Days 103 & 104 - Saturday & Sunday, February 21 & 22 - Car Show and Church

 Saturday morning was the annual campground car show. Due to a scheduling error the show here was the same day as one over at the DonWes Flea Market. Last year we had 60 cars here, this year there were only 16. Most of them were one that were here last year. Last years photos are at:

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/01/day-58-saturday-january-25-bake-sale.html 

I didn't do much, I was quite stiff, and a little sore, from wrestling the toilet around yesterday. I did manage to finish our 2025 taxes and get them efiled. If you consider inflation our 2025 income was almost the same as our 2024 income. Last year we paid about $1,300. in federal income tax. This year, primarily due to the extra $12,000 deduction we had due to Trump's tax plan, we paid no federal taxes for the year. I have mixed emotions about that. Every year the self serving scum in DC pile massive amounts of additional debt on all future generations so that they can increase handouts/welfare. What we need is some massive cuts in federal spending. We probably should plan on giving away some of what we didn't pay in taxes. I'm sure we can find places that can do far more with the money that the government. 

Speaking of giving money away. You have read me posting about the many Christmas for the Children fund raisers that have already occurred in the campground this year. They already have over $5,000 collected to go towards Christmas 2026. Today's ice cream/banana split get together was a fund raiser for some type of Children's Bed program. I think the money will go to a group of people who actually build beds for kids. 

I did get in a 3 mile bicycle ride in the late afternoon, trying to work out the stiffness.

Sunday Kathy went to campground church and then we went up to Cowboy Church. We had talked about the cowboy church with Bill and Joyce, who have a home in Albuquerque, NM and a park model here. They followed us up to the church and attended the service. They said it was great. The spirit was a lot like they experience in their home church. After the service they went to McAllen to run some errands and Kathy and I came back to the campground for lunch. She had to be at the clubhouse to help get ready for todays 3 PM ice cream and banana splits.

People are started to head "home" for the summer. 2 couples pulled out last week and another couple left for Ohio early this morning. It seem far to early to be thinking about heading north. One of the couples who left last week are full timers. They were going to slowly make their way over to Arizona and then head north up through Utah.

The weather cooled off dramatically. Todays high was only 68.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 101 & 102 - Thursday & Friday, February 19 & 20 - Bluegills & Toilets

 Thursday the high was 95 degrees. Today it was 92 degrees. PTL for AC.

Catch up stuff. Kathy learned that the police did find the naked guy who someone complained about. The person who told her thought that the guy was from a house outside the park.

Tonight, Friday, Kathy fired up the bluegills Pat gave us. I  ate almost the entire plateful. They were awesome! She also made scalloped potatoes to go with  them. We still had part of the loaf of homemade bread that Paul had made for us but we were to full to even take it out  of the bag. On the left are a couple of dessert things, part of what she made for tomorrows car show.

Thursday we went to Sam's and HEB for some groceries. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. In the late afternoon I was using a brush to clean the seal on the toilet. I normally pull the fuse to allow me to lock the bottom open. I was to lazy to get down on the floor and pull the fuse. I just kept cycling the valve and brushing as it cycled. That was fine until I let the brush get caught in the valve. Something made a snapping noise and the valve would no longer close, which basically left a 4" open pipe down to the black tank. No good. I checked  online, a new one of these toilets, from Dometic, lists for $2,794.99

Visualize a hollow sphere and cut part of it away, thats the valve, part 5 below.

This morning I went to 3 auto parts stores and 2 hardware stores before I found enough stuff to cobb together something that would let me apply 12 volts to the motor that operates the toilet valve, once I  had it out on the floor. Before Johnny's Tru Value burned down last summer I'm sure I could have gotten what I needed with one stop at his place. It's sad that it isn't going to be rebuilt.

After lunch I started working on the toilet.

The lids off and its unbolted from the floor.

It's upside down on the bathroom floor.

Flush mechanism removed.

Below is the mechanism that operates the valve. I ended up taking it apart 3 times, then partially reassembling it to check it to see if it worked OK, before I got it sync'd properly.

Back in business a little after 6 PM. 

I'm bushed!

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 98, 99 & 100 - Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, February 16, 17 & 18 - Warm Days

 It's been warm here. Daytime highs are running in the mid 80's, mid 70's is the norm for this time of year. The temperatures are fine, but the winds have been blowing like a banshee, well maybe not like a banshee. One entire day the "average" wind speed was 20 mph with gusts of 40-45. The norm for the past couple of days has been average speeds of 15 mph with gusts of 25-30 mph. Right now it is "calm" with an average wind of 7 mph and gusts of only 10 mph.

The highlight of the past three days has been Monday AM when Kathy saw that the police were in the campground. At last nights potluck dinner we found out that someone from the campground had reported a naked man walking around in the campground. So far we haven't learned who reported it, nor has anyone else claimed to have seen a naked man walking around. 

We both went to Monday AM's Information Meeting - nothing exciting. I did talk to a guy about helping me replace the awning fabric. He thought is was something he could do with no problems. Most of the old farts down here (maybe me included) have no business up on a ladder.

I went to my Spanish class Monday PM, we didn't have one today. My brain definitely needs something to decalcify it. I can't remember words I've know all my life and I can't seem to find space to store new words. 😀

Tuesday AM was Kathy's Ladies Bible Study. This morning we went to the Coed Bible Study. 

Yesterday we did some grocery shopping (Sam's & Walmart), filled the car up with gas at Sam's ($3.20/gal) and had lunch at Taco Bell.

