Arboretum and Goodbyes

We visited the Dallas Arboretum and BotaWe nical Garden today, taking advantage of some free passes provided by Ed (Park Place is a major corporate sponsor). The variety and profusion of flowers and trees and ferns and lawns was amazing. Ken took some great photos--hard to choose which to include. Several are of irises, a special interest because Ken's dad was an iris fancier. The Japanese maple tree with the red and yellow helicopter seeds is just one of the many types of Japanese maples at the arboretum.

We visited Ed and Julie and the kids for one last time before moving on tomorrow. When we arrived some workers were just finishing removing a tree from the front yard--lots of noise and sawdust flying around. When we went inside, Cate told me that she had been watching the tree removal and in the next breath that they were not watching TV this week (so the next best entertainment is looking out the window???).

It was nice to have some bonding time with Cate and Sam and Jesse and time to talk with Ed and Julie. We played Sorry! Sliders (of course) and fixed tacos and ate ice cream. We also got the last bit of our laundry done and showers taken, so we and our clothes are starting the journey tomorrow fresh and clean.
Read more!

Preparations

Today we made some preparations for our upcoming move. Ken checked the tire pressures and found the trailer tires all low, so we got out the compressor and he topped off the pressures. We put the bikes up on the rack and put the cover on. Ken put the chairs and tables away. We exercised the generator and put it back in the truck bed, along with all the other stuff we had taken out.

I did some cleaning, indoors and out, and wiped down the truck. We went to Mays RV to get some vacuum cleaner bags and a sewer hose fitting. Then we went to Lowe's and traded in the 5/8" hose fitting for a 1/2" one to repair our hose with.
Read more!

Rainy Day

As promised, today was rainy, overcast, and cooler. We were lucky to get our walk in before the rain started. It rained heavily last night, and we were pleased to confirm that our bedroom slide no longer leaks. Yay!

We went over to Ed and Julie's. Kelley came too and we just hung out together. Ed and Ken and Cate and I played Sorry Sliders, the new game Uncle Chris and Annie sent for her birthday. Sam tried to play too, but it's a little beyond him. Actually it may be a little beyond me too--my sliders always seemed to slide the wrong way. Cate and I did tie one round.

We watched a little TV, including Hoarders, Buried Alive, a reality TV series about people with serious hoarding problems and their therapy. That led to a discussion of some tendencies that some of us have to be hoarders "lite" ourselves (that would be Ed and me). Sometimes it's hard to let go of "stuff" even if it's clogging up your space and your life. That's one advantage of the RV lifestyle for me--it nips those tendencies in the bud when I have to consider our space and weight limits.

Jesse is really growing, looking around and making his opinions known. He was a bit fussy and wakeful tonight, and we took turns entertaining him. When we left, he was nestled by Ed on the couch watching TV, which Ed says he does every morning.
Read more!

Dorey Reunion

This morning we drove to Tyler to help celebrate Carol's 70th birthday, along with some other family April birthdays. Fred and Gail had flown in from LA, and Gail Dorey had come from Watertown. Carol's other sister, Linda, and her family (Kyle, Julie, and friend Lauren--Ken had to work) came from Dallas, along with Andy and his two sons, Luke and Ben. Robert and Debbie and their three children live in Tyler, so they had the shortest trip.

Everyone made their own pizzas for lunch with pizza shells and toppings. Then most of the group went to Kilgore to visit the Kilgore Oil Museum. Ken and I stayed in Tyler and went to tour the Azalea Trail with Dick and Linda. The Azalea Festival officially ended last weekend, but the azalea season was late this year because of the cold weather. The azaleas were in full bloom this weekend and made quite a spectacle.

Lee, Dick, and Linda enjoying the azaleas

Carol and Dick treated everyone to dinner at Joe's Italian Restaurant, just around the corner from their house. Fortunately we had a room to ourselves, since the Dorey idea of a good time is uproarious fun! Afterward we went back to the house for cake and ice cream and presents. A great time was had by all!

Robbie at Joe's

Luke, Ben, and Robbie all want to help blow out the candle!

Gail Dorey gave Carol a Rummikub game! Christine is opening her own gifts, but is interested in the game.

We drove home, expecting to arrive around 10 p.m., but Dallas traffic had other ideas. We were stopped for nearly an hour by a slowdown on I-635 (we never did see what caused the problem). At 10:55 we were nearing the campground when we realized that the gates would be locked at 11. We made a quick dash and got in under the wire.
Read more!

