Sunday, January 28, 2018 - Morning Walk; Church; Baking; Cleaning Bentley; Relaxing

Sunday, January 28, 2018 - Morning Walk; Church; Baking; Cleaning Bentley; Relaxing

I'm back to my regular morning routine of waking up between 4:30-5:30 each morning.  I don't mind it at all.  I rather like having the quiet time and I don't want to miss out on anything the day has to offer.

Once Dean was up and we had our morning coffee we decided we'd walk here in the RV park since the weather channel indicated it might rain.  We walked 2.02 miles.  Barely into the last lap around, it started to mist.  By the time we returned, we were getting pretty damp.

As we turned the first corner on our first lap this morning, we noticed a number of border patrol cars on the road behind our park.  For those of you who have concerns, our park is entirely fenced in.  At 6pm each evening they shut the entrance with an automatic gate.  We have a remote control to open it or we can use a code if the remote does not work.  The park management reopens the gate at 6am each morning.  From what we heard later there were two vehicles being pursued by the border patrol.  One of the vehicles got away but the second one ran into a corner fence post on the road behind us.  The "illegals" jumped out and ran.  Border patrol apprehended two of them and later we heard they had them handcuffed and were leading them to one of the patrol cars.  We did see the two guys standing with the patrol cars, but we weren't close enough to see the handcuffs.

You can see the car to the left of the dumpsters.  

Here is another shot from the street in front of the park model.

After breakfast, we got ready for church.  Gary picked us up in the church van.  This morning there was a new to us couple riding along, Arlene and Orville.  We enjoyed visiting with them.  The pastor spoke about love in relationships with husbands and wives in today's service.  I really enjoy listening to him and both Dean and I thought he had a great sermon today.

We stopped at the "Texas Rest Stop" for lunch.  Dean decided to try the steak fingers combo and I chose a coney and ice tea.  Some other folks in the park - Terry, his wife Cindy and Terry's cousin Carma joined us.  They drove to church separately today.  They will be heading back to their home in Illinois the end of this week.  They are a very nice couple and Carma is as well.

Flora had asked us about going to another show today and as much as I would have loved to go, I felt I needed to take a day and do some cleaning in Bentley.  I always pick things up, make the bed, keep the dishes done, do a little dusting here and there, but the carpets needed vacuuming, the bathroom needed cleaning and the vinyl floors needed attention as well.  In addition I had a loaf of french bread that has been in the freezer for almost a month and some bananas that were getting too ripe.  I needed to do something with them, so the first thing I did, was some baking.  I made bread pudding, and then banana nut muffins.  I'll share the bread pudding with our friends and I froze the muffins. 

Pecan Pie Bread Pudding

Banana Nut Muffins in my new silicone muffin pans.

The muffins will give us something different to have for breakfast on occasion.  Once the dishes were done, Dean vacuumed for me and I headed to the bathroom to work my magic there, and afterwards I dusted all of the rooms.  What a good feeling knowing it was done.  

Once I was done cleaning Dean emptied our gray and black tanks, and then we walked the trash down to the dumpsters.  It was nice to get out and walk a little.  It was overcast but still a very nice day.  Peg and Mike were outside when we returned.  We visited with Peg for quite awhile, while Mike was organizing the storage area in their rig.  

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching some TV.  Dean made some popcorn and is watching Jeremiah Johnson and I've been playing Wordscape on my phone.  We will be busy the next several days, so I will try my best to post every day so I don't get too far behind.  Sometimes we stay so busy it's hard for me to remember everything we've done if I don't get things posted soon afterwards.

We are going to Padre Island tomorrow with Dennis and Pam.  I have a chiropractor visit at 8:15 so we will drive to their place afterwards and leave from there.  I hope to have lots of pictures to share.

Thursday-Saturday, January 25-27, 2018

Thursday, January 25, 2018 - Bentsen RGV State Park; Follow-up Blood Test; Groceries; Heartland Meet & Greet

We are definitely staying busy - which is probably good.  The more we are moving and doing things the better.  Right?

This morning we were ready to walk - it's been awhile and we really have missed it.  We drove to the park, and since it was right at 8:00 am we needed to check in at the office instead of going directly to the park entrance and filling out paperwork there.  It took about 15 minutes to get us signed in while they waited for the computers to come up.  During that time I visited with a very nice lady who volunteers at the park.  She and her husband met in FL several years ago, married and decided to move to TX.  They have a 5th wheel a few miles north of us.  I really enjoyed visiting with her and hope we run into them again.   

Saw this Chachalaca as we were walking to the Park Office.

We started at the north end across from the irrigation canal, and walked south.  The Hawk Tower is a little further south and then east of the "You Are Here" Circle in the above picture.

