

2012-01-05T23:45:00.003-06:00

Today is Terri's birthday. She celebrated by substituting in first grade--and also by going out to dinner at a local Italian place. It was nice to talk with her. They got the word a couple of days ago that their posting this June to Singapore might turn into a posting to Tokyo. That's one of the "interesting" things about being in the Navy. You never know where you'll be next until you're there unpacking!

Speaking of military postings, Jeff called yesterday. He's very unhappy that he's being sent to Korea in August for a year. It's an "unaccompanied tour," which means that even if he and Tiffinie got married, she wouldn't be able to come along, unfortunately.

Our big excitement today was that Jack Cook, the RV Steamer, cleaned our carpets again. They are still damp, but they look great. While we were out on the patio with our laptops, the Fedex guy came and delivered our second Strongback chair. Yay! So far, we love them.

We got a quote today on insurance for our proposed new rig. Ouch! Moving up in the world means moving up your insurance costs too.

We usually go to Darryl's dance on Thursday nights, but tonight we stayed home. I have a touch of sore throat again and just didn't feel like going out. Tomorrow will be a better day!

Dancing Day

2012-01-04T00:22:00.000-06:00

Wednesdays are our two-dance days--Jerry Story in the afternoon and Joe Saltel in the evening. It's interesting to note that some other couples attend both dances, but not all couples do. Everyone has their own priorities and preferences.

At Jerry's dance, we talked with Jean about going to Quinta Mazatlan on a Saturday morning to tour the park and visit the historic adobe mansion. It's nearby in McAllen and is another World Birding Center site. She also invited us to join the group at her place for a beer tasting and barbecue on the fourteenth. Her son is a very talented master brewer, so we're in for a treat. She brought a couple of bottles of his beer to the New Year's Eve dance/party last year.

Tonight we talked with John and Sandy about possibly going to Don Wes Market next Wednesday and stopping at Victoria Palms to buy tickets to the Bernie and Red show on February 4. Sounds like fun.

Lots to do, and meanwhile we're researching fifth wheels. We sent Phil (CEO of New Horizons) a note yesterday asking for some info. He replied today and answered all our requests. He also indicated that the base prices are going up 3.5% on January 15, but says he would give us the current price if we make a deal when they come to Retama on 1/20. This really throws the decision making much sooner than we expected.

Another Low Key Day

2012-01-03T00:39:00.013-06:00

This morning the sun was shining, and the levee was dry, so we walked along the Mission Main Canal. We get to enjoy some lovely scenery, and the round trip is just about thirty minutes, which fits into our schedule well. However, we often see Border Patrol agents at work, which doesn't fit with the calm, peaceful image of the canal.

With nothing special on our schedule, we spent some time looking over options for our new trailer. We sent an inquiry to New Horizons CEO, Phil Brokenicky. He and his wife Karen are on their way south, driving their 2012 show model Majestic to the big RV show in Tampa.

We ran into Gary and Judy while we were out walking this afternoon, and they invited us back to their rig to get some more questions answered. They are a treasure trove of information and tips about the design and buying process. We're really lucky to have them in the park.

Every Tuesday afternoon, the produce vendor comes by and sets up at the clubhouse from 2:30 to 3:30, approximately. Today was my first visit of the season, and I got plenty of produce, including a freshly cut pineapple. Yum.

Federal Holiday

2012-01-02T22:37:00.000-06:00

Today is a federal holiday. The only real impact that has on us is that the post office isn't open, so we couldn't stop by and try to motivate them to find our missing mail.

It was cool this morning, but pleasant and sunny for our walk. We were soon carrying our jackets. This afternoon we went to our first square dance of 2012 at Tropical Valley Acres. Darryl's voice was a bit weak, since he was recuperating from some throat problems over the holidays, but his calling was as good as usual. We had seven squares, well more than the last couple of weeks, and we saw lots of old friends who have just recently arrived in the Valley.

We stopped at Sally's Beauty Supply. Judy had highly recommended the Gelish Basix Kit and curing lamp. They were out of the lamp, and the price on the kit seemed pretty high, so I decided to shop around. I'll probably order from Amazon. The reason I'm interested is that my nails have been peeling despite my diligent efforts to keep them trimmed and put on nail hardener. Judy said hers were peeling too, and now she has nails. The acrylic strenthens the nails so they don't peel and so they have a chance to grow out. I'm about ready to try anything.

2012 Begins Quietly

2012-01-01T23:32:00.000-06:00

Today was rainy, windy, and overcast, so we walked on the treadmills this morning. By afternoon it was calmer and the temperature was up to near 70, so we decided to walk around the park and check out all the new residents. The park has been filling up fast.

In the 400 circle we were surprised to find a New Horizons Majestic that had just moved in. We stopped and introduced ourselves to the proud owners, Gary and Judy Self. They took delivery of their unit last February (when it was very cold in Junction City!). We were delighted by the chance to tour another Majestic, since we always learn so much. Gary and Judy have tile flooring throughout the living area, and it looks really attractive with their rustic cherry interior. We are thinking that we might prefer the tile to the scraped hickory wood floors that are an option we had been considering.

I noticed that Judy had a toaster oven on the counter, so I talked with her about the convection oven. She says that it works well for many things, but not cornbread or biscuits, since it takes too long to preheat. She would get a propane oven instead of the dishwasher next time. That's exactly what I've been thinking myself, so I'm leaning towards getting a propane oven.

Ken decided to take on a project today. We had the personal tables on the Stressless chairs installed on the outsides--mine on the left and his on the right, thinking this would keep them more out of the way. However, Ken has found having the table on the right is not so convenient for mousing and that the weight of the laptop towards the end of the table tends to cause it to droop down.

We were told when we purchased the chairs that the personal tables could be installed on either the right or the left. However, we couldn't seem to figure out how to get Ken's on the other side. A search of the Internet finally led to a YouTube video showing how to do it. We have a special tool to use to adjust the chairs. It turns out that some of the screws are pretty much hidden. Success!

We watched the HGTV show, RV 2012, about the giant annual RV show in Hershey, PA, because we thought it was going to include a segment on the Majestic. Unfortunately, that part must have ended up on the cutting room floor. However, we did see some interesting and creative features in the RVs that were showcased. One unit was quite familiar: it was an Excel, but not a fifth wheel. It was a Winslow travel trailer, which still has many features we have in our little home.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T23:51:00.041-06:00

We celebrated New Year's Eve with our square dance friends at Bob and Pat's house. The gang got together for a 7:00 p.m. potluck and stayed to cheer in the New Year 2012 at midnight. Hardy and Judy, Jan and Steve and their daughter Cheryl, John and Sandy, Jean, and Ken and I rounded out the dozen at the party.

This is the second time we've seen Bob and Pat's house. They had it built several years ago and customized it to provide plenty of space inside for Bob's computer desk area and Pat's sewing, plus a workshop for Bob. It has an open plan that makes it really great for socializing.

Bob, John, Cheryl, Jean, and Steve around the snack table.

After dinner, several of us went out to walk around the neighborhood and get some exercise and fresh air. It was still 70 degrees and very pleasant. When we got back to the house, Bob had started a movie, A Dog Named Christmas, which he had recorded from the Hallmark channel. It was the kind of touching story that goes well with the holidays, but reminded me a lot of Lassie.

Lee, Pat, Jan, Sandy, and Judy socializing around the kitchen island.

Bob, Steve, and Hardy in the living room.

Lovely ladies!

Then most of the group played a rummy type card game called 3000. It had some unusual features; for example, the first card was dealt face up and determined the number of cards to be dealt for each person's hand (if a 9 was turned up, you got 9 cards, and so on). Also, the dealer's first card was wild for that hand. Only groups of three or more were allowed (no runs). It's a fast paced game, usually ending on the second or third round--and even on the first! Hardy says it's a card game for people who don't play cards.

At midnight we toasted the New Year with Asti or sparkling pink moscato or cranberry juice and wished each other a happy 2012--and then went back to playing the card game.

The party broke up around 12:30 a.m. We managed to leave several things behind, including the camera, so photos later.

Biking Bentsen Palm

2011-12-30T19:49:00.009-06:00

The weather was so balmy that we decided to bike the state park instead of taking our usual walk this morning. We were mainly out for exercise, but we did stop to check out a few birds.

I didn't write this entry until two days later...so of course I've forgotten what else happened! We did our laundry, and we think we must have managed to tour another Majestic at Retama. We've seen enough now that they're blurring together.

Door Lock

2011-12-29T23:42:00.001-06:00

We talked with Mark this morning about our crochety door lock. He said that the best thing was to buy a new one and that it would be very easy to install. While we were checking that out, we noticed that the little frosted plastic shield over the light by the door was broken too and the bulb burned out. So we headed to Goodings RV.

They had everything we needed. While we were there, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out the used RVs they had for sale. A salesman told us that they had more used units on the lot than ever before. We looked over a couple of Titaniums, an older Excel, a Kountry Star, and a Cameo. They all had good features, but we ended up appreciating how nice our Excel is. We also saw other units in extremely poor condition. It's hard to believe that some of them will ever find a new home.

Mark was right--it was easy to remove the old lock and install the new one. The new light cover slipped right on, and the light worked once we replaced the bulb. We congratulated ourselves on a job well done. Then tonight when we were leaving for the dance, Ken got in the truck and said, "The locks won't lock." Darn! We went on to the dance and looked the situation over when we got home. It turned out that the shiny new chrome strike plate had the opening too high, so the bolt wasn't able to operate. We dug the old strike plate out of the trash and reinstalled it. Now everything is copacetic.

At the dance, we saw Jan and Steve, who had returned with their daughter Cheryl. She was wearing a Green Bay Packers shirt, definitely a fan like her parents. We'll all be going to Mexico on Saturday for lunch and then on to Bob and Pat's for the New Year's Eve party.

Venture Is Clean!

2011-12-28T23:57:00.007-06:00

This morning it was sunny and mild--and dry--so we decided to walk along the levee and back along Old Military Highway. We often see birds or Border Patrol Agents, but today all we saw were mosquitos.

We walked by the mailboxes, but I had lost track of the key, so we continued on our way. We passed a rig being cleaned by Nick's RV Wash. We've been meaning to call and schedule a wash and wax. We stopped to talk with Nick, and he agreed to come over after lunch to do Venture.

