Day 20 - Sunday, November 30 - Double Church Day

The weather really changed overnight. Today the high was a cloudy, windy, damp 76. It didn't feel nearly that warm. It felt more like the 50's. 

This morning we went to the 9:30 service at the campground. Lots of folks were happy to see Kathy back. Jim, the Pastor, asked her is she was considering leading a ladies Bible Study again this year. She is considering it.

After the campground service we scooted out and headed up to the Cowboy Church for the 11:00 service. I took this photo about 5 minutes before the service started. By the time it started almost all of the empty seats around us were full. It is still early in the season here, a LOT of Winter Texans have not arrived yet. Looks like standing room only soon. Chris, the Pastor, started a series on the Holy Spirit last week. It will continue for several more weeks. During the Spring he did a weekly evening series on the Holy Spirit. We attended it and enjoyed his teaching. We look forward to the rest of the series.

After church it was back home for lunch, and a nap. I almost slept through the Ice Cream Social at 4 PM. There were about 25 people at the Social, its a nice time to visit and get reacquainted. A Gospel couple came to perform at 5. We had seem them last year and they weren't our cup of tea. Back at the coach I packed up the trash and did one lap around the campground while I threw it in the dumpster.

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

Day 19 - Saturday, November 29 - Kathy Arrived

 I called Kathy and she told me how to make chili for my supper last night. I did good.

This morning I did a load of laundry in the washer in the coach. I also took the sheets off the bed and washed and dried them in the campground laundromat. King size sheets are just to big for the washer in the coach. 

It was windy today (its always windy in Texas) but I managed to get in a 4.15 mile, 37 minute bike ride around the campground. Riding into the wind was tough, riding with it was almost like coasting. (The circle indicates our site. Two years ago the blue are was a pond, over in the next neighborhood. It has been DRY here. Last year the pond dried up and it was a mud flat sprouting weeds. This year it is tall weeds.)

Kathy arrived around 4:30, 1,100 miles in two days. She is TOUGH! PTL for safe travels. After unloading the Flex we went over to the Golden Corral for supper.

I was devastated, the ice cream machine was broken. I consoled myself with multiple Rice Krispy squares.

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

Day 18 - Friday, November 28 - Motorcycle Trip to Walmart

 The highlight of the day was riding my motorcycle over to Walmart. I really don't like riding in traffic. It's only a 5 mile round trip. I rode the  "back way", staying off the Interstate. The city street traffic wasn't bad, the Walmart parking lot was a zoo.

I bought a couple of quarts of ATF for our hydraulic levelling system. I was hoping that the levelling problem was due to low fluid. After playing with the system for a couple of hours it seems that adding the fluid doesn't seem to have solved the problem. The valving on one of the jacks doesn't seem to be working properly. The jack will start down but won't go all the way. It seems that as soon as the pump quits "pumping" the jack retracts. It isn't the jack that I thought was leaking.

I visited some with the guy in the site next to us. They have been spending winters in the Rio Grande Valley for over 5 years. This will be their first winter at this campground. They are from Vichy, MO, about 65 miles from our home in Centertown.

Kathy left home this morning and headed south. She made it half way today. She is spending the night at a Hampton Inn somewhere north of Houston. 

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

Day 17 - Thursday, November 27 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

One of the great things about the holiday Thanksgiving is that it gives us a chance to consider how blessed we are. We are blessed to have been born in a country where we are free to travel and spend time with friends and family. We have roofs over our heads and food to eat. All to often I forget to thank the Lord for my blessings.

I joined 50-75 other people from the campground to enjoy a Thanksgiving potluck dinner.

Both the food and fellowship was good.

It was a nice day here, a little breezy but mostly sunny and in the mid 70's. I spent some time sitting outside both in the morning and in the afternoon. In the morning a jacket felt good. in the afternoon a tee shirt was fine.

I got in a 3.25 mile bike ride around the campground, to burn off some of the calories.

It was a good Thanksgiving Day.

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

Day 16 - Wednesday, November 26 - Rainy Day

 Between rains I unloaded my motorcycle and bicycle. 

Note how brown the grass is. One of the ladies over at the clubhouse told me that it has been very dry. I think we got a little less than an inch. We had enough wind with it to rock the coach a little.

When I unloaded my motorcycle I did manage a lap around the campground. In the afternoon I climbed on my bicycle and did a more thorough inspection of the campground, I did 2.25 miles on it. That is probably more than I rode it the entire time we were back in Missouri.

The refrigerator seems to be working OK (PTL), except for the icemaker. In a freezer at the clubhouse they have little 2# bags of ice that they sell for 50 cents. I walked over and got a couple of them. 

I did some research on the cooling units that JC Refrigeration make to replace the ones in RV absorption refrigerators. They make a replacement for the absorption units, but it seems that almost all RV'ers who fridges fail either replace them with a residential unit (it is difficult to find a residential refrigerator that fits the "hole" for a RV refrigerator), or they replace the absorption cooling unit with a 12v DC or a 120v AC cooling unit. If I was close to Shipshewana, IN I would strongly consider pulling in to their facility and having them install one of the 12v DC units. It takes them about 3 hours to pull you refrigerator out of the wall, lay it on the living room floor, change the unit, put it back in the wall and start it up. 

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

Day 15 - Tuesday, November 25 - Victoria to Harlingen

 Today I drove the 208 miles from the Victoria RV Park to the Lakewood RV Resort. The drive was uneventful.

When I stopped by the office Mary Beth, one of the campground movers and shakers, saw me and said, "Don't you leave until I tell you what table number you are to sit in for the Thanksgiving Dinner.", I checked in at the office and moved over to park in our site. Before I could get the electric cable plugged in Bruce, another mover and shaker, walked up to welcome me back and make sure I knew that they were having pulled pork sandwiches and entertainment at the clubhouse at 3:30.

Parked at Lakewood.

Looking west down the street. For some reason all the sites to the east were empty.

Typical weekly activities.

November and December activities.

It was HOT here today. A sunny 88 degrees.

It's good to be a winter Texan. We know more folks here than we did in homes we lived at for over twice as long as we have been coming here.

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

Day 14 - Monday, November 24 - Livingston to Victoria

 Nothing exciting today. I dropped of the rental car this morning and one of the guys gave me a ride back to the campground. I was on the road a little after 9:00.

From Rainbow's End to Victoria's RV Park (River Park) was 199 miles. I've put 1,311 miles on the coach since I left home. It's 210 miles from here to Lakewood RV Resort in Harlingen.

Traffic was bad except for a 3 mile section in downtown Houston. It took me an hour to drive the 40 miles through Houston, 20 minutes of the time was driving the 3 miles where I69 splits off and heads southwest.

Light rain fell in a couple of places , the crosswinds were brutal the last 60 miles.

Kathy and I have stayed here multiple times in the past. Victoria has some interesting places, which I won't be visiting this stay. Lord willing I will be in Harlingen mid-afternoon.

Below are links to a couple of blog posts from previous stays here, :

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/04/day-124-tuesday-april-1-cuero-museum.html

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/day-123-monday-march-31-harlingen-to.html

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/day-16-saturday-december-14-enjoying.html (I remember Mumford's but had forgotten about Double Daves)

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/day-93-tuesday-march-5-full-day-victory.html

The refrigerator is still running, but it isn't as cold as it should be. Looks like we will need to have it replaced.

Kathy is currently planning on heading this way on Saturday. It will be a 1,100 mile drive for her.

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