Wild Set of Events

We didn’t even make it off Lark Drive before a problem cropped up.  My job is to watch that the two tow bars stretch out and lock.  It has never been a problem until this time.  The passenger side one would not lock.  We undid it and tried again.  Same result.  A fellow walking by stopped and told us to stretch out the tow bars, lay them flat on the ground so we could drive up to them square.  It worked!  I guess we were just lucky all these past 3 years.

We drove to Victoria and when we were just about there, my phone was down to 8%.  The generator was turned on when we left but based on my phone battery check, it didn’t stay on and I should have had power but apparently didn’t.  I checked the microwave and it was off.  Oh-oh!  We pulled in to set up and when Ted plugged into the post … nothing!  These rigs are electrical computer giants.  One little thing like the driver’s foot rest not being properly closed will keep it from starting.  So the fun began.  Ted was on his back in the basement looking for the transfer switch when a neighbor walked by and pushed our Oasis (hydroponic heat) reset button.  That turned on the inverter and we then had power but not the source we wanted.  Ted checked the generator and it was switched off,  so he reset that.  Still nothing.  He asked the office to check the power to our post.  The guy comes out, looks at it and said “one of those two plugs is dead, try the other one.”  Viola!  Power!  

We went to church and then a Mexican restaurant we like there and we both had margaritas!  The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived right at 11, check in time.  We had a couple coming at 4 to look at the motorhome.  I had cleaned closets and drawers, done the nooks and crannies where the valley dust had settled and just needed to touch up the bathrooms a bit.  She looked great.  

The couple was very impressed.  The wife loves it and wants to travel, he is hesitant to spend the money. They have cash, having sold a business, but he is dragging his feet.  I am not sure he wants any RV.  The  negotiations are ongoing with more visits and more explanations of how things work.  We are not doing anything but answering their questions and letting them go through it.

We spent our days there emptying out everything that will not go with it.  That was hard enough without removing dishes, linens, cleaning supplies, Ted’s maintenance items and tools in the cargo bays, etc.  That all stays and we have more than enough of that at home.  We once again messed up a 2300 sq. ft. house with some of the contents of a 40 foot motorhome.  It took two days to do the mail and get things back where they belong,  

I worked hard all week at home while Ted met with Brian to do some maintenance issues.  Now the Oasis and both ACs have been serviced. 

Friday night John and Irene took us to Red Lobster for dinner.  We brought him some Voltaren cream and her some vanilla from Mexico but that certainly didn’t warrant  dinner; however, we were delighted to accept and spend time catching up.

I had a dr appt., we went to church and I used my free meal coupon at Black Bear for dinner.  Other than that I stayed focused on the house.

Our Disney cruise tags arrived and the girls are excited.  Kara has been on several Disney cruises and the rest of us have been on one but also other cruise lines. So we tamp down the enthusiasm so exhibited by many on the Disney Cruise page!  

I don’t need magnets, fish extender gifts (don’t ask), or period costumes to match the dining room themed  restaurants.  My Dad told me Ted and I would be jaded in retirement because we traveled so much throughout our lives.  I think I have arrived.

In the meantime while Couple #1 try to make a decision, a fellow from MI, wintering in FL, is “very, very interested”in our MH.  He is knowledgeable, asking all the right questions and doing proper due diligence contacting Newmar and Freightliner for maintenance and repair history.  No repairs, maintenance as called for by Freightliner.  And so we wait.   

The only thing on the calendar this week was working at the Give A Gown event.  This is an amazing organization that is tremendously organized and productive.  High school students, mostly from lower income schools, are brought in and allowed to choose a prom dress, a purse and jewelry!  I was merely checking in volunteers, checking them out, answering questions and collecting pink aprons on their way out.  I had a great time and saw several Forum girls also working.  Next year I think I will be a “fairy godmother” and help someone choose their outfit.  I learned that anyone can take a dress to any Tide Cleaners and they will clean and store it for this organization. 

I did all I could on our taxes and had to file an extension to wait for a K-3 that won’t be sent until June!   Or I could file without including it and then amend it!  I have enough to do leading up to summer and a respite to October sounded good.  

