Days 50 & 51 - Tuesday & Wednesday, December 30 & 31 - Happy New Years Eve

 The only memorable thing from Tuesday was the Jam Session in the afternoon. I went over to listen to the music, I think Kathy went to visit with folks, the music is mostly country and western. The musicians and vocalists must have a good time, they keep coming back. To my tone deaf ear none of them should be thinking about leaving their day jobs for a career in music. Actually that isn't an issue since they range in age from about 60-85.

Today was mostly "household" chores. I dumped and flushed our waste tanks and regenerated our water softener. Kathy did multiple loads of laundry, washed dishes and cooked lunch and supper.

Dennis and Geri, our  neighbors behind us, finally made in here on Tuesday. They are from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The have a park model and are typically here in late October. This year they had doctors appointment that just kept stringing out. It was good to see Dennis out on their patio today. I went over, sat and visited with him, and several other neighbors, for over an hour.

Kathy and I spent a fair amount of time out  on our own patio this afternoon.

My back is still bothering me but I did walk a loop around the perimeter of the campground, about 0.7 miles.

Have a safe New Years Eve. We plan on staying home and going to bed.

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

Days 48 & 49 - Sunday & Monday, December 28 & 29 - Sunday & More Groceries

Sunday Kathy played and sang during the campground church service. When she arrived home we headed up to the Cowboy Church. I think I mentioned last week that attendance at the Cowboy Church seemed to be down, it was back up this week. As the service started Chris asked people to pack together because there were people still coming in who needed seats. We have 250 chairs, 90-95% of them ended up full. I didn't think to look to see if there were people standing in the back.

His message was about Christians needing to Reach Out, Train Up and Send Out. This is the job of all Christians, not just Pastors. Most of us want to see change in the direction our world is headed, what are we, as individuals, doing to bring that change about?

On our way home we stopped at Burger King for lunch.

In the afternoon we headed over for the 4PM Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse. About 25 people showed up to eat ice cream. While we were visiting New Years Eve activities were discussed. There will be entertainment starting around 7PM. Somehow Kathy ended up volunteering to fix pork and sauerkraut for a New Years Eve afternoon meal. Another lady will bring mashed potatoes and others volunteered for salads and deserts.

This morning Kathy went to the 9:30 Information Meeting, I stayed home. Later we went to Golden Corral for lunch. It's amazing that the buffet, including drinks, only costs $25 for two seniors. After lunch we headed to Walmart and bought a 10# pork roast and 5 jars of sauerkraut.

I did something to my back. It started hurting last Thursday and still isn't right. I thought maybe I had another kidney stone, but now I think maybe I did something to aggravate a disc. While I was at Planet Fitness Friday nothing I did seemed to make the pain worse. Saturday I was up and down a ladder numerous times as I washed and waxed the front of the coach and cleaned the windshield. PTL, today it seems to be getting better, only 2 ibuprofen so far today.

Yesterday the high was 84, today it was 74, and no way did it feel that warm. The wind really started blowing during the night. At 4:30 this morning I went out and rolled up an awning we had out. A little later I pulled in the living room slide, I was concerned that the winds would rip the slide topper. Weatherbug reported steady winds of 25 mph with 45 mph gusts. The winds kept up until around 3:00 this afternoon.

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

PS. If interested you can read my take on President Trumps supposed offer to guarantee the security of the Ukraine for 15 years. It is basically the body of an email I sent my Senators and Representative, and submitted to the Jefferson City News Tribune as a Letter to the Editor.

https://bertspoliticalviews.blogspot.com/2025/12/tell-europe-to-defend-themselves.html 

Days 46 & 47 - Friday & Saturday, December 26 & 27 - Grocery Shopping

 Yesterday the weather was great. The high was a partly cloudy 85. I took the photo below while I was sitting on our patio. God made such a beautiful planet for us.

In the early afternoon I put in 100 minutes at Planet Fitness. In the evening I did a 3.5 mile bicycle ride around the campground.

 Today the weather was great again. The high was a partly cloudy 84. It was quite windy. We went to Walmart to buy groceries and then went to Taco Bell for lunch. (10 miles from Mexico and we eat tacos at Taco Bell, hard to imagine). In the afternoon I washed and waxed the front of the coach, only 90% of it to go.

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

Day 45 - Thursday, December 25 - Merry Christmas

 Today was mostly cloudy with a high in the mid 70's.

Kathy cooked/baked in the morning. I did a little troubleshooting on our dishwasher. Her food was excellent, as always, and the dishwasher only required a power down reset.

The campground Christmas Potluck started at 1 PM.

The right side of the clubhouse.

The leftt side of the clubhouse. Our table is the one on the left. Kathy is sitting at the far corner.

There were at least 10 table groups, with 12 people in each group. Each group had their own food table. After everyone had time to make several trips to their food table it was time to graze, see if you still had room for something on some other groups food table.

Below are most of the leftovers, from Kathy's cooking, that we brought home. Cranberry salad, some type of creme pie, date pudding, some white cake someone else had made, some rolls someone else had made. The broccoli salad, that someone else made, was already in the refrigerator when I took the photo. 

,

The afternoon was naps and sitting outside. Several people out walking stopped to visit for a while.

It was a pleasant Christmas Day. 

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

Days 43 & 44 - Tuesday & Wednesday, December 23 & 24 - Kind of Boring

About the most "exciting" thing in the last two days was that I rode my bicycle 8 miles doing laps around the campground. Also, today I rode my motorcycle for only the 2nd time since arriving. I rode over to the Post Office and mailed some letters, about a 10 mile round trip.

This evening Kathy played piano for the campground Christmas Eve service so we went to it rather than going to the Cowboy Church service. 

The weather was great both days; mostly sunny with highs in the mid 80's.

I recently read John 1:1-5 (NLT) [1] In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. [4] Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. [5] The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

The Word, Jesus Christ, existed before the beginning of the world. "He was with God, and he was God."; yet he chose to become a human baby so that He could teach us more about God. He did this knowing that the majority of us would reject Him, and crucify Him. He paid the debt for our sins, all we have to do is accept His free gift. 

