Time to roll . . .

Our time with the kids came to an end, but not before we spent a glorious day Saturday with the kids. We started out by planning on an air boat tour, but the weather did not cooperate and we eventually scrapped the idea. We wanted a 30 minute ride, not knowing how Brynlee would handle it, but no one was doing those on Saturday.

So after driving to the various venues and threatening skies, we decided to head to the restaurant, Grills Riverside, where we enjoyed a dinner inside, but at the window, so we could see the Indian River. We actually spotted a dolphin swimming close to shore.

After dinner, we returned to the camp to let Duchess out and feed her, then we headed back over to the kids' again and spent the evening with them. It was a great time and we hated to go. I always hate to leave kids and grandkids, but we have other places to go. Terry had made an appointment to get the front mask removed from the motorhome and a new one applied.

We left Sunday morning to go to Tampa, actually Dover, just east of Tampa. We arrived in the afternoon and it was clear the entire way, but soon started to rain. It really poured the rest of the day and all night. They had told us they wouldn't be able to do the mask if it rained. As it turned out, their other appointment didn't show and they were able to put us inside the building and do it. So Monday morning we were over at Florida Applied Films, just about 2 miles from the camp and they took about 2 hours to remove the paint protection film that was on it. The problem with these films is that rocks pierce them and then mold forms underneath. I actually thought we would have to repaint the entire front cap, but as it turned out the paint underneath was good and not damaged. So after it was removed, we returned to camp. We needed some touch up paint and we were told to go to Lazy Days and get it mixed for us. We went on over and it didn't take long to get our order in. We removed the refrigerator hatch door which contained the three colors we needed and the paint shop was able to mix up some paint for us. They called when it was ready a few hours later and we picked it up.

The new mask was ordered and we made another appointment for Wednesday (today) morning to have it applied. It had continued to rain and pour every day we have been here, but today was sunny with a few clouds here and there. We took the coach back into the building at the shop and they started work immediately. By the time the mask was delivered, they were ready for it and got it installed. It looks great. There was a Phaeton logo on the the front which had to be removed in the process and we weren't going to put any back on. But the logo has been there for over 12 years and there was a shadow where the logo had been. So the guy offered to do a decal, which we approved. It is the same style looks very nice. We are very pleased, especially since we didn't have to repaint the front end.

While we were waiting on things, we drove up to Zephyrhills and looked around at some RV sites. But we didn't find anything Terry wanted to go back to see, so no news there. We did have breakfast Tuesday with some great friends, Bill and Helen. We met them when we started fulltiming. They live in the Villages now and we rarely see them anymore, so this was a special time.


My friend, Josie, is still in the park in Texas and took even more pictures of our cactus. They continue to bloom more and more and are really beautiful.



We are here for a few more days because the mask needs to "cure" before driving off, especially if we have a lot of rain. So I see a casino in my future as well an IKEA! Whoo hoo!





Till next time. . .

Dale

Winding down. . .

Our time with the kids is coming to a close. This week at the park has been busy with wildlife sightings. We have seen an abundance of the gopher tortoises, Sandhill cranes, bunnies, turtles, ducks, a pileated woodpecker and we even spotted a lone eagle! We have seen the eagle on past trips here and it is always a thrill.



Yesterday was the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. We were able to see it from the cul-de-sac in front of Brandon's house. Pretty cool. A few minutes later we heard the rumble from the rocket launching. We heard later what we believe to be the rocket boosters returning to earth. They actually are landed on a drone ship in the ocean and reused. Pretty clever.






While we have been gone from Texas, our cactus have been busy blooming. They started the week we left there. We have never seen them blooming. Our paddle cactus always have flowers on them, but they never "bloom" and the long armed cactus (don't know the name) have never produced blooms while we are there. Dang, but they're beautiful. A friend who is still there took these this week.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Bittersweet!

Leaving the RGV is always bittersweet. We left Mom and Dad after sitting behind them all winter, but they have guests arriving in a few days, so they won't be alone. Her brother and his wife are going to be arriving in another week or so and then after they leave, my sister and her husband will be flying in and getting ready for the big drive home.
 
I took pictures of what my cactus looked like when we left. They don't grow much in the winter. One would think with all the rain, they would grow quickly, but they wait and grow best in the scorching heat of the summer. Go figure. The flat paddle cactus have been trimmed greatly. We are trying to get them to grow up "tree-like."

