Bike Ride & Happy Hour

The morning started out a bit cool but not as cold as yesterday. Larry wanted to dump the tanks (thank God that's a blue job that will NEVER be turned into a pink job) and once he was finished we went for a bike ride to the State Park. We met up with Gary & Marilynn and their kids shortly after we got in the park and had a nice ride. Remember me telling you in the last blog about tail lights - well Larry had to take Marilynn's:

Marilynn is on the left and her DIL Shellie on the right.

Here is a much better picture. Marilynn, Shellie, Matt & Gary. Nice looking family and fun to be around.

So after our bike ride Larry worked on the trailer. I think he's finally finished putting epoxy and sanding it and hopefully if the wind isn't blowing in the next couple of days he'll paint it.

Larry's put a lot of time into this project so I'm sure he'll be glad to get it finished.

Tonight we were invited down to Cypcars for happy hour so we walked over there. They have a nice back yard so we just sat and talked for an hour. We had a bit of a surprise when we got home. Our HDT happy hour friends were sitting on our patio waiting for us. Actually I'm not sure they really cared if we got home, they really wanted our shade under the awning and enough chairs for everyone and since our place fits the bill they sat down. That's fine, I love having friends that feel comfortable enough to know they are always welcomed at our place whether we are home or not.

Our nieces & nephews back in Michigan have the same feelings only they take it one step further. If we're not home at the appointed happy hour they know where the liquor is and help themselves. They do leave a thank you note on the kitchen counter.

There seems to be a lot of helicopter activity around here the last few days. Not sure what's happening other than the local news has said the illegal's seem to be picking up in this area.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome Park Ridge IL and Goodyear AZ Till next time..........

Dinner Out & The Bruss's

Last night there was 14 of us that went out to dinner at the Golden Corral. When we arrived the line was outside but we decided to give it a try. Fortunately the line moved fairly fast and we were shown to our tables. With it being so crowded we weren't able to all sit in one table but were fairly close. Our evening out was to celebrate Gail's birthday and Bruss's leaving.

Happy Birthday Gail QuinnOne the way to the restaurant we had to stop for a red light. I happened to look out my side and saw this nailed to a post.

If anyone out there is interested make sure you use the area code of 956.

We had breakfast this morning at Gary & Marilynn's with several other friends. Their son & DIL are here for a few days and it was a great way to just sit around and talk. Morning started a little chilly (43 degrees) but by 9AM we were shedding the sweatshirts.

Here's Dick Goodman giving us all a high five.

Meet Mark and Dale Bruss

We first met Mark and Dale in 2006 at a Heavy Duty Truck Rally in Wichita KS. They have been living full time in their 40ft Travel Supreme and pulling it with their Volvo 770 since June of 2006. Mark is our resident computer person and many here ask his advice. Dale's prior life involved decorating so she's been a big help to friends that are finishing their carriage houses.

Isn't their truck a pretty thing. And it even has a name "Red Rover".

This morning we had to say so long to the Bruss's as they are heading out West for the summer. Someone mentioned that they don't have good-by parties, they have Tail light parties when someone leaves and head light parties when they return.
Here's the tail lights of them leaving the park. Did I mention that they also pull a car behind their rig. Safe travels and we'll see you this fall.

Guess that's it for today. Welcome Torrance CA and Tekamah NE (hi Al & Betty- glad you made it home ok). Till next time..............................

Birthday Party & The Millers

First let me introduce you to Al and Betty Miller

Al & Betty still have a sticks and bricks home in Tekamah NE where three of their four kids live. They have been escaping the cold winter temperatures of NE for the last 14 years and settled on their lot here in Retama as a permanent winter home. Last fall they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by going on a weeks cruise with their family. In their pre-retirement days they owned and operated a Mini Mart but they still have some rental property that keeps them busy during the summer months. As with many folks here in the park, we are just getting to know them and really enjoy spending time together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUTTA

Yesterday afternoon we had a Birthday Pot Luck up on the patio for Jutta Franks. Jutta is the "youngster" of our group, she just turned 50. It's hard to read but the cake says: Jutta's German Choc Cake". Because Jutta is from Germany there's a on going "dig" with friends wanting her to bake a German choc cake which she insists there is no such thing.

