Saturday

The Palmview crime stoppers held the 1st annual skeet shoot at the palapa on the River today. They had a good turn out for the first one.
Despite how it looks, they did not shoot Mexicans. They did shoot towards Mexico, but I'm pretty sure there was no one swimming there!
This is Mike's new boat and boathouse. It is where the hidden cove was. It looks very different all cleared out. It will still be hard to find the entrance from the river, especially if you are coming from the east. We will have to see..............................






Stairs to the boathouse.

Friday

Linda and I did some shopping today. Nothing special, but it was fun to poke around Michael's craft store. We looked at more Halloween stuff than anything.




We went for a bike ride in the State Park before dinner. There weren't many birds out but we saw thousands of butterflies. These are a few of the pictures I took.








I was surprised to see a few Monarch's







This historical marker is at the State Park.












This picture is out of focus, but it was a beautiful little butterfly. The colors and patterns reminded us of Stained Glass. I'll try for a better picture tomorrow.

Oct. 20, 2009

Things here in the Valley are great. Sorry that I am having trouble blogging everyday.

Today Linda and I took pictures of some of the butterflies that are here in the park. It was a windy day, but there are so many that it didn't matter.

Tonight we got together with Pat & Vern for margarita's.

It's Monday again?

Today was another cloudy day until later in the afternoon.

Scotty washed the roof and we cleaned the vents and fans. Something that was long overdue.
It took all morning and into the early afternoon.

We had a short break and then rode our bikes over to Pat & Vern's for dinner. We had hot dogs and beans and I took Taboule because it didn't need to be cooked. It was fun and we had a good visit with them.

Sunday

Today was over caste and cooler. The kind of day that makes you not want to do anything. Need I write more?
The tour in the GATV got postponed because it rained over night and it was too muddy.

Saturday and the formation of the First in Club

Today was cooler. It ended up a great day. Tonight we saw fireflies.

Don & Ginny returned to BPV yesterday. Today we all got together for margaritas and the first meeting of the First In Club. It will be open to anyone that come during the first week of Oct. and is booked for 6 months. This year is the first year. So the charter members are;
Don & Ginny Wilson
Mark & Teri Brown
Pat & Vern Shearer
John & Anne Scott

There will be perks for members all year. The goal is to make people want to come in Oct. next year.
We will have have Margareta nights in Oct for members. Probably a cook out. T-shirts or buttons to ware.
Tomorrow Don is taking us all out in the large ATV to see the new boat ramp. Mike got a new pontoon boat this summer. It's going to be for our use for a fee.

Friday

Today started out sunny but the front came through around noon and it cooled down and we got a little rain.

We went to Mexico with Pat & Vern for a couple of hours. There was a bike rally there. We saw a lot of really cool bikes.
It didn't seen very different from last year. The only obvious thing was that the military guards all had face masks. Not sure that's a good thing.....

Thursday

Guess what? Today was another hot and humid day! Surprise! BUT it's all supposed to change tomorrow.
Pat & I went to HEB this morning and I got some food to put in the little fridge. It's nice to have cold milk again.
Scotty & I both got our hair cut today. That was long overdue. It was also the highlight of the day.
We visited with Pat & Vern tonight for a while.

Wednesday

Today Scotty and Mark took the fridge out and ordered a new cooling unit. I was left with this lovely space. I tried to figure out where else we could put the fridge because I think a washer & dryer would fit in there perfectly. But, there is no other place for the fridge to go and of the 2, I would rather have the frige. The new part should be here the first part of next week.


This is what the back of the fridge looks like. Scotty is taking the cooling unit off in this picture. We will have to send it back when we get the replacement and they will rebuild it to see to someone else.



Pat & Vern Shearer arrived today. They came to my rescue and lent us their dorm sized fridge. It's not big, but it's great to have any fridge to use. We still have Teri & Marks cooler too.

Pat & Vern have a broken cable on the bedroom slide and Scotty & Vern are going to try to fix that next.

It was hot and humid again today. We can't use the pool for a few days because instead of turning the heater on for the hot tub, the pool heater was turned on by mistake and it is now 102 degrees! It may cool down enough to use in a couple of months!
Pat & Vern went to dinner with us at Pizza Hut. It's great to see them and hear about the places they traveled this past summer.

