Bentsen Palm Village

This was our home park for a month and half. It was the best park we have found. We really missed the beach we had in South Padre Island...but as always there are trade offs. So we have signed up for next year. This place is so in demand that it was sold out on 2/15/07 when it opened it up for reservations. We were able to lock in December only. However last week, there was a cancellation and and we were able to extend thru February 2009.

There is a 5 mile bike path (all pretty much flat) plus the Bentsen Bird Park. A former RV park. Also lots of Canadians.. mostly from Ontario. I bet 80% of the occupants are from Canada. And as we live so close to the border we fit right in. :-)) Greg rode with a bike group into Mexico and toured a school and enjoyed a lunch Mexican style. I didn't go as it was very hot and I just don't do hot.

Greg also went in a kayak on the Rio Grande. He said it was very tiring as the wind made it difficult to get anywhere.

we have once a week breakfast...margarita nights with lots of food...a wonderful doggie park for Logan, being close to the airport and grocery stores... I get to do crafts and line dance... They also have a very strong Wifi ., special fuctions on special days...in summary: it has been a very enjoyable stay.

flight to Houston

On the way up to Houston there were several fires in the valley...here is how they look from 1500ft.

On the return trip we flew down the coast...in the picture you can see the inter-coastal channel and the little fishing shacks lining them.

Saw several oil platforms but they were too far away for a good picture. We had wonderful weather for both day flights. Some how we missed the winds.

We are preparing to pack it up and head for home.

Puppies in Houston

While we were in Houston for Easter with Lynne, we passed a tent where a couple had several schnauzer puppies for sale. We just had to stop and let Logan see them. Greg thought we should have all of them (yea...$650 each)...don' think so...

But they were aborable and thought Logan was just the best playmate.

Easter

We are in Houston with Lynne for Easter.

We flew up in the cheetah, about 3 hours flight time. We stopped in Beeville, Tx to refuel and have lunch. It was a very bumpy trip. We had to climb to 5500 to finally have a smooth ride.

There were several wild fires in the valley and we could smell the smoke for miles. What a difference flying in Texas compared to Washington. Texas is flat, flat...just have to watch out for tall towers and other planes. We had two Navy planes fly by out of the base at Kingsville.



It is cooler here in Houston and very enjoyable.

We are having Easter dinner with Melinda and Lou (Lynne's friends from when they lived in San Antonio) and their daughter,Clara, and family. Clara and Daniela were classmates.



We return to McAllen on Monday, weather permitting.

Back on line

It has been a long and difficult winter. We make it to Lynne's for Thanksgiving in Houston and then flew to Hawaii for Christmas. Unfortunately, Dec 1, my 23 year old granddaughter, Daniela (Lynne's daughter) died in a car accident in San Antonio,Tx.





Lynne joined us in Hawaii Dec. 13th as scheduled. We had a memorial for Daniela and spread her ashes at Anini Beach on the island of Kauai. Lynne had another memorial in Houston on January 13th so the Capano's in Florida could have time to make arrangements.





We returned to Houston in January and Greg had to return to Bellingham to clean out the office and put the space up for lease. We then continued on to the Rio Grande Valley (Mission, TX) to the Bentsen Palm Village RV Park. It is a beautiful park with big spaces, bike trails, doggie park (for Logan) and located next to a State Birding Park.





This has been much different from staying at South Padre Island. It is much hotter...and I mean hotter. We just had a record high of 103. We have been running the air conditioner during the day. After the sun goes down it cools of and is comfortable.





We are having to really watch Logan and the heat....he got overheated one day. We had gone on a bike ride early in the morning. It was cool and cloudy. We were gone longer than expected and it started to really heat up. Logan just sat down and refused to get up. Fortunately we were near another RV park and a wonderful gentlemen stopped and asked if we needed help and after seeing Logan, he said..."You stay here, I'll go get my truck and take you home"





He piled our bikes in the back and drove us home. We were about 5 miles from our park. We were very fortunately that he was so helpful. I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies and gave him a dozen.

That was on Wednesday and on Thursday we had the record 103. It has been in the high 90's since then. I've do the pool in the afternoon, it is standing room only.





We had a great St Patrick's day hamburger feast tonight. About 170 attended. The park is starting to empty out. The majority of the people are from Canada and Midwest. We met only one from Washington and one from Oregon.





We will be departing on April 1. But plan to spend Easter with Lynne.

I'll post more pictures.