Meanwhile, I decided that I needed to clean the rubber roof under the solar panels, which involves removing the brackets along one side and replacing them with our tilt bars. This is to lift the panels up off the roof so the area underneath can be cleaned. This is not something that Nick's crew does, and I wanted to do it before they arrived, so they would clean off any residual crud from the roof.

It's high up on that roof!

Ken moved everything out of the way, including the Qube, stacking it all away from the area that would get wet. While we were at it, we cleaned the awning too. Oh, but first we had to trim the tree limb hanging down over the patio.... The good news is that Venture looks clean and shiny now.

For our afternoon walk, we headed over to Retama Village again. As we walked in, we saw another New Horizons that had evidently arrived pretty recently, since the guy seemed to be working on the connections. We introduced ourselves, and soon Stuart and Lynn were happily showing us around their new Majestic (picked up in September). They have two rescued greyhounds, Robby and Abbey,who greeted us very enthusiastically.

The rig has many familiar features, but their customizations are evident too. They have the fourth slide (vanity slide in the bedroom), which provides room for two extra large dog beds at the foot of the bed. They got carpet in the living area because it works better than the hickory flooring for the dogs. Lynn wanted three extra pantry sliding shelves in addition to the standard four, so she has seven--but some of them are packed in pretty tightly. We asked about the standard TV antenna. The ceilings are so high we thought a crank would be difficult to reach. Stuart showed us where the controls for antenna rotation are located in the "communications center" above the coat closet. We learn something new with every Majestic we see, and each owner has shared valuable ideas with us. New Horizons owners are a friendly group!

We went to Darryl's dance tonight. Jan and Steve were still out, recovering from their dashing trip home. Kit and Mary showed up. More and more people will be arriving in the Valley. We started with 15 couples again, but during the first tip, another couple came in to make up the fourth square.

This evening when we got home from the dance with a load of groceries, it was late and dark, and the door lock stuck again. We were beginning to think we'd have to call a locksmith to get in, but with some silicone spray and Ken's efforts, the door finally came open. Yay! Tomorrow we'll definitely be motivated to take the lock apart and see what's going on.

The overwhelming number of negative reviews, complaints, and comments about Fisher and Paykel appliances finally convinced me that ordering the optional dishwashing drawer would be too risky, so we'll save that weight and money.

While I was waiting for Ken to recover yesterday, I picked up an HEB Christmas ideas brochure. I saw a recipe for Christmas kale salad with spiced pecans that sounded good, and we happened to have some kale in the fridge. So tonight we made that for supper. It was quite good.

Christmas Kale & Spicy Pecan Salad
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
5 minutes
Makes:
16 servings
Source

My H-E-B Texas Life Magazine, December 2011

Ingredients

1/2 c. Central Market Organics Texas Pecan Halves,

1/4 c. Central Market Organics Light Brown Sugar,

1/2 tsp. each: Central Market Organics Ground Cayenne Pepper and Ground Korintje Cinnamon,

• juice of 2 lemons,

2 Granny Smith apples,

1 bunch kale,

4 red onion, thin sliced and rings separated,

1/4 c. H-E-B Shredded Italian Parmesan,

• Vinaigrette:,

3 Tbsp. each: H-E-B Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar and water,

1 tsp. H-E-B Dijon Mustard,

Directions

1 Heat heavy-bottom skillet over high heat 3 minutes. Add pecans, heat 1 minute. Add brown sugar, cayenne pepper and cinnamon. Stir constantly until sugar melts and coats pecans, about 1 minute. Quickly spread on a sheet of foil. Cool and chop.

2 Combine lemon juice and 2 cups water in 4–quart bowl. Core, peel, and cut apples into matchsticks, place in lemon water to prevent browning. Soak apples 1 minute. Drain.

3 Wash kale twice in large sink full of water to remove all dirt. Cut leaves away from stems. Stack, cut into 1/4-inch slices.

4 Layer kale, apples, red onion, and Parmesan in salad bowl or on platter, cover. Chill until ready to serve. Prepare dressing in jar, toss with salad just before serving.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 80, Sodium: 45mg, Carbohydrates: 12g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 5g, Protein: 3g

Copyright 2001-2011, H-E-B

Ken was not feeling well this morning. His throat was very sore from the endoscopy, and the right side of his head over his ear was hurting again. While he was in the bathroom at 6:15 a.m., he made a move in Words With Friends in our game. Suddenly over my head, a loud buzzing noise woke me with a start. It was my phone vibrating to notify me that it was my turn. That was the end of my night's sleep too, darn it.

Ken Gets Examined

2011-12-27T23:17:00.001-06:00

Poor guy! No food or drink after midnight, and a 10:00 a.m. appointment for an exam of his upper GI tract down to the duodenum: "esophagogastroduodenoscopy" is the $20 word the doc used. The verdict? It looks like his acid reflux is well controlled by his medication and there are no serious issues. However, as a precaution the doctor did take some biopsies at the lower end to check for H. pylori, the bacteria that can cause ulcers. He has to go back in two weeks to discuss the results of the biopsies.

It was noon when Ken was released after recovery from sedation. His first priority was getting something to eat, so he had some fruit and a granola bar on the way home for lunch.

This afternoon, the sun was shining and it was warm, so we finally got to walk outdoors. We headed over to Retama Village to check out the third New Horizons Majestic parked there. The owners, Jim and Niroo, were glad to show us their rig and answer questions about the Ford 550 they're using to tow it. They have a 37' model, so we were glad to have a chance to see a shorter Majestic. All the ones we've seen before have been 42' and up.

Jim and Niroo gave us some good tips on what to consider and what they have changed or hope to change in the year and a half they've owned the rig. We definitely got a better idea of what we might want. Now it's just a matter of continuing to do our research. We also have an appointment to talk to Phil (owner of New Horizons) and his wife Karen when they bring this year's show model to Retama in a few weeks.

One issue we're looking at is that to stay within the length limits we prefer and get the other features we want, we'll probably be giving up our bedside little shelves that we put our cell phones and things on at night. We're going to try going without using ours for a week to see how it works out.

One of our folding chairs finally broke. They have been good chairs, but are old and faded and worn. The plastic arm gave way on one. We decided to order the StrongBack chairs that Mark Nemeth reviewed so enthusiastically in the Escapees Magazine. They have an innovative design and lumbar support. Let's hope they live up to the hype.

Sunshine!

2011-12-26T22:31:00.000-06:00

Not much going on today. We went back to look at Jack and Danielle's Majestic and spent two hours asking Jack questions and checking things out. Then we ate lunch and got ready for Darryl's afternoon C-1 workshop. We had four squares--plus three couples out. That's always a bad situation, and it seems to be happening pretty regularly, darn it.

When we got home, the sun was still shining and the temp had made it up to 60, so we walked outside. We saw lots of other walkers and bicyclists and folks sitting out on their patios and visiting. Sunshine brings people out and definitely improves my mood.

We are spending a lot of time researching New Horizons rigs and trying to figure out what we want. It's a time consuming and at times frustrating endeavor, since it seems that much info just isn't available without visiting personally with the manufacturer. We'll do that the end of January when they are here with their show unit,

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T23:44:00.000-06:00

We joined friends and neighbors at the Bentsen Palm Village clubhouse for Christmas dinner today. The park provided turkey and gravy. Four couples signed up for each table to provide side dishes and dessert. I made a layered pea salad that was a hit. Warren and Denise brought two butternut squash dishes, one plain and the other a casserole with sourdough bread and cheese. Joe and Nancy brought mashed potatoes and dressing. Elinor and ? brought desserts. He is originally from England and she from New Zealand, and the desserts they brought were unusual: Christmas pudding and two triffles (one banana and the other strawberry). Everything was delicious!

The workcampers set up, cleaned up, and cooked and served the turkey and gravy. Ken snapped this poto of some of the group.

This evening we joined Hardy and Judy at Cinemark Movies 6 for Dolphin Tale, a sentimental story with cute kids and an injured soldier. It's redeemed by the fact that it's based on a true story. The dolphin star, Winter, plays herself. It's a good family story, and lots of families were in the theater.

I talked with Aunt Iris and Beth today. Beth's son Micheal and family were over for dinner, and all were charmed by baby Sophia, who is four months old. Kathy called. She was being grandma with Sophia and Gryphon while Michelle, Bill, and Jeff were at the movies. Kathy will be going to Orlando in February, joined by Todd, Stephanie, and Aria. They're planning a visit to Jacksonville to see Iris and Beth. Terri called to wish us a Merry Christmas. Terri and family are at Blake's mom's house. Everyone got up at 5:30 a.m. to see what Santa had brought Heather's son, Nicky. They drifted back to nap for a while later.

Happy Birthday, Chris!

2011-12-24T16:27:00.026-06:00

Today is Chris's 46th birthday, and a reminder for me of a wonderful event on Christmas Eve 1965. Best Christmas present I ever received. I talked with him this afternoon. He was having a quiet day: breakfast with Shawn and Annie and then game playing with Annie. One advantage of having a Christmas Eve birthday is that you almost never have to work on your birthday.

We had a quiet day here too: laundry, walking on the treadmills in the exercise room, doing some last minute shopping. We bought the ingredients for the pea salad we are bringing to the dinner tomorrow at the park. Being out shopping on Christmas Eve reminded me of the many times I found myself in crowded stores and traffic, looking for last minute Christmas gifts when the kids were small.

We watched City Slickers (we had Tivo'ed it). Ken has seen it at least a couple of times before, but it was my first time to see it. I remember the first time I saw Billy Crystal in a movie. I was visiting Chris and he played When Harry Met Sally on his VCR. I thought it was hilarious. City Slickers, like 50/50, is both serious and often very funny. Curly, played by Jack Palance, steals the show.

Another Quiet Day

2011-12-23T23:09:00.000-06:00

It was overcast and chilly again today. We went out only twice, to go to the exercise room and walk on the treadmills. So far we've been lucky and both of them have been available. This afternoon, someone was on one of the treadmills, and I got ready to use an exercise bike instead (not my preferred exercise), but she was just finishing, so onto the treadmill I went. I guess we're like little hamsters, running in our wheels, except that we also get to watch CNN!

We've been doing some trip planning for next summer. We have a lot on our list, but we're still tentative (plans written in Jello). We're definitely going to the National Square Dance Convention in Spokane, WA, in June, where we're hoping to meet up with some of our friends from Southern California. We're booked for an Alaska cruise in July, with Chris and Annie. We'll be visiting Jeff and Tiffinie in Las Vegas and Rebecca and Cathy in Apple Valley, CA.

