Our Last 4 Days at Victoria Palms :(

   So...Wed morning we had breakfast, John took a walk while I got cleaned up and got ready for Min It To Win It at 1:00 in the ballroom.  John cleaned up when he got back.  While he was dumping the tanks he spotted an unwelcome guest in the compartment...a brown recluse spider!! 

John named him, "Spidee Webster"

So we rode down to the office to let them know and, hopefully get someone to spray.  While we were there we mentioned Min It To Win It and the gal in the office told us it was cancelled due to the activity director being sick.  Ah, shucks!  So, being ready with no place to go, I went shopping.  John wanted to wash and wax Harvey anyway, so seemed like a good plan.  But, first, we rode over to Tammi and Rich's place to ask if they wanted to get together tonight to play the board game they talked about.  We met Doc, their Yorkie, and finalized our plans for 7pm. 

Tammi, Rich and Doc

I got back from my shopping excursion at about 6pm.  Yes, I did put a bit of a dent in my checkbook.  I MUST get rid of some of the stuff in my closet when we get home!  John had supper ready, grilled shrimp and pineapple and rice-a-roni.  It was yummy!  Then we headed over to Rich and Tammi's.  When we got there another couple was there that Rich and Tammi invited.  He was retired Army.  He and John had a great time talking.  (Can you tell I forgot the couple's names.  That's happening more and more lately...what's up with that?)The permanent double wide unit Rich and Tammi bought and re-did is absolutely gorgeous.  It's like something right out of one of those fixer upper shows!  The name of the game we played was "Joker" and it was very similar to Sorry and the marble game we play, but with quite a few more number combos and special moves.  It's played on a "Social Security" game board.  I didn't catch on as fast as John did.  We had such a fun evening!  Sure wish we would have met them sooner!

Tammi and Rich did a wonderful job re-doing their
double wide they bought last spring.  It has 3
bedrooms, 2 baths, a beautiful kitchen with an island and sit up bar,
 a living room and dining room, a big deck on the left,
and a big "shop" area on the right. 
 

 

I never heard of this game until we got to VP.

   Thursday morning we played our last Bocce Ball match.  If I do say so myself, I had 4 of the best shots ever.  Even 1 of the guys I was playing against said he NEVER saw 4 shots that good.  Wish the rest of the match had gone that well.  We sure do like that game!  We had a bite for lunch and then I went to bean bag toss and John went to the pool for water volleyball.  When I got back I made some red pepper dip for the Tailgate Party in the Cactus Club parking lot.  They were providing hamburgers, chips and dessert.  And there was live music and dancing afterward.  We had no idea how full it would get.  It was to start at 5:00.  We got there just before 4:30 and there were already about 200 people there with their chairs all set up!  Another 200 showed up by the end of the evening.

Quite a crowd, huh?!?

 

 

The Cactus Club crew serving the meals.

   It was a fun evening.  Leslie sang again.  She is so good and can sing almost anything.  She should go on The Voice!  We left about 8:30 and played 3 games of 5 Crowns when we got back.  We are now at 20-21 with John in the lead.  I'm not worried!!  We were in bed by 11:00.
   Friday morning John went to play pickleball at 8:30 and I went to my last choir practice at 9:00.  I made French toast for breakfast when John got back at 11:00.  Then we made a trip to another CG called Llano Grande just a few miles down the road.  We had heard that it is even nicer than Victoria Palms, so we needed to check it out.  Well...it was nice, but we like VP better.  LG just didn't exude the warmth that VP does.  And...they don't have bocce ball!!  Then we stopped at Walmart for a few groceries.  I decided to take back the sewing machine I bought because I just didn't like it.  So I texted Claudia to see if she wanted to ride along with me to JoAnn's in Pharr and maybe do a little shopping.  (Maybe...come on!!)  She wanted to go, so I picked her up at 1:30 and off we went.  Bless his heart, John did laundry while I was gone.  Claudia and I had a good time at Beall's, Ross, and TJ Maxx.  We got back about 7pm.  John grilled some chicken for supper and we had big salads.  We played 5 Crowns again.  We are now tied at 22-22.  In case you're wondering...we are a bit competitive.
   Saturday, John played pickleball while I cleaned up a bit in Harvey.  Then we took a trip to Home Depot to get a specific nut we needed that fell off a pin that goes thru the arm of the awning.  It sure was hot out today!  As a matter of fact the temperature reading on the VP sign said 90 degrees.

Here's proof.  When we drove by here about an
 hour later it said 97!!

 

This is our thermometer before we left for that late lunch.
It is in the sun without the awning out, but it was very hot!!

  We thought we ought to have one more authentic Mexican meal before we leave the Rio Grande Valley, so we asked one of the check out guys at HD for a recommendation.  Then we went to HEB to get cookies for the coffee hour at church tomorrow and the flea market behind the CG to get pineapples and covers for Harvey's windshield wipers and mirrors. 