Oct. 6th

It was another hot day in the Rio Grande Valley. The humidity is high for this time of year too.

I had an exciting day of doing the laundry.

Scotty spent the day trying to figure out what is wrong with our refrigerator. The freezer ran, but the refridgerator wouldn't keep cool.

Teri & Mark (they are here doing work-camping) lent us a cooler and I was able to put the frozen food in the refrigerator in the office.

Mark has a business doing RV repairs. So he brought his manuals down and tried to help. Tomorrow Scotty will have to take the refrigerator out and see if he figure out the problem. Wish us luck!

Just a day at the beach

We packed the cooler and headed for S. Padre Island this morning. We had a great time. We stopped at the convention center and checked out the birds and 1 alligator from the boardwalk. They have finished the walkway and it's really nice. We saw a wood stork, stilts, 4 different types of herons, Rosette spoonbills and the usual pelicans, ducks, gulls, etc.

We parked the car on the beach and set our chairs in the shade it gave. We enjoyed the warm water. The last time we were at the beach we were in Maine and the gulf is certainly much warmer than the north Atlantic.





Scotty always loves to drive on the beach. So we did some of that too. We also checked out the park on the southern end so we would know where to go when we return in 2 weeks for the Sandcastle weekend.

There are so many butterflies that I just had to post a picture of 1.

Sizzling Sunday

Hot hot hot! But it's so much better than being cold cold cold!

Scotty worked on the awning again and put the bows in it to make it more stable. Then we put out the rope lights.
I made a potato salad and Scotty grilled burgers on his new Cobb grill for dinner.
We rode our bikes up to the pool this afternoon, to cool off a bit. The heater hasn't been on for about 5 months, but the water is still warm. But we enjoyed it.
I saw some beautiful butterflies today, but they wouldn't sit still long enough to get a picture.
I also made a butterfly feeder, and hung 2 small hummingbird feeders. I hope they like them.

Our Anniversary

Today is our 28th anniversary. We had a nice day together. We went for a bike ride in Bentsen Palm Rio Grande State Park first thing this morning, before it got hot. We saw the usual birds and 1 javalina.

After we showered and changed we went into McAllen to shop at Harbor Freight. They were having a sale. We poked around for a while and bought a few things. Then we went to Lowe's to get the pvc to use for posts on the awing enclosure. I got a few packets of seeds for the garden too.

After that we went to Hayashi which is a Hibachi Restaurant. It was great! We ate way too much and still had some to bring home.

Tonight the swallows did another fly-by. It could have been a new flock, since it wasn't as large as last night. It just amazes me to see things like that.

The full moon rose in a clear sky. Winds still from the south which has kept the front to the north giving us another beautiful day.

Oct. 2, 2009

These are just 2 of the many amazing flowers here this time of year.

Scotty put the awning shade up today and did some other things that make it feel more like home. I went to the HEB and spent way too long there getting groceries and relearning where everything is. It's a nice store.

Scotty cooked pork chops in our new Cobb grill. It came out good. I made toss salad, garlic mashed potatoes and fresh apple sauce to go with it. M MM M M!

We went for a swim in the pool before dinner. The water was warm but still refreshing.

Tonight there was thunder and some lightening, but no rain.

Terri told us that the black cats that are here are corporate cats. So we have been calling the little one that has befriended us (much to our dismay) Little Black Corporate Cat. What else?

All in all it was a good day.

Oct. 1st. Bentsen Palm Village, Mission, TX

Today we drove the 275 (or so) miles from Helotes to Mission. The drive was a good one despite the traffic jam that met us as we got to the on ramp to the 1604 loop. There had been an accident, but it was cleared in short order and the traffic moved on.
We were set up on our site (826) and had turned on the AC by 4PM. This little humming bird was very busy and found my feeder right off despite all the flowers. There are flowers everywhere!


The following pictures are of the new corporate headquarters of Rhodes Enterprises & SolStar Network.

The building is located in the back parking lot, next to the wood shop. It seems to be the biggest change I've seen so far.

Tonight as the sun set, the swallows came in. There were thousands and thousands of them! It was amazing.

