Year 3 Week 41

March 25 To 31, 2007

Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Year 3 week 41

 

Sunday ; Today was cloudy, hot, humid, and windy.

This morning we had brunch with Erbon and Lorraine. I squeezed a couple of grapefruits to have freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. WOW ... juicy grapefruits ! Joanne had a "campfire" recipe she wanted to try. She had found it in one of our RV magazines. It was for "omelettes in a bag". Break a couple of eggs into a one quart zip lock baggie, add whatever you want, like mushrooms, diced green onion, shredded cheese, etc., squeeze out the air remaining in the baggie, close the baggie, shake, and drop into a pot of boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. Open the baggie and roll out your omelette. They were great ! Perfect for a large group. Everybody gets to make their own omelette with whatever they want in it.

After brunch we visited for awhile. I went to the office and paid our bill, then I went and picked a dozen little limes and a dozen grapefruits. I cut open the smallest lime, and sucked it. YEOW ... yup ... that’s a lime ! We went to the local service station / convenience store to refill 5 water jugs. When I got out of the truck at the water machine in front of the store, there was an unopened bottle of beer sitting on the curb. And a live chicken walking by on the side of the road. Joanne said they must have a “Mexican Special” today. Buy 5 gallons of water, get a free beer and a free live chicken. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! I picked up the free beer. I left the chicken !

I went to the clubhouse, got online with Wi-Fi, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and paid for some software. When my laptop's hard drive crashed in December, I lost my favourite photo manipulation software. It was JASC Photo Shop version 4. JASC no longer exists, having been sold to Corel, a company in Ottawa, Ontario. How ironic ! I downloaded a trial version of Corel's Photo Shop version 6 a month ago, and today I had to pay for it or lose it. I also checked the value of our investments. Not bad. There's been a lot of recovery from the large stock market declines of earlier this month.

We spent the rest of the afternoon floating in the swimming pool, along with many of the remaining park's residents who, like us, were getting as much pool time as they could before they have to start heading back north. As we were leaving the pool, a fellow asked me to identify the new puppy they had just rescued / adopted. It was a female Australian Shepherd, about 3 months old. I gave him some training tips, then brought Bo over to give an obedience demonstration. Good dog, Bo ! His obedience focus and performance are so good I can use him to give an obedience demonstration to a group of people.

Erbon and Lorraine provided steaks for supper which I cooked on my spiffy, new stainless steel barbecue. Nice steaks. Thank you. After supper I turned on their TV so I could watch Amazing Race. Erbon and Lorraine had never seen Amazing Race before. Lorraine wants to see next week's episode. HA HA HA ... one episode and she's hooked ! We spent the evening chatting.

 

Monday ; Mission to Hondo, Texas

Today started out cloudy and warm. We experienced heavy rain while driving. At Hondo, the sky was clear, and the temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than in The Valley, after driving north for a day.

This morning I was allowed to use toothpaste for the first time in a week, and was allowed to use a toothbrush gently on the left side of my mouth, on the sutured area of my gums. Brushing caused some of the sutures to break, and now I've got pieces of thread sticking out my gums. It felt quite uncomfortable.

We prepared for departure, and said our goodbyes to Erbon and Lorraine who left a few minutes before we did. First stop was the Post Office in Mission to see if my membership renewal package from Passport America had arrived. The line up at the main counter was extremely long. There were 2 people lined up at the "Quick Service" door, used for simple transactions like parcel pick ups, etc.. I waited a few minutes, stepped around the 2 women in front of me, and rang the bell for service. I waited a few more minutes, then rang the bell 3 times. I waited a few more minutes, then pounded on the door until it flew open. A surly postal clerk snapped at me that someone would be along shortly, and slammed the door. I waited a few more minutes, then rang the bell about 25 times. By now I was third in a line up of about 20 people. I was feeling furious, so after waiting a few more minutes I left ! I had wasted about 15 or 20 minutes, while the "Quick Service" door was being ignored by the postal clerks, who, no doubt, feel that they can leave the "Quick Service" door unattended while they have lunch. ******* postal workers ! And that's coming from a former employee of Canada Post.

