A Padded Behind

Even though we were supposed to have 60% chance of thunderstorms yesterday, we headed to the golf course anyway.  Maurice, Wray, Mark and I teed off around 10:00am under very cloudy and very windy conditions.  Fortunately, we only got sprinkled on a few times. 

Once we got back to the park, Rick and Mary were in the park visiting.  We knew them a few years ago and have been keeping up with their travels.  By the time we said goodbye to them, it was 3:00pm and we were starving.  With no food in the trailer, we headed to Chili's.  As usual, when starving before you get to a restaurant, you usually eat way too much, and we did!

Since we've been biking so much, Mark desparately needed a different type of bicycle seat.  We've gone through this before and have always returned whichever seat he picked out.  The jury's still out on this one and the old one is still in the storage department. 

A comfortable seat makes for a happy rider:

Lately we've been spending a lot of time playing ping pong in the clubhouse.  We're pretty evenly matched.  The owner of the park is always challenging us to a game, and he usually wins.  Today Mark beat Erik, and he was crushed!  We got a good laugh out of it.  

This is where we spend at least a part of every day - the hot tub.  It's always 103 degrees.

The pool used to be the best, unfortunately it's not heated right now and the water has cooled to 75.  Erik says he'll turn on the heat soon and the bubble will go on in early December.

There won't be another blog from us until probably next Friday.

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go......

Tomorrow morning we're driving to Galveston to get on the Carnival Ecstacy ship for five nights!  Mark found us a last minute cruise on-line for 55+ passengers.  [Sorry Cheri - NEXT year you guys can book one.]  It was only a great deal because Mark is over 55, and we don't need airfare.

I just hope all of our dieting isn't blown on a 5 day cruise!  More next week.

Riding With Friends

I'm happy to report that Mark's cold is now gone, or at least moved on to another RVer.  All the miracle drugs seemed to work, and I've washed my hands at least 50 times a day and have stayed healthy.

We've still been walking and biking around the park; in fact, it's 7:15pm and dark (I hate it being dark so early, but next week will be worse) and we just finished biking with Carolyn, Paul, at one time four others joined in so we had quite a group.  Carolyn and Paul bike every night for an hour so I suspect we'll join them again soon.

The internet in the park has been crappy at best, but "free".  Since it's free, you can't really complain, even though many do.  Today we resolved the problem, or rather Maurice and Linda did.  They got a DSL line and were kind enough to give us the codes while we agreed to pay half the monthly charge.  This is cheaper than all the other options we had.

We've avoided buying diesel for yet another day.  Each day we hope it will get cheaper before we have to fill up; unfortunately it just keeps going up.  Tomorrow we'll just have to suck it up and pay the $2.79/gallon.  It's risen 60 cents a gallon in the three weeks we've been here.  Gas is also climbing - I think most stations have it for $2.59 for regular.  What's the deal?

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

This weekend we stayed around the park.  We're still walking around the park every morning that we aren't golfing.  We had thought that four laps around the park was one mile, but once we drove the truck around, we've discovered that four laps is just shy of two miles.  The trick to getting in at least two to three miles is to not stop and talk to everyone along the way.  The best way to do this is to have the iPods on and to just keep moving.  I've mastered this; Mark has not.  

Since we discovered we were walking more than we thought, Friday night we celebrated by eating Pizza Hut.  I was tired of cooking every night and really wanted pizza.

When we got back, Gene and Linda and Maurice and Linda taught us to play Wild Fire - a new domino game.  We haven't played any form of dominoes since we were here three years ago and we missed it.  

Saturday we rode our bikes out on the main road in front of the park to get to another RV park just about a mile away.  One of the guys Mark used to golf with now resides in that park and we wanted to touch base with him, especially since he still golfs.  This is not a bicycle-friendly town.  There are almost no sidewalks.  We made it safely, but decided the next time we go to visit Bill, we'll drive the truck. 

When Mark started hanging up our new roman shades that we had purchased for three more windows in the trailer, it was decided that we bought the wrong size.  This required yet another trip to Bed Bath and Beyond.  Unfortunately, they no longer had our size.  The manager is going to have the correct color and size shipped from the Corpus Christi store.  Hopefully some day we'll get the right ones installed.

