December 25 to 31, 2008

December 25 to 31, 2008 ; La Feria

Christmas Day ; Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel / Feliz Navidad to our families and friends who read my blog

Today was a sunny, hot, humid day that started out foggy this morning. We got up early and headed through the fog for the Amigos de los Niños de Mexico Fiesta de Navidad in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. Once across the border Joanne headed for Ford School, and I remained at the border to join the Amigos parade from the border to the school as a juggler. Ford School covers one square block of Nuevo Progreso, and the Fiesta de Navidad took place inside the school yard. Joanne worked inside the school yard as a Mother's Assistant, and I worked outside the school yard, performing magic for the 4 block long line up of children.

This is the first time we have been involved in a Christmas Day act of charity. It was ... well, there are many words to describe it. Personally rewarding. Chaotic. Fun. Tiring. The Amigos organization was prepared for 3000 children this year. There were more than that. We ran out of stuff before we ran out of children. Each child got ... a hot dog ( Mexican style, a cooked wiener wrapped in a tortilla ), a soft drink, a bag of peanuts, a bag of candy, a bag of potato chips, a pound of rice, a pound of beans, a couple of toys from Santa Claus, a box of animal crackers, an apple, a banana, an orange, a chocolate bar, a cupcake, a scribbler, a pencil, ... WHEW ! Each child got to visit Santa, albeit extremely briefly ! Just a handshake and a "Feliz Navidad" from Santa. Each child got to participate in a group smashing open piñatas filled with candies. It took about 3½ hours to get them all through. Which was just about right, based on the allocation of four seconds per child. SHEESH !

At one point Joanne was helping out a mother with many children by holding two year old Roberto’s hand as they progressed through the line. Joanne and Roberto “zigged” while the mother and the rest of the children “zagged”. All of a sudden Joanne found herself “lost” with this two year old Mexican niño. She had a moment of anxiety, but not Roberto. He was quite content to be “lost” with this foreign language speaking old gringo woman. HA HA HA ! If nothing else, today certainly served to expand Joanne's Spanish vocabulary.

After it was all over, we walked back to the border, crossed back into the U.S., and headed home. We stopped at a Burger King across the street from Kenwood RV Resort. We parked in their parking lot, and using their Wi-Fi signal, used our Wi-Fi phone to phone our sisters, and wish a Merry Christmas to our families. We had a very late lunch of leftover tourtiére. Joanne got the turkey ready and into the oven. She wrapped and cooked the bag of turkey innards that normally she would just discard. The neck, gizzards, organs, etc. were for the dumpster kittens. I took a nap, then took Bo for an obedience session. Well done, Bo. Time to open gifts !

Attending Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco was our Christmas gift to ourselves. My gift to myself was 24 new lug nuts for the trailer. HA HA HA ! And the fancy torque wrench to install them. Joanne's gift to herself was some Avon cosmetics. Teddy got his 12 volt heater "blankie", which he's already been using, and a box of Cat Sip lactose removed milk. Bo got a nylon tunnel for his agility course back home, and a wrapped Greenie. Teddy doesn't appreciate wrapped gifts, so his Cat Sip was in his stocking unwrapped. Bo LOOOOOVES unwrapping gifts, so his Greenie was in his stocking, wrapped. We gave it to him, he dashed into the bedroom, tore off one end of the wrapping, and began to eat it. We had a huge wrestling match trying to get the mostly wrapped Greenie out of his mouth to remove the rest of the wrapping. He was eager to eat the Greenie and wrapping. HA HA HA ! Ya gotta love his enthusiasm !

We sat outside, me wearing shorts and no shirt, reading, enjoying the fine weather. Dreaming of a white Christmas ? **** that ! ! ! HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ! At sunset we headed for the pool and hot tub, part of our "new" Christmas traditions. The turkey dinner was wonderful, just the two of us. We shared a bottle of Crushed Innocence, a peach ice wine from Forbidden Fruit, our favourite winery back home in the Similkameen Valley.

After supper while Joanne cleaned up, I fed Teddy and Bo each a bowl of turkey meat and gravy. They were very pleased ! I took a plate of turkey over to the dumpster to feed the kittens. The little black one was not there. The grey one wouldn't come closer than two feet from me to get turkey. And ... uhhhhh ... I overestimated how much turkey little kittens can eat. I guess they'll have some leftovers, just like us.

Joanne asked me for a box of chocolates as a Christmas gift. I wrapped and hid boxes of chocolates for her to find throughout the day, from morning to night. So far ( 9:00 P.M. ) she has found six. HA HA HA ! She'll find the seventh at bedtime. And the eighth tomorrow morning. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ! Merry Christmas, my love.

Friday ; Today was partially sunny, hot, and humid ... again. Bo was a bit ill during the night, obviously suffering from an upset stomach from having eaten a bit too much turkey and gravy. Sorry, Bo ... my fault. The problem was confirmed this morning when he went on his morning "bathroom" walk. YIKES !

We started today with a breakfast of Belgian waffles smothered in jam and ice cream, my family's traditional Christmas morning breakfast, delayed one day. Usually the ice cream would be vanilla, but today it was cajeta. HMMMMM ... interesting change ! By the way, only I ate my waffles this way. Joanne put maple syrup on hers. She ... and my sister's husband ... think jam and ice cream on waffles is just too weird. HA HA HA ! After finding her eighth box of chocolates this morning, Joanne is now a bit paranoid, expecting to find another box of chocolates around every corner. HA HA HA !

