Grandma and Bailey

Grandma taking Bailey, the Scottish Terror, for his daily walk. When she comes over in the morning, he is just not content until they have gone for their walk. She cannot stand to see the disappointment in his eyes if she doesn't grab his leash.

Till next time. . .

Dale

RV.NETTERS doing what we do best!!!!

Meeting, greeting, eating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It just doesn't get any better than this! We met up with fellow forum-busters at Gonzales Burgers in Donna, Texas, for lunch today. You really have to have specific instructions on how to get to this place, because the address actually puts it on the other side of the road. The beige building has NO markings or signs of any kind, there is no parking lot and the windows are dark tinted so you cannot see inside. They said their sign blew down in the hurricane of '67 and they never bothered to replace it. Hahahahaha. Like . . . what's the rush anyway???? BUT. . . we made it. We ordered burgers (as big as your plate), fries and onion rings. . . yum, yum. Great food.

There we met up with Don and Mary (DonP), Ed and Becky (Hoops), Bob and Barb (Fox & Bear), Paul and Karen (Kbix), Roger and Alicia (HappyTrailsRVing), Bob and Betsy (The Texan) and yours truly, Terry and Dale (Teacher's Pet and dapace). So much fun and conversation. We had so much fun talking about what there is to do in the Valley, places to eat, shop. . . where we've been. . . where we're going, etc. We stayed for a couple hours total and then left as more people came, surrendering our seats to other diners.

We must plan another outing soon, as The Texan(s) are going to be headed to Mexico in another week.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Winter in the Valley

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Wednesday we had 100 degrees here during the day, but when I let the dogs out later it was down to about 77, very comfortable. When we awoke on Thanksgiving Day, it was 55 outside. Now today it has not been much above 50 and has been misting all day.

We went to the hall for Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday with Mom and Dad. We had a beautiful dinner with really good turkey, ham, dressing and everything else you normally find. We came back to our warm motorhome afterwards and didn't really venture out the rest of the day.

Now today it is really a miserable day. . . 50 and getting colder and misting. Terry is sick. He has been sick for a couple days but much worse today. Fortunately I was able to run to Walgreen's to pick up some prescriptions, so I got him some other stuff and I think it is starting to work. He has slept in the recliner the last two nights so he doesn't cough so much. While I was out, I bought the ingredients for a fruitcake. . . I know, I know. . . who eats fruitcake. But if you ever tasted Terry's Uncle Bill's fruitcake, you wouldn't be laughing right now.

I did get out and walk by myself this morning, and this afternoon we both took naps. Ah, such is the life of a retired soul.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Peace in the Valley

Finally, after having caught the county planner in a lie, I persuaded him to get his job done so we could have our meter installed. It was either that, or I would have to start the entire process over again and I think he decided he didn't want that. Whatever the reason, he faxed in the permits and Monday of this week we came home from Mexico to find our meter installed. Terry did one last check on his wiring and plugged us in. Oh my. . . . it has been really hot here and we manage to stay cool enough, but we could only run our one air on Dad's 30 Amp. Now we are running everything including the washer/dryer and doing well. Water and sewer were put in earlier in the week.

We were a little concerned about going to Mexico as some other people in the park said the lines to get back were 5 hours long the other day. Mom and Dad always go early. . . like 8 a.m. We shopped around and picked up a few little things. I wasn't really interested in a lot, but I got some numbers to put out front since our lot number is no longer visible. Mom said people come around to paint them, but I haven't seen anyone so far. It took us an hour to get out of Mexico this time.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. I hope you all enjoy your day and take time to reflect upon the many blessings we have. We are going to the hall for dinner at 12:30. I am taking Bok Choy salad, cranberry salad and Texas Sweet Potatoes. Most everything is ready. I just have to bake the sweet potatoes and chop up the bok choy. Mom and I went over earlier to help set up.

