First Mexico Excursion and other stuff

Yesterday after the first business meeting, of which I was just one of the crowd, we went to Nuevo Progreso to stock up on meds and have lunch. All seemed quiet on both sides of the border. In Matamoros on Sunday however there was a cartel shootout on the streets killing 13 people including 1 woman. Do not go to Matamoros or Reynosa. From the news reports it sounds like both cities are having cartel battles.

This is a picture of the Gordon's orange tree. 

And here is Butch wearing a poncho that son Jason requested that we purchase for him. I really wanted to wait till Spring so we didn't have to store it all winter but it did not work out that way.

From Grandpa Gary

Uploaded 3 today from a while back

Leo in High Chair

http://youtu.be/JUiLCi9lReY

Leo napping?

http://youtu.be/rX3IKYABnPg

Elise running Vacuum

http://youtu.be/hiHAnUPqkus

Time, plenty of time.

It was such a nice feeling coming down this season with nothing on my mind but fun. No meetings to set up, no long range planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas, no snafus in my soup of life. I have loved it. The occasions were really very few when there was difficulty but I say that in hindsight. At any rate this new feeling of being carefree is one I hope to hang on to.
We checked on neighbors Donn and Peggy's place and all is well. They have continued to put out bowls of charcoal throughout their house and I must say it works. It smells fresh as a daisy in there and you would never know it has been shut up for 7 months. We were looking for ant, flea and tick powder but didn't find any. When we were in Llano Tx we were sitting with our chairs in the grass and later discovered all kinds of bites around our ankles. I suspected chiggers although I am not sure. I do know they itched like the devil. Actually they still do. And we have had the same problem here in years past. So we had some of the ant, flea and tick powder but not enough to do Donn and Peggy's lawn and ours thus we were on the search.
Donn and Peggy's orange tree is abundant this year. She will be busy juicing oranges shortly after arrival.

Our friends Bill and Kay are on their way and will be stopping in Oklahoma to pick up 300 pounds or so of pecans. They have a gigantic geranium in their front yard and another small bush, I am guessing Hibiscus. They both look very healthy. They must have had some timely rains this summer.

A young fellow, Raul came to check on our Internet speed to make sure we are getting the extreme super duper one. He was very personable and I enjoyed his company. I found out he was raised in a small town  near Houston and moved to the valley when he was in middle school. His father is Puerto Rican and his mother is Mexican and he grew up speaking English. And then when he came to the valley he did not know Spanish and his relatives here admonished his parents because they did not teach him Spanish. So he learned it when he was in middle school from his relatives. He is now fluent in both. His Mexican relatives tease him by calling him the "White Boy". This conversation came about because his supervisor called and asked him to take another "Winter Texan" job. He said so many of the tech's in the valley are not fluent in English so being bilingual gets him more calls. Raul left and told us he was done but then later he came back. He said he was talking to his supervisor about our modem and questioning why we could get  Extreme on that small of a modem. Well it seems we couldn't so the return trip was to swap out the modem for a bigger one. I was impressed that he was on top of a potential problem. Sharp young fellow who takes his job seriously.

This Schwinn bike that did belong to Bill Brooker looks pretty darn good and rides like a dream. If we ever stop coming down it will go back to Iowa with us.

We have a neighborhood squirrel that lives in a palm tree. Now there is something perhaps not thought of as a possibility. I was lucky enough to get some pictures of him yesterday. He is a super quick guy and you almost see him as a blur when he runs past.

Settling in day

We washed all the butterflies off the front of the motor home. There is a butterfly migration taking place and many of them have lost their life. We tried to miss them...really, we did.
I spent the better part of the morning getting Internet connection- We upgraded to Extreme Internet for the same price as turbo last year. That was a happy surprise. It always pays to call and negotiate. I like to stream video (Netflix) so I  need more than basic. Oh that high speed is oh so sweet!
After we were blessed with our Extreme Internet I had to get our smart TV(online chat with Vizio) compatible with the Internet so I  could bring Netflix into the mix. All done!
Butch found 40 digital TV stations in the area.
It is HOT and HUMID. Think Iowa in July and a warm 90 degree corn-growing day and you have yesterday and today. In spite of that, Butch and I got our 2 one mile walks in today. That feels good and steps in the right direction.
And then I went to see Yolanda and get my hair cut. It was needed and now I am feeling light headed. 
Butch had a short session in the pool hall but I do believe he was in there all by his lonesome.
There is only one thing missing from our happy winter home and that is our best friends and they know who they are. And they will be here soon.
We are ready!