This morning I emptied the magic props that I used yesterday from my denim backpack and put them back into my magic tool box. Yesterday while performing magic at the Fiesta de Navidad I broke a couple of props. HMPH ... they're getting old, lots of wear and tear. Not unlike me ! HA HA HA ! I may be able to fix them, we'll see. I trimmed Bo's and Teddy's claws. Dana the Park Manager came by to tell us that we missed getting Teddy's and Bo's gifts from Santa at yesterday's Christmas luncheon. We can pick them up at the park office on Monday.

This afternoon I worked on replacing the lug nuts on the trailer, using my fancy new torque wrench. I replaced one side today, and will do the other side tomorrow. On the first lug nut that I replaced, my 13/16 socket fractured. HMPH ! Had to borrow another one from our New Brunswick neighbour. The broken socket is a Craftsman, Sears' brand. I think they're guaranteed for life. We took Bo for a walk, exchanged some books at the clubhouse library, picked up the local community newspaper, and checked on the dumpster kittens, to see if they ate all the turkey that I had left last night. Smart little kitten, that grey one. They "live" in the small space between the dumpster fence and the fence around the bank next door. I left the aluminum pie plate of turkey near the opening under the fence where the kittens squeeze through. Today the pie plate was pulled underneath into the space between the two fences. At sunset, we went to the pool and hot tub. No surprise there ! How quickly life becomes routine when staying in one place.

After supper I downloaded and processed yesterday's Christmas photos. We did some online research on travelling in Mexico by RV.

Saturday ; Today was sunny, hot, humid, and windy. This morning Gil and Maria hitched up and departed for who knows where, without so much as a "goodbye" to us. Their actions over the past few weeks have certainly been hurtful. Oh, well !

This afternoon John and Eve invited us to join them on a Kenwood RV Resort outing to Mango's Jungle, a tropical oasis / botanical garden / nursery near the town of Santa Rosa, a short distance north of here. An elderly couple originally from North Dakota have owned this property for 17 years, and have turned it into a tropical oasis / botanical garden / nursery. It's a few acres in size and has many exotic, tropical trees from Central America, Hawaii, and Asia. There are paths and palapas throughout the property. The old man took us on a guided walk around. Some of the ficus and palm trees still bear evidence of damage from the snowfall of Christmas Day 2004, the first snowfall in this area in 108 years ! It's amazing that these tropical trees can survive hurricane after hurricane, but a day of snow destroys them or scars them for life.

Back at Kenwood RV Resort we had a late afternoon "happy hour" at John's and Eve's. Mary and Mike came by with their Scarlet Macaw, Lucky, on Mike's bicycle handlebars. Joanne had brought home made cookies for "happy hour". I fed a raisin drop cookie ( my favourite ) to Lucky. He was very adept at eating cookie, and was particularly pleased whenever he found a raisin in the cookie. At sunset we headed for the pool and hot tub.

I had quite a few chores and errands that did not get done today. While Joanne prepared supper I downloaded and processed the photos I took today. I took some garbage to the dumpster, and while there, checked on my two little dumpster kitties. I was a bit concerned because I had not seen the black one in a couple of days. They were both there, and doing fine. Growing quickly ! Late in the evening we took Bo for a walk, and dropped off another plate of turkey for the kittens.

Sunday ; Last night was a hot, sultry night, high temperature, high humidity, still air, steamy like a scene in a Tennessee Williams play. Overnight the temperature plummeted, the wind picked up, a few droplets of rain fell, and a cold front blew in. Once again, BRRRRR !

This morning I finished replacing the lug nuts on the trailer. Then I removed the sacrificial anode from the water heater and flushed out the inside of the water heater using a special tool, a job I do every six months. We use water from ... everywhere ... with a variety of types of minerals, so there is always quite a bit of mineral scale and iron rust that flushes out of the water heater. I repaired one of my broken magic props. Joanne did laundry.

This afternoon we took Bo for a "drivey", over to "downtown" La Feria to buy some milk at El Centro Foods and refill our five gallon drinking water jug. We went to the regular weekly Sunday evening ice cream social. A couple in the park were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today, and brought a huge cake for the ice cream social. So I had a big bowl of ice cream and two pieces of cake ... immediately before supper ! HA HA HA !

Monday ; Today was mostly sunny and warm. This morning we picked up Santa's gifts to Teddy and Bo from the park office. We spent the day running errands. We headed west on Expressway 83 to Mission and McAllen. First stop was an H-E-B in Mission to refill with diesel. The price of diesel continues to decline. Our first fuel purchase this season in the U.S. was in North Dakota in mid-October at $3.649 per gallon. Today's diesel price was $2.199 per gallon. Next was Camping World to buy some 12 volt fluorescent light tubes. Then Sears to get a replacement 13/16 socket. I was right. Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life. But if I had known that the socket was only worth $5.00 I might not have gone all the way out to Sears. I probably spent that much on fuel. We had lunch at Subway. I bought some hardware at Lowe's. Then ... of course ... ( sigh ) Wal-Martin'. Geeeeezzzzz ... the parking lot was full ! And half the vehicles had license plates from Mexico. We didn't realize that Mexicans cross into the United States to do their Christmas shopping right after Christmas, because the Mexican tradition is to exchange gifts on Dia de la Reyes, or Day of the Kings, early in the New Year. Something to do with the day the three wise men presented their offerings to the new born Christ child. On the way home we stopped in the parking lot of Super 8 Motel and I used the Wi-Fi phone to pay this month's MasterCard bills.

