Days 79, 80 & 81 - Saturday, Sunday & Monday, February 15, 16 & 17 - Glad We Are in South Texas

Not a lot happening here. Temperatures are variable, but nice. Saturday the high was in the high 80's, Sunday it was high 60's and today it was in the low 70's. 

I don't remember that we did anything other than enjoy Saturday. Sunday started with Kathy playing piano for the campground church service, even though she didn't feel all that great. She decided to stay home while I went to the Cowboy Church service. Lots of "audience participation" during the singing and then Pastor Chris had another good message. It is so great to share the Lord's house on Sunday morning with a bunch of folks who came to worship the Lord, and have a good time doing so.

This morning Kathy taught her 8AM Ladies Bible Study and then went to the 9:30 Campground Information meeting. 

We will probably be heading north in 4-5 weeks. I spent several hours online this morning trying to figure out the route we want to take on our way back to Missouri.  I spend an incredible number of hours figuring campgrounds in the areas we want to stop, deciding what we want to see while at a campground and how many days we want to stay at each place we stop. Usually within a short time after we arrive back home I learn of some place along our route that I wished we had seen.

We went to Golden Corral for an early lunch today and then stopped at Johnny's Hardware so that I could buy a part to fix a garden hose spray nozzle. 

After some time back at the campground I drive over to Planet Fitness for a 90 minute workout. Back at the campground it was nice enough to set outside in the sun for awhile, wearing shorts and a tee shirt.

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

Days 77 & 78 - Thursday & Friday, Feb 13 & 14 - South Padre Island & Valentines Day

 Thursday we drove down to South Padre Island. Steve & Lisa Vollmer were vacationing out on the island and we had lunch with them and did some sightseeing. Steve is Kathy's sister Nancy's son. Steve and Lisa live in northwest Ohio. We had a great lunch at Dirty Dave's and then drove around for awhile. We drove down to the end of the road to show them the sand dunes and the sand drifts on the road.

The weather was nasty for down here. The high temp for the day was a windy, misty 52 degrees. 

From the bridge to South Padre Island to the end of the road is 12 miles. The road ends shortly after the Adventure Park.

The road is a two lane paved road with paved shoulders. A grader has been down the road but some of the drifts were two big for it to push to the side. I think this guy spent all day just trying to keep the worst of the drifts cleared. He would get a bucketful and drive up over the dune, dump and come back for another bucketful.

There were multiple camper parked along the road. These folks had a generator tucked down under the front of their trailer.

 I stepped out  of the car to take this picture of the surf. The wind blew was blowing sand everywhere, including in my eyes.

Even though the weather was nasty we had a good time visiting with Steve and Lisa.

Today's high made it up into the mid 50's but at least the wind wasn't blowing like it was yesterday. After lunch Kathy went over to work on a puzzle. I drove over to Planet Fitness and spent an hour there. We both took short naps in the late afternoon. A singer came to provide entertainment at the clubhouse in the evening, Kathy volunteered to work at the concession stand. 

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

Day 75 & 76 - Tuesday & Wednesday, Feb 11 & 12 - Jam Session & Potluck

 Tuesday morning we went to Home Depot so that Kathy could look at Benjamin Moore paint colors. She wanted to get an idea of what colors are available to paint some of the rooms at our house in Centertown. We learned that the Harlingen Home Depot doesn't carry Benjamin Moore. In the afternoon we went over to the Jam Session and listened to amateurs perform mostly Country & Western music for a couple of hours. Actually, I listened for a couple of hours, after about an hour Kathy moved to the puzzle room. It was very windy so I did 30 minutes on the campground treadmill. In the evening the wind died down a little and I got in a one mile bike ride. The high temperature was in the high 80's degrees.

Today I went to McAllen, TX to pick up  my new hearing aids. These have a lot more options and it will be interesting to see if they allow me to actually hear better. For supper we went to the campground potluck. We sat with a couple from Council Bluffs, IA. They have been coming down here for 6 years. The first few years they had a 5th wheel, then they bought a park model unit. They spend about 5 months here. Today's high was 93 degrees. In the late afternoon I got in 40 minutes on the campground treadmill and a 2 mile bike ride.

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

Days 72, 73 & 74 - Saturday, Sunday & Monday, February 8, 9& 10 - Just Enjoying Ourselves

 Saturday we just hung around the campground. Kathy spent time working on a puzzle and I read. It was warm and breezy. I did manage to get in bike rides 5 days this week, for a total of 32 miles.

