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November 27 to December 3, 2008 ; La Feria, Texas
Thursday ; Happy ( American ) Thanksgiving
Today was sunny and hot, with a gentle cool breeze. At noon we went to Kenwood RV Resort's communal Thanksgiving dinner. Kenwood supplied the cooked turkeys, and the residents all contributed salads, side dishes, and desserts, potluck style. There was a large crowd, probably a couple of hundred people. There's not that many residents in this park, so many of the residents must have had guests. Adult middle aged children, and young grandchildren were obvious, so I guess there's a lot of "let's go visit Grandma and Grandpa on Thanksgiving". We sat with John and Eve, our new friends from Cornwall, Ontario, and Gil and Maria. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. But ... at 1:05 P.M. us six Canadians were the only people left in the recreation hall. I do not understand the American "eat and run" mentality.
I spent the afternoon working on the damage on the truck. I used the power buffer that Joanne uses to wax the trailer, and a polishing compound, attempting to buff out as much of the damage as possible. Well ... it's better ... but ! I was able to make the scuff marks on the dually hip pretty much disappear, but there are some deeper scratches on both the hip and the corner of the bumper that will require repainting. Late in the afternoon we had a short off leash play session with Bo and Buppy, then sat around with Gil, Maria, John, and Eve having an afternoon "social hour". As the sun set Joanne and I went to the swimming pool.
We watched Survivor then had a late, light supper.
Friday ; Today we remember Toby the cat, who died 4 years ago, while we were WorkCamping at Trout Lodge up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. We miss you, my little friend. Today was cloudy, warm, and humid. This morning I went to Auto Zone to buy Joanne's Christmas gift to me. HA HA HA ! I did more work on repairing the damage to the truck's dually hip and bumper. I used a coloured "chip stick" and a coloured wax I bought at Auto Zone. They improved things, but painting will still be necessary. Today Gil's bicycle got put out at the front of their site with a "for sale" sign on it. After his accident of a few weeks ago, Gil has decided that his bicycling days are over.
After lunch Joanne and Maria went to Kenwood RV Resort's weekly Friday afternoon music jam session. I napped, then joined them for the last 45 minutes of the session. Even that exceeded my capacity for endurance of old women singing country and western songs off key. There were many guitars, a banjo, a ukulele, an accordion, a dulcimer, and an African instrument called a marimbula. And a bunch of old women without instruments who considered themselves singers ! To give credit where it’s due, I suppose I should be grateful that my wife is aging reasonably gracefully ! And as she approaches her “golden years”, doesn’t suddenly declare herself to be a country and western singer ! HA HA HA ! We spent the rest of the afternoon having "social hour" with John, Eve, Gil, and Maria. At sunset we headed for the swimming pool. This morning I had masked the tailgate and rear fender of the truck, to prepare for spray painting the damaged corner of the bumper. Then I waited all day for the wind to stop so that I could paint. It never did. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow.
Today was "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States. Most retailers opened in the middle of the night, between 3:00 A.M. and 5:00 A.M.. Tonight's news reported on today's Black Friday highlights. A Wal-Mart employee in Long Island, New York trampled to death when the customers waiting for the doors to open busted down the doors and rushed into the store ... and 2 fatalities at a shoot out at a Toys R Us store in Palm Springs, California. ( sigh ) Merry Christmas and God Bless America ! ! !
Saturday ; Today was cloudy and warm. I did some Internet research last night on chiggers. The burrowing worm in Teddy's abdomen was not a chigger. I wasn't able to determine what it was. And I don't know if it was an external parasite burrowing into his flesh, or an internal parasite burrowing its way out ! Joanne thinks we should deworm Teddy and Bo, just as a preventive measure. Okay ! AH, geeeeezzzzz ... as I'm typing this, Joanne has Teddy upside down on her lap, examining him. She's just found another one ! EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW !
In addition to pulling another worm out of Teddy's abdomen ( shudder ), I painted the damaged corner of the truck's bumper. Well ... it's not as perfect as a professional body shop's work, but good enough under the circumstances, I guess. Next I'll try to paint over a couple of deep scratches on the hip, maybe tomorrow. I remounted the shower head mounting bracket which came off the wall of the shower stall. ( mumble & grumble ) Because Joanne hangs her wet bathing suit, with its heavy prosthesis in it, on the shower head. And I repaired one of our folding lawn chairs.
