Days 62 & 63 - Wednesday & Thursday, January 29 & 30 - Slow Days

 Not much going on the past two days. Yesterday we went to Edith's Mexican Restaurant for lunch and then went grocery shopping. Edith's has a lunch buffet. We sampled quite a few things. Nothing we sampled was bad but nothing was memorable enough to make us want to return. The days high was 77.

This mornings low was 71 and todays high was a mostly cloudy 78. I finally finished washing the drivers side of the coach. I didn't get the waxing finished on that side because the sun came out and the surface of the coach got to hot. At 4-5PM was Meet and Greet at the clubhouse. Most of the folks were regulars but we had a new couple from North Carolina. I sat next to a guy who I had not talked to before. He and has wife are down here for the winter, from the Muncie, IN area. He was one of judges for last weeks car show. He showed me some photos of a NICE 72 Chevy pickup that he has restored. He has won a lot of awards showing it. Kathy was visiting with a lady who, with  her husband, spends the winter in a park model here. She was telling Kathy that she went to Mexico today. She went with another lady from the campground who needed some dental work. The lady crosses the border regularly and has no significant concerns about her safety. She crosses at the Progresso International Bridge which is 21 miles from the campground (as the crow flies we are about 12 miles from the border). Recent news has talked about trouble at the McAllen crossing, which is 40 miles from us. I haven't heard anyone at the campground even mention 

After Meet and Greet I went into the Sweatshop, which is the name of the room that contains some fitness equipment, and spent 35 minutes on the treadmill. Later I did 4 miles on my bike. There was very little wind today, that was a blessing. 

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

Days 60 & 61 - Monday & Tuesday, January 27 & 28 - Slow Days

 Things have been slow here the past couple of day. On Monday Kathy went to her 8AM Ladies Bible Study and then she went to the 9:30AM weekly Campground Information Meeting. On Tuesday I went to my 8AM Men's Bible Study. We both went to the Tuesday 1-3PM Jam Session, a couple of the performers were good and a couple were really bad. I'm guessing but the ages of the performers run from mid 60's to mid 80's. Currently none of them are from our campground. They perform at several campgrounds every week. 

The past couple of days the weather has been cool, cloudy and damp. Highs in the mid 60's with lows in the mid 50's. I didn't do much Monday but Tuesday I did get in some exercise. I did a 7 mile bike ride around the campground in the morning, 35 minutes on the campground treadmill after lunch and another 3 mile bike ride in the late afternoon.

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

Day 59 - Sunday, January 26 - Cowboy Church

 This morning we again went to the Cowboy Church for Sunday morning service. We got a surprise. A southern gospel group did the service. They did some of the good old gospel numbers and a few contemporary Christian songs. They also did some good preaching between the songs. I like southern gospel, Kathy tolerates it 😉. 

On the way home we stopped at a Burger King for lunch. Both our sandwiches were good. Mine was infinitely better than the one I got at a McDonalds a week or so ago. 

After arriving back home Kathy went to the clubhouse to work on a puzzle. After watching part of the Eagles game I went for a 4 mile bike ride around the campground. Today's high was a fairly humid 78. The wind was blowing about 10 mph. Riding with the wind was fun, riding against it was a bear. 

We are currently watching the Chiefs and Bills.

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

Day 58 - Saturday, January 25 - Bake Sale and Car Show

 We took Kathy's pies and little loaves of pumpkin bread over to the clubhouse a little before 9AM. They already had quite a bit of stuff to sell. Kathy told me that by the end of the day they had raised more than $500. The folks here do multiple fund raisers during the year. They use the money to buy Christmas presents for kids who live in the community.

When I walked back out of the clubhouse I noticed that the cars for the car show were already rolling in.

The engine compartment of the above truck brought back memories of when there was room enough to actually climb in with the engine.

None of these cars and trucks came in on a trailer, they were all driven in. I didn't get to see the one below come in or leave. It must have had some type of air shocks on the rear. Sitting in the parking lot the body, across the back, looked like it was sitting on the asphalt.

The radiator overflow system was interesting.

Last year I had seen this truck in the Johnny's True Value Hardware parking lot. It was also in last years show. I can't see that the guy had done anything to the body in the last year.

The back seat of the car in the above photo.

I love 65 Chevy trucks. I had one when we lived in Iowa. They just shout I'M A TRUCK to me. Mine had a 283 with 3 on the tree. The body was shot but no matter how cold it was the truck always started.

A 502 cu in Chevy in this truck.

These were driven in, but I doubt that they are daily drivers.

In the afternoon Kathy worked on a puzzle with a couple of other ladies. I did 35 minutes on the clubhouse treadmill and then rode laps around the campground until I hit 5 miles on my bike.

