We are enjoying our time here in South Texas with new people arriving daily at the RV park. After Thanksgiving there will be a big influx and the official start of the winter season will begin. Our weather has been beautiful in the 55-75 range and low humidity with a slight north wind. However, the last several days the wind has been howling out of the south with the temps 75-90 and high humidity....the kind of weather I dislike. The overnight low temps have been setting high records. We have been holed up in the motorhome with the air conditioner running. However, I guess that is better than our Montana home where they have been having unseasonably cold weather and even some snow.
One good thing about staying inside is that we are using the time to sort and name our pictures we took on our Mexico trip. Both Dan and I carry cameras with big lenses to take pics of the birds we see. The challenging part becomes in the ID of the birds. In the field, our leader Dave, would tell us what they are but after seeing about 225 species in various stages of camoflage in the bushes, and about a month after the fact, it becomes a guessing game as to what some of the birds are. That plus the fact that many are southern birds that we are not used to seeing. We have had some spirited discussions on what some of them may be, ending with "Well, it is your list" [a birding expression for "I don't believe you but I am not going to argue".]
We are back in the land of citrus groves and this time of year is harvest. There are roadside stands everywhere. I really like grapefruit and have found a way to eat it which I really like. I peel it, cut it into bite sized pieces and put them on a plate in the freezer for about 4-5 hours. By that time they have ice crystals in them but are not rock hard and are really delicious. I can hardly wait until evening every day so I can have my frozen treat.
For Thanksgiving dinner the RV park is having a dinner at the clubhouse where they supply the meat and we bring the accompanying dishes. Instead of doing that [the clubhouse is noisy] we have decided that we will eat with friends Anne, Scotty, Linda and Jim. When I went to buy the ham today I had a nice surprise. If you buy a ham [which I was going to do anyway] they gave you a turkey for FREE!! Being my mother's daughter, I could not pass that up. The fact that our RV refrigerator is way too small didn't slow me down a bit.....free was free! Dan is really good at creative arranging and the turkey is now in the fridge, thawing to be cooked on the weekend. We both love cold turkey sandwiches and then stewing the bones to make soup so we will be in great shape for food for the next while. Our local grocery store chain often has really good specials like that.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
She strikes again....the once a month blogger!!! Maybe things will improve but don't hold your breath.
We have arrived in Mission Texas for the winter after a stop in Tucson for a birding trip into Mexico and in Lawton Oklahoma for a visit with family and friends. Both stops were most enjoyable.
As mentioned in my previous blog [is your memory that good?] Dave picked us up plus 6 other people for an 8 day birding trip into NW Mexico and down as far as his home in Alamos. It was a great trip with lots of birds. I think I got 33 lifers and Dan got 23. My back held up surprisingly well all things considered. For a complete trip report go to
http://www.solipaso.com/sonora-yecora-alamos-and-the-sea-of-cortez
I had been concerned about security when driving from Tucson into Mexico because of the smuggling and illegal activity. However, I was absolutely amazed at the lack of evidence of such activity in that area of Arizona. However, when we got to Texas it is an entirely different story. I think things have worsened since last year with many areas by the river being a cause for concern. However, we can stay away from there and all should be OK. Even though our RV park is not far from the river there are Border Patrol around all the time plus the property is fenced and locked from dark to dawn.
Our week at Lawton was spent at cousin Jo's house along with great food and hospitality. At Ft Sill we got some of the shots necessary for our trip in January to Peru.
We also had a "slight mishap" with our cell phone when Dan put it in a half full glass of water that was in the console of the car. We have been trying to dry it out [to no avail so far] but in the mean time, our good neighbors Mike and Linda found our old phone in the office at our house and mailed it to us. It did not have any of the old numbers in it as I had hoped but at least we did not have to spend $250 for a new phone. Plus, Anne knew how to re-activate the old phone so we are all set. It sure is nice to have good friends who can bail us out of our messes.
Dan did some maintenance stuff on the motorhome [with help from friend Ken] then packed it to head south. After a couple of blips in the battery compartment and an extended diagnosis/repair time we got to Bentsen Palm Village [600 miles from Lawton] on Tuesday. Anne and Linda had made a terrific dinner of pulled pork, macaroni, green beans and cole slaw so we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed to their place to finish it all off [it is so nice not to have to cook after driving all day]. It is great to see old friends again and catch up on everything....even though we had seen both couples at our place in Montana last August, plus both Anne and especially Linda are MUCH better at keeping up with their blogs than I am.