The Two Story Hawk Tower Sign

About half way up the walkway to reach the Hawk Tower

Views from Hawk Tower of the rugged landscape.  We saw a few birds, but no hawks.

Birds in the area.  

Once the park attendant was able to enter us in the system and gave us our arm bands, we headed directly for the park so we could get our steps in today.  We walked all the way to the Hawk Tower this morning.  Unfortunately we did not see any hawks and very few birds.  We'd prefer to get to the park shortly after 7 but it is still pretty dark.  I think we need to try and be ready to walk in by 7:20-7:30 as the sun should be bright enough by then..

As we approached the ranger station, a volunteer was preparing to fill the bird feeders.  He told us we had just missed seeing the bobcat.  He told us as he walked around to fill the first feeder, the bobcat jumped up from where he was laying and ran into a hole in the ground to the left of the feeders.  This is another reason to try and get there a little earlier, as that would be exciting to see.

We walked for almost 70 minutes for a distance of 3.31 miles today.  Our average pace was 21:04/min but we stopped several times to look around.  As we were waiting for our wristbands at the park office, I was watching one of the rangers push bicycles outside.  The bicycles are available to rent by park visitors .  As we were walking, I suggested to Dean that we rent the park bicycles two or three times.  Once we've had a chance to use them, then we can decide if we think it's worth it to invest in our own bicycles.  Of course with the purchase of bicycles we would also need to consider how we are going to carry them, so it's something we want to give quite a bit of thought to before we spend the money.  The plus side is there are so many parks and cities with bicycle trails that we could utilize versus taking the truck everywhere we go.  Good exercise and less fuel purchases are always good.  The downside to both of us is the concern of making that type of an investment and then not using them.  Hopefully renting the park bicycles will give us some insight into what that final outcome might be.

We really enjoyed our walk this morning and we look forward to getting into a routine again where we walk most most days.  

After we returned to Bentley we went through our morning routines and then headed out to run a few errands.  When we stepped outside we realized it was raining again.  Not too hard, just enough to be a bit of a nuisance.  The urologist Dean seen right before we left for Texas wanted him to have a follow up blood test in approximately 30 days, so we headed to the Mission Hospital, just a few miles away from where we are parked.  When we arrived, the parking lots were quite full, and of course because of our "BIG" truck we had to park in the back 40 and walk.  Lol!  I had checked with the receptionist (Irene) here at our park to see if she knew the best place to get a blood test..  She told me there was a lady in the park that had to get that done frequently and she'd check with her and call me back.  The lady recommended the hospital because they work well with Medicare patients.  Irene told us where we needed to go at the hospital to check in.  Once there we had to wait in line to talk to a receptionist.  When it was Dean's turn, she asked him if he wanted to turn it into Medicare or did he want to pay a flat fee.  If he turns it into Medicare there were 8-9 patients  ahead of him.  If he wanted to pay the fee for the test he needed, which was $10, he could go right in and get it taken.  He opted to pay the $10 even though it will not be submitted to Medicare for payment.  Sometimes time is more important and this was one of those days.  We were able to leave there pretty quickly and our next stop was at the Mission Post Office.

Things are pretty simple at small town post offices.  The size of the office itself compared to ours was significantly different.  They had a number of automated services that you could make use of with a credit or debit card.  I needed to mail a letter, along with an invoice for the work that Gabriel's Maintenance completed on our gate valves so that we could be reimbursed from our warranty company.  Now, I've used many of these forms for years when I was working, but I'm still amazed how much you can forget in such a short time.  They all looked like Greek to me now!  When I walked in all of the attendants were busy with customers.  By the time I thought I had figured out what to do, I noticed the customers were gone.  I headed to a lady that looked very nice - and SHE WAS!  A really wonderful person who was very helpful, cheerful and took the time to explain things in detail.  She offered something different than I've ever seen.  If the post office had this available when I was still working I do not recall ever being aware of it.  It was a larger envelope with a clear front that I could insert my addressed envelope into.  Rather than having to pay a certified fee, and/or return receipt fee, I paid $6. and some cents.  The envelope has a tracking number and you can go online to see when it was delivered, and that's exactly what I wanted.

Our next and final stop was at Wal-mart to pick up a few groceries.  This afternoon all members of the Heartland Owners Club staying in the area have been invited to a Meet & Greet at Ratama Village.  I bought On the Border corn chips and the ingredients to make corn dip, which I'll mix up as soon as we get home.  One of the Heartland members owns a lot in the Village, where they park their 5th wheel while they are in South Texas.  This village is a beautiful place.  The meet and greet was held in the clubhouse.  Of course, there was quite a bit of wonderful food for us to choose from.  RVer's are excellent cooks and there is never a lack of food at these events. We met some new folks here, and had a chance to visit with several others we have not seen since June at the National Rally in Goshen, Indiana.   After our meal, we were invited over to Ken & Kathy's to sit under their pergola and enjoy the fire pit.  It was really nice and I think everyone that stopped by had a really nice time visiting with our hosts and each other.  