Our last day in Helotes

Today is our last day here in Helotes, TX. Tomorrow we will drive to Mission for the winter.
We did all the things that have to be done in order to leave in the morning.
This afternoon Scotty, Susan & I went to the movies. We say "The Time Travelers Wife" which was a good movie. We all enjoyed it. We ate too much popcorn so didn't want to go out to eat dinner.
Tonight we had wine and cheese and spent time just chatting. It has been so good to spend time with Susan again. And her 3 rescued dogs Truman, Ozzie & Jade.

Tuesday

Today was mostly uneventful. Aside from a trip to the local HEB (a great TX based grocery store) and a stop at Lowe's there isn't much to write.
The weather was nice. It was cooler but still sunny. We were able to leave the windows open and didn't need to run the AC at all.
I cleaned up in the RV and Scotty finished up some small projects for Susan.

Monday in San Antonio, TX

We had decided to go into San Antonio today to see the new part of the River Walk that opened last spring. Then we sat around talking and drinking coffee with Susan until it was after 10. So now we had to hurry to make it to the bus stop so we could ride into the city on the bus instead of driving in. But we made it! We are such hicks when it comes to things like riding the bus. But we followed Susan's lead and were able to manage paying the fare and purchasing a transfer ticket. Eventually we arrived at our stop and got off the bus. Yes, all 3 of us made it at the same time.

We had to walk about 3 blocks to get to the area near the AT&T building that had the best entrance to the new part of the River Walk. On the way we stopped at the Vietnam War Memorial. It was very moving. You can't tell in the picture, but it's very large.

On the new part of the River Walk there are no restaurants or shops. There are benches and ponds, & lots of art. The barges will take you (for $10 fee) from end to end as many times in 24 hours as you'd like. We took one to the far end through the lock to where the Pearl Brewery is. The buildings are now being renovated into shops and restaurant. We had lunch at the Texas Farm to Table. The food was very good.

The new part of the River Walk and the barge

Some of the artwork along the way. These fish hang from an overpass.
Each one is around 4 ft long

The lock has about a 12 ft. lift

Sunday

Susan, Scotty & I went to church this morning at http://www.castlehillsbaptist.org/. We have visited this church with Susan before. It's beautiful and you can feel real love there. We enjoyed it very much.
On the way home we had lunch at Red Robin's. I have never seen one back east. If you haven't eaten at one they have mostly burgers, soup & salads. Everything was very good. Then we stopped at Lowe's to look at lights for a project Susan needs done. Later today Scotty started that project for her.
We enjoyed watching the deer that Susan feeds in her yard. There are a couple of nice bucks and lots of doe, some with fawns. They aren't too skittish, but watchful and don't get too close.
I bought a window humming bird feeder at Lowe's and put that on my window. I have seen the hummers around the flowers & feeders that Susan has. Maybe tomorrow they will stop at my feeder too.
I can hear the coyote's not too far off. They remind me that it's late and time to shut down the computer.

Friday & Saturday

Friday morning we drove down to Helotes. It was a nice drive mostly down Highway 282, which meanders down to San Antonio.
It was an easy drive. We stopped for lunch in one of many roadside picnick areas. The sun was out and the farther south we drove, the warmer it got.
We arrived in Helotes in the early afternoon and set up in Susan's yard. Scotty cut a few branches from a tree in order to park, but that didn't take long at all.
Once settled we got to know Susan's 2 new rescued dogs. A Caren Terrier name OZZIE and a chiwawa-westie mix names JADE. Along with Truman who we've known for several years they are keeping things lively and interesting for her.
The 3 of us went out for pizza and got caught up on what had been going on in our lives. It is great to be back and to see old friends.

On Saturday Susan had to go to a meeting so Scotty and I hung out on our own. We set up our Hughes net dish and got caught up on emails.
After Susan got home we all had a nice dinner of shrimp and pasta that I made in her spacious kitchen.
Susan has a few projects that we are going to help her with while we are here. Nothing big, just things that are hard to do alone. It will keep Scotty busy. He always needs something to do.

The weather has been great! Daytime temps in the low 90's but night time temps in the low 60's so good to sleep. We will stay here until the 1st when we head down to Mission.

Santo, Texas

We put in another long (for us anyway) day on the road. We are both happy to be back home in Texas. We stopped at the Welcome Center and picked up the new TACO magazine and the new (just in today) Valley Map. So we are all set.

