Great Friends. . . Great Stop!

We had thought we might leave the Valley on Friday, but as can happen in the Valley, we had strong winds for about three days. The plan was to head up toward Aransas Pass where some friends were staying, but the wind was following that route, so we decided to delay our departure a day and get some other things done before we left.

Saturday was a great travel day and we found other friends were staying in Victoria, so we decided a stop there would break up the trip to Houston and allow us time to meet with Bob and Betsy. They were between assignments, but got a call while we were on our way there. They ended up leaving the camp the same time we did on Sunday morning. They are "gate keepers" on a large ranch. There may be several oil wells on the property and the gates allowing access must be manned to make sure everyone coming in has business there. Some gates are open only during the day, but this gate where Bob and Betsy are going is to be open 24/7 for a period of time. It is a new site and they are bringing in the rig today. That would be something to see! All of their needs are provided for. . . they are kept stocked with fresh water, a large generator to supply power, LP for their motorhome and they are pumped out whenever necessary.

It was great visiting with them and sharing a couple meals before we all had to move on. They have bought a place in Meridian, Idaho, and we hope to visit them there some day.

Yesterday we had an easy drive up to Houston and to the LakeView RV Resort. This is a beautiful park and we are very comfortable here. It is expensive, but much cheaper than a Houston hotel room, that's for sure. And they have weekly and monthly rates as well. Our plan is to be here for about a week and then head back to the Valley. From there we will fly back to Indiana for our nephew's wedding. We were here a few weeks ago on our way down to the Valley, so I have included a picture from that visit.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Tile is Done!

John finished the tile in Mom and Dad's place on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. What a great job he did. It is beautiful. When Mom and Dad bought this park model, it was said to have new carpet in it; but for some reason, walking on it would cause black smudges to appear. I thought it had mold under it, but it didn't. When we took it up, it appeared to be clean underneath as was the underlayment. It's a mystery as to what was making the black marks. At any rate, they decided last year they would like to have tile put in. Since they are not arriving in the valley until after the big family wedding event in December, it was a good time for the tile work to be done. We had the same man who built our shed last spring do the tile work. He is meticulous and did a very good job. I think Mom and Dad will be pleased.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at the hall in our park. They place was full and there was lots of food to eat. Terry and I are on very strict diets due to his bout of heart failure this summer. We do not eat any salt. It is challenging to eat anywhere other than home, but on this day, we celebrated the holiday with friends and tried to choose foods that were not likely to have salt added. It is too hard to do that when you eat out in restaurants, but if we know we are going to eat somewhere, we will try to eat lighter before we go out.

The day after Thanksgiving used to be a big shopping day for us. Long before this was known as "Black Friday," we would bring our small children to grandma's house and she would babysit so Terry and I could shop. We usually made a list of what we wanted to buy and get it mostly done on that one day. My how times have changed. We no longer shop on Black Friday. I have completed most of my shopping and it was done on line. No standing in lines for me!

We used Friday to gather up everything we had taken out of the motorhome as we were headed to Houston on Saturday for Terry to see a specialist on Monday. We got stuff picked up and I also was able to get Mom and Dad's house pretty much back in order. I got the floor mopped. The tile grout leaves residue that has to be wiped up and the first day you can only use a dry mop. So I put my knee pads on the next day and used a wet rag on it. It really shines now. And it was quite easy to do because there was very little furniture to work around. Now everything is back in place and it looks very nice. I didn't put their large rugs down yet, but will do that when I get back down there, hopefully in another week.

Till next time. . .

Dale

On the move. . .

We are moving up to Houston today. We left the valley yesterday and stopped in at the Gateway to the Gulf RV Park in Victoria, Texas, primarily because we have friends here and it was halfway to Houston. I will blog more today once we get to Houston.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Nice weather

It has been beautiful weather since we have been down here in the Rio Grande Valley. We walk every morning and ride bikes every afternoon. Every other day or so we go to the pool in the evening and spend some time in the hot tub.

I am still not over my sinus infection, but I am making progress. The cough is pretty much gone and I no longer go through a box of kleenex during the day. One ear is still closed up and that is annoying. I still have sinus pressure on that side.

I am dog sitting today. John, who is doing the new tile in Mom and Dad's park model, brought over his little mini-pin, Rainbow. Helen, John's wife, had a craft class this morning. When they were over working on Saturday I said they should bring the dog so she wouldn't have to spend the day all cooped up in their motorhome. So they brought her today and I am doggy-sitting. She is quite sweet, a little timid, but not hard to care for. She really likes Terry and wants on his lap all the time. We took her on our walk this morning and she walks really well.

We are going to have Thanksgiving dinner over at the hall on Thursday. We already have our ingredients for cranberry salad and pecan pie. It will be strange not having Mom and Dad there. They are waiting until after my nephew's wedding in December to come down. We are flying back up there. I told Terry we wasted money on our doctor's appointments last month. We could have just waited for these new screening procedures and let the TSA do our physicals for us. Har har.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back to the blog. . .

I am trying hard to get over this sinus infection, but it is taking longer than I want. I certainly haven't felt like doing much since we arrived here at our lot in Mission. I have puttered around the coach, but haven't put out any of my "bling." The first thing I would like to do is pull all the dead weeds out in the "desertscape." Last year we had a large canopy put up over the motorhome. Am I ever glad we have it. It keeps the hot sun off of us and allows us to sit outside out of the hot sun and dry if it happens to rain.