Once back at Kenwood we visited with John and Eve, then headed for the hot tub at sunset. After supper we took a plate of chicken over to the dumpster kitties. HEY ... Joanne's idea, not mine !

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and warm. This morning I installed a new thermometer on the exterior of the trailer. I mounted it so it is visible through the kitchen window. I removed and discarded the two old window mounted thermometers that had lost their accuracy. This afternoon after reading ... napping ... visiting with neighbours ... HEY, I'm a busy guy ... HA HA HA ... Joanne and I did some planning of our trip around Mexico. We went to the exercise room and did a workout, then went to the pool and hot tub before going to Harlingen with John and Eve to have supper at Mr. Gatti's. We had never been to Mr. Gatti's before. It is a chain of Italian food buffet restaurants, very popular with the senior crowd in the South. We had been led to believe that Mr. Gatti's had a larger offering than Cici's, a chain of pizza buffet restaurants that we quite like. But Mr. Gatti's is virtually the same as Cici's. Which is fine !

New Year's Eve ; Today was cloudy, warm, and humid. The leaves on the trees have begun to change colour and fall. I guess fall has arrived at the southern tip of Texas ... on New Year's Eve. HA HA HA !

This morning the couple in the trailer behind us came out of their trailer and stepped into their truck to go somewhere, only the third time the woman has been out of their trailer in the month that they have been here ! ! ! And the blinds on their trailer are closed 24 hours per day ! HMMM ! ! ! Can you spell "agoraphobia" ? ! ? HMPH ... good thing I had “spell check” to help me with that. HA HA HA ! After I did some minor maintenance chores, and took Bo for an obedience session, we went shopping. Some days Bo certainly is good at obedience ! Well done, Bo.

We drove to Weslaco where we cashed $1000 of traveller's cheques at the bank inside the Wal-Mart. We were planning to buy pesos today. I have been monitoring the peso exchange rate online, and have been waiting for it to improve back to where it was when we bought pesos about a month ago at 13.42 pesos per U.S. dollar. Yesterday the exchange rate had improved to 13.40, so ... time to buy another $1000 of pesos. We shopped for produce and an RV part at DonWes Flea & Farmer's Market. Had lunch there. Drove to Progreso to buy pesos. Darn ... the exchange rate had declined to 13.20. We didn't buy pesos today. On the way back home we stopped at Family Dollar to buy some supplies, El Centro Foods to buy some groceries, and Checker’s Barbecue to buy a pound of barbecued beef brisket. It's great for making sandwiches for lunch.

Late in the afternoon we went to the exercise room for a workout, then to the pool and hot tub to cool down and relax, before heading to Kenwood RV Park's New Year's Eve party at the recreation hall. Well ... that was the most droll New Year's Eve party I've ever been to ! It was an evening of playing table games. We sat at a table of ten people and played dominoes. After an hour I snuck off, leaving my seat at the table for someone else. I read a book for awhile in the library. I watched TV for awhile in the library. I watched a cockroach wander around the library. I've never had a New Year's Eve where the highlight was watching cockroaches. HA HA HA ! At 10:00 P.M. the table games ended and everyone went home. Goodbye and Happy New Year, little cockroach ! The New Year's Eve party included a finger foods potluck. We ate a variety of foods. After returning to the trailer, Joanne began to feel ill, nausea increasing until finally at 11:30 P.M. she began vomiting. Poor baby ... food poisoning again. She spent the last half hour of the old year and the first few minutes of the new year in the bathroom being repeatedly, violently ill.

Boy, we've had some pretty crappy New Year's Eves in the past, but this one takes the cake ! Especially for Joanne ! At midnight the neighbourhood erupted in fireworks, and ... I'm fairly certain ... gunshots. Tough neighbourhood here along the Mexican border on New Year's Eve !

2008 was a great year for us, except for the horrendous losses we sustained in the stock market. Oh, well ... it's only money ! We're healthy ! Well ... except for the last half hour of the year.

Happy New Year / Bonne Heureuse Année / Prospero Año Nuevo

DSK

Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel / Feliz Navidad

December 18 to 24, 2008

December 18 to 24, 2008 ; La Feria, Texas

Thursday ; Today was cloudy, warm, and humid as a sauna.

This afternoon we went into Harlingen to buy some groceries at H-E-B and some pet foods and supplies at PetsMart. Bo loooooves shopping at PetsMart ! He's been feeling a bit "drivey" deprived lately. He's getting "hitch itch", eager to move on. So am I ! At sunset we went to the pool and hot tub, something we haven't done for the last two days because of cold weather. I find it rather unusual that in this area the temperature can rise or fall 50 to 60 degrees in a one or two day period.

Astounding ! We were very unpleasantly surprised to discover, that despite this issue had been the beginning of the end of a friendship, Buppy is still being presented with opportunities, which, being a dog, he is quick to take advantage of, to run over to our trailer and piss on our stuff !

Friday ; Today was partially sunny, very warm, and humid. This morning I helped Joanne a little bit with laundry chores. I chatted with neighbours. I did obedience training with Bo. I sat outside reading, with Bo on his tie-out, and Teddy in his tent. Hey ... it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. HA HA HA !

This afternoon we headed for Hidalgo, about 45 minutes southwest of here. First stop in Hidalgo was City Hall, to buy tickets for tonight's Hidalgo Festival Of Lights guided trolley tour. We had about an hour to kill before the trolley tour, so we drove over to the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse to see the Christmas Villages display. The Old Hidalgo Pumphouse is no longer functional and has been turned into a museum. During the Christmas season they have a Christmas Villages exhibition, about a dozen or so miniature village displays incorporating over 200 little ceramic buildings. We were surprised to find that that the elderly gentleman who was giving guided tours of the Christmas Villages displays was the creator of the displays, along with his wife. Old affluent men surely can find a variety of ways to spend their time and money. HA HA HA !