We found a great place to stop for the night. The Coffee Creek RV Resort. http://www.coffeecreekrvresort.com It's new. The owners are young and very excited. They have built a beautiful place here. There are only a few of us here tonight and so they gave us a premium site for the price of a regular one. They also gave Scotty ice cream. They didn't sell it in the store, but had some of their own. They were very nice to share it.

Wed. From Branson, MO to Crowder, OK

We left early and drove for almost 300 miles. We ended up at a small campground. We had no Internet, but we were able to put the dish up and get TV.
Since there was nothing of any interest eithor on tv or at the campground we turned in early.

Tuesday in Branson

After a night of rain & T-storms the day turned out to be ok. The sun wasn't out much, but the temps were mild and there was no rain.
We went on the showboat Branson Bell for a dinner cruise. The food was good. There was a lot of it too. The entertainment was great. All in all we had a very nice time with lots of laughs.
We packed the car tonight so we should be able to get an early start on our drive for tomorrow.

Branson, MO

We drove 73 miles today to Branson, MO. We got to the Branson Stagecoach RV resort at 11am. The weather was hot and sunny all day until around 6PM when the front started to reach us. The sky got very dark, the wind blew, then it started to rain, softly at first. Then the wind stopped and the rain picked up. So now it's still raining hard, with thunder and lightening. The wind is not blowing so it may stick around for the entire night.
We took a shuttle form here to the Welk Theatre tonight to see Lee Greenwood and the Bellamy Brothers. Both acts were great in their own way. The Bellamy played only their #1 hits,( starting with "He's an Old Hippy" )for an hour.
Lee Greenwood told jokes, talked about doing USO shoes for 30 years, played the Saxophone and of course sang. Ending the show naturally with "Proud to be an American" with the everyone in the place standing for it and singing along. It was very moving.
There are so many shows here that it would take a month or more to see them all. We are going to do some other things tomorrow but I'll keep that for tomorrows entry.

We set a new record for getting on the road!

Today we got up at 6:30. I'm sure it's just because we aren't used to Central Time yet. But anyway, ---- We actually hit the road at 8 AM!
We drove almost 300 miles to Phillipsburgh, MO. It rained on and off and was only in the low 60's. We found a nice little campground and set up about 3;30. It was warmer here and the sun even came out for a bit. I was even able to do the laundry before dinner.
Scotty and I met some folks from Chicago who are on their way to Branson. They gave me a web site to a campground that has a free shuttle to any show you want to go to. So we are heading to Branson tomorrow morning. It's only about 68 miles so we should get there and have time to do the town. I'll let you know.

We drove to Elkhart, IN to the RV/MH museum. We really enjoyed it! Great collection of RV's. We learned that there is only 1/2 the total collection there. They have big plans to expand. We may try to go back in a couple of years to see it again.

We drove from there to Potato Creek state park. It was very expensive, for nothing but electric. The site was so bad that we couldn't level the rig, and had to climb uphill to go to bed.

OK, it wasn't that bad, but we were happy to leave in the morning.

We drove to Chillicothe, IL on Friday. We stayed at the Chillicothe Recreation Area. Nice lake, good level sites. 50 AMP, wi-fi! We are happy here.

This afternoon we went to a Mid-Evil Reenactment. It was interesting. The vender's had some neat stuff. I didn't buy anything.

One of the reenactors was Tim Lyons who Scotty has sold the boat to. He came by later this afternoon and took the boat with him. Scotty was glad to sell it to someone who will use it.

Extras

Here are a few pictures that should have been with the last post.

Karen & I redecorated their 5th wheel.

Scotty and Dave worked on the deck.
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We also went to Macinac Island while in MI. Karen found a new Sugar Daddy.

Monroe, MI Sept. 4 - 16.

We had a nice day to drive from Niagara to Detroit, MI. The traffic wasn't as bad as we expected! Thank you Lord!

We arrived at Karen & Dave's just in time for dinner on Friday! Karen is a wonderful cook and we both put on some extra pounds while staying with them.

We really enjoyed being with them. Karen & I shopped (of course) until we dropped! Dave and Scotty worked on their new deck. Dave has done a great job rebuilding it. It looks very nice.

