A little late....but safe!!!

I tell ya, down here the time just seems to fly bye! 

Gonzales Super Burgers

Even tho we are on a tighter than normal budget we seem to be as busy as ever.

One of our 1st treats was lunch at Gonzales burgers with our new friends from Burlington, Jack & Jeannie. One (16oz) burger and fries/onion ring combo is plenty for two (even for me, lol).

We share our time with Bean Bag Baseball, Thurs. & Sundays; Peter Piper Pizza* nite on Weds. (Not to often this year tho); Soup nite on Thursdays (Stuffed potatoes once per month); Bike to Breakfast* on Friday mornings, *subject to budget restrictions*. Occasionally there is entertainment on Tuesdays and Fridays and C/W dance every Saturday. We try to volunteer on entertainment nights so we can work for our admittance. 

We are not active in any of the craft classes (Quilt, stain glass, woodworking) or other park Club activities, Red Hat, Texas Grandmas, Tai Chi, Exercise classes, shuffle board, pool hall, horseshoes, tennis, card games, etc.)

The 1st Responders group keeps us busy enough, we are on call all the time but have committed to be 'On Duty, 7AM Sat. till 7AM Sun'. These are the only 2 days you will see us 'out and about' at the ungodly hour of 7AM. Our Leader (Bless her) is a morning person and she calls the shots :-(

We have decided to allow ourselves on 'special' treat a month. January had three events and we were  with on 'Kraft dinner', bread and water for the duration of the month (Just kidding). Besides Gonzales we went to an organized Basketball game and went to see John Segar, one of the top Winter entertainers in the RGV.

 The 'Vipers Winter Texans Club" happens twice a year. The Vipers organization arrangers to pick us up, pass out Viper shirts; dine us at a restaurant; pre-game V.I.P. lounge with snacks and a bag of take home goodies; great game seat; more snacks at 1/2 time; we provided the yelling and screaming; and then a NOT too quiet trip home, we were trying highjack the buss for a side trip visit to Mexico for a couple of quick 'Margaritas', lol! Andre, our young guide, is looking forward to retirement so he could have so much fun. The next one is March 5th and they are including 'Bingo and Prizes' before the game. Better check out our next installment for the details.

Paul & Jane

There were about 58 of us.

Menu

Larry with his fish dinner

We won the game in the last few seconds

Our third treat was a night out with John Segar one of the top Winter entertainers in the RGV:

John Segar

Entertaining on the floor

John has been in the valley for only 3 years and he has been voted entertainer of the year several times. He has an awesome voice, intermixes with the audience (The women love him) and sang/played the music us seniors enjoyed. Sure glad we didn't miss his show. Of course Jane is in love with him too, along with Andre from the Vipers, seems to me she loved most of the players too!!

On Jan. 22 we got our mail envelope from home (Thank you Brian). Nothing much to get excited about as we finally got everything pre-paid or auto-payed. Brian, Jane's brother, forwards us an envelope about every 6 weeks.

We ended the month off with our annual 'Craft show' on Jan. 28th and on Jan. 30th I attended a 5 hour 'First Aid Course' thru the 1st Responders group, compliments of the 'ALAMO Fire Department'. Jane missed this one and to bad for her because she would have fallen in love with 'John the Fireman' too, lol!!!

 On the 31st we had a full day, Jane went on an all day 'ROPA' adventure with a bunch from the park. Then we wnet to Soup night and then topped off playing Bean bag Baseball. Safely home by 10PM.

Jane showed me what she got for spending $10....including lunch, if you would believe. ROPA is a warehouse where clothing is packaged in bales and opened in one hug mountain of products. Each bundle is a mixture of unsorted 'stuff', kids, ladies, men, shirts, coats, pants, underwear, shoes, wedding dresses, bedding...everything. When you check out you pay by the pound, usually 30/35 cents/lb, she said one warehouse was $1 but didn't know why? Most of the stuff is new and donated from manufacturers as maybe defective so you have to be careful. Jane got a beautiful sweater with a stain that she was able to launder out easily, a dress, blouse, chesterfield cover and a stuffed toy for Daisy.

