More New Tires

We have become regular contributors to Discount Tire's bottom line. After yesterday's blowout, we called around trying to locate two tires to match the original Firestones that came with our Excel. They turned out to be hard to find and expensive, so we started thinking about the possibility of replacing all four tires. Although we bought Venture in July 2007, the trailer was actually manufactured in November 2005, and the tires were manufactured before that. Opinions differ, but many advise replacing RV tires once they are four to six years old, even if the tread depth is fine.

We decided we'd err on the safe side and buy four new tires, keeping the best of our original tires for a spare. We found a Discount Tire store along I-35 and conveniently were able to eat lunch while waiting for them to install the tires. We were on our way in just over an hour with four new Yokohama tires.

We were delighted to see wildflowers in bloom all along the highway today (thanks to Lady Bird Johnson), including lots of Texas bluebonnets.

We are staying tonight at Berry Springs RV Park in Georgetown, just north of Austin. We stayed here last November on our way south. It's a good overnight, near the interstate, and it offers an Escapee discount. After supper we headed out for our walk and decided that rather than circle the park, we'd walk along the road. We immediately noticed a sign for a hike and bike path.

Our exploration took us to a new-looking cement path, and we immediately noticed that the wet cement showed signs of critters leaving their paw/foot prints as they crossed or meandered along the path. Soon we were seeing at least one set of prints every 10-12 feet, and the variety was impressive.

The path led through Berry Springs Park and Preserve, which we hope to explore more on future visits.
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On the Road Again--and Trouble

We headed out this morning on our way north to the Dallas area--our first real move after four months in the Rio Grande Valley. Everything seemed a bit unfamiliar after so long in one place. We played our theme song, Willie Nelson's On the Road Again. We stopped for lunch at a rest area and walked around a little bit. After we'd been on the road for another hour, we switched drivers at a "Parking Area" (in Texas, that's a rest area with no facilities).

Ken had been driving for only a little while when he suddenly said, "There's smoke coming from the back of the trailer." He pulled over along the highway and we got out to discover a completely ruined rear tire. We called Good Sam and they arranged for a tire service to come change our tire. The lucky thing about towing our home is that we then got to wait for the repair truck sitting at our kitchen table and playing Rummikub. We were 11 miles south of George West on US 281, and the nearest repair facility was in Beeville, over 20 miles away.

After an hour and a half, the friendly repair guy showed up and put on our spare. He even removed the damaged tire and put the rim in the pickup bed. We were lucky that the tire managed to blow toward the outside, so we have only a small amount of damage to the trailer, confined to the fender. On our trailer, the fender is a fairly small plastic piece, so it shouldn't be too difficult or expensive to replace.

We arrived at our campground in Three Rivers around 5:30 p.m. We're staying at Tips Park, where we stayed on our way south last November. It's a small place, not far off the highway--but right next to the Valero Three Rivers Refinery. When we close the door, it's not too loud...
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Last Dance

This afternoon we attended our final dance of the season, a C-1 dance with Darryl calling. It was a good way to finish, and we enjoyed dancing with our friends. Unfortunately, Judy had a sore throat, so she and Hardy didn't make it. We'll keep in touch over the summer via Facebook. We said our goodbyes and shared final hugs with many winter friends we hope to see next year when we return. We said goodbye and see you this summer to Jan and Steve. They workcamp in the Badlands National Park, where we will be visiting in August, so we hope to see them then.

Today is Nanci's birthday, so we gave her a call to wish her a happy one. She was having fun teaching Regan to do the laundry. Six-year-olds just absorb everything like sponges.

Tomorrow we'll finish packing up and start to head north.
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Progress

We made some progress today on some of our projects. First we started to cut pvc pipe and put together our planned bike rack, but part way into the assembly, we decided that the design will not hold our bikes securely, so we're back to the drawing board. The progress in this case is figuring out one thing not to do...

