A bit cooler :( in the RGValley

La Feria, TX 67º heavy overcast.  Been overcast for several days.  In the 50's for lows.

 Bathtub several days ago.

 Sink and counter several days ago.

 Most of the sink/counter removed.

 Sink/counter gone, stool apart to replace rubber gaskets between bowl and water box.

 Tub removed - Phyllis removing anchors from wall.

   Wall sections and floor for shower ready to install. When the shower is installed then will put in the new sink and counter.

Part of the raised floor for under shower in place and drain glued in place.  Will finish the rest of the supports, measure the short pipe to go from shower drain to the trap below, cut and glue and then lay down the floor of the unit.  Will need to build a new wall for the right side, leaving about 15" for storage between the shower unit and the wall.

 Old kitchen base removed.

 One of the base units started into position.  Lower old doors removed for varnishing.

Both new base units put under counter, ready for use in the kitchen.

 One evening we had the Fergusons over to our house for game of Mexican Train Dominoes.  To right is Karen, Don, Helen.

 To right is Lawrence, Phyllis, Jack.

 Jake and Lynn

Lynn, Karen & Don

 Sunday evening, after announcements and ice cream at the club house, several different games were played in the back room.

 On Monday, ceremony of lowering the flag and raising a new flag on the flag pole in front of the club house was held.  Then program was finished indoors.

At left shows new PVC pipes for hanging clothes to dry, and round thingy for hanging small items, in place at our back door.

At right shows our raised deck from the back.

At right shows the deck with some temprorary screening (salvaged from our travel trailer) to see how enclosing it would be.  At the right side is an old screen that Jake & Helen took off their carport.

We may buy some properly fitted, new screening for the north end of the deck.  Sure made a difference with this cool, damp windy days lately.


Just to show a little of what we have been doing this last week.  More to do around the place.  More neighbors show up every day.  We are to help serve Turkey at the clubhouse on Thanksgiving day for noon meal.
Till next time.

Lynn

A little warm in the sun today

La Feria, TX  87 degrees - to be cooler the rest of the week.

   

  Just got back from a jaunt to Progreso, MX just south of Donna, Texas.    La Villa Nuevo Progreso   (Click that link for info on the town and bridge crossing the Rio Grande River)                                  Both Phyllis & I had our teeth cleaned and my Implant Dentist checked on where she will put in a new implant in March.  

Photo above is the the day we got here and were transporting all our "stuff" from our travel trailer into our mobile home.

 Photo at right is taken from the deck, same as picture above, but to the north showing all the new buildings that went up this summer behind our place on what was open space up until now.  Not sure what it is, just yet.

This is grapefruit tree behind the mobile home just beside us.  The are pretty green yet.

 Our Park Manager left this summer and a replacement hasn't been found yet.  The secretary, Christina, has been doing a great job of running the park for the last 6 weeks or so and she put on a Halloween lunch.  She is wearing a Sun costume (Kenwood RV Resort is a park of the Sun RV Resorts Corporation) and did a good job even though she is quite shy.

 There were about 40 people who attended the Halloween hot dog lunch.

 More have been moving in every day since then.
At right are Don & Lawrence Ferguson, along with Don's daughter Karen Norden.  Don has a permanent home here, but will be returning to Custer County, Nebraska before Thanksgiving.  His wife is in a care center there and he will spend the winter in Nebraska.  Lawrence is spending time with his brother.

After lunch several were judged for costumes (Halloween clothing at least).

 Sunday evening we played bingo at the club house with (left to right) Dave Engle, Phyllis, Don Ferguson, Helen Ferguson, hand of Jake Ferguson.



Below (left to right) Jack Norden, Karen Norden, Lawrence Ferguson, Jan Engle, and Dave Engle.

 Monday morning the Floor Exercise (a 25 minute stretching and lightly aerobic session) was started.
These three pictures show most of the 11 or 12 people who started out.  This will be carried out at 8:00 am 5 days a week until late March next spring.

 Last Friday we drove over to Mission, TX and took my desktop to a Best Buy--they removed the faulty monitor card and re-set it to run from the one on the motherboard-- and then stopped by Phyllis' only living aunt, Eva Hill, who resides in Brook Ridge in Pharr, TX.  She is 89 and needs assistance, but gets along pretty well.

This was a posting at the front entrance, near their dining room.  Notice the last three lines:
Have a nice day.
Be kind to everyone.
Eat your veggies.

I have put the pictures from our tour of the Aircraft Carrier USS Lexington in Corpus Christi up to my Picasa Albums USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier
Click on that site to look at individual photos or see it as a slide show.  Enjoy.

Until next time, Lynn

Been at Kenwood RV Park in La Feria one week

La Feria, TX 81 degrees - high of 90 predicted today.
      One week ago yesterday afternoon, about 1:30 PM, we arrived at our mobile home here at Kenwood RV Park.  Unloaded everything out of our travel trailer and moved it into the house, or on the deck and then parked the trailer on a small lot that is used for storage only.