We had planned on leaving Sunday, today, but decided to skip out a day early. We are anxious to see my cousins in Houston and arriving there earlier in the day would be a big plus. It is a 7 hour journey in the motorhome and unless you leave at the crack of dawn, arriving early afternoon is not gonna happen. We had planned to stop at a park in Sinton, but we drove in and it wasn't "as advertised," and we decided to move on down the road. So we stopped at our regular stop in Victoria, Gateway to the Gulf RV Park. This is a nice park, but we weren't able to snag one of the pull throughs, so we had to unhook the toad. No problem, and while we were unhooked, decided to run into town to Mumphford's Place BBQ once again for a great dinner.

While we were driving through Kingsville, we saw some really outrageous traffic. Really, I didn't know there were that many cars in that part of Texas. Fortunately they were all getting off the expressway and heading east, so it didn't create a bottleneck for us, but there were miles of cars waiting to exit down the ramp. We had no idea what the attraction was until it appeared we were going to get strafed by. . . MIGS! Yes, MIGS! I said, "What kind of plane is that anyway, Terry?" He looked up and said, "It's a MIG!" Wow. It WAS A MIG! We knew then it must be an airshow and the cars were all headed to the airport. I looked it up and it is the "Wings Over South Texas" airshow this weekend at Kingsville. And they mention on their website the Migs they have in the show. We saw two flying over us. That way quite a thrill, but it was too late to get any kind of picture.

Our drive was easy and uneventful. . . the best kind. For once, all our monitors worked without error. Terry's new Silverleaf diagnostic program was flawless. We had trouble with it before and at one point it even caused a "check engine light" to come one. That seemed to be remedied with the physically installation of the software that came with it. . . duh. . . found when Terry was putting it back in the box. LOL Since the install, it runs perfectly. The new TPMS, tire pressure monitoring system, a series of 10 sensors on all the motorhome and truck tires worked perfectly for the first time. Out of 10 sensors, one was bad out of the box. The company replaced it and now all 10 are working. Man, I love it when a plan comes together.

We are spending 2 nights in Houston starting tonight and visiting with Jim and Pat, then on to Nacogdoches, Texas. We are going to Foretravel and look at their coaches. Just browsing, but who knows. . . ????? Then we are off to Henderson to visit with friends we met while we were in Houston for Terry's cancer treatment. It's been awhile since we've seen them. Our trips back to Houston never seemed to coincide, but we like to touch base now and then.

From there we will cut across country to Virginia to see our grandones. We will be arriving between their birthdays, so it will be a double celebration! So anxious to see them. They change so quickly when they are that little. Course, we come bearing gifts, so that should endear us to them.

I hope we don't hit any bad weather on our travels. It was a miserable winter as winters go in the valley, but much, much worse in other parts of the country, so we try not to complain. Last year we had a snowstorm while we were camped in Richmond, Virginia, and hoping that doesn't happen again.

The girls are doing well and enjoy getting out and sniffing new territory daily. If they are confused, they don't show it. They did love having Grandma and Grandpa around. Yesterday they took care of the girls while we were getting Phaeton Place ready to roll. They certainly don't lack for attention. It's hard to tell from the picture, but Duchess has her head resting on Butterscotch. LOL

Today starts as a lazy day. We are further toward Houston than we had planned with a fairly short drive today, so don't need to be in a hurry.

All you snowbirds and fulltimers out there hitting the road, be safe and take care on the roads.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Merry Christmas!

The holidays are here. Things start ramping up after Thanksgiving with people putting up Christmas decorations in the parks. Where we live we have five parks in close enough proximity to take the golf cart and go to each of them. The other night Mom and I rode through all five parks to look at the decorations. Some parks that had a lot of decorations in years past, have very little this year. But one park which normally doesn't do much really has a lot of decorations this year. It was fun to visit all of them and see the different displays.

Most of my Christmas shopping this year has all been on line. Even having stuff giftwrapped, I think I still spend less than if I got in the car and went shopping. And it's a great time saver, that's for sure. I used to like to shop just to get into the Christmas spirit, but I don't seem to get that down here in Texas. I used to love shopping in my hometown when the stores would be open in the evening and snow would be falling. It seemed like a magical time. But I don't really care to be out in that cold air anymore. We actually had some cold weather in Indiana before we left and we really were so not used to it that we were both quite uncomfortable.

