Moving On Over To Donna, Texas

  We spent our last few days at Sunshine RV Resort going back to the beach at San Padre Island, playing shuffleboard, going to the pool, having my first authentic Mexican food, and attending an Encore sponsored show called December 63.  It was a group of 4 guys that did an awesome tribute to Frankie Valle and the 4 Seasons.  It was wonderful!!  After the show we did most of our preparations for leaving Sunshine on Friday morning, Feb 24th. 

Some of the sand dunes on San Padre Island.  Notice
how far onto the road the sand has blown.  They use
snowplows to clean them off!

 

Looks like some camels should appear any minute now,
doesn't it??

 

No, those aren't birds...

 

...they are parasurfers.  You can see how fast they go
by all the water being displaced.

 

And they often go airborne!!

 

There were lots of these signs on the causeway, but
we only ever saw 2 pelicans!

 

We stopped at "Pirates Landing" just off the causeway
for a bite to eat on our way home.  Thought this sign
at a restaurant nearby was cute!

 

This guy was singing while we ate.  He was quite good.

 

There's the pirate overlooking the dining area.

 

Here are some pictures and signs we enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

This happened after 1 mighty strong margarita!!

 

These pictures are from the pier outside the restaurant.

 

 

This is the restaurant.

 

Now that is a happy, fat and contented pelican!

 

Some of his buddies were close by waiting for
fisherman to clean their catches are share the scraps.

 

 

This is the most popular grocery store in Texas.
It's the initials of the man that founded it, but also
stands for "Here Everything is Better".

 

This is the group, "December 63" that we saw
perform at Sunshine RV Resort.

 

 

The little guy on the left sang the Frankie Valle part.
He was phenomenal!  If you closed your eyes and listened
you have sworn it was really him!!

 

 

This was our authentic Mexican meal at Pepe's,
and it was yummy!

 

   We left the CG at 9:00 am and didn't hook up the Jeep because we had to take Harvey to get an oil change just a couple miles from the new CG...Victoria Palms in Donna, TX.  We dropped him off at 9:45 and then checked into the CG to scope it out while we waited for Harvey to be done.  There happened to be an Open House at the CG so there was a lot to do!  They had 96 booths set up of things to do at the CG!!  Everything from cards to Bocce Ball to ceramics and lots and lots more in between.  I joined the church choir and they gave me the music to look at for the Sunday service.  Luckily, I knew all of them.  But by 3:00 we were running out of things to do, so we headed out Route 2 to get something to eat.  We went to a Whataburger again.  They are so good!  There was a Mexican guy in a pick up truck selling Maltese/Poo puppies.  They were so cute...little white fur balls.  John wouldn't let me go hold one because he knew what would happen if I did.  I'm sure he was right.  I wouldn't have had much will power!!  I really miss our doggies!!  Then we decided to go to check on Harvey and would you believe that just as we walked thru the door John's phone rang to tell us he was done.  WOW!!
    We pulled into our site #2395 at 5:00 and were all set up by 6:00.  We had a bit of trouble getting level but, all in all the space is GREAT!!  There are supposedly 2 horses in the pasture behind us, but we haven't seen them yet.

It's so pretty here and our site is really big!

 

Not bad for $249 for the month!!

 

