Days 108, 109 & 110 - Thursday, Friday & Saturday - Horse Training

 Nothing memorable happened on Thursday. I did get in 45 minutes on the treadmill and 40 minutes on the resistance machines at Planet Fitness. 

Friday morning was a $10 all you can eat breakfast buffet at the clubhouse. One of the few food events that Kathy didn't help with. The food was good, and there was a lot of it.

Friday evening Pat, our neighbor from the Rolla area, and I went up to watch an event at the Cowboy Church arena. Kathy didn't want to go. Pat had never been to a Cowboy Church. He had a good time. He and Judy will be starting a slow trip a little over a week from now. They have reserved a site here for next year.

Pastor Chris on Twist. I wish I could show you the short video I took of Twist earlier in the evening, when she was by herself in the corral. She was not calm! They are training her to be a cutting horse. Cutting horses are unbelievable. If you have never seen one check out the link below the photo. The girl in the photos attends the Cowboy Church. Chris picked her out of the crowd, gave her a microphone and had here call out numbers when he and Tracy started sorting cattle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beo3AU-i8cg&list=PL7iK_QQVEqAk2pCz3GT0rVWU11rtWf3sg&index=6 

Chris and his wife Tracy.

Tracy is in with 10 steers. Chris is "guarding" the open gate between the two round pens. The girl would start things by calling out a number. Tracy would cut that steer out and drive it through the gate. As she approached the gate Chris went into the herd to cut out the steer with the next higher number. The continued this until all the steers were in the other pen.

The woman taking photos through the fence is one of Chris and Tracy's 3 daughters. She is getting married this year. They have 2 sons. One still at the Ranch and one who is married, with a child, and lives in North Dakota.

Sorting is one of the activities/contests during Buckle events that happen at the church arena several times a year. There are multiple age groups that compete in the events. Some of the youngest kids just sit on the horse and someone leads it through the contests. Competition gets pretty intense with the older teens and adults.

This morning I went back up to the church for some medical scans. A guy with Texas Mobile Imaging comes to the church once every winter. They offer people a great deal. They scan you for blockages in your Carotid Arteries, an aortic aneurysm, gall and kidney stones, your liver and do an Ankle Brachial test ( An ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a painless test that measures blood pressure in your ankles and arms. It shows if you have peripheral artery disease (PAD).) Total cost $135. Last year I found out that I have a kidney stone, that didn't show up 2 years ago. My Urologist reviewed the scan and said that since it  was not causing me any problems we would leave it alone. 

Around noon Pete, one of the permanent campground residents, and one of the few other guys here would can safely get up on a ladder, and I removed the torn fabric from one of our coach slide toppers. The slide is about 13' long and extends out about 30". Even though the temperature was only 86 it was HOT working in the sun. It took us about two hours. I have new fabric but to put it in place would take at least one more guy, up on the roof of the coach, to help slide the fabric in the receivers. The coach is weather tight without the slide topper, it just keeps debris off the top of the slide roof. If I don't get the fabric installed before we leave I will have to make sure the slide roof is reasonably clear of debris before we slide it in when we leave.

Later in the afternoon a semi-professional couple came in and played classic country music. Kathy and the ladies sold  pulled pork sandwiches, another Christmas for the Children fundraiser.

The March Activity schedules are out. Things are slowing down. Note the End of Season Activity meeting on March 23.

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

Days 105, 106 & 107 - Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, February 23, 24 & 25 - Nothing Exciting

 Monday - Spanish class in afternoon. I'm spending 15-20 minutes a day on "homework". I don't think I well ever get to the point of being able to understand a native Spanish speaker, they talk faster than my brain works. I hope to get to the point of being able to read and write, and maybe even speak, at a very basic level. If I say, "Mi Espanol es malo. No entiendo. Por favor hable depsacio." "My Spanish is bad. I don't understand. Please speak slower." I might be able to understand some things. My "homework" is an app called Duolingo. I'm currently at Duolingo Level 8. To get to a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) Level A2 (Pre-Intermediate, Understands frequently used expressions related to areas like family, shopping and local geography.) I need to make it to Duolingo Level 30, its a long way from where I'm at. To be considered fluent you  have to get above level 130.