Another wonderful day here in the Rio Grande Valley with great friends.




Friday, January 26, 2018 - Shopping with Friends; Amazing Lunch; Bingo; Stopping at the "Texas Stop Sign"

I got up pretty early this morning so I would have plenty of time to drink my coffee, take a shower, and get things picked up before I take off with a couple of friends to have a Ladies Day Out.  Pam, and her friend Laurie, (which I met at the rag rug session a week or so ago) and I are going shopping today.  I've been wanting to buy a pair of new tennis shoes, something that looks a little nicer than walking/running shoes.  There is a large outlet mall near the park where Laurie and her husband Mark live, so we'll pick her up on the way.  

We arrived at the mall, parked, and began our walk to find shoe stores.  I don't know how many we ended up visiting but it was quite a few.  I finally found a pair I wanted in Shoe Carnival - after trying on 15-20 pairs of shoes, at least.  After taking them to the counter, the lady working the register told me they would be over $60.  I thought they were $34.98.  We walked back to the area, where there were several colors of this particular brand.  A maroon colored pair had a large $34.98 sign hanging underneath it, and I assumed it applied to all of the colors of this shoe style, but she said no, only the maroon ones.  I told her I would pass on them.  We had seen these same shoes for less price at the Skechers store earlier, but the only pair in my size had a flaw.  Pam told me there was another Skechers store on the way home and we could stop there.  Pam and Laurie were successful in their shoe shopping.  By the time we had looked at "way too many shoes", we were getting hungry.  We decided we'd rather find a local place to eat rather than a chain restaurant, so we began googling restaurants in the area to see how they rated.  Laurie found "Orale Super Tacos" and what a find it was!  They are known for their 14" tacos.  Once there, we all decided to try the same taco and it was a "VERY GOOD" decision.  

They immediately brought homemade tortilla chips and pico de gallo to our table for us to snack on while we studied the menu, and they were very good.   When they brought the tacos we were astounded - wow!  They ware quite large, and each of us immediately cut our taco in half, knowing it would make eating it much easier; besides, could we possibly eat all of it?

Wonderful 14" taco stuffed so full I chose to cut it up rather than try to pick it up.  

The taco was filled with beef strips, tomato, lettuce, sour cream, rice, cheese, onions, peppers and sauce.  Simply put, it was AMAZING!  I know all three of us would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting here.  To make the experience all the better, they had the TV on, and we were able to listen to an Alan Jackson concert.  Who doesn't love a little Alan Jackson?

When we dropped Laurie off at her RV Park, she invited me to look at their smoker/grills before we left.  Earlier we were discussing them and I was interested in what they were using.  They have both a small Traegar (which many of our Heartland and SKP friends own) and another brand that is quite a bit larger but it reaches higher temperatures which I prefer.  I can't remember the brand name right now but it was an impressive looking smoker/grill.  It definitely would be a great unit to have but it's a little big for us, unless we purchased a cargo carrier to haul it.  

After leaving Laurie's we made our last stop at the Skechers store where lo, and behold I found not one pair of shoes, but two!  So glad we waited.  I didn't end up buying the ones I originally found at the previous Skechers store. I liked the two pairs I found here much better and together both were less than $60.  The one pair I was going to buy was over $60, so I'm glad we made this last stop.

When we arrived at our rig, Pam walked up with me to say Hello and give Dean a hard time before leaving.  We are going to be taking another trip with Dennis and Pam on Monday.  We're really looking forward to our visit to Padre Island.  We so appreciate them and our Heartland friends for being so thoughtful and taking us under their wings for our first time trip to South Texas.  Both are a blessing to us!

I saved half of my taco to take home to Dean.  I was so full, I didn't think I could possibly eat anything for dinner. I had a few assorted nuts before we left for our next outing, but I was still too full to eat a meal.  Corbin and Flora had asked if we'd like to go play bingo.  Besides the two of them, Dave and Nancy and Stella will also be going.  We drove over to their park and visited with everyone until it was time to go.  Stella rode with Dean and I and we followed the others, with Corbin driving.  We drove quite aways, then exited I-2.  Next thing we knew we were turning around and going back up on to I-2 in the opposite direction.  Several miles down the road we took another exit and then headed north to the Bingo hall.  I guess they missed the turn and we had no idea where we were going.  We probably should have had the address because we were weaving in and out of traffic trying to stay with Corbin as he changed lanes and exited the Interstate.  We were giving him a hard time about it too!  Lol!!

