Our Thursday

Butch had an appointment with his favorite massage therapist, Karina, and since I had a few items I needed from Costco and HEB I tagged along taking a nap in the car while he was in session. He goes to a massage school and Karina is one of the instructors there. Here is their website: https://massage-masters.com/  He misses her when we are in Iowa.

We then made our way to Costco. It is pre-holidays but that place was almost too busy for me. HEB was next. We went to the big store and I am still not well acquainted with it to find everything I need. Never did find slow cooker crockpot liners. I know they have them but that place is HUGE.
They make tortillas at the big store and I took this pic a while back. You can watch them being made anytime.

There is a new KETO ice cream called Enlightened so I picked up a pint. 5 carbs for the whole thing. I didn't eat it all in one sitting. It was okay and I liked it well enough to pay the big bucks ($4) when I feel I simply must have ice cream.

But those must-have cravings do not hit me now like they used to. I haven't weighed for a while now. I didn't bring our scale so I have to go to the exercise room to weigh myself. I think once a month is enough. I last weighed a few days after we arrived here so will wait till about the 26th or so to weigh again. It is much more about how I feel when I eat this way than it is about what the scales say. And I feel great. The flexibility and being free of pain are plenty of incentive to keep me going.

Vegetable Wagon

The vegetable and fresh fruit person is here, 9-10:30 every Thursday. They park on the east side of the park. Right at our back door. I picked up some fat carrots. I love those fat ones. Do not know if there is any truth in it but I have heard that Gerber buys up the fat ones because the sugar content is higher. $1 Yes, I am still on Keto. How much damage can a few carrot bits create?

A Cold One and Trivia

It did not get above 40 degrees yesterday. It was indeed a cold one and set new records that were over a hundred years old. We spent most of the day at home and then Dave called and said their cribbage board was jumping all over the place wanting to be played so we went over for a few games.

I had decided that it was really iffy that anyone would show up for trivia so I fully expected to go up to the Sunrise room, wait a sufficient amount of time for people to show and then come home again. I had forgotten what troopers Winter Texans truly are. We had three teams and a few new people to the game. It was a particularly fun evening and I hope it can be duplicated many times over this season.

After trivia, we went to the pool hall and shot a couple of games. Ended up being a full and productive day despite the frigid temps. Yes, 40 degrees is frigid!

Good Morning (39 degrees)

We are hunkered down this morning. We will venture forth this evening to see if there are any brave souls who want to play trivia at 6:30 pm in the Sunrise room.

Frigid Forecast

Today the temps were in the high 80's, AC running, sweat dripping off my nose as I put a salad together for supper. Actually, that is when we turned on the AC. So we plan to turn off the air when the front comes through and the temps fall into the 60's tonight around 8:00 pm and into the 30's tomorrow. The last mini cold front that came through I made some Chili and there is enough leftover for tomorrow.

Sunday Fun

6 couples of us went to a bar in the country. Harley's Beer Garden and Country Store. It is in the middle of the country with the nearest town being Bayview Texas and for those that know it isn't too far from Brownsville/ South Padre. It is obviously well known among the locals and early Winter Texans because the place was crowded. The music was fantastic! Check it out here: http://www.harleysbayview.com/
Here are some pictures I took.

Mikie

Dave and Liz

Paul and Sally

Connie

Butch

South Texas Moon!

Rv Full-Time assumptions

Interesting and oh-so-true description of fulltime RVing. I thought some of you might enjoy it.

https://www.rvtravel.com/5-mistaken-assumptions-the-new-full-time-rver-makes/

It slips away!

It is an amazing thing how the days slip into each other seamlessly and the next thing you know another week is gone. Here it is Thursday already. I told Butch my agenda is to get a walk in. Been slack on that lately. I would like to play a little pool to get a bit of practice in before Sunday's event.

Yesterday we met up with Donn and Peggy at Gonzales Burgers. We were very shocked because we were the only ones there at 11:30 and it is usually packed with people by then. The burgers are huge so we always order one and split it. I took a salad with me and ate part of the meat from the burger so I was all set. It was good to see Donn and Peggy again and have the freedom to sit and visit without any rush. By the time we were ready to leave the place was filling up.