To add insult to injury, I chose to move our insurance for the cars, house, personal property and liability, all coming due in April.  So much info, comparing, questioning to do.  The hardest thing was to find the place on Xfinity to prove we have a monitored alarm system!  Every click took me to a new website that had nothing to do with what I needed.  Finally I was asked if I wanted a phone call!  Voila!  A website was sent to me and that quickly sent me where I needed to be.  Now we need to stop Travelers from withdrawing from our bank and change it to State Farm.  Fingers crossed we get this off my desk real soon.  

We have to renew our passports a year before they expire because they must be good for 6 months AFTER you return from a trip.  We will fly home from Dubai on 12/8 so our passport must be good through June 2025!  I have Ted’s ready to go but I can’t send mine off until May 8 when our Disney cruise ends.  I have to put my passport numbers on our Oceania info sheet by June 21, final payment date.  So … I can try expedited service in May and cross my fingers.  This happened once before when we were going to Eastern Europe in August and I needed my passport in Mexico January to March earlier that year.  They kept bugging me and I kept telling them I would get one after March.  It turned out ok.  Nothing has changed in the past 20 years so hopefully it will come through quickly.  One more day and then…

 Our  motorhome 

Mallard Drive, runs parallel to Lark, our street in Retama Village, Mission, TX

Our pool

Our choice

So Long, Not Goodby

We went to church, Golden Chick and card bingo on our last Saturday night here.  Other than mahjong I didn’t do much but straighten and clean drawers and cabinets.  

Wednesday was our field trip to Gellman Stained Glass Museum.  This is housed in a building specifically designed and built to house this collection of windows from near and far, but many were from the NE US.  Only two pieces were made for the museum, the dome and another that I do not remember.   I tried to identify the various Bible references without looking at the sheet.  We had a group of about 35.  I am on the washed out left, third in wearing white blouse and black pants.  

This is the entrance facing the top of the cross of the nave. 

This is a small piece of a Tiffany window called Te Deum, Of God.  The baby signifies Herod’s slaying of the Holy Innocents, trying to kill the Christ Child.  

I recognized the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.  The Beatitudes.  The Mysteries of the rosary, particular Bible stories and many family windows with one to four or so people mentioned on it.   

Below, the wedding feast at Cana, birth of Jesus, Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, in memory of the Bew family over a 78 year time span.  Just a few of the great windows on display.

We have been working on our two trips to Disney, the 4 day Disney Wish cruise in May and Labor Day weekend at the Grand Floridian.  This family does nothing in a vacuum so the cruise “weekend” we girls are going on, is now at 7 people.  Bill and Ted decided to come to Orlando too so Bill can finish up some of the jobs that still need to be done for Kristin’s renovation, Ted will be the tool caddy!  Bill’s shoulder surgery keeps him from lifting, working with his hands above his head, etc. so Ted will serve in that capacity.   Morgan is flying down with her Dad and Susan prior and we will pick her up at Disney Springs the day before our cruise.  She will hang with the fellows, enjoy the pool and probably eating out, until we return on Monday.  That way she will be there for Kristin’s 50th birthday celebration dinner.  We will all fly home back to Detroit on Tuesday.  

The Labor Day trip airplane reservations have been made.  We will travel Wednesday before to Tuesday after Labor Day out and back to Detroit.  Our Andre Rieu concert is 9/13 at Caesar Arena in Detroit and now my 60th high school reunion celebration is 9/21 in Cincinnati.  We will spend a week or so there before we will finally head home.

Thursday we had dinner with 3 couples to say goodbye.  Friday we cleaned and packed to be ready to depart Saturday morning bright and early.  I have trouble getting down on my knees but even more getting up!  Getting down to get in all the nooks and crannies of the floor totally wore me out.  Ted cleaned out and packed up everything we had stored in the coach house.  We are ready to roll.  We met Jay and Stella next door at the fish fry to say so long, by April they will be back south of Houston.  They are coming in off the road for good.

Next stop Gateway to the Gulf campground.  That allows us to go through Houston Sunday morning about 10 when traffic should be light, relatively speaking! 