We have landed

We made the journey from Llano TX to Magnolia Park- 350 + miles. I had forgotten how hwy 16 is kind of narrow, a bit twisty and hilly south of Llano. Now north of Llano is much better. It is beautiful however. Butch said, "How about getting me a Bit-O-Honey?" I said," Not as long as we are on these roads." So he had to wait till we got to I -10 before he got his treat. The trip was fine. Always a bit of  a challenge getting through San Antonio. Any city really. But it went smooth and we were soon on the other side. Still a long drive on down to the Rio Grande Valley. But thanks to our audio book the miles flew by.
So now we are sitting in our winter home where we will be perched  till Spring.

Some tips

 

You have probably been ignoring this feature. 

 

Most aluminum foil boxes have press-in tabs that secure the roll in place, so you don’t have worry about it flying out every time you rip off a sheet.

You’ve been dispensing Tic Tacs the hard way.

 

You know how when you violently shake a container of Tic Tacs into your palm it seems as though you always end up with zero or seven? Avoid that altogether by letting a mint gently glide into the tiny lid crevice

 

You haven’t been using ketchup cups to their full potential.

 

Instead of grabbing multiple cups of ketchup, simply pull apart at the edges for twice the space.

 

Chinese takeout containers are actually made to fold out into plates.

 

The containers actually are meant to unfold into a makeshift plate, which you can easily reassemble into a box for storing leftovers

You’ve probably been placing toilet seat covers in the wrong direction.

 

The flap is meant to be placed toward the front. This prevents the agony of sitting down on a toilet seat, only to realize you’ve dragged the cover down into the bowl.

Soda tabs double as straw holders.

      Yay for me; this one I've always done!) s

 

Turn the tab around so that it acts as holder that can stop the straw from raising out of the can as the soda fizzes.

 

You probably don’t realize it, but your pots come with built-in spoon rests! 

I had to get right up and look at this! All I saw was a way to hang up the pot!  :-(

 

Soft-drink lids can double as coasters.

 

May be a rain delay

We do not know just yet. The plan was to head out of Llano tomorrow and head for the border as they say. We would stop just short of the border as you might guess but nevertheless we were planning to head for Magnolia Park tomorrow morning and we still may do that...but rain is predicted and in some places lots of it and that leads to flash floods etc. So we will assess the situation in the morning.
Our com-padres have left so we are once again just the two of us. We had a great time with them as we always do. We met these folks at Snow Mountain Ranch and have remained connected.
Terry and Lisa Linder-Canyon Lake TX
Larry and Roxy McGough-Canyon Lake TX
Mike and Sharon Bryce- Pecan Plantation-Granbury TX
Great friends=Good times.
While in discussion I asked Lisa if she ever went to IKEA. She said yes, on occasion. So we may have a plan B on obtaining our headboard for the summer house. Time will tell.

I mentioned a little gastro-intestinal distress earlier in the week. Well it has taken longer than I like to shake this off. Yesterday was the first day that I felt 90% like myself. About 3 days ago I started taking Pro-biotics and I do believe it helped the situation. Today I am up to 95% like myself.

Here are some pics taken yesterday.
Coopers BBQ-Llano TX

 Five smokers!! They only had one going though. And it was every bit as good as it looks and I am not even a big BBQ fan.

Larry and Roxy spending their certificate.

 Palo Pinto County Sheriffs Posse...and I would have loved to get a picture of the grizzled old cowboy driving this rig.

 The grocery store sells deer blinds

 And in the evening this is what we do. Lisa, Roxy and Terry

                                        Butch and Larry

Better-than-Mom's Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa Casserole with Creamy Curry Sauce

Better-than-Mom's Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa Casserole with Creamy Curry Sauce
(Makes 4 generous servings, recipe adapted from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood.)