On the way home, we stopped at WalMart to check out rubber boots for when we stay at the Teeters so we can explore their property in more detail. They have a little creek on the back part of their acreage. Lots of birds and other wildlife around their place. Our backyard sometimes holds some water so they will be handy at home too.

I see where central Iowa was introduced to winter. Keri sent me some pictures.

Our Sunday Routine

We usually like to do our grocery shopping on Sunday morning because it is a much more peaceful endeavor. It also helps that it is early in the season. We went to our favorite breakfast spot in Weslaco where we eat at the El Dorado. We generally order sausage and egg breakfast tacos. Butch gets two and I get one. They come with a side of refried beans. And for you who wonder if I am still doing Keto the answer is yes. So I eat the innards of the breakfast taco and leave the rest for Butch. It works just fine. I needed some more salad ingredients so we stopped off at our favorite HEB. And then we went to the famous Don-Wes Flea Market. Butch needed new belts and now I am needing one too to keep my pants from falling down. We bought some pecans from the lady who used to sell pecans to Pecan Bill. She said she sure misses him and of course, we do too. She said to tell him "Hi" and since I know Bill and Kay read the blog they will see this and know.

I bought a new NuWave oven. I have used nothing but a Nuwave to cook everything for the past 3 maybe 4 years. The new one is a Bravo XL and the temperature can go higher and it accommodates rectangular pans so it works better for me. My first encounter with it was a raving success with delicious roasted veggies.

Settled

We are as settled as we ever will be I am guessing. Yesterday we went to Mexico. We drove down separately but met up with Dave and Liz and our new neighbors Ken and Mikie from Oklahoma. Our mission was for Butch to get some dental work done. Dr. Mustre is who many, many people go to in Progreso but last year on Christmas Eve day we had to go down and get my denture repaired and Liz had a dental emergency too and we went to the one just north of Mustre and we were pleased with the work. Butch had lost a filling while we were still in Iowa so he had it repaired and the total cost was $45. He was also very pleased with how the procedure was done.

We also went down to Hector's to get some eyedrops for Marlene. Picked up a Zpak to have on hand and that was the sum total of our purchases.

We had a great lunch at Pancho's bar that is part of the El Cisco on the main drag. Butch ordered a sausage and egg breakfast taco and he received a sausage taco and an egg taco. Hmmm. I ordered Lonches. They are little bread-like loaves filled with a great mixture of veggies and meat. I knew what I was ordering and had no intention of eating the little bread thingies and I didn't. I gutted all 5 of them and had a nice salad and meat like pile of food. Very yummy. Then I asked for some sour cream to kind of bind the pile together and they brought me straight cream. Another miscommunication. We both got what we wanted just not in the form we expected! I will try again next time we venture down there.
Lonches:

We stopped in Magnolia Village on the way home and visited with Chet and Irma. Lots of changes continue in that park.

Headlight repair

Butch had an awful time trying to see through our fuzzy headlights the night we were wandering around San Antonio and not knowing where we were for sure. The GPS was our guiding light but it would have helped if the highway had been illuminated to a greater degree.
Butch had worked on our fuzzy headlights a few years ago with minimal success. Terry Linder suggested buying a kit at O'Reilly's because it works much better than what Butch had tried before. And so he did. And Terry was right. After a few hours of hard work, the results are remarkable.

After-

Before-

Before

Google Fi update

I switched from Verizon to Google Fi before leaving Iowa. I was a bit concerned about coverage but not enough to change my mind. The initial draw was that you only pay for what you use. The initial monthly expense is $20 with an additional $10 for each gigabyte used with a ceiling of 6 GB. Above 6 GB is unlimited data. When we are on WiFi, free or otherwise we use our phone data very little. Also, Google Fi uses 3 carriers (US Cellular, T-Mobile and Sprint) so the chance of not having coverage is minimal. and that is indeed what we have found to be true. In Jefferson, we are covered by US Cellular and in Alamo Texas, we are covered by T-Mobile and Sprint. On the trip down we had one tiny little area in the Arbuckle Mountains without coverage. It lasted at most about a mile. So that is all good. Our first bill from Google Fi was $20 and our second one was $25 and some cents.

