December 4 to 10, 2008 ; La Feria, Texas
Thursday ; Today started out cool and windy, ending up sunny and warm. This morning Joanne went with Gil and Maria to sort and count Amigos de los Niños de Mexico toys at the rented storage locker. I spent the morning working on auto body repair on the truck's rear bumper and dually hip. I finished repairing the damage on the corner of the bumper. I finished repairing the damage on the lower part of the hip. I'm not yet finished repairing the damage on the upper part of the hip.
After lunch I read and napped. We went into La Feria and I bought some auto body repair supplies at Auto Zone. We bought some pan dulce at one of the two panaderias in La Feria. Joanne wanted to see what was north of La Feria, and Bo wanted to "go drivey", so we drove north on FM 506 to the village of Santa Rosa. We found diesel there at a great price so I refilled. Back home at Kenwood RV Resort I spent a frustrating period with the Yellow Pages trying to contact local bank branches to obtain peso purchase exchange rates. There are many local bank branches, and they all have local telephone numbers, but inevitably when I would phone them, I would either end up in endless voice mail loops, or be connected to call centres in New York or Arizona ( fume ). I gave up ! We took Bo for a walk, hoping that would work off my frustration. We went to the pool and hot tub. We chatted with our new neighbours from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Friday ; Today was cloudy, cool, windy, and raining. We had planned to go to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico today, but cancelled because of the weather. Around noon Gil came over to inform us that they have decided not to go to Mexico with us in January and February.
We spent a lazy day, reading, napping, drinking tea, eating pan dulce ... HA HA HA !
Saturday ; Today started out cloudy and mild, but by noon the sky had cleared and it became sunny and warm. I spent most of the afternoon working on repairing the damage on the upper part of the dually hip. I got it as good as I'm going to, I guess. My amateur auto body repair results are less than perfect, but ... life goes on ! ! ! I guess at 3½ years of age Lanoire has earned the right to exhibit a bit of "road rash". I repaired our broken step stool, and reattached a corner of the truck bed rail protector ... again ! This time I used an expensive auto body moulding double sided tape.
As the sun set I visited with neighbours for awhile, then went to the swimming pool while Joanne prepared supper. She didn't want to ruin her freshly applied nail polish in the pool and hot tub.
Sunday ; Today was sunny, warm, and humid. This morning while I was outside puttering and fussing with my auto body repair work Maria bicycled by on her way to the laundromat. After not speaking to me for five days she decided to stop and ... speak her mind !
After lunch Kevin and Sandy arrived for our planned outing to Pepe's On The River, a large, indoor/outdoor, honky-tonk style bar on the banks of the Rio Grande, south of Mission. On the way there we stopped at Camping World to buy some RV supplies. At Pepe's we sat outside on a patio beside the river, sharing a pitcher of beer, watching boats on the river, and Border Patrol helicopters overhead. As we were leaving we briefly visited an old Spanish mission chapel nearby.
We were previously unable to come to an agreement with Kevin and Sandy about travelling into Mexico together. We wanted to go into Mexico at the beginning of January. They wanted to go at the beginning of February. When they found out today that Gil and Maria have changed their minds about travelling into Mexico with us, Kevin suggested a compromise. They would prefer to travel in Mexico with a travelling companion couple. So would we. Kevin suggested that we travel together, starting in mid-January. Joanne and I are considering their offer, and are inclined to accept.
After leaving Pepe's we headed to Fat Daddy's, a barbecue restaurant, for supper. It was difficult to find, and when we finally found it, it was closed on Sundays ( sigh ). Plan B was to drive to La Feria, to another barbecue restaurant, J.C. Stuffgut. When we got there, it also was closed on Sundays ( bigger sigh ). We gave up. Kevin and Sandy dropped us off at Kenwood RV Resort, and they left to return to their RV park in Brownsville. Joanne and I went to Kenwood's regular Sunday evening ice cream social, then had supper in the trailer while watching the season finale of Amazing Race.