We did make a trip out to visit the big box stores looking for patio furniture. I really miss having a Menard's down here. They have the neatest furniture, but it is much too bulky to drag down here in the motorhome. Last year when we started looking after Christmas it seemed it was all picked over, so I thought I would go early this year. I found NONE. . . well maybe a chair here, a table there, but nothing I was interested in. And in the stores where they would normally display that seasonal stuff, I found Christmas decorations. So perhaps after Christmas, they will restock with spring merchandise and I will be able to find something I like.

The weather has been great since we've been here. We've had warm daytime temps and cool evenings. We have been walking every morning and riding bikes every evening. A couple nights we have been over to the pool and sat in the hot tub a bit. I am still trying to stay away from people in closed areas because I do have a pretty harsh cough. I certainly am ready for this to go away so I can get out and socialize a bit.

On a positive note, the road construction on the expressway in front of our park is finished and the bridge over Abrams road is done as well. That was a several years long project that made for a lot of dust and mud in the park. So glad that is finished and looking good!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Way down south in Mission Texas

We arrived at our lot in Mission Texas yesterday about 5pm, for a 2 week stay. The drive over from Florida was split up into several segments. We stopped off for 3 days at my cousin Gary and Jo's place outside of Zachary LA, for some family time. Friday we headed west to Houston for a night, before the final leg to Mission yesterday.

Everything at our lot was as we left it except for one of Dale's cacti cuttings bit the dust..kinda yellow instead of green. We think it might of been hit by weed killer applied during our time away. We just might have to visit Roger and Alicia's for another cutting. The other cutting from the same cactus that Dale had in a pot over the summer, survived quite well.

The temp made it to 74 today, which is a great way to start the winter. I unloaded a lot of stuff from the basement of the motorhome and from the bed of the Sport Trac into the the storage shed, then we watched and slept through most of the NASCAR race.

Dale has been under the weather for the past few days with a bad sinus infection, hopefully she starts getting relief soon.

Terry

Great time in Florida!

Every day we were in Florida, we tried to do something different. Both Brandon and Megan had to work, so we kept busy. Early in our stay, we gathered wedding packets for the kids to look at. They haven't a date yet, but they are thinking September next year. They have to check with a couple venues to see if the date they want is available. I wish we could have stayed and helped with some stuff, but they will get it done. The big thing is getting a date, then they can start contacting vendors.

We continue to walk on the beach every morning. One day we saw this little guy. He is a ghost crab and he certainly didn't want to see us nor let us get close. He was quite comical because when the water would come up and cover him, you could only see his eyes sticking up. Really odd little creatures.

One day we drove up to Cocoa Beach. We actually have been there a couple times since we got here, but this time we went to a swimsuit shop. I have not had any luck finding a swimsuit, and I found an ad for a shop up there. Luck was with me because I found two swimsuits that fit me and that I liked. Terry spent the time reading.

Another day we went down to Sebastian Inlet State Park. This park I have posted about before and I have posted pictures as well, but it is a beautiful spot. The fishing must have been good because the jetty pier was filled with fishermen. We watched as one man landed a yellow tail and another brought a ray up on the deck. The ray, while rather small, had a very long tail with a very long barb on the end. The fisherman was apparently familiar with these interesting creatures. He retrieved pliers out of his tackle box and stepped on the tail while he tried to remove the hook from the ray. Unfortunately, the hook was too deep, so the line was cut. The little ray really knew how to whip that tail, so the man gently pushed him over the side of the pier and he splashed into the water to swim another day.

As you know, the shuttle has been delayed until Monday, this time due to a fuel leak. Since we wanted to get to Texas and get some things done at our lot there, we decided we weren't going to wait any longer. If it doesn't fly Monday, it will be another month before there is another window and they weren't that confident Monday was going to work. We decided to hit the road. We got a late start, so it was 5 o'clock before we got to our campground. That is late for us. We are in a very nice camp next to a new convenience store where we were able to fuel the motorhome. That gal running the store is a real hoot. While I was in there paying for fuel, she yelled at one of the other employees and said, "I hear Gary is stealing corn again. . . looks like I'm gonna' have to get my gun and shoot somebody." Hahaha. The rules for the campground tell campers that they are to clean "game" in the designated areas only and not to dump the entrails and carcasses in the dumpster but carry it back to the woods and bury it. This should be an interesting night.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Our countdown is a go!!!!!

Chief navigator here!

Cancelled the shuttle Discovery's last launch again, 4th time this week. Earliest date now is this Monday soooo.......We're off to trek along the Florida pan-handle toward the Escapees Park near our Monday mail drop in Summerdale, Alabama. Hope to see cousins Gary & Jo north of Baton Rouge on our way to Mission in next couple of weeks.

Dale booked our tickets to the frozen north (Indiana) for nephew Brad and Nicole's December wedding last night. Will arrive in Indy the 14th for my Wednesday doctor's appointments, then she drives us north to La Porte for the wedding that weekend. Then Monday the 20th it's back to sunny Mission, Texas.


Terry subbing for Dale, who is locking down the inside of Phaeton Place for travel.

Zoom zoom zoom!!!!

First off, I just never get tired of these sunrises. We have been getting out and walking on the beach every morning and time it to coincide with the sunrise which is about 7:32. It gets us out exercising early while it is breezy and cool and is a change of scenery from walking in the park.

Yesterday we went to Cocoa with Brandon and Megan and took an airboat ride through the St. John's River basin. We were able to see several alligators and got fairly close to one who was sunning himself on the bank. He was missing a front paw so maybe that's why he wasn't so interested in moving, but we didn't harrass him either. When he started stirring, we left. Ho ho. We saw several others in the water and a couple on the banks and enjoyed our ride.

There are cattle that graze along the river's edge and the alligators don't bother them. The alligators won't bother anything larger than they are. Snakes, however, are more of a danger to the cattle.






Till next time. . .

Dale