We enjoyed playing and it was cheap entertainment.  For $6 a piece, we each had 9 bingo cards to play and we played 5 games total.  We also purchased daubers, so we could mark our cards, which were $1 each.  Hopefully, we'll use them another time.  None of us were winners, but that's okay, we still had lots of fun.  It's not about the money - although that IS a plus, it's about being with friends and just having a good time.

Afterwards, we visited "The Texas Stop Sign"!  What is that, you ask?  Well, Dairy Queen of course!  Dean and I can hardly pass a DQ without stopping, so I think we could say it's just about any state's stop sign!!  It's so much more fun to go to DQ with friends - there sure was a lot of laughing going on.  

Another fun day in South Texas with great friends.




Saturday, January 27, 2018 - Sister Talk; NY Phone Call; Laundry; More Tamales; Paperwork; Another Music Show

I woke up about 5:30 this morning, about an hour later than I've been getting up this week.  I immediately thought, oh, it's Saturday morning.  That means I can call Cindy and visit since she won't be working today!  I sent her a text message to see if she was up.  A short time later she responded: call me in 10 minutes.  I finished my second cup of coffee and dialed her number.  She answered right away.  We got caught up with what was going on - what she didn't already know from reading the blog, and everything I didn't know about what was going on at home.  Not that either amounted to much but we seemed to find plenty to talk about, as usual.

After we hung up, we had breakfast.  I told Dean I needed to go up to the laundry and wash some clothes.  I don't have any clean jeans to wear for tonight and I've got a full load of white clothes.  I told him when I got back I wanted to do some heavy cleaning in Bentley.  Before we had a chance to do much we received a text message from Matt wanting to know if we wanted to Skype - Josh has been wishing he could talk to Nana and Papa.  Well, you know all of the other stuff didn't mean much then, and two hours later we finally hung up.  Josh and Sarah are quite the pair.  They are like Pete and Repeat.  Josh (Pete) says or does it and Sarah (Repeat) repeats it.  Josh will be 4 in April and Sarah will be 2 in July.  Matt sent us a text last night of them dancing like the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz.  It was so cute and they really did a good job.

Once we hung up I picked things up, and then took two loads of clothes up to the laundry.  Washing them went quickly and I dried both loads twice at .50 a load.  The jeans were still pretty damp, but I folded them and a few shirts to take home and hang up to dry.  It's just too expensive to keep feeding quarters until they are dry.  I split the white clothes which had also been through two drying cycles into the two dryers and other than some of the socks they dried fine.  I let Dean know I was ready for him to pick me up.  When he arrived, we loaded things up and drove back to Bentley.  I laid the socks over the laundry tub to finish drying.  Of course I had to hang up the jeans, and a few shirts and shorts to dry.  Fortunately we can hang these in the shower overnight and they'll be dry in the morning. 

Drying rack for the socks - Lol!

Jeans and a few shirts drying in the shower.

While I was at the laundry, Nancy sent a text to let me know the tamales I ordered through her had been delivered.  The mother of one of the guys who cleaned their rigs last week makes tamales every Saturday.  I ordered 1 dozen at a cost of $6.  They were still warm when Nancy handed them to us over the fence between us, so we had two each for lunch.  They were VERY, VERY good.  I think they were a little better than the ones we purchased at Delia's, and they were much cheaper.  

This afternoon I visited with granddaughter Kamron on the phone for a little while.  She had surgery on her leg this past Monday to remove a tumor.  This is the second surgery.  The tumor came back and the doctor was more aggressive in the removal this time.  It is benign, but it is near her growth plate so it needed to be removed.  She is doing great.  It was good to visit with her and she even got little brother Jaxson to come to the phone and tell me Hi.  He does not like to talk on the phone so I was happy to get that.  Lol!

After lunch I did a little paperwork and then worked on the blog until about 4:00.  I checked my jeans and they were still damp, so I took one pair back up to the laundry to put them in the dryer and fortunately 50 cents was all I needed to get them nice and dry.  While I was there earlier today and again this afternoon I made use of the stationary bicycle and pedaled approximately 7 miles - or at least that was what was registering on the machine.  At least I was able to get some exercise in today, and it helped pass the time until the dryer was done.

There are some dark clouds building outside.  It looks like there could be a good rain, but it never did.  

I took this from inside Bentley.  That's why you see the reflection of our inside lights in the picture.

After returning from the laundry I made grilled cheese sandwiches and used up the first of the two loaves of farm harvest bread I bought earlier this week.  I'll have to take the other loaf out of the freezer for next week.  I'm still not tired of eating those sandwiches.  Very, very good.