It was a little windy all day but, as you can see from the photos, it was a very nice day.

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

Day 57 - Friday, January 24 - Scored a Trip to Johnny's True Value Hardware

 I went to Johnny's this morning to get a 12" fluorescent bulb, some mouse poison (I keep a couple of dog/cat proof bait stations under the coach), and a bag of water softener salt (our portable softener says to use table salt to regen it but I think salt crystals (rock salt) works better).

Sadly I tend to run in, get what I want and leave. I need to go there and take my time, to absorb the greatness of a real hardware store.

We didn't do anything exciting today. Kathy did a bunch of baking in the morning, stuff for tomorrow's bake sale. In the afternoon she spent time working on a puzzle. After lunch I rode my bike 8 miles, laps around the campground, and then took a nap.

It was a beautiful day. Mostly sunny, a light breeze and a high of 61. There were a lot of people out walking and riding bikes around the campground.

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

Day 56 - Thursday, January 23 - Research

 This morning I hooked our utilities back up and changed our whole house water filter. The water at the campground often tastes like it has a lot of chlorine in it. I'm hoping a new carbon filter will at least tone down the chlorine taste. After that I took our sheets over to the clubhouse laundromat and washed them. Kathy can wash and dry them in our Splendide stacked washer dryer but the king size sheets are quite a load for the washer. After the washer was done I brought them home and she dried them here.

My next task for the day was doing research for Jeff, my cousin who is in prison. He hopes to soon get out, after 15 years, and will have a lot of things to get in order once he is out. Health care is one of them. He is 70 years old. He retired after a full stretch in the Navy and then worked as a Construction Manager for some years. He had questions about the need from Medicare Part B in particular. Even after 5 hours on the computer I don't understand how veterans health benefits & Tricare & and Part B work, or which ones he actually needs. He hasn't started drawing Social Security but since he is 70 and his monthly benefit will no longer increase by delaying drawing it, he had question about taxes on Social Security.

At 4PM we went over to the clubhouse for the weekly Meet and Greet. We shared a table with two other full time couples who had lived in, or at least spent time in, a lot of places. They have been coming here during at least part of the winter for quite a few years. One lady commented on how she loved coming here for the winter because of all the friends she has when she is here. They lived in Ogden, Utah for many years and she said she never had as many friends as she has here. 

For over 30 years Kathy's Mom and Dad spent the winters, actually 6 months a year most of those years, at a "campground' near Dover, FL. They lived in a park model while in FL and had a cottage at a lake when in northern Indiana. It was like old home week when they arrived back in either place. The majority of the people at the campground came back winter after winter. 

It wasn't a nice day here today. It was cloudy all day, and felt like it could start raining any time. The high was 56 but it felt cool with the breeze and clouds. Everyone seems to be waiting for the weekend when highs are supposed to be in the 70's.

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

Day 55 - Wednesday, January 22 - Nice Day

 Today was a nice day. It got down to 27 early this morning, but when the sun came out it started warming up. By noon it was in the 50's, the high was 57.

I took this photo as we headed to the car to go out for lunch.

We went to the Golden Corral for lunch. We like the food at the one here in Harlingen. A tendency to overeat is a problem. After lunch we did some grocery shopping at Walmart, then it was back to the campground.

I went over to Planet Fitness and did 35 minutes on the treadmill. Kathy stayed home and cooked. At 5 we went to the clubhouse for the potluck dinner. It was the 2nd meal today with so much good food that I overate. 

I took the photo below as we were walking back home after the potluck.

We had intended on heading up to the Cowboy Church Bible Study after the potluck but Kathy's back was really bothering her. She decided to stay home and I decided to go back over to the clubhouse and listen to the gospel music group that was here this evening. They were great, I really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. One of the guys was awesome with a harmonica. He introduced some humor by doing Barney Fife imitations/jokes.

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

Days 53 & 54 - Monday & Tuesday, January 20 & 21 - President Trump Takes Office

 We haven't done much the past two days. The normal high/lows here this time of year are 71/55. Yesterday's high/low was a very windy, cloudy 44/38. At 7:45 this morning I walked over to the clubhouse for Men's Bible Study, The wind was blowing 25 mph, it was misting rain and the temperature was 31 degrees. Today's high was 38 which occurred at midnight last night. During the day the high was 34, its 33 right now, 8PM.

When I got back from Bible Study I walked the trash over to the dumpster. It had stopped misting rain but was still below freezing and the wind was still blowing hard. The yard next to us had a bunch of ice flakes on us. I think the rain that landed on the metal roof of a carport froze and the winds "peeled" flakes of ice off and blew them into the yard.

The two big events of the day were the propane guys coming to fill our onboard tank (22.9 gal) about noon and I went over to McAllen in the afternoon and ordered new hearing aids. 

