Thursday, January 10, 2008 (DAY 14) We planned another quiet day with no set agenda, except for Kay’s haircut appointment and choir practice. We walked our typical 2 miles, watched a portion of the expert tournament, and had lunch. Kay departed for her haircut, and received text messaging that Karyn, Kay’s daughter, would arrive mid-afternoon, and was staying at a hotel near us. After choir practice, we met Karyn, brought her back to the park, and did a walking tour. We followed that with dinner at the Blue Onion (pretty good sandwiches, etc.) with Karyn and a co-worker of hers, then back for reading (me) and TV (Kay). I finished the 9th book of the trip.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 (DAY 13)  No plans for today! After our morning cup of French press, it was off to the laundry for clean clothes and off to the bathhouse for clean bodies. We did manage a trip to Sam’s Club for some food items and, while there, I bought a couple of shirts, pair of shorts, and lots of socks. Upon returning, we watched our friends shuffle in the tournament, losing after 3 matches. The Park serves lunch during the tournament, and we ate the hot roast beef sandwiches with tea and a slice of pie. The raisin pie reminded me of those my mom made, and it was a little sad thinking of her. Kay returned to shopping for some other food at Wal-Mart, and I stayed in and read, finishing the 8th book of the trip. Late in the evening, Kay was asked to partner in a friendly shuffle tournament on Friday, but declined since her daughter, Karyn, was coming into town for business on Thursday and departing on Friday. It has really been great getting to basically do nothing, and catch up on reading, etc. The itching and swelling on the toes finally disappeared, and is still a mystery. We watched a little TV and hit the bed pretty early.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 (DAY 12) Dance, dance, dance! Today was dance lesson day. Our (read that MY) first lesson was at 9:30 AM at Victoria Palms RV Resort—ballroom dancing. On the way there, we stopped at Burger King for their Winter Texan $1 biscuit and sausage special. The ballroom at Victoria Palms was large and the RV resort in general is very nice, upscale. We signed up and paid our fees ($3 per person). The instructor was a Danish lady in her 70s. She had danced at Merlin Rouge and Follies Bergere in Paris, taught instructors at Fred Astaire Studios in New York, and she was excellent. Kay and I learned a couple of basic steps for the waltz—the box step and another step I can’t remember. I actually did not do too bad, though it still feels uncomfortable moving this 265 pounds around the floor in dips and sways. The mind still moves faster than the body (though I guess that’s a good thing)! We drove back to Pine to Palms for lunch of lasagna; lunch is being prepared at the park because of the huge shuffle tournament (see photo). Then, after lunch, it was back to Victoria Palms for county western dancing lessons. The fee was $4 per person and the instructor was a little Jewish man from New York. He and his wife assistant were excellent. I "learned" the 2 step basic, the country waltz basic, the swing basic, and the country polka with Jesse. Actually, country western dancing was fun, though I kept stepping on Kay’s tows in the Two Step Basic. Guess we’re dancing too close. Two hours of country western dance lessons stiffened this old body considerably, resulting in a lengthy visit to the hot tub—it was wonderful. In fact, it helped the itching toes immeasurably. I’m guessing I got in some jelly fish at South Padre Island. We returned to Dunn Gone for a couple of hours, after which Kay and I played shuffleboard against each other with Larry and Vicky. Needless to say, sleep came easy.

Monday, January 7, 2008 (DAY 11)  Another busy day, beginning with a 9:00 AM general meeting. Afterwards, we "relaxed" for an hour or so, then headed to South Padre Island, stopping in Port Isabel for seafood. Kay had a shrimp po’ boy and I had an oyster basket. The fried oysters were OK, but not to New Orleans standards. We saw an old lighthouse and possibly the world’s largest fly rod (see photo). After lunch, we took a short tour of South Padre Island, walking briefly in the surf and sand (see photo). We managed to get back to Pine to Palm in time for the famous pancake dinners. We had been told that if we waited until 5:30 PM we wouldn’t have to wait in line; the line was doubled back on itself, and over 100 yards long. The pancakes were great, but they had not planned on such a large crowd and we missed the sausage and hot coffee—maybe next week. I played two games of shuffleboard with Larry, and learned a lot about both defense and offense. Kay stayed behind, took her shower, and read. Upon returning to Dunn Gone, I read until late, catching glimpses of LSU beating Ohio State. Unfortunately, the book I read was missing the last few pages, so it was very upsetting. The tops, bottoms, and in between areas of my big toe and adjoining two toes on both feet began itching like crazy, without any sign of rash or blisters. They did appear swollen. Anyway, I could not get relief.

