Elvis has left the building. . .

Today was the annual Ladies' Luncheon here at our park. It is always a well attended event. We all sign up to take mostly salads, finger foods and desserts to share and then we have a short program. The theme for this year's event was the Fabulous Fifties and they encouraged you to dress up in 50's garb. Today we saw mostly poodle skirts and rolled up blue jeans and shirts with rolled up sleeves. It was great fun. Mom, Mom's friend Pat, and I all won door prizes.

The entertainment was a really BAD Elvis impersonator. It was really hilarious because he was so bad, but I'm sure he was cheap. The guy came out dressed in a white bejewelled jumpsuit. He had just a few of Elvis' moves down and appeared to be a little unsure of whether or not he wanted to do them. On top of that, he was lip-syncing. . . not even karaoke. The music was really low, so most of the time, he just kind of stood up there swaying. Even his lip-syncing was unenthusiastic. Finally the photographer stepped up and adjusted the microphone so it would pick up the music better so we could hear. That certainly helped and people started singing along with their favorite Elvis tunes. Then the unthinkable happened. . . the recording skipped and stuck, repeating the same phrase over and over. Hahahahahaha. Well, Elvis didn't know what to do, so he just kind of swayed back and forth until the photographer once again stepped up. But, alas, there wasn't much of a fix as the recordings kept malfunctioning through the rest of the "performance."

At one point, the recording on one song just stopped, but that didn't stop the French Canadian women who picked up and finished the entire song. . . in pretty good form, too. Mom said, "Those French Canadians really seem to have a good time no matter where they are." I said yes and we could all take a lesson from them. I don't think they ever have a bad day.

The shelves in our cart shed are going in pretty well. Only a few more to go and the cart shed will be done. The golf cart is in there tonight plugged into the charger. We have a dedicated shelf for the charger so that all Dad has to do is drive it inside and plug it in.

The weather has been cooperating nicely the last couple days. High's in the 70's and lows in the high 50's. No rain today or in the forecast. Nice weather down here in south Texas.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Six more weeks of winter weather. . .

Well, what can I say? Punxsutawney Neal has spoken. This morning we awoke to a chilly 22 degrees here in Kerrville, Texas. Neal poked his head out of his hut which has blankets thrown over it for insulation and a fuzzy fabric flap to keep him warm at night. He looked around and rushed back in. My guess is he is ready to head back down to the Rio Grande Valley where we will be enjoying warmer temps at this point in the year.

We have had a fun time here in Kerrville. We were here for the RV.net Sweetheart Rally and several of us stayed over because it's hard to say goodbye to friends. One of our friends drive this big HDT and tow a Grand Junction fifth wheel. Their smart car fits right behind the cab. Quite the setup. We also had two RV.net moderators who attended and it was interesting to sit and talk with them over dinner last night. The restaurants here in town are sure going to miss our group because we have eaten out every day. Hah!

Yesterday we drove in to Gibson's store which is kind of a general store that has everything you could ever want. I never buy much but it is an interesting store to wander through. When we left there, we drove out to Hunt and viewed the Stonehenge site. It is a one-third scale replica of the real thing. It is interesting because it actually looks like Stonehenge with all the stones in place. There are also two Easter Island statue replicas. The area around Kerrville is very hilly and a beautiful place. . . if it was just a little warmer in the winter, it would be a nice place to stay. Summers are usually milder than south Texas, which would make it ideal in the summer.

Well, we are getting ready to move today. It's a six hour drive and we want to get started as soon as we get around.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Fun in Kerrville

Nothing like a good RV.net rally to boost your winter time spirits! Today we started off the day in the hall with egg-roll making. One of the couples makes super delicious egg rolls and prepared all the ingredients and supplied instruction and we made our own eggrolls. This was really fun and was actually very easy. We also all brought a recipe to share and traded them with each other. I got lots of recipes to try.

Tonight we had dinner at Mamacita's in Kerrville. It is a large Mexican restaurant. Last year a lot of our group went there, but we hadn't made reservations, so not everyone could be accommodated. This year we made reservations and I think most of our 50+ couples were there. We had a great time and got to meet even more people.

Today we met up with Tom and Nan. They are a couple we met at the Elkhart Campground last summer and are new fulltimers. When I found out that Nan likes to play Mexican train, I told them they should come to this rally as they have multiple games of Mexican train going every night. They signed up and we got to talk with them this morning and also at dinner. What a fun couple. We give them a hard time about their "Schmart" car. Tom drives a big Class 8 truck and pulls a big 5th wheel. They have ramps and drive the Smart car up on the bed of the truck where it rides right behind the cab. Quite a setup.

Ron and Betty were kind enough to take us to dinner, since we are still without our car. But the good news is that it is fixed and we can pick it up tomorrow. Ron and Betty are going with us to breakfast in the hall tomorrow and then driving us to Fredericksburg to pick up our car. They are great friends and we certainly appreciate their helping us out.

