Thursday Evening

Today was spent doing laundry, familiarizing ourselves with the neighborhood, stopping by Paul's house and just generally settling in.   We have met a few people and everyone seems friendly.  This park is larger than the one we left in Texas.  We were told that there is another couple here from our hometown, but we haven't located them yet.

Wednesday morning was spent setting up our site.  It is getting more complicated as we accumulate more "stuff."  I put up the sun screen as we face west and the sun is hot here.  Each day has been in the middle 80's.  The prediction is for rain to arrive on Saturday.  We are all praying for that as there hasn't been any rain here for more than 70 days.  There is no snow in the mountains and the visibility is hampered by the dust in the air. We haven't needed the AC yet as there has been a nice cooling breeze and we have three exhaust-input fans in the ceiling.

The lot next to ours is open so we have plenty of room.

our banner

inside the screen

yard art

Lela's cactus garden

There is a pair of roadrunners trying to build a nest in the neck well of our neighbor's 5th wheel trailer.  I took some video of them.  I might try to post that later.

Wednesday afternoon we went to Paul's to unload some of the things we hauled out here for him.  There are three bicycles which we brought from home that are in need of repair.  That will be our project with the boys while we are here.  There was also some memorabilia which we found as we cleaned out our basement. We BBQed some chicken and Lela made cheesy potatoes and baked beans.  The kids were all over that! Of course we all ate too much before we had ice cream and brownies.

Then it was back to the Silver Star, worn out from the travel and the day's activities. Bedtime was more than welcome.

Tuesday Evening

We have arrived in Casa Grande, AZ where we will spend one month..  We arrived about 5 PM after traveling from Deming, NM.

A rest stop in NM

 

A sign in the rest stop

 

We had a stopover in Benson, AZ to visit with Ron and Sue, who were our neighbors last year at Desert Gardens.  We had lunch with them at Adollo's Taco Shop.

Lela and I had the Carne Asada Burrito.  Lela will NOT be recommending the Burrito. 

We set up and met a few of our neighbors, took our walk, had dinner and are now in couch and TV mode. 

When we get everything set up we'll post more pictures of Val Vista RV Park.
http://www.highroadcommunities.com/locations/val-vista-rv-park-casa-grande-az/

Last Saturday we went to La Fiesta de La Feria (street Fair).

 We walked the street, had some kind of Mexican fare for lunch

We took in the car show. 

Lela owned a '66 Mustang, Candy Apple Red

 

There was also a stage with various entertainers throughout the day. We had a good time on our last day in La Feria. Then we returned to The Silver Star to make last minute preparations to be road ready in the morning.

Sunday Morning we were ready to pull  out at 7:20.  John, a park manager, came to make sure we were able to move out.  Sunday was  uneventful (which is always a good thing).  We drove to Junction, TX and spent the night at the North Llano River RV Park.

It was a nice enough place to spend an overnight.  We walked about .5 miles to a Dairy Queen and had a blizzard.  Then TV and bedtime.

Monday morning arrived and we had a quick breakfast and were on our way at about 7:30.  Our original destination was going to be Anthony, NM just north of El Paso, TX.  When we arrived there it was early afternoon so we decided we could drive on farther down the road, which turned out to be Deming, NM.  It was actually a long day of driving, but it left us with a short day to Casa Grande and an opportunity to visit with our friends.   We stayed at 81 Palms Senior RV park.

 

Lela thinks we were on the railroad right of way as there was a train every 20 minutes.  It was not a good choice of parks.  We will skip Deming, NM from now on.

Friday Evening

Today was a perfect day in the Rio Grande Valley,76 degrees and a 10 MPH wind.

It was the perfect day to break camp.  I took down the wind/sun screen, the yard art, and the carpet.  The truck is semi packed.  I washed the Silver Star and the truck as there was still salt etc. from our exodus from home. I am waiting for the morning to make sure of my tire pressures so I can pack my compressor.  Once that is done we will be ready to leave early Sunday.

Lela packed up the interior stuff and did laundry.  She cleaned and polished everything.  Tomorrow night she will secure everything but the coffee pot.

Our friends Jim and Gloria left this morning for Tombstone AZ.  We have all their contact info and will be in touch.  We are planning on returning here next year, along with Jim and Gloria, and Teddy and Becky.  We have had a wonderful time while we were here.

Wednesday, we met Hugh and Jane, and Barry and Judy for lunch at the Sunrise Café in Weslaco, TX. 

They are fellow Airstreamers and members of the Wally Byam Club.  We will be seeing them this summer at the rallies.

