Friday, February 27 – Hot Day!!

Today started hot and got hotter, it got to 95 degrees. Our A/C has been on non stop.

After our morning routine I gave Jesse a hair cut. Then we both got showers. Before I was able to get dressed Pat came knocking on the door.

She came to say goodbye because they are also leaving on Sunday. She sat with us and chatted for a while. Pat is not a dog person, but Bayer took a liking to her and laid down by her feet while we chatted. She was okay with it as long as he didn’t lick her and he was a good boy. We made plans to go to Fat Daddy’s for dinner tonight.

We hoped to have her and Dan join us tomorrow for dinner with Carl/Linda and Heinz/Irene, but they have plans.

After she left I finished dressing and Jesse and I went to Wal*Mart to stock up on groceries for our trip to Brackettville to visit with Kit and Jerry. We are going to be the best guinea pigs that we can be while our meals are cooking on their new grill. :~)

After retuning to the rig, I got everything put away and we relaxed for awhile.

Dan and Pat picked us up at 4:45 and we were off to Fat Daddy’s. We were informed that Ted and Sue along with Sue’s 2 sisters that were visiting, were going to join us for dinner. We arrived 1st and put our name on the waiting list. We only had to wait a few minutes before they called us for our table.

We all had a very good dinner and the conversation was very lively. Sorry, I forgot the camera, no pictures. :~(

After we ate we decided to go to Dairy Queen for dessert, yum.

After we were deposited back home Jesse and I walked the boys and then watched “Slumdog Millionaire”. I thought it was good, and I enjoyed it, but not an award winner. Guess it’s a good thing I am not a critic.

Tomorrow we will be busy packing up things for our departure on Sunday, until then hugs to everyone.

Thursday, February 26 – Hugs and fighting back tears

 

We were taking Ed and Marilyn to the airport in Harlingen this morning. We picked them up at 9am. Marilyn gave me a framed picture of she and I so I would remember the good times we have had together, like I would forget!!

We have had such a good time together – doing things, going places, eating out, and just chillin out.

We dropped them and gave and received hugs, wished them a safe trip and told them we love them.

Jesse and I were sad, but had errands to do. We wished we had brought our camera, because the Iwo Jima Memorial and Monument was right at the airport and we would have taken some pictures and roamed around.

We decided to go to Las Vegas Cafe for breakfast. Gordon and Juanita had recommend this place and it was very good.

After breakfast we went to the bank then on to Petsmart to get dog food.

I wanted to find a coverlet for the bed, so we looked in Target, Kohls and Bed Bath and Beyond. I didn’t find just want I wanted, so I will keep looking.

Jesse was a real trooper going to all these stores with me.  He also made out in Kohls because we bought him 2 new pairs of shorts. (I got nothing)

After we got home we just chilled for a while.

Jesse worked on getting our satellite set up to be sure everything was back on line. We had our service suspended while we were here and used the cable at the resort. After much rearranging he has it working.

He also used a different way to clap down the satellite outside that worked very well, because it was very windy yesterday and we didn’t loose the signal.

I made leftovers for dinner and we watched our shows. Some in western feed and some in eastern feed.

Hugs to all

Wednesday, February 25 -

After our usual morning routine, Jesse decided to go to the flea market. He wanted to purchase some flapper hold down thingy, a bike lock/cable and a new automatic changeover valve for the propane tanks. He was successful in purchasing everything. He also bought some screw heads to fit the strange screws that are used in our rig.

I decided to stay home and do laundry and clean our house on wheels.

When he got back we had a bite to eat and just relaxed for the afternoon.

We were scheduled to pick up Ed and Marilyn at 4:00 to go out for some dinner, so I got a shower and got dressed. We were going to Texas Road House in McAllen.

As usually the food, conversation and company was good, but the four of us were not as jovial as we usually are. We knew that this would be the last meal we would share until we see each other in the fall.

We plan to meet them in Missouri after the summer on our way to Colorado.

We have really became close with Ed and Marilyn and will miss them more then words can express. The good thing about this lifestyle is that we know we will see them again down the road.

We dropped them at their rig and went home to relax and watch our TV shows.

Hugs to all.

Tuesday, February 24 – Mexican Pot Luck

 

Yesterday, Monday, we mostly did nothing. Wait a minute we did take our resume to the office for possibly working next winter here at Llano.

