After our morning routine of coffee, email, and news, we went out for breakfast at Chocitas Kitchen in Palmview; this is where the Blazing Saddle Sores Bicycle and Breakfast Club rode to and ate on Tuesday morning.  From there, we drove to Walmart for a few items, including monk cloth for Kay’s upcoming Swedish weaving class, but they didn’t have the correct color.

Kay dropped me off at the motorhome, and drove to Don Wes Flea Market in Donna, TX, while I applied a copious amount of insect repellent for a visit to the National Butterfly Center (NBC)—the mosquitoes are really, really bad this year.  There were a couple of different species of butterflies than I had seen on our previous trip, and a few Great Kiskadees, making the 3-mile bicycle ride worthwhile.  We played “playing card” bingo Saturday evening, and once again I lucked out, winning one of the $0.25 rounds, for a total of $17—laundry money for the week!

Age, combined with lots of activities, is taking its toll on our memory.  Neither one of us can remember what we did this day (this is being written on Tuesday, December 11).  We know we ate breakfast (because we do this almost every day), and we are pretty sure at least one of us went to the pool and hot tub (again, we do this almost every day).  We also know it was warm, with highs in the mid-80s.  We did go to the palapa at 4:00 PM to say goodbye to two couple who were leaving for the holidays (one to Nebraska, the other to Winnipeg), and there was a good crowd to say goodbye.  Beyond that, our memory escapes us.  Normally, I will go back and look at photographs which have been catalogued by date, but there were none taken today.  So, until and/or unless we remember, this will be our record for the day!

Anyway, here’s a picture of Kay riding on the bicycle trail bordering our resort.  Note that we NOW wear helmets anytime we ride bicycles.

Today started just like any other day, so we’ll skip the usual. After breakfast Kay and I road bicycles to the National Butterfly Center which is nearby. About one third of the ride was on on a paved bicycle path, and the remainder was on on local, light-traffic roads.  As we walked to the entry, we observed hundreds, if not thousands, of butterflies. We went inside and bought an annual family membership, entitling us to go anytime, and to take a couple of guests if we choose. We stepped back outside and more closely observed the different species of butterflies, taking a few photos along the way. We completed our ride back to Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort and Kay washed a couple loads of dark clothes; we got to try out the new ladder clothesline and it worked great, necessitating that we only use the dryer for one load saving us a whole $1.25.

After lunch and spraying with OFF again for the second time today (the mosquitoes this year are horrible and we have to spray several times a day), I returned to the national butterfly center while Kay went grocery shopping at the HEB superstore. My first stop was at the bird feeding station were I observed Great Kiskadees, Green Jay’s, a couple species of woodpeckers, and other birds which I did not (or could not) identify. Along the paths, there were thousands of butterflies in the native plant beds, and as you can see below, I was able to take a lot of photographs. There was one rare butterfly but I was unable to photograph it as it was flitting around to rapidly.

Now back to Kay and HEB. HEB is a Texas grocery chain, and has really good self-branded foods. There tortilla chips are the best we’ve ever eaten. Kay was still gone when I returned from the butterfly center, so I took a quick swim and soak in the hot tub.

In mid-afternoon the Executive Director of the National Butterfly Center gave a presentation at BPVRV Resort. Her talk was more in generalities, such as origin and mission, but she did have a couple of amateur lepidopterists (people who study butterfliers) in the audience (they live in next door in Retama Village), and they told about their own new, small butterfly garden where they have counted and photographed 100 species of butterflies.  They also told a story about a recent siting of a very rare butterfly, but we had heard the story first hand from our neighbors who were the first to spot it, but didn’t know what it was.  It was a quite interesting and humorous story, and we laughed when they talked about recognizing the siting, and the chain of phone calls back and forth across the nation among amateur and professional lepidopterists and photographers—news travels fast.

As has been said and almost all of our blog entries, at about 4:00 PM most of the neighbors together at the palapa in the center of our circle for social time.  Kay and I really like this and the strong sense of community it engenders.

