South Padre Island

Today we joined friends in a trip to South Padre Island, which is on the Gulf of Mexico, about 80 miles east of Mission. We met John and Sandy in Pharr after her doctor appointment, and they rode with us. Kelly and Shonas rode with Hardy and Judy, and Steve and Jan came after their lab tests. We would have been at the Island shortly after noon, except that a major accident closed the freeway in Weslaco. We saw a completely demolished SUV that had clearly rolled over multiple times. All the glass in the vehicle was broken. It looked like it would be a miracle if everyone in the vehicle survived.

A news item on the web tonight from Channel 5 News says that six college students (one boy and five girls) are in the hospital. It's unclear what caused the accident. A bystander said one of the students was lying on the ground, not breathing, and CPR was administered. Quick bystander response likely saved some lives out there today.

Once we got to the Flats (tidal flats just north of the Convention Center), the group got several kites in the air, despite the strong gusty wind.

We soon moved the chairs closer to the side of Hardy and Judy's truck, where they were a bit more protected from the wind.

Kitesurfer with colorful kite

Ken's kite lines managed to tangle themselves up good, and several people ended up involved in the puzzle of untangling them. Sandy started the process, guided by her experience in untangling her knitting yarn, but soon others were drawn in to try to help. It was a group triumph when the lines were finally untangled--but some of the cheering was probably because we could finally head to Daddy's to eat.

Ken, Lee, Shonas, and Sandy diligently working on the tangled kite lines.

More people have joined the fun.

Even more! Thanks to all our friends for your help.

We got to Daddy's Seafood and Cajun Restaurant around 3:30 p.m. and proceeded to have a leisurely dinner. We talked them into putting all of us around a table for six in the back room (we said we were friendly with each other).

Ken and I shared a grilled chicken poorboy with fries--both were excellent--and the special of red beans and rice with sausage. Judy had her usual boiled shrimp salad, which looked delicious. Hardy had his usual shrimp etouffee, which he proclaimed also delish. Jan's oysters Rockefeller were too spicy for her taste. Kelly and Shonas and Steve stuck with fried fish, shrimp, and oysters. Everyone had a great time.

After dinner we headed back to the beach. Steve and Jan walked along the boardwalk at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. The visitor center closed at 5:00 p.m., so we decided to join the rest of the group at the north end of the island for a walk along the beach.

 

Barefoot in the sand.

Looking down from the dunes at the Gulf shore on the east side of the island.

By the time we got back to John and Sandy's car in Pharr, it was quite dark.
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Breakfast Buddies

We started the morning with our usual Sunday breakfast with friends. Bob and Pat joined us. Her next chemo is scheduled for Tuesday, so she's feeling pretty good today. Kelly and Shonas were with us again, so we made ten. Angel's was very busy this morning. We had trouble finding a parking place. But as usual, the service and food were great.

This afternoon we danced to Randy. Steve and Jan were there, and we got to dance with them a few times. Hardy and Judy showed up for the open tip before the C-2 lesson, so we got to dance with them too. Mainly we did pretty well, but I still find myself totally confused at times. Guess that's par for the course. Randy was playing around with leader-trailer calls, including concentric versions.
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Busy Day

We started the day today with a bike ride. We followed the Mission Hike and Bike Path east to Inspiration Road and then rode north. No bike path, but nice wide shoulders and not too much traffic. We rode to a newer park we pass often driving to the freeway:

Bentsen Palm Community Park (63 acres) – 1801 S. Inspiration Blvd.

A Regional Park, which includes 12 picnic shelters, 2 acre pond with pier, 4 lighted baseball/softball fields, restrooms, playground, basketball courts, shuffle board courts, 3 lighted tennis courts, and a 2 mile walking trail.

We saw lots of activity. The tennis courts were busy, and two soccer fields had kids in brightly colored uniforms. We rode around the perimeter of the park, passing the little pond, which is apparently a favorite of local ducks.

