Another Week in Paradise!!

   Have I mentioned how much we love this park??  Here are some of the reasons why:

The view from up and down our street.

All the pretty different kinds of cactus plants.  Wish
this one was blooming more!

 

This resembles an azalea, but I think it might be crepe myrtle.

 

These grapefruit trees are ALL OVER the park.  You
can pick them if no one is on the site.

 

This is a lime tree.  And there are orange trees, too.

 

OOPS...these grapefruit got squished by
the wrong squeeze-o-matic...one with wheels!  Unfortunately, a lot
of the fruit that falls to the ground looks great, but
when you pick it up to look at it there is a single
hole in it from a bird that pecked it.  Then it draws ants!

  We had another busy week here at Victoria Palms, but some of the busyness was unwanted.  I'll get to that later.  We have been playing our regulars...bocce ball (which we are both getting much better at), water volleyball, and pickleball, although we weren't allowed to play volleyball on Thursday because the small pool was being reserved for the spring breakers staying at the hotel.  Many of the guys were pretty mad and one even cancelled his reservation for next year!  (A bit of an over reaction, I would say!)  But I think he has rescinded that since.  Looks like we are a "Go" for today.  We also spend a lot of time at the pool.  Our tans are getting much better.  John is really enjoying pickleball and has found several places to play indoors when we get back to Lanc. Co.
    On Monday afternoon we decided to try bean bag or cornhole, as we call it.  It was so much fun.  There were at least 12 sets boards being used.  Then, later, Tudy, the gal married to Tom who hosts Karaoke at the park and at Peckers, had a jewelry sale at the White House.  It's a building just across from Claudia and Larry's site that anyone can use for most any kind of get-togethers.  It also houses medical supplies for us older folks like walkers, wheel chairs, and bathroom aids.  Yes, Virginia, there is a senior citizen here and there in these parks!  Watched The Voice that evening. 
    Tuesday we played bocce ball with the gang.  Some of the players are so good!!  After lunch John played water volleyball while I went to Pecker's to karaoke.  It was the last Tuesday for it.  I sat with Becki and John and Dee and Al.  Tom had "I Cain't Say No" in his book, so I did that one and The Carpenter's,  "Top of the World."  They both went well. 

That's Tom, the karaoke guy
and me singing "I Cain't 'say No"

 

 

We're doing a line dance I learned while here.
That's Tudy, Tom's wife, in the middle wearing
the blue top and blue and white pants.

 

The gal in the back left sang a mean, "Coal Miners Daughter!!"

That night was Ladies Out Night in the ballroom, but I didn't go.  I did laundry instead while John played pickleball.  I took these action shots while waiting for the laundry to finish washing. 

 

 

While I was loading the washers I decided that I should wash my bra.  I am able to get it off without taking off my shirt, so I kind of hid behind one of the washers so no one could see me thru the windows and pulled off my bra.  The next day Claudia said she was stalking me in the laundry room by watching me on TV.  I had completely forgotten that there is a camera in there that is broadcast 24/7 on one of the many "local programming" channels on the cable networking!!  John thinks that somebody has probably already made a YouTube video entitled..."Lanc Co Woman Goes Wild in Texas Laundromat".  Please let me know if you see one :) 

I took this sunset picture when I left the laundry.

    Wednesday morning we played a game of bocce ball.  John beat me.  Then at 12 noon was the Appreciation Pool Party hosted by Encore.  There must have been several hundred people there!  They had food, games and prizes and everything was FREE!  John and I played water balloon toss and came in second.  John competed in the cannonball contest and did reasonably well.  We got $5 gift cards from Walmart just for competing.  There was a hula hoop contest, too.  Bonnie, you should have been there...you would have won easily!!  We were sitting with Larry, Claudia, Bill and Betty (a couple parked right behind Claudia and Larry) and enjoyed just chatting for a while.  The 4 of them left about 4:00 and we stayed a while longer.  Then things got ugly.  Some of the guys (Pete, Sean, and Chuck) had water blaster guns and sand buckets and were getting each other with them.  John egged Pete on to squirt me.  Someone gave me a water balloon so I could get "even" with him later.  Well, I put my shorts on, grabbed our beach bag to leave the party and headed toward the pool with the water balloon to throw it at Pete.  It broke over my shoulder just as I went to throw it.  So someone handed me a sand bucket.  I filled it up and proceeded to throw it toward Pete, but I missed.  When I went to fill it again Pete grabbed it and pulled me in the pool, bag and all.  Luckily, I didn't get hurt, because he pulled me in right at the steps.  But guess what, my phone, camera, books and electronic Yahtzee game were all in the bag!  Fortunately, the camera and Yahtzee were OK, and the books eventually dried out.  But my phone didn't survive.  I tried to dry it out in a bag of rice, but it didn't work.  I did have insurance, so it only cost us $12 to replace it.  Lesson learned...revenge is not worth it!!!  We went to the movies later that evening and saw, "The Shack."  It was very good and very thought provoking! 
     Thursday morning we played bocce ball with the gang and just relaxed afterward.  After lunch I played bean bag again and John played water volleyball.  Then I decided to go to McAllen to return something I had bought at Kirkland's. John was nervous about me going without my cell phone, but what could happen...it's only about 30 minutes away.  FAMOUS LAST WORDS!!  While driving on route 2 I smelled something hot, but I figured it was someone else's car or truck.  But when I got off the highway, the transmission felt like it was slipping every time I tried to accelerate after a stop.  I was pretty scared because I was in a lot of traffic and was afraid of getting rear ended.  So I kept driving until, by the grace of God, there was a small Tire and Wheel shop ahead.  I pulled in and asked for help.  The owner didn't speak very good English, but luckily there was a customer there that spoke both.  He diagnosed a seized left rear brake due to a clogged brake fluid tube.  I used their phone to call John and he borrowed Larry's Jeep to come get me.  We had to leave it there because they couldn't get the part until Saturday.  We did get back to the park in time for John to play some pickleball.  I went for a walk and ended up stopping in with Dee and Al to chat.  They are from Windsor, Canada.  I had met them several times at karaoke.  Neither one of them sing...they just enjoy watching.  I was there for 2 1/2 hours!!
    Friday I had choir practice.  Then John and I played a game of bocce ball.  I had a come from behind win.  We went to the pool for a while, came back and showered, and got ready for the St. Patrick's day parade of decorated golf carts.  I know, I know...another "old people" function.  Hey, we have our own kind of fun, darn it!!  Some went ALL out.  It was entertaining.

