If You're Down in Acuna...

Well, it is time for another update.  Time is still flying by!  ZZ Top fans may recognize the title of this post.:)

Wednesday December 15:  Wednesday started out with the community breakfast in the rec room.  A couple of the guys and their wives do the planing and cooking.  The ham, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and grits are prepared ahead of time, but the eggs and pancakes are prepared to order.  It was a good system, and all you can eat for $4.00 is a good bargain.  The conversation and the friendship are a bonus.

After breakfast Ann went to work, but I stayed around for more coffee and conversation with breakfast club.  I dont think they had as many people for breakfast as they thought they might, but a few from the other RV parks in the area did show up. 

The rest of Wednesday spent just hanging out and enjoying the nice weather.  I did make time in the afternoon to empty the black and gray tanks on the motorhome, a job I do about every 5 or 6 days.


Thursday December 16:  Thursday was just another routine day, and by the time Ann finished with her work, we were ready to get out and do something, so we decided to go out for dinner, which lead to some internet research for eating places in the area.  We settled on a place down the road a couple of miles called Cripple Creek.  It looked good enough for us.

There is an outdoor bar area that probably gets more use when the weather is a little warmer.  I had the baby back ribs off the senior menu, while Ann had the salmon.  Both came with baked potato, and salad.  My ribs were excellent, but Ann's fish was over cooked, but still edible.  All in all it was ok, however, a little over priced in our opinion.

After finishing dinner, and heading home we decided to stop at a place recommended by the campground managers called  Lorina's Cantina.  It was a nice sized bar with a karaoke set up, with a nice sized dance floor.  When we asked if there was going to be karaoke tonight she said yes, and it would start about 8:00PM, so we decided to stay, as Ann loves doing karaoke.  Well, 8:00 came and went, but still no karaoke, so we asked another server, she said the guy should be here any minute, so we waited, and finally a little after 9:00 he showed up and promptly started singing.  Ann finally asked our server how things worked here, and she explained you have to put your name on the white board, and you sing in the order you sign up.  After a couple more songs by the host, Ann got to sing.  The rest of the evening was spent with mostly Ann and the host taking turns singing, with a couple of other girls in between.  One of the other girls sang a song in Spanish, the first time either of us had seen that.

It was a fun evening, and went on a little longer than we usually do during the week, but were both up at usual time on Friday.

Friday December 17:  Friday was another yawner.  The only interesting part of the day was my morning coffee.  It is so much fun to discuss the issues of the day with so many guys that have views that are diametrically opposed to mine.  We disagree vehemently, but at the end of the day we laugh and joke about our differences.  I doubt I change any minds, but they do get the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective, and that all people who have a different perspective of the world are not wacko tree huggers.

Tonight was "hot dog" night in the rec room with the campground providing the hot dogs, and fixings, but Ann decided to take a nap after work, and didnt wake up till 6:00PM, so we just went into Del Rio and had dinner at Church's Chicken.  The chicken was pretty good, but the place was filthy, and I doubt we will go back.  There is no acceptable reason a restaurant should be this messy, even if it was the busy time of the day!

After returning home from dinner, we watched one of the movies I had got for Ann for her birthday, in anticipation of our winter travels, and spending evenings in the motorhome.  I am not a big fan of movies, but one every now and them is tolerable. We watched "Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman, and Jack Nicholson.  It was a nice way to spend a relaxing evening, except we didnt have any theater popcorn.  :(


Saturday December 18:  During a couple of our morning "coffee discussions" the topic of going to Mexico came up, and the guys that have been there, gave us some tips and information on what to expect if you go there.  So on Saturday we decided to go down to Acuna which is just a couple miles south of Del Rio.  The trip down and getting into Mexico was pretty easy, and we just kept heading south and in a couple of blocks we spotted a parking lot and pulled in.  The guy running the lot directed us to a parking spot, recorded info on our car and wrote down the time.  As we were hungry, we looked for a restaurant that is advertised in the campground brochure called Crosby's.  We got directions from one of the locals, and we tipped him 50 cents.  The streets and sidewalks are very narrow, with unannounced dips, so you have to be careful walking, and watching at the same time.  There also, was lots of sidewalk and street construction that wasnt marked off in any way.  OSHA would have a grand time down here!

We found Crosby's and entered through the bar.  It was apparent that though it looked pretty out dated, it had been a real hot spot at one time as the mirror behind the bar was covered with stickers from several colleges, fraternities, and bars. sorry, we didnt get a pic of it.  We were each given a menu, one with prices in pesos, and the other with prices in US dollars.  Ann had the Portuguese chicken, and I had the Mexican plate.  The chicken was tasty, but a little dry, the Mexican plate was pretty much as expected and good.
We both had Coke; mine was regular, and Ann's was diet.  As you can see they were served in bottles, and not cans.  I cant remember the last time I had a bottle of Coke.