I set up the new Wii console. The console itself sits nicely behind the TV on the rack. It has a lightweight slim profile "sensor bar" that sits on top the TV to receive the signals from the remote, so the console itself doesn't have to have a line of sight to the remote. The only small inconvenience is that the Wii has only component audio/video outputs, and the TV has only one set. The yellow video input is currently being used by the TIVO (but the red and white audio inputs are free, since the TIVO outputs sound to the surround sound system). To use the Wii, you have to swap out the yellow video cables, which is pretty simple.

I also set up the Wii balance board. That is used for the Wii Fit Plus, which is the reason we bought the Wii in the first place. We made Mii's for each of us (little people avatars) and signed in as Wii Fit users, with baseline fitness data. The Wii calculates your BMI and suggests that a BMI of 22 is associated with the least vulnerability to illness. Ken's BMI is 21.94, so he's right on target, but the Wii wants me to gain weight, even though my BMI of 18.7 is in the normal range. I'm not sure that the Wii is an expert in this area. One report cited on the Internet suggests that 22 is an upper limit on healthy BMI, so we'll see.

I didn't do very well in the balance assessment or on any of the balance activities. That's why i wanted the Wii Fit in the first place, and I hope that with regular practice, I'll be able to improve my balance and posture.
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Visit to Edinburg Scenic Wetlands

We headed out today to visit the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands and World Birding Center. After we managed to find the center, which was hidden in the Edinburg Municipal Park (think kids playing ball, etc.), we had a great morning exploring the 40 acres of this bird and butterfly habitat, with its two ponds and butterfly gardens. The large visitor center offers lots of resources, including field guides and even computerized field guides with bird calls and descriptions.

We took our binoculars and saw lots of Northern Mockingbirds (which we just found out is the state bird of Texas). In the ponds we saw plenty of Northern Shovelers and American Coots, and in the North Pond, Black-Necked Stilts--very amusing to watch perched on their long pink legs like flamingos--and cormorants. Atop a high tree on the bare branches, we spotted a male cardinal and what we think was a hummingbird. As we walked around, we saw lots of wildflowers, including colorful Turk's Cap, and the butterflies they attract. Most of them didn't sit still long enough for close viewing, but one little brownish one with a yellow wing patch did oblige.
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Mexico Again

This morning we danced with our friends to Darryl Lipscomb. Afterward we joined them on a trip to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. Several of them go every Friday, and we join them occasionally. Today Hardy and Judy were going, and we met them at the parking lot by the International Bridge. As usual, we walked across. Our first stop was the group's favorite bar for snacks and margaritas. Then we went on to a seafood place for lunch and to celebrate David's birthday.

The actual birthday was a couple of weeks ago, when David was halfway across the world, but today made a fine time to celebrate. G.W. brought a cake which we all shared--and the restaurant staff celebrated right along with us.

We stopped at a couple of places looking for various items that Judy wanted to take home to friends and relatives (vanilla, cinnamon, etc.). Then Judy got her hair cut by Ruben (with a back massage to boot). I felt deprived, because Ken had also gotten a massage, but I missed out--one of the girls cut my hair, and I guess they don't do massages. Judy's haircut was very cute.
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Sunny Day

We think that the weather has gotten the message that it's actually spring: we had a lovely warm sunny day with blue skies. We danced this morning at Darryl's C-1 dance. We had a couple of good squares, but more frustrating ones. That's how it goes sometimes, especially with lots of new dancers.

After lunch we headed to the hot tub and then lounged around the pool reading our books.
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New Table

One of our friends in the park had a table we admired, and they admitted that they had been thinking of getting rid of it, since it seemed to be in the way and a junk collector. We immediately offered to take it off their hands--it's exactly the table we've been looking for. It's narrow enough to fit between our recliners and won't obstruct their swiveling, as the table that came with the rig does. Second, it's adjustable. The two leaves can be both raised or only one raised, and the height adjusts from 19-28 inches, so it could be used as an extra dining table. Now that's what I call versatile!

Lowest height with leaves dropped

Full height

One leaf raised

Lowest height with leaves raised

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Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Today is Jeff's 38th birthday. Geni keeps track and lets us know just how old our kids are getting (Gee, that means we're putting on the years too....).

We danced this afternoon at Randy's C-1 workshop for the final time this season. Things are winding down. We'll be leaving a week from today. We'll have three more dances, and I'm already missing all our friends and the great dancing. Something to look forward to next season...