We have a nice site here in the park. We pulled into our lot and are right on a river, so we have an unobstructed view.

I forgot to mention that on the way up here on Wednesday we passed a wagon train along 281 in Texas, north of Falfurrias. It was a "trail ride" and there were covered wagons pulled by mules and horses. Some people were in the wagons and others were riding on horseback. It looked like a fun time.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Kerrville, Texas, RV.net Sweetheart Rally 2010

We arrived in Kerrville yesterday about 3:30 p.m. It was about a 6 hour drive up from the valley. We got parked on our site and set out to greet some friends. This is a rally for people who have "met" on the RV.net forums on the internet. The RV.net forum is a discussion forum for people who enjoy RVing. There is something for everyone on the forum and you can always find answers to problems you may be having or get needed information on a route you plan to take, etc.

Today we drove up to Fredericksburg to do a little browsing in the shops there. We were there for a couple hours and planned our visit so that we would be back in time for the twin 150's of Nascar. We moved the car several times as it was raining and cold so we drove closer to areas so we wouldn't have to walk in the rain. We finally decided it was time to leave and we got into the car and it wouldn't start. Grrrr. We tried and tried, but it appeared it wasn't getting gas to the engine. We called Ford, who recommended a tow service. We called there and within 15 minutes, the truck arrived. He first tried adding 5 gallons of gas to the tank, but that didn't work. We had been down to 3/8 and since we were parked on an incline, we thought maybe the gas wasn't getting to the inlet. We were towed to the Ford dealer. They believe it is the fuel filter or fuel pump, but we didn't hear anything else before we left. Kerrville is only 22 miles away, so we called some friends at the rally and they drove up and picked us up. Thanks to Ron and Betty. They may take us back up when the car is fixed, or we may just leave it there and pick it up Monday when we leave the rally. We could drive up and hook it up behind the motorhome and take off for the valley.

Once we got back to Buckhorn Lake, we went over to the "meet and greet" and then had dinner that was prepared by the park staff. It was very good and we enjoyed seeing friends we had met last year.

Till next time. . .

Dale

The shed is DONE!!!!!!!

Thursday when the two men arrived to work, it was still a bit damp, but they worked all day. Yesterday when they arrived, it was overcast, but it warmed up in a hurry.

They started by placing the windows and then the double doors in the rough opening. The doors swing out so when they are both open, the opening is 6 feet wide, which is plenty wide enough for Mom and Dad's golf cart. After getting the doors in, they trimmed out the doors and windows, then started hanging the vinyl siding. It was a long day for them, but they finished it by 7 p.m. It looks great and we are glad to have the extra storage. Terry had it made with a shed roof because he wants to add inside shelves up over the door on which to place storage bins.

Today we will get the pad cleaned up and sort material. We have some we will be able to return. We are going to be busy for the next couple days as we are leaving on Wednesday to go to Kerrville to the RV.net Sweetheart Rally. We are excited about seeing friends we haven't seen since last year's rally.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Up we go. . . .

The cart shed is going up as I blog. John and John, the builders, are doing the work. These two guys are ace carpenters and say this shed is a two-day job. If they had been able to start yesterday, it would have been finished today. Yesterday, however, we had rain, rain, then more rain. The streets on the east end of the park were flooded. Fortunately, that is not where we live. But even though the shed is under cover, it was just too wet to work, so they arrived early this morning to begin.

The cart shed will house the golf cart. No, not ours, but Mom and Dad's. They originally owned the first lot we bought and had put a shed on it for their cart. Once we build our Texas room, that cart shed will be history, so we are building one for the cart. We especially wanted a place to put the charger, so no one has to carry the charger in order to place it for recharging the cart. This way it will have a permanent home in the shed and all we have to do is drive it in and plug it in. This shed will be larger and Terry will be putting some shelves in so he has a place to tinker on things and we will have storage for items we leave here. This will be the last project for us this year. Next year we will put up the Texas room and will probably have John X2 do that as well.

These two guys are part of a 5-couple group who go to Mexico every weekend and build houses for the poor. Kind of like a Habitat for Humanity but for the poorest of the poor in Mexico. Most of the "houses" they build are 16 x 16 and house 7 people. They donate the completed house and their labor. These 10 people do this EVERY weekend. He has a little trailer that has his tools in it and a friend in Mexico gives him a secure place to park it. They are not affiliated with any group or church or anything. . . this is just something they got together and decided to do. I don't know how long they have done it, but it has been several years. These people are in their 70's and are working like young men. But they are quite fit and are giving back to their fellow man in a way not everyone would be able to do.

Cheers to John and John and their 5-couple humanitarian group. Our prayers go with you.

Till next time. . .

Dale