Last Week, Mixed Feelings

Nothing much happened Monday, we fielded a few calls on the motorhome and have finally heard from a few legitimately interested in purchasing an RV.  Since we are getting ready to move, we are holding back a bit so we can get home, empty and clean it before having lookers.  

Marisa and I had our annual girls’ day out Tuesday, getting our facials.  I also had some waxing done!  These hormone therapy pills are playing havoc with all kinds of things.  She did a great job and I really could see a difference in my skin.

Then we took Steve and Patty, who are parked next to us, to Texas de Brazil steakhouse as a thank you for the meals Steve has cooked in his smoker and shared, the checking to be sure our water and electric were  turned on and sharing their Wi-Fi password with us until we got our communication problems squared away.  I wasn’t sure I would ever be hungry again!  It was all so very good.

Our last (possibly forever) Newmar luncheon was Wednesday.  I don’t know if there was some kind of Hispanic holiday or celebration but Golden Corral was full!  And then a mariachi band came in and played.  We saw Paul and Ruth (old HitchHiker friends) again but didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.  Ted went to find the busboy that took care of our group in the private room and then we did not see them. Ted was shooting at 2:00 and was in a hurry to get home.  I did laundry and read my book.

Thursday, despite what has happened in Matamoros, we went to Progreso to finish up our shopping.  The US side parking lot was full.  The streets were crowded with winter Texans and no one seemed too concerned about what happened 85 miles away in Matamoros.  We have NEVER in 15 years, crossed into Matamoros or Reynosa, they have been considered dangerous for as long as I can remember.  They are big cities with major roads from the interior of Mexico coming in.  Progreso is a 3 block little village of restaurants, souvenir shops, pharmacies and dentists.  I know of only two incidents in all these years happening there and neither involved US citizens.  Ted had his pedicure, I bought what I needed and home we came.

Kelly and CeCe flew to Florida to visit Kristin and the three of them headed to Disney the very next day.  They were there bright and early on Thursday.  It was a “do over” for our August Covid escapade last year.

Upon arrival in the FL sun!

On our way to Disney World,

Buzz Lightyear

Sporting my Minnie ears.

Friday 

Best way to visit the Hall of Presidents.  Comfortable chairs, AC, dark, enough time to catch a few winks! 

Friday was back to Disney starting with breakfast at Topolina’s

She had a ball with Grammie and Auntie Kristin fawning all over her.  

Wrapping It Up

We were invited for fajitas at Sue and Nile’s house on Thursday.  They were kind enough to switch it from Wednesday when we declined the invitation because of Ash Wednesday and we would not be able to eat meat.  The lady starting with dementia across the street who lost her husband Christmas Eve was there with her daughter and son in law who are trying to wrap up her affairs.  I’m not quite sure what the long term plans are for her.  Jim and Karen did not come because they both had colds.  

With Bill and Ornell gone, we attended church alone but picked up Jay and Stella afterwards to have dinner at Golden Chick and then attend a show at their park.  It just so happened they had a group of 20 people coming and had reserved four tables.  It worked out well for us.  Piano Man put on a very good show.  

Stella’s birthday was this week so the same group went to Dirty Al’s for dinner on Sunday.  I chose not to play mahjong so I could clean the RV and do some laundry and we could leave at 3:30 to get to the restaurant in time.  We had a chicken and fish botana and brought five chicken tenders home.  I have been using them as snacks in lieu of lunch!  

Other friends Don and Trudy who were unable to come for the season have come down from Nacogdoches for a visit.  Ted took Don to sporting clays in Edinburg on Monday and Trudy picked me up for some shopping.  I had been wanting to go to Sketchers and finally made it.  I bought two pairs for the summer and all our travels.  Then we went to the new boutique opened nearby by the gal who owns Lionel’s.  She always was 1/3 of the Retama fashion shows for years.  The other two have gone out of business and taking different routes while Sandy opened her second shop.  I bought a bright, cheerful yellow blouse for my cruise in May!  That evening we went to BJ’s with them and Karen and Dave.  