Tonight we did our laundry. It's the first time we washed our new sheets. Guess what? 600 count cotton sheets are heavy! The sheets and pillowcases filled one washer. They're great sheets, but what was I thinking?
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Too Much Fun?

We left the house this morning at 9:00 a.m. and got home at 10:00 p.m. We started out by going to Jerry Story's A-2 dance, where Linda was my partner. Joe Saltel teamed up with Jerry today, and the two worked well together and even did two singing calls. They obviously love to sing together.

Jerry was calling in Tyler over the weekend, and just flew back this morning. He reported that there was snow on the ground and freezing temperatures in East Texas for the first days of spring.

We went to Subway for lunch and then walked around Lemon Tree, which is the park across from Mission Bell. It's a small park, with small spaces, but clean and well kept. It's mainly park models. Then we walked around Mission Bell, which is much larger and has more trees, but still fairly small lots.

We danced with Darryl Lipscomb at his C-1 workshop from 2-4. Hardy and Judy and Steve and Jan suggested going to Movies 6 tonight to see Blind Side, and we decided to join them, so we had 3 hours from 4-7 to shop and eat dinner. We ate at Mimi's Cafe. The atmosphere there is calming, with mainly instrumental music in the background. Later in the evening it has a jazz club, but at 5 we had it mainly to ourselves.

The Blind Side was excellent. We laughed and cheered for the heartwarming story. Sandra Bullock showed her stuff--she definitely deserved the Best Actress awards she won for the flick. We all agreed it was worth the price of admission (especially since we had paid 75 cents each for the tickets--what a deal!).
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Historic Day

Today, finally, a health care bill passed that will provide some much needed reforms of the health insurance industry and extend health insurance to millions. It's not the perfect bill, that's for sure, but after many years and attempts by many presidents, we finally have come to a turning point that we hope will improve healthcare and save lives.

On another note, today we finally made it to Mexico. Somehow every time we planned a trip, either the weather or illness intervened, but today was a lovely, warm sunny day. The town of Nuevo Progreso closed off the main street and had entertainment and a general street fair atmosphere for Winter Texan Appreciation Day today. We strolled up and down the street, taking in the sights and sounds, and ran into only one couple we knew (Jim and Judy from our C-1 class).

We had some margaritas at our favorite bar, sitting by the fountain, and stopped in at Jessica's Pharmacy for a Z-Pack just in case. We ate some steak tacos and listened to the mariachis. Ken asked some "typical" Winter Texans if they'd mind his taking their photo. You can see their shirts are covered with souvenir ribbons and little hats handed out by the shops.

Tecate dancers provide local color.

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A Fishy Day

Spring has sprung! Someone may have forgotten to tell the weather, which was pretty un-spring-like today. A cold north wind blew in and dropped the thermometer by 10 degrees in as many minutes. It even rained a bit, but the real weather problem was the blustery wind.

That didn't deter us from having a great time with friends this evening. Steve is an avid fisherman, and some of the others had gone deep sea fishing also and contributed fish from their freezers. Steve even caught a stingray, which the guides assured him was edible and tasted like scallops. Jan baked it will garlic and lime--but it really didn't taste much like scallops. We were all glad to have had the experience of eating stingray--but no one wanted the leftovers! Jan fried some trout with a nutty crust, and Steve grilled some stuffed trout. Judy fixed red beans and rice and corn muffins made with creamed corn. We brought cole slaw. Sandy made black forest cake.

A photo of a photo of Steve with his catch. At the top of the frame is its stinger.

As you can see, we ate well! We also had a great time visiting with good friends and talking about adventures past and future. The three other couples had been on a canoe trip yesterday, which they told us all about (including the headwinds). Next year we hope to join the group if Ken's back is still doing well.

Lee, Hardy, John, Sandy, Judy, Jan, and Steve relax

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Dancing (What Else?)