It was very hot today. Registered 100 degrees. Very hot in the sun, but tolerable in the shade with a breeze most of the day. It was still hot and muggy at 7 this evening, but I just went out with the dogs an hour ago and it has dropped probably 20 degrees. Tomorrow's high is something like 57 degrees. Brrrrr. I'll still take it, though.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Road Trip!

Yesterday after fighting with the County Planner hopefully for the very last time, we decided to go on a road trip. We packed Mom and Dad in the car and took off to find The Texan, a fellow RV'er who is manning a gate at a large ranch with oil and gas wells. Since he cannot leave, we thought we would look him up and confirm our dinner date for Sunday afternoon at Pepe's on the River.

Suffice to say that the two GPS's we use don't realize that 16 Mile Road is a COWPATH. . . and not a very good one at that. We drove 16 miles (hence the name) to 490 and made it to the gate which is on a paved road that is easily accessed if we had just gone east instead of west to begin with. Ugh.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Progress!

Well, we had progress today. We thought since no one came yesterday to start on the water/sewer lines, they would probably come today. Started by getting things put back in place in the motorhome and getting things swept and cleaned in the ritual we do every time we move. The plumbers came at 9:30 and by the way they started working, we figured we'd be done by 1-2:00. Not to be. The workers started digging while the head honcho left. They got done digging by 11 a.m. and sat and waited for 1 1/2 hours until the head honcho got back. He picked them up and they took off for lunch. They got back and put in most of the water lines. Then the HH left again and was gone for 1 1/2 -2 hours. He had to get more parts. He finally arrived back around 3 I think and they laid the sewer pipe, put in the spigots and tested them. All is well. Finally got around to filling in the trenches and put the gravel back in place. By 4:30 they were paid and gone and we moved Phaeton Place back in position. You really cannot tell much difference except that the sewer hookup is there and we have a couple water faucets on the sides of the pad.

Mom had invited us for supper since Phaeton Place was all closed up. It was great for us to be able to go "out" for dinner. We got the motorhome moved back and most everything set up before time to eat. We are just relaxing this evening and watching CSI.

Yesterday we had about the hottest day since we have been here and then today we had the coolest. I think it made it to 70, but it has been quite chilly all day. I imagine the workers were much more comfortable digging that trench in the cooler temperatures.

Hopefully tomorrow we will get our electric meter installed. . . but I'm not holding my breath.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Birdie, birdie, can you see the birdie?

We have a nighthawk nesting on the ground between two units here in the park. Just a stone's throw away from our lot. At first I thought it was injured and was going to take it to the birding center, but it flew away when I got too close. A neighbor has been watching it and said it is a nighthawk and that they nest on the ground, like killdeer. So far I haven't seen any eggs, but I'm guessing the eggs would blend in well with the stones, considering you can hardly see the bird.

In other news. . . oh, yeh, that's right. There isn't any . . . Well, let's just say the wheels of county government turn sssssssslllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooowwwllllllllllllyyyyyyy here in Hidalgo County. What a fiasco. We were told to "keep on 'em" when we applied for our permits over a week ago. It was supposed to be done the next day. I finally called a week+ later and was told to come in at 2 p.m. and pick up our permits. Hahahah. What a joke. So we went. After having to wait the required half hour, we get called into the office only to sit and watch the planner fill out all the paperwork. So I'm guessing this is how it works:

1. Go to the office and fill out the paperwork.


2. Your permit never gets acted on.


3. Out of desperation, you call. . . .


4. They check to see how long you have waited for your next day permit.


5. If it's 10 or more days, you just MIGHT get called in and get to watch them fill out the info.


6. THEN you have to wait for the inspection you thought was done 10 days before.


7. By this time, the power company has called to tell you the reason they didn't come to install your meter was because you didn't have the STINKIN' permit.


8. Grrrrrrr.

Good news. Called the plumber. Said we didn't have our permit yet. . . He said. . . . I don't need no permit. Yayayayay!!!!! They start tomorrow.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Home on the Range

We left Austin on Friday last week and made it down to the RGV (Rio Grande Valley) by 4:30 that afternoon. A very nice drive on red roads with no problems. We got parked in short order on the lot behind Mom and Dad.