Sunday Kathy played the piano for the church service here at the campground. After that we headed up to the Cowboy Church. Pastor Chris was fired up a little more than normal. We had a rousing service. We then drove on west to Donna, TX and had pizza and wings at Moran's Pizza. Their pizza's are great and the the wings are good, for chicken wings 😀. After eating we drove over to the DonWes flea market, for their fruit and vegetable stand. Kathy stayed in the car while I went in and got a new $4 bag of grapefruit. They are so fresh and juicy! Rather than driving back to the campground on the limited access highway we drove back on old Business Alternate 83, a 25 mile, 40 minute drive. One of these days we need to go drive around La Feria, TX and check it out. It looks interesting. In the evening we watched the Chiefs get crushed.

Today Kathy led her 8AM Ladies Bible Study and then went to the 9:30 Campground Information Meeting. I spent most of the day working on our income taxes. By mid afternoon I electronically filed both Federal and State forms. Doing taxes is still a pain but using the free online tax prep site it wasn't to bad. I used https://www.1040.com/ , which is free if you access if from the IRS site, and have an AGI of less than $84,000. I used it last year and even though I forgot which free site I had used the site it remembered me. It had access to all of last years information which made things a little easier. I did take a break at lunchtime and we went to the campgrounds Quilts of Honor luncheon. The ladies presented some beautiful quilts to 8 veterans who spend the winters here in the campground. I'd never heard of it. If you are interested their website is https://www.qovf.org/ 

It was really windy here today. It was mostly sunny with a high of 85. Time is winding down towards the day we will leave. Our site reservation is through March 15th. The earliest I think I want to arrive back in Centertown is around April 5th, later if the overnight lows are in the 30's.

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

Days 69, 70 & 71 - Wed, Thur & Fri, Feb 5, 6 & 7 - Not a Lot Happening

Wednesday's highlight was watching a wrecker move a motorhome out of the campground.   

The concrete pad under the motorhome slopes down to the edge of the asphalt and the parking area slopes down toward the grass. The wrecker driver was in and out of his truck multiple times slowly backing up and getting the hydraulic lift unit under the front axle of the coach. I was riding laps around the campground while he got hooked up and took it out of the campground.

We think this motorhome was in this spot the first night we stayed here, March 1, 2023. It had a For Sale sign in the front window most of the time. We don't know who owned it but think they were living in it, at least during the winter. We think they bought a park model unit. A lady we know told us she heard someone "up front" bought a park model and she was hoping it was us. It wasn't.

I received an email from a guy I sold a motorcycle to in 2005. He and his family live in Mississippi. We have emailed back and forth a few times over the years. He still has, and rides, the old Virago I sold him. He sent me photos of the 2001 Yamaha Royal Star Venture he bought last October, he wanted something bigger, more comfortable for his wife who often rides with him. We traded several emails catching up. It would be nice to spend some face time with him and his wife, maybe on one of our trips through Mississippi. He is a Christian, if we don't get together here on Earth, one day we will have all eternity to get together in Heaven. 

Thursday's highlight was Kathy's Chili Dogs and Kiley & Company. Kiley sings mostly country and western. The old guy plays a pretty mean guitar. I saw them when they were here last year. They are from Nebraska. I guess them come down for the winter and perform at different campgrounds around the area. I looked at their bookings and almost every week they are booked somewhere 6 days a week. I don't know if the campground pays them anything but you don't have to buy a ticket. There is a bucket (tip jar) up front.

A few of these old folks can really "cut a rug". There were 8-10 couples who danced at least a couple of times. 

Kathy had volunteered to make Chili Dogs for the concession stand. They told her to plan have enough for 36 dogs, she bought bought stuff to make 48. They sold out. Kathy said she thinks they could have sold another two dozen. 

As I was sitting listening to the music and watching folks dance I had to smile. It's a BYOB (bring your own bottle) environment. Everyone at my table was drinking bottled water. The table the lady on the left was sitting had had several Michelob Ultra's on it. The lights are dimmed during the performance, maybe so people forget its still the middle of the afternoon. Kiley performed from 4-6PM. She was done, packed up and on her way out of the campground before dark. We old folks have to be in bed early.

Friday's highlight was going down the street, maybe a half mile, and having lunch at Cheddar's. I really like their fish. I've been arguing with our Service Contract people about our Sleep Number bed. They  finally agreed to replace the "inflator" and control but won't pay to replace the mattress. Our contract excludes "bedding". They sent me a quote from some state of Missouri commercial definitions document that states the for contract purposes a mattress is bedding. This morning I spent a couple hours on the phone tracking down where I could buy a new "inflator" and control unit. Turns out that the cost of those items is only $90, our deductible is $200.  During my discussions with the person from Sleep Number I mentioned that I think the mattress may have a leak. Tomorrow she is supposed to email me a quote for a new "air mattress" unit. She suggested that I install the inflator before I do anything else because it might be the cause of the slow leak. We've managed for 10 weeks with the way I have things cobbled together. I'm hoping we can wait until we are back in Missouri, and sleeping in the house, before I tear the bed apart again to replace the pump/inflator. If we have to replace the mattress we may go with a Queen (60x80) instead of the RV King (72x80). I would have to cut the frame narrower but the extra room around the bed might be worth it.

