How Can You Tell We Have Been Busy??

Where have the last two weeks gone??

January is a busy month both at Fun ‘N Sun RV Park and in this part of the Rio Grande Valley - so we have been taking part in lots of the activities. We have resumed our in-park activities such as Toys for Tots, computer club, golf, couples dance classes, and weekly Texas Country dances. Sunday morning breakfasts at the local Mexican restaurants are our regular after church activity.

On Thursday, January 12th, Myrna and Dave came with us to the Rio Grande Valley RV show. We looked at 5th wheels; they looked at park models and fortunately for our bank accounts, our big purchases were limited to an RV cleaner and lunch at Big John’s BBQ.

Later that week, we went to a Saturday night pizza party at Bonnie & Jack’s park model. That kitchen has a full size oven which was great for baking Bonnie’s home-made pizzas. We had a great time visiting with friends.

Monday January 16 we attended the city of Harlingen’s annual Winter Texas Appreciation Day. Each year, the number of Winter Texans increases so it gets harder to see the various vendor exhibits. In the afternoon about 1500 people attended a Willie Nelson tribute show performed by a singer named Willy Fortune. Winter Texans certainly love free events!!

We went to Lindley Creek’s bluegrass performance on Tuesday January 17th. This musical family comes from Missouri and performs here in the valley during the winter. On Friday evening we attended our in-park monthly Canadian Club pot luck supper and get-together. About 150 Canadians attended and there was lots of food to share.

Saturday night, we attended a performance of Late Bloomers – set in the clubhouse of the mythical Late Bloomers RV Park in San Benito. The University of Texas Pan American students were good actors and actresses but unfortunately the play was not the comedy we expected despite the glowing reviews. Oh well the occasional dud is fine!

The Mexican Fiesta held here in the park on Tuesday January 24 was great fun with spectacular entertainment and a delicious meal prepared by one of the San Benito Mexican restaurants.

There were performances by two local Mexican dance troupes - students from ages 9 to 23 - plus Pans of Steel – a steel drum band from McAllen High School. It was a great way to experience Mexican culture without even leaving the park.

On Wednesday Jan 25th the Titanium Owner’s Group hosted a luncheon meeting at a neighboring RV park (Victoria Palms). A total of 75 owners attended and it was fun to see some of our friends we have not seen since last May’s rally in Kingston.

After the luncheon, we were invited by John & Judy to drop by their RV for a beer, so we spent the afternoon enjoying the beautiful sunshine on their deck at Victoria Palms. A great way to spend the day – catching up with friends.

This week Mark & Lucy Greenwald from Malone, NY dropped into the park for a one week stay – so we had a chance to introduce them to Fun N Sun and some of the activities. We had last seen these folks in Kingston. Later this week we are expecting our good friends Doug & Sue to arrive.

Oh yes, did I mention that this year a friend told a friend who told a friend…… that Paul knows a thing or two about computers and networking – so Paul has been called upon numerous times to help ‘fix’ a problem or two. Just another thing to keep me busy.

Jane is taking a 12 hour English as a Second Language Tutor training course. The Literacy Centre of Harlingen offers the course to train volunteer tutors for their ESL courses but they have also opened the course to Winter Texans who might want to teach ESL in their home cities. Jane is not sure whether she will volunteer with one of the literacy centres once we return to Ottawa but she has certainly enjoyed the course.

Happy New Year

Our scheduled departure from the Great White North was on Sunday Jan 8th. On Saturday around noon I recall hearing a voice from the laundry room calling out "Paul, come down - we have a problem" - sort of in the tone of "Houston we have a problem!!". Well lo and behold our Maytag washer bit the dust during the final rinse cycle - so we had a dead machine filled to the brim with clothes and water. We were leaving in less than 24 hours - Nothing like a last minute panic since we couldn't leave Amy without a washer - or could we?? Well three hours later we had purchased a new machine and it was to be delivered the next day - problem solved!!

Sunday morning we traded the cold and snow for a 12 hour airline trip through Toronto, Houston and finally Harlingen. We knew we would be arriving too late for Sunday night ice cream so we found a Blue Bell kiosk in the Houston airport where we could feed our addiction.

It was so warm that night that we found it hard to sleep. But it is great to be back in the Kralik-mobile and seeing all our friends.

Monday morning saw both Paul and Jane rushing off to their respective activities, namely computer club and stretch class - followed by aquacise. Monday night the city of San Benito Chamber of Commerce hosted their Welcome Back Winter Texan show featuring the musician Walter Plant - and lots of door prizes from the local merchants.

Tuesday morning we were up early for the tour of the local HEB Grocery store (we had forgotten that we had signed up for this tour back in December!) - not a great idea, but it was interesting. Tuesday night the park's CRAB group (Conservative Retired Adult Bikers) sponsored a DJ who played a lot of music from our era. We went with a large group from our street - and had a super time.

Wednesday morning was the weekly golf morning for Paul - while Jane went to Toys for Tots and her aquacise class. The weather is really interesting. When Paul left for golf at 7:30am it was 43 degrees - then the sun came out and heated up things - it is now 83.6 at 5pm. Just a 40 degree jump!!

Love this heat!!