Beyond that, we're hoping to visit the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We went to the north rim with our friends, Dennis and Cheryl, in 2009. And maybe we'll make it to an Escapade finally, in Sedalia, MO, in September. If it works out, we'll be going to Junction City, KS, to order a new fifth wheel from New Horizons in April, with a plan to pick it up later in the summer.

Lots of planning to do, and lots of fun to look forward to, seeing friends and loved ones and seeing more of this magnificent country.

I'm feeling much better, but had trouble sleeping last night. I took a quick nap this afternoon and hope to catch up on my sleep tonight. I don't do well when I'm sleep deprived!

New Horizons Majestics

2011-12-22T22:32:00.000-06:00

Today was a beautiful sunny day, and we finally made it over to Retama Village to check out the New Horizons Majestics there. First we stopped and introduced ourselves to Gail Quinn, who graciously let us tour his and Bonnie's lovely 45' Majestic. He pointed out all the special touches and alterations they had designed.

He also told us that Jack and Danielle were in the park and leaving soon, so we walked over and got the grand tour of their 42' Majestic by the official New Horizons ambassadors. Of course both rigs are beautiful, luxurious homes. We are excited by the prospect of ordering one for ourselves, so now we are committed to spending some quality time deciding what features we want to include--there are always trade-offs.

This afternoon Ken had an appointment with Dr. Alhalal, a gastroenterologist recommended by our friends, Steve and Jan. Now Ken is scheduled for an endoscopy next Tuesday. That's the only way to get a clear view of the situation and evaluate his GERD problems.

Tonight we danced to Darryl, with only three squares on the floor. Lots of folks must be traveling or otherwise busy with the holidays. Today is Decca's birthday, and she baked cookies and served spiced cider in honor of the occasion. She says she really enjoys baking.

While Ken was at the doctor, I went to Target and bought him an Aladdin insulated straw cup like mine, only in green (mine is blue). I also got a five-cup Mr. Coffee with a stainless steel carafe. The reviews on Amazon are mixed, so I'm keeping the packaging in case it doesn't work out.

Mammogram

2011-12-21T23:39:00.001-06:00

Today I went to the Women's Imaging Center in McAllen for my routine annual mammogram. I always hope it's just a routine, since I've had biopsies and extra views several times. Like all women, I have some concerns about the possibility of breast cancer. In the last year, two of my friends have been diagnosed and treated.

We didn't have much time after that appointment to eat and get ready for Joe Saltel's dance tonight. We had done most of the prep work for dinner, so it was pretty quick. We had Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette, a Barefoot Contessa recipe that I modify a bit to make it lower fat. We really enjoy it.

After the dance, we went to the HEB at 10th and Trenton. I called yesterday to order a loaf of La Brea Bakery whole grain, and it was actually ready.

I'm still not feeling terrific, but maybe I'm getting better, slowly.

Home Again

2011-12-20T23:06:00.000-06:00

Ed got up early this morning to drive me to DFW for my 8:45 a.m. flight to McAllen. I had a chance to get hugs and kisses from Cate and Sam and Jesse and say goodbye to Julie before we left for the airport. We got to Terminal C around 7:10 a.m., earlier than I expected. Getting through security was pretty quick--including another full body scan.

As usual, I had plenty of time to sit around the airport, vigilantly guarding my carryons (if a stranger asks you to transport something, don't do it!) and being sure to keep my liquids in under 3 oz. containers in a single quart size plastic bag.

[photos later]

Anyhow, the flight took off pretty much on time, and everyone had plenty of room to spread out. Only 10 or 20% of the seats were filled. Ken suggests that more people are leaving the Valley for the holidays than are coming to the Valley to celebrate.

I had a great visit, but it's nice to be home. It would be nicer if I weren't sick, darn it! I'm definitely coming down with something (sore throat, congestion, general sick feeling). Somehow every time I visit the grandkids, I manage to pick something up.

I'm scheduled for a mammogram tomorrow afternoon, my first one in the Valley. I'm hoping all goes well.

Patched Up

2011-12-19T21:12:00.000-06:00

This morning I rode with Julie when she dropped off Sam at school, and then she took me to Grapevine for my 9:30 dentist appointment. She actually got me there a bit early (thanks, Julie!). Dr. Colangelo found no problems with the tooth or the crown that had fallen off, so he cemented it back on good as new.

Kelley and Terri picked me up from the dentist and we headed for the nearby Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall, so that Kelley could pick up some clothes appropriate for her new station in life. She found some nice athletic wear at Nike, including a green and white jacket. Of course everything looked cute on her. After shopping several other stores, we hit the food court for lunch.

By the time we were ready to leave, it was raining, so Kelley made a run for the car, and Terri shared my umbrella. We didn't get too wet--it actually rained much harder later on. They dropped me off at Ed and Julie's and stayed to visit for just a few minutes. Terri gave Julie and Cate and me some cute T--shirt necklaces she had made. I hugged her goodbye--this might be the last time I see her before they go to Singapore next June. I'll see Kelley when we come through the Dallas area in April.

This evening Sam had a play date with his friend Brandon, so he went there for supper and a movie. Ed and Cate and I played Ingenious and Rummikub. When Sam came home he joined us for a quick game of Farkel. Jesse played his "games" at the table with us, mostly quietly and without disturbing our games. He's quite intent about what he's doing and knows how to roll the dice.

Then it was bedtime for the kids. I got to read books with them since it's my last night here. I read one of the Grimm fairy tales in the book we got Cate for Christmas. Sam decided that he would "read" the story of two pages of his Dora the Explorer giant coloring book. He was very dramatic about it. You can tell he's watched the TV show many times.

The family has adopted the Elf on the Shelf tradition. Their elf, named Scout, hides creatively and has to be found every morning. Sam has a larger elf he has named Scout Sam Shaffer and Cate has an even larger one she calls Mrs. Scout.

Sam is really enjoying the book of dinosaur puzzles we got him for Christmas. He is delighted when he finds a piece that fits--and he's really good at putting puzzles together as well as naming the various creatures.

It's my last day here, and around lunchtime I started to feel a sore throat coming on. I'm hoping it doesn't develop into anything more serious, but I'm just generally feeling a bit headachey and under the weather. It seems every time I get around the kids I pick something up. Jesse has had a runny nose and sneezes for days.

More Partying

2011-12-18T21:50:00.001-06:00

Ed and Julie hosted a family get together/Christmas party today. It was an occasion for sharing lots of love and fun and games--and of course, lots of food. Ed found a neat recipe for turkey breast coated with mayonnaise. We will add to the testimony of lots of other cooks that this method results in moist, delicious turkey, without any need for basting.

Everyone contributed special dishes to the menu. John and Nancy brought a spiral sliced ham. Nancy made a veggie casserole using a recipe from "The" cookbook (a Shaffer family tradition). The special ingredient was a crunchy topping of crushed Cheez-Its.Terri baked an apple and a pumpkin pie (my favorite). Emily made a chocolate cake with a layer of cream cheese and coconut inside. Julie made a special roasted red pepper and garbanzo bean dip for veggies. I made pecan streusel topped sweet potato casserole. Everything was very yummy.

[photos later]

Today was also Terri and Blake's eighteenth anniversary, another cause for celebration. A spontaneous chorus of "Happy Anniversary" broke out. We had a discussion of the cradle robbing tradition in the family, since Terri is over four years older than Blake.. Ed is the champion in that field, being nearly ten years older than Julie.

Visiting, watching the football game on TV, playing games, taking photos, watching old WNBA ads on You Tube, and just in general having lots of fun made this a great day. We had so much dessert that Ed invited the neighbors across the street to come in a take some plates home, so the joy overflowed.

I walked by myself today and listened to the radio on my Droid. Doing that must have really used up battery time, because when I picked up my phone later to call Ken, it had shut down. I plugged it back in just in time for him to call. I'm thinking that this battery is on its last legs. Fortunately, I have a spare battery at home. Meanwhile, Ed reminds me that his phone contract is up March 12, 2012. He'll get a new phone then, and I'll get his Droid Incredible, much smaller and lighter than the original Droid, which I have always thought was pretty clunky. Not that it isn't a smart phone--in contrast with Terri's, which is of only average intelligence!

Go, Mean Green!

2011-12-17T18:29:00.008-06:00

This morning Julie and I and the kids went to their local credit union to open a special kids' savings account for Sam as a fifth birthday present to him. Cate already has her own savings account. Sam got his own account card and a green piggy bank, too. He's very proud of his new account.

Today was a red letter day (or maybe a green letter day) for our family. My oldest granddaughter, Kelley, graduated from the University of North Texas (colors green and white). She got her degree magna cum laude in kinesiology from the College of Education. She was cheered on by her family and friends, who are all very proud of her.

[photos later]

The graduation was held in the Coliseum and followed the usual script, with the presentation of the colors, the playing of Pomp and Circumstance while the faculty and graduates marched in, welcoming remarks by the president, and the conferring of degrees. What caught me a little by surprise was that there was no commencement speaker.

This was one of several commencement ceremonies held for the fall semester, with business and education students being called by name one by one as they proceeded across the stage, received their diplomas (or rather, diploma covers) and were congratulated by the appropriate dignitaries.

In other words, it was a bit boring, except for the moments when we spotted Kelley in her seat and when she was on the stage. This was especially true for her younger cousins, Cate and Sam. We're hoping that attending this academic function will incline them towards pursuing studies of their own, in due time.

Kelley plans to substitute teach for a couple of nearby school districts in the spring and then get a full-time job for the fall. Meanwhile, she and her friend Mason are excited about the Caribbean cruise that is Blake and Terri's graduation gift.

We went to Blake's mother's house (Nana Jan) for the graduation party in the evening. Kelley's Aunt Fran and Uncle John drove up from Lufkin for the party. Blake's sisters, Pam and Heather, Heather's son Nicky, and Heather's mother-in-law, Peggy, and her husband Bill and her sister Belle were there too. Pam's son Morgan and his wife Sarah joined the party. Much of the time was spent in looking at old photos (on the computer, of course) and reminiscing about family memories.

The highlight of the day was the opportunity to toast Kelley with champagne or sparkling grape juice, but most of all with lots of love. When Kelley and Mason left the party, they were on their way to "par-tay" for one last time with college friends in Denton.

I rode with Ed and Julie and kids. We stopped at Starbucks for something warm to drink and headed to see the Christmas lights display in the nearby subdivision of Interlochen. I say that was the plan, because after seeing the incredibly long line of bumper to bumper traffic waiting to see the lights, we decided that it would take hours to get to see the first light. It was late already, and the kids were nearly asleep, so we headed for home.