We’re finally getting into a routine, with coffee, email and newspapers when we wake up, from between 5:00 and 6:00 AM to about 7:30 AM, a light breakfast, and a combination walk around the park/taking the garbage and trash out.  After that, we’re pretty much on our own for the rest of the morning.  I usually do chores, ride the bicycle, work on photos and blogs, etc.  It’s then pool and hot tub time for a couple of hours, then shopping, if necessary.  And then, we meet the neighbors at the palapa for happy hour.
The wifi here has been terrible, and unreliable.  They have a new system, and are still working the bugs out–seems to me they have a long way to go.  A few neighbors and I became so frustrated that we made arrangements to have our own private internet service–of course, the same person owns the cable/internet service that owns Bentsen Palm Village RV Park.  I personally don’t believe there’s any marketing regarding the poor service; and the park’s free wifi will be fine when all the bug get worked out.  Regardless, Kay and I bought our own service, and it will allow us to stay connected, and stream videos.  Consequently, I hung around the motorhome waiting for the installation, and the service guy was prompt and fast.  I had the modem installed in one of the basement compartments where we have access to the outside, and plug-ins, and we hard-wired our router.  We now have our own private network, just like home.

Kay was having a pedicure while all this was going on, and after the installation was completed, I finally dug the camera out and took photos of butterflies along the wall of the Bentsen Palm Village RV Park (rent your space) and Retama Village (buy your space) compound walls.

We finally ran out of groceries, or just about, necessitating a trip to “town”.  Costco and Sam’s Club are located across the street from one another in Pharr, between Mission and McAllen—about a fifteen minute drive for us.  We had been anxious to shop at Costco since last winter as they opened it just a few weeks after we left the RGV to return home.  The Pharr Costco is clean, with wide isles, and lots of good stuff.  We bought some food stuff, including salmon and steak for grilling, fruits, and paper plates and bowls (to minimize dishwashing).  At Sam’s Club, we supplemented the Costco purchases, and noted the differences in the stores.  Sam’s Club was crowded, disorganized, hand an untidy appearance, and the clerks were not the shiniest ornament on the tree, if you know what I mean.  Oh well, at least we have a choice down here.
We skipped the margarita hour, instead visiting with our neighbors in the palapa.
It was just another quiet day in the RGV.

Every Tuesday morning at 8:30 AM, a group of bicyclists from Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort—they call themselves the Blazing Saddle Sores Bicycle Club—ride 3 to 5 miles to a restaurant for breakfast, and return.  The resort (and Bentsen Palm Development as a whole) has over 10 miles of bicycle trails on or adjacent to the property, and the city of Mission has many more, facilitating this weekly breakfast ride.  Kay and I had never ridden with the group before, and I didn’t know quite what to expect this morning when meeting up with the group at the front gate; Kay opted not to go as she is still recovering from the bicycle accident on Sunday.  I may have been the youngest among the 8 men and 5 women riders.  At 8:30 AM the wind is usually not a factor, and the ride was conducted at a comfortable pace—not too fast, and not too slow.  I rode towards the back of the group, with two riders and a tail gunner behind me, as seen in the first photo.  Our ride was about 4.5 miles each way, and we followed the bicycle trails where possible, but did have to ride about 1.5 miles in traffic on the side of the roadway.  Breakfast was at a small Mexican restaurant, and was good and cheap.  My breakfast of eggs and ham, refried beans, tortillas, and coffee was less than $5.00, including a $1.00 tip.  On our return, shown in the photo on the left, the wind had picked up, and made pedaling more difficult, particularly since I had moved towards the front of queue and didn’t have but one person blocking the wind.  It’s not an easy chore taking a picture behind you while riding a 21-speed bicycle along a city highway!  The ride back was a bit more loose, as here was no particular objective except to get back to the RV resort. A good soak in the hot tub and pool afterward sure felt great, and eliminated most aches and pains, though my thigh muscles did tighten up in the afternoon.
The fruit and vegetable truck/trailer came as scheduled at 2:30 PM, and we bought 3 limes (for salsa), a head of cabbage, and 2 pineapples already “peeled” and cored. Kay sang a couple of songs at the jam session followed by a visit to the hairdresser, while I worked on our Christmas newsletter.
As is usual, we met at the palapa for a couple of hours to socialize with the neighbors, and had a pretty quiet rest of the evening.

