Day 33 - Tuesday, December 31 - Happy New Years Eve

 Not much activity here today. I spent a good part of the day working on the outside of the coach. I worked on cleaning the sides of the slides, which included cleaning and lubricating the the seals on the sides of the slides. Kathy spent a lot of the day in the puzzle room.

In the afternoon I went back to T-Mobile, trying again to get Kathy's phone transferred from Puretalk to T-Mobile. Yesterday Kathy went along with me and was not asked one question. Today I just took her phone and she didn't bother going. When the T-Mobile people got the Puretalk people on the phone, to get her phone number ported over, the Puretalk people wouldn't let her number be ported over without talking to her on the phone. AARGH!!! The Puretalk people suggested that I drive back home and in a half hour they would call Kathy. I left the store at 5:15, its now 9:15 and still no call. Our Puretalk plan runs from the 1st of the month to the last of the month. I have no doubt that they will now try and bill us for January..

Weather was nice today, a breezy, mostly sunny 77 degrees for a high. 

Part of my daily devotional reading today was Mark 8:22-26, the story of Jesus healing the blind man. After Jesus touched the man the first time he was only partially healed it took a 2nd touch before he could see clearly. I thought about 2 Cor 12:7-9 where Paul asked Jesus three times to remove the "thorn in his flesh". Jesus did not. I then thought about Philippians 4:11-13. While Jesus did not "heal" the thorn in Paul's flesh He did "heal" Paul. What greater healing could there be than the ability to be content "in any and every circumstance". I wrestle with reconciling this with the "prayer of faith" in James 5:14-15.

Day 32 - Monday, December 30 - Odds and Ends

 Last nights low was a humid 57 degrees. By early morning fog had rolled in. When I washed the front of the coach a few days ago the water was hard enough that that it left lots of spots on the glass. The humid morning was a perfect time to clean the spots off the windshield.

Kathy went over to the clubhouse and worked on a puzzle, and visited. I read awhile and then headed out. I stopped at Walgreens and continued trying to get my prescriptions straightened out. Only time will tell if I've made any progress. Then it was on to Planet Fitness for a 75 minute workout. 

Back at the coach we had lunch and then I started the process of getting Kathy's phone switched over to our new T-Mobile account. After multiple tries Kathy and I headed for the T-Mobile store. After maybe a 20 minute wait a guy started the process all over again. I had all the information he needed written on a piece of paper. An hour later we finally realized that he when he put the information into the system he entered an 8 instead 1 as part of our old account number. My penmanship was totally at fault. We now have to wait 24 hours for things to "reset" and then we start a do over.

Then it was on to buy groceries at HEB. It was CROWDED. There were so many carts running up and down the aisles that everyone was constantly making choices about who had "the right away." The good thing was that they had lots of people checking out. There was only one lady in line in front of us and she had almost all her groceries on the belt when we got in line behind her. Also, they were "bag boys" bagging the groceries so that things moved right along.

Once back at the coach Kathy put the groceries away and got supper around while I sat outside and read. Today's high was 91 degrees but by evening it had cooled down enough that it was comfortable out. At 9PM the temperature is 68 degrees but the humidity is still 88%. The warm spell looks like it may be over. There is only one day in the 10 day forecast with a high forecast in the 80's.

All in all I guess it was a boring day, but I don't mind being bored.

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

Days 30 & 31 - Saturday & Sunday, December 28 & 29 - Cowboy Church Day

 Saturday - Kathy did some coach cleaning and I washed and waxed the front of the coach. I figure by the time we leave I might make it all the way around. It was mostly sunny with a high in the low 80's. There was enough of a breeze that it felt good.

Sunday - It was cool when we got up this morning, the overnight low was in the low 50's and today's high was in mid 80's. Mid morning it was off to Cowboy Church. I'd guess attendance was 150+, with not many empty seats. 

Pastor Chris

Today's message was on faith. His object lesson was about animals who go out an open gate, or through a hole in the fence. Once that animal is out of the pen it is also out of the shepherds care. When we choose to leave the Lord's "pen", move away from His area of influence, we tend to lose our faith that He is in control. Often fear and worry intrude on our thought processes. My synopsis is pretty poor, Chris's message was much better.

After church we had lunch at the Golden Corral. The one here in Harlingen quite good, during the week they have a great senior special. Then it was off to HEB to pick up a few groceries.