It was back to the dentist on Tuesday.  We left at 8:00 and we were back home about 11:15.  Considering it is over a half hour to drive there, we hit a traffic jam of a semi on fire, and I had 2 fillings taken care of, that timing was amazing.  The Customs officer asked me what I was taking back and I said “two fillings.” He waved me on!  Recently at home I had a root canal with a temporary filling ($1300).  Then I paid my Dentist $200 to put a permanent filling in.  Down here I had a cleaning, check up, photos, panorama X-ray and two fillings for $250.  Ted’s cleaning was $40.  

It was a low key day Wednesday  I bought hair coloring in Mexico simply because it was there  I chose based on photo and number because the description was in Spanish  and so were the instructions!  No bilingual here!  Good thing I knew how to use it and the color turned out ok.  Then I got my hair cut!  

Thursday was ladies’ breakfast again and a good sized group turned out - close to 20!  I rode with Mimi and Mary since Sharon and Marisa were not going.  I offered to drive!

To send Trudy and Don off, we went to 492 BBQ with them and Mimi and Jim.  Everyone enjoyed their food and fellowship until it was time to say goodbye.  They will not return to Retama as season renters anymore. We will miss them.  

We attempted to attend the fish fry at Mission West on Friday but as we got out of the car ladies exiting the hall said they were all out of fish!  So a nearby Whataburger had a Whatacatch sandwich for Lent so that had to do. But it was good!

The season is ending and the entertainers are heading back to Branson so we went to card bingo next door instead of a show after church and dinner.  Ted got down to one card twice, I never moved.  

I played mahjong on Sunday then we went to the Pizzaria at Niles’ request.  We are now down to a dozen days until we head for home.

We are getting requests about the RV but the first have been dealers, consignment companies and scammers.  We are being extremely careful and have learned that an escrow at our brokerage firm to receive funds send the crooks on their way.  We are in no hurry and have decided if the right deal does not come along we will simply use it this summer and re-evaluate our winter plans in the fall.  

Need to Put My Nose to the Grindstone

Our time here has just flown by. There are three things I still need to do, one being the dentist.  But we are invited out this week again. Don and Trudy are coming next week and we will spend time with them. They had dr appts and could not come down for the winter. Simon and Garfunkel is Tuesday and a tour of the Gelman stained glass windows museum is coming up.  These are located at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan of the Valley in San Juan TX. The Basilica itself is worth a visit. We have attended Mass there.  A small museum is attached to the church and life size metal sculptures of the Stations of the Cross are spread throughout the gardens. I am looking forward to this trip. 

We were able to see our favorite comedy duo Spittin’ Image on Saturday night.  We tried to see them in Ohio last summer but couldn’t get the dates to work out!  Great musicians and singers as well as comedians.

Monday we went to the dentist and after cleaning and photos he suggested I get two very old (silver) fillings replaced in two upper molars. One filling looked like a bow, it had separated into several pieces. The other one was not as bad.  He was concerned about a back molar on the bottom but after a panorama X-ray he determined it was a wisdom tooth, was no worse than the other two but was doing absolutely nothing because it didn’t hit my upper teeth.  He said if it gives me trouble to have it pulled.  It would serve no purpose to try to save it with a root canal and crown.  I didn’t see that coming but I made an appt for next Tuesday to get the two upper fillings replaced.  Ted was fine.

Tuesday was Mardi Gras so when we left the clubhouse after playing mahjong, the golf carts were lining up for the parade and the Jambalaya was cooking in the kitchen.  

We were leaving at 6:15 to see The Simon & Garfunkel Story so we left the bead throwing and partying to the others.

 

The McAllen Performing Arts Center is gorgeous and the show was fantastic.  We were not in “peanut heaven” but Floor, Row 33, Center. Very good view of the two actors who looked very much like Art and Paul, but more importantly, sounded like them.  They started the story in their school day friendship telling their personal story and singing the songs about what was going on in their own lives and the world at large.  Certainly makes the words more meaningful when put in that context.   

 

Week 7

I finally got around to fixing a pot roast on Monday that I had lined up the whole weekend but different plans got in the way.  We planned to play card bingo at our park but we just finished eating at 6:45 and I was not walking out on all those dishes!  

Tuesday was mahjong and a beautiful card and 4-piece box of chocolates from Ted.  He knows not to buy me a big box of candy or flowers (nowhere to go with them) but he figured 4 pieces of candy would not get him in trouble.  