Wedrove a few miles east on Expressway 83, then turned north on Hwy 281 at McAllen. A few miles north on Hwy. 281 we stopped for fuel at Flying J in Edinburg. After refilling with diesel, we finally "hit the road", an hour after we left Seldom Rest Ranch. We drove north on Hwy. 281 until it reached Interstate 37. The wildflowers in Texas are in bloom, and the road sides are beautiful ... and fragrant. Joanne drove for a short while after lunch. While she drove I phoned Passport America and arranged for them to send another membership renewal package including campground directory to Lakewood New Mexico. Hopefully it will be there in a week. We continued north on I-37 to Hwy. 281, then a few miles on Hwy. 281 to Pleasanton. It began to rain heavily. A few miles west on Hwy. 97 to Jourdanton, then northwest on Hwy. 173. The rain became extremely heavy for about 20 minutes. Hwy. 173 was a narrow, two lane road with no shoulders. I had difficulty finding somewhere to pull off and shift into 4WD. A tornado touched down in Devine shortly before we drove through. At Hondo we turned west on Hwy. 90, and drove 8 miles to Lone Star Corral SKP Park.

It had been a long day of driving, and a bit stressful driving in the heavy rain. Plus I'm still not feeling really healthy !

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny, very warm, and very humid.

I slept late this morning. I've been having trouble getting up in the morning. My sick body is demanding rest, and I'm not giving it enough. More sutures in my gums broke this morning, and I was able to pull more thread out of my gums. Each piece of thread that I can pull out provides a bit more relief and comfort.

After lunch we drove into Hondo to do some shopping at Wal-Mart. First we drove around the town, looking around. We've been here before, but never drove around town exploring. Hondo is a small, old Western "cowboy" town. We did our Wal-Martin' and returned to Lone Star Corral. I wanted to take some pictures of the beautiful blooming Bluebonnets, but I had left the camera in the trailer. Bluebonnets are the official Texas wildflower, and they're in bloom right now along the road sides.

As we were preparing to go to the park's daily afternoon social hour, Joanne told me I had to change my pants and shirt because I looked like a ******* refugee from Bangladesh. Well, excuuuuuse me ! At social hour we chatted with a couple who had just moved into the site next to us. They are arookie full timing couple, claiming to have been full timers for 6 months. Well, not really. Not by my definitions. They are from Fort Worth, Texas. They retired 4 months ago. Their house sold 6 months ago, so they lived in their rig in Fort Worth for 2 months. Then they went to Port Aransas for 4 months. So ... this is the second place they have travelled to in their 6 months of full timing. And neither place is more than a few hundred miles from where they started. I travelled more yesterday than they have in 6 months. HA HA HA !

We cut Teddy's and Bo's claws, then gave Bo a bath. After supper I spent the evening working on the 2 month batch of investment mail that I picked up at the La Feria Post Office last week.

 

Wednesday ; Today was partially cloudy, quite warm, a bit windy, and very humid.

This morning I repaired the folding door that separates the bedroom from the bathroom hallway. This afternoon I repaired one of the three stress cracks in the fiberglass again. It cracked again when the weight of the front of the trailer was resting on the hitch in the truck, while we were driving. I initially repaired it when the trailer was unhitched from the truck, and the crack was closed. Today I repaired it with the trailer hitched to the truck. With the weight of the front of the trailer resting on the hitch, the crack spread a little, and I repaired it like that. I hope that works.

We went to today's social hour at 4:00 P.M.. Some SKP parks know how to do social hour, and some don't. This one doesn't ! I took some photos of Texas Bluebonnets in the park, then downloaded and processed photos from the last few days. I administered Bo's monthly heartworm medication, and Teddy's and Bo's monthly flea prevention treatments.