After lunch we took Bo for a long walk down the road behind Kenwood until we reached a sugar cane field. Bo enjoyed barking at some goats in a yard. I read. I napped. We visited with Gil and Maria. When Gil and Maria went to church, we went to the swimming pool. Chaqu'un à son goût.
After some more research, I now suspect that the two maggots that we pulled out of Teddy's abdomen were likely botfly larvae. Botfly eggs get into a host's body either by ingestion ( like eating grass ... like Teddy did when he escaped recently ... on which a botfly has dropped eggs ) or by a mosquito bite. The warmth of the host's body allows the eggs to hatch, then they burrow through the intestine and out to the skin, where they live just under the skin. A little breathing tube sticks out of the skin, and the rest of the larva lives under, and eats the flesh of the host. Do a Google search on botfly larvae to see some pretty gruesome videos !
Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm, a very lovely day. This morning we headed out with Gil and Maria in their toad to visit Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped at Auto Zone and Family Dollar in La Feria to buy some truck repair supplies, then headed south on Hwy. FM 506 and west on Military Hwy. 281 following the Rio Grande River / Mexican border to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. While driving on Military Hwy. 281 Gil experienced his first taste of "Mexican passing". HA HA HA ... first time is kind of shocking, isn't it, Gil ?
At Santa Ana National Wildlife refuge we briefly did some bird watching, and saw some Green Jays, one of the more spectacular birds seen here in the Rio Grande Valley. We went on a 1½ hour guided tram tour around the refuge's seven mile park road, stopping a couple of times to visit an old cemetery and to take a short hike to the Rio Grande River. Swimming across the river from Mexico to the National Wildlife Refuge is one of the more popular "wetback" crossings locations. We saw a pack of Javelinas, and a Texas Indigo Snake. Once back at the Visitor Centre we ate our picnic lunches. In violation of federal regulations, I picked a couple of tiny, wild chili pequin ( pronounced "pay keen" ) and gave to them to Maria to use in cooking. They are the "hottest" of the chili peppers, "hotter" than jalapeños and habañeros. And it's easy to underestimate them, because they are tiny, smaller than a pea.
From there we drove to the village of San Juan to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle National Shrine, a church Maria wanted to visit. We wandered around the outside and inside of the beautiful basilica, then wandered across the grounds to see the "old church", which was rebuilt after a small plane pilot intentionally crashed into it in 1970.
Back home at Kenwood RV Resort I did some more work on repairing the damage on the truck's bumper, spray painting it with clear coat, hoping that would increase the gloss / shine of the black spray painting I did yesterday. I'm not sure that it did. I won't know for a few more days, until after it dries for 2 days and then I use polishing compound on it. The painting that I did yesterday is not quite as glossy / shiny as the original factory paint. We went to the swimming pool, then the Sunday ice cream social, before having dinner and watching Amazing Race.
Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. Well, Buppy has fleas again ( still ? ) ! Gil and Maria continue to resist my recommendations to purchase good quality flea control products, relying instead on their "old wives' tale" approach to flea eradication. Obviously ( to me, at least ) it's not working ! Since Bo suffers from flea bite dermatitis, an allergic reaction to flea bites, I feel that there is no choice but to keep Bo away from Buppy.
This morning I puttered around with minor maintenance chores, including disinfecting the fresh water holding tank. This afternoon we went to Harlingen to do some shopping. Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, then H-E-B. Back at home we sat around for awhile having "afternoon social hour" with Gil, Maria, John, and Eve. In the evening I downloaded and processed my photos from Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, then worked on investment updates.
Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning I removed the step assembly off the trailer, to take it for welding repair tomorrow. I discovered that Buppy has been urinating on Teddy's nylon tent and Bo's pet carrier which he uses as a bedroom in the back seat of the truck while we're travelling. Both were stored outside under the side of the trailer. We were able to clean the hard sided pet carrier, but cannot get the urine odour out of Teddy's nylon tent. Teddy is not pleased about the odour. I guess we'll have to discard the tent and get another. I brought the problem to Maria's attention but she seemed ... skeptical that Buppy was the cause ( despite having previously witnessed it ) ... and perplexed about how to solve the problem.