Delivered propane was a little over $4/gal. We could have saved about 15 cents/gal if we had packed up and driven over to Tractor Supply to have the tank filled. Of course we would have burned $4 worth of diesel fuel during the drive.

This afternoon I filled our onboard water tank, dumped the gray tank, unhooked our water and sewer hoses; basically closed us up. We had pulled in the living room slide yesterday because the wind was blowing so hard. Tonight it is supposed to drop below freezing at 9PM and not supposed to get above freezing until 8AM. The overnight low is supposed to be 27 degrees. 

It's kind of funny to listen to the weather people on TV. The seem almost paniced over 12 hours of below freezing temperatures. Tomorrow will be interesting listening to people who try to one up each other on their experienced in the "frigid" weather.

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

PS - The joys of south Texas. Sunday's high/low forecast to be 76/59.

Day 52 - Sunday, January 19 - Cowboy Church Day

Today was a busy day. The weather wasn't nearly as nice as yesterday. Today's high was 61, at midnight. The day was mostly cloudy, breezy and in the mid 40's. 

Kathy played the piano for the 9AM church service at the campground.

Then we went to Cowboy Church for a great service. Almost all of the 250 seats were full. The music got our blood moving and the message was good.

Lunch at Cheddar's. My cornmeal breaded whitefish was great. Kathy said the same about her shrimp and chicken dish. We splurged and got an appetizer of onion rings again. We brought home enough to make a good supper from leftovers.

We watched a little football and then at 4PM headed over to the clubhouse for the $1 per scoop Ice Cream Social. Around 5 Kathy went to the puzzle room and I came back to the coach and watched a little TV. Walking over to the clubhouse I took this photo of roses in bloom next to one of the park model units.

A few minutes before 6 I went back to the clubhouse to listen to the Piano Man. WOW! He was great. He played until a little after 8. More than half of what he played was requests from the audience of 50-60. I requested Josh Turner's Long Black Train and he did a good job with it. One person requested a Waylon Jennings song, I can't remember which one. The Piano Man didn't know it. He pulled it up on his phone, listened to it, started playing it and I guess reading the lyrics from his phone. There were as many as 30 people dancing at times. They looked like they were having a great time. Made me wish I had an ounce of rhythm in my soul, but I don't.

I tried to upload a short video of the dancers, but I don't know if it will play.

We got back home around 8:30. It was a full day for us old codgers.

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

Day 51 - Saturday, January 18 - Church Work

 Today was a beautiful day. Mostly sunny with  a high of 80 degrees.

I spent the morning working on a Letter to the Editor about electric cars and oil drilling, in Norway. Kathy went over to the clubhouse to work on quilts and puzzles. After lunch I met some folks up at the Cowboy Church. We moved 250 chairs out of the way and swept and mopped the floor while others scrubbed the restrooms. 

Back home I joined Kathy who was watching the Kansas City football game. Both of us did spend some time sitting outside and enjoying the beautiful day.

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

Day 50 - Friday, January 17 - Welcome Back Lunch

 The Ford dealer told me we needed new front brake pads very soon. They wanted $315. I checked around yesterday afternoon. I found a local brake and alignment shop that was highly rated on Google. They  told me to bring it over this morning and that it probably didn't need brakes. They pulled off the front wheels, actually took a photo of the remaining pads and told me we probably have another year before we will need new pads. They reinstalled the valance for me. Total charge $70. $40 for checking the brakes and $30 to reinstall the valance.

The campground provided a free lunch for all the people who were also here last year. There were about 125 in attendance. The meal consisted of brisket, a baked potato, broccoli, a roll and a cupcake for dessert. The BBQ sauce on the brisket was a little to sweet for me, but everything was good. They gave away scads of door prizes. We won two Encore Lakewood hats. We missed out on the "good" prizes. A Keurig coffee maker, several gift certificates for a local steakhouse, a 32" TV and lots more.

In the afternoon Kathy worked on quilts for awhile and then spent time sitting outside enjoying the 75 degree temperatures. I went to Planet Fitness and did 40 minutes on the treadmill and 60 minutes on the resistance machines. Back at the campground I rode my bike around for 30 minutes looking for new RV's. And I'm still in pitiful shape. I can't seem to get back to where I was before the radiation and hormone treatment.

We didn't learn that the Starship blew up until late yesterday. The news showed photos of the debris streaming back into the atmosphere but that was a long way from here.

After a light supper we watched a movie. I ready for a shower and bed.