Here is a picture of some of the party group. The weather was perfect for having happy hour and dinner out on the patio and I'm sure Jutta had a wonderful time. She will be posting more about her day on her blog so check it out.

Tonight we are going out to dinner (after all sport events are over on TV) at the Golden Corral to celebrate Gail Quinn's birthday which is today. So check back tomorrow for more on that and Mark & Dale Bruss'.

Speaking of sports and TV. Is it just me or do others out there think the powers of be have now turned basketball into a 10 month season. And let's admit it, it's not just basketball, they have done the same thing with football. I swear these games go on forever. Larry's currently watching the MSU - ? Game. Now I don't need to be in the same room with him to know how his beloved Spartans are playing. Actually I don't need to be in the trailer and if they are really screwing up the neighbors from four sites each way probably here more than they really want to. But I'm thinking (hoping) that we are getting to the end of this 10 month season and we'll be able to find something else on TV. Oh wait - I forgot this other sport called baseball - oh mannnn- I give up.

I have one more picture to share with you. This guy wanted to make sure everyone reading the blog knew he was at the party last night.

This is Scary Larry Lawrence, our sympathies to LaVilla.
While I'm at it here's another picture:

Do you see a resemblance between Bagett and her daddy.

That's it for today. Welcome - Nantes France and Akron OH. Till next time..........

The Repair Continues

I guess it's been awhile since the last blog. There hasn't been to much going on to write about plus I've just gotten lazy. But today was the second phase of putting the trailer back together. Last night the goop arrived from West Marine that Larry ordered to attach the siding back on the trailer. Thanks to Mark Bruss for helping and Jack Mayer for supervising the job was done in short order.

Here's what it looked like at the beginning.
Mark & Larry are getting the sticky goop ready while Jack blocks the sun.
Here's Jack reminding the guys where the fiberglass goes.
Do you think it passed the Jack test? Do you think Mark & Larry cared?
What's wrong with this picture? Is that - no it can't be- but yes it is
Jack's doing manual labor - OMG - A Kodak moment.

This part of the job is completed and now it's time to rest. Doug and Gail stopped over to get filled in on the procedure. This took the better part of the afternoon and since it was so close to happy hour they stayed.

It's a pretty much known fact that if a husband isn't home at the appointed happy hour time then the wife can either, A) choose to fix the drinks and go looking, B) choose to use this time to start dinner, C) wait for husband to return to get his own drink, D) totally ignore the time so when husband returns make him feel guilty that he didn't care enough to come get her or E) none of the above and just have some "me" time.

I should clarify something when I mentioned about the "better part" of the afternoon and the guys sitting here talking about how the repair job was done. The actual "work time" took about 15 minutes. The discussion time took about three hours. But I can't really say too much considering how long it takes 3-4 woman to find the right fabric for a chair.

Hopefully the glue goop does it's job and Larry can patch the fiberglass where it was cut and put the fender back on in the next couple of days.

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow we are having a birthday party/saying goodbye/potluck so will have more to say about that in the next blog.

Welcome: Rondonia Brazil, New Waverly TX, Marion MI and Rices Landing PA. Come back and see us. Till next time.....................................

Flowers - Breakfast Outside

The other day while we were out for our bike ride we came across this thistle. I don't ever remember seeing one back home that had these flowers. Really pretty.
This gave me the idea to take a few pictures of the rose bushes that are around here. Those seem to be the ones that survived the many freezes we had here. I wish I would of done this last week before the wind went through. All the bushes were loaded with flowers and just awesome.

Here is the entrance to our park.

This is in the back yard of Jim & Pat Olson's.

We get to see this out our kitchen window.

Monday morning we had our first goodbye egg in a bag breakfast for Al and Betty Miller, as they will be pulling out on Thursday. If you've never tried this breakfast it's really good. Anyway here's the group enjoying a early morning get together in the sun.