So with Google Fi and my new phone, Pixel 3a I can make it a hotspot for the Internet at no additional cost. Yes, it will take the data above 6 GB quickly if we use it as much as we did in Iowa on Telecom. But the total cost will be even less. So not being very cognizant as to how to get all that done I started into it yesterday. Why bother? There is free WiFi in the park and it works satisfactorily in October and part of November most of the time. When everyone arrives it goes to hell. The owners of the park (Wilder) are discontinuing park-wide WiFi next July as they have found it too expensive and non-functioning most of the time. They do have an alternative with a company called CABO and it will cost the residents who choose to use it. 3 levels-$49.95-$79.95- $99.95. I would have chosen the middle one had I decided to go that way. However yesterday I was able to get the pixel_3a hotspot set up and working on my computer and the smart TV and it is wonderful!! Works every bit as smoothly as my expensive Internet connection in Jefferson. So now you know what I have been up to. The next post will be about Butch's latest project.

No matter which way

No matter which way you look at it, it takes about a week to adjust to the move. So we still have some settling in to finish up on.
We played in the first mixed couples pool event. You sign up as a couple but play with whoever draws your name. Dave and I played as partners and despite playing well enough we only won two of the 7 games. It was fun though. Butch and his partner Mikie did well coming in first tying with another couple.

Getting settled

Yesterday we made a grand tour of the area going to drop off some Iowa groceries for Donna, Mickey's sister, in Rio Valley Estates. Then a must stop at H.E.B for items I like to buy there. We made a swing through Magnolia Village as it's now known but did not see anyone we knew. Then we stopped by Butch's favorite massage therapist to make an appointment. She could get him right in so an hour later we ate at Raising Cane before going to Costco. Then a stop at CVS Pharmacy to pick up meds and then home to get the meds straightened out between McFarland Clinic and CVS. Will return to CVS today and see if the SNAFU has been taken care of. I thought I had it taken care of before leaving Jefferson and to make sure I called the clinic when we arrived in the valley and they assured me it was A-OK. Well, it wasn't and I am not sure where the blame lies so I will just be ticked at all of them. This is when I miss Keri! One call would have done it.

Got my first Liz haircut today. So did Butch but don't get your hopes up. He still has his appendage.
Butch has washed the front of the RV so we are slowly settling in.
Till I think of more...

Empathetic Elise

I see where Miss Elise won an award at her school for empathy. She is a very caring young lady.

Photos lately

And 'lately' can be translated in a couple of ways. San Antonio now has an IKEA and I love to shop there. My entire house would be decorated "IKEA" if I had access when I was furnishing it. The concept matches my tastes in most ways.

The workers were trimming our tree as we arrived. We thought it was a very nice welcome.

And J.D. the manager was power washing our site.

Way back at Canyon Lake Butch and Terry were looking over the building project of the house across the road from them. It will be beautiful when finished.

Okay, we're here.

We're in our second home. Trophy Gardens in Alamo Texas. They remember us and gave us quite a warm welcome. In fact the Manager, J. D. was spraying off our site and the tree crew was trimming our tree and carrying off the branches. We parked on the street and gladly let them finish their work. In fact, we left our RV and car parked on the street and Dave and Liz picked us up in their golf carts and took us to their place and we caught up on park news a bit.
Dave told Butch he had been going over to Winter Ranch and playing pool so he picked up Butch at 6:00 and took him with him. I stayed home to watch Survivor.

We had a very nice trip down with nary a hitch. Each travel day was good in every way. The weather was good and the traffic was tolerable including San Antonio on a Wednesday morning. We timed it for mid-morning and it seemed to work well. We are listening to "Where the Crawdads Sing" and it is holding our interest.
While we were in Canyon Lake we attended the wedding of Mike and Val Morlan. Mike is Laura's son. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding.