Feb. 6, 2013

I held off updating this because our February treat was going to see 'Cirque du Soleil' - (QUIDAM). I was somewhat disappointed because of all the hype about the organization, it was good but basically just a  well performed circus act.

 

On Tuesdays the park sponsors a Jam Session which is open the all those that have talent, an instrument and the nerve to preform in front of a live audience. I have yet attended one of these but have heard that they are quite entertaining. Sometimes 'professionals' show up, just for fun and practice. Jane has attended a few and last week she actually got up and sang a song. I was out of the park and when I went to meet her there.......she had just sat down from doing her performance ..damn bad timing. People kept coming bye and complimenting her on a job well done. At the break an old timer that had played with Jim Reeves made a special trip over to congratulate her on her song and presentation, we were impressed. Damn, so sorry I missed it, had my camera with me too! 

Our friends from our old park in Lindsay (Alpine RV Park) are down here in a nearby park for Feb. and March. We promised to take them to our local Hispanic Flea Market (Our favourite) sometime this month. It's a good 4 hours for entertainment and bargaining. We got Jane 'Keurig' machine there for $10, a second one for $15 last year and this year  she got and upgraded model for $25. It's good for Tea or Coffee. We are looking forward to entertaining them there and visit a local Mexican Restaurant before calling it a day.

Recently, at the Alamo F.M. we found a bike that fits Jane and she can ride with confidence. Get this, it was brand new and has 15 gears and all he wanted was $45. We emptied my wallet and Jane's purse and he accepted $42.50. We were able to sell her other 2 bikes for what we paid for them. Another 'Happy' ending. 

Until next time 'Adios Amigos'

Year #3 in the Rio Grande Valley

Blog No. 1-Alamo Texas 2012

In 2010 we liquidate our sticks and stones home, bought a 39' Titanium 5th wheel/truck combo and became Gypsies. Our 5 year plan was to travel East to West (USA) and West to East (Canada) and settle in a Mobile somewhere in Southern USA (Arizona was considered) and a Mobile somewhere in the Lindsay area of Ontario.

Mobile in Alamo, Tx

As of August 4th 2012, we bought a Mobile in Alamo Texas (2010), sold the 5th wheel in 2012, bought a Mobile in Ontario as well as a 23' Class 'C' Motor home for travelling. We did our 5 year plan in 2 years.

We are finding it inconvenient not having a small car down here, we will tow Jane's PT Cruise next year and buy a Dodge Caravan (Van of some sort) for the next Summer in Ontario.

New deck w  Pergola 

Mobile in Lindsay, Ont.

New Motor home

We arrived on Nov. 3rd after 3 long days on the road, the last day being 16 hours, arriving around midnight and to bed by 2AM but we were so glad to have arrived and safely.

We had some mechanical problems on our 1st day out at mile 132 where  we lost power and gear shifting. We lucked out at a country garage and found out that the vehicle was in top shape but there was moisture in the module panel of the auto transmission (probably from not being ib use for awhile). We lost about 90 mins. and knew what to do if it reoccured, which it did. Then in Arkansas we blew a tire (safely) early evening on a busy highway. It was dark and scary too. We were able to get to the shoulder and call for help. John and his huge tow truck came to our rescue within the hour and had us on our way shortly thereafter. I should point out that we started off with 6 brand new tires, we are bringing back the flat and hope for an adjustment. Rather that take another day we decided to catch up on the lost time on our last day. Once again the highways and weather were just awesome. We took 3 different routes coming down here over the past 3 years and all the US roads were fantastic, some construction of course, but sure puts Ontario/Toronto to shame.

We have been here 3 weeks  and can't believe all that we have done already, and we came down here for a rest, lol!

Over grown garden

There were hornets nests too!

Papaya Tree

Our priority was to cut down the front garden so we could get into the house. The Papaya tree, that I thought I killed, came back. Last year it was almost to the roof level and full of mature fruit. It has a nice tropical leaf but unfortunately it is not suitable for a front garden. The fruit is not to tasty, for me anyway.