Yesterday was Veterans Day plus our third wedding anniversary. When selecting a wedding date it looked like November was going to be best. I liked the idea of Veterans Day [since Dan was in the Navy for 21 years] but wasn't sure if that was a good idea. However, when he said it was also his mother's birthday, the deal was sealed and 3 years ago we went to New Hampshire and got married at his brother's place. The last 3 years we have eaten out at our favorite Chinese buffet here in the Valley and of course I ate too much [I even had a cream cheese stuffed jalapeno for you Jerrie!!]
As I mentioned, I have been pleasantly surprised how well my back has been holding up. We got our recumbent trikes out of the car and have been riding them with no problems for me. Then this morning I went with Anne to the clubhouse where she and others have been doing zoomba dancing which is a heck of a workout. I tried it and so far no problems. I did not get as vigorous as the others, but at least I was moving.
Will end this for today and will try to do better about posting in the future.
We have arrived in Mission Texas for the winter after a stop in Tucson for a birding trip into Mexico and in Lawton Oklahoma for a visit with family and friends. Both stops were most enjoyable.
As mentioned in my previous blog [is your memory that good?] Dave picked us up plus 6 other people for an 8 day birding trip into NW Mexico and down as far as his home in Alamos. It was a great trip with lots of birds. I think I got 33 lifers and Dan got 23. My back held up surprisingly well all things considered. For a complete trip report go to
http://www.solipaso.com/sonora-yecora-alamos-and-the-sea-of-cortez
I had been concerned about security when driving from Tucson into Mexico because of the smuggling and illegal activity. However, I was absolutely amazed at the lack of evidence of such activity in that area of Arizona. However, when we got to Texas it is an entirely different story. I think things have worsened since last year with many areas by the river being a cause for concern. However, we can stay away from there and all should be OK. Even though our RV park is not far from the river there are Border Patrol around all the time plus the property is fenced and locked from dark to dawn.
Our week at Lawton was spent at cousin Jo's house along with great food and hospitality. At Ft Sill we got some of the shots necessary for our trip in January to Peru.
We also had a "slight mishap" with our cell phone when Dan put it in a half full glass of water that was in the console of the car. We have been trying to dry it out [to no avail so far] but in the mean time, our good neighbors Mike and Linda found our old phone in the office at our house and mailed it to us. It did not have any of the old numbers in it as I had hoped but at least we did not have to spend $250 for a new phone. Plus, Anne knew how to re-activate the old phone so we are all set. It sure is nice to have good friends who can bail us out of our messes.
Dan did some maintenance stuff on the motorhome [with help from friend Ken] then packed it to head south. After a couple of blips in the battery compartment and an extended diagnosis/repair time we got to Bentsen Palm Village [600 miles from Lawton] on Tuesday. Anne and Linda had made a terrific dinner of pulled pork, macaroni, green beans and cole slaw so we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed to their place to finish it all off [it is so nice not to have to cook after driving all day]. It is great to see old friends again and catch up on everything....even though we had seen both couples at our place in Montana last August, plus both Anne and especially Linda are MUCH better at keeping up with their blogs than I am.
Yesterday was Veterans Day plus our third wedding anniversary. When selecting a wedding date it looked like November was going to be best. I liked the idea of Veterans Day [since Dan was in the Navy for 21 years] but wasn't sure if that was a good idea. However, when he said it was also his mother's birthday, the deal was sealed and 3 years ago we went to New Hampshire and got married at his brother's place. The last 3 years we have eaten out at our favorite Chinese buffet here in the Valley and of course I ate too much [I even had a cream cheese stuffed jalapeno for you Jerrie!!]
As I mentioned, I have been pleasantly surprised how well my back has been holding up. We got our recumbent trikes out of the car and have been riding them with no problems for me. Then this morning I went with Anne to the clubhouse where she and others have been doing zoomba dancing which is a heck of a workout. I tried it and so far no problems. I did not get as vigorous as the others, but at least I was moving.
Will end this for today and will try to do better about posting in the future.
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