We learned yet another game tonight with the other two couples.  Tonight we played Joker.  It's similar to Aggravation that we all played when we were kids, only more cut-throat. They always play guys against the gals.  Of the four games we played, the guys won three.  I can see where it could get real ugly at times, but we kept it friendly tonight.

Searching For a Cure

How many trips to the drug store must we make?  In the past two days we've made at least four trips to the drugstore for additional cold medicine, cough medicine, Puffs, throat lozenges, Lysol spray, disinfectant wipes,etc.  Today Mark got some generic with pseudoephedrine in it, but only after agreeing not to make meth with it and signing his life away.  Wray and Emily also gave him some "Airborne Formula".  I had never heard of it, but apparently it was created by a second grade school teacher and it only has vitamins in it, but many people swear by it.  Only time and a smorgasboard of medicines will tell! At any rate Mark is now giving himself a 50/50 chance of recovering from this cold which is an improvement from yesterday when he was certain he wouldn't survive the day.

While Mark has been channel surfing for two days, I've been lounging outside reading books, catching up with friends and family back home, and enjoying the great weather.  The remnants of Hurricane Rick in the Pacific ocean never did land on our RV park; 3 inches of predicted rain was really only about 1/100th of an inch. 

Yesterday our friends Maurice and Linda arrived.  It was good to catch up with them as we haven't seen them in three years.  Maurice likes to golf and was one of the many guys that all went out together when we were here three and four years ago.  

Today I ventured off to get a hair cut from the same Vietnamese woman that cut it three years ago.  Now I'm set until I get back to Kathy in December.

Not Gonna Do It Again

Today was the second day in a row that we walked 18 holes on the golf course.  It's also the last time I do it. 

Yesterday we were getting ready to golf when an old friend knocked on the door.  Mac and Phyllis stopped by the park on their way to the Valley to spend their winter.  We met them our first night in this park four years ago and haven't seen them in over two years.  They both looked great and we enjoyed catching up.  We made plans to meet them in January down in Mission. 

We finally made it to the golf course at noon.  I usually keep my camera in my bag waiting for a Kodak moment.  Unfortunately this is the only thing I could find - proof of the summer's draught.

Today Wray golfed with us.  We harrassed him for several days to get a pull cart so on Sunday he found one at a garage sale for $5.  $16 for 18 holes walking is much cheaper than the $32 to pay for 18 with a cart.  The three of us had a good time, and he and Mark scored the same.  I did 8 shots worse than yesterday - another reason not to play two days in a row.  By the 15th hole I was dragging.  Mark has a cold (and now a fever) so he was dragging even earlier.

Wray and Emily stopped by our trailer around 5:00pm to see if we wanted to go to Olive Garden for dinner.  We didn't have to think twice - of course we went!

These Pigs Won't Fly

Friday we had nothing planned so we just toured the city.  We started at the Riverside Park where the golf course is.  The Guadalupe River is back down to the level it belongs; just a week ago it was out of its banks.

We walked down the hill to get to this grassy landing.  Unfortunately the ground is still somewhat wet and we ended up slip-sliding down the hill.   

Next we headed off to another park of the park where the geese like to hang out.

One of these loud nuisances chased me down the sidewalk.  We've discovered that the locals come and feed them so when you get out of your car they come up to see what food you have for them.  They were disappointed with us.

Next we were off to lunch to our favorite restaurant in Victoria, and it is only a quarter of a mile from the RV park.  It doesn't look like much, but it's worth every penny!

I forgot to take a picture of the front of the building, but it has ghetto bars on all the windows.  It's a family run place that's been here forever.

This is the back where they do the actual smoking/BBQing.  I had the sliced pork meal while Mark had the ribs and pork - comes with two sides and bread. 

Saturday was the "Market Days" in the park.  We really wanted one of these metal flying pig yard arts, but they were $25. 

Each afternoon was spent in the pool and hot tub.  Mark says the pool is too cold to get in since the evenings cool off to the 50s; I say its still refreshing to get it, especially when I have the 103 hot tub to get into afterwards.

The past couple of days we have been meeting quite a few people in the park.  It's still mostly empty as most winter Texans don't arrive into this park until November or just after Christmas.  Most of the folks already here, live here full time.  The rest are usually just stopping by for one night on their way to the Valley (southern tip of TX; Brownsville, Mission, etc.), and three couples are work-campers. 