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

Day 49 - Thursday, January 16 - Starship Launch

 At 8AM I was at the local Ford dealer to get the AC mixer box actuator replaced. Since they  would already have the glove box removed I told them to change the cabin air filter. I also had them update the maps in the GPS system. I was out the door on my way  home at 11:30AM. The maps update was $185. The actuator and cabin air filter -:parts $94.40, labor $410.99. The same Tech did all the work. 

Back home we had lunch and then I regened our water softener. About 2PM we headed to Port Isabel to watch the Starship launch. 

We weren't sure where we were going to park while we watched the launch. Last year we drove to Boca Chica Beach, just to see what we could see, not for a launch. There is only one two lane road that goes from Brownsville to the Boca Chica. Right before you get to the beach you drive through the SpaceX facility. That road gets closed on launch days but I'm not sure how much is closed. 

When we left we planned on going to the park at the south end of South Padre Island. As we drove by the South Texas EcoTourism Center we decided that it was probably as good a location as any. It has a long elevated ramp to provide a good place for viewing the wetlands. The lines on the map below show the routes to drive from the Eco center to SpaceX. While there I heard a man say the actual "as the crow flies" distance was 11 miles.

Kathy managed a couple of good photos of the launch. A surprise, something all of us who have been in a thunderstorm know is that there is a huge distance between the speed of light and the speed of sound. Most of us have seen lightening flash and counted the seconds to estimate the distance to the strike. The speed of sound is 1,125 feet per second. It takes over 50 seconds for sound to travel 11 miles. It was loud when it hit us but the "popping" is strange. It sounds like someone lit the end of a long string of firecrackers. You can hear a little of it about 40 seconds after the launch in the video at:

https://apnews.com/article/spacex-elon-musk-starship-e165e81ed2350ce684c7ed8d9357d7ba  

I was using our binoculars. I could see the launch gantry. It was so cool when the booster came back down and was caught by the gantry. If we learn of another launch while we are hear we will sure do our  best to make sure we get to watch it.

I've been doing most of the driving around Harlingen and a couple of times I have scuffed the front valance, running over taller curbs. Kathy drove to Boca Chica today and when she parked at the Ecocenter the valance scrubbed the curb. When we left it seemed like the car was making a new noise, nothing dramatic. We stopped and I did a cursory check of the front bumper. Everything seemed OK. When we pulled in to park behind the coach we heard a thump. When I got out of the car, lying on the ground was the valance. It fell of just as we parked at home. God is so good. It could have fallen part way off while we were on the highway and wedged under the car.

Today's high was a mostly sunny 66 degrees.

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

Days 47 & 48 - Tuesday & Wednesday, January 14 & 15 - Nasty Weather for South Texas

TUESDAY - There were 4 of us at the 8AM Men's Bible Study this morning. We had a good discussion time.

In the afternoon I spent a little over an hour at the Jam Session. There were about 45 people watching while I was there, watching about 15 singers and/or musicians. INHO one guy did a pretty good job and one lady did an OK job. After a half hour Kathy scooted off to the puzzle room.

The high/low temperatures were a damp, mostly cloudy 55/49. 

WEDNESDAY - It was a nasty (nasty for southern Texas) weather here today. The low this morning was 50 and today's high was 54. It was cloudy and misted rain all day. Local folks are happy to get any rain, even when its cloudy and cool. 

At around 7:30AM I checked and the Starship launch was still on for the day, at least according to the sites I visited. I wanted to go to Planet Fitness, since I had not been there for several days. We decided that after I got home we would go have a late lunch at Dirty Dave's in Port Isabel and then find a place to park on Padre Island where we could watch the launch. The launch was scheduled to occur at 4PM. We figured that we wouldn't see much with all the clouds and the low ceiling but we didn't think we would get many  chances to watch a launch. 

At Planet Fitness I did 30 minutes on a treadmill and 75 minutes on the resistance machines. The best workout I've had in a LONG time.

Port Isabel, Pirates Landing & Dirty Dave's. We had not previously noted the alley to get to Dirty Dave's. This trip we parked right in front of it.

I took the photo below as we were leaving. The causeway on the right goes to South Padre Island. Dirty Dave's is in the building on the right.

Dirty Dave's, the gray building, and Pirates Landing.

Kathy always gets Crab Louie. I used to get Dirty Dave Beef Philly but last time I got it they had changed the bun and it just wasn't as good. I got a blackened fish Po Boy. Both  the sandwich and the waffle fries were excellent. We have been there 4 or 5 times total during the 3 winters we have been here. Port Isabel is 40 miles from us/

While there I checked the launch time and found that the launch had been delayed until tomorrow. I think they revised the launch schedule before we left home, we just didn't check early enough. 