I started my chicken taco soup for Tuesday.

We also attended the cocktail hour at Heinz and Irene’s and enjoyed visiting with everyone.

Today we went to Wal*Mart to pick up a few items. I also dropped off a prescription for Marilyn. Jesse got a bike tube to fix his flat.

My brother called while we were in the truck and we talked about our time home in April. Jesse was very excited to learn that he would be there for the guys annual weekend pool trip to Ocean City.  Yea!!

Once we returned I finished preparing the soup, then took my shower and got dressed.

Pat asked me to come over a little early so I could set up for the Mexican Pot Luck. When it was time to go to Pat’s I couldn’t find Jesse. He had gone outside to work on his bike.

I started to load things in the truck and just in time he shows up. In his defense I has forgotten to tell him I was to go early.

We had a wonderful time talking, laughing, eating and drink margaritas. All the food was very good as usually and the conversation was very lively. There was some talk about oil changes, but I missed most of it, but everyone was getting a laugh about it.

Here are some pictures:

 

Sue had two of her three sisters visiting and I spend time getting to know these two great ladies.

This will be our last gathering because Ed and Marilyn will be leaving on Thursday for a short visit in Missouri for their grandson, Colby’s 1st birthday. Three of us are leaving on Sunday morning - Pat and Dan, Linda and Carl and Us while Ed and Marilyn return on Sunday afternoon.

We have had such a wonderful time getting to know all these fine people. We look forward to seeing them down the road.

Sunday, February 22- Last day with new friends

We awoke to a very cold morning. Temps outside 42, inside 53. We slept with the windows open. Jesse put the heat on before he went out to walk the boys, but it was only on for a minute before it shut off.

It seems that the tank was not full enough to run the heater, but would run the water heater and I quote Jesse “I don’t feel like changing the tanks around” so it was a cold morning. We ran the small space heater until it tripped a breaker, then we just ran the fireplace to warm up the living space and put the shades up to let the sun in.

We were dressed and out the door at 11am to meet the gang at Romano's Marconi Grill. We got there before everyone else so we got a table. Everyone except Rick ordered the chef's special. You received a salad, entre, and dessert for $12. It was a good food and a GREAT deal because Larry picked up the tab for everyone, even us. We have just met this fine man the last few days, he and his wife Dorie are very sweet people. We thank you very much!!!

By the time we left the restaurant it was 2:00. We were going to Santa Ana. The problem was the last tram ride left at 2pm, so we just walked through a few trails.

We saw the following along with several other birds.

A new addition a rope bridge.

For Howard

Once we were back at the cars we said our good-byes with hugs and hand shakes to Rick, Sherry, Larry and Dorie as they are leaving tomorrow. We had a wonderful time getting to know you and look forward to seeing you down the road.

We were home by 4:30, walked and fed the boys. We got in our comfy clothes.

We received a call from Ed that Rollie and Gina along with their youngest son Thomas were going to stop by to say hello.

(I got this picture off of RV-Dreams site from the rally)

They had just returned from a trip to Mexico and dropped by. They have recently purchased a Volvo HDT (Heavy Duty Truck) and a new rig.

They gave us a tour of the truck. It has two beds a table, refrigerator, microwave, and TV and a storage compartment in back for lots of stuff. We were so glad they stopped by and look forward to see them again in Kerrville.

After they left we watched TV and computered for the rest of the evening. This life style keeps us so busy we need the evenings to rest.

Saturday, February 21 – Change in plan

Today we were supposed to meet for breakfast at the rec center at 8am then we were going to Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge.

The weather did not cooperate with our plans.

We picked Ed & Marilyn up at their place and met Rick & Sherry for breakfast.

We all had a very nice breakfast and a new plan was made. Rick and Sherry had some errands to run and we were going to meet them along with Larry & Dorie after lunch at the game room to play games.

Well the four of us decided to play pool. The teams:

Team 1 Jesse and Marilyn Team 2 Ed and Ginger

Team 1 won 4 games straight – then team 2 won 4 games

The ninth game was won by

Jesse and Marilyn !!

We had a wonderful time playing, laughing and just having FUN FUN FUN!!!

Jesse even showed off his juggling skills.

Then we all met at the rec center for games and snacks. We played 3 games of Sequence and the girls beat the guys.

Then we played a dice game call Farkle. I came in third, not too bad, Rick won.