Next was people food, dog food, then TV and Internet. Our TV/Internet provider went bankrupt but the RV Park arranged for Time Warner to take over. We were able to get a tire replacement at our local Walmart store. Walmart's can be found within a 5 miles radius from wherever you may be. Walmart and H.E.B are the 2 main grocery outlets here in the Valley and both are very good, although Walmart has everything you need under one roof. We probably will shop more ar Walmart this year because we just have the Motor Home for transportation.

I washed and vacuumed (mostly dog hair) the Motor Home and found an empty lot nearby for temporary storage.

We lost 3 of our 4 fruit trees because our lawn care service removed my sprinkling system and forgot to put it back after cutting. They replanted 3 new trees this morning but no oranges this year, we still have some grapefruit though.

 Last year we lost our flowering bushes in the front garden so we replaced them with a hardy local flowering bush that keeps blooming all seasons long.

We were fortunate to get 7 chain link gates which were excess from Pat and Vic's (our friends from Kentucky) new Mobile. I was able to make an enclosed dog run for the guys to do their business without getting tangled up with a rope.

 It turned out to be both practical and attractive, the red chips help keep it nice and clean.

We are back on the 1st Responders Team and our day of duty is 7AM Sat. to 7AM Sun. We are fortunate to have friends (Pattie, Vic & Pat) loan us their golf carts for our day of duty. There is a large heavy kit including a defibrillator, back board and first aid stuff that could be required on a call, plus we need to get to where going FAST.

We got a quick trip to Don West flea market, one of the largest in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley). A good place to pickup fresh fruit and things you don't need. This week we are going to Mexico on Wed. and a local Hispanic (my favourite) flea market.

We have been helpers for the Saturday night Texas Western Dance, played bean bag baseball and Jane has been at the pool whenever the Sun shines. The weather was great when we arrived, then cooled off (70ish) and now back up into the 80's, Sunny and 88F for tomorrow....certainly worth waking up for, lol!

TTFN

P&J

Getting Antsy for TEXAS

The cold weather has arrived in this part of Canada (Lindsay,Ont.) There is a frost warning for tonight. Time to blow this joint, lol! Unfortunately we still have a month to go. 

We arrived on May 1st and spent the day in emergency @ Lindsay Hospital. Jane's whole body became swollen, after a full bank of tests they determined that maybe it happened because of the confinement in a vehicle for such a long time??? We did have some difficulty finding lodgings in Sarnia and had to travel to London, Ont. which added to an already long day. Fortunately Jane had a complete recovery within 24 hours.

Opening up the 5th wheel, stocking the 'galley' and renewing my expired drivers license (April 28th) were top priorities. May 15th was the closing of the sale of our Commercial property and Jane was out hustling for a part time job for the Summer. She was hired to work as a sales person with "Hamilton Creek', a high end ladies clothing store. She had a great season with them and she expects to be back there next year. The nice thing is being only 6 mins. from home.

Last Fall we changed parks so that we could have an extended season, most parks close on Thanksgiving and that's to soon for us. Riverwood Park has both seasonal and an all season section. We were fortunate to have purchased a Mobile Home in the all season area. If we can't travel, now we have a place to stay for the Winter.

24 Homestead Drive

We are very pleased with this unit. It has been renovated recently, new bathroom and appliances, clean and bright. I'm just finishing building a side deck with a pergola over the top by the Sun Room. We hope this will help keep the Sun Room cooler during the Summer months. This year the room got so hot we were unable to use it. There is a propane fireplace to keep it cozy in the Winter.

In the rear we will have a 20 x 16 raised deck into an enclosed yard for the dogs to enjoy some freedom.

I have been active in my Handyman business (that I closed down) but the phone keeps ringing from my old customers that can't find reliable workers. I booked in 14 days of work which did help with the furnishings of the new home and deck lumber.

There are many activities for both seasonal and all season tenants; we got to the pool once, bingo once, pot luck once and a charity yummy spagetti dinner. On Canada Day they had a BBQ followed with a fireworks display. We missed so many activities that we wanted to attend to mix and get to know people faster....maybe next year. We can't believe how fast the Summer has gone bye. This has been one of the hottest Summers in my memory (?), water shortages and burnt out lawns.