We came back a different way. We drove along the Brownsville shipping canal down to near Brownsville and then came north. I wanted to see how much progress had been made on the HUGE LNG loading facility being built along the canal. We could see that a lot of construction was underway but since last year they had built a miles long 10' high berm along the highway. Last year we took a cruise up the canal. If interested you can read about it at: https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-39-thursday-january-11-shrimp-boil.html 

Tomorrow morning I take the Flex to the a Ford dealer to have the AC worked on. I think the mixer box for the passenger side quit working. Sadly I don't know of any reputable local mechanics. The Ford dealer gets $185 to just to tell you what the problem is, that does not go towards the repair. If I'm right it should take him no longer than 10 minutes to pull out the glove compartment to verify that is the problem. I watched a video of a guy changing his, it took him an hour, but getting to the bolts that hold it in place was a real hassle. This may prevent us from going back south tomorrow to watch the launch. I already told Kathy that, if necessary, I could choke down another blackened fish Po Boy tomorrow.

We managed to get back home for nap time, at least I took a nap not sure about Kathy, and so that she could watch Wheel of Fortune before having to turn off the TV before before the lies started.

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

Day 46 - Monday, January 13 - Grocery Shopping

 Kathy started the day by going to a ladies Bible study. She then went to the weekly information meeting. After she got back home we headed to the San Benito Walmart to buy some groceries. It's 9 miles from us. There is a bigger one that is closer but for some reason I like the one in San Benito. It's where I bought the set of tires for the Flex.

We thought about stopping at a Mexican restaurant we passed but decided to just go home for lunch. 

Yesterday Kathy noticed that the passenger side AC vents were blowing hot air. I did some online searching and believe that the problem is a faulty mixer box. It appears to be a somewhat common issue with Ford Flexes. I watched a 20 minute video of a guy changing one and decided I will make an appointment with the Ford dealer and let them deal with it. 

Next on my chore list was doing a good flush of our black tank. Not a difficult chore, just something that needs to be done occasionally. After that I moved a lawn chair around into the sun and read for awhile. Today's high was a breezy, mostly sunny 65. A long sleeve shirt was adequate if you were in the sun most of the time.

I was sitting outside again after doing a 5 mile bike ride around the campground when a couple from down the street stopped to visit as they walked by. They are from Wyoming. They sold their main home but still have a cabin in the mountains. It's rural enough that the last several miles to get to the cabin are not plowed during the winter. Most of the year they live in their 5th wheel camper. During the summer they spend time at the cabin and occasionally visit it for a few days in the winter. They told about only being able to drive to within a quarter mile of the cabin. They couldn't get the rest of the way in their dually pickup, even with chains. He walked up to the cabin and brought a sled down to the truck. They loaded their groceries onto the sled and pulled it back up to the cabin. They plan on being here for another couple of weeks and then heading north. They aren't sure where, just north.

The couple from New Mexico, who live across from us in a travel trailer, ran out of propane last night. The overnight low was 46. A propane truck drives through the campground almost every day, occasionally honking the horn. If you put an orange placard in your window the guy stops and fills your propane tank/s. I was walking by, taking our trash to the dumpster, when he stopped at their camper. I asked about the cost of delivered propane. For RV size tanks the cost is $4.30/gallon. I checked at the local Tractor Supply. If we packed up and drove there the cost was still $3.89/gallon. We have an onboard 35 gallon tank. We would burn 2 gallons of diesel fuel making the round trip to Tractor Supply. Paying the $4.30/gallon seems to be the way to go.

We had intended to go to Boca Chica today, 50 miles, to watch the SpaceX launch, but it got delayed until maybe Wednesday.

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

Day 43, 44 & 45 - Friday, Saturday & Sunday, January 10, 11 & 12 -

 Not much to report on Friday or Saturday. It has been cold for here and we haven't done much. Kathy spends a couple of hours at the clubhouse most days, either working on a puzzle or in the quilt room On Friday I went to Sam's and picked up some prescriptions and then on to Planed Fitness for a 1 hour 40 minute workout. 

On Saturday I got in a 35 minute bike ride around the campground. At 7 PM there was a "Sock Hop" at the clubhouse. A trio performed live music from the 50's & 60"s. Kathy helped at the concession stand. I listened to them for a half hour and went home. They were OK. One of the reasons for attending such an event is to watch usually there are several old couples who can still really dance. I only  saw one such couple while I was there.

Sunday Kathy played the piano for church at the campground. When she got home we headed up to the Cowboy Church. Another good message and good size crowd. I took this photo from where we were sitting, about the 3rd row from the front.

From a plaque on the wall of the church: BIBLE- Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth

After lunch we went to Stefano's for lunch. Some ladies recommended it to Kathy. The food was good. My hearing aid is acting up again. Between that and voice of our waitress I couldn't here anything she said. She was new and has some problems taking my order. The head waiter had to come back to our  table twice to straighten out my order. Kathy had veal parmesan. I don't remember what mine was, only that it was good.