I have just finished reading my journal for this date last year. I commented on watching fighter jets from MCAS in Yuma flying circuits, making each turn in the circuit by banking at ninety degrees, and suggesting facetiously that I should try that in a Cessna. Well, as those of you who followed the progress of my Mountain Performance Flying Course last summer know ... I now can bank a Cessna ninety degrees. HA HA HA ! Late in the evening, just before bedtime, I went to the pool and hot tub. AHHHHH ... very relaxing.
Monday ; Today was partially cloudy, very warm, humid, and a bit windy. This morning while I was doing preventive maintenance outside, John and Eve came by and invited me to the Kenwood RV Resort Homeowner's Association meeting, mostly because of the free coffee and doughnuts. MMMMM ... good doughnuts ! HA HA HA ! After the meeting, Joanne wanted to go to Nuevo Progreso to do some Christmas shopping, buy some pet medications, and buy pesos.
On the way to Mexico we stopped at Wal-Mart in Weslaco to cash $1000 of traveller's cheques at their in-store bank, to buy pesos either in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico or Hidalgo, Texas, where we saw a good exchange rate yesterday. What a "loser" trip into Mexico today ! First stop was a veterinary pharmacy where we bought some pet medications, including some antibiotic ear drops for Teddy, who has an ear infection of some sort. If these drops don't clear it up in a week, we'll take him to a local veterinarian. Next I went to Estetica Modelo for a haircut. J**** F****** H. C***** ! ! ! I look some kind of a G** D*** U.S. Marine Corps retiree. I tried to tell the barber I wanted one inch trimmed off my hair. He took that to mean that I wanted my hair to be one inch long. Why would he think that someone who walked in with hair that was at least six inches long would want to walk out with an inch of hair ? ! ? ! ? And my beard is even worse ! I look like some kind of a G** D*** U.S. Marine Corps retiree ... with stubble ! ! ! I haven't had this bad a haircut in 40 years ... since I let my father cut my hair when I was 14 years old ! ! ! I won't need another haircut until next April. My normal hair length is over the ears and collar. This barber lathered and shaved with a straight razor over and behind my ears, and above the collar, leaving a white, untanned strip of skin that hasn't seen the light of day in 40 years. Joanne thinks I will get sunburned on the tops of my ears and above my collar until my hair grows back. He finished up by trimming my eyebrows down to stubble. Sure got my four bucks' worth ! ! ! He slathered some kind of grease into my hair, then brushed it straight back. It hardened like some kind of helmet on my head, leaving me looking like some kind of greaseball drug dealer from the Sopranos.
We had a nice lunch in Red Snapper, a Mexican seafood restaurant. I had tres tacos pescados y uno cerveza Sol ( 3 fish tacos and a Sol beer ). Joanne had a chimichanga. We bought some Nugs and Nugs Crujientes. They were out of Coconugs. Joanne bought a bottle of tequila con sabor de cajeta ... goat's milk caramel flavoured tequila. She found it while looking for chocolate flavoured tequila like we bought in the Baja last winter. Well ... you've got to give her credit for having eclectic tastes ! I bought two cartons of cigarettes at what appeared to be the "duty free" store just before the border. At the border we were required to pay a Texas state tax on the cigarettes that brought the price up to normal retail Texas prices. And the "duty free" shop gave me the wrong cigarettes ! ! ! So I now have two cartons of cigarettes that I don't like, for regular retail price !
Back in the U.S. we drove west to Hidalgo and bought $1000 worth of pesos at a cambio ( money exchange business ) at a better exchange rate than in Mexico, the best of many exchange rates we've found. Back at Kenwood RV Resort we went to the pool and hot tub for awhile before supper. After supper I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday.
Tuesday ; Happy Anniversary, Bo. Today is the fourth anniversary of us rescuing Bo at RainBOw Plantation in southern Alabama. When I did an obedience session with him this morning I couldn't help thinking what a well behaved / trained dog he is compared to the unruly terror he was when we got him. The result of an awful lot of hard work for both me and him. Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the afternoon of 90 degrees. I started playing Christmas carols this morning. This is our fifth Christmas season as full time RV'ers in the South, and I still find it a bit difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when it's sunny and hot most of the time.