Our big outing today was to Darryl Lipscomb's A-2 Concept Dance--only Darryl wasn't there. He had a commitment to call for a weekend festival in Tyler, TX, so Brad Caldwell from the Austin area came down to fill in for him. The dancing was fun, especially the open tip at the end. We were with Kit and Marty and it was their last square dance of the season. Bob and Marilyn and Bob and Sandy filled out the square. We all danced arky except for Bob Z. and Kit. It wasn't perfect execution, but it was great fun.

Brad Caldwell subbed for Darryl--and even put on his Darryl disguise
(a biker scarf and ponytail) but has too much hair to pull it off, as you can see below.

Yup, that's Darryl's ponytail.

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Canadian Tenors

This evening we had a real treat--a concert by the Canadian Tenors--courtesy of our friends, Bob and Pat. They have coveted season tickets to the McAllen Community Concert Series, but decided to head up to Albuquerque for the FMCA Rally before this final concert of the 2009-10 season. They generously offered their tickets to us.

The four Canadian tenors and their piano accompanist (Darryn de Souza) put on a great show. The tenors really filled up the space in the large auditorium with their renditions of classic and pop favorites, done in a somewhat operatic style. One song, in particular, was magnificent: a solo performance of O Sole Mio by Remigio Pereira. The pianist had stunning energy and, although his name wasn't on the program, was certainly a big part of the audience's enjoyment.

Earlier in the day we danced to Darryl at his Thursday morning C-1 dance for the first time, with no more problems than we've had at the workshops (we're still rough around the edges, but doing pretty well, considering that we're newly minted C-1 dancers). Linda Hansen asked if I wanted to dance with her at Jerry Story's A-2 this afternoon. It was very enjoyable, and I was especially glad to get a chance to dance to Jerry again. We haven't been to any of his dances since Ken's surgery.

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Sunshine!

Today the sun returned, so we headed for the pool and hot tub. Not much going on today. It's St. Patrick's Day, but no corned beef and cabbage for us (Ken doesn't care for it). I made butternut squash soup and brown bread for dinner--Ken made the carrot salad. Read more!

Cold Wind

Well, spring may have sprung, but there are still cold, windy days here. Today it drizzled a lot, so our site is squishy muddy. We danced with Randy Dougherty today. He definitely challenged us! We were introduced to more triangle possibilities, including tandem based triangles dancing as a unit and peels and trails from tandem based triangles. That was a bit mind blowing even for the experienced C-1 dancers. Read more!

Wii!

After a couple of months of searching, I finally found a Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board at Walmart today for $99--yay! Of course that's just the start...I also had to buy the console for $199. Luckily they had a Special Value edition with Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii MotionPlus. Of course the main reason for buying the Wii is to give me a way to challenge and train my balance skills after suffering an attack of vertigo earlier this year. Now all we have to do is figure out how to hook it up with all our other electronics.

We danced this afternoon at Darryl's C-1 workshop. Fortunately we had a chance to dance with Bob and Pat, since they will be leaving shortly for Albuquerque.
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Final Class

This afternoon was our last official C-1 class. Joe Saltel actually just reviewed troublesome calls--we've been exposed to them all now. We had 15 couples, so three squares danced, and three couples sat out each time. Joe invited everyone to his Wednesday evening C-1 dance at Texas Trails.

This morning we were doing our usual thing when Ken said, "It's actually 10:30." His Droid had given him a reminder that daylight savings time had started. Many of our devices reset themselves, but we still have to go around adjusting others, including the atomic clock, which has to be told it's DST.

This evening the park had a clean out the fridge potluck, so people could prepare to head north. Of course we never leave Venture, so we don't have to actually clean out the fridge, but we attended the potluck anyhow. We took coleslaw and banana bread. The banana bread was a hit--adding anise instead of vanilla may be a new recipe. The fare was the usual potluck stuff, except for turtle stew. We tried some of the gravy over mashed potatoes, and it was pretty good.
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Farewell Barbecue

The park had a farewell barbecue today--any excuse for food and fun. Many people are getting ready to head north.