Winter

2011-12-16T21:51:00.000-06:00

The high here today was in the 50s, but it certainly felt rather chilly when we went for our walk this morning. Julie was wearing her hooded jacket and some neat convertible glove-mittens. I wore my sweater with my denim shirt and then my lightweight hooded jacket on top, with a scarf around my neck. Altogether that layering kept me warm enough to enjoy our walk.

Julie pushed Jesse in the jogging stroller and held onto Charlie's leash, and I held on to Bijoux's leash. We walked about three miles, mainly along the walking biking trail through the neighborhood greenbelt. It makes for an enjoyable walk.

The other thing we did today was plan and shop for the party Sunday. Several people are coming and bringing things. We bought some bone-in half turkey breasts at Sprouts along with some fruits and veggies and ingredients for sweet potato casserole. I made the casseroles and put them in the fridge in the garage, with the streusel and pecan toppings in separate containers, with a plan to put them together and bake them on Sunday.

We played The Kids of Carcassonne again this evening. Sam was the biggest loser, so he got to lead the parade (definitely a good consolation prize!). Ed didn't play because he was making the blonde brickle brownies--except that some of them are actually peppermint rather than brickle.

Ken wasn't feeling too well when he called this morning, so he rested up today. He felt better after a good nap.

Flying

2011-12-15T20:20:00.031-06:00

This morning was a jumble of doing the laundry and packing for my trip to Dallas for Kelley's graduation. Oh, and calling Mark, our mobile RV repairman, to check out yet another leak! This one also showed up at a location where we had a leak repaired a couple of years ago. Mark climbed up on the roof and found the little rubber boot that seals the TV antenna wire inlet loose.

Of course while he was up there he found another place or two that needed sealing. Plus he suggested that it was probably a good idea to pull the air conditioner and check underneath to see if it might have cut through the rubber roof at its contact points. He didn't want to do that on a day when it was threatening to rain, so he'll come back another day to do that. Our mantra is "If it's not one thing, it's another!"

Ken drove me to the McAllen Miller International Airport for my 3:55 p.m. flight. We left around 2:15 p.m., knowing that would get me to the airport in plenty of time (actually early). It turned out to be even earlier than we expected. It's been raining in Dallas, disrupting lots of flights, so the plane we were flying out on was quite late in arriving, pushing my departure time to closer to 4:30 p.m. It's always fun to wait around in airports.

Ed met me at DFW. Fortunately he knows the back way out, because otherwise we'd have been stuck in the bumper to bumper traffic leaving by the north exit. We got back to the house just a bit before Julie returned from shopping with the kids for new Christmas pajamas. Jesse ended up with Santa pj's, but Cate and Sam made other choices (Star Wars: the Clone Wars for Sam and a nightgown with ballerinas for Cate).

It was great to see Ed and Julie and the kids again. For the first time in ages, Sam's greeting wasn't "Did you bring your Wii, Grandma Lee?" Ed and I did play The Kids of Carcassonne with Cate and Sam. It's an interesting tile laying game with large sturdy tiles, perfect for younger kids.

Of course I called to let Ken know I'd arrived safely. He was doing fine, even though he sent his Kindle with me. He's been reading mainly on his Acer tablet. With the laptop, tablet, and Samsung Fascinate, he's got plenty to keep him busy.

Oops!

2011-12-14T23:23:00.000-06:00

Square dance callers here tend to put out a candy dish, and I'm a sucker for the little Tootsie Rolls. Well, tonight I may have had my last Tootsie Roll. I'm pretty sure that's what caused my crown to come off. Now what? A quick Google search brought up the suggestion to head for a pharmacy and get some temporary repair. Fortunately HEB had just the stuff (Dentek Temparin Max).

I'm planning to call Dr. Colangelo in the morning and try to get in to see him Friday morning. It's both good and bad timing that the crown fell out just before my trip, since Dr. Colanglo is near Ed's house (and there are no Cigna dentists in the Mission area at all).

Steve and Jan danced with us at Jerry Story's this afternoon. Tonight Steve danced with Jean which Jan was at home prepping for her procedures tomorrow (she didn't want any company for that!). We won't see them again until after Christmas. They're driving to Wisconsin for the holiday and bringing their daughter Cheryl back with them, probably around the 28th. So we wished them both a good trip (and Jan an easy procedure tomorrow). Judy is still out with a sore throat, so we didnt' see her and Hardy today. We missed them!

We walked in the state park this morning and took the Kiskadee Trail. It was dry enough to walk through. We didn't see much of anything except some chacalacas and green jays, but it was nice to be in the park. Plus there were lots of butterflies around, even though it has been windy. At least it was warm and sunny today.

My time is running short to get everything done, so off to bed.

Sam is Five! and Christmas Concert

2011-12-13T23:41:00.000-06:00

Today is Sam Shaffer's fifth birthday. He's already looking ahead and tells me that next year he'll be six and then seven and eight and nine.... They do grow up all too soon. We talked on the phone today, but I'm looking forward to seeing him Thursday and having a chance to wish him a happy birthday in person.

Tonight we attended the McAllen Town Band's Christmas concert at the Trinity Worship Center. We picked up Steve and Jan and Hardy (Judy is nursing a sore throat and decided to stay home and rest). Steve gave us great directions to find the church, which is tucked in behind a motel and next to the Exotica Club. Jan says that it's apropos that venues for sin and redemption are located so close together!

The Trinity Worship Center offers online video of its services, and it's clear that the church was designed with recording in mind: it's got great acoustics and stage lighting. The band are all volunteers, but dedicated and talented to a professional level.

The concert was very enjoyable, with the usual Christmas classics, but also some different offerings. One we especially liked was Minor Alterations (Christmas Through the Looking Glass) by David Lovrien. Here are the author's comments on the music:

The piece I wrote last year for the Dallas Wind Symphony‘s Christmas concert is selling like hotcakes for the upcoming holiday season. It is easily the #1 best-seller from the Lovebird Music catalog this year. I was informed this morning that the United States Navy Band will be performing it on Dec. 5th. Have you heard it yet? If not, have a listen.

The idea started with an arrangement of “Pat-a-pan” that I did in 2006 as a demo of the capabilities of the Garritan Personal Orchestra sample library. Pat-a-pan is such a cool minor-key tune, almost Slavic sounding, and I wanted to slip some other Christmas-themed material into it, so I decided to transpose “Up On The Housetop” to minor. It worked out great and the arrangement was completed…

Several months later, as the DWS Christmas concert approached I came back to the same idea and started to expand on it. Grace and I were driving to my daughter’s orchestra concert when idea started coming quickly and I started giggling. She wanted to know what it was all about and I hummed some “warped” variations to her. She loved the idea. The layers and the “jokes within jokes” came together very quickly; taking tunes like “Here Comes Santa Claus” and transposing them to minor… oh wait, Danny Elfman did it just like that in “Nightmare Before Christmas,” didn’t he? OK, I’ll have to do better. Let’s make it a waltz… yes, that works. In fact it sounds a little like… ooh! Let’s use the accompaniment pattern from Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2! Gosh, do you think people will get that? Hmm, better drop a couple bars of the melody on the end to make sure…

Then I had to assemble them all into a form. How about arranging them in tempo order from slow to fast, like a Jewish Hora? That way it builds energy from start to finish. Drop the waltz variations in the middle and it works great. It seems to hit the right balance between “sounds nothing like the original” and “oh, I know what tune that was.” And it’s a nice change of pace for Christmas concerts where things can get sickeningly sweet, like too much candy on Christmas morning.

Of course we had to have some of the sweet stuff too, including a sing-a-long at the end.

We decided not to dance today because time is getting short before my trip. We went shopping and did some errands instead. We had to stop at the post office to see if we could get them to find our mail. It was "confirmed" delivered on Saturday, but we haven't gotten it. Fortunately there is a tracking number. The person we spoke with said he would give our carrier a note and ask her to look for it (possibly in another nearby mailbox???).

Timing

2011-12-12T22:00:00.001-06:00

Ken woke up this morning with an unusual headache and pain in his neck and shoulder. He called Dr. George's office and was told that he could come in after 11:00 a.m. as a walk-in patient. We actually got there at 10:40 a.m. and were advised that it could be an hour or two. Actually he was called quite soon.

Dr. George suggested Tylenol and heat, which is what Ken has been trying. The headache seemed to get worse for quite a while, but he's feeling a little better now.

Meanwhile, when we left the doctor's office, it was a little after 12:00, and we had a dance at 1:00 p.m. not far away. Unfortunately, I looked down and saw that my fanny pack had gotten wet from a leaking soap container and transferred black dye onto my tan pants, so we ran to Walmart to pick up some jeans and grab some yogurt and bananas for lunch. Then we hurried to the dance, only to discover that we were an hour early for the dance, which actually started at 2:00 p.m. Sigh. We did the same thing last year once. Our two other afternoon dances are 1:00 to 3:00, and we find it hard to keep track of the different time for Darryl's dance.

Meanwhile, we had made an appointment for 3:30 with Mark, our mobile RV repairman, so I had to call and change the appointment to 4:30. We got home at 4:20, just as Mark pulled up at our site. We had called him about a leak just inside the door, with water running down from the light switch covers. Mark popped the covers off, releasing more water. Then he climbed on the roof and found an area of sealant with dirt underneath, which he removed and resealed. We're hoping that the problem has been solved.

It seems that RV repair issues are never ending. We just asked Mid Valley to inspect and reseal everything. Guess they missed the spot over the door. The trim just inside the door is loose too. It should be attached with small staples, but the design requires that the staples be put in very near the edge, which is probably why they are failing. We are going to try gluing it down. The light over the dinette is disassembled. The switch we replaced two years ago broke, so we'll be shopping for a new switch tomorrow. They are hard to find. And we're concerned about problems with the door lock sticking. RV = Repair Vehicle. It's a small price to pay for the freedom of our lifestyle, though, so we try to keep a good attitude.

Ken has been sitting around with an "adhesive body heater" attached to a scarf around his neck. The heater is supposed to last 12 hours. He looks cute.

More Rain

2011-12-11T22:05:00.000-06:00

We had another rainy day today--mostly just gray and cold and drizzly--the kind of day that makes you want to cocoon. We went out to breakfast with our friends. It was really nice to have Jean join us again. She just arrived in the Valley a couple of days ago, after being treated and cured of stage 0 breast cancer. We were so glad to see her healthy! She showed off a photo of herself the last day of her radiation treatments. Just pure Jean--she was smiling and on a hike with her hiking club.