After our coffee, email, and morning walk, we decorated for Christmas, hanging a wreath on the inside of the front windshield, complete with lights, etc.  We even have a plug in the headliner.  We also ran lighted garland along the bottom of the windshield to complete the look.  Perhaps I can get a night photo!

After a brisk morning walk and a scrambled egg sandwich, I set to work making an RV ladder clothes line and a bicycle stand, both out of PVC.  We saw these being used extensively this past winter here in the RGV, and pulled a similar design off the internet.  We bought the materials at home, and cut the PVC in our shop a couple of days before we left.  The rear of our coach is bathed in sun most of the day, and the ladder clothes line will be quite effective, especially for towels and swimsuits.  And with the wind blowing here, particularly in the afternoons, the bike stand will keep the bicycles upright, without constantly blowing over. Last year it was a chore finding a dry place, out of the wind, to “park” Kay’s bicycle, and oftentimes it would be in the middle of our access to the patio.  We’re anxious to see how this particular design will work as it’s different than most of those used down here.

As usual, we joined in the conversation at the palapa shortly after 4:00 PM.  The mosquitos have been especially bad this year, and we dug out the Thermocells and after about 5 minutes, the area was clear of those pesky insects.

We were invited to breakfast today at Furr’s, and rode with Paul and Lorna, our next door neighbors.  Furr’s formerly was a cafeteria where one would go through the line selecting a salad, meat, sides, bread, and drink, much like Franke’s in central Arkansas.  Recently, however, Furr’s has gone to buffet style service similar to Golden Corral.  Anyway, the food was plentiful and good.  I had salad, scrambled eggs, yogurt, and granola—a buffet is wasted on me right now.

We returned early enough to hand wash the RV and car.  Neither was very dirty, but we wanted clean windows and removal of all the bugs before they baked on in the Texas heat.

After we finished, I headed for the hot tub to offset any aches and pains from the wash job, and Kay remained back at the motorhome for a nap.  After a half hour or so, she was getting on her bicycle to bring me a key to motorhome, and fell flat on her face on the left side.  She busted her eyebrow and had a huge bruise and swelling below the left eye. Fortunately, our neighbors saw the accident and were there to assist—one is a retired fire fighter and another is a retired veterinarian.  They insisted she go to the emergency room.  We quickly drove to the Mission regional medical facility ER. The doctor asked what happened, then asked if she was wearing a helmet.  When she responded negatively, he asked her why and she responded that it messed up her hair. We were really impressed with the quality of medical treatment from top to bottom.  It was thorough and quick, considering the circumstances.  Financial arrangements for payment was their last priority!  Fortunately for us, the hospital is not far from our resort.  After cleaning the wounds, they did a brain scan and Kay does have one!  Seriously, she escaped with no concussions or broken bones.  They glued the eyebrow cut closed, and gave instructions to use an ice bag periodically to keep the swelling down.  Obviously, we spent a quiet evening in the coach. We’ll both wear our bicycle helmets from now on.

This is our first official day at Bentsen Palm Resort RV Park, and the weather is cooperating beautifully, with highs in the mid-80s and lows in the high 60s.  We’re almost back to a normal routine with coffee, email, and the news and weather first thing in the morning.  We went to the clubhouse at 9:00 AM for coffee and pastries (too many points for those of us on Weight Watchers).  The crowd was pretty sparse but some 40 RVs are expected in today.  We kind of like it quiet, but it’s fun when all the spaces are full, too.