Day 42 - Monday, December 22 - Nothing Special

 This morning we both went to the 9:30 campground Monday Information Meeting. There are lots of things going on during the week, but nothing that exciting.

A lady across the street has a Class C and no vehicle to run errands. Kathy took her to the grocery store.

We went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Kathy said her meal was very good, mine was okay. 

After lunch I dropped Kathy off at the coach and went to Sam's to pick some prescriptions. As usual there were a LOT of people at Sam's. It was around 3 PM and there were at least 20 people in line waiting to get food or ice cream. There was only one guy in front of me picking up prescriptions. After Sam's I went to Planet Fitness and got in a 90 minute workout.

Back home I regened our water softener and then sat outside. Today's high was a mostly sunny 83. Clouds rolled in in the afternoon and by late afternoon sitting outside was very comfortable.

One of the ladies whose bicycle I fixed last year dropped off some homemade cookies. 

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

Day 41 - Son Day, December 21 - The Shortest Day of the Year

 We look forward to the days getting longer again. Weather was great today, a mostly sunny high of 86.

Kathy played for the campground church service. When she got home we headed up to the Cowboy Church. Pastor Chris had an interesting message about Joseph, the step-father of Jesus. Attendance was down, I think we had less than 150 people. Two ladies Kathy knows at the campground came up for the service. They said they really enjoyed it.

We had lunch after we got back home. Kathy went up and practiced playing for a couple of ladies who are going to be singing. I took a nap. Later she went back up to the puzzle room and I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill in the campground fitness center.

We sat outside until dark. With the breeze it was nice. 

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

Day 40 - Saturday, December 20 - Chicken Cooking

 The morning was a pleasant one. We were still sitting inside, with the door open, when one of the ladies knocked. She gave us a Christmas present of  a fresh warm cinnamon roll and some homemade candy. Between her handing it to us and my taking a photo it coffee got made and it was sampled. It is good.

I got the roaster out of the storage bay, under the coach and Kathy cooked chicken for some dish that they would serve during the afternoon entertainment. While she was doing that I dumped the tanks, flushed the black tank, cleaned the seal in the toilet and walked the trash and recycle over to the dumpster (the joys of RV living).

In the early afternoon we took the food over to the clubhouse. While Kathy finished preparations I sat in the puzzle room and played with my phone, while using the campground hotspot. While there I noticed an OLD aerial photo of the campground. When the photo was taken the "occupancy rate" must have been over 90%. In the 4 years we have been coming here I don't think we have seen it as high as 50%.

Diego and Edith, a couple who regularly perform at local campgrounds, provided the entertainment this afternoon.

Today's high was a mostly sunny 84 degrees.

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

Day 39 - Friday, December 19 - Busy Day

 This morning I had an 8:30 appointment at the place I bought my hearing aids last year. One of them already quit working. It's in McAllen, TX, 34 miles from here. Then I went up to US281 Truck & Trailer to talk to them about working on our levelling jacks. They fixed our coach chassis AC last year and I was happy with their work. Then I took the back way home. It was a 94 mile loop. 

We have driven to to McAllen several times. Nothing new there, lots of traffic. 70-75 mph speed limit. lots of folks driving 80. One guy in a pickup who passed me on the right was doing at least 90. There was a lot less traffic going north to US281 Truck & Trailer. The return was pleasant, some interesting scenery. 

The guy who would work on our RV was off today. He will call me Monday to discuss the work. They can't get to it until mid-January but we aren't in a hurry.

We ate lunch after I got back home. I had been wondering about one of our neighbors down here who hasn't shown up yet. I expected them to already be here when I arrived. They live in Gwinn, MI, in the Upper Peninsula. I called them, Dennis said they had some Doctors appointments that delayed them and then, the day before they were going to head south, he broke a capped tooth. He can't get it fixed until mid January. This is the first time in many years that they have seen snow. They have been winter Texans for over 10 years. Today's high in Gwinn was 16 degrees. 

Then I watched a few Facebook reels before heading to Planet Fitness for a 90 minute workout.

When I got back home I took a shower and it was time to head over for today's potluck dinner.

Lots of good food.

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

Day 38 - Thursday, December 18 - Kids Choir

 Todays entertainment was a choir from a local elementary school. The kids did a great job. They looked like they enjoyed entertaining us. No microphones, the teacher used her cell phone to play the music and the kids really belted out the songs.

Barry, the widower from Pennsylvania, who was parked across the street, pulled out yesterday morning. About 3 PM a new couple pulled in across the street. They were setting up when I walked the trash up to the dumpster. We exchanged   names but they still had work to do to finish getting set up so I didn't hang around to visit. I did tell them about the 4 PM Meet and Greet if they felt up to making it, after a day on the road and getting set up. It was a mostly sunny 84 degrees. The license plate on their 5th wheel was from MN.

Shortly after it got dark another rig pulled in and parked across the street from us.

I went to the Meet and Greet and visited with one of the regulars. There were only about 8 people who came, and all of them were regulars.

That was it for the day.

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

Days 36 & 37 - Tuesday & Wednesday, December 16 & 17 - Nothing Exciting

 Tuesday - Today was the first "Jam Session" of the season at Lakewood. A group of singers/musicians "perform" at several campgrounds during the week. They come here on Tuesdays. There were only about 7 people this session, usually there are 12-15. I recognized most of them from last year. A couple of them were usually okay. After listening to several of them this session I left, it was to painful to hear what they were doing to country and western songs I love.

The "highlight" of my day was doing 45 minutes on the campground treadmill.

 I've mentioned the "zoo" at the Walmart parking lot several times. I took this photo of the lot on Monday but forgot to include it in Monday's post.

This is normal. Kathy's handicapped parking sticker does no good down here. There is never an open handicapped spot with all us old folks down here for the winter. I usually drop Kathy off at the door and then go find a place to park. She usually walks back out to the car with me.