The portions were large enough that we have plenty of left overs for supper.

Today was much warmer than it had been. Today's high was a mostly sunny 73.

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

Day 42 - Thursday, January 9 - Propane Furnace Thermostat Fixed

 Jesus Sanchez, who owns Jesse's RV Service, came this morning to find out what repairs we needed. I told him that at this time we aren't sure if the washer is leaking. Kathy is leaving the cabinet under the washer empty for awhile, except for a pan, to see it any water accumulates. He can't help with dealing with our Service Contract folks, I wonder if he lacks some type of business license. So he couldn't help us deal with our leaking Sleep Number bed. He did help with the thermostat that wouldn't turn our front furnace on.

The thermostat. Note the green wiring that isn't connected. Initially this wire did not pull through the hole in the wall.

The cabinet

The wiring in the wall.

A white wire on the back of the thermostat had a connector on it that had been crimped on both ends, but no wire on one end. I would have been very hesitant to do it but he just jammed the green wire in the connector and the propane furnace started. He put a new connector on it and we closed the cabinet back up. He thought the wires had been connected but had probably come loose from the vibrations while traveling.

At 1PM we went over to the clubhouse and had our picture taken for the Lakewood Directory. 

Kathy worked on quilts in the sewing room and also spent time in the puzzle room. In addition to making some snacks for the 4PM Meet and Greet meeting.

We spent 90 minutes at the Meet and Greet, mostly visiting with a Canadian couple who live near the east end of Lake Ontario. They have an old Beaver motorhome that he has done a LOT of work on. I had noticed it while riding my bike. It looks great. They have a home in Canada but travel about 6 months of the year.

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

Days 40 & 41 - Tuesday & Wednesday, January 7 & 8 - Cold for Here

 Temperatures have been cold and windy, for here. Highs and lows in the 40's, windy and damp. It feels cold to us and I'm sure it feel frigid for folks here who are used to highs in the low 70's this time of year. 

Tuesday I pried myself out of bed and went to the 8AM Men's Bible Study's first meeting. We will be studying Ephesians. Bruce, the guy who is leading, and I were the only  ones who showed up. Actually another guy showed up at 8:50, he thought it started at 9. Bruce and I didn't get into Ephesians but we did have a good Bible centered discussion. Rabbit trails are interesting.

Later Kathy and I left the campground and went down the street to a Cheddar's for lunch, 0.7 miles from us. There current fish and shrimp special is great. I like the fish and Kathy likes the shrimp. We splurged and ordered a side of their awesome onion rings. We carried out enough food to stuff ourselves with leftovers for supper.

Then it was on to Sam's to buy a few groceries and for me getting my Jardiance prescription transferred from Walgreens (where I have been trying to get if filled since Christmas).  After that I pretty much just holed up  in the RV. Kathy went over to the puzzle room for while.

Wednesday, mid-morning, I went to Sam's, its 2.1 miles from us, and picked up my Jardiance. After that I went on to Planet Fitness and spent about 90 minutes there. I spent 15 minutes rowing and 10 minutes on a bike trying to get my heart rate up before hitting the resistance machines. I just can't get over what pitiful shape I'm in. Kathy was home cooking up stuff for the potluck.

In the evening we went to the 5PM campground potluck. 50-75 people attended. I sat next to a solo full timer guy who spent 15 years living in Huntsville, AL. We had a good visit, especially about the Davidson Center for Space Exploration located there. Kathy & I took our boys there about 45 years ago. He said it has grown a lot since then and that it is well worth scheduling a day to go through it now. He just arrived here and will be here for two weeks. He isn't sure where he is going from here, maybe along the coast to Florida. 

Across from us was a couple who are renting a park model here. They had just recently arrived from near Waterloo, IA. They will be here through April. There are LOTS of folks here from Iowa. The lady made a joke about someone dying back home and that 6 people from here had to go home to be pall bearers, because there was no one left in Iowa.

Then it was off to the 6:30 Cowboy Church Bible Study. Chris started us off with prayer, after praises and prayer requests, and then asked if anyone had any questions/comments prior to getting started. A lady, with back issues, asked about Paul's infirmities and his praying to be healed. Good group discussions on that went on for at least 30 minutes. It reminded me of the Life Group Kathy and I attended back in MO, and the Thursday morning Men's Bible Study back there. Chris then talked about the importance of our forgiving others, again with lots of good participation from the 16 of us in attendance.

We had not been to the church after dark. The Christmas lights were all up and on. It was quite pretty on a dark, damp, breezy cold night. In the photo below the 1st building is the "Round Pen" where they have a small school. The next one if the rest rooms. The one on the left is the worship center.