Sunday, January 6, 2008 (DAY 10) We were up early today for church, having choir rehearsal at 8:30 AM. Kay sang, “Praise His Name” and did a spectacular job. Jerry talked on four things to do in 2008 to become better Christians: communicate with God, don’t hold grudges, don’t whine, and tell the truth. After service and fellowship, i.e. coffee and donuts, we went to lunch at a very good Chinese restaurant with Vicky and Larry and our new friends. The wind blew like crazy today, with 20-25 MPH winds steady and gusts of 45 MPH, all day long. We stayed in the rest of the day, and both of us read till bedtime.

Friday, January 4, 2008 (DAY 8) This was a designated shopping day, our having put it off too long already. We needed a longer sewer hose and wanted a solar battery charger for the chassis battery. Combined with needing groceries, we trudged off to Wal-Mart, Camping World, and McDonald’s. After lunch, Kay and I played shuffleboard with Vicky and Larry. Larry has been an excellent teacher, and I am really getting hooked on the game. However, we don’t have shuffleboard courts in Mountain Home! Kay has a great eye, and is learning to adjust the speed of the disc. She has the potential to be a very good player. We both were hungry for fried chicken, and there is a Church’s behind us, so we had a fried chicken dinner. We bypassed bingo, read instead (I have read 5 books already on this trip), and turned in for the evening about 10 PM.

Thursday, January 3, 2008 (DAY 7) Wednesday evening was cold by Rio Grande Valley standards, with lows down in the 30s. We slept great in the cold temperature, but turned the furnace on in the AM to warm things up a bit. Kay went shopping with Vicky and some other ladies at the park. It was a nice, quiet cool day. The park sponsored a country western Karoke and dance; we attended, but since I did not know the Two Step or the waltz, we didn’t dance. Also, most of the folks there knew to bring their own booze, we weren’t real drinkers, none of our new friends attended, and we sat at a table by ourselves; consequently, we didn’t feel too much a part of the evening.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008 (DAY 6) Another lazy day—no way. Today included line dancing lessons, followed by two-mile walk, then a concert by a bluegrass/folk group, the Long Ago Band. This group was funny, played a variety of instruments, and sang pretty good. They perform regularly at Mountain View, AR, and Branson, MO. Back to the line dancing lessons; I promised Kay when we decided to get married, that if she would learn to fly fish, I would learn to dance. She held up her end of the bargain, and it is time to hold up mine. I was the only male in a class of 25 or so women, most having line-danced before. I was also probably the youngest. Our instructor was 75ish, but good. We danced for an hour, and my feet only got tangled a couple hundred times. Many times I would be backward and everyone else forward, or on the wrong side, etc. Talk about a duck out of water. Next line dancing lesson is 2 weeks. Jerry and Doris took Kay to McAllen where she picked up a rental car from Alamo. She ended up with a Chevrolet HHR, which we had wanted to try anyway. We got a good rate of less than $500 for 4 weeks. A cold front came in the afternoon, dropping temperatures into the 50s.

Saturday, January 5, 2008 (DAY 9) We joined our new friends for breakfast in Weslaco; a good restaurant but nothing to write home about. Visiting with the Canadian folks, however, was a treat, as we continue to learn about Canada. It seems that most of the Canadians down here have houses in Canada, a cottage on a Canadian lake, an RV, and a place down here as well. After returning from breakfast, I washed Dunn Gone—a laborious process that took two hours—and she was dirty from the trip down through rain and road debris. Kay went shopping, and didn’t return home until 3:30 PM, a lengthy shopping trip for her. I exercised the generator, turning the air conditioner on for the day, and began working on this journal, considering I had not begun writing anything at all. After a late lunch, I dropped the 5 books by the library, and picked up 4 more. Kay returned from her shopping trip, we walked our one hour, Kay practiced a song for church, we played shuffleboard (and I got beat like a drum), and we settled in for the evening.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 (DAY 5)  I slept to almost 9 AM. After waking, Dunn Gone got a good cleaning, as did our laundry. What a way to start the new year. Next, the peas were prepared by sautéing celery, onion, and bell pepper in bacon grease, and adding the cooked vegetables to the 5 cans of peas Kay bought yesterday. We joined Vicky and Larry, and their neighbor, Lynette, for lunch of ham, potatoes, candied carrots, black-eyed peas, creamed corn, and rolls. We returned home for laundry, and a quiet afternoon and evening, with me finishing the second book of the trip. Larry brought over the largest lemon either of us had ever seen. It was the size of a cantaloupe (see photo). Oh yeah, the Razorback football team got a good licking from the University of Missouri.