Our days are spent doing what we want, which isn't much. . . retirement is great! We do some walking the dogs and that is several times a day. When they get back from their walk, they always want to go visit Mom and Dad. They love going over there and checking under the table for any scraps that may be left over from supper. LOL On the way back tonight, there was a piece of red tinsel that blew in off somebody's display and the dogs thought it was alive! Haha. What a sight. They both barked at it and pounced on it. Course it was moving because the wind was breezy at the back of the pad and it would sorta swirl. They got all excited and pounced on it and observed it growling and barking. Those were some brave Scotties, I tell you. I took some pictures and a movie, but failed to get the movie transferred. I really have to work on that skill. Since I always delete the pictures after transferring them, I deleted the movie before I realized I didn't have it.

I have mentioned my cactus before and I have some April pictures and some December pictures. We still can't believe it. We trimmed one of the bushes and are waiting to see how it handles being whacked on before doing more. We have taken some seed pods from Spike, my golden barrel cactus and are going to try and start some. We've had a lot of people ask where I got him and it was in Phoenix, so they can't go right out and buy one. I haven't seen another in the park.

Today I made fruitcakes. Before you groan, this was Terry's Uncle Bill's recipe and is all fruit and nuts with no flour and it is totally gluten free! It uses coconut and sweetened condensed milk as a binder and it is a fruitcake for those who don't like fruitcake. . . like me. Then later I made divinity. Never have made it before and always wanted to. I think it is a very festive candy and I love seeing it, but I'm not much for eating it, but it is good. Mom said it was very good.

I have been starting on my sewing. I got two pairs of jeans shortened and have a couple more pants to do as well as some shirts. When you're short, you have to do that. Tomorrow I will probably do laundry. It's a snap in the new Texas Room, but I still do a load every week in my motorhome washer/dryer. That will keep the seals from drying out, etc. While I'm out there in the Texas Room I will get things straightened up so we can have Christmas out there Wednesday morning. I still have the table set up for wrapping, etc., but we're all finished with that.

We've had a couple golf cart parades through the park. That's always fun to watch. They decorate their golf carts and some are pretty ingenious. They put lights and other decorations on them.

Earlier this week, Dad decided he wanted a bicycle. He thought he would be able to ride a trike. Since his knee surgery three years ago, he hasn't gotten much exercise and he decided he needed to do

something. Walking is difficult for him with his back problems, so we went looking for a bike. We found one and they bought it and we brought it home. I have to say, he has ridden it every single day. He has ridden around the block which is a big thing for him. It doesn't seem to make him winded either, like walking does. I am so glad to see him up and doing something like this. Even if he just rides around the block once, it's good for him. On really windy days, he has been doing laps in his driveway. He actually can do that and spin it around on both ends. 

Wednesday we go to the hall for Christmas dinner. They will have ham and turkey and then everyone brings a dish. It's always a feast, like Thanksgiving and we always look forward to do.

I have some pictures of my beautiful grandchildren. Ronan and Aenea got to open a gift from me the other night. I think they enjoyed them. I got Aenea a baby doll and Ronan a Mike the Knight castle playset. The last is a Christmas picture of Brynlee, our newest granddaughter.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Update

We made it to our lot in the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We got set up and visited with Mom and Dad a bit. Mom made supper for us so that was great that I didn't have to stop everything to cook.

We made it to the hall for Thanksgiving. That is always a fun time, wonderful smells, happy people, and lots of good food. Got a picture of Mom and Dad and one of us as well.

Since then I have been decorating, putting up the Christmas trees in the Texas Room along with other decorations there and here in the motorhome. I am going to put up the little tree here in the motorhome tomorrow. We have been having some pretty unseasonably cold weather here in the valley now, so we are only doing inside jobs right now.

My cactus are huge. I can't believe how much they have grown. Our lot looked so sparse before we left last spring and now the cactus have taken over. We are going to do some pruning because Terry wants the "bushes" to grow into "trees." We have seen their parent "tree" and that is what we are going by. This cactus doesn't have spines, but it does have fine little hairs that can cause some irritation. The "twins" which were single stalks I planted have grown large arms and both have three arms on them. I will try to get some updated pictures.

"Red," my poinsettia started turning red again. She does that around Christmas. She is green the rest of the time, but starts getting red late in the year. She also has quit sprawling out and is growing up bushy now, which is pretty cool. I was told she was not the "type" of poinsettia that would survive outside planting. . . hmmmmm. Guess someone didn't know anything, eh?