We had a bit of excitement on Wednesday.  First the electricity went out and all kinds of stories were circulating.  Eventually three poles were repaired but no one will say what hit them! At Margarita night later on at the park next door, Bill and Ornell were there holding a table and we were joined by their neighbors Wayne and Gail.  About 5:30, though we didn’t see or hear it due to the loud music, a meteor flew through the sky like a ball of fire (described by those who saw it) and caused a sonic boom.  They said it flew over Mission to west of here and landed but again no one seems to know where.  From a government that could track calves to a pen in Canada during mad cow, there seems to be a lot of “we don’t know, it was nothing or it won’t hurt you” going on all across our nation!  

Thursday was breakfast with the ladies and when I got home I made two key lime pies to take to Ornell’s spot next door.  They are our Cajun friends who live on the TX/LA border, also from TX Boomers, and she was making gumbo to serve to our other friends from home who are down here and a couple from Montreal.  They served them tamales earlier in the week but had to show them how to unwrap them to eat!

In the photos, Stella, from our Texas Boomers group, Ted and me.  Second one, Gail, Jay, Marlene and Mark.  Not shown, Wayne, Bill and Ornell.  It has been cool in the evenings and we ate outside, thus the jackets.

Ted, Ornell, Gail and I all went to card bingo and Gail won $32!  This weekend Spittin’ Image is performing and they are our favorite act to see. 

I have been busy working with the girls to book a 4 day weekend cruise on the Disney Wish to celebrate Kristin’s 50th birthday in May.  We have our plane tickets and cabin booked.  I am going down for a week arriving two days early and staying 2 days after.  

Then we will have a do over of our Covid interrupted Disney World trip of last August.  This one will be over Labor Day.  Kristin, Ted, CeCe (we have to kidnap her) and us will share a 2/2 family suite at the Grand Floridian for 4 days.  It sleeps 9 so we have all kinds of room including a full kitchen and LR.  We may do one day at Magic Kingdom but this will be more a resort vacation than park hopping.  Ted and I will fly down to be there a week spending the extra time at Kristin’s.

O

And our Barcelona to Dubai cruise is still on starting in November.  Whew!  

I may need all of 2024 to rest!  

Welcome to T-Mobile

When Ted could no longer get Messages, he attempted to contact Verizon and he could not reach them.  When they tried returning his failed calls they couldn’t understand each other, so we threw in the towel.  After dinner with Dave and Karen on Friday we went to T-Mobile which was right there in that strip mall.  We were able to keep our phones and phone numbers, they paid off the $400 balance remaining on the two phones, cut our monthly bill in half, gave us Netflix for life, and Paramount+ and Apple TV for one year.  What a deal.  It is working so far.  Now we need to see what kind of coverage we will have at home and while traveling.  Fingers crossed.  There is no contract so we can get out of it if we need to.  

Saturday we attended Mass and had dinner with Bill and Ornell.  We continued on our own to Mission West to see a live performance by Ron Mosier.  He put on a fantastic show.  Ted shot at Mission Skeet on Sunday while I played mahjong and we went to Pizzaria with Sue and Niles afterwards where I had great lasagna!

We had to return to T Mobile on Monday to tell them how we wanted our phone payoff credited.  The authorization had not come through yet so that was a waste of time.  I played mahjong Tuesday and won the first two games in record time.  Barb and I left early because Lark Drive was having a block party and I met up with Ted to attend.  There has been so much turnover that we as renters have been here longer than most everyone else.  We are in the second photo, on the left.  Ted is in a green shirt and I am on his right in pink.

Wednesday we met up with Paul and Ruth, Haulin’ Hitchhiker protégés, back to the early 2000s, when we both owned HitchHiker 5th wheels.  They now have a Newmar too so we all attended the Newmar owners monthly luncheon at the Golden Corral.  It was good to catch up with them.  They told us the old HitchHiker gang is having a rally in Shipshewana in October.  If we still have the motorhome we may just meet up with them all on our way back to Texas.  