Thursday was golf day for me.  We played at the regular course, Tony Butler.  The format was a 9 hole scramble, and my team won 2nd money again with a score of three under par.  The temperature was 94 degrees and the wind was gusting to 40 MPH.  The highlight of my day was my drive on the last hole, a 289 yard par 4, uphill.  I hit a wind aided drive over the green by about 15 yards.  When I got into the clubhouse, I was "the man."

Lela began to secure the pantry etc. in the trailer, and then went to the pool.  She was a little pink at the end of the day.

Don and Linda picked us up at about 5:30 and we headed to Fat Daddy's BBQ one more time.  We had a great meal with wonderful company and even met the "real" Fat Daddy.

 

 

Wednesday AM

I awakened early this morning (4:30).  I don't know why, so I thought I could update the blog while the lovely one sleeps.

We are supposed to meet the St. Louis Airstreamers for lunch today at the Sunshine Café in Weslaco, TX.  There are at least five couples here in the valley.

Monday was a day to go to Harlingen to shop for a few items.  We had lunch at a BBQ restaurant called Big John's

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a busy day.  We went to Mission, TX to a pontoon boat tour of the Rio Grande River.

This is the tour we had cancelled when we had sub freezing temperatures two weeks ago. We rode with our friends, Jim and Gloria from WV.

 It was interesting and we learned a lot about how the river is used here and in Mexico to irrigate farmland.  Water is pumped into canals and then sold by the acre to the farms.  There is no sprinkling system.  The fields are flooded to water them.

The river is dammed at several places, but there are no locks as there is no commercial traffic on the river.

Anzalduas Dam

pumping station

Teddy wanted me to be sure to get a picture of the gunboats used by Homeland Security and the Border Patrol.

 

There was a lot of conversation about how easy it is to cross the narrow river, and get to the highway for transportation north.

There was a RV park on the river at Chimney park.  Chimney park is an area that was a pumping station in the 50's, but is now a recreation area.

 There is a Border Patrol Station at the Chimney park, and we also saw their boats along the river.

Lookout tower

Patrol Boat

 

There is a lot of construction on the Mexico side.  They build their buildings out of concrete, even the roof.

We were served lunch as part of the tour.  Lela and I had shrimp, but the people who knew the tour had the tenderloin.  If we were to do this tour again, we will have the tenderloin. It was huge!

The Riverside club, where the tour was, also has entertainment.  I thought this poster would be of interest to our friend, Becky.

 
There were a lot of signs of the destruction from the 2010 hurricane that hit Mexico, due to a storm surge and rain.  Much like we saw in the flood of '93 at home, there were still high water marks on the building which were not repaired.

Pepe's Restaurant

 When we returned, we drove down to Brownsville to the Commemorative Air Force Museum.

When we arrived, it was closed.  However, there was a man there who let us in and gave us the tour anyway.  They are preparing for an airshow this weekend so things were "in preparation."  We did get to see the video of the history of the CAF, and we got to look at all the memorabilia.

 

Monday AM

Busy, busy, busy! I haven't found time to get on here to update. It seems like we are always busy with something.  It is hard to reconstruct a whole week when you can't remember stuff.

We are just lounging around this morning with coffee and biscuits.  Our weather has been great the past few days (low 80's), but the wind blows all the time here.  Tonight there is a Luau in the park which we will attend

Veronica had her Daddy and Daughter dance over the weekend and sent us some pics.  She is ten years old and her escort is considerably older.

Wednesday was Missouri Day in the park.  There were nearly 100 MO residents at the coffee.

  It is amazing to us that so many MO people land here.  I told you before about the couple from
Fayette who know Lela's family, Don and Linda. 

We are hoping to get together with them sometime this week for lunch.

Wednesday was also an Airstream rally luncheon in McAllen, TX.  Lela and I attended and met some wonderful Airstreamers.  One lady in particular.  Her name is Kathleen and she is 86 years old. 
She pulls a 34' trailer like ours and does her own hooking up and taking down by herself.  She was amazing to talk to.

After lunch we trolled the old highway 83 sightseeing. We stopped in Alamo, TX at a tourist info center.  Alamo is named for a sugar company which was located there.

South Texas is quite interesting.  I think this is where old automobile tires go to die.  There are used tires for sale everywhere.

Thursday the weather didn't co-operate for golf so JJ and Steve decided to play golf on Friday (Valentine's Day).  I initially declined so I could spend the day with Lela, but we remembered that the river cruise had been rescheduled for Tuesday so I wouldn't be able to play then.  Lela gave me golf for Valentine day.

