BACK TO UNNORMAL After a quick trip to central Arkansas, Donald returned to the Rio Grande Valley Monday evening. While he was away, Kay got a great lesson in being a minority as she shopped at the outlet mall. Weekends at stores in the RGV are somewhat like it was in rural areas of the South 50 years ago—everyone goes to town—including at least 4 generations. Many South Texans, virtually all Hispanic, come, and many Mexican families cross the border, all to shop at the Outlet Mall, Walmart, and other major stores in the RGV. Kay was unaware of this cultural aspect of the RGV, and many Winter Texans laughed when they found that she ventured out on the weekend. It’s safe enough, just really crowded. Kay asked one of the security guards at the mall if this was an unusual crowd, and he said “no”. She remarked to Donald, that it was like a crowd at Christmas back home. After the weekend, Kay had a busy Monday doing Excel homework, practicing for the choir, lunch, more Excel homework, pancake supper, and picking Donald up at the Harlingen airport. We received a great email from our neighbor, Charlie Duvall, in which he reminded us that life is much better when you realize there is no such thing as normal. That’s one of the best philosophical statements we’ve heard in many years, and it definitely applies to us. So, after a hectic week and a half, we’re back to unnormal, which to us is normal! Hehehe!

THE WEEK THAT WAS This week was supposed to be a tough one for Donald as he wraps up a major report; he purposefully didn’t schedule any activities this week as a result. Then, the information he needed only partially dribbled in, pretty much ruining his week, and forcing him to leave next week unscheduled as well—just part of being a part-time consultant. We definitely have to make other arrangements for future travel. After we realized Donald would not be working all week, we met some new acquaintances from Northwest Arkansas at Logan’s for dinner Tuesday evening. They, too, are wintering in the RGV. We met them at an RV.net gathering a couple of weeks ago. Wednesday was an off day, but we made up for it on Thursday with a brief shopping trip to the Outlet Mall, an “ice cream and cake” going-away party for some neighbors followed by choir practice, followed by a patio party at the Worthams. Larry is getting to be quite the ‘smoker’. Late Thursday afternoon Donald received some of the data he needed, so he worked most all night, and then Friday as well, finishing in time to spend a couple of hours at the hot tub and pool. Luby’s Restaurant features a 50% discount on their “LuAnn” meal on Friday and Saturday evenings the month of February, so we ate dinner there on Friday evening for $8.66; we are really learning to adapt to this senior lifestyle.

After returning to Pine to Palm Park for our evening walk, we discovered a music jam at the end of the street, so we grabbed our lawn chairs and listened to some pretty bad music for an hour or so.  Kay, however, brightened up the place with a rendition of “Tom Dooley”, even though the accompaniment left lots to be desired. Saturday, we celebrated Valentine’s Day by touring the RGV and having a late lunch at Macaroni Grill. The park had a “Peel ‘Em and Eat ‘Em” Shrimp Dinner Saturday afternoon, but we got “To Go” plates and spent a couple of hours at the pool. Sunday was cool for us, with temps near 70 degrees. It had been in the high 80s the last few days of the week. It was a pretty typical Sunday with church, lunch, and a quiet afternoon.

COCOON As you have read, we are spending considerable time at the pool and hot tub. Since this is a 55+ park, we’re all overweight, most of the men are gray and balding, and the women sag in the wrong places; that is to say, we all look alike. So, no one is too embarrassed to be seen at the pool, and it is packed day in, day out. One afternoon after watching so many “old” people sunning and swimming, we both began laughing and related as to how we were experiencing the “cocoon” phenomenon. And there might be something to it, if folks who winter down here live 5 to 10 years longer. Now, just about every time we go to the pool, we think about the movie, Cocoon. See my long blond hair!

