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.