Getting in and out of the trailer without the steps attached, using a step stool, was difficult. In the afternoon Joanne did laundry. I read and napped. We took Bo for a walk. Gil advised us that their solution to the problem was to relocate. They are going to move to another site in the park. We don't think that's the most effective or practical solution, or one that's particularly necessary, but ... ! I spent some time having "social hour" with John and Eve, then Joanne and I went to the swimming pool before supper.
Wednesday ; Today was sunny, warm, humid, and windy. This morning Joanne went to the first yoga class of the season here at Kenwood RV Resort. I noticed that Gil was moving to another site, without help. Maria had also gone to the yoga class. He was trying to squeeze their 37 foot class A motorhome into a tight spot, impossible to do without help. I went over and helped him. I was hoping that my gesture would be perceived as an "olive branch". By Gil it seemed to be.
I drove Joanne to the WesDon Farmer's Market, dropped her off there, then went to a nearby welding shop to have the trailer steps assembly repaired. When the welding repair was done, I drove back to the farmer's market and picked up Joanne. We drove to Ron Hoover RV and I picked up the RV part I had special ordered a couple of weeks ago. From there we went to H-E-B in Weslaco and did some grocery shopping. I bought some Mexican wedding cookies, which we've never had before.
Back at home, after lunch I painted the weld repaired area of the steps assembly, then reinstalled it. Tough job ! Aren't they all ? ! Joanne prepared a dish for tonight's pot luck dinner. While climbing in and out of the bed of the truck, to get some tools to fix Joanne's broken watch strap, I fell off the tailgate. Ouch ( grumble ) !
We went to the potluck dinner. As always, it was good. I never met a potluck I didn't like. HA HA HA ! Although 5:00 P.M. is about three hours too early for a big supper, from my perspective. But ... these old folks sure do love their "early bird" suppers. After supper Eve and John invited us over for some Mexican Tres Leches cake they had bought today. Tres Leches ( pronounced "tress lechays" ) means three milks. It's made with regular milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. It's a very, very creamy cake. Late in the evening we went to the pool and hot tub. Oh, boy ... the hot tub was functional again after being out of service for about a week.
DSK
Thursday ; Happy ( American ) Thanksgiving
Today was sunny and hot, with a gentle cool breeze. At noon we went to Kenwood RV Resort's communal Thanksgiving dinner. Kenwood supplied the cooked turkeys, and the residents all contributed salads, side dishes, and desserts, potluck style. There was a large crowd, probably a couple of hundred people. There's not that many residents in this park, so many of the residents must have had guests. Adult middle aged children, and young grandchildren were obvious, so I guess there's a lot of "let's go visit Grandma and Grandpa on Thanksgiving". We sat with John and Eve, our new friends from Cornwall, Ontario, and Gil and Maria. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. But ... at 1:05 P.M. us six Canadians were the only people left in the recreation hall. I do not understand the American "eat and run" mentality.
I spent the afternoon working on the damage on the truck. I used the power buffer that Joanne uses to wax the trailer, and a polishing compound, attempting to buff out as much of the damage as possible. Well ... it's better ... but ! I was able to make the scuff marks on the dually hip pretty much disappear, but there are some deeper scratches on both the hip and the corner of the bumper that will require repainting. Late in the afternoon we had a short off leash play session with Bo and Buppy, then sat around with Gil, Maria, John, and Eve having an afternoon "social hour". As the sun set Joanne and I went to the swimming pool.
We watched Survivor then had a late, light supper.
Friday ; Today we remember Toby the cat, who died 4 years ago, while we were WorkCamping at Trout Lodge up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. We miss you, my little friend. Today was cloudy, warm, and humid. This morning I went to Auto Zone to buy Joanne's Christmas gift to me. HA HA HA ! I did more work on repairing the damage to the truck's dually hip and bumper. I used a coloured "chip stick" and a coloured wax I bought at Auto Zone. They improved things, but painting will still be necessary. Today Gil's bicycle got put out at the front of their site with a "for sale" sign on it. After his accident of a few weeks ago, Gil has decided that his bicycling days are over.