The girls seem to be adjusting to the routine of retirement. They would like to chase the bunnies they see here in the park, but they must be content to whine from a distance. LOL We walk several times a day down to the dog patch. They sleep a lot of the time. We have been taking them out on the patio on nice days and let them watch what's going on in the park. That way we can run back and forth to the Texas Room. They like the Texas Room, but they cannot see out. We are going to get a new storm door installed that has glass down low so they can see out. I think they will like it better then.

Having an issue with the little truck. Coming back from church this morning, I smelled antifreeze. When Terry checked the radiator, he couldn't see any fluid in it. . . not a good sign. It hadn't been running hot, though. He added water later and we will be taking it in for service later this week.

Have most of our Christmas shopping done. . . . did it mostly online. That is just too easy. But it's better than fighting the crowds.

We will be going to the hall for Christmas dinner in a couple weeks. Another good dinner is in the works!

Till next time. . .

Dale

I'm baaaaaaack!

The trip to Texas is now history. On Sunday the 13th, Terry drove me down to Nita's and I spent the night there so we could leave there around 7:30 a.m. Otherwise I would have had to get up much, much earlier to make the hour-and-a-half drive down to where they all live. The goal was to get better sleep, but that didn't happen. Nita had me sleeping in the loft upstairs. Next I will opt for the theatre room which is dark, dark and quiet. They have a grandfather clock which chimes every 15 minutes and I was awake and ready for each chime after 2:30 a.m. Grrrrrr. I was ready to throw it out the window!

But I was ready to go on time. LOL I started out driving Dad in their car and Nita drove Mom in her Jeep. When we got to Indianapolis, we left her Jeep at the airport so when we came back a week later, it would be waiting for us. We made that connection fine, except Nita had to take the shuttle back to the parking lot because she had left her lights on. LOL A little OCD in the family never hurt anything. . . like sister, like sister. At least now I have someone with which to share my affliction.

We drove with the help of Nita's GPS and made it to Blytheville, Arkansas, the first night. Found a lovely Comfort Inn. We got Mom and Dad settled in, then we went to get them some takeout. Once they were fed and getting relaxed, Nita and I walked across the parking lot to a Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed a Margarita and a meal. It was very good. And I got a very good night's sleep that night, so I was good to go.

I started driving and drove a good part of the day Tuesday because there was a lot of rain. I don't mind driving in it and Nita said that was okay with her. We stopped at a Western Sizzlin' restaurant for lunch and that was quick and very good. Later in the day, Nita took over and continued the drive into Nacogdoches, Texas, where we found another Comfort Inn for the night. Once again, we went and got Mom and Dad some takeout and got them settled in their room. Then we went out to Subway and got some soup and salad.

Wednesday morning I took the wheel once again. We were just over 100 miles from Houston. Mom and Dad haven't gone through Houston in a couple years because they got confused the last time, but I wasn't worried. I drive Phaeton Place down through the middle of the city, so I was sure I could negotiate a car. We got to the 'burbs about 10:00 a.m. which turned out to be a good time to run through Houston. We just had to stay on 59 and it was a piece of cake. Traffic was good and moving and we made it through in about 20 minutes. Before we knew it, we were headed out of the city toward Victoria. We stopped at Buckee's for fuel and to browse and use the restrooms. It was a good, relaxing stop for everyone.

Nita took over from there and we continued on, thinking of where we could have lunch. I decided it would be fun to take them to Mumphfords BBQ in Victoria, and so we headed there. Trust me, it doesn't look like a place you would want to have lunch, but the food is excellent and even though it was packed when we got there, we found a table to sit Daddy down and the rest of us stood in line. Since the food is already prepared, the line goes very quickly. It was lunch time and lots of people in there were on their lunch hour. We placed our order and in a short time our food was in front of us. It was excellent as usual. A big thanks to The Texan and his wife for taking us there the first time. Great food and a great atmosphere. We sat at a table with some state troopers.

Nita continued the drive and brought us into the valley. We arrived at our place about 5:30 p.m. We were glad to get here, but the drive was really quite nice, even though Nita and I would have preferred to take it a little slower and spend an extra night on the road.

I immediately opened our Texas room. This is precisely why we built it and it was great. We made a short WalMart run that night and Nita and I bought breakfast and lunch stuff for us. That way we could get up and have breakfast and later lunch without being a burden on Mom. It worked perfectly. The Texas room was very comfortable for us. We had our bed, a kitchen for cooking, laundry and a full bathroom and TV!! Very comfy.