Work and Reward

Today we finally put our newly painted hitch back together and stepped back to admire it. Then we started to work on our bike rack and bikes. First we dismantled the rack and brushed and sanded the rust on the parts. Then we applied rust remover and let it set for a while, then rinsed it off and sanded some more. Finally we painted. Takes lots less time to tell it than to do it!

Then, with a newly painted rack, we set to work cleaning up and lubing our bikes. That's a big job if we don't do it often (and unfortunately for the bikes, we don't), so it took all afternoon. At the end we could bask in the glow of our newly polished and lubed bikes for a few moments at least.

Here's another flicker we saw on our walk--check out the long tail.

Read more!

Happy Birthday, Cate!

Today is Cate's 6th birthday. She got to go back to school after being out again with pink eye, so all her classmates sang happy birthday to her and shared treats. We met Cate and family and Kelley at the Purple Cow in Plano for a family celebration. It's a burger joint, but Ken and I had grilled tilapia, and Cate and Sam had mac and cheese.

All that was just prelude to the birthday cake and ice cream. Ed and Julie went for the purple vanilla ice cream, made specially for the Purple Cow by Blue Bell Creamery. The staff gathered to sing a special birthday song for Cate.

She got several presents, including a package from her Uncle Chris and cousin Annie, which held a book and a very special Sorry game, Sorry! Sliders. Since Sorry! is right now Cate's favorite game, Sorry! Sliders is sure to be very popular at her house.

We gave her a small zipper case with a ring made from a nail by a blacksmith at Nauvoo (a historic Mormon town we visited with our friends, the Apples). The case also contained some Mardi Gras beads and a picture of a ballerina with the information that Cate's birthday present would be ballet and tap dance lessons this summer. Her parents provided lots of presents, including ballet clothing and tap shoes. Kelley brought a cute gardening set with seeds and some small hand tools.

One of the things I'll remember most about this fun celebration is the baptism by poop provided by Cate's little brother, Jesse. Julie and I spent some quality time in the restroom using the changing table to clean him up and the washbasins and towels to clean me up. One of the joys of being a grandma!
Read more!

Kildeer

This morning we walked by the kildeer nest area again, and this time we were rewarded by a glimpse of a chick. We could only see the little critter when it moved, but we also heard it chirping. That wasn't easy, since both parents were putting on quite an act to draw our attention away.

We are still slugging along, working on painting our hitch. We did make some progress, but then we ran out of spray paint. We went over to Ed and Julie's so we could babysit while Julie went to the dentist to have her new fillings adjusted.

Julie bought some tilapia to make fish tacos for dinner, which everyone enjoyed. I set up the Wii and the kids played some balance games. Ed helped Cate with the Wii Fit Plus Snowball Fight. Cate shifted her weight to move her Mii either behind a screen or out to make a shot. Ed threw the snowballs. They made a good team. Sam continues to do well at soccer heading, except that he still has a tendency to move right into the path of oncoming shoes and pandas. He still has fun.
Read more!

Not Your Favorite RV Chore

The standing joke from movies like RV with Robin Williams is the fun of dumping your wastewater tanks (euphemism for sewage, etc.). This task is usually not as dramatic as portrayed in the movies. In fact it's usually uneventful and ho-hum. Not so today.

We've been at Lewisville Lake Park for the last 13 days, and there are no sewer hookups. There are two possible solutions. One is to unhook everything, close up the rig, hitch up, and drive to the campground dump station. The other is to use a plastic rolling container commonly called a blue boy to empty the tanks, making several trips to the dump station dragging the blue boy behind the truck. We haven't done this often, and clearly we have a lot to learn. Today it was a difficult and messy job. Yuck! But we are now all set to spend our final week here.

After we had finished this job, we decided that we had had enough work for one day, so we had lunch and did some travel planning.

We took a short walk down to the shore where we had spotted the mama kildeer earlier. This time both mom and dad put on a show for us. For little birds, they are very brave!
Read more!

Work Day

Today we finally got serious about accomplishing some of our maintenance tasks. We dismantled the big fifth-wheel hitch, and I lifted the parts out of the truck bed so we could sand the rust off them. Even in parts, that hitch is heavy! Then, while Ken worked on the removed parts, I worked on sanding the rest of the parts still in the truck. Whew—hot work in the sun and lots of bending and twisting. Then we put rust remover gel on all the pieces.