We did our walks today on the treadmills again. It's better than nothing, but I'm sure looking forward to walking outside tomorrow. We watched the Packers/Raiders game (or should I say debacle) at home and then on the TV in the exercise room. We're sure our Wisconsin friends are cheering at their overwhelming victory.

It may be gray outside, but it's cheery in our little house. The Chrismas lights and pointsettias just add some holiday sparkle.

Rainy Day!

2011-12-10T23:23:00.000-06:00

We woke up this morning to rain--and it rained pretty much all day.The area needs the rain, but this was a bit much! We were without power for several hours, and so were parts of the entire area. Fortunately, we have our inverter, so we carried on pretty much as usual.

We put up our Christmas decorations today. They look pretty much like they did last year. The lights are cheery, and the pointsettias add some color to the room.

This evening we picked up Steve and Jan and went to Diaz Diner in Mission for dinner. The menu is quite extensive, including both Mexican staples and American items. Jan had the beef brisket special, while Steve and Ken and I stuck with the Mexican plate, a standard assortment of tacos, enchiladas, chalupa, with rice and beans, all topped with cheese. They make their own chips and salsa, too.

Afterwards we went back to the Texas room and played a card/board game called Social Security. It's evidently a variant of Pegs and Jokers. Both games are similar to Parcheesi or Sorry, but there's more strategy possible in the game play, because you have a hand of five cards an can choose which to play. We played one round with the cards exposed so Steve and Jan could teach us the game. They we played two more rounds. The guys won the first, and Jan and I won the second, but both games were very close. All in all, it was a fun evening.

Tomorrow morning we'll have breakfast with the gang at Angel's, so now off to bed.

Work Day

2011-12-09T22:01:00.000-06:00

We did our laundry this morning. The laundry room is only a few steps from our site, so we just walked over with our laundry baskets--very convenient.

On our walk this morning we noticed a fellow camper had put some Rubbermaid tubs out to sell. We bought a couple, and then of course we had to reorganize our big storage tray and the truck box to accommodate our new finds. In the process we found some things we could do without, which is always good.

Ken put out the rope lights and our two LED light pathway trees. I pulled the Christmas decorations out of the closet but we haven't put them out yet.

Tonight we spent some time doing some trip planning for next summer. Of course we didn't make much progress, so we'll go back to it tomorrow.

We stopped the Solstar truck and complained to Joe, our installer, that we weren't getting the 3 MB service we are paying for. Evidently he did something, because our speed tests have improved greatly.

Last night we researched the TIVO S03 error some more. We did the kickstart 57 routine several times, but the connection never successfully loaded. We turned the TIVO off and back on--still no success. Finally I deleted the thumb ratings (even though we don't have many), and then I deleted the program information, to-do list, and season passes.

That process was underway when we went to bed. This morning, the connection process finally succeeded--yay! It took several hours to load. At the end, the guide showed program information, but the TIVO was still giving the message that it had no program data. After a few hours, it decided that it did have the info. Some of the season passes were still listed, but they showed "no upcoming episodes." I ended up deleting a recreating the season passes, which finally worked.

However, I had to create several wishlist searches, because the TIVO is having problems with not recognizing that related programs are part of the same series. For example, each Frontline episode seems to have a separate entry, so to get the TIVO to record all Frontline episodes, I used "Frontline" as a title keyword in a wishlist. Definitely the long way around, but I guess it will work.

One of these days, I'm afraid the TIVO will finally die, which will be a real shame, since we have lifetime service. We'll still have options to try replacing the hard drive or sending it off to Weak Knees for repair.

We Love Our Site

2011-12-08T22:50:00.000-06:00

We are delighted with our site! We're enjoying the large concrete pad, which allows plenty of space for us to walk to the truck without tracking through the dirt. We like the orientation, which has our door facing north. This protects us from the afternoon sun. We like the easy access to the nearby laundry room. We're near the rear entrance, so during the day (when the rear gate is open), we can come and go without driving through the whole park. And did I mention we have nice neighbors?

We took a longer walk through the state park this morning (3.4 miles in an hour). Since we were out for exercise, we didn't stop much, but we still saw plenty of birds, including a large group of kiskadees. They're fascinating to watch. We haven't seen any javelinas yet, so we're wondering if the population has just not returned after the flooding.

This evening we danced to Darryl again. He always keeps us on our toes. Tonight he worked again on some unusual J boxes and with three by one triangles and other triple tandem formations. The best part of the evening was that Steve and Jan were there. She is feeling better (though still not back to okay).

Our TIVO has been acting up--giving an S03 error, which indicates some kind of corrupt data or hard drive error. So far the fixes that have worked in the past don't seem to be working.

The Solstar network seems to be more reliable this evening, but is still not up to even 1 MB download. When we stopped by today, Lupita said they were working on the network, so the problems we were experiencing weren't unique to us. I hope the service improves soon.

Cable Internet Surfing

2011-12-07T00:03:00.000-06:00

Well, today we finally got our cable modem, so we're on the Internet again. However, our supposed to be 3 MB service is limping along. We'll have to call tomorrow if it doesn't improve.

We danced twice today. In the afternoon we danced to Jerry Story for the first time this season. He workshopped Cross By calls (like Cross By Tally Ho). As always, it was fun to dance to Jerry. Surprisingly there were only three squares. We're hoping more dancers will show up as the season progresses.

Tonight we danced to Joe Saltel. Again, we had fun and our skills were challenged (sometimes past the breaking point!). We had sixteen couples, but one couple could only dance every other tip, so we had three or four squares.

It was cold again today, but at least the sun was out and the wind had died down. We're supposed to get some warmer weather coming up.

We're concerned about our friend Jan. She dropped out of a tip at Jerry's dance, complaining of pain. Steve took her home, and she felt better after taking some medicine and resting. We sure hope she feels much better tomorrow.

Solstar

2011-12-06T21:26:00.000-06:00

Well, the Solstar installer was supposed to come this morning, but he got too busy. Lupita said she'd let him know we'd be back later in the afternoon, but we never heard from him. Maybe tomorrow morning will be the charm. Meanwhile, we are using the park's open wifi.

This afternoon we went to Randy's C-1 workshop/dance. He spends the first hour workshopping and the second just calls a dance. Today we workshopped peeling and trailing from different positions. The most difficult was a tandem peel off. The C-2 dancers were way ahead of the game, since he workshopped the same thing with them this morning.

It was cold today, and windy. We did our evening "walk" on the treadmills in the exercise room. At least this year both of them are working.

We signed up for Christmas dinner at the clubhouse. We'll be at a table with three other couples. At this point, one slot is empty and the other two are people from the 600 circle.

We're Back Home

2011-12-05T23:18:00.000-06:00

We picked up Venture from Mid Valley RV this afternoon, with our whole list of repairs complete. The most significant was the replacement of the floor in the bedroom slide out. We are delighted to have our home back. Here's a photo of Phil Pray, Service Manager and wizard. He and his crew figured out some creative solutions to our repair needs and charged a very reasonable price.

We pulled into Bentsen Palm about 4:30 p.m., and it took the rest of the evening to get things unpacked and resettled. We are very happy with our new site, #608. It has a concrete pad and is long enough and wide enough that we'll be very comfortable here, plus we have very nice neighbors.

Ken has an appointment in the morning with a gastroenterologist recommended by Dr. George.

Happy Birthday, Romaine!

2011-12-04T22:50:00.004-06:00

Today is Ken's sister Romaine's 80th birthday. He called to wish her a happy day. Her family took her out to lunch, which she enjoyed. We last saw her when we were in Michigan in July and had a very nice visit.

We joined the gang at Angel's for breakfast for the first time this season. It's a weekly get-together of friends at a very friendly little restaurant just up the road. This morning we made eight: Hardy and Judy, Jan and Steve, Bob and Pat, and Ken and me. We had forgotten the camera, so I took a quick shot with my Droid (please excuse the fuzziness).

After breakfast we drove down to the state park to take our morning walk. Besides the exercise and fresh air, we got to see lots of colorful birds and butterflies. Birds included green jays, greater kiskadees, chacalacas, and cardinals, in addition to mockingbirds and grackles. Here are a couple of cyclists watching the birds at the resaca blind.

This cardinal is enjoying the water feature. We watched a kiskadee delicately sipping, but only after watchful waiting to insure no predators were around.

On the way out of the park, we noticed a naturalist, Javier De Leon, checking out a butterfly, a rare visitor from Mexico. It was a Beautiful Beamer, first recorded in the U.S. at Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park in April, 2003. He handed me his binoculars, so I got a chance to see this unusual sight. Of course, I'm such a novice that I wouldn't have known how rare a treat I was getting if he hadn't told me. Here's a photo I found on the web.

Tonight we joined Hardy and Judy and Bob and Pat at the movies (Steve and Jan have a regular card playing date on Sunday evenings). We went to Cinemark Movies 6 to see a film called 50/50. It was authentic, honest, sometimes hilarious--the story of a young man who is told he has spinal cancer and has a 50% chance to survive. We enjoyed the movie because the lead character is so real and likable. The depiction of his overly protective mother is spot on. Some aspects of the plot are unrealistic (like his interaction with a graduate intern counselor), the depiction of his girlfriend is definitely negative, and his buddy is a bit too over the top in his language and behavior, but the movie was definitely worthwhile.

Tomorrow we'll pack up and hope to hear from Phil. It will be good to get back to Venture.

Around GreenGate Grove

2011-12-03T20:42:00.000-06:00

We spent our walks today looking at RV lots for sale and for rent. Along the way we saw a few park models and mobile homes too. We’re thinking about buying something, but for 2012-2013, we’ll be looking for something to rent. It seems to make sense to rent for a while before making a decision to buy in the park.

GreenGate Grove is a mixed use park, meaning that houses, mobile homes, park models, and RV spaces all have a place here. There’s a wide variety of living arrangements, from large two-lot brick homes to bare places to park, and everything in between. Steve and Jan have an RV lot with a Texas room and a shed with washer/dryer and workbench. They have a corner lot with trees, and they enjoy gardening. Long term, we think we might enjoy having something similar, though perhaps with a smaller Texas room (theirs is as big as our house).