Sue and I had a girls’ day out to Mexico on Thursday to get her dog his medicine and to pick up a few things I still needed.  We were unable to find Ted’s eye drops!  I think we have enough for the rest of the year but I will have to put them on Ted’s med list in the Medicare D questionnaire next year to be sure we get the best plan for him.  Good Rx lists it at $259 but I have no idea what it will be with our own insurance.  We stopped at a Tea Room in Hidalgo for lunch.  It was a cute place and the food was good.  We learned of three fun tours in the area to look at as day trips for the ladies.

Friday was back to mahjong and a bit of laundry.  Saturday was a big day.  The village garage sale was going on but we forgot all about it until we noticed the increased traffic.  Kathy’s children had cleared out the coach house across the street and probably some things from inside the motorhome.  I hope they got rid of some things.  They have been here 10 years so a lot has accumulated.  In another 4-6 weeks they will take Kathy back to Minnesota and get her settled in assisted living.  Smokin’ on the Rio BBQ cook off was held in Mercedes.  We have judged the food for several years but they changed the times and beans and chicken were up at 10 and 12.  That meant we couldn’t do ribs or brisket until 2 at the earliest.  With church at 4 it became a problem so we passed.  

It has been nice attending Mass with Bill and Ornell and then going to dinner.  We took them to Southern Fried and they loved it.  We are running out of our haunts!  They returned to the campground next door while we went to Fiesta Village to see a 50s singer.  He was a fun entertainer.  Lots of singing along, jeopardy type questions and funny answers from the audience.  

There was a Super Bowl party at the clubhouse but we chose to stay home in our recliners with our own pizza.  We have attended them in the past and most people are more interested in talking, drinking and eating than the game.  Once we sat in the front row of hard chairs and at half time we turned around and we were the only two people still there!

Great game and to our delighted surprise, Kansas City won.   

Chiefs WIN it!

Chiefs WIN it!

OMG The CHIEFS WIN IT!!!

Can You Say Cold?

The Brownsville couple came and really liked our motorhome.  They stayed almost two hours.  They too asked if bringing an inspector was ok and we said yes.  However, neither has done so yet.  I did get an email saying the second couple had requested an appraisal based on our build list and they would share that with us.  And they are having trouble finding an available inspector, they are booked to May.  I said fine, we will be here through mid March and then back to the Houston area until mid July.  

Today we went to Space X in Boca Chica.  It was so cold, windy and drizzly that we didn’t stay off the bus long at our stops.  We left here at 6:30 and returned about 2:30 and it didn’t warm up at all!  First photo is Airstream Park for employee living arrangements.  The second is a plot of land owned by someone who bought a “lot” years ago and has held it and now wants to sell it.  The two tall buildings are for assembling the rockets. The black and white rocket is supposed to go up this month.  Amazing to see this huge complex with no government involvement.  I am in the front row with beige arms standing in front of Ted.  There were 48 of us but not everyone wanted to get off the warm bus!  

Thursday morning was our ladies breakfast and I learned the lady with the new hip that I stayed with after her hip replacement fell and damaged her new hip.  She is having surgery today I think to repair the damage.  I believe she will go to a rehab facility when discharged.  Her husband is just not capable of caring for her.  

It was card bingo night and our Texas Boomer friend that we ran into at church has been attending with us.  We find a partner for her because Bill is not interested.  I won a dime game and Ted won a quarter game for a total haul of $25 in nickels and dimes.  Now Ted won’t have to go searching for change each week.  

Earlier in the day we had a cleaning machine demonstrated from our “winning” a free rug cleaning at the Expo.  We were really looking for someone to come clean our 4 x 35 strip on the big slide.  I explained this but they insisted on coming, so I said ok.  They cleaned the carpet but what they did for the white grout in our tile floor was amazing.  They use steam from water pressure only.  There was a stain from under our breadbox on the solid surface sink area and it cleaned it perfectly.  If it didn’t cost $2600 I would have bought it!  I also suggested they change their target customers to smaller cleaning companies where a few machines shared doing nothing but grout cleaning would be a huge success.  He said they can also do ovens but I didn’t have one to clean.  Ted gave the young man $25 for his tremendous efforts.  

Today is mahjong and then dinner at BJ’s with Karen and Dave.  And another week here is coming to a close.