Ken sanded and painted a stretch of the truck step bar where the paint was coming off while I cleaned out the truck bed, first removing the generator and the other stuff we store there and all the stray leaves. I filled my bucket at a faucet across the street in an empty camp site and scrubbed everything down. Then after it dried I applied Meguiar's protectant over the whole truck bed. The guy who installed the spray-in bed cover recommended that we use protectant regularly to protect the vinyl from UV deterioration. It also looks new and shiny for a while after 8-)

Meanwhile Ken was cleaning up some other stuff. By the time we broke for lunch, both of us were worn out. We decided to save some work for tomorrow....
Read more!

Sunday

We went over to Ed and Julie's this afternoon. Ed was watching the Masters Tournament on TV. Tiger wasn't doing very well. Julie and the kids were getting ready to go to a birthday party a couple of streets over. It must have been a great party--they were gone a long time and had a lot of fun.

I fixed some chicken stir fry for dinner, with help from Ed and Ken. Afterward, Ed and Ken and I played a round of Ticket to Ride. A combination of luck and remembering some of what I learned in my last defeat carried me to the win on this round, by a hair. I got longest train (10 pts.) by one car over Ken.
Read more!

Garage Sale Fun

The weather cooperated beautifully this morning, and there were lots of sales advertised. Carol whipped around from one to the next in her little Prius. The first few were closed when we arrived, but we found plenty open, some close enough to walk from one to the next. Both of us found some goodies and as usual had fun bargain hunting. I got three cute tops and some little presents for the kids.

After lunch I drove home in time to take a quick nap and a walk before going over to Ed and Julie's. On our walk, Ken pointed out a mama kildeer near her nest. She put on quite a show for us, fluttering and calling as she tried to lure us away from her nest.

Ed and Julie had tickets at Studio Movie Grill to see Date Night, a comedy with Steve Carell and Tina Fey. The kicker is that at SMG you can eat your pizza or burgers or whatever while you watch the movie.

Meanwhile, we got to have quality time with the grandkids. Ken watched Jesse while Cate and Sam and I played outside on the tire swing and drew pictures on the driveway with chalk. Cate specializes in pictures of princesses. Sam is enthusiastic and non-representational. Cate drew a hopscotch grid and invented some interesting rules to enliven the game.
Read more!

Tyler Visit

I got a rather slow start this morning. (I managed to spill some uncooked oatmeal all over myself, the stove, the counter, and the floor. It turned into paste....). I got to Carol's around noon, just in time for some yummy black bean and squash stew with peanut sauce. Debbie came over with her new baby, Sam, who was born March 13. He's four weeks old and cute as a button, but tiny. Jesse was born 7 weeks earlier, so of course he is much bigger now--funny how quickly you forget how small they are when they're born!

Carol and I drove around part of the Azalea Trail on our way to Luby's for dinner. We stopped first at one place where the owners invite visitors to tour their magnificent yard. The azaleas are a bit late this year, which means they are in full bloom right now and breathtaking.

We met Dick at Luby's and all had fish for dinner, which was delicious. It's always good to catch up with old friends.
Read more!

Games

Julie and Jesse and I went shopping this morning. Cate and Sam were at school, and Ken was holding down the home front (with computer and book and Droid to keep him occupied). Jesse slept peacefully the whole time in his car seat, which lifts out and fits in the stroller frame. It also fits the baby swing, so he can be moved from one to the other without disturbing his sleep--very clever design.

We went to Big Lots, Kohl's and Costco, and both of us returned with less money and more stuff than when we started out, so I guess the trip was successful. We picked up Andrew and Sam at school on our way home. Julie got Sam down for his nap, and Ken and I decided to take a walk. We agreed to be back by 3:15 so that Julie could walk over to get Cate from school without getting the boys up.

Unfortunately our sense of direction wasn't up to the task of getting back directly, even with the use of my Droid My Tracks program, so we had to call Julie and confess that we had gotten lost and would be late returning. She swung into action and got Sam up and the baby in his stroller and headed out to pick Cate up just before we rounded the corner, huffing and puffing.

After dinner Cate and Sam played Wii balance games. Sam is actually pretty good at soccer ball heading, but he hits the shoes (-1) and the pandas (-3) equally well. Cate is getting really good at her favorite game, feeding the penguin.
Read more!