When we started our walk, we didn't make it 100 yards.  We stopped to talk with some new folks from Canada, and then Jim and Gloria.  Then just a few more feet and JJ and Ruby invited in for a cocktail and we ended up staying there and talking for a couple hours.  After we came home and had dinner we walked again without interruption.

Friday I played golf at Palm View golf course in McAllen http://www.palmviewgolf.com/ .  The course has water hazards on nearly every hole but I only found one.  I couldn't find the speed of the greens and didn't make a putt over 4 feet all day.  I brought home an unhappy 91.
Lela spent her day at the pool, relaxing and working on her tan.  She had also tested the oven stone to bake some delicious Valentine brownies (cherry filled).  We walked in the evening and watched the Olympics.

Saturday we went to a grand opening of a Mexican outlet on our side of the border.

There were Mariachi bands, free drinks and free lunch of tacos and tamales.

You could buy this stagecoach for only $6000.00

 

 Lela bought a pewter trivet to use in the trailer (10% off!).  Then we traveled to Weslaco, TX and poked around in some "antique" stores.

Main Street, Weslaco, TX

 

  We were whipped when we got home.  Lela had put a chicken and dumpling pot pie in the crock pot before we left so dinner was ready.  We shared dinner with Fred.  He is an 87 year old guy who lives here by himself with two dogs.  He has had a shoulder replaced and is in a sling.  Lela fixed him a big bowl and sent along brownies, too.

We had invited Jim and Gloria for dessert but Gloria had become ill at Padre Island so we cancelled the visit, but sent some brownies home with Jim.

Sunday we attended worship at the church next door to us.  I led singing again.  Afterward we traveled to Harlingen to the IHop for breakfast with Russell and Dean.  They are good friends of Teddy and Becky.  Then it was back to the park where we lounged around the pool for an hour or so.

We returned to church for the evening service and afterward Gloria had recovered from whatever caused her illness, so they came over for brownies and ice cream.  We had a nice evening with them.

Tuesday Afternoon

Today is another raw day in the valley.  We awoke to temps in the upper 30's with a 25 mph wind.  I know it was 0 degrees at home, but it is cold to us here.  We haven't ventured out for our daily walk and we don't intend to today. We had hot soup for lunch and will have crock pot roast for supper.

Our good friends, Teddy and Becky left for their home on Sunday morning and we miss them a lot.  They beat the snow to their destination and arrived safely.  Thank God.

On Saturday evening we went back to Fat Daddy's BBQ restaurant with them and two other couples, Russell and Dean and Gary and Mary. 

After dinner we went to Teddy's trailer and learned to play 3-13, a card game. Lela is becoming quite the card sharp.  Then it was off to Dairy Queen for one final Blizzard with them before they were to leave.

Sunday morning we left to go to Port Isabel Church of Christ.  It is about 40 minutes from here.  We were welcomed and made to be honored guests.

I offered the opening prayer, and enjoyed Brother Tom Crum's lesson. 

We were invited and accepted lunch at The Mexiquito restaurant in Port Isabel.

Afterwards we went with one of the members to their home for an hour or so.  They were very hospitable and we enjoyed them very much.  Larry was a western gunfight re-enactor, and also a Viet Nam veteran.  He as a very interesting guy.

After that visit we headed to Padre Island for a look around.  We didn't spend much time there, but we did drop in on another Airstreamer, who we knew was staying on the island.  Then it was back home for our evening walk.

Monday, after a breakfast of steak and eggs, we headed into Harlingen.  We are looking for a rectangular oven stone.  It seems that the biscuits burn on the bottom in our oven before the top browns.  The oven stone is the remedy.  Lela also wanted to buy some plants to put in the pottery we bought last week.  Spring flowers are the norm in the nurseries.

Becky had given Lela a plant already potted in a very nice pot, but we need a cactus.  When we got home, the temperature was in the low 80's, so we walked into La Feria to the Carnitaria (meat market).  We passed our evening with TV and ice cream.

Genevieve sent us an audio file of the baby's heartbeat at 24 weeks.  I hope I can attach it here. I had to try to make it into a video file as the blog does not allow audio files.

I am afraid the audio portion of this file won't play.

Go here:  http://youtu.be/uSVBnvfUDCg

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/niccolo_machiavelli.html#1QJQif3TxCzUOo9E.99

 

We are getting very excited waiting for our new Grandbaby at the end of May!