The town itself didnt seem to inviting, so we decided just to head back across the border.  Here is a pic of us approaching the US border.

It took us about twenty minutes to get back into the US, the border guards are very meticulous, and dont seem to be bothered by the long lines.  We were asked where we were from, why did we go to Mexico, what we did there, where were we staying, and did we pull the car behind the motorhome.  The drug dog had already sniffed around our car, and there was a guy with a mirror on a handle that looked under cars, but our border guard, double checked our car, and then inspected the trunk before letting us back in the US.  I guess it is just there job, and do it to everyone, as not be be accused of "profiling".

After coming back across, our next stop was the Whitehead Museum in old Del Rio.  We had heard about it from one the guys at morning coffee.  It has a ton of history of the area, way more than anyone can absorb in an afternoon.

We did get several pictures including some scenes of the area as it developed especially as it related to Judge Roy Bean, who is buried on the museum grounds. With each of the scenes there was a prerecorded message that you could play that would explain the scene.

Here are the headstones of Roy Bean and his son.

Another important part of Del Rio's history is that of radio station XREF, which was a 50,000 watt clear channel radio station.  Here is some pics of radio equipment from the 40's and also a pic of Wolfman Jack, who got his start in radio in Del Rio.

There were tons more to see at the museum including some displays of the native indians of the area, old farm implements, and beautiful nativity scene, all of which I forgot to takes pics of.  All in all we spent about two and half hours there.  Very interesting stuff!  If you are interested in seeing more of the museum look here:
Whitehead Museum

Then it was home for some rest, and then back to town for a nice dinner at the local Applebee's.  Then it was back home again to get ready to go back to Lorina's Cantina for more Karaoke.  This time there were lots of singers, and some pretty good ones at that, so Ann only got to sing three songs before it was time to call it a day.

 Everyone seemed to really appreciate Ann's singing talent, which she always enjoys!  Another late night, but we have Sunday to recoup.  :)

 Sunday December 19:  Today started out with another breakfast in the rec center.  As usual it was good food and plenty of it, we even brought home some extra ham to have this week.  Another great weather day here, sunny and about 70.  wooooooo hooooooo

This afternoon I watched some football and Ann got caught up her Facebook games before taking her bike on the new car bike rack she bought the other day, to a safer place to ride her bike than on the busy highway that goes by the campground.  She enjoys biking much more than walking or jogging as it is easier on her heels.

The sun is setting and Ann is talking to her Mom and step-dad Paul as I finish  another blog update.  For dinner we are going to have deer steaks(thanks to Ali), baked potatoes, along with macaroni and cheese, and lima beans.  While cooking the deer steaks, I took a couple of pics of the almost full moon as well.

Also, just got a nice phone call from my daughter, son-in-law, and two of the three grand kids(the other is sick with strep), a great way to wind down the day.  :)


Hope everything is well with those that read the blog.

Paul

Tuesday is so Slow

After our fun day in San Antonio on Saturday, things have quieted down, and routines have pretty much taken over again.  Routines in 60 70 degree weather are not all that bad.

Sunday December 12:  Most of Sunday was spent recuperating from our long Saturday.  Ann caught up one her Facebook games, and I caught up on my favorite websites and favorite blogs.  In the afternoon I watched some football.  I guess I am not just as interested in pro football as I once was, but then again it does take much to entertain me anymore.  Later in the afternoon we went into Del Rio to get some groceries, and also a couple of the small propane bottles for our Webber Q-200 grill.  For dinner I grilled some pork chops, and Ann baked some squash in the convection oven.  The evening was spent watching the finale of The Amazing Race, until we decided to go the local DQ.  Ann had a peanut buster parfait, and I had a banana split.  By time we got home, Ann had missed the end of the show, so she had to look up who won on the internet.  The rest of the night was spent in a carb induced stupor.

Monday December 13:  Another routine morning; Ann working and me drinking coffee, exchanging stories with the guys.  In the afternoon I made a trip to the office to see if the mail we had forwarded to us here had arrived yet.  Being Monday, the carries was behind schedule, and hadnt been there yet at 2:00PM when I checked the first time, however, when I went back at 3:00 he had been there and our mail had arrived.  I took the mail back the the rig, and we went through it.  Some good news(checks), and some not so good news(bills), but mostly ads.  After that task was finished, we headed into town to send the checks off to our bank, and buy some Christmas cards, and we also found a five foot string of lights to put on our Christmas tree that we carry with us.  The lights make a nice addition to this tree that I have had for twenty some years.  We have it set up on the dash of the motorhome, and it adds a little Christmas ambiance.