Wednesday - Light rain fell, on and off, most of the night and during the early morning. I didn't do much all morning, then ate an early lunch and got in 90 minutes at Planet Fitness.

On the way to Planet Fitness I stopped and took more photos of the flowers down the street. The purple ones are the ones I like most. They do have short thorns on the vines, similar to those on a rose bush.

 

The red ones have vicious 1" thorns on the vines. They might make a good privacy hedge.  You wouldn't have to worry about people creeping through them.

I took a nap in the afternoon, then around 5:20 we headed over to the Clubhouse to participate in the Campground Caroling and Christmas Parade. It was supposed to start at 5:30. It misted rain, on and off, as we loaded chairs on a trailer and prepared to go caroling. After caroling we were to return to the clubhouse for hot chocolate and cupcakes. EVERYTHING we have participated in here starts on time or early. I took the photo below about 5:30. At 5:50 there were at least 8 people sitting on the chairs, in the misting rain, waiting to leave. That is when we were told the caroling & parade wasn't going to start until 6:30. Kathy had supper cooking, we went home. Around 6:45 the carolers, followed by 10 decorated golf carts, several decorated bikes and two decorated radio controlled cars went by the coach, as we were finishing our supper.

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

Day 35 - Monday, December 15 - Ho Hum Monday

 Nothing exciting today. The wind died down overnight, which was good. Today's high temp was a mostly cloudy 63 degrees. The overnight low was 46 degrees. Currently, 6:15PM, the humidity is 77% and the wind is blowing at less than 10 mph. Even at 77% it doesn't feel damp/wet like it did yesterday. 

Kathy went over for the 9:30AM Information Meeting. She didn't mention anything about it so I guess nothing to earth shattering happened. She stayed and worked on a puzzle until around 11. When she got home we went to Walgreen's to pick up a prescription and then went to CiCi's Pizza for lunch. With the old folks discount the all you can eat pizza/salad buffet and one drink was less than $20. They have quite a variety of pizzas on the buffet. (I was going to mention someone's pizza choice but she told me not to put any information about her in my blog, so please don't mention that you saw anything about her in my  blog.) 

In the afternoon I went to Planet Fitness and got in a 90 minute workout.

I'm looking forward to a nicer weather day tomorrow. The high is supposed to be a partly sunny 74.

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

Days 33 & 34 - Saturday & Sunday, December 13 & 14 - Christmas for the Children & Cowboy Church

 Saturday - We just stayed around the campground. It was a nice day to sit outside.  I spent maybe an hour visiting with Barry, a widower who decided to retire and become a full time RV'er after his wife died. They lived near Redding, PA. He was active at church and led a Men's Ministry. 

He and his wife had rented RV's for vacations so he had some idea of what he was getting into. He leaves here on Wednesday and heads to San Antonio. He plans on staying there a few days and then making his way to Arizona for the rest of the winter.

Barry's 5th wheel unit.

Families came to pick up their stuff for the Christmas for the Children Day. Each family was scheduled at a different time so that only one family at a time was here to pick up their stuff. We didn't go over but could see vehicles pull up and get loaded. It seemed to go smooth.

Sunday - Kathy played the piano at Campground Church, I stayed home. I had invited Barry to go to Cowboy Church with us. I don't think he had ever heard of Cowboy Churches. He wanted to go. He saw Kathy walking home from church and walked over to go with  us. He seemed to enjoy the service and Pastor Chris's message.

A little after 4PM we walked over to the clubhouse for the Ice Cream Social. Kathy stayed and worked on a puzzle for a couple of hours. The puzzle is far to difficult to interest me, I walked home and watched Facebook Reels.

Today's high was only in the high 60's. It was windy, gusts near 40 mph and steady winds in the mid 20's.  It was cloudy and misted rain a couple of times.

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

PS - If you are interested in my thoughts about Medicaid spending you can read the content of a Letter to the Editor I sent the Jefferson City News Tribune. I sent similar thoughts to both my Senators and my Representative.

https://bertspoliticalviews.blogspot.com/2025/12/out-of-control-medicaid-spending.html 

Day 32 - Friday, December 12 - Food Readying

 Today was preparation day to get tables set up and food on them for tomorrows Christmas for the Children Day. The people who reside at the campground, both long and short termers, raise money throughout the year to fund this day. When Kathy made Nachos the other day the money from selling them went into the Childrens Day fund.

We were supposed to meet at the clubhouse at 9AM to set up tables and get ready for the guys to go pick up the food and other things (toilet tissue, laundry soap, bar soap, and more) that had been purchased. I walked into the clubhouse at 9AM to find that set up was nearly complete. When finished each station would  have 2 long tables and a card table. Each station was set up for a specific family. I think there are 15 families.

The food was supposed to start arriving at noon but at 11AM I did manage to help unload some of the cold things (mostly meat). 

About 6PM I walked through and took this photo. In the morning the meat/cold stuff will be added to the tables. The quantity of stuff at each station is based on the size of the family. The table in the foreground must be for a small family. The tables were full and things were piled up on one station that is for a large family. Under each table are presents for the kids and for Mom's and Dad's.

I'm sure that a lot of other campgrounds that cater to Winter Texans do something similar. I previously mentioned during the year 100,000 Winter Texans pump over $1 billion into the local economy, this is one of the ways they do it.

There is an awesome flowered bush that we drive by on the street that leads to the campground. I took a couple of photos today but my camera doesn't come close to doing it justice. The red one is nice but the purple one is awesome.

It was a rough day for Kathy. She knew that almost everything that was going to happen today required lifting. She knew that if she went to the clubhouse she wouldn't be able to resist doing things she shouldn't, so she stayed home until late afternoon.

In the afternoon I went over to Planet Fitness and got in a 90 minute workout.

Today was another good south Texas day. Part of the day was a little to breezy to classify it as a great day. It was mostly sunny, only occasional wispy clouds here and there. The high was 83. With the breeze it was very nice sitting outside. When Kathy came in and started cooking supper she turned the AC on. We will probably leave it on all night since its only supposed to get down to 68 overnight.