About 6:15 Corbin, Flora and Peg came over to pick us up for the show we will see this evening.  It's not too far from our park but we want to get there early enough to get good seats.  The duo we will see tonight is Bernie and Red.  They have been performing here in South Texas for 20 years, and this will be their last year to perform in South Texas.  The show was great.  They are both originally from England, and they immigrated to Western Canada.  They still plan to travel to California and Arizona for shows but have decided to drop Texas from their trip due to the additional miles they must cover each year.  I can see why they were a favorite of the South Texas crowds.  Not only was the musical aspect wonderful but they had everyone in stitches with their comical routines, and Bernie did a great Johnny Carson routine as The Great Carnac.  What fun!  We had a great time.

Bernie & Red

Flora told us about another show tomorrow afternoon and wanted to know if we'd like to go.  I told her I'd call and let her know in the morning.  After we returned home we talked about all we have going on and I decided I have too much to do here at the rig.  We want to walk in the morning and then we are going to church.  I had planned to clean Bentley today and it didn't work out.  I think we need to stay home tomorrow so I can do that.  It will be worth it!

Our calendar is almost full again for next week.  I also need to get a luncheon put together for our Escapee group.  Maybe the first or second full week of February will work for that.  I can't believe we have already been here over three weeks.  It has flown by!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - Rainy Morning; Ride to Mexico; Arturo's; Manicure

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - Rainy Morning; Ride to Mexico; Arturo's; Manicure

I was up at 4:30 this morning, hoping I would be able to download pictures to the blog posts for Jan 20-22.  Fortunately, I had no problem getting all of the pictures uploaded and added to the blog. I guess that confirms the Wi-Fi and Verizon was overloaded last night.  

Once the blog was posted I enjoyed drinking my coffee and reading until Dean got up.  After we had breakfast we got ready for our trip to Mexico today.  Our friends Dennis and Pam picked us up at 9:00.  There was just a lightl rain as we pulled out of the park.  According to the weather report the rain is supposed to pass by about 9:30 or 10:00.  We are meeting friends Olen & Kathey at their park.  Once there, Pam and I rode with Kathey, and the guys rode with Dennis since there was not enough room for all six of us in one vehicle.  

We either took a different route today or I was too busy talking to notice the scenery when we made our first trip.  We passed numerous fields of crops including cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and others we could not identify for sure, as well as several fields of sugar cane.  Several had a number of people working in the crop fields, despite the rain that was still falling.

Cauliflower

Sugar Cane

Onions

Cabbage

 We were nearing Progresso, and here's the sign to prove it:

It rained all the way to Mexico and the entire time we were there.  So glad we grabbed our raincoats as we headed out the door.

As we are nearing the parking lot on the US side.

Garden area before crossing the International Bridge into Mexico.

Rio Grande River as we walk across the International Bridge

I took this picture as I stood in the USA and Mexico.

Me is Mexico and Dean in USA.

Kathey and Olen

We visited a number of stores, passed by many vendors, and chose to have lunch at Arturo's.  It was a very nice restaurant, very elegant looking, and it was very affordable. 

Left to right:  Dennis, Pam, Kathey, Olen, Me and Dean

Our food was pretty good.  Dean had lonches and he said they were even better than the ones we had Nana's Taqueria.  I had Arturo's Special - 2 tacos, 2 tamales, cheese enchilada, with beans and rice.  They provided tortilla chips, sauce and pico de gallo, as well as both flour and corn tortilla shells.  As far as my meal, the tamales were disappointing, but the cheese enchilada and tacos were both very good.  Dennis asked the waiter to take our picture.  Thanks for sharing Dennis!

After lunch, we went looking for International Manicure - as you can see - we found it!  While we were waiting, the guys went on down the road so Dean could get a haircut.

Getting my manicure - Rose was my manicurist.

Kathey in the light blue shirt; Pam in between Kathey and I, all getting our manicures!  Thanks to Dennis for taking this picture of us.

Kathey and Olen drove home in their car, so we did not need to make a stop at their park.

Still raining when we left.  This is at a convenience store as we were heading home, but not too far from Mexico, where several border patrol agents were parked around a black SUV.

You can see the white vehicles with green on the sides - border patrol.  Not sure what was happening.

It was a fun day with some great friends.  Thanks so much for taking us along.  