Ozark, MO

Oct 26,2007

A classmate, Judy Morrisett, lives in Ozark, Mo. about 20 miles south of Springfield. She is our class agent and had called me when we were in Arizona. She wanted to make sure we were on our way to the reunion. She insisted that we come by and park in their yard and visit a couple of days. We did,,,,,but we stayed 7 days. They plugged in the electricity and we had plenty of water, so it worked great. She and Leroy fed us and showed us around the country and it was a wonderful time. They like to go to the antique shops. Judy has tons of glass and pottery, all antiques. They attend auctions as well as the shops. She tried to teach me what to look for in the glass ware.

She has been volunteering at the County Court house cleaning up the "records" She claims she can't stand unorganization and cleans with toothbrushes. Believe me, its the truth. We got to meet the commissioners and everyone at the court house. They think she walks on water since she has cleaned up the storage area and organized shelves and shelves of books. as well as organized the pages in the books.

She is a wonderful truly southern cook. Greg was treated to wonderful meals that he doesn't get at home. Fried apricot pies, banana bread, cream of chicken soup, biscuits, gravy,cookies,all made from scratch. She loves to make a large pot of soup for any gathering, and she is in high demand.

Leroy was born and raised in Ozark. They love all school sports and attend all the games. For years, Judy has baked cookies for the players. When they go to tournaments, she will bake 4 varieties of cookies and pack 5 gallon buckets for the buses and coaches. She has an award stating she is the "Cookie Mom" of Ozark high school.

They have one daughter, one son, and two grand children. Judy's father and her siblings all attended the School of the Ozarks. She has not missed a reunion and served on the anumni board and any other position that supports the school, excuse me, college now.

We toured several housing developments from Ozark to Branson. Beautiful homes, large lots, mostly rock or brick, out a bit and curvy roads on the side of the hills, not a good scene in the winter.

We tried to harvest black walnuts, but an early freeze had killed them. So, be aware, walnuts will be hard to get.

Every evening, Judy and I would knit our dishcloths. We would laugh and say, "who would have thought 52 years ago, we would be visiting and knitting dishcloths.

Greg commented that we were in the Bible Belt. Which is true. But also, Bass Pro country. The headquarters of Bass Pro is in Springfield. We spend an afternoon there. If they don't have what you want, you don't need it. They have a large museum of animals and fish. All through the store there is stuffed animals, birds, aquariums and actual streams with ducks and fish. This is truly a hunter and fisher's Paradise.

We had one meal out, at a Mexican restaurant, one of the best we found.

Tulsa,OK

Oct 23-24, 2007

We arrived in Tulsa and visited a friend, Mary Golden. Here she is trying to get Logan to be calm. He does not like to be left along and he is very excited when we return. This is the only picture I got while we were there. :-((.

She joined us at the casino for "senior days". You play $20.00 in slots and they will give you back $10.00 and a voucher (3.00) for breakfast ( A biscuit sandwich with bacon and egg.) That costs $2.50. Mary wanted to know what she could get for .50. Her choice was a donut. For $3.50 you could get a biscuit and gravy, but who was going to spend another .50.

When we arrive and park at a casino, we always notify the security or front desk that we will be spending the night. This was a new casino and even though they were "in the book" apparently, it was not common for RVs to park in the parking lot. They had to see my book and after about 15 minutes, they said it was OK. I chit chatted with the manager and as I left, she told the cashier to give Greg and I $10.00 on our players card for slot play. We played the senior days for breakfast for two days. I cashed out with about $30.00 plus two breakfasts. We won't talk about Greg's winnings. He as least got two free biscuits and two donuts AND two free nights parking. What a game...you really have to pick the right machine. I just got lucky.

We later went with Mary to the Gilcrease Museum. Lots of western and Indian artifacts. Also a wonderful restaurant. Mary is 77 and very active in the community and her church. She was taking dancing lessons and bowling lessons. Her husband,Bill has been gone about five years. AND she has attracted an 85 years old widower. It was wonderful to see how excited she was,but wasn't for sure how to handle the relationship. She is use to going when and where she wants to and being very independent. She lived with her daughter and her husband, Lettie and George. OR maybe it's they live with her...I'm not for sure :-) They are school teachers. Lettie and her brothers were students at Shady Grove School when Mom and Dad were there. Both of the brothers were killed in their youth when riding horses.

Before we left Tulsa, we visited with my 1st cousin in Sperry, Mary Todd Jobe. Her mother and my father were brother and sister. She is in ill health and had just gotten out of the hospital. She has unidentified internal bleeding and requires blood transfusions. She and her husband, Preston, live on a farm which one of their three sons now operates. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and I they gave us some frozen pork and pecans. She says her husband thinks we will starve before we get to Texas.