Because I could receive a Wi-Fi signal right in the trailer in this park, I spent the evening goofing around on the Internet.

 

Thursday ; Today was very warm, very humid, and cloudy, with intermittent very light, misty rain all day.

I tried repeatedly during the day to get some outdoor chores accomplished, but every time I stepped outside, it began to rain again. I spent most of the day reading a book. I finally managed to finish the fiberglass crack repair that I started yesterday.

Joanne wanted to go into town and see a movie tonight. After supper we drove into Hondo to see Wild Hogs, playing at the old Raye Theatre. I think the Raye Theatre hasn't changed since the days of silent movies. What a quaint, little old movie theatre. The movie was amusing. We were down to our last few dollars, so after the movie we decided to go to Wal-Mart to buy diesel, and get some cash. We use Wal-Mart as an ATM, getting "cash back" with our purchases without incurring ATM service charges. While Joanne went into the store, I went to the fuel bar. Oh, for crying out loud ... the price of diesel went up 14 cents a gallon yesterday !

 

Friday ; Hondo to Interstate 10 picnic area east of Fort Stockton, Texas

Today started out warm, with heavy rain, and ended warm and sunny.

We were planning to go to San Antonio this morning for a day trip to see The Alamo, Riverwalk, and an old mission. The weather was poor. The forecast was for heavy rain, flash floods, and tornadoes. Joanne has always maintained, since we began travelling, that one of the advantages of our lifestyle is that when we encounter bad weather, we can just drive away from it. So that's what we decided to do today. The weather was going to be poor for a couple of days, and we didn't have enough interest in San Antonio to stay in Hondo for another few days.

We prepared for departure during a brief lull in the rain. We drove east on Hwy. 90 into Hondo, then turned northwest on Hwy. 173. As we left Hondo, Joanne returned a phone call to her sister that we had missed as we were preparing for departure. They chatted until we were out of cell phone range, when the call just dropped. At Kerrville we got onto Hwy. 16 and followed it to Interstate 10. Yes, the rain was heavy. Yes, there was a lot of flash flooding. No, we didn't encounter any tornadoes. This part of Texas "Hill Country" doesn't drain particularly well. The ground doesn't soak up the water. The fields and road sides were flooded. What were little tiny creeks yesterday, and will be again in a few days, were raging rivers today, pouring over their banks onto farm fields, and sometimes even the roads.

We covered a lot of ground today. From South Texas across Central Texas and into West Texas. Driving the Interstate is easy. And driving Lanoire makes it even easier. To prevent a recurrence of running out of fuel, as we did 2 years ago just about where we stopped for the night this evening, we refilled with diesel at Ozona. Radio stations were few and far between. Joanne said that having to listen to some Country and Western music is inevitable when driving across Texas. I'd rather listen to silence ! The days are much longer, so we aren't inclined to stop as early as we were a month and a half ago, when we were travelling from California to Texas. We stopped for the night at a road side picnic area about 15 or 20 miles east of Fort Stockton. We got out of the clouds and heavy rain, and into Texas "Big Sky" about an hour or so before we stopped for the night. We have entered that region of West Texas which I've always considered to be "land without merit". Endless scruffy desert. Without much of anything except oil wells. I guess it's not considered "land without merit" if you own it, and there's oil under it ! HA HA HA !

 

Saturday ; East of Fort Stockton to Pecos, Texas

This morning was quite a bit cooler than we have been used to. I guess that's what driving northward for a couple of days will do. This afternoon was quite warm, and it was sunny all day.