By time we got back from Del Rio it was time for dinner, and Ann made the most delicious chicken-spinach enchiladas anyone could ever wish to taste.  We both over ate and spent the rest of the evening being uncomfortable while playing on the computer and watching Monday Night Football.  I am glad I am not a Vikings fan.  Their future doesnt look all that bright.

Tuesday December 14:  Another slow and routine day with the exception that I went into Del Rio this afternoon to mail some Christmas cards, a birthday card, and a couple other things.  I am really impressed how friendly and diligent the window clerks are knowing how much stress they are under, not only for the Christmas rush, but all additional stress they are under because of the changing conditions in the USPS.

Before going the post office I had gone to Wal*Mart and picked up a few things, then it was over to Home Depot to pick up a replacement hose to be able to use our 20 lb propane cylinder on our Webber gas grill.  The had a few other accessories for the grill, so I got a cover, some more drip pans, and griddle to use with it if we ever might have the need for it.

When I got home Ann was finishing up her work for the day, so I decided to grill some brats, to see if my new hose worked.  Voila! the grill lit on the first try.  So it wasnt long and we had brats and homemade macaroni and cheese.  Ann thought we had some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but alas, we didnt, but we did have elbow macaroni, and Velveta cheese.  Both the brats and macaroni and cheese were delicious.

This evening was spent watching reruns of "Glee", after which Ann decided to do laundry, and I thought I had better update the blog.  Tomorrow there is a breakfast in the  rec center.  I guess it is a pretty big deal and RVers from other RV parks come over to join in the community breakfast.  We shall see, and I will report on the results.

Thus ends another great day!

Paul

Week-End Update

As I posted in Friday post, we were going to go to San Antonio on Saturday, as it is a little over 150 mile drive, we got on the road just a couple of minutes after 8:00AM.



I hope this map thing works.  It is my first time using it.

Our first stop on our journey east was a stop at the Kettle Restaurant in Uvalde, Texas; "Tree City, USA".

Then in was on east to San Antonio.  After a little extra driving we were able to find the Alamo.  Much of it is reconstructed, but historically accurate, and there is lot of information about the history of Texas as well as the Alamo itself.  We spent about two hours touring the area, watching a video history and looking at artifacts of the time.  Photography was not allowed inside the buildings, so no inside pics, but we did take a few of the area, including a couple of Ann in front of the Alamo, to compare to one she had taken their when she was 12, and here with her family several years ago.

Here is one of the different flags that have flown over Texas in it's history.

Here is one of a huge live oak growing in the courtyard behind the Alamo.

The next two pictures are of buildings you can see from the courtyard including, I believe it is the public utilities building with the American and Texas flags flying over it, and the sign on Crockett Hotel which is right across the street.

One of the most interesting parts of the tour was in the building which used to be a barracks.  On one of the information panels describing the history of Texas, it stated that when Texas was a part of Mexico, the Mexican government wanted more people to come and settle the area, even giving Americans real good deals on land to come to Texas.   The plan was such a success, after few years, the Mexican government began to worry that with all the Americans in Texas, who brought their cultural values with then,  would feel more allegiance to the USA, than to Mexico.  I thought that was interesting statement in light of the current  discussion of the problem of unlimited illegal immigration into this country from Mexico.

After our time at the Alamo, we were thirsty and hungry.  We found a restaurant called Pat O'Brien's.  The food, drink, and ambiance were good.

Here is a couple of pics of a fountain of water and fire in the patio of the restaurant.

After being refreshed an rested, we headed to Louis Tussad's wax museum up the street. I'm sure it's related to Madame Tussaud's famous wax museum. It was some what interesting, but nothing great says Paul. Ann enjoyed it more.

We took a few pics including W. C. Fields.  His favorite quote of mine is; "I once survived for two weeks on food and water alone".

Then Ann wanted a pic of her and one of her favorite actors, Johnny Depp.

And then there was our President on the White House lawn.

They had an entire floor dedicated to horror and monsters in the basement. We hadn't made it very far and another lady joined us, who was wanted company walking through the scary exhibits. Her kids were upstairs and she was checking it out before letting them walk through. To find the entrance, you had to open the correct of 8 doors to continue through the exhibit. Opening the 7 other doors treated you to all manner of horrific objects: the Fly, body bags, other aliens, dead people, all scary things that Ann loves in haunted houses. Walking past clear body bags with various stumps was a new experience that Ann plans to take back to her favorite haunted houses in Des Moines. Only one thing jumped out at us, but it was plenty to make Ann scream.