THANK GOODNESS FOR GREAT NEIGHBORS As you read from last week’s journal, we departed the RGV, January 30, driving 16 hours straight through to tend to ice storm impacts at our house near Mountain Home. Our wonderful neighbor and friend, Wayne, kept the home fires burning, or better yet, kept the generators running, so that we didn’t lose any food. Wayne loaned us a generator which we used to keep the food cool/frozen, and light and warm the upstairs to a very comfortable temperature. We supplemented his generator with a smaller one we bought in Marshall, TX, enroute home. After a couple of days, we were able to streamline our situation with no electricity, and even listened to the radio for news and music. Our air card worked great and the broadband router worked off of generator power, giving us internet capability. Finally, our electricity was restored Tuesday at 8:30 AM. We immediately turned on the well, heater, and hot water. While these were becoming operational, we began emptying water containers, rolling up extension cords, returning borrowed generators, getting our generator ready for storage, and Donald managed to get a much needed haircut. We were both able to take hot showers, and wash and dry several loads of clothes. Kay cleaned the house and made preparations for our return to the warm RGV. We continue to thank our good friend, Wayne, for all he did for us. As an aside, he kept his home “fires” burning, and assisted 4 other neighbors. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a jack of all trades!

RETURNING TO THE RGV We departed for the RGV Wednesday AM after Kay finished an internet-based course test which had been postponed because of the ice storm. She has to take the test on the day it is scheduled, within a 24-hour window. This particular test was on Microsoft PowerPoint, and the questions were a bit cheesy—like differentiating between “poly” and “multi”. We’re not sure what that has to do with PowerPoint, but…oh well. We had terrible traffic between Mountain View and Clinton, AR, getting behind a log truck the entire way. Then, we were stopped dead still south of Benton in I-30 for a full 45 minutes due to an accident between 2 semis. After the delays, we opted to stop for the night at Schulenburg, TX, and arrived there at 8:00 PM, leaving us a 4-hour drive Thursday AM. We arrived at Weslaco around noon, had a quick lunch, and hurried to the hot tub for some soothing water on our weary muscles. Donald hurt his back cranking a generator, and could hardly move Tuesday and Wednesday. The hot water worked miracles. After the hot tub, swimming pool, and some sun, we practiced with the “choir” for the park’s gospel jam in a few weeks. Friday morning saw us returning to normal, with Larry Wortham and Donald competing in a fun shuffleboard match. Though they lost, Donald made much better strategic decisions. After the match, Donald worked on a consulting project with a very tight deadline.

HAVING TO SAY GOODBYE, AGAIN After we thought our lives had returned to normal, Donald’s daughter called to report that her grandmother, Bernice Witt, had passed away in Arkansas (NLR). Donald flew out on Sunday morning and will return to the RGV Monday evening. This was the second consecutive Sunday we were supposed to sing at church, and the second consecutive Monday Donald was to have flipped pancakes at the weekly pancake supper. So when does life return to normal?

ALMOST ANOTHER GREAT WEEK Monday was a great day, beginning with a “Tourist Council” meeting which I managed to miss (too much like work), followed by the Spring Choral practice. We attended an RV.net gathering for winter Texans; RV.net is a web forum for RVers, and the gathering was an opportunity to put faces with names and “handles”. We departed early to pick up a new CPAP machine in McAllen, followed by an early dinner at Red Lobster; we don’t get to eat at Red Lobster often, so this was a treat for us. Tuesday was a great day, and we got in our 2-hour dance lesson. With highs in the mid-80s, it was also great pool weather. We had a patio party at Larry and Vickie Wortham’s Tuesday evening featuring smoked pork shoulder, cooked by Larry. It was great, and the other folks who attended brought wonderful side dishes. (We’ll come back to Tuesday in the paragraph below). Wednesday was a quiet day, our church choir practiced on Thursday afternoon, and I lost really bad in a shuffleboard match Friday morning. Now, returning to Tuesday evening.