I met the neighbors who are already there or who stayed through the summer. It was a little mini-reunion. We were amazed at my cactus! Oh my! They have done so well over the summer. The flat bladed bushes were planted just this spring and were basically just 1 or 2 paddles I stuck in the ground. I guess you don't plant cactus unless you're SERIOUS! Woot! The "twins" are taller than me now and have several arms. "Red," my poinsettia has grown bushier instead of being all spread out. She doesn't have any red leaves yet, but that will change. I am anxious to see it all once again when we return in another month or so. There was a interesting bird nesting on the ground. We never did see any eggs or any little wee ones around. Does anyone know what kind of bird she is?

We spent several days getting Mom and Dad all tucked in and groceries bought, and played cards every night. It was great fun and we all had a good time.

All too soon, it was time to say our goodbyes. Since we had to get up at 3 a.m. to get to the airport at 5 a.m., we said our goodbyes the night before. It was hard to leave Mom and Dad, but they are where they want to be. We are glad they can still be there as well. Our flights were very smooth, both from McAllen to Houston and Houston to Indy. The little Jeep was patiently waiting for us upon our arrival in Indy.

We have been busy finishing up things here and getting the last minute packing done. We have been having some trouble with the motorhome furnaces. The back gas furnace won't light. It did yesterday, but conked out overnight. That is the furnace that heats the lower bays with the water tanks, so we have to have it looked at. Probably just bugs in the pipes.

Our plans are to leave the frozen north on Tuesday. It is cold up here now and we have seen snow and freezing rain. NOT to our liking, that's for sure.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Prickly plants!

I LOVE cacti! I started a couple years ago with a golden barrel cactus I bought in Phoenix at a flea market. It came in a gallon container. Spike is huge now and I got to see flowers this year.

I planted the "twins" (twin towers) last year. They were given to me by some dear friends. We noticed a week ago that a new arm was sprouting. Terry thought we needed to remove it but I said no. I want to see what it is going to do.



We picked up two other cactus "leaves" laying on the ground. We saw them while on our walk. We picked them up and planted them in pots. Neither one did much in the pots, so Terry transplanted them last week. Wow! What a difference it made to put them in the ground. The one is growing straight up and the other has put out two new paddles on the top! I can't imagine what they will look like when we return here next fall.

The cacti do seem to grow faster and larger in the summer when it is so hot. That seems strange, but they actually don't do much in the winter when temps are cooler. I am going to measure them so I know how much they have grown.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Landscapes in Texas

We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets here in Texas. This one is actually a sunrise, although it looks more like twilight. We get out every morning and walk 2.6 miles. If it's cold, we may have to walk later in the day, but we always try to do it early. Many times it is still dark when we get out and hit the pavement. It takes us 50 minutes to walk our route, so we are usually greeted by the sun beginning to show over the horizon.

Last year our Golden Barrel cactus Spike bloomed sometime after we left. No one saw the blooms, so I didn't know what they looked like. Early last month I noticed there were many more "flowers" pushing up from the crown. They look dark and kind of like straw and there are many that are breaking the surface. Yesterday I snapped a picture of one flower that finally did bloom. If all the buds continue to pop up and out, there could be about a dozen blooms on Spike. The dried blooms from last year are still on there and at the base of those you can see seed pods growing. Baby cactus! Whoo hoo. I read about harvesting the seeds and it sounds like a lot of work and I really don't know what I'm doing with that, so I will probably just wait and see what happens. I assume that the seed pods can be snipped off and just planted. Hmmmm. All our cactus are doing extremely well. I enjoy the desertscape here. We have two new cacti to plant that we picked up off the ground when they were trimmed from other plants.

The last few days I have been busy making a baby quilt for Aenea. I hate the pinks they have in the fabric stores. Too gawdish. So I found some lavender flannel prints and used those. It turned out beautiful and I hope she will enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Ronan's is still being used a lot. I made him a camping quilt so he would like to sleep in the tent. I didn't really make them to be family heirlooms, but to be serviceable blankets.

We have a Valentine's dinner next week we are going to. Should be good.  We will be here for three more weeks. Then we start our trek out of the valley and east to see the kids, then to Indy for doctor appointments.

We are getting things in order for the start of our Alaska trip on May 22!

Till next time. . .

Dale