  Everyone is so friendly here and the atmosphere is just so darn nice!  We have been invited to play several kinds of cards, water volleyball, bocce ball, BINGO, and karaoke.  As a matter of fact we went to karaoke just after we got set up.  They have it every Friday night.  Tom, the guy that runs it, also has it at a local bar and grill called Peckers on Tuesday afternoons and we were invited there, too.  There is cable here, too...over 100 channels including 5 HBO channels.  It's nice, but I think we will be too busy to watch much TV. 
    On Sunday we went to church and then had brunch at the restaurant that is connected to the Rec Hall (where church is held).  We changed clothes and then went to Walmart to pick up a few things, played some shuffleboard (John whipped me), and then, after supper played "65", a card game, in one of the card rooms...there are 2.  "65" is very similar to 5 Crowns, but you play with regular decks.  AND even if you don't go out...you can play on only the hand that goes out first.  The "65" comes from the $.65 you pay to play each game.  At the end of the game you get paid for each time you went out and if you have the low score.  It was a lot of fun!  We talked with Dustin and the girls.  Finn, their Fr bulldog was neutered last week and is doing fine.  I loved TW's response to Dustin's text...a scissors and 2 basketballs!!
   Monday we went to Boca Chico beach just below Brownsville.  The weather was perfect...about 85 degrees and a nice breeze, so we took the top off the Jeep and off we went...WHEEE!!!  It was about an hour and a half drive, but the drive goes fast when you have new things to gawk at...we seemed to be there in no time.  The beach was very similar to San Padre Island and you can drive right onto it.  Not many interesting shells, but lots of nice shell pieces for Bonnie!   We stayed about 3 and 1/2 hrs, leaving at 4:30.  We didn't want to get caught with the Jeep on the sand when the tide came in.  And we were both getting a bit red. 

What a great day for a convertible (maybe it's not
correct to call a Jeep that), but it doesn't do much for the hair!!

 

It sure was a pretty day at the beach...

 

...and the water was warm!

 

I thought these plants were pretty growing
out of the sand.

 

Pretty flowers and sand dunes

 

 

John took a very long walk up the beach then rested
with a book.  It still seems weird to be able to drive
right up to the ocean and then having to look both
ways before walking to or from the water!

 

Lots of flocks of pelicans flying back and forth.

 

This was a historical marker telling about the remains
of railroad pilings made from the wood of Palmetto trees
dating back to 1864 and a floating bridge from 1846
 made from Cypress trees used for the transportation
of military supplies.

 

We're not quite sure what this is, but we think
it might have something to do with the new
rocket launchpad the Gov't plans on building here.

 

This flowering plant was striking against all the
dry, brown landscape!

 

This is the Port of Brownsville where a lot of
goods are shipped in from Mexico.  We got stopped
at the Border control on our way out of the beach.

John grilled for supper and then I watched The Voice.  Those judges just crack me up.  Between them and the amazing talent of the contestants... I just LOVE that show!! 
   Tuesday morning we played bocce ball.  The courts are just 5 sites down from us, so it is very convenient!  There are 2 courts and 16 people played.  It was a lot of fun.  I ended up playing against John and our team won both games.  However, John did play better than I did.  I had good teammates!   Thank goodness there was a gusty wind blowing because the temp was 94 today!!  We had some lunch and then went to the pool for water volleyball.  I decided not to play because of my hip and foot and just cheered John's team on.  But when the 2nd game started they all convinced me to come on in and play.  I was the only woman, so it was a bit intimidating at first, but all the guys made me feel very welcome.  My bathing suit had a zipper and I considered pulling it down a bit so I could distract the other team.  But I was afraid of accidental exposure, so I decided against it.  tee hee   We really did have a great time!  We took showers and then went to Lin's Chinese Buffet for supper just a mile down the highway.  It was very good, but, of course, we ate too much even though we tried to be careful.  I watched The Voice inside Harvey while John watched TV outside.  I talked with Arlena...she is doing well.  She's not in maternity clothes yet, but figures she will be in the next 2 weeks or so.  Bennett would not talk with me, but later he did tell me about the bad thunderstorms and hail they had over last weekend.  TW was in Rhode Island setting up 2 dozen computers for the natural food warehouse company he works for.  I also spoke with Bonnie.  I read on her blog that Ken had been pretty sick and she wasn't feeling too good either.  After taking Ken to an urgent care center he was feeling a bit better with an antibiotic and cough meds.  Bonnie is hoping to recover without meds, but she did say that they were both still coughing quite a bit.  Here's hoping that they both feel much better real soon!
    When we got up on Wednesday we discussed plans for next winter.  Paul and Vickie told us a bout a brand new CG in LaBelle, Fl called Oak Grove.  They already made their reservations and had invited us.  Jay and Linda, John and Marie and Tom and Josephine made their reservations as well.  Although we enjoy the close proximity of the beaches at some of the resorts we have previously stayed at on the gulf coast of Florida, we decided it might be fun to join the crew we had gone to NY state with.  So we called the CG and booked our 2 month winter stay from Jan 15 to March 15.  We are pretty excited!  Now we have to figure out what we're doing this Fall.  There was a threat of rain by noon, so we drove over to the flea market right behind the CG.  It was much like Root's at home except there was less produce and more flea market type stuff, basically junk.  But one neat thing they have is a few stands that custom make all kind of covers for your RV, like for your windshield wipers, mirrors, and wheels.  They also make screen houses that attach to your awning and RV.  They sew them right there.  We didn't stay too long, because it was so hot and humid.  When we got back our thermometer registered almost 95 in the shade!  We decided to practice bocce ball.  I played much better than on Tuesday and whipped John good. When we got back we grabbed a little lunch and then went to the pool...it never did rain.  On the way back to Harvey one of the guys who we played volleyball with and his wife were sitting outside their 5th wheel and asked if we had time to join them for a beer.  His name is Pete and his wife is Bonnie.  And, guess what...she has a sister named Cindy. They are from Ontario, Canada.  We visited for about an hour.  They are very nice people!  I talked to Dad and he sounded great.  He had a cyst removed from the top of his head and is waiting to hear the path report.  He said the weather back home has been very warm, but they were expecting snow flurries on Thursday.  I also talked with Alexandra.  She and Todd are doing great, too.  Both are very busy with their jobs and school and taking care of not so little, Gunnar.   We showered and took another trip to Walmart.  I bought a beautiful mandevilla plant and we got some groceries.