Going Nuts!

This gosh awful lack of reliable communicating is driving me nuts!  15 years and no problems and all of a sudden nothing works as it should.  Today my phone calls said “cannot be completed as dialed.”  Everyone’s phone isn’t a viable number?  Off to park under the tower to do what we needed!  I may be home sooner than planned.

A friend had her hip replaced and needed a companion to sit with her while her daughter took her father to the dementia doctor.  I volunteered and spent a few hours visiting with her.  The next day I played Yahtzee again with Sue and Kathy, the widow across the street who is starting to show signs of dementia.  We can help her decide how to play her dice throws and she can add her score which I find remarkable.  My corporal works of mercy for this week.   

Thursday was ladies’ breakfast again.  Sharon has been driving me and Marisa each week.  Marisa does not drive and with only one car here, I don’t have to coordinate availability with Ted.  He usually keeps Thursday morning free but so far our breakfast threesome has done fine.  There was quite a crowd today!    

There was no card bingo this week, it will be on Saturday.  Next week we have an invitation to a shooter pal’s home for a cook out and our field trip to Boca Chico is coming up.  The best part of leaving this immediate area is we can get our phone to download all kinds of things hanging out there in space!

Friday night was pizza at the Pizzeria again. Niles is taking chemo so when he says he wants something to eat, we all go along with it. 

Saturday we attended Mass again with Bill and Ornell. They are enjoying Fr. Roy!  We went to 492 BBQ, just awarded restaurant award for cleanest restaurant and best ribs, then played card bingo. Ted up once. me up once, Ornell twice - but no luck!

The excitement yesterday was a transformer blew right before the Bengals game!  It was hot so Ted started up the generator so we had AC and TV until it was fixed.  Do not mention #58 of the Bengals please!  What a way to lose a game!  

This morning I made a chocolate eclair cake for our cook out this afternoon over in Alamo. 

A couple are coming tomorrow from Brownsville to look at the motorhome tomorrow.  They said afternoon. I will go ahead and play mahjong and let Ted be the salesman!  

Cindy and Tim are leaving for Aruba on Wednesday but my Valentine to Karen arrived in time for them to take it to the home for her before leaving.  They have to hide it from her or she would eat it all at once. The nurses give her a piece at a time. 

Living With Spotty Communications

We spent an inordinate amount of time to learn Verizon knows their tower is faulty and have no intention of doing anything about it.  T Mobile was upfront and said our address was listed as no internet service and ATT swore we would be good.  So we bought a prepaid hotspot from Walmart, loaded 15 gigs on it.  It was ok, not a lot to write home about though.  And in 5 days we were out of gigs!  I tried the website they gave us to load more time, and the ATT.com/prepaid did not work.  So off we went again.  To make a long story short, they swore we could not have used that much bandwidth unless we were streaming.  All we did was check our emails.  They finally wrote a note to Walmart to take back the hotspot because it did not work!  So we spent $100 and retrieved $50 of it.  And we are back to Verizon and most of the time I can’t get on the internet.  Messages is the most reliable communication so I have no idea what is going out and what isn’t without paying very close attention.  However, Jay called me when I was in Mexico and it worked fine on Mexican T Cell and Rafi our neighbor butt dialed me from Israel at 5 am and it came through.  But I can’t call Sue down the street!  

Tuesday we bought tickets for a tour of Space X in Boca Chica at South Padre Island, it is the launching area for Leon Musk’s Space launches.  I think it will be interesting.  I played mahjong and won a game.  Wednesday we met up with the Newmar owners group for lunch and stopped at Macy’s to shop a bit.  Sue and I joined Kathy (new widow with dementia) for a game of Yahtzee.  It is a game we can assist her with and she did ok.  Thursday we got a bite to eat before I got a haircut and we played Card Bingo next door at Bentsen Palms.  We didn’t win, didn’t even get close.  Friday was shooting and mahjong.  In the meantime we made arrangements with Steve next door to use his Wi-Fi in a pinch and also gave his phone numbers to our kids to use in an emergency if it becomes evident we are not getting the message and not responding, 

Everything is going fine not withstanding the dead body found in the river at the foot of our street.  We have not heard any particulars.  We were totally unaware until the people at the Newmar lunch asked what was going on at our end of the road.  We had to ask around to find out.