1/2 cup quinoa (rinsed unless the package says it does not need rinsing)
1 cup water for cooking quinoa (or a little more, see recipe)
3 cups broccoli flowerets, cut into same-sized pieces
1/2 tsp. salt (for cooking broccoli) 
2 cups diced cooked chicken (I used leftover rotisserie chicken)
1 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
1/3 cup mayo or light mayo
2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. curry powder (I used Penzey's Sweet Curry Powder)
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste to season the sauce (I used Vege-Sal.) 
1/3 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.  Rinse quinoa until no more foam appears.  Combine quinoa with 1 cup water and bring to a boil.  (Use the smallest pan you have that has a tight-fitting lid.  I used a pan that was too big and I had to add a couple T more water to get the quinoa done.)  Simmer until the water is absorbed, then cover the pan with the lid and let it sit for 5-6 minutes, fluffing with a fork when the quinoa is done. 

While quinoa cooks, start a medium sized pan of water boiling while you cut broccoli to make 3 cups same-sized flowerets.  Add about 1/2 tsp. salt to the water, add broccoli, and cook 2-3 minutes, or until the broccoli turns bright green.  Drain broccoli into a colander placed in the sink.  Dice enough cooked chicken to make 2 cups diced, cooked chicken.

Whisk together the low-fat sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, curry powder, Vege-Sal (or salt) and black pepper to make the sauce. 

Spray a 9" x 9" glass or crockery casserole with with non-stick spray or oil.  Layer quinoa, broccoli, then chicken, spreading out each ingredient so it covers the surface or is distributed evenly.  Use a rubber scraper to spread the sauce mixture over the top of the chicken.  (I used the side of the rubber scraper to poke slits so the sauce could run down into the other ingredients a bit.)  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling and the top is starting to brown.  Serve hot.

This would be great to take to work for lunch and re-heat in a microwave.  The chicken, broccoli, and quinoa would make a balanced one-dish meal.

- See more at: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2011/03/recipe-for-better-than-moms-chicken.html#sthash.OT5ukVty.dpuf

Blue Bonnet Cafe

Yesterday we took a road trip stopping at the Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls TX. Great food since 1929 and they were not kidding.The place was packed but they are used to that being the case so it all went very smooth. We also stopped at thrift shops and good will places along the way. I didn't buy a thing but it was fun.

Blue Bonnet Cafe

This family was shopping in Good Will having some Halloween fun with the wigs. The Mom could not stop laughing. And for those that wonder- they didn't buy the wigs.

Great Grand Halloween

A cheerleader and a lion

Baby Leo rides on

Busy in Llano TX

Today we are going on tour and I will be taking my camera so the next couple of blog entries might be a  bit more interesting.
I have been struggling with some intestinal distress the past couple of days. I am the only one suffering so it must not be contagious. Do not know what caused it or specifically how to cure it but I am working on it. Started taking pro-biotics today. Will see if that does the trick. It isn't ER severe , just unpleasant...so far.

Butch has played golf the past two days and has been happier with his game. First day out he had an 82. For you non-golfers that is not bad for 18 holes on an unfamiliar course. A bit higher yesterday- 87. Still not bad.

We gather at Llano

Our Texas friends, the ones we met and bonded with at Snow Mountain Ranch, have gathered at Llano Texas. The guys will be playing golf and maybe the women on one day at least, but today the ladies are going to Marble Falls to the Brooks Outlet. They are familiar with it but it will be a new experience for me.

Yesterday Butch and I managed to get a walk in before our people arrived and I snapped a few pictures. We have been here on more than one occasion so it is possible they may look like ones you have seen before. They have had rain in this area so it is not nearly as dried up as last time. It is looking quite lush.

Back Pat and a Butt Kick

This morning I made notes on our trip south including problem areas, mileage, places to eat etc. Now I have done this before but then I did not have any ONE place that I put them. Or I would wait too long to record the info and then could not remember. Part of the problem with this is that often it is months between trips and I have many journals with this kind of info in them. So which journal is it? Well this time I made a folder and a document in Google Drive. How does that change things? It puts it in the cloud and thus onto any computer on which I can sign into my google account thus any computer with Internet access. I noticed this morning as I was doing this I didn't have to save it. When you make it, it is automatically saved. You can delete it however which I like because I am not fond of clutter. Also in Google Drive you have access to all documents offline as well as on.
The butt kick is because I didn't do it sooner.