This pair are evidently used to people. They checked Ken out as he got them in his camera sights, but didn't move.

Back at home we decided to clean up our truck. It's hard to stay ahead of the dust and road grime, but soon it was white and shiny again.

The big event of the day was a fish fry hosted by Steve and Jan and featuring deep sea fish caught by Steve. We took cole slaw, using a KFC copycat recipe that called for the cabbage and carrots to be finely chopped. We are used to making cole slaw for two. Since we mainly work by hand, it was quite a job to get enough cabbage shredded and chopped.

As you can see, a good time was had by all.

Hardy, Judy, Lee, Jan, Sandy, Steve, John, Kelly and Shonas. Hardy and Judy are sporting colorful Crocs.

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Purple Poem

My Electra Townie bike is a model called the Purple Poem. Recently it's been looking more like the purple pits! We picked it up from Bicycle World today after its tune-up, and it's definitely in much better shape again.

Bicycle World is the largest bike shop around, and an Electra dealer, which is why we go to them. The fact that their restroom is a museum of bicycle parts is a bonus.

We also had to go back to Dr. George's office for Ken's neck x-rays to be retaken. Then we stopped by HEB to pick up some groceries.

We got our forwarded mail today. One item was a summons to jury duty for me, requiring me to appear in Livingston, TX, on Tuesday, February 22. Oops. It was postmarked February 8, which is the day our last mail forwarding went out. Fortunately, the Clerk of Courts office in Livingston is very understanding of the situation of full-time RVers, since so many of us have our legal domicile through the Escapees Mail Service in Livingston. The woman I spoke with said, "Just volunteer when you're in town again."
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Doctor Visit

This afternoon both of us had appointments with a new internist, Dr. George. We're hoping to develop an ongoing relationship, since we are here in the Valley for four months, more than we are anywhere else. We were generally impressed. He listened, which is not something that every doctor does very well.

Afterward we went to Bicycle World to pick up our bikes, which we dropped of Tuesday afternoon to be tuned. We were told they'd be ready yesterday, but as it turned out, they had gotten busy and had only Ken's bike ready, so we'll have to go back tomorrow for mine. Ken's looks like a new bike compared to what it looked like a couple of days ago, and he says the brakes and gears work better too.
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Distinguished Speaker

Tonight we went to UTPA (University of Texas--Pan Am) in Edinburg to hear David Gergen at the Distinguished Speakers Series. We met Hardy and Judy at 6:30 p.m. to stand in line, wanting to be sure to get in. Students, faculty, and staff had priority, and community members were to be admitted at 7:20 p.m. As it happened, very few community members were in line, but we enjoyed having the time to visit with our friends.

Gergen is a Senior Political Analyst for CNN and an occasional conservative commentator for the PBS NewsHour. We don't always agree with him, but we do respect his considered and balanced approach.

His topic was "Eyewitness to Power: Leadership in America." His 2001 book is titled “Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership Nixon to Clinton,” so this is familiar ground for him, but he shaped his presentation to his audience of mainly young Latino college students. He drew on his personal experience in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton administrations. He also advised President George H.W. Bush in his presidential campaign.

Gergen believes that America is at a strategic inflection point, a term his friend, Andrew Grove, founder of Intel, coined to identify a point where the environment of a business has changed, and the business can either go under or change to meet the new challenges. Gergen focused his remarks on education and the need for young leaders to step up and put America first, before party and politics.

We enjoyed the speech, which was peppered with humor and personal stories.

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Washington's Birthday

Today we celebrate Washington's birthday--or once upon a time, we used to. Now we call it Presidents Day instead, and we celebrate on the third Monday in February, so Federal employees can have a three day weekend. For us retirees, every weekend is extended....

This afternoon we danced to Randy, who had just returned from a fabulous time calling in Japan. He said that 2,600 people had attended the weekend event. He and his sister, Dee Dee, taught a caller school (must have been very compressed!).

