The end of January

Well, we are at the end of our first month at the Alamo Rose CG in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with our good friends Tim & Trish. We have been very busy playing - Euchre, card bingo, pegs & jokers and learning pinochle. Eating - soup, pizza party, ice cream every Sunday and the occasional potluck. We have been line dancing. It's available about 4-5 times a week and sight seeing.

We went to the RGV RV show in Mercedes and saw a couple of neat 5th wheels. A Redwood with a front living room and a Vision with basement storage almost the entire length of it.

We attended a welcome party at the clubhouse with quite a few local companies giving out stuff. At the nature table Cheryl took the opportunity to wrestle an alligator.
She doesnt look too nervous does she?

We went to Retama Village for their open house and to see Lex & Bonnie Fogg. They have a really nice RV port with a walled courtyard and small casita (house) attached. Its for sale for $230k. You could buy an RV lot for around $55-65k or go all the way up to an actual house in this development.

We went to the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle - National Shrine one Sunday with Trish, it was fun. They give tours and have a gift shop, a hotel, a restaurant and a Mariachi band instead of a choir. And of course afterwards we went to Shoneys for breakfast!

We have been to the movies a couple times. After the fist time, about $35, we discovered that Tuesday was $5 movies and $1 each for a small popcorn and small soda so we only go on Tuesdays from now on.

We met up with our old friends Bill & Nancy Knecht (Bill & I went in the Navy together) who just happen to own a place at the campground (Winter Ranch)we originally were supposed to be at.
All 6 of us went to the Riverside Club last Friday 1/27 and took an hour long boat ride on the Rio Grande, didnt see any bandidos but did see a couple of border patrol boats and a helicopter. Then Cheryl had some catfish and I had a HUGE pork tenderloin sandwich.

On Saturday 1/28 Cheryl went to her first and last "Ropa". They think its Spanish for clothes. There are several "stores" around and you basically go and dig through a mountain of clothes that is being piled up by endloader and what you pick out is weighed and you pay by the pound. Here they are on the top of the pile.

Yesterday 1/29 Tim & I went to a car show at the McAllen convention center. There were a lot of old cars there, most of which I remember when they were new! Outside they had a small carnival, an autocross and gas powered remote control cars drag racing. It was fun and we spent most of the day there.

Winter Texans

Yep, that's what you're called down here in southern Texas. I've slipped and used the "snowbird" word a couple of times and just got a blank look on people's faces.

December was a busy month. While in AL, we spent time w/friends from home, Bill & Carole Nerone. Mid-December through Christmas was a wonderful time in Bloomington, IL w/Clay, Kim, Kenley and the newest little Brockman, Chase.
Sure glad the weather cooperated while we travelled back and forth. The latter part of December was back in AL but with a trip mid-week to Ft. Walton Beach for Christmas w/Valerie, Scott, Sophia and sweet Naomi.
It was fun watching Sophia "help" everyone open Christmas gifts.

On Dec. 29th, we left for an easy 4 hour drive to meet up w/our MI friends, Tim & Trish, at the Ponchatrain Landing RV Park in New Orleans (aka Nawlins). However, it stretched out to about 8 hours due to a 40 car wreck that closed I-10 about 5 miles from our destination. We enjoyed walking around the Bourbon Street area and had some good jambalaya and catfish while Tom had a combo plate w/various creole things.

After a long 9-hour drive day, we all spent New Year's Eve at a cg in Victoria, TX and made it just in time for their potluck party. After filling our bellies and playing some Euchre, we left the clubhouse around 10 p.m. Since Tom and I have never slept through the midnight hour, we forced ourselves to watch TV. At the stroke of midnight, we kissed each other to ring in the New Year and were in bed by 12:10!

After a mix-up on Tim's campsite at the 1st cg here in Alamo, TX that we all made reservations for last March, we moved to the Alamo Rose RV Resort and are having a great time. Lots of very friendly people and plenty of stuff to keep us as busy or as laid-back as we want. It's great getting to spend the winter w/Tim & Trish. Always fun but I can't wait for us gals to get our mojo back on pegs & jokers and Euchre.

Made our first trip to Nuevo Progreso, MX on TU.
After doing some shopping we all had some good margaritas while listening to a band and watching a few people dance. We determined they have their happy hours at 1:00 to cater to us seniors, which is contrary to the happy hours in the states who cater to the "after work" crowd. But, we did enjoy our 2 for 1 drinks! Afterwards, we had some good authentic Mexican food before we paid our quarter to get back into the good ol' USA.