I think the cooks are cleaning out the freezers. They served hot dogs, barbecued pulled pork, and barbecued shredding chicken on buns, baked beans, chips, condiments, cake, and drinks--all free, just bring a smile. We met a couple from Edinberg. Robert had been in the Air Force, and she had worked at Northrop Grumman in Pico Rivera reviewing cost estimates. They married three years ago. We talked about square dancing. They ballroom dance, and he has been interested in square dancing, but she was concerned about all the petticoats and fancy dress. We assured them that there is a lot of variation in dress and that prairie skirts are fine. She said she could live with that, and they said they would take lessons next fall.

This morning on our walk we noticed the sky was an unbroken blue, with only a hawk circling overhead in an updraft. This evening we took our walk around sunset, and the western sky had wispy cirrus clouds, white against the blue sky, then touched with orange from the setting sun. It was a lovely day.
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More Sunshine

Today was a red-letter day: Ken danced with me at Darryl's A-2 concept dance this morning. It was the first A-2 dance for him since before his surgery, and he did very well.

Afterward we went shopping, first to Home Depot and then to the mall. At Home Depot we picked up the pvc pipe and connectors to make a bike rack. We have seen several with different designs. When the project is finished, we'll post photos. At the mall we were looking for a sweater with a zipper front for Ken, but no luck. I did find a queen sheet set for 75% off at Sears to replace the ones we have that are developing holes.

The amazing thing is that Ken was able to dance and walk extensively around the mall without the kind of crippling pain he used to experience. He still has more pain than he would like, but clearly much less than he had before. Now he is pretty much able to do what he wants to do without the back pain interfering. That's a real milestone.

We did a bit more trip planning and called Dennis and Cheryl. Dennis is going to start making reservations with the plan to visit the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion during the first two weeks of June.
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Ropa!

Several of the ladies from the park made a trip to a couple of the large ropa usada (used clothing) places on 23rd Street in McAllen. I rode with Jane in her blue Prius. She's a bluegrass fan, so I got to listen to her favorite group, the Gibson Brothers. She admitted to being one of their groupies.

We stopped first at Hancock Fabrics so Jane could check on the features of a sewing machine she is considering. Then we went on to Tres Dimensiones and Tres Hermanos and another smaller ropa usada store. I managed to find a denim shirt after climbing a mountain of used clothing and sorting through lots of it. When I went to pay for it on the way out, the guy at the door waved me out (most people buy lots of ropa). At another place I found a plastic tumbler to use by the sink in the bath area for 27 cents. You can tell I'm the last of the big spenders!

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Shopping Day

Our visit to the Rio Grande Valley wouldn't be complete without a trip to the 30-acre Don-Wes Flea Market and the 5 1/2-acre Farmer's Market across the street. The markets are both open on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We figured Wednesday might be less crowded, so we set out this morning with our packed lunch and our shopping list.

We actually found some of the things on our list, including a name sign to hang on the front of our rig when we're staying somewhere for a while--we figure it's the friendly thing to do (and we appreciate not having to rely on our memories to recall the names of our neighbors). Many people like the carved wooden signs made by a woodworker at the flea market, but we were looking for something small and lightweight.


I was looking for a fanny pack like the one Ken bought here last year. I didn't find exactly the right thing, but a funny thing happened as we walked around and looked at all the packs at various vendors. Ken remarked that he might be willing to give up his fanny pack, since it seemed to cause some back pain. We found an over the shoulder pack style for him that we hope will distribute the weight better and still keep a camera handy. I inherited Ken's pack. The main advantage is that it has a very handy drink holder that actually holds a decent sized water bottle. When the drink holder is not in use, it tucks away in its own little compartment. (Ken's new pack has the same nifty feature.)



We stocked up on lots of fresh fruit and veggies at the market, including some cute little butternut squash. Then we went on to the grocery store and stocked up some more. When we got home, I had to perform my magic trick of fitting lots more stuff into a refrigerator that is already full.


When we got home our neighbor offered us some fresh picked beets from his garden, along with advice on how his wife prepares them with their greens. They turned out sweet and delicious.