Back home we rested awhile and then walked over to the clubhouse for the Sunday afternoon Ice Cream Social. It's a good time to visit with others. 

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

Days 28 & 29 - Thursday & Friday, December 26 & 27 - Not Much Happening

 Thursday: 

Kathy is still not 100%. She is still experiencing the negative effects of the infected tooth and having it extracted. I ran some errands. I checked online and it looked like the most practical course for me to get in some exercise was to join a local Planet Fitness. There is one 5 miles, 14 minutes, from the campground. I have memberships at the YMCA in Jefferson City and nationwide at Anytime Fitness. There is no local YMCA and the closest Anytime Fitness is 34 miles, 36 minutes, away. I am amazed that my Medicare Advantage plan is apparently willing to cover the cost of multiple  "gym" memberships. Planet Fitness signed me up at no cost. I'm certain the insurance company doesn't do it out of the goodness in their hearts. They have to think that they recoup the membership costs by not paying as much out in claims for those who exercise regularly.

Next I stopped at Walgreens to try and straighten out some prescriptions. Kathy always seems to have problems when she asks her Doctor to renew one. It almost always requires multiple calls from Kathy to get the Doctor to finally get the script to the drug store. No different this time. They are still waiting on the Doctor. I asked Walgreens to refill one of my very expensive prescriptions over a week ago and they can't seem to get the drug shipped to the store.

As I walked out of Walgreens I realized I was just across the parking lot from T-Mobile. When I got my new "free" phone (thanks Doug & Anthony) recently I opted to not buy a screen protector. I did get an accidental damage plan on the phone. If you buy the first screen protector the accidental damage plan will pay for any future ones I need. I walked across the lot and the young lady installed a screen protector. How she works with her very long fingernails is a mystery.

The campground does have a basic fitness center. There are a couple of strength machines, a bike, and a treadmill. It was really windy all day. Late in the afternoon I gave up on a bike ride and did 40 minutes on the treadmill. 

Friday:

This morning I spent a little over an hour at Planet Fitness. WOW do they have a lot of equipment. I thought the YMCA in Jeff was well equipped. This Planet Fitness seem to have twice as many of everything the YMCA has. 

Kathy finally felt go enough to go out for lunch. We went down the street to a Cheddar's we like. It's close and I really like their fish. They were out of fish. I ordered a sirloin steak and it was good. When we got back we relevelled the coach, again. The ground has finally dried out but the concrete blocks I had put under the jacks were tipped at crazy angles, because of the holes the jacks had punched through the sod when we first came. Before I went to PF I stopped by the office and asked if the Maintenance folks would drop off another 5 gallon bucket of clayey sand. It took awhile but I think I got the holes filled enough to keep the concrete blocks relatively level. I may still need to relevel in a few days, once everything is packed down, but I think its pretty  well done.

Today's high was a mostly sunny, humid 84 degrees. It was hot getting the levelling done. After that I went back inside and was going to read, but couldn't resist a nice nap in the AC.

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

Days 26 & 27 - December 24 & 25 - Merry Christmas, A Savior has been Born, Luke 2:11

 About the only thing I accomplished Tuesday was a trip to the Walmart in San Benito, to have 4 tires installed on the Flex. The store was much less crowded than the one in Harlingen was a few days ago. I was a little surprised that I was able to make an appointment to get tires installed on Christmas Eve.

We did make it to the Christmas Eve service at the campground.

Today was the campground Christmas Dinner. 100-125 people attended. Kathy didn't feel up to going, she still hasn't recovered from the infected tooth she had extracted. I think the campground provided the meat (ham) and the rest was potluck/pitch in. 

I sat next to this couple. They are in a 5th wheel down a couple of campsites from us. They lived in the Carolinas for the past 30 years, before deciding to become full time RV'ers. After selling their house they went to Florida and spent time next next to one their children. They are now Florida residents (no personal income tax in FL). Texas, Florida & South Dakota are the 3 most popular states full time RV'ers use as their domicile states.

Tuesday Kathy signed us up for Netflix so that she could watch the Chiefs play today. She watched the Chiefs and I represented us at the dinner. I was back in time to see them win.

After the game we sat outside for awhile and then I went for a 5 mile bike ride around the campground. Today's high was a mostly sunny 83 degrees.