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

Day 31 - Thursday, December 11 - Slow Day

 We mostly just enjoyed the nice day today. The high was a sunny 79 degrees. It got pretty warm in the coach by early evening but we haven't turned the AC on today. It has cooled down to 69 outside, on its way down to an overnight low of 64. 

My activities of the day were vacuuming the car, reading some info I found on our  coach levelling system, figuring out how to open the control box and checking some fuses. The fuses were OK. Not sure what the next troubleshooting step will be. Maybe pulling in the slides and having Kathy work the jacks up and down while I watch the LED's on the board.

I did manage to get in a 4.1 mile bicycle ride, in 33 minutes, before supper. That is good for me but not all the good since the campground is pretty flat and the streets are paved.

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

Day 30 - Wednesday, December 10 - Potluck Day

 Kathy baked cookies and pies this morning. The cookies were for something going on this morning and the pies were for the campground potluck in the afternoon. 

I dropped her off at the clubhouse, with  the cookies, and then went over to Planet Fitness where I got in a 75 minute workout.

In the afternoon she made a big salad for the potluck, to go with the pies. I washed the car. There were about 40 people at the potluck. I sat across from a retired house painter. He lives about an hours drive north of Minneapolis/St Paul during the summer. He and his wife have a park model unit and fly back and forth. Almost hard to believe but during the Winter Texan season there is a nonstop flight from MSP to Harlingen, 3 hours in the air instead of a 3 day, 1,500 mile drive.

Weather was beautiful again today. High temp was a mostly sunny 84 degrees. Even though we had the windows open the coach was warm when we returned from the potluck. We turned the AC on to cool things down.

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

Day 29 - Tuesday, December 9 - Nachos

 Today's Happy Hour at the Clubhouse featured a singer who performed from 3:30-5:00. Kathy put pulled together everything needed for Nachos and a bunch of ladies served them to those who attended. We brought the leftovers back to the coach so that she could repackage the leftovers, clean up and send me back to the clubhouse to put the repackaged stuff in the refrigerator. The Nachos were excellent.

While she, and other ladies, were getting things set up I got in a 6.25 mile bicycle ride around the campground. The weather was great. The high was 74, it was mostly sunny with only a modest breeze.

I forgot to mention that Kathy told me about a speaker they had at yesterdays information meeting. The lady works with the Lower Rio Grande Valley Tourism Department. The lady asked people to get how many Winter Texans come to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The answer is over 100,000 every winter. They spend over $1 BILLION while they are here.

The other thing I forgot to mention was something that caused me sadness. We drove by the former site of Johnny's True Value Hardware and, after the fire, all that is left is a dirt lot. Seeing the empty lot was traumatic. OK, maybe not traumatic but it was a great hardware store, I loved going there. Check it out from previous posts.

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/days-112-113-114-thursday-friday.html 

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/days-30-31-tuesday-wednesday-january-2.html

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

Days 26, 27 & 28 - Saturday, Son Day & Monday, December 6, 7 & 8 -

Saturday - We just hung around the campground. Harlingen has a downtown Street Market on the first Saturday of the month. The last one we went to was January 2024.  https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-34-saturday-january-6-flea-market.html     We thought it was time to go again but the morning was cool and damp so we decided to wait for the next one. In the afternoon I did get in a 5.8 mile bicycle ride.

Sunday, Son Day, Sun Day - Kathy went to the campground service, I slept in. We both went to the Cowboy Church service. The sun was out, what a nice change. It got up to 86 degrees. In the evening I managed 40 minutes on the campground treadmill.

Monday - Kathy went to the 9:30 information meeting. I went to Planet Fitness and go in an hour long workout. It was my first time at the gym since July 22, I could  tell it had been far to long. We went grocery shopping; to Sam's Club and HEB. Kathy is cooking for for some campground event tomorrow. We bought a few groceries for us and more for her to use for tomorrow (hamburger, salsa, chips, etc). When we got home she cooked up a roaster full of hamburger, which we later took over and put in the campground refrigerator. She spent some time in the puzzle room. I just screwed around. 😊 I've been to lazy, or not bold enough, to try tearing into the hydraulic levelling controls. Got to quit procrastinating. Todays high was only 65, but the sun was out again and it felt nice, as long as you were in the sun.

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

Day 25 - Friday, December 5 - Another Slow Day DRAFT

 It was another cloudy, cool day here in south Texas, the high was 62.

Kathy spent some time in the puzzle room, both in the morning and again in the afternoon. She also helped me "play" with  the levelling jacks. We pulled in the slides and raised all the jacks so that I could top off the fluid again. It took 8 oz this time. 

We then levelled the coach again. The drivers side rear jack that had been leaking doesn't appear to be leaking, at least not nearly as bad as it had been PTL. The drivers side front jack still doesn't want to hold pressure. I put it back down a couple of times. I want to think it does a little better every time I do it, but I think that is just wishful thinking. 

I think this is the controller for the auto levelling system. Tomorrow I may get bold enough to try and figure out how to get it open so that I can check the fuses.

In the afternoon I regened our RV water softener. I did manage a 5 mile bicycle ride in the evening.

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

Day 24 - Thursday, December 4 - Just a Few Errands

 Rain had been forecast for today. No rain, instead we got cloudy, breezy, damp and a high in the mid 50's, just not a nice day for south Texas.

Kathy went over to the clubhouse puzzle room for part of the day. I did a few errands; Walmart, Planet Fitness & Sam's. I only went to Planet Fitness to make sure my membership was still active. 

No matter how much we are down here I don't think we will every get used to how many people there are around here. Traffic in parking lots is crazy! It isn't that people are discourteous, it's just that there are so many entering and leaving the lots. There are lots of people in the stores but there are also a lot of people to check them out. Lines aren't overly long. The looooong line is at the Sam's lunch counter. Every time I've been in the store there is a long line of people waiting to pick up snacks. Today there were over 20 people in line, maybe 30.

Just kind of a ho hum day.