Today was a sunny, very warm day--the first to really feel like summer (whatever happened to spring?). We headed over to the pool and spa to relax a bit.
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Dancing and Laundry

This morning we headed to Tropic Star for Joe Saltel's dance--my last with Jean as my partner. She's leaving early tomorrow to head north, where she will lead a ski trip. Safe travels and happy skiing, Jean! Pottingers and Spauldings weren't at the dance--they went to a movie last night and didn't feel on top of the world this morning--but they planned to be at Randy's C-1 workshop in the afternoon.

Bob and Pat went with us to Subway for lunch, which worked out well--good lunch, good company, and we easily got back in time for the workshop. Randy was not as easy on us as Darryl had been, but we mostly ended up in the same square anyhow.

This evening we did our laundry. While the clothes were in the washers, we took our walk. A couple we passed commented, "You two are power walkers!" After we moved the clothes to the dryers, we took some time out to soak in the hot tub and socialize, then took our showers before folding the clothes.
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Darryl's C-1 Workshop

This afternoon we attended Darryl's C-1 workshop for the first time. We were pleasantly surprised that the class all did pretty well.

Tonight we went to the regular Monday evening Soup Night. A couple that owns a restaurant up north makes two kinds of soup every Monday evening. We were lucky to join the group tonight, since the chefs will only be here for one more week. For $4.50 each, we got salad, a choice of soup (we both had seafood chowder), bread, and fruit for dessert. It was all delicious, and we enjoyed the company.
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Sunday

Today was our last trip to La Hacienda for Joe Saltel's square dance lessons. The final lesson will be next week at Tropic Star. Today we had 18 couples, and that number will surely diminish by next week, as people begin to trickle out. Tomorrow we'll attend Darryl's workshop for the first time.

Today fit our old Sunday pattern in some ways. We slept in a bit later and had brunch--a breakfast buffet at the clubhouse. We used to get the Sunday LA Times delivered and read it in bed--that's a thing of the past. Now we play with our Droids.

Breakfast included fruit, sticky buns, milk, juice, coffee, sausage, ham, scrambled eggs, pancakes, biscuits, and sausage gravy. Plenty to hold us until a later dinner. We talked with a couple at our table who are bike riders, and they repeated the invitation to join the Thursday bike riding group. We'll probably do that, but this week I'm going with a group of ladies for a trip to "ropa." That's short for "ropa usada" (used clothing)--and the trip will be to the largest store, which has mountains of clothing sold by the pound. It's a treasure hunt. Ken is glad that I'm going with a group (that means he doesn't have to go).

I talked to Chris last night. He and Annie had a great time in El Junque National Park, hiking in the rainforest and seeing lots of birds, but the next three days of meetings with Annie stuck in the hotel were boring. Annie is downloading books from Stanza on her iPhone now, so at least she didn't run out of reading material.
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Graduation!

It's the Fun in the Sun weekend at our park--only the sun didn't get the word. The diehard petanque and horseshoe players were out on the courts despite the wind and drizzle this morning, but this afternoon it warmed up a bit and was dry.

Tonight was our C-1 graduation dance at La Hacienda. Everyone was invited to bring munchies, so I made pumpkin spice cookies (my specialty, because they are the easiest cookies ever). As usual, there was lots of grazing. Jan brought chips and sausage cheese dip in a cute small crock pot.

The dancing was fun, and we were mostly surprisingly successful. As usual, Ken drove to the dance while I read call definitions aloud. Before the last tip, there was a brief ceremony. People who had put their names on the list got fancy certificates (Darryl said he'd had to practice his calligraphy for hours). We didn't ask for a certificate--no room, and I guess the real proof that you've graduated is being able to dance the calls!

Smiling Darryl

Munchies!

Fancy outfit

Even though we've "graduated," Joe is having two more Sunday afternoon classes, this week and next. And of course we'll be attending Darryl's and Randy's workshops.
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Campfire

I danced this morning with Jean for the last time at Darryl's dance. It's March, and dancers have started to head north, but there were still 25 squares. We missed our friends Hardy and Judy and others who are away on a trip to Mexico.

This evening there was a campfire with free hotdogs and lots of good camaraderie. We had hoped for better weather--it's been cloudy and threatening to rain all day, and the rest of the weekend doesn't look much better.
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New Tires

Our Silverado hit 40,000 miles last week, so of course the original equipment tires were getting down to the wear bars. Where did all those miles go? How could our new truck need tires? After I got over my shock, Ken started looking for the best deal on the best tires. We ended up at Discount Tire buying six Michelin tires with 70,000 mile warranty for $191 each. With installation, tire disposal, and metal valve stems, plus tax, the total was nearly $1,400. For that we hope to get three years of safe, comfortable travel.

Notice the smiling Michelin Man (and the nice deep treads)

Since we were out we went to HEB in Edinburg. If we didn't already know we're near the Mexican border, a perusal of the shelves would have clued us in. There were no less than five different displays of various types of tortillas, plus the fresh warm ones in the coolers by the door. Read more!

Great Water Pressure

We've been dealing with low water pressure on and off since we've been on the road. It seems that the inexpensive brass water pressure regulators don't actually deliver the pressure promised on the package. We've tried three different kinds of water filters to keep the sediment out of our plumbing, but they seems to fill up quickly and reduce flow a lot. We've also had trouble with hoses kinking, and that definitely can cut down your water flow.

So we did some online research and ended up ordering a Watts 263A regulator from the Water Filter Store online. It's adjustable and provides 4-4.5 gpm flow (gallons per minute). We also got some better quality hoses, a water filter canister, and a reusable 5 micron sediment filter (3-4 gpm) to go in it. We installed the new equipment inside a compartment, so we won't have to deal with them every time we break down and set up. We have the regulator set on 50 psi, which provides a very decent shower. Success at last!

Regulator is attached to the left of the filter. Although this looks a bit of a tangle, it's beautiful to us.

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First C-1 Workshop

We started out this morning by going to Joe Saltel's dance at Tropic Star, where I danced with Jean, as usual. She is always attractively dressed and has a bright, friendly smile for everyone. I've really been enjoying dancing with her and finally remembered to ask Ken to take a photo of us together.

Jean Ballinger with Lee (photo taken with Ken's Droid)

Our friends Hardy and Judy have been going on from that dance to lunch at Taco Fiesta next door and then on to Randy Dougherty's C-1 Workshop across the street at Pharr South. Today for the first time we joined them, along with our fellow class members Steve and Jan and Bob and Pat.

We had a little trepidation at jumping into the swim of C-1 with more experienced dancers, but Randy went easy on us, and most squares felt good about actually dancing this stuff (at least most of the time). Randy did introduce a couple of unusual variations of Chain Reaction.

The C-1 dancers were patient and helpful. We actually know and have danced with most of them. Marion and Velma from Missouri were there. We're familiar with them from Romney Tannehill's dances and weekends in Southern California, and it was nice to see them again. They've bought a park model at Twin Lakes.

This evening we attended a Luau dinner at the clubhouse. The hosts provided pulled pork (with barbecue sauce or plain) and chicken. Everyone else brought side dishes and desserts. The decorations were colorful, and so were the attendees, many in Hawaiian shirts and dresses. After dinner there was a dance with entertainer, singer, musician and songwriter Ronnie Furr and his vivacious wife, Terri. I did some line dancing, but Ken thought he'd had enough for the day. We both enjoyed watching all the couples dancing the two-step, cha-cha, and fifteen step.

Ronnie Furr entertains the crowd.

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March Comes In Like a Lion

As we sit in our cozy home tonight, it is buffeted by winds that creak and howl around it, with gusts up to 48 mph. Even though today was sunny and warm, tonight it felt chilly and blustery outside when we took our walk. We hope that the rest of the saying will prevail and that March will get to being more lamb-like shortly!

This morning we did our laundry. The dryers here are much more efficient than those at Bentsen Palm, so we may not choose to go to an outside laundromat. This afternoon was our last class with Randy. He taught the Siamese concept and Switch the Line. That concludes the C-1 list, except for Chain Reaction variations and some modifying terms, which Randy will be workshopping in his Tuesday afternoon workshop. We'll be dancing with more experienced C-1 dancers, but he says that they need some practice at the Chain Reaction variations too. Next week we'll start attending Darryl's Monday afternoon workshop too.
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