After the tour of the wax museum we toured the Ripley's "Believe it or not Museum".  It had some interesting stuff, but I didn't feel there was anything worth taking pictures of. Robert Ripley was quite the collector, two-headed animals, shrunken heads and lots of exhibits of weird things from around the world.

Then it was time for another break, so we walked down to the River Walk, found the Chili's, and had a couple of cocktails, and relaxed for a while.  The plan was to enjoy a canal cruise observing  Christmas lights. The adventure began to find the place that sold tickets to the barge ride on the river.  We had got directions from a couple of people and they were not too clear, and we were unable to find a place to buy tickets.  We walked quite a ways, and not finding the place we asked again, and finally  found one of the three places that sold tickets, only to find the line was about a block long to buy the tickets, and another block long wait to actually get on the barge.  The line went pretty quickly, and there are dozens of boats operating on the water, and the weather was pretty nice, about 60, and no wind.

The ride itself was quite interesting, there were about 30 people per barge and clearly it was a favorite attraction of the masses. It was about a 40 minute guided tour of the buildings and canals we passed and the history of the river walk. Ann highly recommends the attraction if you're in the area at Christmas time. Being it was dark, however, it was not conducive to getting great pictures, but the Christmas lighting was really nice.  Here is a pic that came out ok.

One of the other pics I got was of a restaurant called Rita's.  Couldn't pass up a chance to take a pic like that.

After our river tour and walk back through the throngs of people either eating at one of the dozens of restaurants on the River Walk, and those, like us, who were just passing through, we got back to the car a little before 8:00PM.  We then got directions for the easiest way out of the area to get on Highway 90 East, to begin our 150 mile drive home.  Once on Highway 90, the drive home was pretty uneventful, not much to see in the dark.  The only concern is the same as in Iowa; how many, if any, deer are going to run out in front of you on the way home.  Fortunately, we didn't see any, and we arrived back in the RV Park just before 11:00PM.

I stayed up for about twenty minutes before heading to bed, Ann stayed up a little longer, thus ending another fun and interesting day in our life as Iowa snowbirds.

We read news stories today of the bad weather in Iowa.  We are glad we are not there, except we miss our friends and families, and hope you are all well.

Until next time,

Paul

How Can Time Go So Fast, When I Do So Little?

Here it is Friday December 10 and I have put off updating the blog too long again.

Monday December 6:  As usual, Ann was up about 6:00 AM.  She likes to get up early and catch up with FaceBook games before she has to face the real world of work, which she does about 7:30 or so.  I usually sleep in a little later than she does.  Ann drinks tea in the morning, so when I get up, I  make a couple of cups of coffee.

At 9:30 each morning here in the campground they have coffee in the rec room.  I usually bring my second cup of the day with me, but the others drink the coffee that is there.  It is 5 or 6 of us guys chatting about almost anything.  Except for the other guy from Iowa, all the rest are rock ribbed Republicans, so the conversation gets pretty interesting, but still civil, at least so far. :)  It is interesting to hear their views based on their back ground and outlook on life.  I doubt I have changed any minds, but at least I have given them a different point of view!

Coffee time breaks up about 11:00, then its back to the coach for lunch, and catching up on my favorite internet sites.  In the afternoon I caught up on my rest while Ann continued working till about 4:30.  By then we were hungry, and Ann decided she wanted to buy a bicycle, so it was off to Del Rio.  Ann found the bike she wanted at Wal*Mart, and then we went to Home Depot to try and find a bike rack that would fit on the ladder on the back  of the motorhome.  They didnt have anything, but they did have some pins I could use on the tie down straps for the car dolly.

Then it was off to find food.  Ann happened to see this sign behind the shopping center, and thought we would try it.  The BBQ was perhaps the best I have ever eaten!  A truely unique place with excellent food.  They even have their own BBQ sauce.  I would recommend anyone who likes BBQ to eat there if they are any where close to Del Rio, Texas.   BTW, they have gas there too, as in gasoline.

Then it was back to the motorhome for a quiet evening of some Monday night Football for me, and FaceBook games for Ann.

Tuesday December 7:

Here is how Tuesday started; a beautiful sunrise over the park.

The rest of the day was just more of the same, which isnt bad sometimes.