Once Dennis and Pam dropped us off, we came in and rested until it was time for dinner.  Dean had the chicken alfredo he had left over from Olive Garden and I was just too full to eat.  We did have a few assorted nuts later, and that satisfied all the hunger I had.  I wanted to work on the blog and I am quite happy I will get this posted this evening.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - Morning Walk; Pegus Flea Market; Country Drive; Working on Blog

Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - Morning Walk; Pulga Flea Market; Country Drive; Working on Blog

After we were up and had enjoyed our morning coffee, we decided it was nice enough to walk at the state park this morning.  We arrived at the park about 7:45 a.m.  I was anxious to get to the ranger's station to see if the birds were feeding there like our last visit.  I was a little disappointed there was not much activity  There were a few birds there but nothing like our last visit.  We moved on to the next birding station where we set for awhile and I managed to take pictures of a few birds here.  Unfortunately, this is the only one that turned out well enough to include.  I've decided it's time to invest in a new camera.  

This bird is a beautiful bright orange color.  I'm not sure what it is, but I think a type of oriole.  We need to buy one of the placards at the state park next time the office is open to help us identify them. 

We walked 2.53 miles this morning; however, our pace indicates we were pretty slow, but it doesn't show all the stops we made along the way, looking for birds, deciding what road to take, reading signs, etc.  Our average pace was only 20.11 min/mile.  But, we had a nice walk with most of it being at a faster pace than what "Map My Walk" recorded.

After breakfast, we treated ourselves to long showers this morning - we usually do the "Navy shower" - get wet, turn water off, soap up, turn water on, rinse and dry off.  Dean left the grey water valve open so we would not have to worry about filling the tank.  I don't mind taking the Navy showers, but have to admit it's nice to take one occasionally without worrying about using too much water.  

Afterwards, we set out to visit the Pulga Flea Market, which is not too far from our park.  There were many booths with a variety of cell phone accessories, clothing, toys, food, vegetables, hand tools, and even birds, along with a number of what I would consider garage sale items set up by individuals.  I purchased a couple of items but will not share what; since certain people might read about them. There were also food booths, live music and even dancing.  It was an interesting place, and we enjoyed being outside while walking through it.  

We headed back to Bentley to have some lunch... some more of those yummy grilled cheese sandwiches.  I tired a little garlic powder on mine and it was pretty tasty.  I worked on the blog for awhile, until Dean wanted to take a ride to see the "countryside".  He loves riding in the country - the only problem we are not really sure where it is.  We did find some less inhabited areas, near the border.  

On our drive we rode along the border.  A Border Patrol van is in the top picture.

There were several fields of various vegetables, but for the most part we were not sure what was planted except for onions.

We are not sure what this particular crop is.

After wandering around some, we decided we would drive down to the Riverside Restaurant where you can take a boat ride on the Rio Grande River.  This is something we want to do before we leave here. Unfortunately by the time we made our way back to the main highway - it was nearly 5:00pm and the traffic was getting pretty heavy, so Dean was ready to go back to Bentley, and that was okay with me..  We will be here for several more weeks so we can make that trip another day, when we have more time.

Traffic that made Dean decide to head back to Bentley.

Had to include this for our grandson Abram!

Once back home, we just rested a bit before I made a sausage and cheese pizza for dinner.  I spent the next 2-3 hours trying to update the blog and upload pictures.  I think everyone in the park was on the wi-fi, and those not on wi-fi must have Verizon because it seemed to be overloaded too.  It was taking an extreme amount of time to get anything accomplished.  I finally gave up, deciding I would try to get up early tomorrow morning and give it another shot.  Dean watched some TV while I played a word game I recently found and downloaded to my phone...Wordscapes.  It is very addictive!

The weather forecast is calling for rain tomorrow but we are hoping it won't hang around all day as we have plans for tomorrow.

Saturday-Monday, January 20-22, 2018

Saturday, January 20, 2018 - Morning Walk; Lazy Afternoon; Entertaining Evening

It was nice outside so we walked here in the park, approximately 2.5 miles.  

After we returned we ate breakfast and then I spent time on some paperwork and just general clean-up.  We really didn't do much of anything today - just hanging out.  I forgot to mention that on Thursday I received Part 1 of my order from Amazon.  Friday I received Part 2 of the order.  I'll be using the bundt pan, silicone muffin pans and the cheesecake pan soon.  I also got a new plastic bowl and it has already come in handy.

This evening we went with two other couples to Restful Valley RV Park to hear Bill Chrastil.  He has performed in Branson, here in the Rio Grande Valley and both Nebraska and South Dakota where he was inducted into their Country Music Hall of Fame.  Wow, it was a great show.  Talk about energy - he had it.  He did impressions of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings; Elvis Presley; Johnny Cash; Conway Twitty; Roy Orbison; Buddy Holly; Neil Diamond; and Tom Jones.  He was a wonderful entertainer and I can see why he has won "Entertainer of the Year" here in the Rio Grand Valley.  We would certainly go see him perform again.  The best thing about the concerts here - they are very affordable.  It was a total of $14 for both Dean and I to see this show.  It would have cost us at least $40-50 to see him in Branson at one of the theaters.  