At dusk we returned to Hidalgo City Hall for our guided trolley tour. It was a 45 minute drive around the city of Hidalgo to see all the many huge and elaborate lighted Christmas displays, many of them done on city property by city employees. The most elaborate of all was a private residence owned by a locally famous Grammy award winning musician by the name of Ramón Ayala. Sorry ... never heard of him. On the way back home afterwards we stopped for dinner at Cici's Pizza Buffet Restaurant in Weslaco. As we drove back to La Feria after supper Joanne asked me if I could remember how little pizza she was able to eat 35 years ago when we were dating, as compared to now. Yeah ... you've come a long way, baby ! HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA !

Saturday ; Today was mostly sunny, very warm, and very humid. This afternoon I removed the fifth wheel hitch out of the back of the truck, in preparation for hauling a load of rice and beans down into Mexico for the Amigos de los Niños de Mexico Fiesta de Navidad. Joanne did more laundry. She hadn't finished yesterday. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday at the Hidalgo Festival Of Lights. Of course, I read and napped. We chatted with neighbours. We went to the pool and hot tub. Geeeeezzzzz ... I gotta get a life ! HA HA HA ... hitch itch is setting in !

I did Internet research to find out who is Ramón Ayala, the owner of the elaborately decorated home in Hidalgo we were admiring last night. He is a Grammy award winning Mexican musician, song writer, accordionist, and band leader with a career spanning more than 45 years. He is considered to be the grandfather of “Norteño” ( pronounced “Norr TAIN yo” ) music, a genre of northern Mexico “cantina” music. I’m not really sure, but I think Norteño music is a fusion between Mexican Mariachi and American country & western.

There was nothing on TV tonight that we were interested in, so we watched a video DVD that Joanne's brother-in-law Doug gave us entitled Grizzly Man, a sort of biography documentary. What a ****ing nut job !

Sunday ; This morning was cloudy, warm, and humid, with occasional strong gusts of wind. After preparing a late morning brunch of French Toast ( MMMMM ... Teddy loooooves maple syrup ) we headed off for Hidalgo to meet Kevin and Sandy at Dodge Arena for an afternoon performance of Saltimbanco by Cirque du Soleil.

WOW ! ! ! Did I mention ... WOW ! ! ! The concept of "circus" has certainly evolved !

Today was one of those strange Rio Grande Valley days where the temperature changed about 50 degrees in about 10 hours. This morning I was doing chores outside wearing shorts and no shirt. This evening to walk to the ice cream social at the clubhouse I had to wear my heavy wool sweater coat.

MMMMM ... Joanne baked my favourite cookies tonight. Lots of them ! Thank you !

Monday ; Today was cloudy and cold. This morning we headed into Harlingen to pick up a load of rice and beans, for the Amigos de los Niños de Mexico Fiesta de Navidad. After loading up our truck, another truck, and two trucks with trailers, with 120 boxes / 6000 pounds of rice and beans, we went ... ( huge sigh ) ... Wal-Martin'. Doesn't anybody in Harlingen have jobs ? Are they all at Wal-Mart ? ? ?

This afternoon we went to Kenwood RV Resort's first "social hour with entertainment" of the season. The entertainment was The Lone Ranger. Some old guy playing the guitar, singing country & western songs. Oh, goody ! We sat and chatted with a couple from Hamilton, Ontario who have just arrived here. Friendly enough, but not exactly our type of people. Big, expensive motorhome, usually go to Florida and stay in one spot for the entire winter, afraid to go into Mexico, not much of a sense of adventure. In the evening I retrieved, printed, and reconciled this month's MasterCard statements, then did the monthly backup of all my computer files.

Tuesday ; You know, one of the problems with this lifestyle is there are too many old people who think that going to bed by 9:00 P.M. and getting up at 5:00 A.M. is the norm. The Amigos de los Niños de Mexico "caravan" to haul everything across the border into Nuevo Progreso was scheduled to meet at the border crossing at 7:00 A.M. this morning ( mumble & grumble ). My own personal rebellion against this kind of nonsense was to show up half an hour late, knowing that this "caravan" process was going to be a lot of "hurry up and wait".

Today was partially sunny, cold in the morning, but warming throughout the day. There must have been about 40 vehicles, mostly pickup trucks, some vans, a few cars, almost all with Canadian license plates, hauling Amigos de los Niños de Mexico stuff across the border to the school in Nuevo Progreso where the Fiesta de Navidad will take place on Christmas morning. We unloaded the beans from our truck, found a place to park, then helped haul boxes from the curbside into the school. Then we went looking for something else productive to do. There were a number of classrooms that were busy with repackaging chores. We spent the rest of the morning filling 3000 paper bags with peanuts. While filling bags of peanuts I chatted with a woman from Summerland, B.C., just north of Penticton.

Before leaving Nuevo Progreso we went to "our" dentist's office and made appointments for cleanings and examinations early in January. We have a dentist here in Nuevo Progreso and another in Los Algodones across the border from Yuma, Arizona. We were going to have dental cleanings and examinations done in Los Algodones in March, but since we’re starting our Mexico trip 11 days later than initially planned, we’ve decided to get it done here.