This is our site for the duration; unfortunately there is already someone on the spot right next to us.  Our drop down sunscreen makes our spot a little more private, plus it keeps the sun off in the morning.  Unfortunately the sun beats down on the other side in the afternoon where the fridge is.  We're trying to keep the temp under 38; unfortunately with the heat, it's now at 45.

We haven't golfed since Monday because of rain on Tuesday, and extreme heat on Wednesday.  Today Mark played with Wray (RAY) who is one of the work-campers in the park.  He won't walk on the course that Mark and I walk, so the two of them headed to Colony Creek, the only other course in Victoria that the public can play. 

While Mark golfed, I cleaned.  I'm still getting sand out from Gulf Shores but I believe it's gone now.  I also spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to get reimbursed for our flu shots last week.  I've mailed off the original receipts to our respective insurance companies, and will now hope for the best ($50.00).

While I was preparing dinner tonight, I came across yet another "treasure" from my sister.

It's a picture of Dennis when he was about a year old.  That was his favorite toy that he called "animal."  I hope I find more hidden treasures.

Mud and Blood

Most of Sunday morning was spent saying goodbye to the rally people from San Antonio.  The funny woman next to us who was very slow playing the card bingo Saturday night felt the need to share with me that she absolutely hated wearing thong underwear.  Why did she need to share this with me? and how did this conversation ever come up?  I'm still trying to figure it out.  What do you say to something like that?  I just looked at her and laughed.

Once it started raining we all scattered and they left the park headed home.  We miss these folks, but are getting to know more people in the park who are here for the winter.

Since the rain quit late Sunday, we headed off to golf this morning.  It started off at 67 degrees, but by the time we finished, it was well into the 80s but humid as hell!  This was the first time we've walked 18 holes in a couple of years.  We both held up well considering the humidity.  There were just two problems, and I'm not sure which was worse.  We were covered in both mud from the two days of rain and blood from the mosquitos biting us.  The Guadalupe River that runs along the golf course made a perfect breeding ground for those biting buggers.  Once I was putting while Mark was slapping my leg to kill one.  Tomorrow we're gonna have on more bug spray.

I say my game was ok; Mark says his was terrible.  That's what happens when you golf only 3 times a month.  We'll make up for that now.

Once we got back to the park we jumped into the pool (mostly to get off the mud and blood).  Since it was cool for a couple of days, the water was only 76 degrees.  Yes, it was freezing, but felt oh so good after the humid day.  Fortunately the hot tub was also on and warmed to 103.

Making New Friends

There we so many choices of entertainment today, we just had to pick one and go with it as none of them were close to each other.  October is when all the little communities have their festivals.  We had decided on the Cuero Turkeyfest.

We had arrived too late for the turkey race so we headed to the fairgrounds.  Fortunately for us, the gate where we entered wasn't set up yet so we didn't have to the pay $3 a person entry fee.  There were only a few booths open at 11:15a; some purses, and flautas.  It was too early for food.  We made three passes through the fairgrounds (total of 15 minutes) and decided we were happy we didn't pay to enter.  We then headed into town where we got to see part of the Annual Turkeyfest Parade.

This evening our neighbor Tom stopped by the trailer to remind us about the meatloaf and mashed potato dinner for his RV club from San Antonio.  We just had to bring our utensils and plates and eight quarters apiece to play card bingo.  

The eight other couples all welcomed us with open arms and made us feel like one of the gang.  The food was delicious, and best of all - I didn't have to make it!  After dinner we played card bingo.  Each group of four deals a deck of cards face up.  The caller has a separate deck and calls cards.  If you have the card he calls, you throw it into a pile.  When your cards are all gone, you yell BINGO.  I was fortunate to win the first game; Mark won the third game; then I won again a few hands later.  We took quit a lot of ribbing from these people since we, as guests, were winning all their money.  We ended up getting our original $4 plus another $2.25.  Now I can do laundry tomorrow.

This was certainly better than watching the Cardinals end their season way too early. 

A Shot and No Beer

The heat wave finally broke today. We rode our bikes this morning for what seemed liked 15 or 20 miles but it was the humidity. We actually rode two miles and had to quit. It was 90 when we rode bikes this morning; it's now 62.  We put the awning out so we could sit outside during the rain and enjoy the lower temps. Then the storm arrived with 35 mile winds. Quickly the awning went back in and we watched the storm from inside.