After the dance we headed north on 281 to the Goodwill Store to drop off some things we had been collecting for a while, plus a bike that Tim and Rosie wanted to donate. Then we headed to Bicycle World to drop our bikes off for a tune-up. Traveling is hard on bikes.
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Hot!

Weren't we just complaining about the cold? Today we turned on the a/c and postponed out evening walk until after sundown.

This afternoon we danced to Darryl. He worked on various counter rotates. Some are pretty straightforward, but others could be really hard to see. Steve and Jan were there, and we got to dance with them in one square.
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Sunday Again

Kelly and Shonas joined us for breakfast again. His mother says he can't leave until her bathroom remodeling is finished--and who the heck knows how long that will take!

We walked in the park again today, partly to avoid the wind (around 25 mph with gusts up to 40--about what it's been the last few days). The Black Vented Oriole is still making appearances. One couple said they had had to sit for an hour before catching a glimpse of it.

At 4:00 p.m. we went to La Hacienda to dance. This would be Randy Dougherty's regular dance, but he's in Japan calling this weekend, so Ken Ritucci from Massachusetts was filling in for him. It's always good to hear a new voice. Darryl and Dekah were dancing and looked really cute together. The front of the hall looked like a motorcycle rally, since Ron and Jackie and Chuck and Shary were there too--all the bikers.
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Fun and Games

This afternoon we went to the palapa in the 300 Circle to join some friends in a game of Mexican Train. We moved our table into an alcove protected from the wind, and it was quite pleasant. Debbie had never played before--so of course she won. Tim pointed out that it's even more fun after a couple of glasses of wine.... We'll have to try that next time.

Lee, Tim, Rosie, and Debbie checking out our Mexican Train strategies

Our other fun today was filing our federal income tax. We used CompleteTax.com, our first time to use an online service and e-file.  We ended up owing money (which we knew we would), so we got the "Deluxe" service for free. The website explains that they take pity on the poor souls who owe money: "It's another way CompleteTax takes the pain out of doing your taxes." Well, I've got to say we still felt the pain!

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Clean Carpet!

We finally got around to calling the RV Steamer, Jack Cook, to clean our carpets, which were in serious need of his attention. We are just always too busy to deal with wet carpets, but decided that today was the day. And wouldn't you know it, we ended up missing a lunch outing with our friends. But the carpets look 100% better.

For our morning walk we headed into the park again, partly to get out of the wind. We've been enjoying watching the progress on the new flood wall/gates too. There's always something new to see.

East side wall

West side wall

We ran into some eager birders hot on the trail of the Black Vented Oriole. It's hard to imagine that one solitary wandering bird has caused such an ongoing excitement in the birding enthusiasts.

Here's an oriole we spotted (not the Black Vented, but still interesting to us 8-)

On our walk this afternoon we stopped to see Tim and Rosie. They invited us in and of course we talked Excels and admired their rig. It's a Limited, so it has some of the luxury features we'd like to see in our next rig, like solid wood cabinetry and pull-out faucets. It's longer than what we're looking for, but temptingly spacious. There are always trade-offs.
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Excel Owners Luncheon

Last October we were reading the Excel newsletter when we noticed an invitation to all Excel owners to attend a luncheon at the Echo Hotel and Conference Center in Edinburg.  Food and lots of Excel owners to chat with sounded like a good combination to us. We rsvp'd, and today was the day.

The room was filled with Excel owners. The parking lot was filled with big trucks!

(left to right) Lee, Maxine and Ray Rystephanick from Alberta, Canada, and Jim and Beth Graves from Minnesota.

Phil Sullivan and Duana Peterson

Many Excel owners are full-timers, so we were among like minded folks and had much to talk about. When everyone had finished eating, Phil Sullivan emceed the remarks, which were informal. A tour group leader described the upcoming Oregon/Washington coast trip. Various folks talked about their experiences with accidents and crises (hair raising). Duana and Vaughn Peterson were there. Vaughn recently celebrated his 80th birthday. He talked about the recent hard financial times. Excel now employs 80 in the plant, where they used to have 160.