I've been monitoring the amount of electricity our Missouri house is using now that Kelsey, Andy and the kids are in their new house. I'm concerned that the new heat pump is not working. The house is only using a total of 8-16 kwh per day ($0.80-1.60). Even with the more recent warmer temperatures if we can heat the house for $1.60.day I will be really happy with the new HVAC system. I'm concerned that the new heat pump is not working again and the the house is being heated by the propane furnace.

Having a "sticks and bricks" house to deal with, in addition to keeping the motorhome up to snuff, takes some of the fun out of RV'ing.

Bike riding - 5 miles on Monday, Wednesday & Friday; 6 miles on Thursday and 10 miles on Tuesday. Riding a bike down here in flat Texas, and on smooth asphalt, it so much easier than riding in hilly MO.

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

Days 67 & 68 - Monday & Tuesday,, February 3 & 4 - Still More Slow Days

Monday's highlight was lunch at the Golden Corral. Our RV Tech called and said he found a replacement for our Sleep Number bed, price $3,354.55 for the mattress. He will contact our Service Contract holder. I did a 5 mile bike ride around the campground. Kathy spent hours working on a puzzle. 

Tuesday I got in a 5 mile bike ride around the campground and then went over and spent an hour working on a puzzle with Kathy. In the evening I did another 5 mile bike ride. Kathy volunteered to make Chili Dogs for the concession stand at tomorrows campground entertainment. 

The weather has been warm and breezy. Yesterday's high/low was 85/65. This morning's low was 69 and today's high was a mostly cloudy 78.

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

Days 64, 65 & 66 - Friday, January 31, Saturday, February 1 & Sunday, February 2 - More Slow Days

 The weather has been beautiful and we have been enjoying it, but not doing much.

I've been slowly continuing my washing and waxing of the coach. I've finished the drivers side. All I have left in the kitchen slide on the passenger side and the basement doors below it.

We still need to get the dash AC fixed before we head back north in late March, and resolve issues with our old Sleep Number mattress. The difficulty involved in finding an RV repair facility amazes me, at least one that does chassis type work (the AC).

Our Sleep Number mattress is original, a tag on it says it was manufactured in November 2007. It is an RV King, 72"x80". Both chambers of the mattress have developed slow leaks over the past few months. Also, the dual side controller doesn't work right with Kathy's side of the bed. I called Steve's RV last week and left a message. (Steve replaced our rear AC/heat pump unit two years ago.) He called me back this morning to see if he could come look at the mattress today. I told him that we were ready to leave for church but would be back by 2PM if he wanted to come then, he did. This is what it looks like after deflating the mattress and getting it out  of the way, removing the plywood base under the mattress and then removing a section of plywood that covers the bed's air compressor control system, the beige box in front of Steve. After putting everything back together I had a heck of a time getting the mattress pumped back up so that it was sleepable. I probably spent 45 minutes before I got Kathy's side aired back up. 

Sleep Number no longer makes an RV King size mattress (our 72x80). In fact they no longer make any  mattresses for RV's. I spent several hours online last week before finding a company that makes a mattress similar to ours. Tomorrow Steve is going to call them and our Service Contract people to see what he can get going.

Yesterday morning I went up to the Cowboy Church for a health screening. Texas Mobile Imaging sets up at the church once a year and checks multiple potential health issues. We both participated two years ago. Last year neither of us did. Kathy's doctor didn't think it was of much value so she didn't do it again this year. My doctor was somewhat interested in the results so I participated again this year. It only cost's $135. 

Yesterday evening the clubhouse entertainer was a Kenny Rogers impersonator, impersonator is probably to strong a work. I stayed home but Kathy worked at the concession stand. It was a free will offering, open to the public, with the money going into the fund to help area families at Christmas. They made over $1,000. I was tired from my time washing and waxing, I stayed home.

Church was different this morning. Chris, our Pastor, is attending a multi day Cowboy Church Pastor's get together up on the other side of San Antonio. Tracy, his wife gave the message. She did a great job. A couple of years ago she filled in for Chris a couple of times at a Bible Study class we attended.  She also did a great job then.

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