After the first wave of weather we headed out to check the level of the Guadulupe river to make sure it wasn't out of it's banks and flooding the golf course. The river is going down and the golf course will be ready for us on Monday. Since we were out we decided to check out getting a flu shot at Walgreens. The first one we stopped at still had shots available. It turns out this is a much more fun way to get a shot than going to the doctor. There were several folks in line waiting for the nurse to come back from lunch and start giving injections. These were local Texans but they must not get out much. One lady had been Christmas shopping and had bought her husband a Snuggie (as seen on TV). She also had four Snuggies for dogs(not seen on TV) in the cart. She told her husband to model the Snuggie,he did. There was a couple there who thought the Arch in STL actually spanned the river! They were amazed that we would spend a winter down here. We plan to get all our shots at drugstores in the future.

One of the topics of conversations in several stores we stopped at today was the condition of Mark's head.  He forgot to wear a hat and more than one person commented on his newest mishap (no picture taken).  We even heard a comment at Olive Garden from a nearby table, "Look at that poor man's head."  This makes 3 times he's hit his head on the trailer and we've only been gone just over a month.  I see a hardhat in his future.

Our last stop of the day was at the local HEB (more info in a future blog).  They were holding a wine tasting along with some food.  Of course I had to try the three different wines; Mark just wanted to know when there was going to be a beer tasting day.  

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Since arriving here on Tuesday afternoon, we've been baking.  While you guys back home are begging for someone to turn off the faucet, we're waiting to turn off the A/C.  We've fallen into the routine of getting up, walking a mile or so around the park, reaquainting ourselves with the streets around town, then the pool and hot tub, dinner, then repeat pool and hot tub. 

Yesterday we had to find a notary.  When we arrived Tuesday, our absentee ballots had arrived via US Mail.  We immediately filled them out and found the notary at the bank.  We're really pushing for the no-smoking (maybe Dennis will then quit).

A small group of RVers from San Antonio are making their way into the park.  The president of this group is right next to us.  Although we can't remember his name, we talk to him several times daily.  He even invited us to their meatloaf and mashed potato dinner on Saturday night.  We're going to take him up on it.  He also got me a list of RV parks in the Hill Country north of San Antonio where we might try and stay later in the season.

I managed to stay up and watch the entire ballgame last night.  I hate staying up late for a west coast game, just to watch a losing game.  At least the pitching is better today.  A few more innings will tell.

Today we were going to golf, but decided to wait until next week.  35mph winds plus the 96 degree temp changed our minds for us.  Instead we headed to Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast.  It's an 85 mile trip, crossing a ferry to get on the island. 

The beach isn't as nice as Gulf Shores but the water was warmer.  We didn't have suits so we just waded. 

In Texas, people drive on the beach.  We're never been a big fan of doing this, but it's the only way to get on the beach.  We thought this sign was strange:

Lazy Long Horn RV Park

We are here. Here is Victoria,Texas, the heart of Texas history. This is the third time we have spent a winter at this park but the first time since 2006. We spent last night in a park outside Houston that was filled with workers. The park was nice enough but the maintenance man kept driving around our trailer on a four-wheeler that really needed a new muffler.The drive today was uneventful except for the decision to drive thru downtown Houston. Several friends suggested this route since the outer beltway around town is a toll road and it costs $11.00 to go around. It worked out fine but it is a little unnerving to mix with the business traffic while pulling a 38' trailer.

When we arrived the temperature was in the upper 90's and the heat index was 104! We visited with the owners of the park for a while and then started setting up for the winter. Luckily we wouldn't fit in the spot we were assigned so they put us on a pull-thru one spot away from the pool and hot tub. Sometimes things just work out! Two hours after sweating, swimming and sweating some more to get all the crap we carry set up we decided we had done enough for one day. We headed out to check out the condition of the local golf course and stock up on groceries at one of our favorite places,the HEB grocery store. The golf course looked great and we will try to play tomorrow. The grocery store needs another day's blog to describe.

Winter Texans Again!

