Last Week of the 2018 Season

There will be a lot of "lasts for this year" this week.  We already did our last trip to Mexico.  Saturday we attended our last Mass with Fr. Roy.  Because it was St. Paddy's Day we were greeted with bagpipes, Danny Boy and When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.  The gospel was the reading of raising Lazarus from the dead.  After a terrific sermon on the end of life to a very captive audience of senior citizens, Fr. Roy chose Brooks and Dunn's I Believe to complete his message.  One of the lines is "you can't tell me it ends in a slow ride in a hearse."  Very thought provoking!  Our departing song was Happy Trails To You to say goodbye to the winter Texans, most of whom will leave this week to be home for Easter, us included.  We will certainly miss this part of our months in the valley.

Sunday afternoon was more of the same.  Skeet for Ted, laundry for me.  I said goodbye to my laundromat amigos.  They know me as the Sunday morning gringo!  Everyone there has been friendly and helpful.  I must admit I am looking forward to my own washer and dryer at home though!

When I returned, I played mahjongg. The "veteran" players from next door came over and I played with three of them and won two games. They all pronounced me totally ready to play with anyone.  Two were surprised I had only learned last year.  Now I need to join a group back home.

I had a pork loin in the crockpot so we had pulled pork for dinner then watched TV.  The programs ran late because of the March Madness games.  

Richard was scheduled at 3 pm Monday to wash and wax the RV.  We have it done every year to help protect the finish.  Lord knows Ted has to wash the front each time we travel to get the bugs off but the wax helps keep the rest easy to keep clean with minimal effort.  It is still 38 feet on two sides and almost 9 feet across the front and back so just wiping it down takes quite a bit of time.  But Richard came before lunch.  Ah Mañana!  Whenever!  It actually turned out better because it was a bit cloudy and later on the sun came out. I was held hostage inside while they washed it.

It was a delightful afternoon and we sat out under the pergola for awhile.  

Eventually we had dinner and a quick trip to Dairy Queen.  We ran into Jack and Margaret who had come because he needed a burger and she wanted ice cream!  We had a nice chat with them before coming home for the evening.

We took my car to the detailer on Tuesday morning after Ted went to the gun range.  We were invited to Niles and Sue's on Wednesday so I sent Ted off to the grocery when I went to play mahjongg.  Dinner was to be at the clubhouse courtesy of the Landscape Company Tuesday night so I didn't have to concern myself with that.  While I was at the clubhouse Ted switched cars so they could detail his truck and when I finished I went to hold a table out on the patio.  We had a nice dinner of fish, tater tots and really good cole slaw.  The only problem was they ran out of cooked food and the last people had to wait a long time until the pans were refilled.  Afterwards we went to pick up Ted's truck.  All vehicles are cleaned and waxed!

I offered to make baked beans for dinner at Sue and Niles.  Mine calls for chopped green pepper and onions and half cooked bacon.  I got that all ready to go and about 2:00 I sautéed the peppers and onions in the bacon grease and then put in all the other ingredients, mixed it up, put the half cooked cut up bacon on top and popped it in the convection oven.  Then we both left to get much needed haircuts.  When we returned we took our beans and drinks down the street for a burger, slaw, green beans, baked beans and chocolate square cookies dinner!  It was another "last neighbor dinner" for this year.

Thursday Sue and I went to the Mexican flea market at the foot of the bridge into Reynosa.  That is a city most of us will not go to because it is dangerous.  That and Matamoras both have highways from Mexico's interior leading into the city and the drug cartel is a problem.  I thought Sue was going to jump out of the car because we had to drive to the last street before going across the bridge.  I assured her I was not going to go into Mexico.  She said I was much braver than she is!  

We were looking for an Air Fryer for her.  We looked around and found several.  One was a nice clean stall, the gentleman spoke perfect English, the appliance was still packed in its box surrounded by styrofoam and had a direction/cookbook.  She bought it for $20.  It was a JCP brand and she looked it up in their catalogue on the way back.  It was originally $100, on sale for $60 plus shipping and tax.  Good buy!

We stopped for a "last Thursday lunch" at Olive Garden.  Coming from out in the country in Minnesota this was only her second visit to an Olive Garden!  We will miss our time together but we may see each other this summer.  We have offers to stop at several of our Retama friends who live north and west.  Just have to decide where we are going!  Glacier National Park is a good possibility.