On the way home we stopped at H-E-B to buy a turkey. We have decided to have our own private Christmas dinner, since we will miss the Kenwood RV Resort's communal Christmas luncheon. This is our fifth Christmas on the road. The previous four Christmases we've had communal Christmas dinners in Escapee parks. I'm feeling a bit of self-pity that we're missing that this year. After a very late lunch, I had a long, well deserved nap. I did some minor maintenance chores, did an obedience session with Bo, then we went to the pool and hot tub before supper.

Christmas Eve ; Today was sunny, hot, and very humid. Christmas Eve reminds me of the death of my father, 13 years ago on this date.

Today started out badly. While I was taking care of morning routines, before Joanne was even out of bed, I knocked over a Damp Rid container in the bedroom, sending the greasy fluid contents splashing all over the bedroom counter, and floor, and shoes, and computer case, and Bo's toys, and ... ( sigh ) ! While cleaning the mess Joanne and I found excuses to squabble and snipe at each other. That continued intermittently throughout the day. I felt crappy all day !

This afternoon I prepared magic to have in my pockets at tomorrow's Fiesta de Navidad. We took Bo for a walk, and I practiced juggling while walking, to prepare for tomorrow morning's Fiesta de Navidad parade from the border to the school. Joanne baked more cookies. I gave Bo a bath. We spent time in the pool and hot tub, a new Christmas Eve and / or Christmas Day family tradition that started with our full time RV life.

Joanne made tourtiére ( French Canadian meat pie ) for supper, her family's Christmas Eve tradition carried forward to us. Kenwood RV Resort had scheduled a Christmas Eve party tonight, but as the planning for it unfolded, it evolved into a Christmas Eve religious service. We did not attend. After supper we went for a walk with Bo, enjoying the warm evening. I visited with the two little feral dumpster kittens. Earlier this week their mother was trapped and taken to the local SPCA. The grey one is becoming bolder, allowing me within a foot. Merry Christmas little dumpster kitties ! Maybe tomorrow night I'll bring you some turkey.

DSK

December 11 to 17, 2008

December 11 to 17, 2008 ; La Feria, Texas

Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning while walking Bo I chatted with our new neighbours, a rig from Ontario and a rig from New Brunswick. We’ve noticed that there are disproportionately more Canadian “snowbirds” this year than American. I think the economy is holding the Americans back more than it is the Canadians. Teddy’s ear infection seems to be improving, with the use of the antibiotic ear drops we purchased in Mexico a few days ago. My colitis flare up of yesterday has improved, leaving me feeling weak but not sick.

This afternoon we went to the Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum to see their exhibit of decorated Christmas trees. Each lovely, large tree was sponsored and decorated by a different organization. After viewing all the trees we walked around the museum's grounds viewing the collection of old buildings including Harlingen's first hospital and the home of Harlingen's founder. Very interesting ! The rest of the afternoon ( sigh ) was spent at Wal-Mart and H-E-B.

At sunset we headed to the pool and hot tub, then returned to our trailer to prepare dinner and watch Survivor.

Friday ; Today was sunny and very warm. I spent the morning chatting with neighbours, one after another. Finally saw the woman next door. She finally came out of their trailer, after being here for about a week. After lunch I read, napped, and sat outside enjoying the fine weather. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday. I composed some e-mails, and made a Christmas e-card with one of yesterday's photos. In mid-afternoon we went to the pool and hot tub, earlier than usual because we were going out for dinner. We are both suffering some chronic muscle and joint pains, and exercises in the pool and hot tub help.

Teddy was suffering the "wobbles" today, with petit mal seizures and obvious dizziness and balance problems. It's impossible to know how much of that is related to old age, and how much is related to an inner ear infection. My poor baby Teddy ! His time seems to be rapidly running out.

We met Kevin and Sandy at Fat Daddy's for a wonderful "barbecue" dinner. As we drove back into Kenwood RV Resort's gate, two little kittens, perhaps six to eight weeks old, were on the road by the dumpster enclosure. When the truck's headlights hit them, they ran under the dumpster enclosure fence. Poor little dumpster kitties. I wonder what the life expectancy of feral dumpster kittens is in this area ? ! ? I brought them a small container of Teddy's food, and left it behind the dumpster where I could see one of them peeking under the fence at me.

While I was sitting outside tonight working on my computer, a new neighbour, from Hawkesbury, Ontario, near Ottawa, was outside with the owner's manual of his new truck, mumbling and grumbling. He bought a new Dodge truck very recently. It only has 5000 km. / 3000 mi. on it. He was trying to figure out how to turn off his headlight high beams. HA HA HA ... I showed him ! I received a couple of e-mails tonight with very good news, including one from Riverside RV Park Resort advising that our park manager has quit. This is me singing "Happy Days Are Here Again". HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Last night was a long, difficult night for both Teddy and me. I stayed awake for half the night, worrying about Teddy, and trying to help him get to sleep. He was having frequent, regular, petit mal seizures. His breathing was shallow and rapid. He had a serious case of the wobbles whenever he tried to move around. He couldn't fall asleep. I thought that his remaining life could probably be measured in days, if not less. Tonight, as I type this after 11:00 P.M., he has improved. He seemed marginally improved this morning. We weren't home for most of the day. By the time we returned home this evening, he had improved noticeably. The wobbles are gone. The seizures have stopped. Teddy rallies to live another week. WOO-HOO !

