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