BAD NEW FROM HOME Tuesday was a wonderful RGV day. However, we got bad news from home Tuesday evening—an ice storm centered over Baxter County, Arkansas, Monday evening and Tuesday, dropping as much as 3 inches of ice. We lost power at our house on Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM, but our wonderful neighbor and friend, Wayne Bodenhamer, moved one of his generators to our house and kept the 2 refrigerator/freezers and chest freezer “charged”, saving us lots of money and time. Additionally, he was taking care of 3 other neighbors. What an unsung hero! Also, Barry Block from our quartet came down from Mountain Home despite bad road conditions, and checked on our place. Typically, our neighborhood maintains power in disasters, and we had plenty of them last year, with only a brief loss of power. However, each day we talked to Wayne, things continued to worsen. Finally, we could no longer allow him to carry our burden while we were having fun and left for home on Friday afternoon, leaving DunnGone in the RGV, driving 16 hours straight through, stopping only for gasoline and some emergency supplies at Marshall, TX. We were able to purchase a small generator there as well as propane cylinders and Coleman fuel. We arrived home at 6 AM, and immediately crawled into a cold bed. After three hours of sleep, we awoke Saturday morning, drove into Mountain Home, and purchased gasoline to run the generators. Since that time, we’ve been maintaining generators; Kay consolidated food into one refrigerator/freezer and chest freezer, and trying to heat the house for more expected cold weather this coming week. We did manage to attend dinner with some friends, hosted by Ray Minardi, and celebrated Carolyn Todd’s 70th birthday; way to go, girl! We were both able to shower today (Sunday), thanks to a solar shower we use for wilderness camping. We plan to depart again for the RGV as soon as the power comes back up. Kay has done yeoman’s work in getting us ready to depart the RGV and taking care of household chores at home. We have great internet service, relying on an air card and a wireless router hooked up to the generator. We have to be careful, though to maintain battery power in our computers since charging them is more of a chore than one would guess. Anyway, that’s how our week went. How about yours?

NICE, VERY NICE—THE WEEK IN REVIW We had really great weather this week, with highs in the 70s and 80s, lows in the 40s and 50s—great for daytime activities and for sleeping. And next week’s weather is supposed to be a mirror image. This is why we’re in the Rio Grande Valley. Monday saw the weekly “Tourist Council” meeting, choir practice, and pancake supper, followed by shuffleboard. Tuesday was a quiet day before and after our dance class. On Wednesday, Donald cleaned DunnGone while Kay began her online course from Arkansas State University at Mountain Home. This Microsoft Office systems course is going to be time-consuming, but very good. At mid-day, we made our first trip to Mexico where we lunched at Arturo’s, and enjoyed both a pedicure and manicure. We also received the first package of mail from home, thanks to our great friends and good neighbors, the Bodenhamers. Thursday was our first day at the swimming pool. With our weather, it is nigh impossible to ignore the pool, and though it is heated, it is not too hot. Thursday afternoon was the weekly church choir practice. After a quick change of clothes, we were off to Snow to Sun RV Resort to see a comedic duo from Canada perform their act. Early Friday morning we had our weekly shuffleboard match with the resort next door. Thanks to Larry Wortham, Donald’s partner, they won their match while Kay did some necessary grocery shopping. With fresh tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, and peppers, Donald made some wonderful salsa, Mexican rice, and fajita chicken. After more homework for Kay, we were off to the pool for some rest and relaxation, and it was so nice. Kay returned to Mexico on Saturday to help with the childrens’ church, and we spent another afternoon at the pool. While in the hot tub, a north wind suddenly developed, dropping temps a few degrees. Saturday evening found us at the annual Pine to Palm Resort Spaghetti Supper; because it was card night, the dinner was a speedy affair, though the food was very good. Sunday, it was off to church, lunch at Luby’s, with an afternoon of Wal-Mart shopping (Kay got a brand new bicycle), shuffleboard, and reading. Maybe next week, our activities will slow down.

SAND BURRS AND TEXAS SNOW Two things we forgot to mention last year were the presence of sand burrs in the grass lawns at Pine to Palm Resort Park and Texas snow falling on everything in sight. First, the sand burrs; we rediscovered these as we were setting the leveling blocks under DunnGone when we first arrived, and again when we emptied the black and gray tanks last week. They stick in our bare knees and any other exposed skin that touches the grass. We wear Crocs a lot down here and the sand burrs stick in their soles, then track into the motor home, sticking in the carpet and ultimately in our bare feet. Also, a lot of sugar cane fields are burned and the resulting ash that falls is called Texas snow. Consequently, when you walk the streets, you pick up the black ash on your shoes, and track it into your place of residence. We learned early last year, by observing other residents, to take off our shoes at the door. This also serves to keep the sand burrs out. Because of the dry climate, we actually keep our sneakers outside under DunnGone and near the entrance.