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

Day 23 - Wednesday, December 3 - DonWes Flea Market

 This morning we drove over to Donna, TX, about 20 miles west of us, to go to the DonWes Flea Market. We had two reasons for going; we wanted to get a bag of grapefruit, the DonWes fruit and vegetable stand had good grapefruit, and also we like a pizza place that is just down the street from the flea market. Somehow a big bag of Kettlecorn also found it way into my shopping bag while we were there. There were surprisingly few vendors and people at the flea market. 

Our pizza was good. The place now has a lunch buffet. I think we will go for that the next time we are over there. A group of 9 construction workers came in while we were there. They all got the buffet. Two of the 9 weighed less than 200#. Three of them weighed over 300# and I bet one of them went over 400#. The place lost money on those guys.

As we drove the back way home we reminisced about our last trip to the flea market, last spring. We went because we wanted to get a bag of grapefruit and a bag of onions to take back to MO. It was raining. On the back way home we stopped for lunch at a Long John Silvers. We waded ankle deep water to get in and out  of the restaurant. As we drove by the site all that is left is the LJS sign. Its just a bare dirt lot.

A photo of last years grapefruit and onions: https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/days-117-118-tuesday-wednesday-march-25.html 

Back home Kathy cut my hair and then went over to the clubhouse to work on a puzzle. I pulled the slides in, moved the coach so that the front wheels were on thicker blocks (so that it was more level without the jacks) and played with the jacks some more. The drivers side rear jack is definitely leaking. I'm still hoping that the two quarts of ATF w/stopleak that I added will seal the leak. I tried working the levelling controls manually and may have gotten the front jack to stay down. It had been retracting on its own. Tomorrow I will go get another couple of quarts of ATF w/stopleak fluid to keep the hydraulic reservoir topped off.

In the late afternoon I got in a 5 mile bicycle ride around the campground. It was nice enough that we sat outside as it got dark.

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

Day 22 - Tuesday, December 2 - Slow Day

 Today was another cool day. A couple of times the sun got close to peeking through the clouds but the sky remained cloudy for the entire day.

Winter Texans keep rolling in. I noticed several couples from different parts of Iowa, folks who come here every year, arrived during the past couple of days.

The highlight of the day was a trip to Walmart to buy groceries. Whoopee. On the way home we stopped and picked up a prescription at Walgreens. Then it was back home for lunch.

After lunch Kathy took a short nap and then headed over to the clubhouse to work on a puzzle. I read for a short while and then took a long nap. Naps are great. After my nap I got in a 2 mile walk around the campground. I met Kathy on her way walking back.

We will try to do something more exciting tomorrow 😀

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

Day 21 - Monday, December 1 - BRRRH!

 Most of you who are reading this are experiencing much colder weather than we are, but it sure feels cold here. It damp, cloudy, and windy most of the day. The high was in the mid 50's. 

I went to bed early last night and by 4 AM I couldn't sleep any longer. I got up, came out and laid down on the couch, put in ear buds and listened to Josh's, my Pastor in MO, sermon on predestination. He preached it at the last service I attended before leaving. It was a good one but he packs a lot into the message and I wanted to listen to it again. 

We went to our first 9:30 Monday Activity Meeting of the season. Kathy was about mobbed when she walked in. The meeting is a place where we are notified of upcoming activities. Coffee and donuts, or cookies, help take the edge off. Today's 45 minute meeting seemed like about 3 hours 😀. I went today  because it was the first one since we arrived. Normally Kathy attends them and then passes along whatever I need to know. Below is the December calendar. These events are by no means all that is happening. Several other weekly activities were noted during the meeting.

I took my notebook computer with me this morning and after the meeting I used the campground WiFi hotspot to do some research on our HWH coach levelling system. What I read identified a couple of things to check as I troubleshoot.

In past years we have been able to access a free open WiFi network in the campground. This year you have to buy a subscription, $154 for 4 months. We have a good T-Mobile signal and my phone works great as a hotspot but I was concerned about the amount of data, especially hotspot data that I was burning through. Our phones are on a plan that our son and his husband have. Anthony, our son-in-law, was in the Air Force and it is some type of plan for veterans. I knew it was supposed to be "unlimited" data but the cell companies are fast and loose with the term "unlimited". I did some research and it appears that we do in fact have unlimited data, no throttling no matter how much you use, but are limited to 30GB of hotspot data per line, a total of 60 GB for our two lines. I think that should give us enough to stream as much as we want. 

We chose to stay in, at least in the campground, rather than do some shopping. Tomorrow's weather is going to be similar but we may need to venture out to buy a few groceries and pick up a couple of prescriptions, or not; maybe we can put it off yet another day. 😀

After lunch, and a brief nap, Kathy made her way back over to the clubhouse for an hour or so, just to see what was happening.

I did a little reading and then guilted myself into a 4.4 mile, 47 minute bicycle ride around the campground.

Is it bedtime yet?

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

Day 20 - Sunday, November 30 - Double Church Day

The weather really changed overnight. Today the high was a cloudy, windy, damp 76. It didn't feel nearly that warm. It felt more like the 50's. 

This morning we went to the 9:30 service at the campground. Lots of folks were happy to see Kathy back. Jim, the Pastor, asked her is she was considering leading a ladies Bible Study again this year. She is considering it.

After the campground service we scooted out and headed up to the Cowboy Church for the 11:00 service. I took this photo about 5 minutes before the service started. By the time it started almost all of the empty seats around us were full. It is still early in the season here, a LOT of Winter Texans have not arrived yet. Looks like standing room only soon. Chris, the Pastor, started a series on the Holy Spirit last week. It will continue for several more weeks. During the Spring he did a weekly evening series on the Holy Spirit. We attended it and enjoyed his teaching. We look forward to the rest of the series.

After church it was back home for lunch, and a nap. I almost slept through the Ice Cream Social at 4 PM. There were about 25 people at the Social, its a nice time to visit and get reacquainted. A Gospel couple came to perform at 5. We had seem them last year and they weren't our cup of tea. Back at the coach I packed up the trash and did one lap around the campground while I threw it in the dumpster.