Tuesday - Kathy's Ladies Bible Study in the morning. I went to Planet Fitness, I haven't been for a while. I  did 50 minutes on the treadmill and 60 minutes on the resistance machines.

Wednesday - Coed Bible Study in the morning. We had a great discussion time talking about Heaven. I am a blessed person. One of the reasons is that I enjoyed my job. I'm convinced we will have "jobs" in Heaven. God has tasks for us, in Heaven, that will bless our socks off. I don't know what my job will be, but I know that I will enjoy it even more than I did being a Structural Engineer.

No Spanish class this afternoon. This evening is the baked potato bar at the clubhouse, another fund raiser for Christmas for the Children. Kathy has pork roasts cooking in the clubhouse oven. I'm not sure what those are for.

Highs have been in the high 70's to mid 80's, lows in the mid 60's. Days are sunny. The only negative is the WIND. Right now the average/constant speed is 15 mph, with gusts to 25 mph. Out walking around it feels higher than that, the gusts rock the coach. The winds have been about this level for the past couple of days. It is DRY here. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After lunch I started working on the toilet.

The lids off and its unbolted from the floor.

It's upside down on the bathroom floor.

Flush mechanism removed.

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

Back in business a little after 6 PM. 

I'm bushed!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From our coach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 89 - Saturday, February 7 - Cowboy Church Breakfast

 This morning some folks served biscuits and gravy for another Christmas for the Children fund raiser. Kathy was going to be busy baking pies all day and didn't go help with it. I went over and picked up a 2 Go serving for her before I left.

I went up to the Cowboy Church for Men's Breakfast at the Arena. It was great. It was a little cool, 48 degrees when I first got up, with heavy dew. It was almost perfect weather for an outside breakfast. I think it was probably near the mid 50's when we started eating, a little after 8AM. Around 25 guys attended.

These guys are scrambling eggs and making gravy for the biscuits and gravy. I think someone made the biscuits at home the night before.

This  guy was frying bacon and keeping the tamales warm.

My breakfast. Everything was awesome. 

The arena bleachers made great tables.

A good time was had by all.

Back home we went to Logan's Roadhouse for a late lunch. It wasn't a good experience. 

Around 4PM I helped Kathy transport her 12 pies up to the clubhouse, for another Christmas for the Children fundraiser. I think they charged $3 for a slice of pie and a dip of ice cream. The assorted pieces that came home with us added up to about one pie left.

Today's high was a sunny 82. A modest breeze made it quiet comfortable to sit outside. With all the cooking and sun by mid afternoon it got a little warm in the coach, but not bad enough that we turned on the AC. As I'm writing this, at 10PM, the outside temperature is 62.

A side note. I previously mentioned Merril and Maxine, full time RV'ers who have spent the last18 (I think) winters here at Lakewood, and their truck issues. The rest of the story is, they had major engine work done 3 times between the time they left last spring and their return just after Christmas. The truck went in for the 4th major engine work as soon as they got back. At Meet and Greet I asked Merril if they had their truck back yet. He said it was back and gone in less than a day. They picked it up one day last week and headed to Brownsville. Before they got out of town Merril noticed the smell of diesel. He turned around and went to the Ford dealer. The top of the engine was wet with fuel from a leaking line. They got rid of the truck and now have a Hyundai Palisade. They aren't sure what they are going to do. Right now they plan on leaving their 5th wheel her year round, and this will be their home base. They may buy a small travel trailer and use it to go north during the hottest summer months.