Cleaned up and ready for wall

We knew we had to do some work on the water lines to the clothes washer.  I got to working on that and soon decided I could not get the hose off the shut-off faucet.  Removed the faucet and discovered that it had been leaking a little bit into the wall.  Took the wall apart and was able to remove both shut-off faucets and clean up the area within the wall; put Brillo Pads and insulating foam into the area where the pipes come through the floor.  The Brillo Pads with their steel wool encased will possibly slow down the obvious entrance of mice.  Cleaned up a lot of droppings and rebuilt the wall and installed new water hoses on to the new shut-off faucets.

Kitchen sink out and working on

 

Wall back in place - new faucets in place

Sink cleaned up, with new faucet and filtered tap added

 The next project was fixing a leak that was under the faucet in the kitchen sink.  Ended up removing the faucet and replacing with one that has a pull-out spray hose, and while at it I added a two-filter water tap for drinking water.  Phyllis used a pitcher filter last year and this will make it a lot easier and handier.

Old built-in base cabinet removed.

New component base cabinets to add under counter.

The next project is to replace a lot of wasted space under the counter between the sink and the refrigerator with useable space.  We got two 18" wide unites, one all-drawers and one with single drawer and cabinet door below, to put in there.  I decided they were needing some bolstering up, so have put a lot of gorilla glue on the joining spots on the inside, sealed the ends of the particle board over with paint, added screws to the drawer slides and also added gorilla glue around the plastic brackets at the end of the drawer slides to help with the little plastic inserts into the particle board.  They were unfinished, so have put two coats of a polyurethane stain to the drawer/door fronts and also the frames.  They are ready to slide under the counter.

Have more projects to tell of, but, since I started this last night and it is now 9:30 am on Wednesday and we are heading to Mexico for teeth cleaning and checking out some medical drug prices, will finish this up later.

Lynn

In the Hill Country of Texas

Kerrville, TX 55º and bright sunshine, little wind.
    We are at By The River RV on the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, Texas in the Hill Country.

Arrived mid afternoon on Saturday and actually unhooked the Ford from the trailer (for the first time in 8 days) and after setting up we drove around Kerrville.  Had taken a nap first so was kind of late and not a lot of things open.  Did walk through an area of venders set up on the square around the courthouse about the time they were tearing down for the day.

Ate lunch in Hico, Texas - we split a huge "Big K Hamburger with onion rings.  Was delicious.

They had a whole cabinet full of huge pieces of pies, but at $4.95 a slice and with full stomachs we had to pass.  See all the kinds of pie at right.

The Koffee Kup  Click to see their web page.

Saw a lot of goats in the Hill Country of Texas.

This was at the entrance of our Wichita Falls RV Park up in Wichita Falls, TX.

We saw a lot of yellow flowers in the fields, so

I pulled over and had Phyllis pull one out of the fence row.

She pressed some of it to save for later.

Had gotten Diesel at $3.999 and felt pretty good, up in Oklahoma.  Then when was down only a quarter-tank saw a station at $3.899 but it was on the other side of a four-lane street and thought would catch the next one.  Well, next was $3.999, the next was $4.099 and finally later was $4.199.

Was kicking myself for not getting the quarter tank full (which is hard to do while driving) and then happened on to this $3.769 in Texas.  And everyone had said Oklahoma was the cheaper place to get fuel.

Here in Kerrville fuel is $3.999 at most places.  Today (Sunday) we went for a drive in the country to the west, and then north and east back up to Fredericksburg (drove out to Luckinbach for a look-around--or would it be a lookinback-around) and coming back through Fredericksburg got fuel for $3.849.  Diesel and gas prices seem to be all over the place.

We are hooked up to the trailer tonight and will pull out in the morning heading to Corpus Christi.  Plan to tour the USS Lexington and probably stay overnight at an RV Park right on the water before heading to La Feria and our home there on Tuesday.

Lynn

In Texas!

Wichita Falls, TX - 40º bright sunshine

 

   Made it out of Kansas and  across Oklahoma into Texas yesterday.  Lots of scenic areas, and hardly any traffic!  Notice in the pictures at right -- only one vehicle seen.  That was the normal through southern Kansas and it was great.  Southern Kansas, along 281, has some of Oklahoma's red dirt.

    We stopped at Hinton, KS at a small Indian Casino and had lunch. 

Our trailer is in the center of this picture - in Wichita Falls

Our trailer is in the center of this picture - in Wichita Falls

Stayed the night here in Wichita Falls, KS.  Took a walk around the park last night, wearing hooded sweatshirt.  Slept in late this morning and will make our way on south.  For the $22.50 (including tax) got full hook up here, free WIFI and cable TV!
Nothing like having your own apartment with you when you travel.
Lynn

Still in Kansas!

  We left home last Sunday afternoon and it is now Wednesday evening and we haven't gotten through state of Kansas yet.  First night we set trailer at Harold & LaRhoda Neher's place and had a nice supper with them.  The next morning, after a thrasher-man's breakfast we were driven around their farm, Hiawatha, Highland, and Robinson, KS.  Toured the Brown County Historical Society Ag Museum and Windmill Lane, which is on land that Neher's had owned, and they still farm ground beside it.