Today was sunny and warm, a bit windy. Late this morning we headed for a luncheon date with Kevin and Sandy at their RV park in Brownsville, about 45 minutes southeast of here. We had lunch at their place, then spent much of the afternoon chatting outside, enjoying the nice weather. We drove up and down International Blvd. leading to the border crossing from Brownsville, Texas to Matamoros, Mexico, to check out the peso exchange rates at the cambios. None were as good as in Hidalgo, at the other ( western ) end of the Rio Grande Valley. We'll buy more pesos in Hidalgo on Tuesday. We drove to San Benito for the 6:00 P.M. San Benito Christmas Parade. We parked, walked around for awhile, then got ourselves settled into our lawn chairs to await the parade. Somewhat odd parade ! It lasted almost two hours, and included such unlikely parade entries as a Christmas decorated cement truck, and quite a few Mexican style "lowriders", cars with some kind of hydraulic shock absorber systems that can be "pumped" to make the cars bounce up and down. Neat ! But kind of odd for a Christmas parade. By the time we got back home to La Feria it was 9:00 P.M.. We picked up some take out food at Whataburger for a very late supper. Joanne had a Whataburger Meal. I was very hungry, but didn't feel like having fries, so I ordered three Justaburgers. HA HA HA ... great burger place !

I just received an e-mail from my sister, who lives on the outskirts of Winnipeg, Manitoba, our hometown city. Tonight's overnight temperature, with wind chill factor, will be 50 degrees below zero ! ! ! HMPH ... a cold night even by Winnipeg standards. HA HA HA !

Sunday ; Today was sunny, hot, and windy. Teddy seems completely recuperated today. No wobbles, no seizures, sleeping peacefully. My sweet baby cat ! I took Bo for an obedience session this morning. What outstanding performance. Good dog, Bo ! Finally, with eleven days to go, I am becoming infected with the Christmas spirit. Amazing what a Christmas parade of lowriders can do for you. And listening to zydeco Christmas music. HA HA HA !

I prepared huevos con machaca for lunch. We spent a lazy afternoon of reading, napping, working on yesterday's Christmas Parade photos, and lounging around the swimming pool and hot tub. We went to Kenwood's regular Sunday evening ice cream social, then spent the rest of the evening watching the 3 hour season finale of Survivor.

Monday ; Today was cloudy, hot, and humid. I spent half the morning chatting with neighbours. Teddy came outside to visit with Kee-Kee, a neighbour's cat. Teddy is quite indifferent to other animals. Very much a "take it or leave it" attitude. Late in the morning we went to Harlingen. I dropped Joanne off at H-E-B to do some grocery shopping, and I went Christmas shopping. We stopped at the Post Office in La Feria and picked up a batch of forwarded mail.

After lunch I read and napped. Surprise, surprise ! HA HA HA ! We chatted with a couple from Illinois who came by looking for information on Amigos de los Niños de Mexico. Over the course of a few minutes, while chatting with them, the temperature dropped dramatically, the sky darkened, and the wind became very strong. A few minutes later it began to rain for a few minutes. Joanne typed and I printed some of her cookie recipes for Eve, a neighbour and new friend. Yeah, Joanne makes good cookies ! Late in the afternoon John and Eve came over for a "happy hour" visit. By the time it became dark, the temperature had changed from hot to cold, within a couple of hours. BRRRRR ! Tonight for dessert after supper we had Christmas fruit cake, hauled all the way from Penticton, B.C., because we can't find good Christmas fruit cake down here in the South.

Tuesday ; BRRRRR ... what a gruesome day. Temperature never got out of the 30's ! Cold drizzle most of the day. I don't like damp. I don't like cold. I detest damp cold ! Oh, well, the temperature will be back in the 80's tomorrow or the day after. We abandoned our plans for the day, and just stayed home, indoors, Joanne working on crosswords, me reading, Teddy and Bo napping on or under "blankies". The only productive thing I did today was deal with the batch of forwarded mail that we picked up at the Post Office yesterday.

Wednesday ; Today was cloudy with a bit of drizzle, but warmer than yesterday. This morning, after Joanne's yoga class, we went to the WesDon Farmer's & Flea Market to buy fresh produce and some Avon cosmetics Joanne wants for Christmas. From there we went to check out a restaurant advertising Christmas dinner on Christmas Day, but their seatings are too early for us. We're looking for a restaurant in which to have Christmas dinner on Christmas Day because we are going to miss the Kenwood RV Resort's Christmas luncheon. We will be down in Mexico for the Amigos de los Niños de Mexico Fiesta de Navidad from early morning until afternoon.

This afternoon I read and napped while Joanne did some Christmas baking and prepared a dish for tonight's potluck dinner. We decorated our little Christmas tree and put up our few Christmas decorations. Each decoration or tree ornament is a reminder of a special person or place we've travelled to. From a recent photo of mine I prepared a Christmas e-card to be sent tonight by e-mail. I wrapped Christmas gifts.

Tonight's bi-weekly Wednesday evening potluck was not as well attended as usual. The couple that sat beside us recognized us, although we didn't remember them until they refreshed our memories. We shared a table with them on New Year's Eve 2005 at Saguaro Co-op SKP RV Park in Benson, Arizona. Small world !

I spent the evening updating my investment files ( huge sigh of despair ).