Butch and Terry played golf on Sunday and Monday. Lisa and I went to her boxing class, and then shopped at IKEA, Costco, and HEB. Lisa takes a boxing class because she has Parkinson's and it has become known that boxing is helpful in keeping them mobile. In the evenings we played cribbage and Lisa and I played very well for the most part. The guys did win on occasion.

It always takes a while to establish a new routine and that is what will be taking place in the next week or two. We have a good start.

Interesting Trivia

Trivia
The narrowest distance between mainland Russia and mainland Alaska is approximately 55 miles. However, in the body of water between Alaska and Russia, known as the Bering Strait, there lie two small islands known as Big Diomede and Little Diomede. Interestingly enough, Big Diomede is owned by Russia while Little Diomede is owned by the U.S. The stretch of water between these two islands is only about 2.5 miles wide and actually freezes over during the winter so you could technically walk from the U.S. to Russia on this seasonal sea ice.

Missouri pictures

Lisa and Terry are letting me use their Internet connection so I have some Missouri pictures to post.

Leo and Betty

Betty and her best friend Cheeta

Elise

Elise and Leo

Betty Davis

Neighbors chickens

and Turkey

Elise keeping an eye on Betty

Our new spot to park in Missouri.

Butch having fun

Cheeta

Tora

Leo, Amanda, and Susan

Elise and Gary

Butch and Chef Brad

Still in Canyon Lake

Sunday-Butch is golfing today with Terry and Terry's son Michael. I am sure they are having a good time. Terry knows Butch well enough not to take his mood too seriously when it comes to golf.
We are considering waiting till next Sunday to go to the Rio Grande Valley but it isn't set in cement yet. We do need to make a decision soon so we can get some people notified.

On Friday night after the wedding I am not at all sure we would have made it home without Google Maps and the GPS on my phone. We had no idea where we were most of the time. We honed in on the little blue line with the arrow indicating the car was moving and eventually, we found ourselves in familiar territory.

As a brief note, I now weigh 159 lbs fully clothed. I promised someone I would let them know. I do not remember who at the moment. Losing about 2 pounds a month seems reasonable. I am happy with the results and the lifestyle so I have no plans to change anything at this time.

The Wedding

We went to the wedding leaving here and going a rural route to avoid the maximum traffic and it was still horrendous! We did arrive in plenty of time and all was well in that regard. I took my camera and as we walked up to the beautiful facility we saw a sign that said no phones, no cameras, and no recording devices so I left my camera and phone in the car. I know that is a big disappointment to many of you as it is to me but every now and then I do obey the rules. My plan B was and is to glean what I can from Facebook when I spot one that I can snip. I have looked but so far the source is dry.

It was a beautiful outdoor wedding under a canopy of several live oak trees. Clear blue sky above and moderately warm temperatures. It took place in the small town of Helotes (hee-low-tees) Texas at the Casa Lejana. http://hstrial-glenvernon.homestead.com/index.html
The groom, Mike Morlan, prepared the meal himself and the food was delicious. Fittingly it was all the makings to put together your own taco. There were snacks in addition to the real food and I saw one youngster pile his snack bowl high with gummy worms!
Lincoln Morlan, the groom's oldest son, aged 2 had a blast! He ran, he danced, he threw rocks and he had the best fun a two-year-old can possibly have. His little brother, Carson, aged 1, just happily smiled at everybody. They were both appropriately dressed in wedding clothes that matched the wedding party.
The bride, Valerie was gorgeous in her beautiful dress and I wish I could show you what it looked like. Maybe soon. It was similar to this one.

We left the wedding party at about 8:30 and the ride home was one we rarely have to deal with in our elderly lifestyle. It was dark, we didn't know the route, heavy traffic, and way out of our comfort zone. We did make it home without incident. 

We are now thinking we will leave perhaps on Wednesday but I am gently pushing for next Sunday to lessen the stress of getting through San Antonio.  Butch will be making the final decision on that one as he is the driver and a very good one at that.