Ken installed PdaNet 3.02 on my laptop. He has it on his too. The program allows us to share our Droid data connection by tethering the phone to the laptop. This is something that the service providers certainly oppose, but the program is supposed to mask the tethering from the company. It’s not something we’re likely to use a lot, but right now, it’s great, since we turned off our USB modem for three months in anticipation of having cable Internet at Bentsen Palm Village. That leaves us without a data connection until Venture is repaired and the cable modem is installed next Tuesday.

I picked up some cheap compact speakers to use to play the radio on my Droid. It turned out that they’re too cheap. The volume is very low, and the sound quality is actually no better than the Droid internal speaker. What I’d really like is a home theater system with an MP3 player jack.

Still in the Texas Room

2011-12-02T20:43:00.000-06:00

We were hoping against hope to get Venture back today, but it was not to be. Ken talked to Phil after lunch. Among other things, Phil said that the black water dump valve we had installed in August by a mobile repair man was the wrong valve. Excel used a different type of valve in the 2006 and 2007 models. We are hoping that the repair this time will actually work. In any case, we’ll have to wait until Monday to move to Bentsen Palm Village.

So we prepared to spend the weekend here by washing a couple of loads of clothes. I went with Jan to visit the produce vendor at the clubhouse and got some good looking fruits and veggies. Ken and I culled some photos.

Jan brought over some peppermint fudge she had made from a Hungry Girl recipe for us to try out. It was delicious. The secret is using canned pumpkin instead of eggs and oil in a fudge brownie mix and then topping it with crushed candy canes and white chocolate chips. She made the fudge (which we all agreed was great but actually fudgy brownies rather than fudge) to take to the Friday night movie at the clubhouse.

The movie was Family Man with Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni. I really like Nicholas Cage, and both the leads did some excellent acting. The little girl who plays their daughter is charmingly precocious. The plot is pretty predictable—kind of a cross between It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. The story begins on Christmas Eve, and our hero is transported from his selfish, isolated rich life to a “glimpse” of what might have been, had he married his college sweetheart. It’s a feel good film with some funny and touching moments. What more can you ask for a free night at the movies—with popcorn provided by Steve?

Ken and I played Rummikub tonight, splitting 2-1 in my favor. I’m doing very well in our current Words With Friends game (but not so well in my game with Edward, where I can’t seem to get any decent letter combinations).

Faucet Problem

2011-12-01T20:51:00.000-06:00

This morning we woke to find that our Verizon USB modem was indeed inoperable, as expected. We still have internet access with our Droids, and the park has wi-fi at the clubhouse, so we’re not entirely cut off, but we definitely miss having easy access.

We were out on our morning walk around the park when Ken’s phone rang. It was Phil from Mid Valley calling to say that they had run into a problem. It turned out that the kitchen faucet we bought from Lowe’s was missing a part (this despite the fact that we had bought a sealed package).

We immediately drove to Lowe’s on Jackson in McAllen and found a replacement faucet, which we took to Mid Valley. That problem was solved, but Phil admitted that it was beginning to look like the work would not be finished in time for us to pick it up tomorrow. If that happens, they will have to complete the work next Monday, delaying our move to Bentsen Palm by three more days. We told him that we’d really like to have the work done tomorrow, but that our priority was to have the work done right. So now we’ll wait and see.

This evening we drove to Darryl’s dance with Steve and Jan. As dance time approached, I realized that we didn’t have many dancers in the hall. We ended up with thirteen couples—three squares and an extra. Last Thursday we had quite a few more. Steve and Jan reported that some dancers were at a play at Veteran’s High School (including Hardy and Judy). Also, the Link Family are performing at Aladdin Villas, so some dancers were probably at that show.

This morning, Steve and Jan got up at 4:00 a.m. and drove to Nikki Rowe High School to stand in line to buy tickets for the annual musical. This year the show is Mame. They got 14 tickets for the afternoon senior discount performance on January 21. The students always put on a great performance. We thoroughly enjoyed last year’s musical, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?

Steve and Jan have been more than gracious about letting us live in their Texas room. They even smiled and told us “no problem” when we reported that we might not have our rig fixed tomorrow.

This afternoon we drove over to Bentsen Palm Village and ordered resort name badges. This will be our fourth season, so it’s about time. Most of the dancers wear the badges of their parks, and badges are encouraged when you attend events at the clubhouse.

Mexico

2011-11-30T23:27:00.000-06:00

Today we went to Nuevo Progreso, to Jessica's Place, to celebrate G.W.'s upcoming birthday. On his actual birthday, December 7, he and David will be on their way to a cruise of the Hawaiian Islands. G.W. has never been to Hawaii, and David was there in 1969, so they'll have lots to discover. We were glad that Bob and Pat were able to join us. Pat had her chemo port removed this morning (yay!), and the process turned out to be quicker and easier than they had expected.

Pat and Bob, Steve, Lee, G.W., David, Judy, Jan, and Hardy.

Lee couldn't resist joining line dancers for Elvira

After drinks and munchies at Jessica's, we went to Old Town Restaurant for lunch. G.W. recommended the taco salad, so nearly everyone ordered that. The kitchen ran out of taco shell bowls, so some of us ended up with tostadas instead. Ken ordered chile relleno.

Lots of us went on to Ruben's for pedicures, eyebrow waxing, and hair cuts. Ken had his head shaved, finally joining Steve and Hardy and some of our other friends--as well as his son, Jeff. We all thought it looked really handsome, but it might take a while for him to adjust to his new look, and to the breeze on his head.

Pat, Jan, and Steve enjoy pedicures and foot massages.

The selection of nail colors is labeled "finger paints."

Handsome dude!

On the way home, we stopped in Donna to visit Venture. Here's the floor of the bedroom slide that was replaced. We were happy to hear that all the repairs should be done by Friday, so we'll be able to pick it up and move in to Bentsen Palm Village only one day late.

Jeff called to let us know he got a new motorcycle. He was so excited that he wanted to make sure we checked out the photo he emailed.

Jeff's new motorcycle

We went to Joe Saltel's C-1 dance tonight and had lots of fun--even when we messed up. He calls some really original choreography and keeps us thinking as well as moving. We finally got to dance with Roy and Phyllis, two of our favorite cut up characters! After the dance we went to the DQ and ate fudgesicles.

Early Check-In

2011-11-29T23:35:00.000-06:00

We drove over to Bentsen Palm Village this afternoon to let them know we'll be arriving after December 1 and to check in ahead of time. That way when we get Venture back, we can just drive in and hook up. We also stopped at the Solstar office to arrange for cable internet to be installed next Monday. We're excited at the prospect of moving in to our new home for the season.

This afternoon we went with Steve and Jan to Randy Dougherty's C-1 workshop/dance. We enjoyed it, but we aren't planning on going regularly. Our regular schedule includes four dances a week, which is just about enough for Ken.

We did some shopping too. For the first time in years, I bought Healthy Choice dinners. We don't have much in the way of cooking facilities, so it was very easy to have something that could be microwaved quickly. I had forgotten how much we enjoy the chicken parmigiana.

Venture to Mid Valley, Ken and Lee to Spauldings

2011-11-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

We got up early this morning so we could pack up, hitch up, and take Venture to Mid Valley RV in Donna, TX, by 9:00 a.m. There we met Phil and went over our repair list. We had emailed with Phil but hadn't met him before. He was friendly and professional, making us feel good about trusting our home to his care. He made no guarantees, but said that he expected to have the work completed by Friday.

We said goodbye to Venture and headed to Mission, to Green Gate Grove, where we will be tenants in Steve and Jan's Texas room for the duration. They are wonderful hosts and had the room all ready for us. We moved in with all our bags and boxes and pillows and stuff and made ourselves at home. Then we went for a walk to scout out the neighborhood.

Our temporary home away from home...

Christmas decor in the neighborhood

After lunch we drove to Darryl's C-1 workshop at TVA (Tropical Valley Acres). Jan and Steve were there along with lots of our other dancing friends, including some we haven't seen for many months. It was good to touch base and trade hugs with folks we've been following mainly on Facebook for the summer.

Check out Rich's tee-shirt, Star Wars fans!

When we returned, we set out to walk before supper. The neighborhood is interesting, with lots of unique landscaping and decor.

One thing that really caught our eye as we walked along was a New Horizons fifth wheel with an Escapees logo. The owners were outside and immediately invited us for the 25 cent tour. We actually got much more than 25 cents worth! We ended up staying to talk with Madeline and Jerry for over an hour. They are gracious hosts and enthusiastic about life, with plenty to share. They lived in Europe for sixteen years before retiring, returning to the States, and moving into a New Horizons.

We were interested to find many points of commonality. They have a 30 foot rig because they also like Forest Service and similar campgrounds, where they volunteer in the summers. They have solar panels, batteries and inverter similar to ours. They are Boomers and Escapees--and much more. We are so glad we've met them.

We watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Shrek the Halls on TV tonight. The TV in the Texas room is on antenna, so the channel selection is not too wide, but it was fun to watch some kids' shows.

More Wind!

2011-11-27T22:52:00.000-06:00

A brisk north wind blew all day, snapping the flags about and waving the treetops. When we went out to walk, we bundled up and tried to protect our eyes from the blowing dust.

Our neighbors behaved very strangely. They were evidently trying to stabilize their TV dish, which the wind was disturbing. What made it odd is that they spent several hours at it. They added tie-downs. They struggled to point the dish. And they took turns standing outside in the wind holding the dish. We have no earthly idea what was going on. People do the darnedest things, and you get to observe lots of them in campgrounds and RV parks.

Our Qube was also displaced by the wind, but we just packed it up and put it away, along with everything else we had outside. It was a real trick taking up and folding our patio rug with the wind whipping it around, but we managed. However, the next time we unfold it, we'll have a job removing all the sand burrs that had stuck to the bottom side!

Tomorrow morning we'll take Venture in for repairs, so we spent today getting prepared. We had to remove everything from the bedroom slide, which meant relocating all the "stuff" we keep in the storage area under the bed and in the nightstands and overhead cabinets. Everything had to be relocated from the cabinets under the sinks too. Plus we had to pack for something like an extended camping trip: we'll be camped out in Spauldings' Texas room for the duration.

As Ken said, it's a good thing we have a big truck!

We'll have a big day tomorrow. Hope all goes well.

Go, Big Blue!

2011-11-26T22:53:00.000-06:00

Ken watched the Michigan/Ohio State game today. The arch-rivals met at the Big House. The Wolverines won, cheered on by masses of screaming fans waving yellow pom poms (it's a "Maize out!"), breaking a seven game losing streak.