DSK

December 4 to 10, 2008

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

November 27 to December 3, 2008

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

November 20 to 26, 2008

November 20 to 26, 2008 ; La Feria, Texas

Thursday ; Today was sunny, hot, and humid. I spent the morning installing new hub covers on two trailer wheels. I had to jack up the trailer, remove the wheel, install the new hub cover, reinstall the wheel, lower the trailer off the jack, then repeat the process for another wheel. I discovered that all the trailer wheels' lug nuts are worn and need to be replaced. That's 24 lug nuts that I'm going to have to remove and replace ( sigh ). And I discovered a break in a metal brace in the trailer's exterior steps assembly. I'm either going to have to have it welded, or I'll have to replace the steps assembly. I washed the roof and hood of the truck, to remove the muddy cat paw prints on the roof and hood. Apparently some cat with muddy paws couldn't walk around the truck during the night, he had to go over it ! ! ! We took Bo for a long walk and chatted with a neighbour, who gave us some cheese from St. Albert's Cheese in St. Albert, Ontario, near Ottawa. St. Albert's is their favourite cheese, and they always buy a large quantity of it when they visit their daughter who lives in Ottawa.

We had lunch, then I napped. I put that in for the benefit of Barry, a former employee of ours. I received an e-mail from Barry asking for my new blog address. He's lost track of how often I nap. HA HA HA ! I finished waxing the trailer. Joanne is afraid to go to the top of the ladder, so she leaves the highest sections of the trailer for me to wax. I removed an exterior light fixture from the trailer, and on Saturday will install a new one that I bought.

At sunset we went to the pool and hot tub. I barbecued supper while we watched Survivor. Well, we watched part of Survivor. For 15 minutes during the show we were both outside looking for Teddy. He walked out the door on one of my trips outside to tend to the barbecue. He was gone for about 10 minutes before I noticed he was missing. He stealthily sneaks out the door about once every two years or so. And it's very frightening ( to us, not him ) when he does !

Friday ; Today was cloudy, cold, and windy. We had planned to spend today down in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, but decided first thing this morning that it was too cold to go today. The weather made us feel lazy, so we stayed in bed for most of the morning.

This afternoon we went to Mercedes for some grocery shopping at H-E-B. The H-E-B in Harlingen is better, but there are two panaderias ( Mexican bakeries ) across the street from the Mercedes store. We bought some pan dulce ( Mexican pastries ) at one a week ago, and today we tried the other. They're both very good. Mind you, I haven't yet found a panaderia I didn't like. HA HA HA ! Back at Kenwood RV Resort, I installed three new light fixtures I bought a few days ago. They are battery operated LED lights. I installed them to use when we're boondocking, to conserve the main "house" battery in the trailer. Gil and Maria spent the afternoon at Kenwood's weekly music "jam session" in the clubhouse, then went to the local legion for a Friday fish dinner.

We went to the pool and hot tub before supper. BRRRRR ... it was cold walking back to the trailer. After supper I got online and ... took a look at what's happened in the stock market this week. When is this going to end ? ! ? !

Saturday ; Today was cloudy, warm, and humid. This morning I installed a new exterior light fixture on the trailer. And fretted about our investments ! And worried about finding employment next summer !

This afternoon I worked on the electromagnetic brake wiring, fussing, tidying up, redoing Camco Wheel & Axle's workmanship to my anal retentive standards. That was all the "home improvement" work I was going to do today, but with encouragement from Joanne, I also installed the Extreme Vent on the kitchen grey water holding tank's plumbing vent on the roof. We took Bo for a long walk. Late in the afternoon we took a guacamole break with Gil and Maria. Maria made the guacamole. ( whispering very quietly ) Joanne's is better.

We went to the pool and hot tub a little earlier than we usually do, before heading for Edinburg. Edinburg is about ¾ of an hour northwest of here. Gil and Maria went to church, having forgotten that we had planned a trip to Edinburg tonight to see the Rio Roundup Rodeo at Sheriff’s Posse Arena. The Rio Roundup Rodeo is advertised as taking place every Saturday evening at 7:00 P.M.. Except when they don’t feel like having it, I guess. And apparently tonight was one of those nights ! What a waste of an hour and a half worth of fuel !

Sunday ; Today started out cloudy, warm and humid, becoming sunny, hot, and humid.

I spent most of the day installing a new water pump. It was a very difficult job, although I had expected it to be even worse than it was. I had been contemplating buying and installing a better water pump for about 2 years, and finally got serious about it just before we left Keremeos seven weeks ago. The factory installed water pump in the trailer was constant flow, essentially on or off. To conserve water when we're boondocking, I wanted a variable flow pump, providing "home like" infinitely variable water pressure and flow. The "variable speed demand" RV water pumps are very expensive, but I finally bought one at Camping World last week. I've kept the old water pump as a spare. Having a spare water pump while travelling in Mexico is recommended, as RV parts and service businesses are pretty much non-existent in Mexico.

We went to the pool to cool down after a long hard day of work before going to Sunday ice cream social, a regular weekly event that has just resumed for the winter season here at Kenwood RV Resort. We chatted for awhile with neighbours, then rushed home to watch Amazing Race. After supper I reconciled our monthly MasterCard statements. Ooooo ... what an expensive month !