After lunch Joanne and Maria went to Kenwood RV Resort's weekly Friday afternoon music jam session. I napped, then joined them for the last 45 minutes of the session. Even that exceeded my capacity for endurance of old women singing country and western songs off key. There were many guitars, a banjo, a ukulele, an accordion, a dulcimer, and an African instrument called a marimbula. And a bunch of old women without instruments who considered themselves singers ! To give credit where it’s due, I suppose I should be grateful that my wife is aging reasonably gracefully ! And as she approaches her “golden years”, doesn’t suddenly declare herself to be a country and western singer ! HA HA HA ! We spent the rest of the afternoon having "social hour" with John, Eve, Gil, and Maria. At sunset we headed for the swimming pool. This morning I had masked the tailgate and rear fender of the truck, to prepare for spray painting the damaged corner of the bumper. Then I waited all day for the wind to stop so that I could paint. It never did. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow.
Today was "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States. Most retailers opened in the middle of the night, between 3:00 A.M. and 5:00 A.M.. Tonight's news reported on today's Black Friday highlights. A Wal-Mart employee in Long Island, New York trampled to death when the customers waiting for the doors to open busted down the doors and rushed into the store ... and 2 fatalities at a shoot out at a Toys R Us store in Palm Springs, California. ( sigh ) Merry Christmas and God Bless America ! ! !
Saturday ; Today was cloudy and warm. I did some Internet research last night on chiggers. The burrowing worm in Teddy's abdomen was not a chigger. I wasn't able to determine what it was. And I don't know if it was an external parasite burrowing into his flesh, or an internal parasite burrowing its way out ! Joanne thinks we should deworm Teddy and Bo, just as a preventive measure. Okay ! AH, geeeeezzzzz ... as I'm typing this, Joanne has Teddy upside down on her lap, examining him. She's just found another one ! EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW !
In addition to pulling another worm out of Teddy's abdomen ( shudder ), I painted the damaged corner of the truck's bumper. Well ... it's not as perfect as a professional body shop's work, but good enough under the circumstances, I guess. Next I'll try to paint over a couple of deep scratches on the hip, maybe tomorrow. I remounted the shower head mounting bracket which came off the wall of the shower stall. ( mumble & grumble ) Because Joanne hangs her wet bathing suit, with its heavy prosthesis in it, on the shower head. And I repaired one of our folding lawn chairs.
After lunch we took Bo for a long walk down the road behind Kenwood until we reached a sugar cane field. Bo enjoyed barking at some goats in a yard. I read. I napped. We visited with Gil and Maria. When Gil and Maria went to church, we went to the swimming pool. Chaqu'un à son goût.
After some more research, I now suspect that the two maggots that we pulled out of Teddy's abdomen were likely botfly larvae. Botfly eggs get into a host's body either by ingestion ( like eating grass ... like Teddy did when he escaped recently ... on which a botfly has dropped eggs ) or by a mosquito bite. The warmth of the host's body allows the eggs to hatch, then they burrow through the intestine and out to the skin, where they live just under the skin. A little breathing tube sticks out of the skin, and the rest of the larva lives under, and eats the flesh of the host. Do a Google search on botfly larvae to see some pretty gruesome videos !
Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm, a very lovely day. This morning we headed out with Gil and Maria in their toad to visit Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped at Auto Zone and Family Dollar in La Feria to buy some truck repair supplies, then headed south on Hwy. FM 506 and west on Military Hwy. 281 following the Rio Grande River / Mexican border to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. While driving on Military Hwy. 281 Gil experienced his first taste of "Mexican passing". HA HA HA ... first time is kind of shocking, isn't it, Gil ?
At Santa Ana National Wildlife refuge we briefly did some bird watching, and saw some Green Jays, one of the more spectacular birds seen here in the Rio Grande Valley. We went on a 1½ hour guided tram tour around the refuge's seven mile park road, stopping a couple of times to visit an old cemetery and to take a short hike to the Rio Grande River. Swimming across the river from Mexico to the National Wildlife Refuge is one of the more popular "wetback" crossings locations. We saw a pack of Javelinas, and a Texas Indigo Snake. Once back at the Visitor Centre we ate our picnic lunches. In violation of federal regulations, I picked a couple of tiny, wild chili pequin ( pronounced "pay keen" ) and gave to them to Maria to use in cooking. They are the "hottest" of the chili peppers, "hotter" than jalapeños and habañeros. And it's easy to underestimate them, because they are tiny, smaller than a pea.