Yesterday afternoon I did 50 minutes on the treadmill at Planet Fitness and then 20 minutes on the resistance machines, I had to get back to the campground in time for the potluck dinner. Late this afternoon I did 30 minutes on the campground treadmill. It has been to windy to ride my bicycle. Going with the wind is fun, going against it is painful.

At yesterday's potluck dinner we sat at a table our neighbors (next campsite), a couple from the Rolla, MO area. We were discussing things we like to eat and the subject of seafood came up. I mentioned that I could eat seafood but it was nothing I cared that much about. I said that a panful of fried bluegills was better than any "seafood" I'd ever eaten. Pat agreed with me and talked about catching bluegills in MO. This afternoon he knocked on the door and gave us a plastic bag full of frozen bluegill filets. Kathy already had a meatloaf cooking but the bluegills will be in the frying pan tomorrow.

Paul, a guy from the campground who is close to 90, regularly bakes bread. Kathy had taken he and his wife some pie a couple of days ago. Today he brought us over a loaf of fresh baked bread.

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 96 & 97 - Saturday & Sunday, February 14 & 15 - Happy Valentines Day

 Our Valentines Day treat consisted of a trip to Long John Silvers for lunch. The campground had entertainers come in for a Valentines Day show and had a meal catered but at $25/head we thought it was far to expensive. We don't dance and thought the meal probably wouldn't be all that great. 

I did get in a 3 mile bicycle ride around the campground and Kathy spent some time in the Puzzle Room

Today, Sunday, Kathy went to the campground church service and then we drove up to the Cowboy Church for the service. They had extra seating set up so that they could sit 280. My guess is that at least 225 attended the service. Pastor Chris did a good job, like he normally does.

We stopped at McDonalds for lunch on the way home. Once we got home we turned on the NASCAR race. I took a nap and Kathy went over to some function at the clubhouse. Later she sat outside reading and I did a 6 mile ride around the campground.

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 94 & 95 - Thursday & Friday, February 12 & 13 - Finally Went for a Motorcycle Ride

 Last Monday I mentioned the quilt ceremony for veterans. I forgot to include photos of the firetruck and flag.

From our coach

From the street when I walked the trash to the dumpster. The radio controlled car race track is in the foreground.

Another photo I forgot to include was of the parking lot during the Wednesday evening potluck dinner.

I finally dusted off my motorcycle and went for a 40 mile ride on Thursday, just wandered around. On the way home I did get on the Interstate for about 5 miles. My little 321cc Yamaha can run 70-75 mph and still have power in reserve. However, running 70 mph on the Interstate isn't fun like running 80 mph was with the 1,000cc Kawasaki Concours I used to have. (It is a LOT more fun riding Missouri's hilly, twisty back roads at 45 mph than doing 70-75 mph, in all the traffic, on the Interstate.)  

Roads/streets here in the big flat Rio Grande Valley are different. There are lots of irrigation canals and not to many bridges over them on county roads.

Today's "excitement" was defrosting the freezer so that we could continue diagnosing the problem with our ice maker. No success today. I think the next step will be to replace the solenoid valve that controls water flow to the ice maker. Actually it was more exciting when we went to Long John Silvers for lunch.

Temperatures were in the mid 80's. Today was pretty windy.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 91, 92 & 93 - Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, February 9, 10 & 11 - Slow Days

 Monday neither of us went to the Information Meeting. Kathy went over for a ceremony were 12 veterans were given quilts made by some of the ladies. She said the quilts were beautiful.

Yesterday Kathy went to the Ladies Bible Study. She said they had a good discussion. We both listened to most of the Jam Session. 

Today I led the Coed Bible Study. Bill, the guy who normally leads, was out of town. He had the lesson planned. He had LOTS of Scripture references so it took some time looking the up and reading them prior to class. We had a good discussion time.

In the afternoon I went to Spanish class. Barb, the teacher, asked if we had watched the Superbowl half time show and, if so, how much were we able to understand. One of the people said she had left it on but had not paid any attention to it. Kathy and I had switched over to the Turning Point halftime and were so disappointed in it that we turned it off. Barb had watched it and said the guys comments were crass and woke. 

I haven't paid any attention to the media coverage of the Superbowl halftime shows but wonder how anyone from Puerto could say anything bad about the US. They don't pay federal income tax nor do they pay excise tax on gasoline. About the only federal "taxes" they pay is payroll deduction for their contributions to Social Security and Medicare. Puerto Ricans pay about $5 billion a year in taxes to the US, almost all of that is into the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. They collect about $30 billion a year in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, highway funds, grants, etc. That is almost $10,000/ year for every Puerto Rican. In just 2025 the federal government handed them $184 million from our Federal Highway Trust Fund, and they don't pay into it! 

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 90 - Sunday, February 8 - No Cowboy Church Today

 We didn't go to the Cowboy Church service today. Kathy led the music for the campground church service. Last Thursday Bill, the fill in speaker while the regular Pastor is filling in at another church, asked me to read a passage of Scripture at this mornings service. With both of us at the campground service, and Kathy needing to stay until the end, we decided not to go up to the Cowboy Church service. 

It was a beautiful day. Spring is here, maybe. Today's high was a sunny 82. We sat outside for several hours. Both of us did some reading and I worked on my Spanish homework. With the nice breeze it was almost to cool setting in the shade, in shorts and a tee shirt. I did manage to get in a 6+ mile bicycle ride around the campground.

We had the TV on during the Superbowl game but weren't glued to the set. While it was on I worked on this weeks Coed Bible Study lesson. Bill normally leads the Study. When home in Albuquerque, NM he does some part time work as a Realtor. He sold a house and has to fly back this week to be there for the closing. He had already put together an outline for the lesson and asked me to lead. 

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.