10/18/2019

10/18/19

Today is the day of Mike and Val’s wedding and we are at our friends Terry and Lisa Linder in Canyon Lake. I had planned on us leaving on Sunday but a golf game is taking priority so now it looks like Monday or Tuesday. I always plan to go through cities on a Sunday but the final decision is always up to the driver and golf is his choice this time.

So stay tuned for the next travel day. And I can let you know as long as I have Internet and so far I do.

Winstar @ Thackerville OK

We left Downstream at about 8:15. Our route was west to Stroud OK and then south to Ada OK via 377/99 and then HWY 1 West, to 7 west and the Chickasaw Turnpike. It was a little hairy getting to I-35 that way but the GPS saved our butt once again. There were 4 places we could have turned right off of HWY 1 that would have been a mistake. I can guarantee that we would have tried all 4 without the GPS.
We are now at Winstar at Thackerville OK. We are hooked up and ready to see if there is something we can eat at the casino soon. The Internet is slow but not a surprise. It is working enough to get this posted but not well enough to get me all excited about catching up on all my Word with Friends games. That may not happen till we get all the way to Trophy Gardens. We did find out they have an alternate Internet in the park that you can pay for that will outshine the free one. We will check it out when the need arises. It has no contract and unlimited data. Sounds good so far.
Till next time!!

Downstream Casino

10/15

10 15

We had a great time at the Teeter residence. Amanda, Brad and their two absolutely adorable children,
Elise and Leo live on an acreage south of Harrisonville MO. Elise and Leo spend a great deal of time
outdoors exploring all the crooks and crannies of the property. They have several pets, two indoor kitties
Tora and Lily. One outdoor kitty that started off as a neighbor cat has adopted the Teeters as her new
caretakers. Her name is Cheeta and she requires lots of attention. The new puppy, Betty Davis is a
sweetie but being still a puppy she has some learning to do. She is an outdoor puppy and Brad has set
up with a great outdoor facility to call home in her off-hours.

The neighbors have quite a menagerie at their place and sometimes there is overflow into the
Teeter yard. So far, it is okay because Betty loves chasing the chickens, ducks, and turkeys when
they come through the fence to visit. Hey, they always come back for more so don’t go trashing
Betty for having a little fun, okay?

Gary and Butch played golf on Monday and Susan was able to play hooky and came to see me.
We had a great visit with getting caught up on family and friends. 

Brad has a shoulder injury that has been surgically repaired and now he is recuperating at

home and fixes the most delicious meals. He knows his way around the kitchen and the grill.

On Tuesday we met up with Gary and Susan for breakfast before Susan had to go work.
Gary had the day off and took us to the stellar Community Center they have in Harrisonville.
They have so many things to do there that everyone would be able to find something that
would interest them. (Insert link)They have two pool tables so the three of us played together
on one of the tables. It is a three-way game and if you want to know how it works I will explain
it at another time. All three of us won a game. I really like the game.
So now we are at the Downstream Casino with lousy TV reception and that is why this entry
will be so wordy.

In Harrisonville MO

We had an uneventful, easy trip south from Jefferson today. Left town about 8:30 PM and arrived at Amanda and Brad's place at 2:00 this afternoon. We are parked and settled in with wifi and electricity. Brad and Amanda have a lovely acreage in the country. The kids, Elise and little Leo love it too and play outdoors a bunch. Susan is traveling home from a wedding in Chicago and Gary is working. Gary is a dispatcher in Harrisonville so he now has a whole different set of stresses.

We will be here till Tuesday when we will venture south to the Downstream casino near Joplin MO. Our next leg after that will be to the Winstar casino at Thackerville OK. Followed by a trip to Canyon Lake staying with friends Terry and Lisa Linder until after Mike and Val's wedding in San Antonio. We will either stay a day or a week in Canyon Lake. We like to go through San Antonio on Sunday morning. We are leaving that decision open for now.
Till next time...