Today was a mainly pleasant day, but the dark clouds gathered and the winds whistled through the park, bringing a few spattering drops of rain. Tonight the wind is wailing and buffeting our home, but we feel cozy inside.

We went to Lowe's today to return the kitchen faucet we bought earlier (the finish was already spotted). We bought a Moen faucet that we hope will work well for us for the kitchen. For the bath, we chose an American Standard.

Tonight we watched a Masterpiece Mystery we had recorded, the last Inspector Lewis of the season. Our collection of recorded shows keeps growing faster than we can watch them.

For some reason the TIVO season pass manager is showing no upcoming episodes for any of our shows, but at the same time, the To Do List indicates that it does know about the episodes and will record them. We'll have to watch to see if we can figure out what is going on.

Happy Thanksgiving--or Is It Merry Christmas???

2011-11-25T20:26:00.001-06:00

This morning on our walk we brought the camera along so we could get some photos of the flocks of butterflies feeding on a spectacular Betony Mistflower plant. All the dark spots on the first photo are actually queen butterflies, and there are lots of smaller butterflies and bees too.

We have been noticing our floor registers are showing some wear. The paint is chipped, and the edges are rusting. We actually bought some spray paint for them over a year ago (we're really good at procrastination!). Today we unscrewed all of them and sanded them. We used some rust remover/inhibitor on them. But we ended up not painting them, because it was just too windy.

This evening we drove over to Bentsen Palm Village, where we'll be spending December, January, and February in site #608. We're excited to have such a nice space. The 600 circle has concrete pads. Our site will be oriented with the front door and patio facing north, which will keep the interior much more comfortable. We stopped to look at the site and met our neighbors on both sides--really friendly folks. John and Susan in site #609 are fellow Escapees and full-timers. They hit the road in October 2007, only a few months before us.

We took our evening walk in the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park (aka World Birding Center Headquarters). We were happy to see that the entire park is open again (after the floods of summer 2010). Also, the construction of flood gates at the levee is complete, so no need to thread your way around construction equipment to get into the park.

Then we went to Retama Village for their Christmas Decor Gala/Open House. Carolers were singing, and rum punch, coffee, and a lovely and delicious variety of Christmas cookies were served. We had hoped to see some of our friends there, but evidently missed them, so after enjoying our first party of the "Christmas Season," we headed home for dinner.

Today is Ed and Julie's eleventh anniversary. Congratulations to you both! It's also my goddaughter Debbie's 34th birthday. Hard to imagine where the time has flown!

We are working on a list of items for Mid Valley RV to repair when we take our rig in next week. It is unfortunately a long list! Tomorrow we're planning to go out looking for a better kitchen faucet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T23:20:00.001-06:00

We are so fortunate and have so much to be thankful for! Today we shared a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with good friends. We had lots of laughs and more than enough to eat, topped off by pumpkin and pecan pie. Yum!

Pat Boyink, Jan Spaulding, Judy Pottinger, and Lee Marks stand behind the spread.

Steve Spaulding, Hardy Pottinger, Bob Boyink, and Ken Marks in the living room.

We all walked over to Steve and Jan's place. We'll be staying in their Texas room next week while Venture is in the shop, and we wanted to check things out and get some ideas about what to bring with us. We are so spoiled by having our home an all our stuff with us no matter where we roam that it's hard to think about packing.

Jan showed us her baby tomatoes, which are doing quite well. They came to the Valley in October and found that the plants needed more water. The ripe tangelos and lovely roses in bloom are the fruits of their efforts.

We were disappointed this morning watching the CBS broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Most of the time was taken up by promotions of shows and celebrities. They described the balloons and some of the floats, but we didn't get to hear or see a single band. It was a bit shocking to hear the "shop, shop, shop" emphasis--especially the comment that Santa's appearance at the end of the parade is a signal that it's time to shop!

The sky was very clear and blue today. Tonight when we walked we saw Orion near the horizon in the east. We enjoy seeing the stars, and the night sky is reasonably dark here, especially at new moon.

Jan made the Harvard beets and the turkey an stuffing and gravy, Pat made apple salad and squash casserole, Judy made mashed potatoes and the pies and biscuits, Lee made sweet potato casserole with pecan streusel topping, and we brought fruit and veggies and munchies. The food was delicious and a great time was had by all.

Dancing to Joe Saltel

2011-11-23T23:00:00.002-06:00

We danced C-1 tonight at Texas Trails again, but this time the caller was Joe Saltel. We saw lots more of our Winter Texan friends that we haven't seen since last spring. Some of the folks haven't had a chance to dance all summer, and everyone needs a bit more practice, but we had lots of fun.

One thing we enjoy about Texas Trails is the display in the hallway of the arts and crafts produced by the residents. These folks are really talented! This week the woodcarvings are of Santas carved out of tree bark.

We stopped at the big HEB store at 10th and Trenton on the way home to pick up some last minute things for the Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow. We weren't the only ones doing some last minute grocery shopping. The parking lot was nearly full, even though it was 9:30 p.m., and the store was packed with shoppers.

I Googled lots of sweet potato recipes today and decided to go with a traditional sweet potato casserole with pecan streusel topping, always a favorite. We'll be up in the morning, cutting fruits and veggies and preparing everything for the feast.

Earlier today we managed to spend a few minutes looking over possible routes for next summer. We definitely want to visit the south rim of the Grand Canyon. My family went there when I was 14. What a magnificent place!

We also scraped the old non-skid strips off our folding step. They've been in bad condition for some time, and we finally bought some new stripping to replace the disintegrating old stuff. Unfortunately in the process of scraping off the old strips we scraped off part of the paint too, so it looks like we'll be repainting.

Camelot

2011-11-22T21:37:00.000-06:00

Today is the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1963, we were 18. For me, JFK represented hope and possibility, and his death, followed by the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., signaled the loss of innocence and optimism. The world was a much darker and more frightening place than I had recognized. Kennedy may not have been perfect, but he was a statesman and leader who could challenge Americans to be their better selves.

Today has been another hot day, so we are doing most of our walking in the evening.

Ken got the 16 GB micro SD card he had ordered from Amazon today It's lots of extra storage for his tablet computer--another new toy.

I fixed one of our favorite recipes tonight, toasted chicken sandwiches with caramelized onions and apples. The new element in the meal was the Imagine brand sweet potato soup. It was not our favorite soup.

I had an appointment with Dr. George this morning. He looked at the remnants of my tick bite (from June), put a band aid on it, and suggested Benadryl and avoiding scratching. At least I'm reassured that there's nothing seriously wrong.

Happy Birthday, Cathlene!

2011-11-21T23:21:00.000-06:00

Today is Cathy's fifteenth birthday. Wow! and that means that Ken and I are about to celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary. That doesn't sound like much compared to 46 years, but to us, it will definitely seem like a cause for celebration.

This afternoon we danced at TVA--Tropical Valley Acres to Darryl Lipscomb and saw some of our Valley friends we haven't seen since last spring. It was nice to see familiar faces. Today was Pat Boyink's 70th birthday. She is looking good (has her hair back, yay!) and doing well since her treatments ended. We were happy to dance with her and Bob.

Another hot day, but lots of wind again. We did most of our walking this evening after dark, when the temp had cooled down into the 70s.

We watched a TIVO recording of a Nature episode titled "My Life as a Turkey." The title made us curious, but we were really touched by the program and by Joe Hutto, the naturalist and photographer who is the protagonist of the story (though it turns out that he is portrayed by an actor, and the footage is a "re-creation." Some of his observations were quite thought provoking. He is evidently a person with a passion for animals and a profound respect for the natural world.

On the way home from the dance, we were driving to the big HEB that has a good selection of organic food when we passed a Sprouts where the old Sun Harvest used to be on 10th Street. Of course we had to stop and check it out. It's much smaller than the Sprouts in Flower Mound, but still good to know it's there.

It was difficult to find a parking space at the HEB. We were there during the after work rush, and it's Thanksgiving week. All in all it was rather hectic, and we decided to call it a day when we were only half way through the store. It was after 6 p.m. wken we got home.

Tonight Ken whupped me at Ingenious. The smaller board used for two players closes in quickly, compared to the four-player version we were playing with Ed and Cate.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

2011-11-20T19:27:00.001-06:00

The high on this sunny day was 92 degrees. The heat was tempered a bit by the wind. We went over to the pool, but ended up in the air conditioned clubhouse, reading in the library. It's been a quiet day. Once the sun got lower in the sky, it was still in the 80s, but at least it was livable when we went for our evening walk.

I've been playing Words With Friends with Ed and Julie and Ken. Despite some success, my win-loss record is dismal. It was a refreshing experience to play Boggle with Ken tonight. He graciously allowed me to recover some of my self respect.

One of the things we found in the library was a Michael Moore documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11. It was disgusting, horrifying, saddening, awful to contemplate the realities of big oil, big money, war, and death.

Celebration

2011-11-19T22:53:00.001-06:00

We joined some good friends tonight at Mimi's Cafe to celebrate some special events. Steve and Jan Spaulding are celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary, and Jan wore a skirt in honor of the occasion. Hardy Pottinger's birthday was last Monday. Not that these couples need much of an excuse to go out to eat! We had a delightful time sharing stories of our summer.

While we were eating, Chris called. He and Annie and Shawn were walking on the beach on the Oregon coast, seeing the moon jellies, which reminded him of our visit to the coast in April.

From Mimi's we all drove out to Texas Trails to Darryl Lipscomb's A dance. We had three squares of dancers plus one couple. It was great to see Pat Boyink dancing--and with her own hair grown out, too. She recommended the Mission Beauty College, just west of Bryan Ave.

In honor of the celebration, Jan actually wore a skirt! Aren't they a cute couple?

Some of the gang went to Dairy Queen after the dance, but Ken and I headed home. I'm actually not feeling great. Over the last few days I've had a scratchy throat, especially in the evenings.

Runaround

2011-11-18T22:42:00.000-06:00

This morning we did our laundry, walking while the clothes were in the washer and again while they were drying. This afternoon Ken had a doctor's appointment. We were running a little late, so we hurriedly packed some sandwiches and headed to Mission. When we got there, Ken found out that Dr. George was at the Edinburgh office today, so we turned around and drove north. Rosie misplaced the office, so we had to call and ask for directions (so much for GPS technology!).