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

Day 25 - Monday, December 23 - 3rd Dentist

 This morning was Kathy's appointment with a 3rd dentist. When I was a kid I can remember having a terrible tooth ache, on a weekend. The dentists office was in part of his home. Dad took me. The dentist pulled the tooth and we went home. By the way, you can't just go straight to the 3rd dentist. He won't see you without  a referral. 

We arrived a few minutes early for her 10AM appointment. The 2nd dentist had not given her the referral paperwork so the receptionist had to call and confirm that a set would be sent over. (We paid for everything. Kathy had told them that she didn't think our Medicare Advantage plan would cover much of the cost and that we would fight with them. Why was a referral even necessary?) Kathy went back by 10:15. Around 11:30 a guy came out to get me and I thought, "Wow, done already." WRONG! They had not even started. He called me to the back to show me how to fold a square of gauze and stick it in Kathy's mouth. It took maybe another hour before she was ready to leave.

I'm still working on getting a set of tires. I really want to buy a set from a nationwide company, so that when I have a problem I can go to someone who bears some level of responsibility to resolve the issue. How did Sears/Wards management destroy those companies. I went to Walmart, IT WAS A ZOO! The wait was ridiculous. The lady at the counter looked TIRED. When I got up to her I asked if they had a set of a specific tire in stock. She checked the computer and said they were supposed to have 4, but she said she didn't believe the computer. She was gone for maybe 5 minutes and came back to tell me that she could only find 3 tires. I thanked her and asked how soon they could get another one. She suggested that another Walmart, only 5 miles away, might have them. She called and found that they had 12 of them. She was very nice. I may go to the other store tomorrow morning, or I may wait until after Christmas.

It was cloudy and very windy today, with a high in the low 80's.

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

Day 24 - Sunday, December 22 - Cowboy Church Day

Today I got to go to the Cowboy Church of the Valley for the first time this trip. Kathy was looking forward to going but her bad tooth caused her to stay home.

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

If we go the back way to church we go by a grapefruit orchard. Driving by makes you want to stop and grab a few grapefruit, even if its picking up the ones on the ground. Usually by now we have been to the Don Wes flea market and have a $4 bag of fresh grapefruit in the refrigerator. 

Pastor Chris discussed the meaning of the three gifts the "Wise Men" gave to Jesus. Below is a photo of folks leaving after the service, probably a quarter of the folks had already left.

If you are interested you can find more pictures of the church facility at:

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2023/12/day-21-sunday-december-24-cowboy-church.html

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/02/day-67-wednesday-february-8-work-day.html

Today was a special day, about an hour after the service ended area kids competed in the arena across the road. Not all the kids attend the church. Age brackets for each of the events was : 6 and under, 7-10, 11-14 & 15-18. There were 2 kids in the 6 & under, 7 in the 7-10 bracket, 5 in the 11-14 bracket and 4 in the 15-18 bracket.

In the first competition riders had to weave their horses through the poles. If a pole was knocked over the rider incurred a 5 second penalty. If the rider didn't follow the correct weaving pattern they were disqualified.

One of the Pastor's daughters, in the 15-18 bracket, is in the photo below. She rode 2 different horses in each of the competitions.

This little girl was in the 6 and under bracket. I didn't get a picture of her and her Dad during the Poles event. The 2nd event was barrel racing. There are 3 barrels and the rider must go around all three in a specific pattern. Dad ran while leading her horse through the competitions. He did great. I think his time beat the times of those in the 7-10 age bracket. He looked a little winded after the run through the barrels.

This is the Pastor's son.

Definitely not helicopter parents. This little girl climbed up the pipes that made up the walls of this horse trailer so that she would have a better view. The one on the right, at the end of the trailer, was soon up there beside her.

The last competition used 3 barrels and a table with a big red basket on it. The first barrel, on the left had an apron on it, the one in the  middle had a Christmas stocking on it and the far barrel had a medium size bag on it. The kids had to ride up to the 1st barrel, grab the apron and loop it over their head; then to the 2nd barrel, grab the stocking and put it over their saddle horn. At the 3rd barrel they had to pick up the bag. After they had everything they rode over to the table and put everything in the red basket. I was impressed by their riding skills, especially one of the girls. Her horse shied violently when the wind made the apron flutter. She sat like she was glued to the saddle.

Back home we watched a little of a football game then Kathy went over and worked on a puzzle for a couple of hours. I did a 4 mile bike ride around the campground.

It was cloudy all day. The high temperature was in the low 70's. At 10PM its a humid (80%) 66 degrees.

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