Note to self- get all recipes especially family recipes I would hate to lose into Google Docs.

Llano Texas- Arrival

We are in Llano Texas. Arrived about 2:30 this afternoon. We are parked, paid and settled in. We went to the grocery store. Always a strange experience in different parts of the country. This area caters to hunters and a quick glance at the grocery store parking lot tells you that right off with all kinds of camouflaged items displayed for sale.
Our trip  down was fairly uneventful  with a few tense moments on I-820W where we were looking for an exit  onto I-30W a midst   an extreme amount of construction. A few tense miles but we got through it unscathed.
This is a pretty part of Texas. We came by the Baby Head Cemetery and I was reminded that I had been wrong as to the origin of it. I assumed it was a family name and where they buried their young when in fact it was an Indian who murdered a white settlers baby, beheading it and taking the head to the top of a nearby mountain which is named oddly enough Baby Head Mountain. We found this information the last time we visited this area and I could not remember if I had filled you in or not. Maybe you didn't want to be filled in about such a grisly act but then it is close to Halloween.
Butch is at the driving range trying to "fix" his game.

So excited!-still at Big Cabin

Sitting here at Big Cabin working on my Chromebook. I have been catching up with Word with Friends games. Chromebook has been perplexing me because it does not have the F keys on the top, While working on the word games the page would jump around and make it difficult to move the letters, So experimenting I found the key that is equivalent to the F-11 key. It is a square with little arrow marks in the upper left and lower right. When you touch that key it takes away the excess info at the top of the page and gives you more room to maneuver, same as the F-11 key on a Microsoft computer. This is good news and eliminates a frustration for me. Yippee!

Big Cabin

We are sitting in Big Cabin waiting room while they are working on our moho. As soon as they are finished we will be headed down bumpy old hwy 69 toward Texas. We will be overnighting in a rest area so doubt that wifi will be reliable so it will most likely be Thursday before you have new material on this site.

Downstream entry

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

We are at the Downstream casino and it is my usual time to be on the computer but here we have no internet, so I thought I would get a blog entry ready for the next time I will have internet and that should be at Big Cabin Diesel later this morning unless something has changed since we were there last.

I have some more pictures of the little ones. Little Leo is so hard to catch with a picture. I have one of him that will explain what happens. Remember when he was born and we all commented on how aware he was for a newborn? Well he is over 6 months old and nothing has changed in that regard. When the camera comes out his aware radar goes on overtime, he gives you a sober and studious look and you are left with a somber looking baby . If you do not catch him when he is distracted you may as well hang up the camera. It isn't often you need to trick a baby.

Our casino experience was good as casinos go. I like the machines here as they at least kick out enough to keep you interested. I lost $7 and it took over two hours to do that. Yes I was a winner at one time but didn't quit then. Butch won, I don't know, $15 or so, maybe more. Not enough to shout about but then when you consider we are staying here for free with electricity and water it is not a bad deal at all.

We will be at Big Cabin today and tonight getting our motorhome serviced and we will  plan to stay in the Welcome Center at Sherman Texas tomorrow night. No hook ups so it will be a boondocking experience. We do that infrequently.

                                                        See that sneaky little sideways look?

                                                                   Mom is here!

                                                  Teachers Gary and Amanda grading papers

                                       Beautiful sky through the windshield

Todays Jaunt

Today we travel from Peculiar Park Place, Southeast Outer Road, Peculiar, MO to Downstream Casino Resort, 69300 E Nee Rd, Quapaw, OK a distance of 140 miles. So it is a casual travel day in familiar territory. We will be overnighting at the casino RV park at no cost before going to Big Cabin OK the next morning for servicing of the Motorhome. We had a great weekend with the wee ones and their parents and grandparents. The little ones will grow so much in the 6 months until we see them again.
Keeping posted...