Larry and Marilyn...he's the one who took John
to McAllen to pick up the Jeep.

 

Ed is ready with his water blaster!

 

Notice the geese on top of Larry's cart.  He does karaoke, too.

 


 

Even a doggie got into the act.

 


This is Sean and Chuck's entry.  Those 2 guys
are crazy, but very nice!  Do you see the long
line up of carts in the background.  I think
there were about 20 total.

 

Notice the beer keg on the top.  I think they all started
drinking at about 10:00 every day.

 

Pete was ready with his water blaster to soak his buddies!

 


These guys not only had a golf cart...

 

...but also a trailer.  Many of the carts threw out candy, too!!

  There was free green beer down at the ballroom, but we weren't interested.  Instead we got ready for the St. Patrick's dance.  We would have gone to karaoke at the Cactus Club in the park , but, sadly, the bartender, Al passed away unexpectedly the day before and they cancelled it.  A group called, "The Castaways" played at the dance.  They were 2 of the original members of the group that had a hit single back in the late 80"s called "Liar, Liar."  It was featured in the movie, "Good Morning Vietnam."  They played music similar to The Beachboys.  It was a lot of fun.  We sat with Becki and John.  We met them at karaoke. 
     Saturday morning John played pickleball and I visited with Claudia and Larry in the rig.  We spent the rest of the day at the pool waiting for a call about the car.  We finally got a call at 6:00 and Larry (not Claudia's, but another one) kindly drove John to McAllen to pick it up.  It drove ok, but smelled hot when he pulled it into our parking spot.  And it was HOT.  You could feel the heat when you put your hand next to it!  So, something was still wrong.  We took a walk that evening and stopped at Dee and Al's to say goodbye because they were leaving Sunday morning.  We ended up chatting with them until after midnight!!  They will be in Florida next winter and might possibly come to LaBelle to join us at Oak Grove.  That would be fun!
     Sunday we went to church early to help set up chairs.  Then after church we went to the breakfast brunch at the restaurant here at the park.  We went to the pool and then played water volleyball from 4-6pm.  That was fun.  Each side could hit the ball as many times as they wanted.  One side was shallower than the other which made it easier to hit the ball.  And the other side had all the sun.  Guess you can quickly figure out which side always won the game!  We visited with the couple across the street from us for about an hour and then went to bed pretty early that night.  I slept like a log, but John didn't.  Maybe my log was too noisy, huh?!?!
     Monday John got up early to take the Jeep to a dealership at 7:00 for an oil change and to have the brakes checked out.  Turned out that the calipers and brake linings were shot.  OUCH!!  They had to order the parts, so we were without a car again until at least Tuesday.  He got back about 10:00 and then played pickleball while I went to play bean bag. While waiting to play one of my matches my partner came over to me to introduce himself.  He said that last year he met some couples from PA that were parked next to him and his wife.  I asked him if it was Paul and Vicki and Jack and Lynn.  He said, YES!  Small world, huh?!!?  His name is Rich and his wife is Tammy.  They have a Yorkie named "Doc".  I called Paul when we got back to Harvey to let him know who we had met.  He was shocked.  We spent the rest of the day at the pool.  I saw Rich and told him we had talked to Paul.  Then he told us about a pizza place in Mercedes that they had all gone to last year.  It's called Formacio's.  You can get a large pizza and soda for 10 bucks!!  John grilled for supper and then I watched The Voice inside while John watched a movie outside. 
    Today, Tuesday, we played bocce ball and then I rode to Betty's site to buy tix for the Tailgating Party in the Cactus Club parking lot on Thursday night.  We had lunch and then John headed to the small pool for water volleyball.  I was working on the blog when Sean called me and requested my presence in the pool.  How could I say, "No?"  So off I went.  There were 16 men and ME.  I held my own.  We all had a good time.  John called the dealership to check on the Jeep and they were just finishing the test drive, so we went back to Harvey to clean up.  A service guy picked up John and we had the Jeep back by about 5:30.  It needed more than they originally thought, so I guess I won't be able to get a new bathing suit afterall.  Right...like that will stop me.  At least we'll get more cash back on our Discover.  Now wait...we have to spend more to get more...shucks!  Funny, just yesterday John said how good our Discover bill looked so far this month.  So much for that!  Then we went out to Formacio's  to get pizza.  It was very good!  John headed out to pickleball and I watched The Voice.  When he got back I had to play nurse.  He had fallen and got a nasty brush burn below his left knee.  He'll probably do some "man whining" for the next few days :)   I talked with TW and Michele and then we "hit the tick."  We have to rest up for Min It to Win It tomorrow afternoon.