The room filled with laughter several times as speakers told jokes and ribbed one another. A good time was had by all.
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"I for one welcome our new computer overlords"

That's what Ken Jennings wrote as part of his Final Jeopardy response against Watson, the unbeatable Jeopardy playing IBM computer. It was very interesting to watch Watson at work. I'm very glad that Watson's top three candidate responses were listed, along with the degree of confidence and the "buzz level" (the confidence level at which Watson would buzz in). It gave some insight into the workings of Watson's "mind." The IBM team must be very proud of their work--and the IBM charities must be really happy to be the beneficiaries of Watson's winnings!

We danced to Jerry Story this afternoon and Joe Saltel this evening. Lots of mental and physical exercise for sure. At Jerry's dance we saw Steve and Jan, and a couple from our C-1 class last spring, John and Carolyn, stopped by and were recruited to dance because we were one couple shy of seven squares. Tonight we were almost in the "one couple shy" situation again, but then a partner was found for Marilyn--and Marty and Kit came in late, so we ended up with seven squares plus a couple.

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Table Refinishing Complete

This morning I put the final touches on the table top. It had to be sanded and rubbed with very fine steel wool to remove the little lumps in the finish and prepare the table top for another coat. This evening we picked up the final product and reassembled it.

With the cherry finish, it really didn't look too bad, but it didn't match the rest of the wood in the rig and our other tables. Sanding and refinishing brought out the beauty of the grain in the table top as well as making it match much better.

We took our evening walk in the state park. It was just after 5:00 p.m., so the office was closed and we didn't have to stop for wristbands. The best part is that we finally got to see the bobcat. It was sitting in the road, and we saw it from a distance for a couple of minutes before it ran into the brush. We caught another glimpse of it as it hightailed across the road.

We also got to see some colorful birds, though not the indigo bunting or the bluebird or the black vented oriole. We enjoyed watching the green jays and a couple of pairs of cardinals flitting around the feeders and hopping along the ground.

Tonight we watched the Double Jeopardy round of the great IBM challenge, pitting Watson against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Watson is just too darned fast for the guys. It wasn't even a contest tonight, despite both Brad and Ken getting final Jeopardy correct and Watson missing.
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Watson!

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

We had a beautiful warm day, blue skies and 80 degrees. This morning after our walk I continued my work on refinishing the little table. I sanded and rubbed with steel wool to prepare it for a second coat of the polyurethane/stain combo. It was a bit tricky because I realized that there were drips in the first coat that had to be removed. I tried to be very careful in applying the second coat to avoid any runs, but that meant that the coating was going on unevenly, so more application, more brush stroking. Then some nearby cutting work blew some bits of sawdust onto my table top. I tried to remove the larger ones and rebrushed, but tomorrow I'll have to sand again....

This afternoon we danced to Darryl Lipscomb. Steve had a ballgame to umpire, and Judy's kids are still with them, so neither Spauldings nor Pottingers were at the dance. We saw a lot of red and pink today. Ken wore his Escapees tee-shirt, and I wore my red capri pants and a sequined red heart on a white tee--all in the name of getting in the V-Day spirit.

Tonight was the big Jeopardy challenge, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter against Watson, an IBM computer designed to understand natural language--and even the puns and jokes common in Jeopardy clues. We've been waiting for some time for this event. It's a three day tournament. Today we saw only the first Jeopardy round. It's clear that Watson is a very powerful computer, but one with limitations in language processing that give the human players a chance at least. Brad Rutter is tied with Watson. My favorite, Ken Jennings, trails the other two, but tomorrow brings double Jeopardy, so we'll see what happens.
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Interesting Day

We went to Angel's Restaurant for our usual Sunday morning breakfast with friends. Hardy and Judy brought Kelly and Shonas, of course, and Steve and Jan were there. We settled some of the weighty international issues (the Egyptian government transition, Steve and Jan's prospects for summer workkamping, Kelly's work on Hardy and Judy's bathroom remodeling.....)