Leo's Bathtime

Seems like an imbalance in wee one pictures? Keep in mind that there were a plethora of pics when Miss Elise was tiny. Now she is a big sister and very busy taking care of brother Leo

Peculiar Park Place

We are safely parked at the above location. We have been very lucky in our travels in having great travel weather. We do plan for it on occasion I will admit. But yesterday we came through Kansas City in moderate to heavy rain. We made it without incident.  It makes for a more tense trip.
We made the short jaunt (2 miles) to Gary and Susan's place to help with the kiddoes since Nana Susan was in charge of them.
Elise wanted me to play with her and since I did not want to be thought of as a grumpy old lady I obliged. We played doctor visit, tic tac toe, and read several books. Then she wanted to get on the computer to "Check her email". I didn't know if she was allowed to be on Papa Gary's computer so I feigned ignorance about turning it on. She hollered at her Nana Susan to come turn on the computer because Grandma Barbara does not know how. So she did. We were doing a few things that really did not interest her much and then we looked at pictures. Every time she saw a picture of Gary she said, "There is Papa Gary who knows how to turn on his computer". She said this EVERY time. I do believe I was "zinged" by a 3 year old.

Baby Leo is growing fast and weighs 20 lbs at 6 months. He is such a cutie and so good natured. He is as mild and laid back as his older sister is wired and springy.

Spotty

Posts could be a bit spotty from now until we are in South Texas.

 Yesterday we were in northern Iowa for a visitation with friends and family of our friend Dale Cooklin. Dale and his wife Norma were very involved with many of the events we were a part of in Magnolia Park. One of our subgroup would go to the hall before each event to place our dinnerware so we could all sit together. So this was a hard loss to deal with and we will miss him at every turn.
Because of the close proximity, we were able to get a nice visit with sis Marlene and Bernard and their daughter-in-law Sara. Also very lucky to have Marlene's apple crisp served to us with a dollop of ice cream. Yum!
In the morning we will be headed for Missouri- Peculiar to be specific- and we will be spending the weekend with our Missouri kids. From there we will be going to Big Cabin OK for servicing of the motorhome and then on to Llano TX so Butch can play some more bad golf. To hear him tell he has not played well for a whole year. You cannot believe everything that man tells you. He just forgets the good ones and agonizes over the bad ones. And then we will be headed to the Rio Grande Valley for another winter of warm and wonderful..
The internet connections may not be sufficient until we get back in our winter spot. In the past we have had Verizon.  Even though it was not great at times it was okay enough to get posts done on the road. We no longer have that so now it is a crap shoot. There is Wifi at the Peculiar Park and at the Llano Park and it has been our experience in both places that it is spotty at best.
I have plans to write offline and then post when I can but the best laid plans can often go askew so stand by for further info...
 We have things here that need wrapped up so goodbye for now and we will see you on down the road.

Lost a friend

We are now in the motorhome and we think we are all moved in. We have till Friday morning to decide if we have forgotten some vital thingamajig. Sure hope it occurs to us in time whatever it might be.
It has been an unusual week. Our longtime friend Dale Cooklin passed away on Monday. We knew he had some health issues but had no idea he would be going so soon. One thing Dale managed to do for all his friends was create memories. If you were a friend of Dale you have a Dale story and most likely more than one. You could ask Butch about his day in Mexico with Dale. It is a long story with several chapters. When Dale was around something was going to happen of that you could be sure. He will be greatly missed by all that knew him.

Today's big adventure

We are loading up the RV with the necessaries for the next 5-6 months. We are doing this for the first time in 10 years. This is reason enough to be full timers!! We started this morning and we will be staying in the RV until we are on the road. This gives us plenty of time to think and discover items we may have overlooked. The plan was to duplicate as many items as possible. A complete duplication of everything is two fold- not practical and too costly. It could be easier if I did not have this vision in my mind of a week long blizzard where the electricity is off completely. That means we have to keep in mind the many items that might freeze and be a problem. Am I the only one who thinks of this? For instance- I said you will want to remember the icemaker on the fridge. Butch reminds me the heat will be on. I remind him there could be a blizzard and the electricity not on would freeze its little water supply pipe. He says "Oh". Sometimes Life feels very complicated.  Too many things to think about...and still I suspect we will forget something.