Playing "Pretty Woman" as Roy Orbison

The last impersonation he did was Elvis.  He picked three women out of the crowd to go out and sing to, and lo and behold he chose one of the women in our group - no, it wasn't me!!!!  Lol!  It was one of our Heartland friends, Flora.  I tried to take a picture but of course, when you are in a hurry, nothing seems to work well.  This is not the greatest picture because of the blurriness, but it's the best I have so I'm going to include it.  

We had so much fun.  Bill Chrastil is full of energy and kept everyone engaged.  He had the audience participating by clapping, waving their arms, singing along, etc.  It was a great ending to a very nice day.

On our way out we noticed this beautiful crocheted flag.

Sunday, January 21, 2018 - Church; Bentley & Max Get a Bath; Bread Pudding; An Evening of Good Food and Good Friends

I slept really late this morning - it was almost 7:00 when I finally got up, so needless to say we did not get a walk in this morning.  We are going to church this morning and by the time we had our morning "chores" out of the way it was time to head to Penitas' where the church is located.  We drove ourselves today since we need to get back early for a couple of reasons.

As we were leaving the park for church Dean happened to notice a Kansas flag was flying at our RV Park - and that is when we realized they have a state flag up for residents staying within the park.  What a great idea!  Here are a few pictures I took.

Notice "KANSAS"

These flags include Canada and states represented in the park.

Someone is supposed to be here about 1 to wash and wax our rig and truck.  I'm also making bread pudding for our dinner tonight with our Heartland friends.  It's a process to make so I'll need a little time.  

I really enjoy the church we are attending.  I think the pastor does a very good job, and the music is wonderful.  If you are interested their Facebook page is "Faith Fellowship Bible Church".  It is a nondenominational church and they provide both a Spanish and American services.  The Pastor lost his grandmother last week.  She would have been 91 the day of her service and they sang Happy Birthday to her during the funeral service.  I thought that was just a lovely idea and to celebrate it with Jesus, WOW!  

After we returned to the park, we had lunch, then I got started on the pudding.  You have to cut the bread into cubes, and soak it for 1 hour (I used a combination of half/half, whipping cream and milk).  Once I mixed the remaining ingredients (sugar, spices, etc.) I mixed it with the soaked bread and baked it for one hour.  While it was cooking I made the rum sauce that will be poured over it prior to serving it.  It turned out pretty good but I was a little disappointed.  I've made this before and I think it has tasted much better.  I used the bread I purchased at Breadsmith.  I might have used a bit too much bread, as the flavor was a bit bland in comparison to previous times I've made it.  I'll go back to plain french bread next time.  We have another event coming up next week and I'm going to stick with the pecan pie bread pudding I've made recently - and I'm going to add raisins.  Even though I don't care for them, I'm not really making it for me.

While I was working on the bread pudding, Dean was outside with the guy who finally showed up to wash and wax our rig and truck about 2:00 p.m.  He finished around 4:00.  My bread pudding was done about 4:45, so we hurried and loaded everything and drove over to the park next door where our friends are parked.

We all met at Nancy & Dave's RV for some of the best smoked ribs I've had in a very long time.  Mike & Peg provided the ribs and Mike and Nancy smoked them on their Traeger grills.  They really were amazing.  In addition to the ribs we had macaroni and cheese by Flora; a corn casserole by Stella; three bean dish with hamburger and bacon by Deb; Ramen noodle salad by Nancy; and a yellow cake with chocolate icing by one of their neighbors in the park (Kim and Ron).  Talk about a feast!  There were quite a few ribs left over so I took 3 and Flora shared some the leftover mac and cheese with us.  That will be our lunch tomorrow.  

We spent part of the evening watching the New England and Jacksonsville football game on Dave's outside TV.  It is located in the basement of his rig.  We all set in a big circle so we cold follow the game.  We headed home about 7:15 or so.  What another wonderful evening.



Monday, January 22, 2018 - Doctor Visit; Gate Valve Repair; Paperwork; Running Errands and Dinner Out.

I was up about 5:30 this morning and was happy to pour my first cup of coffee.

I have another appointment with the chiropractor this morning.  I am feeling so much better.  The area below my right shoulder that hurt so bad has been almost pain free since my last appointment.  I notice it a little when I lay down at night, but it doesn't hurt anymore once I'm in bed.  However, my neck was a little stiff this morning.  I'm not sure what that was from.

Gabriel is supposed to be here to fix the gate valves on Bentley sometime this morning so I drove to the doctor and Dean stayed behind in case he shows up before I get back.  I was back home by 9:45 or so.  Gabriel is not here yet.  Dr. Whitaker gave me some exercises for my neck so I will be doing those to try and alleviate any other pain in my neck.  I can really tell a big difference and I am very happy with the treatment I've had here.  I would highly recommend him.