Tonight we met some friends at the old McAllen Convention Center to attend the opening concert in the McAllen Community Concert series. We don't have tickets, but John and Sandy Walenter aren't in the Valley yet, so we got to use their tickets. The featured group tonight was the Water Coolers. They bill themselves as "The comedy group that sings."

They were funny, with some on-target satire about corporate life, and their singing was enjoyable. However, their performance didn't seem to fit with others in the concert series. In fact, it didn't seem to be a concert. Besides, most of the audience aren't part of the corporate world they were lampooning. Some bits hit home with the audience (air travel, dealing with computer help lines, and such).

The best part of the evening was getting hugs from our friends we haven't seen in months. It's good to be home.

The good news about Ken's doctor visit is that the bump on the back of his hand isn't melanoma (whew!). Instead it's a cyst on a hair follicle, and Dr. George froze it. Ken is also getting a referral to a gastroenterologist for follow-up on his acid reflux problems.

Down in the Valley

2011-11-17T22:11:00.001-06:00

We maneuvered our way out of Tips Park this morning, trying to avoid tangling with overhead branches, and headed south on US 281. Our first stop was at the Walmart in Alice, where we switched drivers and picked up some groceries.

We stopped at a nice rest area in Brooks County for lunch. It's one we stopped at on the way north last spring and took note of--it's located in the median about nine miles south of Falfurias (the county seat), so it's accessible both northbound and southbound. Right now everything is dry as a bone, and very little is green, but it was still a welcome respite from driving.

As we drove south, we saw more and more familiar sights (mainly lots of mesquite trees!). North of Edinburgh we passed a sign proclaiming "Gateway to the Rio Grande Valley." It felt good to be back "home" for the winter. We'll be here for the next four months, having good times with friends, doing plenty of square dancing--and keeping warm!

Tomorrow we'll meet some friends and attend a McAllen Community Concert, but for tonight, it's enough just to rest up from our trip.

Berry Springs Walk and Heading South

2011-11-16T22:25:00.000-06:00

We headed over to Berry Springs Park and Preserve again this morning, intending to check out the tenting campground and historic structures we had seen called out on the map. The park is much more extensive than the sections we've seen so far. We walked around the historic structures and saw John Berry's grave and some presumably "historic" donkeys!

We also looked around the "Improved Campground," which has tent sites with tables and fire rings, but no hookups. All of the sites are shaded by either trees or shelters over the table. The fire rings are sport signs warning that there's a burn ban in effect. In the photos you can see some of the many pecan trees.

No one is on site, but we spotted an ATV with a couple of passengers and flagged it down to ask about the mysterious animal tracks in the pavement. The folks said they knew the tracks were deliberately placed and included animals not native to this park, but they didn't really know anything more about them. They said they would turn in our suggestion that it would be good to have some signage describing the tracks.

Our trip today took us through Austin an San Antonio on I-35. South of San Antonio we picked up I-37/US 281. That route goes almost directly south from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley, through some pretty desolate scrub plains. Our regular stopping point is a city park in Three Rivers, Tips Park. When I called a couple of days ago, the host said there were no vacancies. When I pressed her to provide us just a place to park with no hookups, she agreed that we could come on in and just park on the grass off to the west of the entrance gate. So that's where we are. It's near the highway, so a bit noisy, but fine for an overnight. There are not many options, so we're glad to have this spot.

We wanted to watch the first Nova program on the Cosmos, which we had Tivo'ed, but it turned out to be very pixelated. It was recorded on 11/2, which must have been a stormy night. We watched the second program instead, on the nature of time, which I found interesting but rather confusing. The contention that past, present, and future are all equally in existence at once leads to questions about free will and the possibility of alternate universes that were not addressed. Maybe the third program, which was recorded tonight, will examine some of these topics. We're hoping to stream the first program from the web when we get to Bentsen Palm, where we'll have a cable internet connection.

Lewisville to Berry Springs

2011-11-15T22:01:00.002-06:00

After a great two weeks visiting Ed and Julie and Cate and Sam and Jesse, we packed up this morning to head south for the winter. We stopped at a Texas Safety Rest Area just south of Waxahachie for lunch.

Our destination for tonight was a familiar one: Berry Springs RV Park, just off I-35 in Georgetown. One of the reasons we like this park is that it offers an Escapees discount. Another is its convenient location. But the most important is that Berry Springs Park and Preserve is just across the street.

We enjoy walking the trails in the park, including the wide concrete trail with its many animal prints. Some of them seem pretty fanciful. Surely there aren't any birds this large in the area!

We wouldn't like to have a run in with whatever made these prints!

We haven't been able to find any information on the prints online, and there are no signs in the park identifying them.

The last time we were here, this little fishing lake was full of water. Now it's nearly dry, probably another victim of the long Texas drought. It's hard to believe that a historic grist mill once occupied this site, powered by a spring that produced millions of gallons of water a day.

The park has a campground, but it's for tents only, so we'll be staying at the commercial park when we come through here next.

When we arrived at Berry Springs and opened the door to our home, we found dishes strewn about. Good thing that Corelle is break resistant! Some lunch plates were under the table even. This is the second time recently that dishes have fallen out of the cupboard over the sink. I was looking at the catches that are supposed to hold the doors shut when I noticed that both of the roller parts were broken. One roller on each was missing--the rivets had broken. We've replaced the other parts--the C-clamps--once or twice, but never replaced the roller sides. We'll be heading out tomorrow with a rubber band holding the doors shut!

I called Julie to see how Sam was doing. She says that he started taking the antibiotics yesterday, and this morning he was already feeling better. Yesterday morning when he woke up, he reported that his ear felt "fuzzy," which made sense to Julie. She felt the same way when she had an ear infection last year.

Ken didn't put the Qube out tonight. Instead we raised the antenna and watched the PBS Newshour on channel 18.1.

Looking online for info about the park, we found a map, much like many other facility maps we've seen. Only this one has an extensive legal disclaimer:

This map is for general planning purposes only. The basemap conforms to National Map
Accuracy Standards in unobstructed areas. Williamson County makes no warranty,
representation or guarantee as to the content, sequence, accuracy, timeliness or
completeness of any of the database information or spatial locations depicted.
Furthermore, all warranties on merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are
hereby disclaimed. In no event shall Williamson County be liable to the recipient or any
other party for damages of any type, including but not limited to incidental, consequential
or exemplary damages arising out of the use or inability to use these materials.

Wonder how many lawyers it took to write that!

We had an empty propane tank. Luckily we found an easily accessible propane business, Star Tex Propane, on the southern side of Waco. They were reasonably priced and friendly.

Dentist, Again

2011-11-14T22:20:00.000-06:00

We got up early this morning and drove to Grapevine to visit our dentist, Dr. Colangelo. We both had cleanings scheduled, and Ken was getting his crown installed. Everything went well. Ken's crown fit just right, and we both have brighter smiles.

On the way back from the dentist, we stopped at Grapevine Mills to return a couple of things. Then we went on to Home Depot and Lowes to look at kitchen faucets. We'd like to replace the one we have: it leaks and is corroded and the finish is very bad. It's much harder to pick out a faucet than I thought it would be. We bought one, brought it home, and then discovered that the finish already has spots on it.

After lunch, we took a bike ride around the park and the nearby neighborhood. We spotted these geese foraging on the lake shore. They all seem to be fat and sassy. This one appears to be doing a "goose step"!

Ken took a photo of this intriguing structure across the lake. We have no idea what it is.

Unfortunately, I started feeling under the weather last night, and I'm still feeling pretty puny today. So it was no surprise to read Julie's Facebook post that she took Sam to the doctor today. He's got an ear infection. I think what I have is an example of the "grandkids effect."

Tomorrow morning we leave Lewisville and head to the Rio Grande Valley for the winter. Tomorrow evening we'll be at Berry Springs Campground in Georgetown. The next night will find us at Tips Park in Three Rivers on Wednesday. We called today and found out they don't have any sites available, but the host agreed to let us dry camp in the park.

S'mores at Last!

2011-11-13T22:08:00.000-06:00

Instead of a walk, we went for a bike ride this morning. It was a bit windy, but warm. We rode mainly in the neighborhoods west of Mill St. Here's an interesting yard we passed, with a mini-golf course in the front yard advertising synthetic grass.

Later we went over to Ed and Julie's for a final visit. When we got there, Cate was scoring the Farkel game to practice her math. She won, by the way. Ed and Cate and Sam and I played Tiger Woods Wii golf. Fortunately, Cate and Sam and I were in "all play" mode, which makes the game much easier, but by no means foolproof, which I proceeded to demonstrate. After a while, Ed was complaining that his wrist hurt, and I was noticing that my wrist and my shoulder felt quite stressed. Even though it's not a real golf game, slinging the Wii remote around takes a toll on the joints!

Ken and Ed and Cate and I played Ingenious! next. Ken won, with Cate a close second.

We decided it was time to move on to supper and a campfire at the campground. We had planned this outing last weekend, but the weather hadn't cooperated.

We stopped at Sprouts and picked up some hot dogs and buns. Everything came together well. Ken and Ed got the fire going. It was getting dark by the time we roasted the hot dogs, but they tasted fine in the dark! Ken and I had Applewood uncured chicken wieners, and they were quite good. The highlight of the evening was the s'mores. Nothing like roasted marshmallows and gooey melting chocolate in graham crackers. Yum!

Somehow in the midst of all the fun, we forgot to take pictures, darn it!

After we cleaned up and put the fire out, we adjourned to our trailer. We wanted to show Ed and Julie our new Stressless chairs. Ed stretched out comfortably.

Cate was expectantly waiting for some spooky campfire stories, so of course we had to turn out the lights and tell the story of the man with the golden arm--but without scaring the kids so much they'd have nightmares, of course. Then Cate took a turn to tell a scary story about a mean witch, and Sam told one about Rackel with the red hands.

Jesse wandered around exploring everything. He even had to have the bathroom door opened so he could see what was inside.

At last it was time for the Shaffers to head home and get ready for bed and school tomorrow. We won't see them again, so we all hugged and kissed goodbye. I'll be back in a few weeks for Kelley's graduation, and we'll be back again in the spring in time for Cate's birthday.

Sam picked up a splinter from one of the benches. When we came inside, Julie asked for a pair of tweezers, at which point Sam started screaming bloody murder and struggling with all his might to get away. Finally Ed and Julie held him down while I plucked out the offending splinter and bandaged the wound. When that was done, Sam was miraculously quiet and happy again, just as if the wild storm of the previous minutes hadn't occurred.