November 13 to 19, 2008 ; La Feria, Texas
This morning Joanne and I spent some time chatting with our new neighbours, in two rigs from Quebec. A couple in a fifth wheel trailer and a single woman in a very large motorhome. It's unusual to see a single woman travelling alone in such a large motorhome. We went to chat with them because they have Escapees decals on their rigs, and because we know that Quebecois often feel a bit isolated while travelling if they don't speak English. They comprehend English, but speak it poorly. I comprehend French, but speak it poorly. Joanne is bilingual. We all got along just fine. They spoke mostly French, I spoke mostly English, Joanne spoke both.
We went to Wal-Mart ( sigh ). Then to H-E-B. Then to Walgreen's. And there went the morning and part of the afternoon. On the way back home we stopped at a drive in burger place called Stars for a very late lunch. Back home at Kenwood RV Resort we spent time with Gil and Maria in the swimming pool and hot tub. We watched Survivor then had a late supper.Friday ; Today started out cloudy and warm, becoming sunny, hot, and very humid in the afternoon. I went to the Post Office to pick up a batch of forwarded mail that I was expecting. It hadn't arrived yet ( fume ) ! This morning Joanne and Maria prepared picnic lunches and we set off in the "Westie" ( Gil's and Maria's Volkswagen Westfalia toad ) for Estero Llano Grande State Park. We wandered around the butterfly gardens and the Visitor Centre for awhile before having our picnic lunch. After lunch we went on a guided butterfly walk with a Park Naturalist and one of the park's WorkCampers. Beautiful butterflies ... lots of them ! By the end of the guided walk Maria and I were both tired and "butterflied out".
Back at Kenwood RV Resort, after a short nap, I worked on removing the truck's bed rail protectors which were coming loose. Joanne helped me to clean off the old, deteriorated double sided tape that was the cause of them coming loose. We didn't quite finish before it got dark. Tomorrow we'll finish removing the old double sided tape, get them all cleaned up, then reinstall them with new double sided tape. Joanne's fingers got blistered from scraping off old tape. My feet got bit by fire ants. We went to the pool with Gil and Maria. I drove across the street to use the Wi-Fi signal in Super 8 Motel's parking lot, and for the second evening in a row, the Internet seemed to be "down".
Saturday ; Today was sunny, warm, and windy. This morning we went to the Kenwood RV Resort's charity fund raiser omelette breakfast. We lingered over breakfast and chatted with neighbours, then finished cleaning and reinstalling the truck’s bed rail protectors. Gil and Maria went shopping in Harlingen. Joanne continued waxing the trailer. I removed the light fixture from inside the front “trunk” of the trailer and replaced it with a better light fixture I purchased recently. Boy, my fussy workmanship is much nicer than that originally done by the factory, especially on work like wiring.
After lunch and a nap, and more procrastination, I washed the truck. The wash we gave it a couple of weeks ago in Hondo was "quick and dirty", so to speak, so it needed a more thorough wash. Joanne walked over to El Centro Foods, the Mexican grocery store in the village of La Feria to buy milk, then she continued waxing the trailer. I saw our Quebecois neighbour walking around with her laptop computer. I thought she was trying to find a strong Wi-Fi signal, so I went over to offer assistance. She wasn't looking for a Wi-Fi signal. She was showing this RV park to her son in Montreal. Her computer has a built in camera and microphone, and she was online with her son using Skype, a VOIP service like our Vonage Wi-Fi phone. Her son could see what she was showing him, and he, sitting at his desk in Montreal, was on her computer screen . What a neat way to communicate ! Gil and Maria went to church. They go to a weekly church service ... a Catholic mass, I think ... on Saturdays. When it got dark, we went to the pool and hot tub. We chatted with the couple who own Lucky, the 16 year old Scarlet Macaw.
I learned a new Texan word today. While at this morning's omelette breakfast, I overheard a woman telling her friends that she went to bed last night right after watching the "nyi woos". It took me awhile to figure out that that was a Texan pronunciation of "news". HA HA HA !
Sunday ; It was cold overnight, but sunny and mild today. At 11:00 A.M. Kevin and Sandy arrived at Kenwood RV Resort. They, us, Gil and Maria all loaded into Lanoire and set off west on Expressway 83 headed for La Joya, about an hour away. We stopped for Sunday brunch at Shoney's, a buffet restaurant in McAllen. The 2½ hour Mariachi and Folklorico concert at La Joya High School was, as expected, stupendous. The concert was broken down into ten different "acts" of song, music, and dance reflecting Mexican song and dance culture from Mayan times to the present.
By the time we got back to Kenwood RV Resort it was 6:00 P.M.. We had a late, light supper while watching Amazing Race.
Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning Gil and Maria received news that their daughter's dog, Buppy's 10 month old offspring named Solo, had been killed by a car. That was saddening news for them.