IT’S COLD IN SOUTH TEXAS Guess the north arctic winds followed us down, because the week started out rather cool by South Texas standards, with highs in the 50s and lows in the low 40s. Fortunately for us, the cool weather abated about mid-week, and temps returned more to normal, with lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s.

WE’RE GETTING TOO BUSY AGAIN Both of us had forgotten how busy one can be down here. Our Monday AM started with a “Tourist” Club meeting, which is a meeting summarizing upcoming activities for the week. This was followed by choir rehearsal. This is the choir that will perform at the annual spring show in March. Free time Monday afternoon allowed us to do some much needed shopping (yeah, right) at the Outlet Mall for Crocs; at the fruit market for fresh pineapple, oranges, and peppers; and the hardware store in Mercedes for a shuffleboard stick—you know, all the necessities. Then, it was back to the park for the weekly Monday evening pancake supper, followed by shuffleboard. And it’s only Monday! The rest of the week found us cleaning DunnGone, washing the Saturn, and washing clothes; Kay doing some hard core shopping with Karyn who is down for business (as a government employee, she works about 12 hours a day, getting paid for 8), reading (Kay finishing The Shack, one of her best reads ever, and Donald reading 4 westerns), renewing our Texas 2-step dance lessons on Tuesday afternoon (we hadn’t forgotten everything, didn’t try anything fancy, and were more tired than we remembered from last year), church choir practice, a friendly shuffleboard tournament with the park next door, dinner and a movie on Friday evening, a quiet day on Saturday, and church, homework for Kay, and our January street party, all on Sunday. The street party deserves some additional mention. The theme was Robbie Burns Birthday, celebrating famous poet and song writer Robert Burns. The party began with a short quiz about Robert Burns’ life, followed by saying of a Scottish grace. We ate traditional Scottish food, mince and tatties, which is sort of a ground beef cooked au jus with green peas served over mashed potatoes. Both lad and lassie toasts were offered, and a somewhat naughty Scottish song was sung. All residents of our street were present except for one. After the street party, Kay attended a concert in the main hall. WOW, we can rest until 9 AM tomorrow, Monday, only 12 hours away!

SNOWBIRD SUBCULTURE The snowbird subculture still amazes us. There are a couple of hundred parks like ours in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), and our park has about 1,000 residents. Ours is a gated community where most people walk or ride bicycles for their most basic needs, everyone is friendly, and you know your neighbors, as well as many others in your “park city”. Activities are too numerous to mention, let alone in which to participate, and almost everyone volunteers to help or do what’s needed to be done; the one thing you don’t hear is, “We’ve already served and done our part, and it’s our time to rest.” Everyone participates in some form or fashion. Also, almost everyone is internet and email savvy, communicating with folks back home. About 65% of our park residents are from Canada, and most of those from Manitoba. A vast majority of the residents were farmers in Canada, Iowa, and other midwestern states. They seem to have brought the farm culture to us.

THE TRIP DOWN, 2009 WOW! Can you believe this is our second year to winter in the RGV. We departed home on Friday AM with a temperature of 25 degrees, driving all the way to just south of Oakwood, TX, where we stayed at the Buffalo RV Park. This was an austere park with only electric and water (EW), but we really only needed electric, and were just staying for the evening. It was T-shirt weather when we arrived, but sweatshirt weather when we left on Saturday AM. We drove the final leg of the trip with a strong tailwind from the north, and accompanying cooler temps, arriving at Pine to Palm Resort at 3:30 PM.