Helen, Marilynn, Linda, Pat and David fixing their egg in a bag.
We started out with coats on but wasn't long and we took them off.

Today the ladies in this group went over to Starbucks to get our free roll with a purchase of a latte. I always threaten to put things these woman say on my blog but as I said before I try to keep this at a GP rating and trust me some of the things that comes up is not for sensitive ears.

Happy hour was at our place tonight and we had two couples from the park next door join us. One couple we met a couple of weeks ago (they have a big truck) and the other are wannabe's of getting a big truck.

After happy hour we were invited over to Jack and Danielle's for hamburgs on the grill. Good dinner and good company. We bugged out on the nightly walk when they take poppy out and came home.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome readers: Rio Grande City TX, Sturgeon Bay WI, Winnipeg Canada and Green Bay WI.

Till next time..........................................

Meet the Divoll's

Another neat couple here in Retama is Lynn and Angie Divoll. Here they are enjoying the social before the big St Patrick's Dinner last week. We first really got to know Lynn and Angie when we were on the Village Advisory Committee with them a couple of years ago.

In pre-retirement life Lynn was in the Army, a logistician then worked for Civil Service, while Angie was a computer software analyst. This year they celebrated their 40th anniversary. They have been full timing for just over five years but have recently purchased a sticks and bricks home in TN. They have a cute little grand-daughter and soon to arrive grand-son that they would like to spend more time with. Winters will still be spent either here on their lot or in some other "warmer" state. As Angie says - they are still full timers at heart.

Well we had our awning put to the test yesterday and last night. The wind's were something else but other than making some noise everything stayed where it was suppose too. Made me a little nervous listening to it and just waiting to hear it go flying up over the roof.

Tonight we had dinner with the Cypcar's. David put a chicken on the grill and it was wonderful and we had sweet potato's, peas and apply pie. As always we have a good time with them.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome readers from Troup & Ennis TX, Bell City LA and Sturgeon Bay WI. Hope you enjoy the blog and come back. Till next time......................................

Surgery on the Trailer

Early Wednesday morning Larry ran the living room slide in to make sure the new rubber seal that he replaced would do what it's suppose to do. Well everything sealed up and looked good so he ran the slide back out. The only problem was the limit switch that stops the slide failed to shut off and do you know what happens when one part of a wall pushes on another part, yup it pushes the other wall out away from the trailer. Luckily Larry was right there and shut it off before it did any damage. Now there's a good- a bad -and a ugly about all this. The bad, - dry rot found - the good, we found it before it got any worse- the ugly, having to pull all the dry rot out and replace the sill plate.

So emergency surgery was scheduled and all required instruments were gathered from the tool box. Remember me writing a blog on how men are like magnets when the hood of a vehicle goes up. Well let me tell you, nothing brings these guys out faster than the sound of a skill saw going down the side of a fiberglass trailer.

Now keep in mind while all this is happening I am up at the clubhouse helping prep the food for our St Patrick's dinner that night and women were coming in asking me why all the guys were at our place. After the 2nd or 3rd person mentioned this I decided I better go see what's happening. By the time I got home the group had dispense and the only ones left were the surgeon and his surgical staff.

Here's Doctor Larry, and his surgery team of Gary, David and Grant discussing the best procedure to use.

The first section of the surgery is completed and the dry rot is exposed.

One last look before the team calls it a day and the patient was resting comfortably.

The next day Larry and Grant made a early trip to Home Depot to get the necessary wood etc to complete the job. Thanks to all the guys they were able to get the dry rot out and put the new treated wood in. Larry finished up the day by putting the foam installation in. Today he did the final prep work of scraping the excess installation off and cleaning up the fender that will go back on. Plus he put a epoxy sealer on the wood so hopefully we don't have that problem again.

We can declare surgery was a success. Now the only thing left is replacing the fender skirt. Larry went down and talked with Mark Bruss this afternoon to get his input on what kind of filler to use to patch the cut when he puts the fender skirt back on. That was ordered and won't be here until next week so things are at a stand still.

