We turned in early and left the next morning about 9:30 and arrived in Mission a little before noon. Niles was not here, they had to return to Minnesota because his mother is ill, so I had to be Ted's parking assistant. Kathy came out and she and I were directing him. A truck was stopped because Ted had the road blocked backing in and a beautiful angel named Jerry hopped out and asked if he could help. While Kathy and I remained in the back, he went to Ted's window and talked him back. A 90 degree angle to back into with a palm tree and island with bushes in the middle of the drive makes for some short back and forth movements to get the trailer turned enough to get the truck back in front of the trailer. Then it is easy to push it back into the spot.
Once in we went about getting set up. We have a coach house accessible to us this year. It is unfinished but we can put Ted's bike, grill, ammo, etc. in there. I put chairs, card tables and our tower heater and a fan in. It gives us less stuff in the trailer to move around to get to something else. Ted changed the anode rod out in our water heater and cleaned his whole basement area. We are all organized!
Bonnie, who helps with the Shooting Range, came by with our keys and to remove a bike from the coach house. She encouraged us to come to the range at 10:00 Tuesday morning for me to attend Beginner's Safety Classes.
Eventually we went to DQ for our only meal of the day and stopped at HEB for some greeting cards I need to send. We stopped to see Don and Trudy on our way in and then talked with Joann and her husband until the mosquitoes got too bad. We met our next door neighbors as they packed up for a week in a friend's condo on South Padre Island which is about 80 miles from here. We told them we would water the plants while they are gone. Then we headed inside for the night.
We went to Bentsen Palms, the campground next door, to watch the Safety Video before heading to the shooting range. They are very strict on safety and the video is excellent. Also, every rule they mentioned is strictly enforced. I shot several rounds and did very well. The last round I put my six shots in a circle of approximately 5 inches. I am more comfortable with the loading and use of the gun too.
We went to eat lunch and the ham we had just bought was discolored so we took it back to HEB. While out, we drove past the restaurant where I will be meeting the ladies for breakfast on Thursday. We were expecting a package and it arrived in our mailbox right on time. We met a new couple on our walk about. They have a HitchHiker trailer like our last two and know many of the same people we do. After dinner we settled in for the night.
Ted went skeet shooting on Wednesday with Don and Dave. I eventually went to see Trudy and was still there when they returned so we all sat outside visiting. Earlier in the day we had taken a ride past church to see what time Christmas services would be.
The ladies breakfast was Thursday and I enjoyed seeing several people from last year. Many folks own their own sites and live here all the time, some just stay here in the winter. Then there are renters like us. When I got back we went to Mexico to pick up some of the medicines we need to get while down here. Ted took the opportunity to get a pedicure. We enjoyed walking the several blocks of the marketplace in the warm sunshine.
We chose to go to Mass at 6:30 on Christmas Eve and then out to dinner afterwards. Fr. Roy did not disappoint with the live donkey processing with Mary and Joseph down the aisle to the crèche. When they read the passage about the "host of angels" three aisles full of children dressed in white and silver ran to the crèche too! His sermon was "It's a great day in the neighborhood." Very fitting for us Rogers! Mass was said half English/half Spanish but you can tell by the cadence which prayers are being said and I respond in English. We love attending Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
We started Christmas morning with low water pressure. Turned out it was the east side of the city of Mission so all we could do was be patient. It took awhile for me to fill two large pans with water to boil my sweet potatoes. Lucky for us it was fixed and we were able to get showered in time for the 1:00 community dinner in the clubhouse. Tickets were $5 to pay for the ham being served but one of our table mates brought turkey, dressing and gravy for just our table because for her Christmas dinner is turkey! What a spread we had.
I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas season.
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