Our walk took us along the levee and Old Military Highway. We were walking along Old Military when we finally saw our first javelinas of the season: a mother followed by three youngsters ran across the road and into the brush of the wildlife preserve.

This afternoon we stopped by to check out the progress on the bath and found Hardy wielding a shovel and most of the old stuff removed. Shonas showed us the new curved corner shower waiting to go in. Old plumbing parts and boxes of new tiles were in sight. Kelly called last chance to use the facilities before he removed the old toilet. We decided that we must have a party to celebrate the new room in all its remodeled glory.

We also picked up our ham bone that Judy had in her freezer from the Super Bowl party. We'll be making split pea soup, yum. Judy handed us another bag of their grapefruit too. We won't be short of vitamin C anytime soon!

Tonight we went over to the clubhouse to a slideshow by a couple who went to the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica on a National Geographic Explorer cruise. They had some remarkable photos to show and experiences to relate.
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Blue Skies

Today was a quiet day. We enjoyed the mild weather and blue skies during our walks. We even cleaned up our lawn chairs and sat on the patio for a while. (Cleanup necessitated by birds--nuff said.)
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Egypt and Mexico

We've been watching the news coverage of the popular uprising in Egypt. It's been remarkably peaceful, except for one day when the regime's thugs attacked the demonstrators in Tahrir Square. Yesterday hopes were high that Mubarak would step down, and when he failed to do so, the disappointed demonstrators renewed their determination. There were worries that violence would break out. This morning we heard that Mubarak had left Cairo and gone to Sharm-el-Sheik--and then the announcement was made that he was stepping down and turning the governing responsibility over to the military.

Jubilant celebration broke out all over Egypt. Now the really serious work of developing political parties and setting up a democratic government must begin. We are hoping that the military will move quickly in this direction.

This afternoon we joined our group of friends for a trip to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. They all went to Darryl's dance first, but we slept in. We met at Campanario Bar again. It's their favorite because Santiago is the bartender. Santiago's wife and very cute but shy grandchild stopped by today. It's a small place, but very friendly.

There were twelve of us, including the usual suspects plus Judy's son Kelly and his wife Shonas. This is their first visit to Texas, and they are enjoying the (relatively) warm weather compared to their home state of Kentucky.

Nuevo Progreso's tourist district is only several blocks just across the international bridge. So far it has been a safe place for Winter Texans to visit.

David, G.W., Hugh, and Jean at Campanario Bar

Steve, Lee, Ken, Jan, Hardy, Judy, Shonas, and Kelly

For lunch we went to the Red Snapper. Ken and I shared the jumbo shrimp plate with "baked potato," rice, and small lettuce salad. The shrimp were really jumbo and delicious. The potato was actually a small foil "boat" with mashed potatoes inside. They were good, but not what we were expecting....

Musician at the Red Snapper

Shonas pulls Hardy onto the dance floor at the Red Snapper. I don't think we've ever seen Hardy dancing before (except square dancing, of course).

Steve cutting a rug with Jan.

After lunch we went to Ruben's for haircuts. The best part is the wonderful back massage afterward.

Ruben cutting my hair.

We got to use our new electronic passports for the first time to re-enter the US. Ken drove home--I think I rested my eyes. It was 6:00 p.m. by the time we got home, so we took a quick walk. Read more!

Alegria!

Tonight we went to the Cirque du Soleil: Alegria at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo. A group of our square dance friends attended and got a special group rate. It was a magical evening, with dazzling performances by a troupe of fantastic athletes, clowns, musicians and supporting characters. Contortionists, trapeze artists, amazing gymnasts, fire dancers and others got enthusiastic applause. The clowns were especially entertaining and touching. The entire show proceeded without much if any understandable language. The new age songs of the white singer, the storyteller who "narrates" the action, are by design unintelligible, conveying mood rather than substance. The show is characterized as "A baroque ode to the energy, grace and power of youth."