Exploration

We finally got around to checking out another campground on the same lake (Lake Lewisville)--Pilot Knoll. It's definitely more out in the country. Lake Park is right in town, with ballfields and soccer fields and golf courses surrounding it. The campground at Pilot Knoll is arranged on a point of land, with most of the sites along the lake and well angled to provide great views. The attendant at the gate warned us that it is very popular on the weekends and that we should make our reservations early.

After lunch we went shopping at Bass Pro Shops and Costco. I found a Columbia shirt like my favorite that I got at an outlet store in New Hampshire last year, so now I have a blue one as well as a yellow one.

I played Wii with Cate and Sam this evening. They really like the balance games, even though the level is too difficult for them (hey, it's too difficult for me, too!). Then we played Sorry. Sam and I won by a hair--Cate was almost home with her last piece. I got to hold Jesse and rock him to sleep and even change him. He's just on the verge of laughing out loud--very sociable.
Read more!

Our First C-1 Dance (Outside the RGV)

We spent today trying to catch up on tasks and errands. I ran the truck through a coin-op carwash, so it's at least decent looking. I also did some grocery shopping, and an upscale resale shop called Encore, Encore just happened to be next door, so I browsed through their selections and ended up with two new tops.

Tonight we attended our first C-1 dance away from our caller/teachers (Darryl Lipscomb, Randy Dougherty, and Joe Saltel). We had two squares, and the caller was Wayne Alexander. His wife, Yevonne, was very helpful in welcoming us and giving us directions to the dance. One of the first things we noticed is that we were the only ones wearing nametags--the group is so small that everyone knows everyone else. We had two squares tonight, about usual, although if everyone shows up, there would be four or five squares. The sad thing is that this is the only C-1 dance in the whole Dallas/Fort Worth area.

We had fun dancing to Wayne Alexander's calling, despite finding ourselves wandering and uncertain more than we would like. We actually did pretty well, with some help from the experienced dancers. We learned some of the dancers' names, but we'll probably forget most of them before we get to dance with them the next time, in November. Wayne and Yevonne will be in California the next two weeks for PACE, so the C-1 dance here is dark.

Dennis and Cheryl drove out to the Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area at the Cedar Pocket interchange on I-15 to check out the campground where we are planning to boondock while we are visiting them in St. George, Utah. They sent some photos, with the warning that there's no shade. However, there are spectacular views!

Read more!

Saying Goodbye to Terri and Molly

On our walk this morning we spotted another Scissortail Flycatcher, and this time Ken managed to get a shot. The tail is just improbably long for such a small bird. Ken called into question my bona fides as a birdwatcher after I identified a grackle at the top of a pine tree as a ragged piece of black plastic! My eyes just aren't what they used to be.

We spent some time looking at our plans for next November, largely because we want to make a reservation here before we leave. We're also anticipating needing to have reservations for the Thanksgiving weekend, when we'll be in the Austin area.

Today was Terri and Molly's last day in Texas. They spent the day in Denton with Kelley and got back to Ed and Julie's around 4 p.m. Terri and Kelley and Julie went to the Verizon store, where Kelley picked out her new phone, an LG enV. She also moved from Ed and Julie's plan to her parents', since they are back in the states.

Then all of us went to Parma Pasta & Pizza for dinner. Our server, Gregory, was very friendly and helpful--even entertaining. He and Ed talked like old buddies, even though Ed and Julie say they only go there maybe three times a year.

The food was delicious. We were so full when we finished that we ordered dessert to go.

Back at the house, the kids got ready for bed and then Cate got to open her birthday present from Aunt Terri. It included several things, but Cate's favorite appeared to be the nail polish and lip gloss. She is definitely a "girly girl."

Molly worked on straightening Kelley's hair with an electric flat iron while Terri played with Jesse for one last evening and we chatted while watching the Final Four game. We gave Terri and Molly one last hug before heading home. They have to be at the airport early for their flight tomorrow, so we won't be seeing them in the morning.
Read more!

Happy Easter!

On our morning walk, we saw lots of early birds--some of them actual birds, and the rest anglers and picnickers. One bird especially caught our attention, a scissor-tailed flycatcher.

When we arrived at Ed and Julie's, Ed was in bed. He'd taken medication for his pink eye and sinuses and was sleeping it off. When he got up later he seemed to feel much better. He grilled salmon and pineapple, his specialty, and it turned out great.