On Tuesday we drove north to their cabin near Grayling on the Au Sabol River. While we were there we did kayaking, biking and sight-seeing. Oh, and Karen & I shopped, of course.

John & Diana Provost live about an hour from the Cabin and were able to come up for a visit.
It was so much fun catching up on things with them. Jake came along too, but didn't get into the picture because he was sleeping on my bed. The trip must have been too much for him!


After we returned to Monroe, Scotty and Dave put new shocks & struts on our tow car. It seems to have helped a lot. Sure did save us a bunch of $$$'s! Thanks for the help Dave.

Better Late Than Never! Sept. 2009

We left Kattskill Bay, NY yesterday. We had hoped for an early start, but that was not to be. Scotty had so much to do to get ready to leave that it took us longer than we had thought. Then we couldn't get the boat loaded on the car top racks. That took forever! Then we found that the bike rack was broken and he had to fix that... Well, you get the picture I'm sure. We actually never got on the road until 4:30 PM. we drove 4 house and stopped at the home of Mark, Kathy & Billy Harris for the night. They live right on Cayuga Lake, NY. What a nice spot to live. They have flower beds, veggie gardens and kayaks, fishing boats, a dock, a place to swim in their back yard! Osprey next not 50 feet from their dock. They have geese, ducks and herons too. Next time we hope to spend more that one night. Kathy even made a Chocolate cake! My favorite kind. We had talked about our mothers both making it when we were together in Maine. It was very sweet of her.

This morning we we got an earlier start. We made good time on the I-90 but had an extra (and unplanned) spin around downtown Buffalo, NY. That only added another 30 minutes to our trip, so not bad. I had never been there anyway. We crossed into Canada at Niagara Falls, NY. The line at the crossing wasn't bad and we only ended up waiting about 15 minutes in all. Much faster than Mexico. We are staying at Shalamar Lake Trailer & Family Park in Queenston, Ontario, Canada. It is only about 5 miles from Niagara Falls which is where we went for dinner. We found a nice restaurant with a second level deck overlooking the falls. Scotty had a hamburger and fries and I had Baby Back Ribs and fries. We each had a draft beer to wash it down. It was great.

Vermont

Today we had several appointments in Rutland, Vermont http://http://www.rutlandvermont.com/ It hasn't changed much since we were there last year. Not that I expected it would. There were a few stores at the mall that were different, but that was about it.

Our first appointment was with the accountant. We needed to get our taxes done and sent in. That will be a load off my mind. I explained to him that we would not be in VT next year and he said to just mail the information to him. Good to know. One less thing to worry about.

We had lunch at Friendly's Ice Cream http://http://www.friendlys.com/ which seems to be only in the north. I was good and didn't have desert, while Scotty had only a small sundae.

Next Scotty had an appointment to have his hearing aids checked. Since they are still on warranty, they sent one in for cleaning and adjusting and he will get it back in a week or so, then they will send in the other one. So right now he is only on 1/2 power.
Next stop, new glasses. (for Scotty of course) I have decided instead of saying "he's a keeper" I will describe him as "a fixer upper" more fitting.

We spent some time looking at new cell phones, but only got confused. There are so many features to choose from. I will spend some time online looking at them before we decide.

On the way home we stopped for an Italian dinner. It was great and we have enough left overs for tonight's dinner.

Today, Jana came down with whatever sickness we have had going around. I hope we don't get it next. Time will tell.

The weather has finally gotten nicer. It has been sunny for 2 days and the forecast is looking food. The highs are only in the 70's but that's normal for here. Maybe the sun will help drive off the black flies that have been devouring everyone.

June

Today is the first day of June!
Where does the time go? We have only been here in New York for 10 days, and it already feels like 3 months!

The weather here has not improved much. It has stopped raining all day, every day, but it's cold and I don't like it.

The last week has been mostly uneventful. We have gotten settled, done an inventory of the things we have stored (never remember what's in the shed from one year to the next) and we have been able to spend time with the kids.

We took advantage of the sunny weather on Sat. and drove about 30 minutes to visit some friends on Sumitt Lake. It was wonderful to see them even for a short visit. We will be getting together with them again soon.