We came home for the rest of the evening. We had leftovers for dinner and watched movies all evening.

This was a great way to spend a rainy day.

The plan is to go to Santa Ana tomorrow…If the weather is better.

Thurs/Fri, February 19/20 – USA Block Party

 

Thursday we completed our consolidation of the CD and DVD storage.

Remember this was the before

This is the after

We took all the CD/DVD’s out of the boxes and put them in paper sleeves and put them in these small crates

It freed lots of space. Next we will number them all and put in a spreadsheet so that we can find them easily.

We spent most of the day just working on the above and I started to work on our new valances. I spent most of the morning learning how to use my electronic sewing machine.

I had two machines, one was a very old Singer machine that I have used for years. About 5-6 years ago Jesse got me a new machine with lots of fancy things on it, but I never really used it. I always used the old one because I knew how.

When we decided on this lifestyle I could only bring one, so I chose the new light weight Brother machine.

On Friday I worked on the valances again and have three done. I think I am going to like the look.

We went to a USA block party. Here are a few pictures of the 100 plus participants.

  Lots of food to share

Some line dancing

After returning home we relaxed and watched TV.

Another great day in the RGV. We will not be having too many more because we will be leaving in just a little over a week.

Hugs to all

Wednesday, February 17 – Full Day/Fun Night

After walking we met Sherry, Rick, Ed and Marilyn at Mingo’s for breakfast.

When we got back home, walked the boys, then Jesse took the blind for the back window down to Ed’s to repair the string. Before he left he helped me set up the grooming table so I could give the boys a needed hair cut.

I started with Bayer. He needed it the most. Once Jesse retuned he helped me finish Bayer and we went on to Buddy. Mr B was spared today because he only needs a bath and trim.

After we were done grooming I cleaned up the RV and then took a shower and got myself cleaned up.

We went down to Ed's for cocktail hour to join his high school friends along with Carl and Linda.

Sherry, Linda, Jesse and Carl

Ed and Terry Rick, Sherry and Don

Sharon, Dorie, and part of Larry.

We all then went to the Rec Center for spaghetti dinner and karaoke. Now we have heard from several in the park that the karaoke is not too good.

Well, let me tell you I had a BLAST. Some of the singers were quite good, some not so good, but we didn’t care, we just sang along with them, so it didn’t sound too bad.

This lady could sing, see had everyone’s attention.

Then we heard from Elvis Eddie

You think Carl likes what he was hearing?

I will let everyone interpret there own meaning to this one,

Ed is singing again

There was even dancing

We laughed and had a great time!!!

When we got home it was more TV and relaxing. We have these days that are full of things to keep us busy. I have no idea how we will ever have time to work again.

We have signed a contract to work at Lake George Escape for the summer. We will be there starting May 14 through Labor Day.

Our plan is to leave Llano March 1st, going to Brackettville, TX until March 5th. We are going to visit with Kit and Jerry for a few days. Then we will be going Kerrville for the RV-Dreams Gathering until March 16th, then head back to Baltimore until we need to go to New York.

Tuesday, February 17 – Style Show

 

After our routine morning events I along with Sue and Pat were going to the style show at the rec center.

The annual event was sold out and was very nice. We were served lunch 1st.

On the table went we arrived were our salads and dessert. The main course was what you see above.  It was served on a bed of lettuce, made in layers of bread, cucumbers, ham salad, chicken salad and covered with cream cheese as icing and topped with olives, chives and tomatoes. It was surrounded by fresh fruit.

My lunch companions were all as impressed as I was with the creations. 

Our dessert was plated with vanilla pudding, sponge cake, pineapples and topped with whipped cream. Everything was very tasty and the presentation was top notch.

The fashion show consisted of fashions from three shops in the area. They took turns having models from the park parade around in the outfits. The models all did a GREAT job, and some of the fashions were very nice. They showed casual and dressy apparel.

I had a good time and very glad I went.

Back at the Inn, Jesse and I decided to go to Wal*Mart to look for CD/DVD storage containers to consolidate space. They had many different options. We choose the cheapest option, we found plastic containers for $1.14 each and purchased the paper sleeves. His idea is to take them out of the jewel boxes and conserve space.

Before

I will let you know how this turns out. Of course the VHS tapes will not be consolidated.

After we were back home we just relaxed. We had leftovers for dinner and watched American Idol.

Hugs to all