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

Days 87 & 88 - Thursday & Friday, February 5 & 6 - Weather Has Improved

Yesterday's high/low was 71/44. The wind was back down to a nice breeze and the day was partly cloudy. Today's high was a mostly sunny 81. The nice breeze made it a great weather day. I rode my bicycle 5 miles doing laps around the campground. There were lots of folks sitting out on their patios, walking dogs, etc.

Yesterday Kathy did some grocery shopping. Today she is baking pies for the next Christmas for the Children fund raiser. I spent 80 minutes at Planet Fitness and then rode my bicycle 3.7 miles in the evening.

Yesterday afternoon was Meet and Greet in the clubhouse. Folks started talking about how long they have been coming to Texas for the winter. Several of the couples have been coming to this campground for 15-20 years. This is our 4th winter here.

I did wash the car this afternoon. 

We are considering, but not to seriously, buying a permanent, "park model" unit. We could come down any time we wanted, and stay as long as we wanted. We could even become Texas residents (in no income tax, no personal property tax, Texas). Driving down here in a car would be easier than in the motorhome. We burn about $900 of diesel for the round trip vs $275 worth of gasoline in the car. The cost of one night in a motel would be partially offset by the cost of at least 2 nights in campgrounds.

We went over to look at a park model unit that is probably going up for sale. The couple who own it are from Nebraska and have been spending the winters down here for almost 20 years. Their health has deteriorated to the point they don't think they will be able to come back next year. It is a functional but OLD, SMALL unit, significantly smaller than our motorhome. We passed on it because it would take way to much work to turn it into something we would find comfortable.

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

Days 84,85 & 86 - Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, February 2, 3 & 4 - More Slow Days

 Weather has been cool, for here, and windy. Cool down here means highs in the high 60's and lows in the high 50's. We are looking forward to Saturday(7th)-Friday(13th) when highs are supposed to be in the low 80's. The days are supposed to be sunny or mostly sunny.

Monday I went to the post office over in La Feria and mailed a package, then we went grocery shopping. 

Tuesday, Kathy went to the clubhouse during the Jam Session, and she spent time in the puzzle room. 

Tuesday afternoon was another Christmas for the Children fund raising snack meal, Nachos. Kathy prepared most (all?) of the food.

On Monday and Wednesday I went to the Conversational Spanish class. I'm probably averaging a half hour a day doing "homework" for the class. I doubt that I will ever be able to speak even remotely passable Spanish, and with my poor hearing I don't think I will understand much of what a person who is fluent says. I'm hoping that I will be able to read some of it and write some, by  the time we head back to MO in early April. My old brain just doesn't seem interested in retaining new things.

Kathy said they had some good discussions at her ladies Bible Study yesterday. This morning was our Coed Bible Study. We had some good discussions about the concept of the Trinity. Next weeks discussion topic is going to be Angels & Demons, that should be interesting.

It has been so windy that I haven't ridden my bicycle this week. I spent 50 minutes Monday and 40 minutes today on the campground treadmill. Tuesday I went to Planet Fitness for a 50 minute workout.

BORING!!! But I'm quite content.

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

Days 82 & 83 - Saturday & Sunday, January 31 & February 1 - Not Much Happening

 Saturday I rode some laps around the campground, 3.5 miles. Kathy spent time working on a puzzle in the Puzzle Room. Other than than we did some reading.

Sunday Kathy went to church here at the campground and then we both went up to the Cowboy Church for the service there. Attendance was down a little this morning, maybe around 175. Pastor Chris had a good message titled Ride for the Brand. You can watch the service at:

https://www.westernoutreach.org/sermonslive.html

I ask myself, "Do I ride for the brand, or just doing the minimum hoping for a paycheck?"

After church we drove on over to the DonWes flea market in Donna, TX to pick up a bag of grapefruit. We then went over to Moran's, in Donna, for one of their really good pizzas.

Back home I took a nap while Kathy did laundry.

The past couple of days have been cool, highs in the low/mid 60's and lows in the high 30's and low 40's. 

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