Kay made a short trip to the grocery store and ran the car through an automatic carwash to remove most of the towing grease, grind, and dirt.  Though not totally clean, it sure looked better!

We got to exchange roles today, and welcome new arrivals, particularly those parking in Circle 3.  Otherwise, it was a pretty calm day.

After “palapa time” and dinner, we played card bingo, and I won the very first round—a total of $1.90, whereupon Kay immediately “borrowed” $0.40.  Consequently, I brought home less money than I took!

With today being a long travel day—in fact, it’s the last leg of our trip south for the winter—we awoke early and made preparations to leave. Now that were in the traveling groove again, it was quick work, and we left shortly after 6:00 AM, in the darkness of early morning (the photo shows our site in daylight). We drove southwest to Freeport, then west to Bay City, and further west to Victoria. We then drove south to Riviera, just below Kingsville, then west to Falfurrias (this rural highway takes us by hundreds of sandhill cranes feeding in the rangeland), south to Edinburg, and then to Bentsen Palm Village RV resort in Mission, Texas, our winter destination; we arrived shortly before 3:00 PM.

We checked in, drove to our site, and began the process of setting up. It takes a little longer to set up when you’re going to spend 3 months at the same location, making it as much like home as possible.  We unhooked the tow bar from the car and stowed it, unloaded the bicycles, and unhooked the bicycle carrier from the car, stowing it as well. We laid out the patio rug, the outdoor reclining chairs, gas grill, and assorted outdoor tables, and we even put the satellite dish, the Tailgater, on the roof and out of the way.  This was all needed for great outdoor living, and all the time old friends and acquaintances, mostly from Canada, would stop by to welcome us "home". We were essentially finished setting up by 4:00 PM, happy hour time at our Circle 3 palapa. Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort was designed very well, with 6 circles of RV sites, and sites on the outer edges as well.  We are part of Circle 3, in site 310, and residents of our circle gather at 4 PM each afternoon for happy hour and conversation. We really get to know folks this way, and it’s almost like extended family.

After happy hour, Kay and I immediately headed for the hot tub to get rid of aches and pains from traveling all day—ahhh…

Needless to say, we spent a quiet evening in the air-conditioned motorhome.  Tomorrow will bring another fun-filled day!

Daybreak on Galveston Island was spectacular.  Anticipating a great sunrise, Kay and I dressed for a walk on the beach.  We were not disappointed.  There was just enough atmospheric pollution to create beautiful colors.  And then to top it off, a bunch of shore birds were feeding in the shallow surf.

After a light breakfast, I unloaded the bicycles off the Honda, Bruce and Jeannie accompanied us as we drove into the Galveston historic district for a walking tour.  The seasonally busy harbor area was practically void of tourists.  We walked each street, and Bruce and I generally stayed outside while Kay and Jeannie shopped.  There were some interesting laminated silhouettes in the storefronts, making for some great photos.

Lunch was at one of one of Landry’s restaurants, and it was very good.

Afterward, we drove street after street looking at the beautiful old Victorian houses.  Evidence of Hurricane Ike which struck Galveston on September 13, 2008, was obvious as many of the thousands of trees planted after the catastrophic hurricane of 1900 were damaged or destroyed, mostly by the saltwater storm surge. Residents of this barrier island made lemonade out of lemons, and had visiting sculptors carve over 35 sculptures out of the badly damaged trees and tree trunks. Three sculptors have been at work since late 2009, grinding away with chainsaws and chisels to transform the stumps into dolphins, angels, birds, the Tin Man and Toto, cranes, a toad, a geisha, dogs, and many others. Their work has become one of the island’s most-popular tourist attractions.

We returned to the campground, and Kay and Jeannie went back shopping while Bruce and I stayed behind and rested our eyes.

The remainder of the day was quiet and relaxing, with a cool breeze blowing off the Gulf of Mexico, and the sound of the crashing surf hypnotically erasing winter’s early beginnings back home.