The worship center.

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

PS. A couple of days ago I  mentioned that I was writing a Letter to the Editor, of the News Tribune, on the Social Security Fairness Act. If anyone is interested I posted in at

https://bertspoliticalviews.blogspot.com/2025/01/010725-social-security-fairness-act.html 

Day 39 - Monday, January 6 - Cold Weather Extends to Border

 Most people reading this would love to be experiencing the temperatures Kathy and I are, but folks down here are freezing. Last nights low was 43 here and today's high was 63. Fortunately the wind was only 10-15 mph most of the day. 

Kathy went to the 9:30 informational meeting at the clubhouse this morning, no earthshaking news. I spent the morning working on a Letter to the Editor for the Jefferson City News Tribune. AARGH!! It is so difficult not going into the reason for the LTE. If I started I would go on for ages 😀.

In the afternoon I went to a local RV parts and repair place to get a vacuum breaker/check valve device that is in our black tank flush line. Ours has a slight leak. I also talked to them about trying to get our new thermostat working properly (it won't turn on the front propane furnace) and locating what we think is a small leak behind our stacked washer dryer. There is no way I can lift the dryer off the washer so that the washer can be pulled out.

The thermostat is on the other side of the wall that makes up the right side of this cabinet. When they installed it they removed everything from the cabinet, including the shelves, and removed the wall of the cabinet. When it was out I saw a fistful of wires coming through from the back of the thermostat.

When I was out I went by Walgreens, AGAIN, to pick up the prescription I originally ordered before Christmas. They still don't have the drug. They offered me a partial refill a week ago but still can't fill the full prescription. Walgreen's used to be such a great place for RV'ers to have prescriptions filled because all their stores are linked.

Kathy went back to the puzzle room and I spent 40 minutes on the clubhouse treadmill and then took a 20 minute bike ride around the campground.

It's 48 degrees right now, 8:30; there won't be a dip in the hot tub tonight.

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

Day 38 - Sunday, January 5 - Busy Day

 Yesterday Kathy was asked to play the piano for this mornings Sunday worship service at the campground. One of the Winter Texans here is a retired Pastor. He leads a 9AM church service in the clubhouse. When she got home we left for the Cowboy Church. It was a busy service. The Pastor and his wife introduced their oldest son, his wife and their 4 month old child. Chris & Tracy were pretty excited. This holiday visit was the first time they actually got to hold their first grandchild. Next, awards were handed out for the kids who participated in the Buckle Events. The event I wrote about two weeks ago was the final event of the year. 

It was a full house at the church. The first thing Chris did was ask people to move closer together to provide seats for the people standing in back. Several guys carried in some more chairs from another building to provide additional seating.

Kathy wanted a hamburger for lunch so we stopped at a McDonalds on the way home from church. She liked her double hamburger. The meat in my double quarter pounder tasted like it had "aged" for 5 years in a freezer. Next stop was Walgreens to pick up a prescription they had been working on for well over a week, it still was not ready. I don't know who had taken over at Walgreens but in the last year they have managed to run it in the ground.

It was windy today, 30 mph gusts, and even though it was mostly sunny with a high in the high 80's we didn't feel like spending time outside. I watched a guy with a travel trailer pull in and start setting up. He was having trouble getting the friction fit cap off the sewer connection. I took him over a claw hammer to pry the cap off. He is a solo RV'er from Colorado. He came down from the San Antonio area today, about a 260 mile drive. He said fighting the wind was so bad that he had to stop a couple of times to take a break.

Then we watched the Kansas City Chiefs get stomped on. I think the final score was 31-0. I'd guess the Chiefs were using a lot of 2nd string players to give them so experience, since a win or a loss didn't help or hurt them, other than their pride.

After dark we walked over to the hot tub and pool. Its the first time we have been there this trip. I actually joined Kathy in the hot tub for awhile. I just don't get why people like them. We had one the 10 years we lived on Black Rock Lane and I was not in it one time. I moved over to the heated pool. It was better. It was a nice night. The wind had died down and we were the only ones at the pool. The outside temperature had dropped to 74 degrees by the time we were at the pool.

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

Day 37 - Saturday, January 4 - Flea Market

 This morning we went over to Donna, TX, to the Don Wes flea market. Donna is 20 miles west of us. The flea market isn't much, at least at this time of year, but we like the "farmers market" fruit and vegetable stand there. Two years ago we spent a month at Victoria Palms Resort in Donna. It borders the flea market. The photo below shows only a small part of whats available. We bought a bag of big onions, a bunch of green onions and a big bag of grapefruit. The big bag of grapefruit is still only $4, the same as last year.

The roofed area shown below has tables where people can sit down and enjoy some of the food offerings at the flea market. Back in the far corner is a guy singing classic country and western songs. 