From there we drove to the village of San Juan to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle National Shrine, a church Maria wanted to visit. We wandered around the outside and inside of the beautiful basilica, then wandered across the grounds to see the "old church", which was rebuilt after a small plane pilot intentionally crashed into it in 1970.
Back home at Kenwood RV Resort I did some more work on repairing the damage on the truck's bumper, spray painting it with clear coat, hoping that would increase the gloss / shine of the black spray painting I did yesterday. I'm not sure that it did. I won't know for a few more days, until after it dries for 2 days and then I use polishing compound on it. The painting that I did yesterday is not quite as glossy / shiny as the original factory paint. We went to the swimming pool, then the Sunday ice cream social, before having dinner and watching Amazing Race.
Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. Well, Buppy has fleas again ( still ? ) ! Gil and Maria continue to resist my recommendations to purchase good quality flea control products, relying instead on their "old wives' tale" approach to flea eradication. Obviously ( to me, at least ) it's not working ! Since Bo suffers from flea bite dermatitis, an allergic reaction to flea bites, I feel that there is no choice but to keep Bo away from Buppy.
This morning I puttered around with minor maintenance chores, including disinfecting the fresh water holding tank. This afternoon we went to Harlingen to do some shopping. Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, then H-E-B. Back at home we sat around for awhile having "afternoon social hour" with Gil, Maria, John, and Eve. In the evening I downloaded and processed my photos from Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, then worked on investment updates.
Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning I removed the step assembly off the trailer, to take it for welding repair tomorrow. I discovered that Buppy has been urinating on Teddy's nylon tent and Bo's pet carrier which he uses as a bedroom in the back seat of the truck while we're travelling. Both were stored outside under the side of the trailer. We were able to clean the hard sided pet carrier, but cannot get the urine odour out of Teddy's nylon tent. Teddy is not pleased about the odour. I guess we'll have to discard the tent and get another. I brought the problem to Maria's attention but she seemed ... skeptical that Buppy was the cause ( despite having previously witnessed it ) ... and perplexed about how to solve the problem.
Getting in and out of the trailer without the steps attached, using a step stool, was difficult. In the afternoon Joanne did laundry. I read and napped. We took Bo for a walk. Gil advised us that their solution to the problem was to relocate. They are going to move to another site in the park. We don't think that's the most effective or practical solution, or one that's particularly necessary, but ... ! I spent some time having "social hour" with John and Eve, then Joanne and I went to the swimming pool before supper.
Wednesday ; Today was sunny, warm, humid, and windy. This morning Joanne went to the first yoga class of the season here at Kenwood RV Resort. I noticed that Gil was moving to another site, without help. Maria had also gone to the yoga class. He was trying to squeeze their 37 foot class A motorhome into a tight spot, impossible to do without help. I went over and helped him. I was hoping that my gesture would be perceived as an "olive branch". By Gil it seemed to be.
I drove Joanne to the WesDon Farmer's Market, dropped her off there, then went to a nearby welding shop to have the trailer steps assembly repaired. When the welding repair was done, I drove back to the farmer's market and picked up Joanne. We drove to Ron Hoover RV and I picked up the RV part I had special ordered a couple of weeks ago. From there we went to H-E-B in Weslaco and did some grocery shopping. I bought some Mexican wedding cookies, which we've never had before.
Back at home, after lunch I painted the weld repaired area of the steps assembly, then reinstalled it. Tough job ! Aren't they all ? ! Joanne prepared a dish for tonight's pot luck dinner. While climbing in and out of the bed of the truck, to get some tools to fix Joanne's broken watch strap, I fell off the tailgate. Ouch ( grumble ) !
We went to the potluck dinner. As always, it was good. I never met a potluck I didn't like. HA HA HA ! Although 5:00 P.M. is about three hours too early for a big supper, from my perspective. But ... these old folks sure do love their "early bird" suppers. After supper Eve and John invited us over for some Mexican Tres Leches cake they had bought today. Tres Leches ( pronounced "tress lechays" ) means three milks. It's made with regular milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. It's a very, very creamy cake. Late in the evening we went to the pool and hot tub. Oh, boy ... the hot tub was functional again after being out of service for about a week.
DSK
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