How do you like my pretty new plant?  I'll
take more pics when it blooms some more.

 

Here's the boo boo someone kindly gave the Jeep
 in a parking lot.

  John grilled a ham steak for supper and then we played a game of 5 Crowns.  I won.  We are now tied at 17 to 17.
   Today when we got up it was only in the 50's.  We played bocce ball again, but this time we were bundled up in long pants and sweatshirts.  I played against John again and my team won both games.  I actually had some good shots this time.  It was kind of weird how my teammates names were Bill (my dad), Ken (my brother-in-law) and Duane (Ken's brother-in-law).  It made it easy to remember their names! 

John goes for the shot with his teammates looking on.

 

What grace...what style...now, if only I roll it
close to that little white ball!!

 

That's Ken in the red, Duane in the black and Bill
on the bench.  They were a lot of fun to play with!

Our hamper was full, so we thought this would be a good day to do laundry since it was chilly outside.  We got it started and then I went over to one of the card rooms to work on the blog.  The free WiFi works better over there.  John kindly finished the laundry.  We got done about 12:30 and hurried back to Harvey to change into our swimsuits for water volleyball at 1:00.  I can't believe I'm going to do it...it's too darn cold.  But I don't want to whimp out since I'm the only woman playing.  Thank goodness the pool is heated, because when you had to jump out of the water to hit a ball or serve, it was really cold.  Only 12 of us played.  We got creamed the first 3 games but then won the next 4.  By then my nose was so cold I though icicles might be hanging from it.  Most of us climbed into the hot tub afterwards.   It was a blast!  Some of the wives had come down to watch earlier, so we stayed a while and chatted with everyone. 

I knew nobody would believe we played
unless we had pictures.

It was sooo cold when serving!!

But we all warmed up in the hot tub afterward.
Do you think we could have squeezed in another one?
Half the water came out over the top!!

We came back to Harvey about 3:30 and just relaxed.  John took a nap and I worked on the blog.  We ate supper and then I watched The Voice  while John read.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that there are grapefruit and orange trees all over the CG.  If there is no one parked in a site where one is located you can pick all that you want.  What a nice treat and they are delicious!!  It's hard to believe we have been here 7 days already.  We LOVE this CG!!