Sunday began with church and a sermon on Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Talents.  And then, we had a delightful time playing golf with Dale and Donna Short.  Dale and Donna are from Louisville, KY, and have been Winter Texans at BPVRV Resort for 10 years.  Our golf scores are similar, and it was fun playing with another couple.  We joined them at Shary Municipal Golf Course in playing couples’ best ball, and it really helped Kay maintain energy levels.  Hopefully, we can do it again real soon.  Either the water fill valve or a check valve in the new potable water pump has gone bad as the potable water tank is overflowing; consequently, we cannot be hooked up to “city” water and have to use the pump and potable water tank.  After golf, I took the water fill valve out—no easy task—but had to reinstall it for the pump to work.  It appears that either a new valve will have to be installed or the old one rebuilt.  Almost constant maintenance work and repairs is one of the downsides of RVing, but probably no different than the constant work needed to maintain a house!

Another cold front on Monday and Tuesday prevented, or at least minimized, outdoor activities, and we were caught up on bill paying, check balancing, and other financial chores.  Also, I’ve not taken a lot of photographs because of weather and health concerns, so no work to do in that regard either.  Kay lead exercise Monday morning while I hung out in the RV.  We visited Paul and Lorna Graham, next door neighbors, Tuesday evening to view scrapbooks of their trip to the Galapagos Islands this past July.  They really enjoyed the trip, but it’s a pretty desolate place.  Jim Passe sent a photo of footings being placed, via a concrete pump truck, for the Hot Springs Village house; it’s hard to not get excited!  We are so grateful to he and Ginny for the photos. 

A return to “normal” weather for the RGV sent Al, Fred, Vance and me to Meadow Creek to play golf Wednesday morning.  Meadow Creek is nearby, and is only in fair condition.  Nevertheless, we all had fun, and even though it was Vance’s first time out in about 10 years, he had the most fun of all.  An abbreviated margarita hour, from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM, was okay, but lacked the energy from previous years.

We just hung out on Thursday, but were very busy making, or at least assessing needed repairs to the generator, and unsuccessfully trying to find a replacement city water/fill valve.  After talking to former neighbor Wayne, I isolated the generator problem to a broken cable connection to the positive terminal.  It is a huge wire, perhaps a #2.  note the sheared cable eye near the “B+” terminal in the photo.  I’m hoping Wayne will assist in the repairs when he and Loretta visit the RGV in January.  We, along with fourteen others from BPVRV Resort, did enjoy a great evening of music by the McAllen Symphony, McAllen Chorale, and that UT Pan-American mariachi band, all excellent!  These groups all draw from the greater metropolitan area, perhaps 1 million people, and UT Pan-American.

Al and I played golf Friday at Los Lagos Golf Course in Edinburg, TX, some 20 minutes north.  It is a links-type golf course, and in combination with light rain the first few holes, proved difficult.  However, it was the best course I’ve played in the RGV, with greens fees and cart priced at only $32.  In the afternoon and early evening, Kay and I helped serve Thanksgiving dinner (Dinner with Friends) to some 200 people at the First United Methodist Church in Mission, many of whom were homeless.  It was a rewarding experience and provided an opportunity for us to get to know a few folks in the church just a little bit better.

We had good intentions to run a lot of errands Saturday, but after shopping for an hour or so, we decided to return to the resort for happy hour and bridge with Al and Sharon.

Hot Springs Village house construction this week included excavation of and pumping concrete for the footings, and laying concrete blocks towards completing the foundation.  Photos are courtesy of Jim Passe and Al Vekovius.