There is a very large inside area complete with Amish treats!

There is an eating area with live music behind this stand.

We dropped all our stuff off at Harvey and then went to the office to settle up in preparation for our departure tomorrow.  They had a few more Mexican restaurant recommendations for us.  So, we chose one of them and had a late lunch.  Remember how hot I said it was.  Well... the VP sign now said 97 degrees!  The food at El Rancho Grande was great!  We both brought enough home to have another meal.  We played a few games of 5 Crowns (we are now 23-24) when we got back.  Then John took a nap and I rode down to the library to work on a puzzle. I lost track of time and didn't get back until 7:45.  John had done a lot of prep work for leaving tomorrow, so I kicked in gear and did my stuff, too.  We turned in about 11:00.
   Sunday morning we had our ceremonial departure day cereal for breakfast and then I went to church to sing with the choir for the last time.  John stayed behind to do final departure prep work.  I had tears in my eyes when we sang the benediction number, "May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You."  There's a line that ends with, "till we meet again," and I almost lost it!!  I went back to Harvey, changed clothes, we hooked up the Jeep and we left VP at 10:45.  Bonnie called just as we pulled out of the CG.  We chatted for about a half hour.  All is well with them. 
    We plan on travelling about 6 hrs. today to a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Waco.  So, if all goes well, with stops along the way, we should be there by 7:00 or so.

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.

Victoria Palms is Absolutely Awesome!!

  We are having such a good time here at Victoria Palms!!  Let me give you an idea of how much there is to do here and how each week shapes up:
  Sunday morning we leave for church at 8:15.  The service starts at 9:00 but I joined the choir and we practice at 8:20 before the service.  There is a Sunday brunch in the restaurant, but we have only gone once.  Back to Harvey around 10:15, change clothes and then we usually head a couple of miles down the road to Walmart to pick up any necessities.  Then lunch, the pool, shuffleboard at 2:00 and water volleyball at 4:00 in the big pool (although no one has shown, so far).  Then supper and cards inside Harvey.  By the way we are 22-22 with 5 crowns now.
   Monday morning there is shuffleboard or ping pong at 9:30, bean bag at 11:00 and then the pool. 
   Tuesdays we play Bocce ball at 9:00 (we are loving that!), water volleyball in the small pool at 1:00 and then either line dancing 101 and 102(just me), Karaoke at Pecker's, a local bar and grille at 3:00 or a pot luck meal back in the CG's Cactus Club at 4:30.  Then John has started playing pickleball from 7:00-9:00. He just bought his own paddle.  Pickleball is a cross between, tennis, ping pong and badminton.  The court is small than tennis and the balls are similar to a wiffle ball, just a bit smaller.  It is extremely popular among us "older" folks. 

"Uh...I think that was yours."  "No, it was yours!"

 


"Oh, oh, oh...I can almost reach it."

 

Pretty good form, but what's with the hand on the thigh?

 

Perfect!

   Wednesday morning John plays pickleball at 9:00 (and, by the way, next year my foot and hip WILL be good enough for me to play, too!) or we both play shuffleboard at 9:30.  Then we go to the flea market just behind the CG for the largest, sweetest pineapples we have ever had.  They even core them for you.  And, weather permitting, we hang out at the pool and the hot tub the rest of the afternoon.   Are you feeling sorry for us yet?
   Thursdays we play Bocce ball at 9:00, possibly bean bag at 11:00, water volleyball at 1:00, line dancing 101 and 102 at 3:45 and John plays pickleball from 7-9:00.
   On Friday there is a farmer's market in the parking lot of the ballroom from 9-12:00, I have choir practice from 9-10:15, ping pong from 10:30-12:30, pool/hot tub and Karaoke at the Cactus Club from 7-10:00.
    Saturday morning John plays pickleball from 9-11:00 and we have the rest of the day to do our own thing.
   In the evenings we sit outside and watch TV or watch TV inside and play cards.
   Most Mondays there is a happy hour at 1:00 poolside called, "sip and dip" with entertainment.  The first and third Tuesday of the month there is  dance in the ballroom at 7pm with a live band and every Friday there is happy hour in the ballroom at 3pm with an entertainer and a dance in the ballroom at 7pm with a live band.  Sometimes it's hard to chose which one we want to attend!!  And every Saturday night there is a dance with live entertainment in the Cactus Club.  Every Wednesday the activities dept hosts a special activity like the Not-so-Newlywed game or Min It to Win It or Ladies Night Out.  John and I are signed up for Min It to Win It on the 22nd.
   And in between all the resort activities we get together with friends, go out to eat and go shopping.  It's a tough life here in Texas!!
   The weather the last 4 days has been very warm in the 80's and 90's, but we have had a lot of rain with thunderstorms.  It will pour for an hour and then the sun will come out for a couple of hours and be very steamy.  So, all in all, we have been able to most everything we usually do except water volleyball on Thursday.
   Some of the highlights:
   On Monday we decided to go to Mexico even though we didn't bring our passports or birth certificates.  We are about 40 minutes from the border and it was a fun drive taking in all the new sites.  We checked with an officer at US Customs when we got there and he said we shouldn't have any trouble getting back into the US with our military ID's.  It just might take longer than a passport would.  So we took the chance.  After being there about an hour we were ready to leave.  Too much pan handling and begging, and it was HOT that day.  Every other building was a dentist office, plastic surgery office or pharmacy.  People were standing outside all of them asking you needed any work done or any drugs.  Got old!!  We bought a bottle of clear vanilla for $.95, a silver bracelet for $6.00 and a pair of sunglasses for $5.00.  OK...now we can say we were in Mexico.