Monday ; Nuevo Progreso, Mexico

Today was sunny and hot. This morning we went with Gil and Maria to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, about 15 or 20 minutes southwest of La Feria. This is only the second place in Mexico that Gil and Maria have been to. They've also been to Los Algodones, near Yuma, Arizona. We wandered around Nuevo Progreso for about 4 or 5 hours, browsing and sightseeing. We bought Creminos ( chocolate hazelnut mints ), Nugs, Coconugs, and Nugs Crujientes ( chocolate bars ). We checked out the currency exchange businesses. The one bank in Nuevo Progreso had a better exchange rate than the 3 or 4 private money exchange businesses called cambios. We will also check out the exchange rates at a couple of the banks here on the U.S. side, but last year the exchange rate was better in Mexico than in the U.S.. Gil withdrew 5000 pesos from an ATM using his bank card, to see what exchange rate he would get from his Canadian bank. We got comparison pricing on pet medications at 3 or 4 veterinary pharmacies. I got some dental work prices my sister had asked me to get for her. We took a rest break in a bar, ordering piña coladas, a margarita, and cerveza. We walked to the school where the Amigos de Los Niños de Mexico Fiesta de Navidad ( Friends of the Children of Mexico Christmas party ) will take place on Christmas morning. We found a church. Maria wanted to visit a Mexican church. We had lunch at a roadside taco stand. Six beef and avocado tacos for U.S.$3.50. I had told Maria about the great fish tacos we had in the Baja last year, and she was eager for fish tacos. But none of the taco stands in Nuevo Progreso had fish tacos. I guess we're not close enough to the Gulf of Mexico for fish to be readily available. Either that, or the Texas influence makes beef the preferred choice. Maria struggled with Spanish words and phrases I was trying to teach her. I hope she can at least remember the word for bathroom, which she had difficulty with today.

The border crossing from Mexico back into the United States is now guarded by soldiers in sandbag bunkers with machine guns perched on top. Seems a bit dramatic for a border crossing where the only people crossing are senior citizen gringos with trinkets and booze. I attempted to take a picture, but a soldier waggled his finger at me. So ... I stood off to the side by a store and used the zoom function on my camera. HA ... take that ! Joanne chastised me for once again indulging in activity that runs the risk of getting me shot in a foreign country. HA HA HA !

Back at Kenwood RV Resort we had some of Joanne's freshly made ( yesterday ) plum pie with frozen plums we picked back home at Riverside RV Park Resort. We spent time in the swimming pool before supper, a daily ritual. Gil checked his bank account online to determine how much his 5000 peso withdrawal cost in Canadian dollars. The Mexican peso to Canadian dollar exchange rate the bank applied was good.

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and mild. This morning I downloaded and processed yesterday's photos from Nuevo Progreso. I mounted a small wall calendar I picked up at a dentist's office, so I can learn the months of the year in Spanish. I prepared huevos rancheros for lunch. Fried eggs on warmed tortillas, covered with salsa and queso ( melted, seasoned cheese, like on nachos ). Well done, Daniel !

After lunch Joanne went with Gil and Maria in their Westie to Ropas Usadas ( Used Clothing ) in Mercedes. I went to a local bank to check on their peso to dollar exchange rate, then met Joanne, Gil, and Maria at Ropas Usadas. From there we drove in both vehicles to the meeting of Amigos de los Niños de Mexico in Weslaco. We took both vehicles anticipating having to transport lots of toys from the meeting to the organization's storage unit in a local storage business. After the meeting, we loaded up toys and some school supplies and took them to the storage unit.

While my truck was parked at R & R Storage, Gil scraped the side of his Westie along the rear dually hip and bumper of Lanoire, damaging the hip and bumper of my truck, and the side cargo door of his Westie. In the interests of not destroying a friendship, suffice for me to say that I'm not pleased, and leave it at that ! ! !

On the way back to La Feria we stopped at H-E-B in Mercedes to buy some groceries, and stock up on pan dulce at the panaderia across the street. Back at Kenwood RV Resort we gave Bo a bath and went to the pool and hot tub before having a late supper.

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot. This morning I cleaned the damaged areas of the truck with acetone, to remove as much of the Westie's white paint as possible. The corner of the bumper and the rear of the dually hip are scratched and scuffed. Tomorrow I will use a polishing compound to try to buff out as much of the scuffing as I can. On the weekend I will spray paint the corner of the bumper and the rear of the hip. Wish me luck with that ! In the interests of friendship, and given that Lanoire is now 3½ years old, I'm trying to avoid having such minor damage repaired professionally.

We spent the afternoon running errands ( sigh ). First stop was the Post Office to post some mail and pick up my Mexican vehicle insurance policy sent to General Delivery. Then the WesDon flea market to buy some hardware and the farmer's market to buy fruits and vegetables. Next stop was Ron Hoover RV to pick up Gil's special order and my special order. Gil's had arrived, mine had not ( sigh ). Next was Camco Wheel & Axle to buy 24 new lug nuts for the trailer. Then ... the joy of my day ... Wal-Martin'. On to Pep Boys to buy spray paint for the truck. Then Auto Zone to buy a gallon of Lucas diesel additive, and select the torque wrench I want for Christmas. Last stop was El Centro Foods to refill our 5 gallon water jug. By the time we got home it was too late, and we were too tired, to go to the pool and hot tub before supper.

EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW ! ! ! While loving up Teddy, Joanne found a lump on his tummy. A close examination showed it to be ... wait for it ... the end of some kind of a worm, embedded in his flesh. While Joanne held Teddy upside down, I grabbed the end of the worm and pulled. EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW ! ! ! Only about ¼ of it was sticking out, the rest was in his flesh. It left a big hole in his abdomen. I'm not certain, but I think that type of worm is called a chigger. When Teddy "escaped" last week he was outside for only about 25 minutes. He certainly is poorly equipped for outdoor survival !

I cooked catfish for supper. The cooking of fish or egg dishes is my responsibility, because I'm better at fish and eggs than Joanne is. We trimmed Bo's dew claws. We administered flea prevention treatments to Teddy and Bo, and heartworm prevention medication to Bo. Joanne did laundry. I ate Nugs and Coconugs. HA HA HA HA HA !

DSK