Got to see where they have lived and farmed for over 55 years, and where their son Tim (who farms their place) and daughter who works in Kansas City live.  We ate at Hiawatha Lodge and then after naps played several games of Pegs and Jokers.  That is a game that is played a lot in our RV Park in La Feria, TX where Harold and LaRhoda are our neighbors.  We had also played Pegs & Jokers the night before.




On Tuesday morning we headed out about 9 o'clock and headed west on Highway 36 to Belleville, Ks and then south on Highway 81.  This was further than going more direct, but 36 was an ideal road, and very little traffic.  After we headed south on 81 there was a little more traffic, but nothing like if we had been on an Interstate.  We have decided we will avoid the Interstates if at all possible.

We went to Hutchinson, KS and directly to the   Underground Salt Mine and Museum    Undeground Salt Museum    We were a little late to take a tour then as it was close to 4 pm and they close at 5 pm.

  Asked about RV parks and were directed to the Kansas State Fairgrounds RV Park.  There were three other units there out of 211 spaces, so we were able to squeeze in.  I had tried to get some TV when we were near Hiawatha and found that the head of the antenna was missing.  Climbed up on the roof when we were there in Hutchinson and found the top had been removed cleanly, no bolts left or anything.  Will have to get a new top. We have several VCR tapes and DVD's so have looked at them in the evening as background noise/entertainment.

This morning we took the 10:00 am tour of the underground Museum.  Was quite a set-up.  It is 650 feet below the surface and has 150 miles of open areas.  We weren't allowed in the place where salt mining is still taking place, or the area where all kinds of storage is kept, but were close to it and most of the different types of machinery used were on display and even simulated (I think) dynamite and holes bored in the walls showing how the blasting and undercutting was done.  Took a train ride that was around a lot of things and a tram ride, all after spending time in their museum itself.  Even the gift shop (Always a gift shop at any attraction) was underground.

We left the Salt Mine about noon and drove several miles south to Yoder, KS and ate lunch at the Corner Carriage Restaurant, in a tiny  Amish town.  Phyllis was looking for some particular books, written by or about Amish settings and they recommended a place near Whiteside, Ks that is actually a wholesaler of many Amish books.  We found it, got some books and then headed southwest on State Road 6l and 54 to Greensburg, KS.

This is the site of the Biggest Hand Dug Well in the world (When the well was completed in 1888, it was 109 feet deep and 32 feet in diameter)

 The Big Well   Click on that link and you can see their web page.

The well went down to the Ogallala Aquifer  and was a source for watering the many steam engines that went through the area in the late 1800's.
  And this is the town that was almost obliterated from the map in 2007 by a tornado.  The museum for the well had much coverage of that tornado.  Was very interesting.

When we left that museum about 5:30 pm we headed south on 183 to Coldwater, KS and then back east through the Gypsum Hills to Medicine Lodge, KS where we are squeezed in a little RV Park filled mostly with construction workers.  Got trailer set up right at dark and will go uptown here in Medicine Lodge to the Stockade Museum.  It us to get cooler here overnight and to be 45 degrees in the morning and only a high of 55 degrees tomorrow afternoon.  At least we will now be getting a tail wind, which should help with our fuel mileage compared to the winds out of the south the last couple days.

We have full intentions of heading south on 281 and being in Wichita Falls, TX tomorrow night unless something catches our attention and holds us up on the trail.  Then will head on south Friday morning, maybe try to catch a glimpse of George W. Bush's ranch west of  Waco, TX, then spend some time near Johnson City and Kerrville, TX in the Hill Country before going on to the Rio Grande Valley.
More later, Lynn

On our Way!

Hutchinson, KS
We left our abode Sunday afternoon after attending a visitation where Phyllis got to visit with some of her Runyan cousins.
Pulled travel trailer to farm of Harold & Lahroda Neher near Hiawatha, KS and plugged electricity in at their shed.  After a big home-cooked meal Sunday evening we played several games of Pegs & Jokers.  This is a favorite game that is played in our Kenwood RV park in La Feria, TX where Neher's are our next door neighbors.  On Monday they showed us around their farm and several towns near the Nehers (couldn't help but put that in) and we ate in lunch in Hutchinson.  In the afternoon some naps and then more Pegs & Jokers.  They also introduced us to a new (to us) card game of  "golf".
  Tuesday morning we pulled out, heading west on 36 and then south on 81.  Although this route was longer than going on the Interstate, it avoided the Interstate.  Both roads were excellent, especially 36, and hardly any traffic.  We pulled a ways off 81 to small town of Minneapolis, KS and found a small lot where we could park and put the slide out and ate our lunch and sat for a minute.
I took a lot of pictures, but they are in a different computer--having trouble getting it to talk to the internet--so am using the desktop while we are on 120V and set up.

Will go to the Underground Salt Mine/Museum here in Hutchinson this morning and then head south.  Will stop wherever we see something interesting.  Plan on spending some time in the Hill Country of Texas before we finally go on to our place in the Rio Grande Valley.

Lynn