Leo's Birthday

Today is Leo's birthday and since we have our ducks in a row and we are ready to depart in the morning we were invited out to share his birthday treat. How could we go wrong with Keri making it? French Silk Pie was his choice and a good choice it was.

No Internet for now

Usually, I wait to disconnect our Internet until after we are gone but this year I had to return equipment
for the first time. So here I sit on the day before departing without any Internet.
When faced with this situation in the past, I write the entries and then post them later.
And that is what the plan is this time as well.

It has been very wet the past couple of days and we had about 3 inches of rain overall and we were
sitting in the middle of a lake but the rain let up and has dried out some. It dried up enough for Butch
to get the last mowing done. For a while the sun came out and gave us some relief from the cold.
The thermometer read a cold 31 degrees at 6:00 a.m. After all the hubbub that takes place in the moving
and preparing the house for an unoccupied winter is now done and I think a nap is in order.

Iowa Trivia season ends for us

Last night  Dugan, Sharon, Karla, Devon, Butch and I played trivia at the casino and we played it very well! We came in second giving up our third place win for the first time all summer. We indeed played like a team with participation by all six in attendance. It was SOOOOO much fun!!

Butch and I are wrapping things up with departure scheduled for Sunday morning. This morning's outdoor temp was 35 degrees and it is expected to be lower than that the next two mornings. Oh, how I hope they have miscalculated how low it will go.
This morning we got our flu shots, went to see if we could vote ( ballots aren't in yet), took care of blending our two lots in preparation for building a garage next Spring, and filled the car with gas. When we came home Butch started in winterizing the house and garage.

When we were getting our flu shots there was another couple getting theirs two and we started a conversation. They were from Jamaica Iowa, full-time RV'ed for 10 years, go south every winter (Mesa AZ) and we had a whole bunch of in common things. After we walked away Butch went back and asked their names. Gordon and Jan Van Gundy. Butch said we used to know a Jan Van Gundy. It was the same Jan! She was married to Ron Morgan when we were very, very young and we ran with them a bit. She divorced Ron and Married Gordon and they have been married for 55 years! It was great reconnecting after all these years. We hope we can reconnect again next Spring when we return. Jan was a bunch of fun in her youth and I am sure she still is and it will be great getting to know Gordon too.

Sometimes what I write has limited interest to many people. When those times happen I am usually making notes for myself so I can come back and review. For instance, it might have been better to leave earlier this fall with the weather changing so fast and severely. That has been true the past two falls.
Last years post on the very same day!!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11

Last prep day

Tomorrow we will be headed south. Butch is doing the final touches of getting the house ready. I am doing a couple of loads of laundry in the motorhome to make sure a seal hasn't dried up or some other pending problem hasn't reared its ugly head. So far so good.
One of the very oddest of coincidences is that we left last year over 5 weeks later than this year and the weather is exactly the same! In the thirties! Nothing like little reminders to tell you it is time to skedaddle for warmer temperatures.
Tonight is our last trivia time at Hyvee for 2018 and our number one guy with an encyclopedia for a brain will not be there. We are going and we will do the best we can. It should be interesting even if it is painful.
Tuesday we voted for the mid-terms, gave our internet a shut-off date, paid our second half car insurance and went to Ames for our last dermatology appointment. Mickey invited us for supper at her house and it was delicious. Her new kitchen is beautiful.
The rest of my today will be readying the inside of the motorhome for travel. That may sound easy but when you have to think about and how everything might move if jostled it becomes more of a puzzle. It is a puzzle with which I am very familiar.
Back to work!

View from the Motorhome.

I took this early this morning. It is what I see when looking north from where I sit while on my computer.

Quick Note

Just a quick note to tell you we are still working at getting things wrapped up here and getting ready to head out early Sunday morning. So much of it is a timing thing- you know, cannot do this until we do that sort of stuff. List making is very important these days.

Leo and Keri hosted a very nice going-away party for us Sunday with many of our dearest family and friends in attendance. Wonderful food! How could it be anything but wonderful with Keri at the helm!
So early to bed for me so I can get started on tomorrow's list before first light.