Another reason we like going over there is Moran's Pizza, where we went for lunch. The pizza we had today wasn't one of their best efforts. It had been in the oven to long.

After the pizza we went to a Walmart just down the street and bought a few groceries. There were a lot of people at the store but every checkout lane was open, in addition to the self checkout lanes. I was curious and walked down the length of the checkouts. Several of them only had the person unloading a cart in the lane. Not having to stand in a line to buy groceries seems to be an unusual event.

My supper, back at home. It sure is no chore to eat leftovers at our  house. I had roast port, sauerkraut; mashed potatoes and corn bread leftover from our New Years Day meal. The radishes came from the HEB grocery. The green onions came from the flea market.

Today's high was a mostly sunny 82 degrees. It was quite windy with gusts up to 30 mph.

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

Day 36 - Friday, January 3 - Cloudy and Cool

It was a gloomy day. Solid cloud cover and a high of 69 degrees. 

The only thing I accomplished today was washing and waxing more of the coach, over 3 hours of it. Some day I'll get it finished. Last year we paid some guys to do it. Three of them worked 2-3 hours, it cost us $400. They were efficient and worked hard. By the time I finish I will probably have spent 40 hours. 

Kathy spent several hours at the clubhouse puzzle room. I probably should explain more about the puzzle room. It's kind of a lending library of puzzles, books and DVD's. There is also a big TV in the room, although I've never seen anyone watch it. There are a couple of soft chairs, a couch, and several tables with chairs around them. The tables are where people put puzzles together. There might be a couple of puzzles being put together at any given time. A person takes one off the shelf and starts putting it together. When they get tired they leave the partially completed puzzle and as other walk through they may work on it. While Kathy is up there she sees, and often visits with, people as they are in and out of the room.

I did manage a 4.5 mile bike ride around the campground. We got some new neighbors today, down a few sites from us. I haven't talked to them yet. During my bike ride I noticed that they have Wyoming plates.

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

Day 35 - Thursday, January 2 - A Day to Enjoy

 We just lazed around this morning. Kathy had stayed up late and didn't get up until nearly 10AM. I had gotten up, eaten breakfast and then wasted a bunch of time watching Facebook reels. Some of the chainsaw work and sawmill work was quite interesting. I helped saw some logs (I was the guy who took the sawn boards off the sawmill conveyor and loaded them on a trailer) when I was volunteering at Messiah's Ranch in Texas in 2012.It was a good experience. 

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/dec-6th-sawmill.html 

I also put together and email for my cousin who is in prison, outlining another week of our travels. I basically send him a Reader's Digest version of my blog. It gives him a little window into the outside world. With a little luck, or maybe some Divine intervention, he will make parole this year. His requests for parole were denied in 2019, 2021 and again in 2023. He applied again last last fall. If you feel led I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers, his name is Jeff.

I finally pried myself out of the coach and washed, waxed and lubricated the seals on two more slide ends, still have two more to go. The sun was shining on them and they were much to hot to work with. We went to Golden Corral for lunch. They have a great Senior Special lunch, $11.29 which includes your drink. We have no problem finding multiple food items that we enjoy. The problem is that we enjoy them to much and overeat.

Back at the coach we sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful day. I took the photo below while sitting in a lawn chair on our patio.

While sitting there Kathy did some crocheting and I was trying to read a book. She did OK, I fell asleep in the lawn chair. She ended up going to the clubhouse and spending several hours working on a puzzle. After I woke up I went over to the clubhouse and did 35 minutes on the treadmill and then rode my bike 3.6 miles around the campground.

Last nights low was 62 and today's high was 79. It is supposed to stay warm here through Sunday. Monday's high is forecast to be 58. Folks down here will be freezing. Our neighbor Loretta walked by while we were sitting outside. She mentioned that she was cold today. She lives here year around so she experiences the HOT temperatures down here all summer long.

Thank you Lord for a beautiful day.

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

Day 34 - Wednesday, January 1, 2025 - Happy New Year!

I was going to type out a blow by blow description of me spending over 3 hours this morning getting Kathy's working on T-Mobile, but instead I'll just say I'm glad its working and I think our transfer to T-Mobile is complete. Kathy spent several hours finishing putting a puzzle together at the clubhouse. She met and had a nice conversation with a new couple who came in late yesterday, from Ontario, Canada.

We both did odds and ends around the coach. My list of maintenance items never seems to get shorter and with cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. neither does hers.

Today's high was a windy (average 14 mph), mostly cloudy, 77 degrees. We sat outside for awhile in the afternoon but with the breeze and no sun it was cool. I did get in a 4+ mile bike ride around the campground.

This evening we streamed a couple of movies.

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