I guess that part will have to be another blog. As many people have mentioned to me the last couple of days (can you tell not much excitement goes on around here) I'm really lucky that Larry is always able to take care of these kinds of things. Most would have had to hire it done, at a whole lot of peso's . I always agree whole heartily.

That's it for tonight. Welcome Saskatchewan Canada, Seal Beach CA, and Lewisville TX. Till next time.......................... to a certain person, we will be subtracting the repair cost to your finders fee.

Introducting the Goodman's

We first met Dick and Helen shortly after we purchased our lot in Retama. Like so many new friends we've meant they are a special couple that we really enjoy spending time with.

They spend their winters here in the RGV and have been for several years. Summers are spent in Hartsel CO at their sticks and bricks home. Talk about a change in climate, they go from 100ft above sea level to 9,000 ft in CO. I understand that their home is pretty much on the side of a mountain and they have to have water hauled in.

After Dicks retirement of a self employed contractor and Helen raising their three sons they have been enjoying their days whether it's sitting outside in the warm sun or traveling in their little travel trailer around the country. Even after 55 years together you can tell these two really enjoy being together. Helen loves to giggle and Dick just sets back and shakes his head.

Guess that's it for today. Welcome newbies from Ft Lauderdale FL, Oceanside NY and Conroe TX. Till next time...................................

St Patricks Day at Retama

Well two days of prepping all for a 1/2 hour of eating. Doesn't that sound familiar. Donna and Grant were the organizers of the dinner for the second year and they did a wonderful job. Lots of helpers as you can see some of them in the picture below.
Once the prepping was done it was time to set the clubhouse up for the sit down dinner for 94 people. Since our clubhouse isn't like other ones that have one big room for seating we have to use every square space. Thanks to the guys they found enough room for everyone and even had paths for us servers to get to the tables.

We even had a parade.
Everyone enjoys being young at heart again.

Social hour followed the parade and everyone gathered up on the patio with their favorite beverage for snacks and conversation. Sorry didn't get any pictures of that.

The servers did a great job of getting the food to the tables within a short time so everything was good and hot.

I will be posting more pictures on our Web-shot page if you would like to see them.

The weather was perfect for our day. After dinner many of the residents moved back out on the patio to spend a quiet evening of conversation.

Hope everyone had a good day. Till next time.................................

Question asked "Are we safe"

I received a email today from my old boss asking if we still feel safe here with all the TV news about Mexico. I wrote back jokingly saying we're fine as long as we watch out for car chases, keep a eye on the helicopters in the sky and the Border Patrol entering our community.

We haven't been to Mexico since all the fighting started. Not because we are nervous about going, only because we haven't gotten around to it. As I told Dale (boss) the city of Reynosa (12 miles from us) is one of the more dangerous places with daily news reports here of killings, kidnappings and like this mornings paper, finding three grenades in the local bus station. This central bus station is a common stop for Mexico-bound buses that leave McAllen with destinations across Mexico. We get several Mexican News Stations and even tho I don't understand what they are saying you get the jest of it just by watching. Unfortunately their stations are not as concerned about showing very graphic pictures of bodies and the gun battles as our U.S. Stations. There was a article in today's paper saying the governor is sending more law enforcement to help prevent spillover violence from Mexico. We have already seen more air activity with hearing the helicopters at night and the border patrol vehicles in our area.

So what does all this mean to us. First we have and probably never will go to Reynosa, this is a very large town with a million plus population. There are two kinds of people there, the rich and the poor. In googling info I found Reynosa has seven industrial parks that employ a half million people. The factory workers do have medical and dental benefits but after those are taken out the wage for workers come to around $10.00 per day. Can you imagine trying to support your family on $10 a day. Know wonder the young people join the cartel when they see the life their parents have.

When we go to Mexico we go to a border town called Progreso which is about 30 miles east of us. It is a small town with only a few thousand in population. They say by Mexican standards this is a very clean town which I guess if I compare it to the town of Paloma's we went to while staying in Deming NM it is. But the town of Algadonas just over the Calif. State line near Yuma was one of the better ones. OK I've kind of gotten off track here but what I wanted to say was because Progreso relies almost completely on the US travelers for their support the city does everything they can to make sure people feel safe while there. Several months ago there was some gun fire several blocks from where the tourist were. The local paper here had many articles of the store employee's and street vendors ushering the gringo's inside buildings to keep them safe. And of course there are the ever presents of the Military Police that should (not sure of that) give you a warm fuzzy feeling of safety with their great big guns. Of course we don't even no if those things a loaded. My guess they are but since your not allowed to talk to them or even take a picture hopefully we'll never no.

Again, off the track but unless problems start arising in Progreso we will continue to go there. It doesn't matter if your in the US or Mexico you have to be aware of what and who is around you.

Guess that's it for today. Hope everyone has a great St Patrick's day tomorrow. We are having a big Irish dinner at the clubhouse so have been helping with that.

Welcome readers from Beverly Hills CA (maybe a movie star) Mesquite NV and Grundy Center IA. Till next time...................................

Introducting Larry and LaVila

In the last entry I said I would post pictures of the awning bows that Larry put up. So here they are.
It is nice having this over the door so if it's raining or foggy you can sit outside and not have everything wet. We'll find out in the next couple of days how it works, the winds suppose to pick up.

Beautiful weather the last couple of days. In looking at the weather site it looks like Michigan is getting some decent temperatures. At least decent for that State this time of year.

Larry started replacing the slide wipers yesterday. He finished up the smaller living room one yesterday and tomorrow will start on the larger one. While he did that I started cleaning the outside of the trailer with DryNWash. Started yesterday and finished up today. I do as much as I can reach on my three step stool than Larry gets the tall ladder & finishes up at the top. This cleaner is wonderful stuff, a bit pricey but worth it. Not only cleans it but puts a nice shine on things, the only thing it does take a lot longer to do.

So here's a neat couple I'd like to introduce you too. Larry & LaVila Lawrence. We first meant them in Wichita KS at a Rally in October 2006. That following winter we hooked up with them in Quartzsite AZ and spent a week together boon docking in the desert. They spend the winter's now on their lot in Mercedes TX and entertain in their brand new outdoor kitchen that I posted pictures of last week. Summers are divided between DeMoines Iowa at the lake home and Marion ILL on Larry's family farm.
Larry and LaVila would be voted the #1 host & hostess if we had a contest. They love to entertain and can keep a party going. Only problem is you have to watch out for Larry. He has a habit of refilling your glass at every opportunity, which is turn makes for a rough night, just ask my Larry. LaVila introduced our group to a drink called Slippery Nipple at the rally in KS. That night is a whole other story that probably will never be seen on this blog. Lets just say it involved wine, slippery nipple and tequila shots. If nothing else this couple has given us some fond memories (and headaches).

That's it for tonight. Welcome readers from Maynard MA, El Paso TX, Clare MI, Shepherd TX and Recife Brazel. Till next time................................

Up close and personal with the Border Patrol

At the neighborhood yard sale in February one of the neighbors had some awning bows for half the price of new ones so we bought them. These bows are attached to the trailer and the awning to support the awning during wind. We also have the awning bars hooked to 60lb cement blocks. Ok, this may be confusing so tomorrow I will take a picture of it. The point is we can now have the awning out 24/7 and with the days now getting pretty warm it helps keep the morning sun off the side of the trailer. Grant has had theirs up since shortly after they arrived last fall and we've had some pretty strong winds.

This afternoon we had to go over and check out our renters. I so wish all of them would leave the place like this woman did. Even took Murphy's Oil to all the wood in the trailer. I think that's it on renters for the season, especially with so many people leaving earlier this year. We'll need to get over there and secure it, drain tanks, put the inside window coverings back up (keeps the hot summer sun out) and pull the propane tanks to be locked in the shed. We do have it rented for part of next winter already so that's good.

While sitting at happy hour tonight Dale Bruss suggested we go out to eat. Bonnie and Gail Quinn leave tomorrow morning heading for Las Vegas to celebrate their wedding anniversary. From what they said they have quite a few family members meeting them there so I'm sure they'll have a great time. They aren't taking the rig as they will be staying in a hotel there so they will return in a couple of weeks. So off to Buffalo Wings the 11 of us went to do a mini celebration.

Something interesting happened on the way home. We took Military Road back which is a dirt road than it runs up on the levee Pretty soon there was flashers behind us. Larry pulled over and it turned out to the Border Patrol. Seems they are looking for a group of illegals so just checking everyone out. There's been many here in the park that have been pulled over but this was our first.

That's it for tonight. No new readers today but that's ok. Till next time.................................

Hoods up bring out the boys

The day started out a little cloudy but soon the sun was shining and by mid afternoon it was 92 degrees. I'm afraid with all the cold temperatures this season it may take a little getting use to the heat again. But that's OK, we'll work very hard at adjusting to the 90's verses the 60's. Having to hit the pool to cool off will put more pressure on our busy schedule but we'll manage, someone has to do it.

I sent a email to some of the family, did a copy and paste of their current weather and ours. I received some responses back but unfortunately they can't be publish on this blog. I try to keep this a PG rating.

Larry went over to Gary's this morning to help him find a problem with the brakes that go back to their little trailer they pull when traveling during the summer. One of the things I've noticed is it doesn't matter if it's one of our big trucks, a pickup or a car, the minute the hood goes up it seems to draw men.

Here's the beginning with Larry and Gary. Could it be those are instructions they are looking at?

Not long and Jim shows up to give either a hand or moral support. Not sure which one.
The next time I looked out Doug and another neighbor are there. It wasn't long and Larry and Gary were back to just the two of them. And I'm happy to say that the problem was found and repaired. Oh FYI while the men where solving the brake problem the woman were sitting on Gary/Marilynn's patio in back drinking coffee.

I had my camera while riding bikes today and realized I'd never shown you a picture of the RV Ports in Phase 2 of our complex.
Click on the picture to enlarge so you can see them a little better. These are just two of them on this street, there are several more but it gives you the idea. The casita's are 1,2, and 3 bedrooms and I think the starting price is $150,000. Not my thing, they are nice but the two bedroom houses here in the complex start at that price and you have a two car garage and lots more storage space. But they have sold quiet a few of these so not everyone feels like us.

Not much else happening today. Went for our nightly walk with Jack/Danielle/Poppy after dinner. The sun set was really something, wish I had my camera.

Welcome to Wrodaw Dolnosiaskie Poland and Santa Monica CA. Till next time...................

Afternoon social at the Lawrences

This morning we had the regular Monthly Village Meeting at the clubhouse. It was a pretty typical meeting, some good things said, some "why in the world" things said and some things all you could do is shake your head.In talking with other people at different parks they all seem to be about the same, just a different park.

The afternoon was much better. We (the big truck people) we all invited down to Larry and LaVila's place in Mercedes for lunch and to see the finished project of their out door kitchen. I have posted pictures of it in the past while under construction but the finished work in just beautiful.
Here's Poppy all settled in her seat to head for the big party. I think she was afraid she'd be left behind. Little did she know that Larry L. emailed Jack with a special invitation for her.
Poor Larry (Moore), bad enough having two back seat drivers but he also had a 4-legged one. Poppy pretty much kept her eyes on the road all the way there.
As always LaVila made sure there was plenty of food and no one left hungry. While she made sure the food was taken care of Larry L. made sure the beverages were available.

As the season nears an end here we won't have to many more of these gatherings so we try to make each one special. Thanks Larry and LaVila for giving us wonderful food, yummy beverages and lots of laughs.

That's about it for today. Welcome newbie's from Fred TX and Hoboken NJ. Hope you come back and see us again. Sometimes we only get one hit, but most times readers will keep coming back every couple of days. We don't get any where near the number of hits some of our friends do on a daily bases but I'm happy with what we have and each day it grows a little more.

Oh, I want to mention that I think the global warming has finally arrived here and by the looks of the forecast it's here to stay. Sunny skies, and highs in the 80's. To my family and friends up north your turn will come and when it does that's when we head your way. Till next time..........