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

Day 19 - Saturday, November 29 - Kathy Arrived

 I called Kathy and she told me how to make chili for my supper last night. I did good.

This morning I did a load of laundry in the washer in the coach. I also took the sheets off the bed and washed and dried them in the campground laundromat. King size sheets are just to big for the washer in the coach. 

It was windy today (its always windy in Texas) but I managed to get in a 4.15 mile, 37 minute bike ride around the campground. Riding into the wind was tough, riding with it was almost like coasting. (The circle indicates our site. Two years ago the blue are was a pond, over in the next neighborhood. It has been DRY here. Last year the pond dried up and it was a mud flat sprouting weeds. This year it is tall weeds.)

Kathy arrived around 4:30, 1,100 miles in two days. She is TOUGH! PTL for safe travels. After unloading the Flex we went over to the Golden Corral for supper.

I was devastated, the ice cream machine was broken. I consoled myself with multiple Rice Krispy squares.

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

Day 18 - Friday, November 28 - Motorcycle Trip to Walmart

 The highlight of the day was riding my motorcycle over to Walmart. I really don't like riding in traffic. It's only a 5 mile round trip. I rode the  "back way", staying off the Interstate. The city street traffic wasn't bad, the Walmart parking lot was a zoo.

I bought a couple of quarts of ATF for our hydraulic levelling system. I was hoping that the levelling problem was due to low fluid. After playing with the system for a couple of hours it seems that adding the fluid doesn't seem to have solved the problem. The valving on one of the jacks doesn't seem to be working properly. The jack will start down but won't go all the way. It seems that as soon as the pump quits "pumping" the jack retracts. It isn't the jack that I thought was leaking.

I visited some with the guy in the site next to us. They have been spending winters in the Rio Grande Valley for over 5 years. This will be their first winter at this campground. They are from Vichy, MO, about 65 miles from our home in Centertown.

Kathy left home this morning and headed south. She made it half way today. She is spending the night at a Hampton Inn somewhere north of Houston. 

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

Day 17 - Thursday, November 27 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

One of the great things about the holiday Thanksgiving is that it gives us a chance to consider how blessed we are. We are blessed to have been born in a country where we are free to travel and spend time with friends and family. We have roofs over our heads and food to eat. All to often I forget to thank the Lord for my blessings.

I joined 50-75 other people from the campground to enjoy a Thanksgiving potluck dinner.

Both the food and fellowship was good.

It was a nice day here, a little breezy but mostly sunny and in the mid 70's. I spent some time sitting outside both in the morning and in the afternoon. In the morning a jacket felt good. in the afternoon a tee shirt was fine.

I got in a 3.25 mile bike ride around the campground, to burn off some of the calories.

It was a good Thanksgiving Day.

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

Day 16 - Wednesday, November 26 - Rainy Day

 Between rains I unloaded my motorcycle and bicycle. 

Note how brown the grass is. One of the ladies over at the clubhouse told me that it has been very dry. I think we got a little less than an inch. We had enough wind with it to rock the coach a little.

When I unloaded my motorcycle I did manage a lap around the campground. In the afternoon I climbed on my bicycle and did a more thorough inspection of the campground, I did 2.25 miles on it. That is probably more than I rode it the entire time we were back in Missouri.

The refrigerator seems to be working OK (PTL), except for the icemaker. In a freezer at the clubhouse they have little 2# bags of ice that they sell for 50 cents. I walked over and got a couple of them. 

I did some research on the cooling units that JC Refrigeration make to replace the ones in RV absorption refrigerators. They make a replacement for the absorption units, but it seems that almost all RV'ers who fridges fail either replace them with a residential unit (it is difficult to find a residential refrigerator that fits the "hole" for a RV refrigerator), or they replace the absorption cooling unit with a 12v DC or a 120v AC cooling unit. If I was close to Shipshewana, IN I would strongly consider pulling in to their facility and having them install one of the 12v DC units. It takes them about 3 hours to pull you refrigerator out of the wall, lay it on the living room floor, change the unit, put it back in the wall and start it up. 

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

Day 15 - Tuesday, November 25 - Victoria to Harlingen

 Today I drove the 208 miles from the Victoria RV Park to the Lakewood RV Resort. The drive was uneventful.

When I stopped by the office Mary Beth, one of the campground movers and shakers, saw me and said, "Don't you leave until I tell you what table number you are to sit in for the Thanksgiving Dinner.", I checked in at the office and moved over to park in our site. Before I could get the electric cable plugged in Bruce, another mover and shaker, walked up to welcome me back and make sure I knew that they were having pulled pork sandwiches and entertainment at the clubhouse at 3:30.

Parked at Lakewood.

Looking west down the street. For some reason all the sites to the east were empty.

Typical weekly activities.

November and December activities.

It was HOT here today. A sunny 88 degrees.

It's good to be a winter Texan. We know more folks here than we did in homes we lived at for over twice as long as we have been coming here.

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

Day 14 - Monday, November 24 - Livingston to Victoria

 Nothing exciting today. I dropped of the rental car this morning and one of the guys gave me a ride back to the campground. I was on the road a little after 9:00.

From Rainbow's End to Victoria's RV Park (River Park) was 199 miles. I've put 1,311 miles on the coach since I left home. It's 210 miles from here to Lakewood RV Resort in Harlingen.

Traffic was bad except for a 3 mile section in downtown Houston. It took me an hour to drive the 40 miles through Houston, 20 minutes of the time was driving the 3 miles where I69 splits off and heads southwest.

Light rain fell in a couple of places , the crosswinds were brutal the last 60 miles.

Kathy and I have stayed here multiple times in the past. Victoria has some interesting places, which I won't be visiting this stay. Lord willing I will be in Harlingen mid-afternoon.