We have really been busy this past week as we have officially bought the lot from my parents and are busy getting the services, i.e., water, electric, and sewer installed. That seems to be a joke around here. We applied for the permits, which they told us we would have the next day. That was Tuesday and we still haven't seen them. Called back once and no answer. That's the other joke around here. . . phone numbers. Nobody answers their phone, and sometimes they put it over on fax so you end up with that whiney sing/song in your ear. Terry did all the electrical wiring, but we cannot get the meter installed without an inspection. But once that is done, all Terry has to do is hook up three wires and we are good to go.

Yesterday when I checked about getting the water meter installed that they told us would be done Tuesday, they said it would now be next week because they had to dig. (Big surprise there?) We weren't home 10 minutes and the backhoe arrived along with three workers. It took several hours, but by 4:30 we had our water meter, so now we have to call the plumber. We aren't leaving here until this is all done. Certainly wouldn't want to look forward to starting this entire process over next year when we come down. Ugh.

Good thing we have time. Meanwhile, the weather is beautiful. Warm during the day, but with a breeze. If you stay in the shade you are very, very comfortable. The sun is a little hot. We have been walking every day. Today Terry and I went to "patio" sales in two neighboring parks. Got some new reading material and a couple shelves for the cabinets. I really do love the weather here and these Martin Ranch parks. They are all connected so you can walk, bike or run the golf cart up and down all the parks.

Mom and Dad's passports came in the mail, so they are all ready to go to Mexico. They can't wait to try them out. We hate to go away during the day in case the inspector comes, but the weekends should be pretty safe. May do that tomorrow.

Bailey has been enjoying walks every day and Neal gets to ride in the stroller. He is very content to do that. He sits up, but very still. If we stop to visit, he lays down. They are such sweeties.

We played Bingo the other night. Mom won the first game, so she was pretty happy. Dad went along and played with us, but he and I didn't win anything.

We are just enjoying the weather and visiting with Mom and Dad. Plans are to leave here shortly after Thanksgiving, but we aren't leaving until all the utilities are in place.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Austin, Texas, and #1 Son Brandon!

We arrived in Austin Monday afternoon. Brandon had arrived earlier in the day, but was at work. In his job, he troubleshoots software issues as a consultant for his company and is here for the week. He really likes his work and does it well. He will leave tomorrow afternoon and fly back to Florida. He will leave in two weeks and fly to Ottawa to work with a bank there. He is looking forward to the job, but thinks he will hate the cold weather. Heh heh

We took him out to eat at the Salt Lick. It is about 25 miles outside of Austin in the country and about the greatest BBQ place we have been to. Just awesome.

We have been doing some sightseeing while we have been here, but I must say. . . the traffic here really makes you want to stay home. They do not have a beltway around the city, so everyone has to go through the middle of town to go anywhere. We thought about going to watch the bats at the Congress Street bridge, but last night they were having a Halloween party downtown and had the streets closed off. Figured we would get good and lost and the Garmin would probably just give up, so we didn't do that. This is nearing the end of the time there are here. . . they will migrate south soon, so there may not have been a lot to see.

We are in the Austin Lonestar RV park. It is a passport park and they give you two free pancake breakfasts EVERY DAY! We will go one last time tomorrow morning before we head out. The park is really pretty forested, but the keep the trees and bushes cut back so they don't interfere TOO much. They really could cut back a lot more, but it is passable. Our site is plenty long enough but not too wide. This is an old KOA. You can tell by the telltale A-frame entrance building. But it is clean and the people are super nice. Where else can you camp in the state capital for $17 a night for FHU's?

Tomorrow we leave for the RGV. Don't know if we will make it down there tomorrow or not, but we will try. Mom and Dad arrived last evening, so they are waiting on us.

Till next time. . .

Dale