Here is a sunset as we came home one early evening.  We have been here two weeks and most nights our sunsets are spectacular.  

All my days are running together, broken up only by our quest for good communications.  We went to church/dinner/Neil Diamond legend show on Saturday.  We ran into Boomer friends from home at church and went for burgers with them plus Jay and Stella on Sunday.  The Expo was this week and we went one afternoon.  Boy can you see the recession in play there.  Even H‑E‑B known for their generous coupon books were not passing any out.  That evening we went with those same folks to Margarita Wednesday and stayed pretty late.  

Thursday was busy!  Breakfast with the ladies in the morning, a drive to Edinburgh for a funeral visitation for Rafi’s (our next door neighbor at home) house sitter’s mother.  Marina is a dear and we pick up the slack when she travels which is frequently.  She is going to stay in this area to take her father to Texas Oncology for treatment so Rafi asked us to have Nancy get the house key, the mailbox key and the current collected mail together for another friend who is stepping in!  Whew!  A quick stop at McDonald’s and on to card bingo.  I got down to one card twice but Bingo was called on the next card both times.

Friday was back to mahjong and I won a closed hand!  The highlight of the day!

We learned something Saturday.  Progresso, MX is crowded!  The lines looked as if the Americans were invading the Mexican border!  We had to stand in line to get in and out!  We bought Ted’s eye drops, back analgesic cream, some antibiotics, vanilla, etc.  We had a cinnamon roll at Renee’s while the mariachis entertained.

We went to church with Bill and Ornell, ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then saw a yodeling cowgirl show.  She has some voice!  

Sunday was mahjong and I won 3 games … first time ever.  I had stuff out for dinner but Sue called after dropping me off and said Niles wanted to go for pizza so we agreed. Bonnie joined us and we got caught up some since she just returned from vacation.

An Entire Week Searching For Phone and Internet Service

Not having communication service is frustrating as h*ll when you are used to having it at your fingertips! Verizon was useless in communicating with us and basically said they were not going to address it again.  From the Verizon folks here in Retama, there is an outage on the tower a mile from us and it has been for months!  Most everyone had to address it.  If you have Wi-Fi in your house, Verizon gave you a net extender so you could have calls over Wi-Fi.  Our motorhome does not have Wi-Fi, my Verizon phone Hot Spot was our internet.  So we tried T Mobile.  A friend came over with her T Mobile phone but only had one bar.  I checked their coverage and our address had no coverage it said.  So we tried ATT and they assured us their mobile hot spot would work.  And so far we have been ok.  What are the odds Verizon will give me credit for “no service” to pay for my ATT service?  Slim and none!  We spent an inordinate amount of time this week on that problem.  

Ted, Sue and I made a trip to Mexico and was it crowded!  Sue and I hit the pharmacies while we waited for Ted.  We will make several more trips over in the next 3 months!  I love lonches and no Mexican restaurant I have found in Houston makes them.  So a stop for lunch and also a cinnamon roll and coffee, with mariachi trio, at Renee’s is still on the back burner.

I played mahjong but didn’t win any games.  Ted went shooting in Edinburgh again and our crowd met for dinner at Southern Fried.  Best catfish ever!  So week one has been pretty routine except for the communication part!  Let’s hope ATT keeps working!  

Saturday we attended Mass with good old Fr. Roy.  Since it was the Epiphany I knew the three wise men would arrive complete with Philomena the llama serving as a camel!  And they did!  In the first photo if you look next to the brown head cover, the two white ears are the llama’s.  Once she bolted and jumped 5 pews.  

We were given a gold coin (chocolate wrapped in gold foil) from the wise men when we left.  

We had dinner out and went to a Branson show at Lemon Tree Park to see Goldwing Express.  $9 a ticket and I won a free appetizer at one steakhouse, a dessert at another and a free entree at Cowboy Chicken!  Three places to eat on Saturday nights!

Ted went to shoot on Sunday and no one was there, possibly because there was a tournament the day before.  I went to play mahjong and won two games, one of which was a closed hand!  So proud of myself!