I did some minor maintenance chores this morning. This afternoon I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday at the Mariachi / Folklorico / Conjunto concert at La Joya High School. Then ... ( huge sigh ) ... I worked on updating my investment files. Joanne did laundry, baked some apricot tarts with apricots we picked last summer and froze, and continued waxing the trailer. We took a guacamole and tortilla chip break with Gil and Maria late in the afternoon. AHHHHH ... I haven’t had any of Joanne’s excellent guacamole since we last bought fresh avocadoes in Yuma last spring. Just before it turned dark I got the truck and trailer hitched, to prepare for departure tomorrow morning to have the trailer serviced.
We went to the pool and hot tub before preparing supper. We discussed our long term future plans, in consideration of the current status of our investment losses. After supper I completed updating and analyzing our investments. It seems probable that our lifestyle as unemployed vagabonds will have to end next spring.
Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. It was a long, tiring day of errands.
Early this morning we pulled the trailer out of Kenwood RV Resort and headed west to Pharr. We dropped the trailer off at Camco Wheel & Axle to have Harvey's wheel bearings repacked and the electromagnetic brakes replaced. WOW ... an expensive job ! We refilled with diesel. Went to Discount Tire and Sears to get prices on new tires for Lanoire. Went to Texas Tops Of McAllen to get a price on a grille guard ( or, as I like to call them, a Toyota pusher ... HA HA HA ) for Lanoire. I suppose it’s unrealistic to contemplate indulging myself in something that expensive that has no real practical value, given the state of our investments, and the high costs of replacing the truck tires and trailer brakes, essential expenditures. Went to Camping World, renewed our Camping World President's Club ( discount ) membership, bought three new light fixtures, a new water pump, a 12 volt heated "blankie" for Teddy when boondocking, and some other RV supplies. Had lunch at Whataburger, Joanne's favourite burger restaurant. Went to Petco. Bo loves shopping ... HA HA HA ! Bought a nylon tunnel to add to the dog agility course I am building for Bo back at Riverside RV Resort. Bo got a new bandanna. He's very pleased, having been "bandannaless" since he lost his bandanna in my sister's yard about a month and a half ago. Went Wal-Martin' ( sigh ). Late in the afternoon we returned to Camco Wheel & Axle to pick up Harvey. On the way back to La Feria we stopped at Ron Hoover RV and bought more RV supplies. By the time we got back to our site at Kenwood RV Resort it was 6:00 P.M..
Wednesday ; Today was sunny and warm.
Poor old Teddy is often cold at night. On cold nights, when we're plugged into 120 volt AC power, we run a little electric heater in the bedroom to keep him warm. But when we're boondocking, without AC power, Teddy doesn't understand why we won't respond to his very clear signals that he wants his heater. Yesterday we bought him a little 12 volt heated "blankie" for when we're boondocking, which we expect we'll be doing regularly down in Mexico. Last night we "road tested" it. Teddy was very pleased with it !
This morning we drove into La Feria, I dropped Joanne off at El Centro Foods to buy a few groceries, and I went to the Post Office to pick up a batch of forwarded mail. I refilled our 5 gallon water jug. Joanne bought a pound of shredded barbecued beef brisket at a small barbecue take out place on the edge of the grocery store's parking lot. MMMMM ! Very disorganized "hot dog stand" kind of business, but very nice barbecue. And preparing barbecue is a very individual thing. Every barbecue is different, using a different recipe or approach. I did some maintenance work on a plumbing problem under the kitchen sink. I purchased Mexican vehicle insurance for the truck and trailer for our trip into Mexico in January and February.
After lunch we went with Gil and Maria in their Westie to the WesDon Flea & Farmer's market. First thing we saw as we walked into the flea market was a grizzled old man, long hair, long beard, walking his pet ... wait for it ... alligator ! The alligator had a leash attached to the dog harness it was wearing. Geeeeezzzzz ... welcome to Texas ! Gil bought some RV supplies. I bought an Extreme Vent for the trailer's kitchen grey water holding tank's plumbing vent pipe on the roof. Last year I installed an Extreme Vent on the bathroom grey water holding tank's vent pipe, and it works excellently to remove odours from the waste holding tank and prevent waste holding tank odours from seeping into the RV. On the way out of the flea market, the alligator man was now showing off his huge python. The python was 24 years old, blind, having been born without eyes. Huge ... perhaps 10 or 12 feet long, circumference of a fence post. Seemed like a friendly enough creature ... I petted it. We crossed the street over to the farmer's market and bought fresh fruits and vegetables. On the way home we stopped at Home Depot and I bought the part I needed to complete the plumbing repair under the sink. Gil picked up the new fuel filter and fuel pump he had ordered from Auto Zone for the Westie.
Back at Kenwood RV Resort I napped for awhile while Joanne continued waxing the trailer. I repaired one of our folding chairs. Gil determined that the fuel pump and fuel filter that he got at Auto Zone were not the correct ones for their Westie. He returned them for a refund, and tomorrow will go to a Volkswagen repair shop that Joanne and I found yesterday near Camco Wheel & Axle. We took Bo for a long walk at sunset, then went to the pool and hot tub before supper. After supper, I reviewed the batch of forwarded mail that I picked up at the Post Office this morning.
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment