A Day in Elkhart & Middlebury Indiana

We hit several of the surplus stores over in Elkhart yesterday. The first time we went to those it was interesting to see if you could find some bargains, which we always seem to do. But this year these places were crowded (with stuff not people) and dirty. The first place we stopped wasn't bad and we came across a replacement Windguard Antenna that we've needed. But after just a few minutes in the second place I was ready to leave. Even if I would have found something on my list I probably wouldn't have bought it, there had to be a inch of dust on everything. Larry was getting pretty disgusted with having to ask a price on just about everything he looked at. As we were leaving one place he spotted (don't ask my how he saw them) a remote control starter for the Honda Generator. This is something he's wanted from day one and has kept putting it off cause of the price. Well this was about half the cost if he ordered one on-line so he got it.

The next place we went was over in White Pigeon MI so I can now say we've been back in our home State. This is Larry's favorite one as he always finds something here.

And he actually found what he was looking for in this room.

Guess you have to be a man to appreciate this.

Kind of puts a new meaning to furniture shopping doesn't it.

These are only three of the rooms, there are two more and also a second floor that has more chairs and sofa's. Plus there are three other buildings that house things like mattress, inside doors, wood, carpet and a whole bunch of other "stuff". I will admit these young guys working behind the counter know right where every thing is. Was amazed when someone would ask where an item was and they not only told them the room but which side of the isle and what shelf.

Once we finished with that we went over to Middlebury and found one of "my" favorite stores called The Dutch Country Market. Lots of home made goodies here.

One last stop before heading home and that was a small bakery/deli not far from us. Here we found one of our favorite pies - strawberry & rhubarb - and a huge cinnamon roll.

Today we pack up and head for Grand Ledge Michigan which is just a few hours down the road. I'm really getting excited to see the family and get some of those special hugs that only family can give. Till next time.......................................

Eby's Pine CG Bristol IN

We arrived here at Eby's around 1PM yesterday. Going around Indy wasn't to bad (9:30am) except for the construction but traffic was moving good and no idiots seem to be in our area at the time. We exited off at US31 and headed north, I really don't remember so many traffic lights and small towns on this route. What a pain!! I think if we need to stop at Elkhart in the future it would be faster to go up 69 and take 30 across from Fort Wayne.

Anyway we finally got here and pulled into our spot.

Here's one looking down the road.

Only one motorhome pulled in later that day.

Early this morning we had a visitor sitting outside the window of the kitchen.

Well she was fun to watch for awhile until she saw her reflection in the window. My God you would think she'd have a headache by now or at least a broken nose.

We met a woman last night who is in that trailer down at the end of the one picture. She and husband are from Ohio and are here on vacation. Never did get to meet the Motorhome people.

Larry's out checking air in the tires. We'll be heading into Elkhart soon to look for the things that are on our list.

Guess that's it for today. Welcome - Monee ILL, Climax GA, Terrell TX, Hazlehurst GA, Decatur ILL, Amarillo TX, Valdosta GA, San Dimas CA, Keller TX, Momence ILL, Till next time......................

Terre Haute IN

OK, - Note to Self - Do NOT - repeat DO NOT -stay in a Walmart Parking lot over night when it's suppose to get down in 30's. I swear Larry and I both laid in bed this morning pretending that we were asleep so the other one would get up and turn the furnace on. He won but only because I couldn't stand being so cold even with my four blankets on me. The only thing not covered was my nose.

So today we have another short day 250 miles to Eby's CG near Elkhart. Have to go around one of my least favorite cities Indy. Actually since we started taking the northern route around town it isn't as bad. If they'd just finish up the construction. The north route is more residential and the south route is more business and shopping so lots more traffic. We'll get off at 131 and take that up to 20 than East.

Here's a picture of where we were parked at the Lazy Day CG the other night.

That's it for now. Till next time.....................................

Junction City KS & Lazy Day CG

First here's the picture of where we parked at the Casino on Saturday night.

Our rig

Jack & Danielle Mayers rig

We left there around 10am after pulling in the gas station and filling the trucks up. We only took a hundred gallons so now we're set until we get back to Michigan.

We arrived in Junction City about 4pm and the guys backed up to the service center building at the New Horizon Factory. Jack will be getting some things done on his rig and this was the best place for us to park over night. The timing was perfect as Gail and Bonnie Quinn were there for the big open house they had at the factory. So we were able to spend a little time with them.

We left there about 9am this morning. Woke up to 52 degrees and about froze. The rest of the day wasn't any better as far as the temperature, never got out of the 50's.

We had a pretty good trip today. Only problem was going through Kansas City. Of course there was construction (right in the middle of town) and the lane we were in was closed up ahead. No problem, we still had plenty of time to get over, until this idiot in front of us panic and hit his brakes. Lets just say if we would of had a smaller truck this guy would have become a speed bump.

There has been a lot of flooding here in Missouri. I wish I had my camera when I spotted this car. Don't no what kind it was - small two seater sports car - but it was sitting in the middle of this lake with water up to the windshield. The door was wide open so they must of just gotten out in time.

We are staying tonight at Lazy Day CG in Montgomery City MO. It's a nice place with some trees but they aren't to bad to get around. Or I should say so far, we still have to get out of here tomorrow. I called ahead and told the lady what we were driving and she said she had just the spot for us and would save it. So we have lots of room and didn't have to unhook anything.

Tomorrow will be another short day. The plan is to stop at our favorite Walmart in Terre Haute IN. I think its only about 250 miles. Than on to Elkhart IN the next day. We'll stay a few days there and check out all the RV Surplus places.

My brother Larry sent me a email today and suggested we drive slow getting back. It was 39 degrees there this morning. He best be getting some warm weather there or we'll be pulling our rig into his nice huge in floor heated shop. I have no problem with living inside his building until it warms up outside.

Guess that's it for tonight. I haven't looked at our StatCounter for a few days but Welcome - Euless TX, Ireland, Dover DE, Highland CA, Oracle AZ, Dayton OH, Springtown TX, Grand Rapids MI, Edinburg TX. Till next time.........For all our RV friends who are out there traveling to their summer spots - safe travels and we'll see you down the road.

On the Road

We left Mission TX yesterday morning around 10am. Here's our little train getting ready to pull out.
Between our rig and Jack/Danielle Mayer's we're a total of 165 feet going down the road. Do you think we could been seen.

It was pretty hot and humid leaving Mission. Temperature was suppose to get up to 94 with a heat index of 106. Pretty hazy going over the bridge getting on 281.
Arrived at the Cabela's in Austin Tx around 4pm. Walked over to Arby's for dinner than did a little shopping. Here's Jack's rig parked right under the "no over night parking" sign. Good thing we were hidden behind his trailer.
Evening was warm here. We sat between the rigs and drank Choc Shakes to try and cool off.

Tonight we are at the LakeFire Casino in Shawnee Oklahoma which is about 20 miles East of Oklahoma City.

The parking lot has RV hook ups but we're too big so we're parked along the side. I'll take a picture tomorrow morning and post it later of where we are parked. Went inside and had a nice dinner there.

Guess that's it for tonight. Long day today so will call it a early night. I mentioned on FaceBook that we went to DQ on Thursday with David/Linda Cypcar for one last Blizzard. Than last night we sat outside drinking Shakes. Tonight we have everything closed up to keep any heat inside as it's suppose to get down to 49 tonight. I was hoping to get some sympathy from my family but NOOOO - not one person feels sorry for us. Till next time.............................

Meet the Zinneckerg's & plans changed

Sunday night we along with several friends went out to dinner at the Excalibur. It's a local bar that we don't normally go to during the winter, one they have loud live music starting at 5pm, two it's a small place and they pack as many winter texans in that they can and three it allows smoking. But we needed to have one more dinner out and our first choice wasn't open. So the Bevingtons, Mayers, Cypcars, Gomez's, Zinneckerg's and us piled into cars and even tho we had to wait (not unusual & luckily not busy) everyone had a good meal.

Time to introduce Grant and Donna Zinneckerg.

Grant and Donna have the lot right beside us here in Retama so we've really gotten to know them and you couldn't ask for better neighbors. They have Lucie (cat) and Wendy (dog) that love to come over for happy hour and really voice their opinion when they are left at home. Donna/Grant have been full timing for 18 years and up until they purchased this lot had never stayed in one park longer than two weeks. They are originally from Michigan and hopefully when they are back this summer for Grants high school reunion we'll be able to get together. This morning they pulled out heading for a park up by San Antonio TX.

Here they are pulling out. We'll sure miss you guys.

It looks like we'll be pulling out with Jack/Danielle on Friday and heading north with them. They are heading for Junction City KS to New Horizon Manufacture. It's a last minute decision for us to leave, the plan was to go towards the end of next week but we are pretty much ready so decided to go and just take our time. Planned on leaving them in Dallas and heading East, than leaving them in Okla. City and going East, now looks like we might go all the way to the Junction City and take 70 across. But as they say, all plans are set in jello and can be changed.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome - Fayetteville, TX, Wylie TX, Surrey British Columbia, Seabrook TX, West Des Moines IA. Till next time.......................

Wow what a storm, Orthober's leaving

Boy did we have a storm here last evening. We went over to Donna/Grants around 7pm and Larry, David and Gary were helping Grant take down his awning. They will be leaving in a few days and the sky sure wasn't looking very good so Grant decided to just go ahead and take in down (he has one like ours with all the arms on it). They know sooner got it rolled up and everyone made a dash for inside their trailer, the sky opened up and it just poured. Weather station had warnings, watches, flash's, wind warnings, you name it we were getting it. Grant put coffee on and we all just relaxed and enjoyed our last evening with Gary & Marilynn as they were leaving early the next day. It only lasted a little over a hour but the local report say's 4 inches of rain, pea/marble size hail, wind gust of 60mph, 1-2 feet of water in downtown Mission and one frontage road with standing water up to windshields. This sure gave our trailers a work out on making sure there wasn't leaks anyplace. I wish I had my camera with me, course it was raining so hard you couldn't see across the street so guess it wouldn't of done any good.

Early (8:00) this morning Gary and Marilynn Orthober's pulled out. They are heading for Door County WI where they have a home.

This is their little travel home. Isn't it just the cutest thing. Larry said it would fit up on the back of our truck and we'd have a motorhome.

One last shot of the boy's being boys.
Goodbye Gary & Marilynn. We miss you already.

So we are down to three couples here that we spend most of our time with. Cypcar's, Zinneckerg's and Mayers. Zinneckerg's and Mayers are both leaving this week. Cypcar's and us are the die hard. We both will be taking off in two weeks.

Guess that's it for today. Welcome - Bay City MI, San Antonio TX, Tehachapi CA, Linden, MI, Till next time..........................

Weather - Illegals - & Meet Dog

Even tho the day was mostly cloudy we only had a few sprinkles off and on. My sister Nadene was trying to convince me last night that we should just head for home now as it was beautiful weather in Michigan with sunny skies and warm temp's. Now her idea of "warm temp's" and mine are totally two different things. Yes I'm stuck inside the trailer when it's raining but as I pointed out to her I am still wearing shorts and have the door and windows open. The temperature she was talking about I would still be stuck inside and have the electric heater on and sweat pants. Oh and by the way ours will be staying in the high 70's and the forecast for Lansing on Saturday is a high of 47 degrees. Thank you very much but I'll stay put for another couple of weeks.

Update of the illegals. I missed the news but a neighbor said they collected over 20 illegals yesterday morning. This morning there was another group of 30 that were picked up not far from here. Wondering why all of a sudden we're seeing more traffic. (traffic of illegals not cars). I'm thinking because there are so few Winter Texans left here. Everyone pretty much has the Border Patrol on speed dial and know one has a problem with calling in a sighting. Larry thought maybe it was due to the weather, with the wind/rain the Choppers aren't out as much and the roads the Patrol travel aren't the greatest. Maybe a little of both reasons.

We had dinner with Othober's and Cypcar's tonight. Have you ever heard of Eggs in a Bag. It's really good and so easy. Egg's and all the fixings you might want put in a zip lock bag and put in boiling water for 13 minutes. Each person gets to have their omelet with just what they want in it. Oh - one warning tho - DO NOT use cheap zip lock bags. They have a tendency to explode in the water. I won't mention any names but one person got "frugal" (like that word instead of cheap) last year and bought the Dollar Store Bag. It really wasn't a pretty sight. And no it wasn't me but this person does have the same first name as I do.

Last night we went over to Church's Chicken with Jack/Danielle and Donna/Grant. Jack/Danielle will be leaving this weekend and this is one of Jack's favorite all time places to eat. That and Diary Queen which just happens to be not to far from the chicken place and the car always seems to have to go in that direction. Got a hot fudge sundae with caramel, mmmm so good.

Our daughter Renee' reminded me several weeks ago that I never put a picture on our blog of our dog. So here she is.
Her name is "Dog" and she has been with us since we built our first house in Lansing after we sold the farm. This would have been in 1995. Everyone always comments on what a well behaved dog we have and the best part is we don't have to do "poop" duty. It is fun to watch people come up to the door (it sits right beside the step) and they start talking to her. Dog has traveled with us through the years and even tho she is starting to look a little old we're hoping she is around for many more years. Actually I forgot her last year and she spent last summer in our shed here. Good thing animal control didn't find out. The ball is to keep "dog" entertained and our other 4 legged friends that visit during happy hour have been known to play with it. The rock beside dog was painted for us by our sister in law Stint (nickname for Gladys).

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome - Dallas TX, and Appleton WI. Till next time.......

Rain, Illegals, Cypcars, Othober's

OK, we are on Day 3 of rain. I'm so glad we weren't planning on leaving this week. Several residents were going to but I think we've only seen one that actually pulled out. Foolish one's.

So this has been our view out the windows:

It would quit and start to look like it was going to clear up and the sky opens up again. ENOUGH!! As of last night David said he had just under 2 inches in the rain gauge and I'm sure we've had that much today.

The other night we were sitting outside at Gary/Marilynn's and a dark green helicopter kept flying back and forth over this area. The door was open and we could see someone sitting inside so we would wave to them every time they flew over. We new it wasn't Border Patrol as there wasn't any markings and the next day I read the local on-line paper that they were National Guards. Seems two choppers have been assigned to this area to help patrol. Last night around 10:00 we could really hear the chopper above us but they must have had lights off as we couldn't see them. Than this morning about 9:00 the chopper was hovering over an area at the end of our street. Larry and Gary jumped on their bikes and road down there and saw six patrol cars loading up a bunch of people. For those of you reading this that know our park this was down in Phase 3 in the fence row. It wasn't long and the chopper & more patrol cars were down by the entrance of the State Park. So now I'm wondering if they (Homeland Security) didn't no there was a group of illegals heading this way. Just seems really strange to have all this happen within a few days. But unfortunately the local news does not say much about what happens around here.

Meet the Cypcar's

I know you've seen some pictures of David and Linda and I mention them quite often here on the blog. So thought I'd better officially introduce you to them. They are actual Texas residents now even tho they spent their pre-retirement years in several northern States with their last house being in the UP of Michigan. Summers are spent traveling from one family member to another as their kids are all living in different area's but come mid August they start working their way down here.

Now the Orthober's

Gary and Marilynn still have a home in Door County WI that they return to in the summer. Gary is the wood carver that I've posted pictures of and he also keeps us all in stitches with his stories. They are such a neat couple and we so enjoy spending time with.

Well the rain has stopped for the time being. Maybe we'll be able to sit outside for happy hour today but we won't get our hopes up. Welcome - Clarksville PA Forney TX Till next time........

Good Old Fashion Thunder Boomer

We are sitting here in our living room listening to a old fashion thunderstorm with lots of lighting and rumbles. Even had the power go out for a little while. For some reason this area very seldom gets the loud thunderstorm. With the other trailer it would be so loud inside with rain hitting the roof you could hardly hear each other talk, but with cloth ceilings in this trailer it really isn't bad at all.

Linda, Marilynn and I went out for our last girl time today as Marilynn leaves this weekend. They both had haircut appointments this morning than we made a trip over to Walmart. From there I wanted to get my nails done and they both wanted their toes prettied up so off we went to Hollywood Nails. We were just a few miles from home when the storm hit so that was good. These roads here do not have very good drainage so there's always standing water.

I wanted to have some friends over for a meal so I decided that I would make a big pot of beef and noodles for lunch on Sunday. After doing a head count we decided to have it up at the clubhouse since our place wouldn't hold that many. Also when I was at Sams the other day they had some really nice looking pork ribs so at the spur of the moment the menu was changed. Marilynn remembered she had ribs in the freezer she needed to use up so we put cooked them all morning than put BBQ sauce on and baked them last 45 minutes. Oh were they good. I was going to take a picture but by the time I remembered this is what was left.
The rest of the food was pretty much gone too so I guess everyone was happy.

Monday Marilynn, Donna and I planned on making a trip to Mexico but the weather was just plan yucky (rainy) so we decided to stay home.

It really isn't fun walking across an open bridge to Progreso when it is raining.

So as long as I couldn't do anything outside I decided it would be a good day to clean out and straighten the cupboards in the kitchen and living room. When we sit for so long it's easy to just put things away and it's not always the best thing when we are traveling. Larry always hates it because I move things on him but I thought I did quite well this time and pretty much kept everything in the same place.

Guess that's it for today. Welcome- Dayton OH, Mainz Germany, Greenville TX, Wilming DE and Garland TX. Till next time....................

The Franks & Evening with Friends

Yesterday morning Doug and Jutta Franks pulled out to head for their work camp job at Adventure Land in Iowa. This was the first time that Doug pulled their 40ft Teton with their new Volvo.

Here they are all set to go. Doug drives the truck and Jutta follows him in her VW Rabbit.

So long Doug and Jutta. If we don't see you before we'll see you in the fall. We'll miss you!!

Also that day Larry & Gary helped friends Lon and Pat Garvey put the cover on their 5th wheel as they were leaving this morning. Pat & Lon are Michigan folks who live in Belding which is less than a hour from us. Forgot to mention in the last blog that we had a nice dinner with them at a really neat restaurant the other night. Anyway they leave the trailer here and just drive back and forth.

You sure wouldn't get me up there doing this.

Last night we had Dave & Linda Cypcar over for dinner. Lon & Pat stopped in to say goodbye than Gary & Marilynn stopped to see if everyone wanted to go to breakfast this morning. I had promised Pat I would fix her a goodbye drink when they returned from dinner to relax her after the last few days of getting things closed up. I didn't make a very strong one but let's just say we all enjoyed spending the evening watching/listening to her. Hopefully we'll be seeing them this summer in Michigan.

This morning we had breakfast at Angels. It's a really small mom/pop place just down the road from here. Sorry no link, they don't even have a websit. Breakfast was good $2.99, 2-eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns & coffee.

Danielle, Donna and I went over to Sams yesterday. What a mad house. I thought maybe it wouldn't be as crowded with the Winter Texans gone but I think the locals were all there. We're having a get together tomorrow with twelve of us. I picked up some pork ribs and will put them in the roaster first thing than put BBQ sauce on it.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome - Lake Mary FL, Palos Hills IL, Plano TX, Owensboro KY and Scottsdale AZ. Till next time....................

I'm a little behind on posting - sorry

I just realized I haven't posted since Monday. No excuses, pure laziness and some what lacking on things to write about.

Tuesday morning Donna and I went and got our hair cut. Shortly after we got here I found this woman that actually speaks very good English and charges $10 for a wash/cut/dry. But the best part is she takes her time and does a good job. There are very few salons down here, mostly a shop with 1-2 woman and if your really lucky one might (& that's a big might) speak a little English. We've all found that you never/ever say the word "cut". Everything is - just a little tiny trim- and hope for the best.

The Olson's and Goodman's left really early Tuesday morning so we never got a chance to say goodbye. I know they both read this so I'll have to say it through the blog - Goodbye!!!! I honestly thought I'd be able to see them in the morning. It never crossed my mind that Jim & Dick would get Pat & Helen up and out so early.
Goodbye Dick and Helen. Have a safe trip to your house on the mountain in CO.
So long Jim and Pat. Last I heard you were heading for cold weather in Door County WI. Poor little Max (in Pat's arms) isn't going to know what to do in that cold weather. Time for find him a coat and booties. Safe trip and we'll see all of you this fall.

Wednesday we had our last ladies luncheon and this time we went out to Mimi's. There was 28 of us which kind of surprised me. I didn't think there was that many woman left in the park. We had a nice meal and they put us in our own room.

Last night it was so nice outside that we decided to spend the evening sitting out. Pretty soon Bill and Kathy Bevington stopped over than Marilynn & Gary Othober. Gary is such a great story teller and we all just cracked up laughing. I did get a couple of pictures of the sun set.


This morning Larry and I went over to the other trailer and closed it up for the summer. He always likes to drain all the tanks then fills them with water and I have some window foil that I put on each window to help keep the heat out. We also disconnect the batteries and put the propane tanks in the shed along with all the hoses and such. Also had to stop at the office and pay our annual water/sewer bill. They charge $400 a year and your allowed 3,000 gallons of usage per month. If you go over that than they bill you but that would be hard to go over that much in our place.

This afternoon Jutta Franks and I went out for a soda to just spend a few minutes together as they will be pulling out tomorrow. Her season here seemed to have flown by with getting things done on their new truck (they got a big truck last fall) and with Doug's shoulder surgery. So we decided to go out and try and get caught up before they leave.

That's if for the week. Oh forgot to mention. I finally got a call back from the park in Houghton Lake. I've made reservations for the month of July there so if anyone out there will be driving in Michigan along US127 during that time frame look us up.

Guess that's it. Welcome - Kennesaw GA and Slough Berkshire U.K. Till next time....

IT's FINISHED

Sunday morning while I was getting my food ready for Easter Dinner Larry worked on finishing up the trailer. I think it looks great but Larry wasn't totally happy with it. But than he is his own worse critic on things he fixes or builds. Lots of compliments from the neighbors tho. Here's a before and after picture.

Here is what it looked like after cutting the section where the dry rot was.

And here is the finished work. Sure can't tell it's been patched.

This morning Marilynn, Bonnie, Danielle and I went to downtown McAllen. I was there a few weeks ago but the rest haven't been there before. After taking a bit of a scenic tour thanks to a friend (who will remain nameless other than to say she has the same first name as I do and her last name starts with a C) told me to take 1 Mile and we should have been on Bus 83 we got where we wanted to be. I was surprised how many people were down town but we spent a couple of hours wandering the stores and picking up a few trinkets. The ladies had a good time and all decided we needed to do this again next year as we never got over to the second street.

I have been trying to make reservations at Houghton Lake RV Park in Michigan. My brother Bob & SIL Diane live in Houghton Lake and we checked out many parks in that area last summer looking for one we would fit in to spend a month at. Most parks are older and sites are small but we would fit in here as long as we were in the front row. So three weeks ago I called the number and left a message. A few days later I called again and left a message. The daughter called back & said her mother was on vacation until the first of April but after I gave her the info about us she said would get back with me. Several days later another call & left another message. She did call back last week with the price and lot number and said her mother would be back the next day and I could call and give her the deposit. So since than I have left three messages and still no return call. I don't know if she is that busy getting thingsd ready for the season or if they don't want our size of rig but will not call again. To bad as it would be a good place for the grandson to come so he could go shark fishing at his Uncle Bob's.

Happy hour tonight was a tail light gathering for Gail and Bonnie Quinn who are pulling out tomorrow. They will be working their way up to KS to get their new 45 ft 5th wheel.

Larry worked this morning getting everything put back in the big tool box on the truck. I have a few things I want to go through inside the trailer which I'll get done. Been working on cleaning out the little freezer in the shed so we can store that underneath. Than we should be able ready to pull out when we want to.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome - Baileys Harbor WI, Victorville CA, and Alvin TX
Till next time.................................

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

OK, if your like us you are probably sitting in your chair wondering WHY do I eat so much. We had a wonderful meal up at the clubhouse with friends. David & Linda's son, DIL and three grand kids arrived late yesterday so she planned a big old fashion Easter Dinner with Turkey, Ham and all the fixings. I forgot to get a picture of all the food but it sure was good. This was also a "tail light party" for Dick & Helen Goodman & Jim & Pat Olson as they will be leaving on Tuesday.



Here's part of the group waiting for Mr Turkey to get done. We were a bit off on the timing but that's ok we just got into the wine a little early. If we were in Europe it would be 5:00.


Gr-pa David showing kids how to play pool while Chris & Monica put up with all the old folks.

Hey Marilynn your on candid camera.



Now Gary and Larry we just don't know what to do about. I've never seen two men who could turn into two little boys so quickly. They seem to feed off each other and can get themselves into more trouble. I guess it's a good thing Lake Michigan separates them during the summer.

Our HDT friends got together and went out for dinner tonight. I'm sure they are having a good time and will come home feeling full and happy.

We had a beautiful day with sunny skies and temperature in the high 80's. A bit windy but with the humidity up we need it.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome - Kerrville TX, Brandenburg KY, Milwaukee WI, United Kingdom, and Carlsbad NM who is probably our friends Mark/Dale Bruss as that's where they are at right now. Till next time.................................

Huge Burger & Mexico

We left around 9AM this morning to head down to Larry & LaVila which is about a half hour from here. They will be leaving soon and we wanted to make one more trip to Mexico with them. There wasn't too many gringo's there. Not sure if it was because so many Winter Texans have headed north or if it's due to it being Good Friday. Probably a little of both but I did notice that there were more street vendor's gone which is early for this time of year. Anyway I was able to find some little gifts for the great nieces and nephews. Luckily the kids ages are close so I can buy 2 or 3 of the same thing.

Here's a few of the items.

Larry got his last $4.00 hair cut and the $3.00 shoe shine so he's all set. We actually left there without any liquor. Took a inventory of what we have before leaving and I think we're set to host happy hour with the family.

Once we left Mexico we decided to go to Gonzales Burger in Donna TX. The inside is anything but fancy with maybe 8-10 long tables and the decorations consist of deer heads hanging on the walls. The menu is pretty simple, hamburger, cheese burger, bacon burger with all the fixings and the sides are onion rings or french fries. The owners are three sisters and a brother and the outside isn't much better looking than the inside. About the only way you know it's there are from all the cars parked on the street. But every Winter Texan has to hit this place at least once during the season. Don't go there if your in a hurry cause you'll have at least a half hour wait.

Here's basically their kitchen. Look at the size of those burgers.

Larry and I shared this. If this doesn't clog your arteries, nothing will. But it sure is good. Each morning they ground so much meat. They open at 11AM and stay open until the meat is gone. This could be 1:00 or 3:00 you never no. Can't beat the cost, we got the cheeseburger, fries and coke for $7.00.

After lunch we took Larry and LaVila back to their place and said our goodbyes. Hopefully we will see them this summer but if not definitely next fall.

The wind finally calmed down this afternoon. Actually it was dead still and 92 degrees. Gee-sh we sure could have used those strong winds this afternoon sitting outside at happy hour. Like Larry tells me "I'd b***h if I was hung with a new rope". Yup that's me.

We've decided to go home a little earlier this year and will be leaving here the 1st of May. It seems like this season we've been away from family a long time and so we'll brave the possible cold weather and go home early. Hopefully we'll be home around the 4th, depends on how the weather is between here and there. A few times we've had to hunker down and wait for things to clear up ahead of us.

Guess that's it for tonight. Welcome Spring TX and Taylor MI. Till next time............