We have previously seen a Peregrine Falcon flying around this RV park, perching in a particular tree a few sites over from us. This morning there were feathers blowing around under that tree. When I looked up into the tree, there was the Peregrine Falcon, happily eating a dove it had caught.
I fussed around a bit more with the auto body repair on the upper section of the rear dually hip. As imperfect as it is, I'm finally satisfied that I've gotten it as good as I can. The neighbours are making fun of my haircut. Deservedly so ! Today we discarded Teddy's old nylon pet tent which has an odour of dog urine, and put him in his new pet tent, which we actually purchased two years ago in Winnipeg. He doesn't like it ! ! ! Teddy is, and always has been, very resistant to change.
After lunch we went to the Amigos de los Niños de Mexico final planning meeting in Weslaco before the big Fiesta de Navidad on Christmas morning in Nuevo Progreso. From there we went to H-E-B in Mercedes to replenish groceries. And, of course ... the panaderia across the street to replenish pan dulce. Mucho pan dulce ! HA HA HA ! It was so hot that we stopped at Stripes for a chocolate sundae for Joanne and a banana split for me. Back home at Kenwood RV Resort we met and chatted with our new next door neighbour, a man from Arkansas. He has a wife, but in the couple of days that they have been our neighbours we haven't seen her come out of the trailer yet. He made a cryptic comment about "she doesn't do anything". We went to the pool and hot tub before having a late supper.
Congratulations to our WorkCamper / Escapee friend Julie in Pennsylvania, on getting ( from a rescue organization ... Bravo ! ) her new dog, a Chinese Crested ( goofy looking breed ! ... HA HA HA ) she has named Triscuit.
Wednesday ; Today was cold and windy. There is a frost warning tonight, which is a big deal here. WOW ... that's a temperature change of 60 degrees in 30 hours ! "I felt quite ill today, with a sudden and severe flare-up of colitis." While that is true, ironically it's copied from my journal entry of one year ago. I spent most of the day in bed, feeling ill, reading and napping. We did some Christmas events planning. There are many interesting Christmas events upcoming in the Rio Grande Valley.
DSK
Thursday ; Today started out cool and windy, ending up sunny and warm. This morning Joanne went with Gil and Maria to sort and count Amigos de los Niños de Mexico toys at the rented storage locker. I spent the morning working on auto body repair on the truck's rear bumper and dually hip. I finished repairing the damage on the corner of the bumper. I finished repairing the damage on the lower part of the hip. I'm not yet finished repairing the damage on the upper part of the hip.
After lunch I read and napped. We went into La Feria and I bought some auto body repair supplies at Auto Zone. We bought some pan dulce at one of the two panaderias in La Feria. Joanne wanted to see what was north of La Feria, and Bo wanted to "go drivey", so we drove north on FM 506 to the village of Santa Rosa. We found diesel there at a great price so I refilled. Back home at Kenwood RV Resort I spent a frustrating period with the Yellow Pages trying to contact local bank branches to obtain peso purchase exchange rates. There are many local bank branches, and they all have local telephone numbers, but inevitably when I would phone them, I would either end up in endless voice mail loops, or be connected to call centres in New York or Arizona ( fume ). I gave up ! We took Bo for a walk, hoping that would work off my frustration. We went to the pool and hot tub. We chatted with our new neighbours from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Friday ; Today was cloudy, cool, windy, and raining. We had planned to go to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico today, but cancelled because of the weather. Around noon Gil came over to inform us that they have decided not to go to Mexico with us in January and February.
We spent a lazy day, reading, napping, drinking tea, eating pan dulce ... HA HA HA !
Saturday ; Today started out cloudy and mild, but by noon the sky had cleared and it became sunny and warm. I spent most of the afternoon working on repairing the damage on the upper part of the dually hip. I got it as good as I'm going to, I guess. My amateur auto body repair results are less than perfect, but ... life goes on ! ! ! I guess at 3½ years of age Lanoire has earned the right to exhibit a bit of "road rash". I repaired our broken step stool, and reattached a corner of the truck bed rail protector ... again ! This time I used an expensive auto body moulding double sided tape.