Our grandpupppy (Zena - warrior princess) has moved back in with us for the summer. She is a sweet little thing and we enjoy having her visit.

Scotty has been painting the inside of our 18' Lonestar boat so that we can get out on the lakes and Hudson River. The river is part of the New York State Barge Canal System. He want to go through some of the locks. I will have to take extra Dramamine for that.

Speaking of that...... I had forgotten how hilly and curvy the roads are. It is beautiful, but my stomach likes the flat straight roads much better.

Monday & Tuesday

Memorial Day was cool but the sun was bright and warm.
The grand kids all played in the pond. We had hot dogs and pasta salad for dinner. With Smore's for desert. All in all it was a good day. There was a frost warning for Monday night, but we didn't get one here.
Tuesday was sunny and cool again.
We met our friends Matthew & Lourdes for lunch at a local Chinese buffet. It was great to see them. The food wasn't bad either.

It was another cool and dreary day in the Adirondacks.
We had light rain this morning, but it did finally clear off
and warm up some late this afternoon.

I spent some time hemming dance pants for the girls. They have a recital coming up and so
I couldn't really put that off. After that I spent time doing some paperwork.
Followed by some sorting of my craft supplies, and straightening the compartment they are in.

Scotty helped Lee put down stone in the driveway. He worked hard, and went to bed early to
rest up.
All in all, not a very exciting day. I guess everyday can't be a big adventure. But it's more fun.

Four Vermont Towns

Today started out rainy and cool. We didn't do much until after lunch when it cleared some and started to warm up.
We decided to go to Kmart and pick up some wreaths for the cemetery's and drive to VT to place them.
We made it to Fair Haven just as their Memorial Day/ Spring Fling parade was about to start so we stayed for that. It was small, but nice. While there we ran into some dear friends we haven't see in a while. It was a good time.
After the parade was over we went to Poultney and placed flowers at my grandparents & my moms graves. It is such a beautiful place. The view is breathtaking from there. You will have to take my word on it since it was cloudy so not a good day for pictures.
Then we drove to Pawlett about 20 miles south to leave a wreath at my dad's grave. Everything here is so green. The farmers are doing the first cut of hay, and the lilacs are in bloom everywhere. Their scent is so strong that it come on the air as you drive by them where they grow on the side of the road.
We next went to Rupert (these are all towns in Vermont) to visit friends there for a short while.
As we started home Jana sent me a message telling me that Leslie, Michael and the boys were joining us for pizza. So we headed straight home for that. It was an early evening and we came home to watch some TV.

There's no place like home

Matthew, Liddy, James, Gracie, Charlotte


We got an early start this morning and made the drive home in just under 4 hours.
Luckily it was an uneventful trip.
We parked the motor home at Jana's and I made lunch while Scotty started getting things hooked up. We were set up in no time. We even got the satellite dishes up and running. We have TV and Internet!
Jana picked up Chinese food for dinner and Leslie, Michael and the boys (Matthew & James) and Margaret & Liddy came for dinner. It was a noisy, fun, affair. (I should probably say at this point, that Margaret is Liddy's mom and Jana's good friend. Liddy & Gracie are BFF's. Liddy is a part of the family just as Gracie is a part of Liddy's family.

Tonight we are settled in, well fed, happy & glad to be here. It's been a good day.

Another day of driving

We left Jonestown this morning and drove rt. 78 to Hamburg where the Cabela's store is. We stopped and shopped. Then had lunch in the parking lot. They have started allowing RV's to stay in their parking lot overnight. We talked to an employee who said, he couldn't tell us that we could. But people have been for about the last 6 months. There used to be a local ordinance against it. He didn't know if it was still illegal or not. Maybe the local police just have better things to do than run off RV'ers.

After we passed Allentown we headed north along the Delaware River to Milford, PA. Here we are staying at the River Beach Campground. They have a great spot here. They have canoes and kayaks and tubes. The water is cold, like most northern rivers but very clear. No alligators here!
The sites in this park are all shaded. The river is behind us, tho you can't see it in this photo.
They have a small store. It's geared more towards rafters and tubers than campers, but it has some essentials.

We will leave here in the morning and head into New York state. We should be home in the afternoon. It will be nice not to have to drive for a while.
One more view of the Delaware River.