Our friend Jean has attended many Cirque performances, including three in three days in Las Vegas last summer. We think she's an official groupie! It's easy to understand why the group has such a following.

We took no photos of the show. In fact, Ken had to take his cameras back to the truck. Everyone was being searched for contraband cameras, food, and drink. Even water bottles were confiscated. Read more!

Cold Front Arrives

We got out a bit early for our morning walk. Good thing--a few minutes after we returned, high winds and cold blew in. We'll have freezing weather again tonight.

This morning I put the first coat of a combination oak stain and polyurethane finish on the table. It will need to be rubbed with very fine steel wool before a second coat is applied.

We dressed warmly to go to Jerry's dance this afternoon. Hardy and Judy weren't there. Her kids arrived today, and of course they will be dancing less while they have visitors. We did see Jan and Steve and lots of our other friends. It was a good dance. Even when we have some difficulties, Jerry always makes everyone feel good. He's a good teacher.

This evening we went to Joe Saltel's C-1 dance at Texas Trails. We had four squares, a bit low, perhaps because it was pretty cold. We did hear that some other things were going on, too.
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Plans

We made our reservations tonight for camping to attend Romney's June Fling in Missouri. We'll be staying at the Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park, which Hardy and Judy recommended. It's about ten miles from the dance site and looks like a pretty, peaceful place. Of course we won't be spending much time at the campground--we'll be in Chesterfield, dancing, Friday night and all day Saturday.

This morning after our walk I took the little table back over to the woodworking shop. Adrian helped me again. The two of us put in over an hour doing the finishing sanding. He is a real perfectionist! He put some sample stains on the bottom of the base, and tomorrow I hope to get the finish on it.

This afternoon we danced to Randy at Pharr South. He was calling a lot of concentric things, many of which were pretty hard to see. We're still having difficulty telling what formation we should end up in and which calls are shape changers. Good practice.
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Reservations for Next Season

Well, today is the first day to reserve sites at Bentsen Palm Village for the 2011-12 season. We are considering our alternatives, but we decided to go ahead and sign up here for now. When we stopped in the office and filled out our form, all seemed to be going fine--until Terry checked the computer and said that our site had already been given to someone else by mistake. Just our luck, we're involved in the first glitch today. It actually turned out that it may have been a blessing in disguise. Rather than relocate the folks who reserved site 518, Terry put us in a site in the 600 circle, which we actually prefer, since it has all concrete pads (and nicer grass than the 500 circle).

We decided to go check out the site, and it turned out that it is currently occupied by some fellow square dancers. We stopped in to talk with them and found out that they've bought a lot next door at Retama Village, so they'll be moving over there next season. Site 608 is a great site. It's near the laundry and exercise rooms, has nice plantings, and the patio faces northeast, so the afternoon sun isn't beating down on you.

Meanwhile, this morning we went to visit our friends, John and Sandy Walenter, who are renting a site in Hidden Valley Ranch, a bit to the west of us. We wanted to see the desk John had built. It's a clever arrangement. He attached a shelf with a hinge to the inside of a cabinet door. When the door is open, the shelf can be lifted, and a folding bracket supports it.

We also wanted to check out the sites for rent in Hidden Valley and the adjacent Leisure Valley. We drove around to look at some. John and Sandy have a great deal on a nice lot with a garage. Most of the rental sites have only a concrete pad. Another issue is that we went to rent for only December to February, but most places would prefer four months rental. Plus many sites are for sale or rent. Of course if they sell, the renter probably won't have much recourse. We've got a list of sites and contact numbers and will call some to see what they say. We also talked about doing some more looking, mainly in ownership parks, where individual owners are offering sites for rent. These parks tend to have larger lots and be better kept. So we'll see. We may very well decide to stay at BPV--especially since there's no rent increase for next season.
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Super Bowl XLV Party

We started this morning as usual by joining our friends at Angel's Restaurant for breakfast. Steve came in his Packers tee-shirt and jacket; Jan had her Packers jacket. They were prepared for the game this evening.  Judy was definitely doing much better. It was good to see her out again.