As the sun set I visited with neighbours for awhile, then went to the swimming pool while Joanne prepared supper. She didn't want to ruin her freshly applied nail polish in the pool and hot tub.
Sunday ; Today was sunny, warm, and humid. This morning while I was outside puttering and fussing with my auto body repair work Maria bicycled by on her way to the laundromat. After not speaking to me for five days she decided to stop and ... speak her mind !
After lunch Kevin and Sandy arrived for our planned outing to Pepe's On The River, a large, indoor/outdoor, honky-tonk style bar on the banks of the Rio Grande, south of Mission. On the way there we stopped at Camping World to buy some RV supplies. At Pepe's we sat outside on a patio beside the river, sharing a pitcher of beer, watching boats on the river, and Border Patrol helicopters overhead. As we were leaving we briefly visited an old Spanish mission chapel nearby.
We were previously unable to come to an agreement with Kevin and Sandy about travelling into Mexico together. We wanted to go into Mexico at the beginning of January. They wanted to go at the beginning of February. When they found out today that Gil and Maria have changed their minds about travelling into Mexico with us, Kevin suggested a compromise. They would prefer to travel in Mexico with a travelling companion couple. So would we. Kevin suggested that we travel together, starting in mid-January. Joanne and I are considering their offer, and are inclined to accept.
After leaving Pepe's we headed to Fat Daddy's, a barbecue restaurant, for supper. It was difficult to find, and when we finally found it, it was closed on Sundays ( sigh ). Plan B was to drive to La Feria, to another barbecue restaurant, J.C. Stuffgut. When we got there, it also was closed on Sundays ( bigger sigh ). We gave up. Kevin and Sandy dropped us off at Kenwood RV Resort, and they left to return to their RV park in Brownsville. Joanne and I went to Kenwood's regular Sunday evening ice cream social, then had supper in the trailer while watching the season finale of Amazing Race.
I have just finished reading my journal for this date last year. I commented on watching fighter jets from MCAS in Yuma flying circuits, making each turn in the circuit by banking at ninety degrees, and suggesting facetiously that I should try that in a Cessna. Well, as those of you who followed the progress of my Mountain Performance Flying Course last summer know ... I now can bank a Cessna ninety degrees. HA HA HA ! Late in the evening, just before bedtime, I went to the pool and hot tub. AHHHHH ... very relaxing.
Monday ; Today was partially cloudy, very warm, humid, and a bit windy. This morning while I was doing preventive maintenance outside, John and Eve came by and invited me to the Kenwood RV Resort Homeowner's Association meeting, mostly because of the free coffee and doughnuts. MMMMM ... good doughnuts ! HA HA HA ! After the meeting, Joanne wanted to go to Nuevo Progreso to do some Christmas shopping, buy some pet medications, and buy pesos.
On the way to Mexico we stopped at Wal-Mart in Weslaco to cash $1000 of traveller's cheques at their in-store bank, to buy pesos either in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico or Hidalgo, Texas, where we saw a good exchange rate yesterday. What a "loser" trip into Mexico today ! First stop was a veterinary pharmacy where we bought some pet medications, including some antibiotic ear drops for Teddy, who has an ear infection of some sort. If these drops don't clear it up in a week, we'll take him to a local veterinarian. Next I went to Estetica Modelo for a haircut. J**** F****** H. C***** ! ! ! I look some kind of a G** D*** U.S. Marine Corps retiree. I tried to tell the barber I wanted one inch trimmed off my hair. He took that to mean that I wanted my hair to be one inch long. Why would he think that someone who walked in with hair that was at least six inches long would want to walk out with an inch of hair ? ! ? ! ? And my beard is even worse ! I look like some kind of a G** D*** U.S. Marine Corps retiree ... with stubble ! ! ! I haven't had this bad a haircut in 40 years ... since I let my father cut my hair when I was 14 years old ! ! ! I won't need another haircut until next April. My normal hair length is over the ears and collar. This barber lathered and shaved with a straight razor over and behind my ears, and above the collar, leaving a white, untanned strip of skin that hasn't seen the light of day in 40 years. Joanne thinks I will get sunburned on the tops of my ears and above my collar until my hair grows back. He finished up by trimming my eyebrows down to stubble. Sure got my four bucks' worth ! ! ! He slathered some kind of grease into my hair, then brushed it straight back. It hardened like some kind of helmet on my head, leaving me looking like some kind of greaseball drug dealer from the Sopranos.