Our short term plans keep changing rapidly. This morning our plan was to drive to the SKP park in Pecos, Texas and stay for 2 nights. The park was supposed to have cable TV, and Joanne wanted to be somewhere with good TV reception to watch Amazing Race tomorrow night. Then we were going to drive to the SKP park in Lakewood, New Mexico and stay for a few days, expecting that our Passport America package would be arriving at the Lakewood Post Office on Monday or Tuesday. We drove a short distance west on I-10 to Fort Stockton, then turned northwest on Hwy. 285 to Pecos. At Pecos we stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel before heading over to Trapark SKP Park. Gee whiz ... the price of diesel has gone up 45 cents per gallon this week ! ! ! When we checked in at Trapark, we found out that they no longer have cable TV.

We got set up in our site, and were quite surprised to find that the park was almost full. Trapark is the least visited ( because it's the least desirable ) of the SKP parks, and it's usually mostly empty. As soon as we were set up, I went over to admire the 2007 Dodge one ton diesel dually 2 sites over. I chatted with the couple from Texas with the new Dodge truck for awhile. We admired each other's trucks, and chatted about our travels. I told him I admired his honkin' huge grille guard, and I wanted one but my wife wouldn't allow it < snicker >. I commented that it seemed to me that almost all pickup trucks in Texas have a honkin' huge grille guard. He said that's because it's cheaper to buy a honkin' huge grille guard than to repair front end damage after hitting a deer, which he says is inevitable when driving in Texas. Eventually I went inside the trailer to set up the TV antenna to see if we could receive CBS, to watch Amazing Race tomorrow evening. The only channel we could get on the antenna was NBC. So < sigh > we decided we would leave here tomorrow morning, drive to the SKP park at Lakewood, New Mexico, and hope that we could receive CBS there, then stay there until we get our mail, probably on Tuesday.

I began to work on repairing a broken drawer in the bathroom hallway. Joanne started chatting with the lady from New Hampshire in the site next to us, with a Cardinal fifth wheel similar to Harvey, but a few years newer. She told Joanne that they had just arrived here at Pecos, having left the SKP park in Lakewood, New Mexico this morning because the water system had been shut down yesterday by inspectors due to a high nitrate level in the water. There's currently no water available at The Ranch SKP Park in Lakewood. Most of the visitors to The Ranch left this morning and came here. That's why this park is so full. < sigh > So there goes Plan B ! The lady from New Hampshire gave Teddy, who was outside in his tent, some fresh catnip leaves plucked off the catnip plant she grows for her cat. Teddy became so ecstatic ( and stoned ) he flipped over onto his back and did a "doggy happy dance" inside his tent. HA HA HA !

I did the 54,000 km. inspection on Lanoire. As we were driving this morning we were talking about the truck. We've had it for 11 months, and driven it 37,000 km. / 23,000 miles with nary a hiccup. What an extremely pleasant change from the nightmare of Dee-Dee. We gave Bo a haircut on his face, so we could see his eyes again. He had so much long hair hanging over his face he couldn't tell the difference between cows and farm equipment, barking at both as we drove. We went to the park's social hour, and chatted with a man from Drummondville, Quebec, and a couple from Elliot Lake, Ontario. The man from Quebec lent me his travel guides to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. We intend to tour "The Baja" next winter. I will return the maps and books to him tomorrow morning before we leave. After social hour, I chatted with more neighbours, a couple from Texas, and a couple from near Ottawa, Ontario. Lots of Canadians here, all heading slowly north, eh ? HA HA HA!

We went to the park's clubhouse to check out their "bargain table". We're looking for something worthwhile on an Escapee park's bargain table to "trade" for our small 5 inch black and white AC/DC TV. There was nothing worth trading for the TV, so I guess we'll get rid of it at The Ranch in Lakewood, the last Escapee park we will be visiting this winter. I did pick up 3 Christmas music CD's, leaving a hard cover mystery suspense novel in trade. Joanne found a Passport America park with cable TV in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and made a reservation for tomorrow and Monday nights. Tuesday we'll go to The Ranch for 1 or 2 nights, with a full tank of fresh water which will last a couple of days. As soon as we get our mail, we'll leave.

 

DSK