Wednesday December 8:  Today started out like Monday, and Tuesday;  Ann working, me enjoying coffee and conversation with the other guys.  In the afternoon I decided to go into town to mail some letters, and a t-shirt we bought for a friend back in  Guthrie Center.  He has a bar, and decorates the ceiling with t-shirts from various bands.  While in Lubbock at the Buddy Holly Museum , I had purchased a t-shirt for his ceiling.  While in Del Rio I stopped at the Wal*mart to pick up a few things we needed, or had forgotten, but I was unable to find onion soup mix, which Ann wanted to make chicken stroganoff for the Thursday evening potluck, and not knowing where the H.E.B. store was, I just headed home to have dinner and then go play bingo with the group.  H.E.B. is a regional chain of grocery stores in the USA and Mexico.

Our plan for dinner was hamburgers on the grill, but it didnt work that way as the small canister of propane for the grill was empty, and the hose I had to connect the grill to a 20 lb cylinder would not work.  I had had trouble with it before, but had eventually got it to work, but not this time, and as time was running late to be able to eat before bingo at 6:30, We went ahead and cooked them in a frying pan on the stove.  They were still delicious!

Then it was off to bingo, we hadnt played bingo forever, probably grade school for me, not sure about Ann.  Wow, have bingo cards changed!  They now have little sliders that you just slide to cover a number when it is called, and just slide a little peg in the middle the other way to clear the card!  Who knew of such modern bingo cards?  The first game was regular bingo, as was the second, then without clearing your cards, we played the third game where you had to fill in other spaces in a pattern.  We did the same thing for games four and five, and the last game was blackout.

Here is my bingo winnings from Wednesday evening.  I won 3 of the 6 games we played!  Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket, or went to the casino instead of wasting my good luck on 25 cent games of bingo!

I did win enough to pay for doing laundry, then it was back to the motorhome to relax and enjoy the internet before we headed off to bed to end another great day in our second year of snowbirding.


Thursday December 9:  Thursday morning started off with the same routine as the rest of the week.  In addition I emptied the black and gray tanks, as they were getting full.  Not the most fun job of RVing, but not so bad, and necessary as well. After Ann finished work for the day, we headed in to town to get some onion mix for the chicken stroganoff she was making for tonight's potluck dinner.  We had to hurry back to get the stroganoff started, as dinner was at 5:00PM.  However, on the way home we did stop for a minute or two for Ann to get these pics of Lake Amistad 

We(Ann) prepared the stroganoff, and we got to the rec room only a couple minutes after 5:00.  Others were still coming, so being a couple minutes late was not a problem.  Someone had prepared Shepard's Pie for the main course, but Ann's stroganoff was a nice substitute for those wanted something else.  Of course there was plenty of delicious sides to go with the main course, including a dish we had never eaten before.  It was bacon, red onions, cranberries, and brussell sprouts.  You would never think a combination like that would be that good, but everyone loved it and wanted the recipe.  There was also some great home baked pies, blueberry cream with graham cracker crust, and coconut cream.  In addition there was a great tasting homemade chocolate cake.  No one went away hungry!

After dinner Ann used my bingo winnings to do laundry, and then returned home to do a pile of dishes that some how had accumulated in the sink.  Thus ended our fourth day here at Lake Amistad.

Friday December 10:  Today started off in the usual fashion except that Ann started to work earlier than normal, but I did my usual routine of having coffee with the boys.  Today the topic was ethanol, and I seemed to be the only one who was a supporter of it, as most of them had horror stories about it.  I have observed that those people who never liked ethanol, have more problems with it, than those who see the value in it.  Then we talked about guns and cars, the same things young men talk about.  Today's session went extra long, as it was almost noon when I returned to the rig.

When I returned, Ann had papers strewn all about the place, and was working away, but stopped and made us a nice chicken, lettuce, carrot, radish, and pepperchino salad for lunch. then it was back to work for her.  Here is a pic I took about 2:00PM as she worked away.

She finished up a little early today, about 4:00, and wanted to go for a ride on her new bike, so I installed the drink holder, and she was off for about an hour's ride.

While Ann was gone, I worked some on the blog, and remembered that one post on her car battery was badly corroded, and needed cleaned, and not replaced as the service writer at the Toyota dealer in Wichita Falls had recommended when I had the oil changed there. The battery did look ugly as the last guy who cleaned it didnt rinse the solution off.

I had intended to place corrosion reducing washers under the posts after cleaning with soda and water, but the nut would not come loose easily, and I was afraid of twisting it off, so I will get some new bolts and nuts before trying it again.

By the time I had done all of this Ann was back from her bike ride, and she started dinner which will be Schwann's Chicken Kiev and broccoli.  I still need to replace the burned out bulb in our outside light before it gets dark.  Ann had to remind me, as I only think of it when I go outside at night.

Hopefully, that catches us up for the week.  Tomorrow we are planning to drive the car to San Antonio and spend the day seeing the The Alamo, and The San Antonio River Walk.

Till the next update.

Paul