My Bad!

Okay. In one day I had two people complain I had not updated my blog lately, so I guess it's time to get to it.

We arrived in Mission, Texas, Restful Valley Ranch, on Friday last week. It was easy getting into our spot (as opposed to the site we had just left in Rockport, Texas) and were soon greeted by Mom and Dad. Getting to the park was a little more tricky because my parents had warned us not to come in off Expressway 83 due to road construction and some pretty good "dips" across the entrances to the park. Rather than even try coming that way, we came in the "back" way and fortunately we remembered correctly! We actually never got out to the frontage road until 2 days later and WOW! "Mess" is not quite the word for it. How fortunate we did come in the back way, because Phaeton Place, at 40' long, would not have made the drive across the dips in that frontage road. Anyone planning on coming in here needs to call us first so we can tell you how to get here. In fact, most days there is little work going on there and we really cannot tell just yet what they are doing and how it will be finished. Based on the other frontage roads, I don't think we will be disappointed, but they have really cut out a lot of dirt and it is going to be a big job getting it back to the level of the side roads.

Last winter when we left, they were working on a new Wal-Mart just west of us. The great thing about this is that it is just a few short miles down the road and we won't' have to fight the traffic going east toward McAllen. But unfortunately, they hit a snag. Friends tell me the store looks about done, parking lots in, etc., but they have had trouble finding water, so the store is not open. Grrr. No sign of when/if it will open.

We are going to be putting up a canopy over our lot here in the valley. The sun is brutal and we have to run our air conditioners during the late morning/afternoon/early evening even though it is only in the 70's. But that is in the shade, and the breeze is cool. However, in the sun, the temperature is set at "roast" and that is what it does. HOWEVER, I am not complaining. . . I love the weather here. No bugs, a slight breeze on some days, but we just want to get the motorhome under cover to reduce the amount of cooling needed. Anyway, we spent some time earlier this week in the golf cart visiting Hidden Valley and looking at canopies and talking with people about the contractors they used. Hopefully we will be moving forward with that soon.

Yesterday was Gonzales burgers day! We traveled to Donna to meet up with other RV.netters and had lunch at the famous, but hard to find, little restaurant famous for its burgers. If they are not a pound each, they have to be close. I ate half mine and brought the other half home. Next time we are going to split one. They are just too big to eat. The restaurant is really quite non-descript and operates strictly by word of mouth, no signs, etc. We were able to connect with "old" friends we met last year and met several new friends who frequent the forum. We all enjoyed lunch and visiting afterwards. What a great bunch of people!

Last evening we had dinner guests. I made seafood chowder for Mom and Dad. We also had salad and Texas toast (what else?). It was yummy. Mom and Dad have a new home here! They traded models and now have a park model in place. I knew they were thinking about it and since they were kind of quiet after they got here, I suspected correctly they were working getting a new place in order. It is not much larger, footprint-wise, but it is an actual park model and has higher ceilings and seems to be a lot roomier inside.

We still haven't got everything set up. Doing things just a little at a time. That way it's not such a chore. We are just enjoying the sun and relaxing, which is what we supposed to be doing!

BTW, just a reminder of why we are here. My sister Nita took these pix out her front door the other day looking toward Mom and Dad's house in Indiana. Brrrrrrr.

Till next time. . .

Dale