The high today was 80 degrees with deep blue cloudless sky--perfect for our walk along the levee. We ran into a Border Patrol van towing tires along the levee, and when he stopped to let us pass, we asked why he was doing it. He said that they liked to keep the soil loose and wipe out old footprints--presumably so they can track illegal immigrants crossing through.

This afternoon we headed over to C.B. and Nancy's for the big Super Bowl XLV party. Doris was there ahead of us. Unfortunately Bob woke up with a sore throat, so he decided to stay home and nap. This may have been our last chance to visit with him: they've decided to sell their houses here and in Missouri and move east. Doris says they don't know exactly where, but they've been homeless before! They have a fifth wheel and a cargo trailer, so they'll be set to hit the road until they find a good spot to light. They've thought about Charlotte. They have kids in Chapel Hill and in Atlanta, so they'll probably end up in that neck of the woods.

Nancy, Doris, and C.B. chatting

When Steve and Jan arrived in their Packers regalia, Ken couldn't pass up a chance to get a shot of Steve's Packers slippers.

Everyone dived into the food. As usual we had lots of good stuff, including a delicious zucchini casserole G. W. made, meatballs, lots of deviled eggs, cowboy beans, sausage queso dip, a very interesting veggie dip made with tomato soup, lemon jello, and Miracle Whip, among other things, apple salad, fruit salad, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate cake. No one went hungry. Nancy had made some large pitchers of frozen margaritas.

G.W. and David brought the game board, and everyone bought $1 squares. Then the numbers and teams were assigned and the game began.  A large television in the living room commanded most of the attention, with a smaller TV in the kitchen allowing the people sitting at the table there to keep track of the game.

From the left: Steve, Doris, Sandra, John, Bob, David, Hardy, C.B., Jean, and Pat. That's me in the front and G.W. on the floor. Jan's knees can be seen to the left. (Nancy and Judy in the kitchen, and of course Ken taking the photo.)

We had lots of raucous cheering from the Packers fans, with more subdued celebration by the Steelers fans. The Packers, of course, won the Super Bowl. Walenters won the game board, so they're nominated to host next year's party.
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Sunshine

Today the only evidence that we had an ice storm yesterday is that the flowers are all very bedraggled. The hard freeze finally got to them. We were finally able to get out and walk on the levee in the sunshine with temps in the 60s today!

It was so nice that Ken was inspired to wash the truck. It looks all shiny and white again, with all the road grime washed away.

Not much else else happening. We made some final plans for the Super Bowl party tomorrow. Judy is feeling 95% better and sounded 100% better, so we expect to see her at breakfast in the morning and at the party. Pat is feeling pretty good, too, so she and Bob will be at the party. Let the snacking begin!
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Ice!

We woke up this morning to an icy world. Ice shone on the tree branches--lovely! Not so lovely was the ice on the pavers, on the truck step bars, on the truck mirrors and windows.... Fortunately we avoided slips and falls and managed to use a credit card to clear the ice from the mirrors. We had heard strange sounds from the roof last night and figured out this morning that they had come from ice shards being shaken loose from overhead tree branches by the wind.

This area is not used to dealing with ice. The freeway was closed all day yesterday and still eerily empty this morning. There were several bad accidents. Drivers just don't have any experience and hit the ice on bridges and overpasses unawares. Our friends had power outages, and some of the traffic signals were dark. Tonight promises to be another hard freeze, but then tomorrow we'll be back up to the 60s.

Steve and his friend C.E. caught lots of fish on their two trips to South Padre Island. Jan handed us two packages of frozen fish today, and they promised a fish fry soon. We had some delicious fish tacos for supper. Thanks, Jan and Steve!