Below are links to a couple of blog posts from previous stays here, :

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/04/day-124-tuesday-april-1-cuero-museum.html

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/day-123-monday-march-31-harlingen-to.html

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/day-16-saturday-december-14-enjoying.html (I remember Mumford's but had forgotten about Double Daves)

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/day-93-tuesday-march-5-full-day-victory.html

The refrigerator is still running, but it isn't as cold as it should be. Looks like we will need to have it replaced.

Kathy is currently planning on heading this way on Saturday. It will be a 1,100 mile drive for her.

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

Day 13 - Sunday, November 23 - AWESOME CHURCH SERVICE!!!

We attended a service at First Baptist Church in February 22, 2015. I was impressed then and am still equally impressed. If you are interested you can read about my impressions at:  https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/feb-22nd-first-baptist-church.html

The Pastor's message, and the atmosphere then, left a lasting impression on me. I didn't remember his message until I scanned the post above and then it came back to me. One thing that wasn't in the post was he announced that the following Sunday there were going to be representatives from 5 local civic groups giving a brief description of their groups, so that church members could get involved if they were interested. As he was talking about this it occurred to me that he was opening up a "sea" for members to fish in. He was giving his flock a "sea" of opportunities to become involved in other organizations and to spread the Good News while they rubbed shoulders with others in those organizations. By the way, they still don't take up an offering, no mention of an offering was even made. As I was walking out I saw a small, unobtrusive kiosk where offerings could be dropped in a slot.

They now have 3 services. At 9:00 there is a contemporary service in one auditorium and a "classic" service in another. (I think they must have put on an addition since we were here 10 years ago.) At 11:00 there is a 2nd contemporary service. I felt led to attend the 9:00 contemporary service, I'm wasn't sure why since I prefer the old hymns to most contemporary Christian music. The Pastor preached "live" in the Classic service while those of us in the contemporary service watched him on the big screens. After the service I walked around a bit and saw the area where the Classic service was held. There was seating for about 200, with room to add at least another 50 chairs. There were probably close to 200 in the contemporary service, with room for at least another 200.

I wasn't in the best of moods this morning and almost didn't go to church. I've let myself get stressed over the problems with the coach and am not sleeping enough (my fault, I've always been a night owl, and just to dumb to get enough sleep). Yesterday evening the refrigerator quit working again. Am I glad I went! On the way into the building I was greeted by several folks, always a nice touch. As I walked into the auditorium and sat down I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. In general the lyrics of the contemporary music did little for me, but a line or two in most of the songs touched my spirit. I knew the Holy Spirit was working on my spirit. 

Then came the Pastor's message. The core of his message was from Isaiah 41:1-10, with emphasis on verse 10 (NLT)

God's Help for Israel

[41:1] “Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea. Bring your strongest arguments. Come now and speak. The court is ready for your case.

[2] “Who has stirred up this king from the east, who meets victory at every step? Who, indeed, but the LORD? He gives him victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot. He puts entire armies to the sword. He scatters them in the wind with his bow. [3] He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground. [4] Who has done such mighty deeds, directing the affairs of the human race as each new generation marches by? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he.”

[5] The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war. [6] They encourage one another with the words, “Be strong!” [7] The craftsmen rush to make new idols. The carver hurries the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil. “Good,” they say. “It's coming along fine.” Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won't fall over.

[8] “But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from my friend Abraham, [9] I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. [10] Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

I can't do a good job of conveying his message but he noted that we can't help being fearful (or getting stressed) at times. When those times do occur we need to focus on the God who has chosen us, the God who is with us, the God who will strengthen us. There was a lot of additional Scripture mentioned during the message. I haven't looked but I'm reasonably sure that the sermons are available online. I will look for it in a couple of days and listen to it again.

In the hour between services there are 14 different Classes you  can attend.

The First Baptist campus, thank you Google.

As I scanned my 10 year old blog post I saw the mention of Shrimp Boat Manny's. Lord willing I leave in the morning and have missed the opportunity to eat there again. Bummer! I checked, it is still operating.

After church I stopped at Walmart, Tractor Supply and a Dollar General looking for more magnets. The good ones were out of stock at Walmart and Tractor Supply and Dollar General didn't stock them. I took the exterior vent cover off the back of the refrigerator and again it looked dry. Even though it looked dry I ran a hair dryer over it for 10 minutes or so. I worked with the magnets I have and eventually I was able to reset the relay and get the refrigerator running again. After that I set up a 4" fan so that it was blowing on the back of the refrigerator, to be sure the area was dry and to get more air flow across the coils.

After that I made a hamburger for my lunch and took a 2 hour nap. About 3 hours had elapsed since I left the fan running. When I checked on it I could see droplets of moisture hanging on a couple of the wires. I have no idea where the moisture came from. It's 7:45, I just shut the fan off. No moisture is visible. The refrigerator is 47 degrees and the freezer is 27 degrees. It should be colder but that is sure better than not running at all.

I'm not the only one here with a motorcycle. 

This 5th wheel toy hauler is across the street from me.

This unit is next door to me. The trailer looks big enough for a small car as well as the motorcycle.

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

Day 12 - Saturday, November 22 - Trip To Diboll to Visit a Cousin

 Today I drove up to the Duncan Unit in Diboll, TX, about an hours drive, to visit a cousin who is incarcerated there. The Duncan Unit is designated as a "geriatric" facility by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Duncan Unit is considered a small unit, with its 500 inmate rated capacity. 

We had not seen one another in over 55 years, but have corresponded via letters and email for the past 10 years. Jeff is about 7 years younger than me. His family moved from Michigan to Texas about the time Jeff graduated from high school. After high school he joined the Navy and was a member of a Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), a frogman. (In 1983 UDT's were redesignated as SEALS.) After 17 years of service he took a disability retirement (I don't know if I phrased that correctly. He retired with a 40% disability.) After leaving the military he worked as a Construction Manager.

Because I live so far away I was approved for a 4 hour contact visit, one where you can shake hands or even hug. The procedure for getting into the visitation room was interesting. As I entered the prison grounds I stopped at a small, one man, guardhouse. He asked for my drivers license and the name of the person I was to visit. I was then asked to open the glove compartment, exit the car and then to open all doors, the hood and the trunk. As the guard looked the vehicle over he rolled a mirror on wheels under the car a couple of places. I then signed in. 