I spent most of the morning doing paperwork.  I went through the mail we received Saturday, called a couple of places to have our address changed; printed off more Explanation of Benefits for recent doctor's visits.  Wow, the trip I made to urgent care on Dec 28 is over $200 out of pocket; however, if there is a good side, I guess it is that now I have met deductible, so I'll only owe 20% on any future bills through June 30.  That is a blessing - just hope there are not too many more.  

At noon, Gabriel had still not showed up to work on the valves.  Dean came in and we ate our lunch.  About 2pm, I heard Dean talking to someone - Gabriel was here!  In less than 2 hours he had the valves changed out and they work perfectly now.  We are so happy this is taken care of.  Dean has had problems with them since day one.  They have just gradually become harder and harder to open.   Last week when he dumped the tanks, no matter how hard he pulled they would not open.  He had to get under the rig and push the cable to get the valves open.

I had several errands I wanted to run this afternoon so I'm not sure how much we'll be able to get done now.  I was going to lay something out for dinner, but Dean suggested we go out to eat and use one of the gift cards we received for Christmas.  We both like Olive Garden so that is where we will go.  (THANKS Brett, Renae, Dacy & Tucker).  

One of the other tasks I did this afternoon was update our budget report.  As I was checking over the credit card bill I found they charged an extra $1 on our credit card at Applebee's than what our receipt said.  I know it isn't much but the amount on the receipt was very clear, so I'm not convinced it was an error.  The idea that someone might be doing this to others upsets me so I had Dean take me back there.  I spoke to the manager and he gave me the $1.  I explained it wasn't so much about the money, I wanted to be sure they were aware something like this had happened so it does not happen to others.  He assured me he would talk to the server - whose name was on the receipt.  We probably will not go back to that Applebee's, but I will also be checking our credit card statement and bank statement much closer to be sure this does not happen again.  

When we left Applebee's we moved next door to Eyemart.  I would like to buy a cheap pair of glasses for reading only since I cannot see well enough out of my glasses (almost 2 years old) to read very long or things get so blurry I can no longer see the words clearly.  So, I now take my glasses off to read since it is a little clearer, but after awhile that also bothers me.  I tried on several different frames but I really didn't see anything that just seemed right.  It was also very, very busy, so I'll wait and come back early one morning and visit with someone.  I already have my prescription from Dr. Jordon so all I need are the glasses.  I can get 2 pair for less than $40.  My insurance will pay a good portion of the cost for a new pair in February, but we will not be back in Oswego until April.  For less than $50 I can get two pair that I can utilize for quite awhile, and could change the lenses out as needed.

Our next stop was Olive Garden.  (Dacy, I didn't get to mix the dressing into the salad like I normally do - because Papa wanted ranch dressing, so it was served on the side.  It's much harder to mix on a salad plate than in that big bowl!  Lol!) Since we had a gift card, we splurged a bit and had an appetizer too.  It was similar to a  Mexican quesadilla but with an Italian flavor - cheese, spinach, chicken and basil.  I thought it was delicious, but Dean wasn't as crazy about it as me.  In fact, I would consider having it for lunch.  It was plenty of food for one.

When we left the restaurant at approximately 5:00 the traffic was very busy, so Dean wanted to take a side road back to the park.  We ended up on 10th Street, where Breadsmith is I asked Dean to drive on down to see if it might still be open.  We were surprised to find it was open.  I was even more surprised they still had 2 loaves of the Harvest Farm bread, that we love.  I bought them both, one for now and I will freeze one for later.  Dean wanted to get some cash, so we stopped at Walmart, and then made a quick stop for diesel.  We drove over 600 miles on the last tank - thanks to the reserve tank we added to the truck when we bought it. Tomorrow we are going to a flea market and Wednesday we are going back to Mexico. Thursday, Heartland is having a meet and greet at a nearby resort, and Friday I am going shopping with Pam and her friend Laurie.  It will be a busy but fun week!

The sky as we are headed back to Val's.

You may need to enlarge this picture to see the blimp in the sky.  We were told this is part of the border patrol surveillance.  

By the time I had all of this written out Monday evening I was too tired to check for any errors.  It is Tuesday evening and I've just finished updating it, but now the pictures will not load.   (1-24-18 Update:   Between my computer and Verizon signal - I'm not sure which is causing more problems, but neither is giving me any assistance in getting this blog updated.  So I'm up early to do this before most folks are up and see if that helps - so far, so good.)

Thanks again to everyone that follows along on our adventure.  Feel free to comment.  I love hearing from you!