Aunt Iris called to wish us a happy Easter, but we were playing Ticket to Ride, so I didn't hear everything she said. I know Beth was there and Little Joe and someone else who all wished us happy Easter on the speakerphone. They had gone out for fried chicken for dinner, so neither group had a "traditional" Easter dinner.

Jesse looked like a little Easter peep, dressed in a cute soft yellow sleeper. The kids had Jelly Bellys in their Easter baskets--very high class!

Ken and I went for another walk through the green belt bike/walking trail, this time starting out at Lone Prairie. We passed lots of kids on bikes and people walking dogs and joggers. It's a great resource for the surrounding neighborhoods. There are a couple of ponds, a creek, and a playground. When we got back, Terri and the girls and Julie and Sam were just starting out for their walk, so I tagged along with them too.
Read more!

On our walk this morning, we dressed warmly. The air was a bit nippy at 59 degrees, but it will be 80 later. We walked along the lake, which was calm except for the activity of people fishing. We saw a goose bathing in the shallows, which was quite a sight. It repeatedly dipped its head in the water and flung water back along its neck and body, then preened. Finally it stretched out its wings and shook off the excess water, apparently satisfied with its bath.

We went over to Ed and Julie's after lunch. When we got there, Julie was just leaving with Jesse to have lunch with a friend. Terri and the girls had gone to some resale shops. Ed was getting Sam to sleep for his nap, and Cate was playing quietly on the computer, so we went in quietly and waited for folks to return.

Ed has developed pink eye, joining Cate and Sam. All of us are trying to avoid catching it, so the hand sanitizer is seeing lots of use.

After supper we decorated Easter eggs. Sam was partial to blue and Cate to purple and multicolor dyes. Ed made some nifty egg dippers from coat hangers, puncturing a finger in the process--ouch! We had lots of fun.

Kelley got on the Wii balance board and showed us all how it's done. She's had some practice in the past, and of course she had young muscles and reaction times. I've been practicing the soccer heading balance game, basically showing off my ineptness. Kelley got practically every ball. Now her high score will be sitting there reminding me--except that the list shows Cate as the super soccer player, since Kelley hadn't created a Mii yet.
Read more!

We Are Counted!

We went over to Ed and Julie's house this afternoon. On the way we stopped at the Census Office to pick up our Be Counted forms. We had to figure out what to put down as our location and finally ended up with the option to identify the place we spent the night of April 1 (Census Day). Ken filled it our when we got to the house and put it in the mailbox for pickup. Maybe by the next time the census rolls around, there will be some provision for fulltime RVers.

I took my new Wii to the house, because I knew the kids had fun playing with Julie's dad's Wii during my last visit. The kids were anxious to play after I got it hooked up to the TV in the family room. They like golf and baseball. Both of those games can be played with one shared Wii control, which is good, since my Wii console came with only one. The kicker is that the wrist strap has to be moved from kid to kid between each turn. That can get old really quick 8-), but it worked, and the kids had fun.

Sam has more enthusiasm than muscle control, but it doesn't bother him to go to the limit on a golf hole--as long as he gets to hit the ball, he's happy. Cate has both better control and more grasp of the game rules and goal. She was regularly getting bogeys at the beginner level.
Read more!

April Fools!

As usual, I checked Facebook while fixing breakfast. Imagine my surprise to see that Julie had posted, "I'm pregnant!" After getting over the immediate shocked disbelief, I started to read the comments...and realized what day this is. Not a vasectomy failure after all!

We left Berry Springs this morning and had an uneventful trip to Lewisville (no blowouts or other excitement). We did have a moment of sadness passing by Killeen and Fort Hood.

We arrived at Lake Park around 3 p.m. We needed to dump on the way in, but found the area flooded. Some helpful park workers managed to clear the drain, so we're getting a clean start to our visit. After we got set up in space 4, with a great view of the lake, we put our chairs out and sat down to relax a bit before eating dinner. Then we drove over to Flower Mound, where we were enthusiastically greeted by Cate and Sam. Jesse has nearly doubled his birth weight and is much more alert and social at 2 months than the last time I saw him when he was less than 2 weeks old. We had a good visit with Julie and the kids, including a tea party puppet show.

Ed is in Longview with his dad, who will be having heart surgery in the morning. He called to say goodnight to the kids. When Sam said goodbye, he hugged and kissed the phone. Kids are so precious.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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...
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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

Read more!

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?
Read more!

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!).
Read more!

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.

Read more!

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

Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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!

Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.
Read more!