GETTING BACK IN THE WINTER TEXAN CULTURE After a hasty set-up, we headed immediately to the hot tub to soak out travel kinks, followed by a TexMex meal at one of our favorite restaurants, courtesy of Vicky and Larry Wortham. Kay was asked to sing at Pine to Palm church the following morning, so we retrieved the CD containing the soundtrack. After a good night’s sleep, we arrived at church to a very warm welcome, after which we had lunch with friends. The early afternoon was spent finishing organizing DunnGone, and traveling to near the border to view the BORDER FENCE, being project managed by none other than Karyn, Kay’s daughter

LONG DRIVE Despite sleeping late, for us, we got on the road by 8 AM. The big question of the day was whether to drive straight home or stop for the night. We opted to drive until we got tired. As we got up to road speed, a crosswind of 25 mph, gusting to 35 mph, blasted us all the way to the Arkansas state line. Driving through the Arkansas, we concluded Ad driving, reaching home at 8:45 PM.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM It frosted last night! With much anticipation, we were off to Kay’s birthplace, Roswell, NM. She was antsy with anticipation, with high expectations of getting picked up by alien spacecraft for her journey from which her ancestors came. First though, we drove through Albuquerque and witnessed hundreds of hot air balloons flying; this is the time of year for their annual balloon festival.

DEPARTING GRAND CANYON Arizona does not recognize Daylight Savings Time, so we’re 2 hours behind time in Arkansas. Consequently, we are still waking early, and this morning was no exception. We discussed what else there was to do in Grand Canyon within our physical capabilities, and concluded that we had done all we set out to do, except buy souvenirs. Kay took off to do last minute shopping while Donald readied DunnGone for the journey home. Unfortunately, we forgot about the time change and the stores were closed. After waiting some time, she headed back out, returned shortly, and we were headed home at 8:30 AM Arizona time.

ACOMA, NM A 7-hour drive led us to Acoma, NM, site of the Acoma Pueblo, longest continuously inhabited city in North America. Our original plan was to overnight at Blue Water State Park near the continental divide, but we saw wonderful billboards advertising a casino resort with great RV parking. We checked in, and it was really nice, designed perfectly. Regrettably, the spa and swimming pool were out of order, and the shuttle was not very prompt. Following their buffet, we signed up for the "free" slot machine pulls, Kay played enough to pay for dinner with what remained of the "free" money, and promptly lost $10 of her money. Tomorrow we’re off to Roswell, Kay’s "birthplace"; it’s entirely possible she will be beamed up and Donald will return home alone!

SUNRISE After a night with temps in the low 30s, we awoke early to see the sun rise over the Grand Canyon. The ranger giving the interpretive program the night before recommended Yaki Point for viewing the sun rise. We drove the car to a parking area, then walked, and walked, and walked! Finally, after about 3 miles, we found the site, and the sun was already up. A robust discussion ensued about the seven Ps (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance). Anyway, we made it back to the car with Donald suffering only 2 blisters, one on each foot.

RIM TRAIL Following a big breakfast, we walked the remaining west end of the Rim Trail, adding another 2 miles to our already stiff muscles, but saw some beautiful scenery. Included in the walk was a short jaunt down Bright Angel Trail to observe some pictographs and petrogliphs. Some of the edge was a sheer drop, but Kay made it okay, hugging the wall side.

DRIVE TO DESERT VIEW Driving in, we passed several view points on the eastern edge of the park, and decided to drive back there, some 27 miles, and take a look this afternoon. We drove almost all the way to the East Entrance to Desert View and noted the spectacular landscape from up in the Grand Canyon. From there one can see the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon.

On the way back "down" to our campsite, we were stopped by a number of elk crossing in front of us.

HIKER OVER THE EDGE The sirens we heard yesterday was in fact related to a hiker going over the edge. A 47-year old man from Prescott, AZ, apparently fell off the edge at Desert View, just as one enters the park from the east. He fell 250 feet to his death. It’s amazing that more people don’t fall. We watched dozens upon dozens of folks, many in flip flops, standing on the very edge, with nothing below for several hundred feet. And the pushing and shoving to get a good view…

SUNSET Kay wanted to view sunset over Grand Canyon, just as she wanted to see the sunrise (remember the 7 P’s). Yavapai Observation Station was recommended and it must have been the place, because everyone else was there as well. The sunset was not that special in and of itself, but the colors and shadows cast on the east wall were spectacular. We returned to DunnGone for a brief rest, we drove to Shrine of the Ages for the evening interpretive program, Stories of Phantom Ranch.The ranger did a great job mixing humor with history.