I parked, walked up to the entrance and showed my license to a camera. The door was unlocked and I entered. Once inside I handed my license to the guard at a desk inside the door and again was asked the name of the person I was visiting, and signed in again. All you can bring into the unit is your drivers license, your car key and either up to $35 in quarters or a debit card. Everything is supposed to be in a clear plastic bag. The quarters/debit card are so that you can buy food items to take in to the visit. Food items where typical snack/candy items. Jeff had mentioned that he had not had a hamburger for a long time. I got a hamburger, a small pizza, several candy items and several cans of soda. They had a small microwave where I was able to warm up the hamburger and pizza. I was furnished with a box to carry the items into the visitation room. A guard then "wanded" me and patted me down, and accompanied me to  the visitation room. We went through two locked doors to get to the visitation room.

The visitation area was a room about 15'x30', with multiple tables and chairs. It was set up similar to a small, very plain, dining area in a restaurant. While we were in the room other inmates were also being visited. Most visits are limited to 2 hours so inmates and visitors cycled in and out of the room.

We had a good time catching up during the 4 hours. As I exited the I went through the same process with the car: exit the vehicle, open doors, etc. Jeff is an example of a guy who seemed to have a lot going for him but one stupid "act of passion" cost him 20 years of his life. He has done 17 years. He was first eligible for parole in 2019. So far he has requested parole, and been denied, least 4 times. He doesn't know why.

PS. Every one of the guards with whom I interacted was friendly.

All in all it was an interesting day.

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

Day 11 - Friday, November 21 - Car Rental & Refrigerator Repairs

 When I went to get in to the refrigerator this morning to start my breakfast I noticed that the light didn't come on. I looked at the information screen and saw an error message. Last March we learned that a heavy rainfall can't cause a fault in a safety device on the back of the refrigerator, but yesterdays rain was not heavy. If you are interested you can read about last years rain and the campground flooding at:

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/days-120-121-friday-saturday-march-28.html 

Like last year I didn't have a magnet strong enough to reset the safety device relay (I was praying that would get the refrigerator going). Today was the day I was supposed to pick up a rental car so I figured I  would go buy some magnets once I had the car.

On to breakfast. I did good.

A guy from Enterprise called me to tell me he was on the way to pick me up, and that he would be here in about a half hour. 45 minutes later another guy called me to tell me he was waiting for me, I told him I had been standing outside for nearly a half hour waiting on him. Three phone calls, and 20 minutes later he finally made it to where I was waiting for him. He was a nice young man who rides a Ninja ZX-14 back and forth to work, from the north side of Houston, every day, year round. He is a Christian. He loves the bike and says that it has been a blessing for him. It costs him about $5/day to commute. (A ZX-14 has 190hp and a top speed of 180 mph.) He said he really has  to be watch his speed. Several days ago he looked down and was running 110 mph, which felt totally comfortable.

After I picked up the car, a Hyundai Elantra, I went to an Ace Hardware store and bout $20 worth of small rare earth magnets. I bought the only 2 packs they had in stock. I wanted a larger size but they were out  of them.

Then it was off to lunch. I checked Google and saw 2 local BBQ places that were far from chain restaurants, and not to far off the beaten path. I drove by the first one because the parking lot was packed. When I got to the second one, just a mile down the road, there was only 1 vehicle in the parking lot. I went back to Florida's Kitchen.

My brisket sandwich and an order of onion rings. It was very good and EXPENSIVE. They did have a $14 lunch special, chicken. If they had paid me $14 I would have tried it. (Chicken is not on my list of edibles. Fowl/foul is a good name for it. 😀)

Back at the coach I tried the magnets and it appeared that they were not going to work. I wasn't sure if they weren't strong enough or if the relay was bad enough that it wouldn't reset. Finally after fooling around with them for several minutes I heard the click of the relay resetting. So far, so good. THANK YOU JESUS!

My tendency is to get upset over problems like the coach jacks and refrigerators that quit running but fortunately I know enough to try and focus on the promises of Scripture. Things like these are just patience builders. I like the way the New Living Bible translates Galatians 5:22&23: But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

Back to the levelling jacks. I know that a jack is  leaking, but I'm not sure how bad it is leaking. I did some research this afternoon and after some searching I located the hydraulic pumps that control the jacks, and the hydraulic fluid tank. There is just room enough to get my head in to a position to see the tank and the dip stick. In order to get my hand in a position to unscrew the dipstick and check the level I have to remove my head. Sunday afternoon I may go buy a gallon of fluid, and a flexible funnel with along spout, and try adding some fluid. Maybe that will let me level the coach once I get to Harlingen, and put the slides out. The leak will probably make it necessary to relevel regularly but that may get us by until I can find someone down there to work on the jack. The jack weighs over 100#. There are two coil springs STIFF looking coil springs that retract the cylinder. It's not something I'm up to messing with.

I walked around a little and took a few photos of the campground. This is a big place. Below is a Google shot of the campground. There are campers under all the trees in the photo.

The main entrance is up near the red dot. I'm parked down close to the blue dot, near the Escapee Care Center. The Care Center is a place where Escapee's with mobility problems (knee replacement, etc) can come stay and recuperate. There is a dining room in the care center and both paid staff and volunteers

 who do cooking and cleaning.

Note the ramp access to the Class C.

The coaches under these roofs all have ramps for access.

These units are across the street from me, not part of the Care Center. Note the little "house" at the back, similar to the one in the photo of the Class C. If I brave enough I'd ask to look inside one. I  suspect they have bathrooms and a kitchenette in them.

Tomorrow I head to prison, to visit a cousin. I've never been to a prison before so it should be interesting. The prison is an hours drive north of the campground.

I just got off the phone with Kathy. She picked up the Flex this afternoon, after the $2,700 water pump replacement. Everything seems okay, except for the sharp pain I have on my left butt cheek, in the area of my wallet. 😀

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