We picked up the ham for the Super Bowl party and dropped it off at Hardy and Judy's so they could store it in their fridge. Judy has a severe sore throat that she's been trying to shake for days now. We're hoping the Z-pack she started on yesterday will do the trick.
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Good Day to Cocoon!

Well, we survived another cold day. The high was maybe 33 degrees with a low of 25 and snow expected tonight. We went over (actually, we drove over) to the exercise room and watched the TV reports of the great winter storm while we exercised. It's not near as much fun as walking outdoors, but at least you don't freeze exposed skin!

Besides, you get a chance to talk to people. A woman named Barbara visited with me while I was riding the exercise bike. She and her husband have a home in Canada. They like to bike and kayak. Her mother is 95, but very healthy. In the past she has gotten increasingly anxious when Barbara and her husband traveled, but recently her car died and she reluctantly agreed that she shouldn't drive. Barbara says that actually it was a good change for her mom, since she now visits with her fellow passengers on city buses and transport vans. She has seemed to tolerate their absence better this trip.

The only thing we accomplished today was getting the laundry done for another week. I made the mistake of deciding to iron something. When I put the iron down, it jumped off the ironing board and committed hara-kiri. Well, darn. We took it over to Guest Relations and they kindly said not to worry, they'd take care of it. I should have known better than ironing....

We got our new passports today. They're electronic passports, meaning they have an embedded chip with all our info that special machines can read. Unfortunately, that makes them stiff, and they come with a warning not to bend them.

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Winter Storms

We used the indoor exercise equipment in lieu of walking outdoors today. It was just too cold, and we're in for more wintry weather. Here's what NOAA is saying about the next few days:

• Overnight: Cloudy, with a low around 22. Wind chill values as low as 8. North wind between 10 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.
• Thursday: A slight chance of snow and sleet after noon. Cloudy and cold, with a high near 32. Wind chill values as low as 8. North northwest wind between 10 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Thursday Night: A chance of snow and sleet. Cloudy, with a low around 24. Wind chill values as low as 12. North northeast wind between 7 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
• Friday: A chance of snow and sleet before noon. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 47. Wind chill values as low as 12 early. North northwest wind between 11 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
  

At the dance tonight, David and G.W. were complaining that they had been victims of rolling blackouts three times today already. Where's our sunny, balmy southern weather???

I decided to put off finishing the little table. It's too cold in the woodworking shop for the finish to dry properly anyway. For now, the sanded table, with the top disassembled, is sitting in the living room waiting for warmer weather next week.

We danced to Jerry Story this afternoon. Again, Hardy came but Judy stayed home nursing her sore throat. Jan and Steve were back--yay! Jerry called some Tally Ho's from odd positions that were giving me fits. Tonight we went to Joe's dance. We had 19 couples, a bad number, but a great dance. Our last square included both Woody and Ida and Roy and Phyllis, so as you can imagine, the square did well and I had a blast.
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Woodworking 101

This morning I took the little table and headed over to the woodworking shop to see if it could be refinished to match the rest of our wood. Adrian is in charge of the shop and graciously helped me. He determined that the cherry finish was just sprayed on and that sanding should remove it. He took the top off the table, but decided not to disassemble it further, since it apparently is glued together.

I used a couple of small power sanders to take the old finish off the base, including the magazine rack. This was a pretty time consuming job. It was also hard on my hand and shoulder, but the results will be worth it. I had to do some hand sanding too. Meanwhile Adrian repaired the split on the underside of the table top and sanded it down. I'll go back tomorrow to make more progress.

This afternoon we danced at Randy's. Hardy came and danced with Sharlene, but Judy stayed home to nurse a scratchy throat. Hope she's doing better soon.

This evening we went to the clubhouse for game night and played Sequence with Tim and Rosie. They have a game board that their grandchildren made. We played men against women. The women carried the night, four games to two.
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