We stayed one month in the Valley.... and, as usual, thought we'd do a lot more than we did, but as we expected, ran out of time and energy. A lot had to do with the weather... let's face it... most of the time the weather was cold, wet and to put it bluntly... pretty crappy.
Yet we managed to check out some sites that we might consider as "retirement" sites. (yeah, we really need to think about when we get old ;-) This makes me giggle as all our kids are now in their 50's, so I guess we're not spring chickens)....
We went to an RV show (not nearly as good as when we went with Chris and Juan a few years ago, and a gun show (no photos allowed, but some things were quite interesting)... and (top of my list) a geocache event where an expert "puzzler", Gary Cadogan, gave a workshop on solving puzzle geocaches. Yes, there really are "those" kind, and I'll tell you, it takes a clever mind to think of all the ways a person can set up one of these things.
And... not only did we go to that workshop, but Gary realized we weren't there for the first workshop in December that covered some basics, so he invited us to come for a "one-on-one" (or in our case... "one-on-two") workshop just for us. How nice is that!
We bought tamales twice at Manjar's bakery/comida.... certainly could have indulged in more. We ate out once.... I was hankerin' for chile rellenos..... and unfortunately, the restaurant we went to was not a good choice. Maybe my idea of the perfect chile relleno isn't in line with as they should be, but... suffice it to say.... this is probably the only time in my life that I didn't take the leftover food home with me for a meal the next day. Just wasn't my idea of a good meal.
We saw the birds we hoped to see... ones that are only in this part of the USA.... didn't see any new "life" birds, but saw a few that I'm always cheered to see again.
We missed catching up with Chris and Juan (again).... maybe next time...
I finished knitting a pair of socks and started another pair....
Bill repaired my lawn chair... hey... I should take a photo of it... he did good. Only thing, he put put plexi-glass to replace the tray and if I have too much wine I might think there's no "shelf" there and get confused.....
We never once wore our badges and wandered into the RV "resort"s social areas.... we did check out the "trade" library... I think I dropped off a couple of books but couldn't find anything to take.
We spent close to $100 on propane (darn! it was cold!) and today paid $50 for our month of electric.
One real fun thing for me... the H.E.B. stores. I know, I know.... who in their right mind LOVES going to the grocery? Well, I do.... the "little" one (not a "PLUS") just up the road from our RV park was the very first HEB I ever went to (in 2002) and I fell in love with it. Not just all the wonderful produce and pastries, but the atmosphere. You have to remember NOT to be in a hurry here... if 2 families... say 5 or 7 members per family.... meet in an aisle, you might as well turn your cart around and head the other direction if you're in a hurry. Just a couple days ago, Bill & I were behind a group (family?) of 11 people.... 3 carts!.... and I wanted SO badly to ask them what was going on... a funeral? a wedding? what? BUT... why would anyone need 11 bags of powdered sugar? Or a whole basket of corn on the cob?
I just realized that I'm going on and on.... started out telling y'all we're on our way north...
We're now just south of San Antonio... it's gonna get cold tonight so we decided to cough up the $40 and stay in an RV park instead of Wal-marts (want that electric hookup).... it's been another crappy day....
Bill put a new windshield wiper on the rig (only the driver's side needed one.... go figure)..... and as much as Gary taught us and I know there's a puzzle cache nearby... I guess I'll ignore that and just swill down some more wine and call it quits for the night.
No photos.... heck, I'm not even sure when I took the last one.... but.... we're be back in Glen Rose by tomorrow night (maybe).... and I'll get caught up again.
That's All For Today!
I think you are entitled to tack January onto December 2014 and start a nice new year on February 1st.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned Chile Relleno; wow, I like them and haven't had any in a long time.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted. Was wondering if you were in jail or something, squashed on some road. If you had a cat, you could post endless cat photos in the winter. That's what I do. It's cold and wet and my entire state I think is on anti depressants. Come to Oregon, we'll go out! And you can bring along the sun!
ReplyDeleteTo further entice you this way, how about this: it might hit 60 this weekend in Oregon. Yup, we're pretty excited. Usually doesn't hit 60 again til late March or sometime in April.
DeleteNever did like the valley on Texas, hope Glen Rose warms up for you.
ReplyDeleteHa! Grocery store shopping has ALWAYS been one of my favorite things. I miss H-E-B. Can't imagine needing 11 bags of powdered sugar. I saw a couple with about 16 cartons of eggs in their cart this week. I asked if she was getting ready for Easter early. Her reply, "Nope, we just like eggs!" ;)
ReplyDeleteI've been offline for awhile, will never catch up on all the blogs. Its too cold to be heading North and the cold came back to the Gulf Coast today, after about a week of warm weather.
ReplyDeleteThe weather has been pretty bad...much like last year here...it rained a couple inches today.
ReplyDeleteHope it warms up for you. It's cold in the Pacific Northwest too! I'm trying to talk my husband into taking our RV to Texas this spring.
ReplyDeleteI too love grocery shopping! The cowboy loves chile rellenos--if it's on the menu, he orders it. Hope you find warmer weather soon!
ReplyDeleteSouth! Head south! It's frigid here, too. Heading in the right direction but still only topping out in mid-60s(F) today. Brrr!
ReplyDelete