We have finally reached the land of internet.  At 10:00am Saturday we said goodbye to Pam and Dennis and headed north to I-10 heading west.  One bizarre thing happened on AL-59.  Some guy was honking at us and trying to yell something to Mark as he was driving on this crowded 2-lane road.  When this happens, you automatically assume something is wrong with your trailer, i.e. lights don't work, flat tire, antennae up, etc., but no, this goofball wanted to tell Mark that he was from Cedar Creek, Missouri.  He must have thought that since our trailer is a Cedar Creek, and we had MO plates on it, we had a common bond with him.  For this we dang near wrecked! 

We were heading to Bay St. Louis, MS to stay at the Silver Slipper Casino RV Park.  It had great ratings, and we are always up for a casino, especially with a buffet.  This park is just 75' from the Gulf of Mexico.

Since we were first-timers to the casino, they gave us one free night in the RV park, two buy one, get one free buffets, t-shirts, and some entries into future drawings.  We ate the Crabfest Buffet on Saturday night.  Oh my - it was fabulous.  Since we had a free night, we stayed Sunday night as well.  There is nothing in Bay St. Louis except two casinos and a town torn up by Hurricane Katrina four years ago.  We were told that the RV park was 27' under water during the Hurricane.  We saw lots of devastation - so sad to see.

After three buffets, two nights of gambling (we won!), and a very rainy Sunday, on Monday morning we headed west.  Today we landed in Baytown, TX where it is 95 degrees and 80% humidity.  This was not a fun trip.  It was pouring when we left, and we were only able to drive 30mph for an hour on I-10 because of the storms. 

This is what it looked like this morning when we left.

Tomorrow we'll be leaving here around 9:30a headed for our winter destination - Victoria, TX.

One More Buffet and a Buffet to Boot

Today is our last day in Gulf Shores. 

A few pics from the park:

One would think that this was going to be the last day we would ever be able to eat so we crammed a week's worth in just two meals.  While awaiting for the rain (80% chance) we biked down to the beach for a quick look.   

The seagulls mostly had the beach to themselves. 

The big dilemma for the day was, "where are we going to eat our last dinner together?" and "Oh, by the way, where are we eating our last lunch; we don't have any lunch food."  While I did laundry, Mark researched food. 

I can still ride and carry a laundry basket.

Lunch at the Crico's a pleasant surprise.  While going in for subs, we all ended up eating lunch buffet - pizza.  To burn off at least one slice of lunch we had to bike for a while.  In our almost two hour trip, between the four of us there were only 5 near-fatal accidents on the bikes.  This particular trip has taught us to be more careful while driving our cars back home.  It seems no one watches out for the bikers or pedestrians.  

The research had us eating dinner at Lulu's Restaurant at a local marina. Lulu is Jimmy Buffetts sister and since this place was not right on the beach road the prices were reasonable.  The food was fabulous and we had a great table outside right on the intercoastal waterway. 

What nice tans we have after being in the sun for the past three weeks.  Needless to say, we ate way to much but it sure was good.

Mark and I are headed off to Bay St. Louis, MS tomorrow and won't have internet until we get to Victoria, TX early next week.  I'm going to miss this place and more importantly, I'll miss my sister (and Dennis) more!  We'll meet up with them again in March while in Texas and next September, when we've all already booked a month here!

Almost forgot - we received no rain today; the sun came out around 10:00 and was 85 by noon. 

Cake and Jelly

Today we needed to start putting things away since we're leaving Gulf Shores on Saturday morning and rain is forecast for tomorrow.  While Mark cleaned up the basement of the trailer, I defrosted the freezer and vacuumed.  No matter how much we wipe off our shoes outside, the sand still makes it into the carpet. Also Mark had to replace the water heater element since he switched it to electric with no water in the tank the first day we got here.

After lunch we headed to the beach for what will most likely be our final trip this year.  Again, no waves and the cool air made getting in and out of the water uncomfortable.  One of the kids on the beach brought up a jellyfish he had caught in his hand.  He was kind enough to let me hold it, especially since he said it didn't sting.

Dennis was willing to touch; Mark was not.

Earlier this morning Mark picked up this evening's dessert.  He and Pam had been craving Red Velvet cake for almost three weeks.  Since we're running out of our time together, today was the day. 

The cake was delicious and the mosquitos were vicious.  We finally had to move inside where we were all plotting the next leg of our respective trips; we are headed to Bay St. Louis, MS and Pam and Dennis are headed up to St. Louis.