Jane's Workplace

Lindsay City Hall

Jane at Work

Lindsay Parade

On May 31st I went to Town to see this parade and also surprise Jane at work, she didn't look up until the flash went off.

It was so nice to see family and old friends again. Last year was such a rush, with tearing my Achilles tendon, working and camping out at the Chip Truck and not being able to drive for the Summer. We did rush to see most of our friends before we left for Texas, all in one week.

Sean and Anne

 We took the 5th wheel to Ottawa, Canada's Capital and my hometown, for 4 days to attend my nephews wedding. It was an awesome wedding for 2 beautiful people.

Brother and Sisters
Rick, Lu, Jean, Carol & Paul
(Bro. Tom is missing)

Paul and his bride of 25 yrs Jane

The wedding took place in a historical Church with the reception at Ottawa's famous Chateau Laurier Hotel.

Paul and Jane

We don't usually get good pictures of us together. I'm usually behind the camera.





It has been a fun, hot and fast Summer. We seem to unpack, pack, teardown (deck), rebuild deck, shop for household bargains (Internet, buy/sell shops, flea markets, Sally Ann's, antiques shops and furniture clearing house). Now if we can sell the 5th wheel were done, if we don't then we can do some Summer travelling too!

We accomplished our 5 year plan in 2 years so we are way ahead of ourselves. We did find out that we prefer to travel from point 'A' to point 'B' rather than travel continuously.

TEXAS HERE WE COME!

Final Countdown to Home!!!

Hi Y'all!

My beautiful cactus flower, lasted 2 days

Twelve days to home bound. The park is basically empty, except a few late travelers like us and of course those that stay all year, about 50 sites.

The park is under construction, the crews are here digging and installing pipes and cable to upgrade all the sites to 100 amp service. Most of the digging is complete. They were wise to hold off until all the guests left as there was constant noise and dust. I must say that the Hispanic' workers worked diligently through the heat of the day, most days from dawn to dusk. Much of the digging of the 4' deep trenches through the lots to the electrical panels were by hand. This coming Fall when we all return everything should be back to normal.





The Park already re-surface the shuffleboard game area.  They always seem to have many projects, new and old, to do during the Summer.

Campeko Party Room

We were invited to an end of season BBQ at a nearby (Alamo Palms) RV Park by our friends (Jack and Dorothy) that we met when Jane was acting in the 'Play'. Jack was Jane's husband for the month and he went and gave her back. I guess having one at home was enough, lol!




We have return to their Park on several occasions to utilize their large dog run and enjoyed coffee, friendship and home made biscuits by Dorothy. We brought grapefruits from our trees for Jack, Dorothy and Mary (who was Mabel in the play).

Mary, Jack, Dorothy & Jane

Dog Run

Last Saturday we had them over to our Park for a brunch and good bye's. Always a sad time of the year.

On April 5th we had our annual 'Adios Amigos' dinner with Ted and Connie (Ted went to Fisher Park HS with me) at 'The Texas Roadhouse'. We hope to meet up with them in Ottawa this Summer.




The Spring Flowers are out and new fruit is on the trees. My neighbours Pecan Tree is blooming, the leaves fall off in the Fall and looks dead all Winter. The grapefruit and orange trees are loaded  with new small geen fruit.
I wonder what happens to them in the Summer??

Orange fruit still green

Next week I must start planning for close down, we spray the inside to control the Texas Beatles, bugs and ants. We spray under the mobile for carpenter ants, all ants and creepy crawllies. We turn off the water and electricity. We cover all the furniture with sheets. We put saran wrap over all areas where water may evaporate, sink, bathtub drains, toilets shower drains and then we put kitty litter (in containers) throughout the house to help control the humidity. Finally we lower the outside hurricane awnings, lock up, say a prayer and head home.

For those we don't see over the Summer we wish you Health and Happiness and for those we will see Big Hugs coming your way.

Paul & Jane