This is the entrance to Mexico from the US side.

 

This bamboo was growing inside the fence below.
I've never seen any that thick!

 

This is the walkway into Mexico.  There were mostly women standing underneath begging for a nickel.  At the far end young children had their
arms stretched out through the holes asking for money.  It was gut wrenching!

 

This is the Rio Grande river.  I was expecting it to be bigger!

 

 

The official boundary line between the US and Mexico.

 

This was a small cluster of shops on the way out.

   On Friday we asked Claudia and Larry to go along to a burger joint we had heard about while we were at Sunshine CG.  It's called Gonzales Burgers and we were told it is one of the biggest and best burgers we would ever have.  The story is that the owner grinds up 300 lbs of hamburger in the morning.  When it is gone the place closes.  Claudia and Larry got there first and warned us that it just looks like a house...no sign or anything.  (They actually went inside and asked someone at a table if it was Gonzales Burgers.)  They offer only hamburgers, fries, onion rings and cans of soda and bottles of water and they only take cash. The patties were huge...looked like the size of a T-bone steak!  And they lived up to their reputation.  They were delicious!  Only Larry was able to eat the whole thing, but he didn't have any FF's or onion rings.

The burgers were fresh.

 

  We met Claudia and Larry 2 yrs ago on Jekyll Island,
GA.  They are from Macon, GA.  He is retired Air Force and
she is a retired elementary school teacher.

 

This rattler was mounted on the wall along with a couple
other animal heads.

 

This is the "leftover" half of John's burger.  Larry was the
only one to eat the whole thing, but he didn't have
any fries or onion rings.

   I don't remember if I mentioned the craft show they were having here yesterday (Sat.).  I called here about it when we were staying at Sunshine and was told I needed a Texas sales tax number in order to participate.  I got one and then when I called back I was told there was no space available...it was full!  Well, almost every day after we got here I would go down to the activity office to check if they had any cancellations.  They did, but there were already others on the waiting list who were given the space.  Well. on Friday afternoon I checked again, and there was still no space available.  So, I asked if I could come in around 6:45 on Saturday morning to check if there were any no shows.  Guess what...I got a space!  I did ok and had a lot of fun!

How do you like my new short hairdo??

   Today (Sunday) it is much cooler with some rain and a lot of clouds.  It will definitely be an indoor day.  Last night we went to a dance in the Cactus Club with Larry and Claudia and there neighbors, Bill and Betty.  John plays pickleball with Bill.  The singer at the dance was named Leslie.  She was phenominal...she could sing anything!!  We are both a bit tired today because of the time change.  John took a nap while I worked on the blog.  I think my turn is coming!  We went to Walmart after church to pick up a few things including beer.  But when we went to check out the clerk told us he couldn't sell us the beer until 12 noon (it was 11:40), so we hung out for 20 minutes so we could purchase the beer.  I wonder if we will ever be able to purchase beer/wine at our Walmarts at home??  We stopped at the flea market to get 2 pineapples on the way back and then just hung out inside Harvey the rest of the afternoon.  Maybe we'll go down to the large card room to play "crazy cards" at 6:00, whatever that is.  Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?!?  Mom called me back and we talked for almost 35 minutes...well, she did :)   She had a suspicious spot on her lip and is awaiting the results of a tissue sample that taken and sent off.  Other than that she and Dad are doing great!  And I'm happy to report that according to her blog, Bonnie and Ken are feeling much better, thank goodness.  They were laid up for 2 weeks!  I also talked to Alexandra.  She and Todd were on their way to Lancaster Co from the base in Virginia to visit.  They are planning on heading back home before the predicted snow coming to Lanc Co on Tuesday. 
   We just can't say enough good things about this RV resort.  We love it here!

Please enlarge these pictures to get the full effect
of how beautiful the entrance is to Victoria Palms in the evening.