We had a nice lunch in Red Snapper, a Mexican seafood restaurant. I had tres tacos pescados y uno cerveza Sol ( 3 fish tacos and a Sol beer ). Joanne had a chimichanga. We bought some Nugs and Nugs Crujientes. They were out of Coconugs. Joanne bought a bottle of tequila con sabor de cajeta ... goat's milk caramel flavoured tequila. She found it while looking for chocolate flavoured tequila like we bought in the Baja last winter. Well ... you've got to give her credit for having eclectic tastes ! I bought two cartons of cigarettes at what appeared to be the "duty free" store just before the border. At the border we were required to pay a Texas state tax on the cigarettes that brought the price up to normal retail Texas prices. And the "duty free" shop gave me the wrong cigarettes ! ! ! So I now have two cartons of cigarettes that I don't like, for regular retail price !
Back in the U.S. we drove west to Hidalgo and bought $1000 worth of pesos at a cambio ( money exchange business ) at a better exchange rate than in Mexico, the best of many exchange rates we've found. Back at Kenwood RV Resort we went to the pool and hot tub for awhile before supper. After supper I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday.
Tuesday ; Happy Anniversary, Bo. Today is the fourth anniversary of us rescuing Bo at RainBOw Plantation in southern Alabama. When I did an obedience session with him this morning I couldn't help thinking what a well behaved / trained dog he is compared to the unruly terror he was when we got him. The result of an awful lot of hard work for both me and him. Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the afternoon of 90 degrees. I started playing Christmas carols this morning. This is our fifth Christmas season as full time RV'ers in the South, and I still find it a bit difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when it's sunny and hot most of the time.
We have previously seen a Peregrine Falcon flying around this RV park, perching in a particular tree a few sites over from us. This morning there were feathers blowing around under that tree. When I looked up into the tree, there was the Peregrine Falcon, happily eating a dove it had caught.
I fussed around a bit more with the auto body repair on the upper section of the rear dually hip. As imperfect as it is, I'm finally satisfied that I've gotten it as good as I can. The neighbours are making fun of my haircut. Deservedly so ! Today we discarded Teddy's old nylon pet tent which has an odour of dog urine, and put him in his new pet tent, which we actually purchased two years ago in Winnipeg. He doesn't like it ! ! ! Teddy is, and always has been, very resistant to change.
After lunch we went to the Amigos de los Niños de Mexico final planning meeting in Weslaco before the big Fiesta de Navidad on Christmas morning in Nuevo Progreso. From there we went to H-E-B in Mercedes to replenish groceries. And, of course ... the panaderia across the street to replenish pan dulce. Mucho pan dulce ! HA HA HA ! It was so hot that we stopped at Stripes for a chocolate sundae for Joanne and a banana split for me. Back home at Kenwood RV Resort we met and chatted with our new next door neighbour, a man from Arkansas. He has a wife, but in the couple of days that they have been our neighbours we haven't seen her come out of the trailer yet. He made a cryptic comment about "she doesn't do anything". We went to the pool and hot tub before having a late supper.
Congratulations to our WorkCamper / Escapee friend Julie in Pennsylvania, on getting ( from a rescue organization ... Bravo ! ) her new dog, a Chinese Crested ( goofy looking breed ! ... HA HA HA ) she has named Triscuit.
Wednesday ; Today was cold and windy. There is a frost warning tonight, which is a big deal here. WOW ... that's a temperature change of 60 degrees in 30 hours ! "I felt quite ill today, with a sudden and severe flare-up of colitis." While that is true, ironically it's copied from my journal entry of one year ago. I spent most of the day in bed, feeling ill, reading and napping. We did some Christmas events planning. There are many interesting Christmas events upcoming in the Rio Grande Valley.
DSK
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ReplyDeleteJust my 2 cents.