Monday 1-30 Sunning in January

I love to sun

This morning we woke up to 44 degrees and in the afternoon it got all the way up to 75 with a beautiful clear sky and lots of sun. Larry and I went for a walk this morning along the Nolan Creek trail. Its a concrete hike and bike trail that connects three parks, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and downtown Belton. We parked at Yettie Polk Park and walked the trail to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, then we turned around and walked to Confederate Park and back to Yettie Polk Park. The trail is 1.26 miles long and runs along Nolan Creek. As we were walking we saw a group of mothers with strollers working out, there was also a little girl feeding ducks and people walking the trail. It was a very beautiful walk. We started out wearing our jackets but when we got back to the car before going to the Confederate Park we took them off.

On top of the Minnie

Scrubbing off the dirt

Removing the spare tire

Cleaning the tires

After lunch we washed the Minnie. Before going to the valley Larry had washed it so it really wasn't that dirty. It took us a couple of hours. Larry started by climbing on the roof. As he was scrubbing the roof he noticed some little black spots and they were difficult to get off, took him awhile. Before washing the back he removed the spare tire. While Larry was washing the Minnie, Flo and I kept him company. I helped him out by wiping the water off. After getting the Minnie all washed Larry cleaned the tires. Then we rinsed out the buckets and bushes before putting everything away.

Brad calling the last tip of the dance

Some of the dancers visiting during the last tip

Our friends having fun dancing to Brad

In the evening we went to Sun City to dance with the Sundancers. We haven't danced with them since November. We really miss dancing with them and their caller Brad Caldwell is a super caller. They had eight squares. The first hour the dance tips were Club 50 and Mainstream calls. The second hour the dance tips were Plus and Mainstream. After the dance Brad called an A tip. The Club 50 tips were the first 50 calls in square dancing. Last year they started teaching the new dancers the first 50 calls. After learning the moves the class was ready to go out and get some floor time. Tonight they tried something new, during the Club 50 tips they work shopped a few of  the mainstream moves. We had a great time dancing with the Sundancers. 

When had a super day.

 

Sunday 1-29 Hiking Pepper Creek Trail

Pepper Creek Trail in Temple

What a spectacular day. It started out cool and only got up the high 60's. We really didn't have anything pressing to do. Larry asked if I wanted to go for a walk. We decided to go to Temple and walk the Pepper Creek Trail. We haven't done much walking on the trails in the area in a long time, we used to frequently walk the local trails and always took Flo along but when she was no longer able to hike we quit going. Our hike started out with a north wind that made it cold but by the end we had removed our jackets. We had a great hike. Larry had read that the City of Temple was adding on to the trail so when we finished the hike we drove around to see what improvement they were doing. The only thing we saw was that Temple had added on a little more concrete to the trail on the other side of Airport Blvd. By the time we got back it was time for lunch so I cooked up some soup for lunch.

Pepper Creek waterfall

Larry waiting for me to finish taking pictures

A statue honoring a donors children

Bridge on Pepper Creek Trail

After lunch Larry worked on a music project. I cleaned the interior of the Minnie and reloaded some items I had removed. Flo kept me company. When we finished our projects we watched a few episodes of the GizWiz that we missed when we were in the valley. We still have a couple more to watch.

In the evening we watched a few shows off of Amazon. The first show was Mr. Church, it starred Eddie Murphy and no, it was not a comedy, it was a drama about an unique friendship between a little girl and her dying mother and a cook that they retained. It was a good movie. The next show was Less Is More: How to Live with Less. It was a documentary about living with the minimum amount of stuff. Not the best documentary bu we enjoyed seeing how people were happier without a lot of stuff by choice. The last show was David Hockney: A Bigger Picture. This was another documentary on an artist David Hockney. It was a very impressive show on he how creates his paintings. We had a very relaxing evening.   

Saturday 1-28 Sun Shiny Day

Sun Shiny Day

It was in the mid 30's this morning and with a wind out of the north it was a bit brisk, the good news was the sun was out. We had a few things that needed done outside but we needed to wait for it to warm up a little so we loaded Flo into the car and headed to town. Belton Lake dam has only one lane open due to construction so it takes a bit longer to get to town. They control the lane with an automatic stop light, they started this while we were in the valley and it seems to work very well, you just have to patient. When coming off of Lake Road you have to be very careful, they have the right turn lane closed so you have to make a very sharp right at the light, not too bad for cars but the other day Larry said it was scary when he was towing the car behind the Minnie. I'm glad he does the driving.

Getting ready to go over the dam

Feeding Dory 4,000 cans

Cantribute to Family Promise 2,487 cans

Mixing It Up to End Hungry 2,492 cans

The Butterfly Effect 2,252 cans

Every year Belton has an event called Canstruction, which raises money to help stop hunger. We love going to this, the money goes to a good cause and the folks who build the displays are very talented. This year was a little disappointing because there were only four teams compared to last year when there were nine teams. We bought five tickets at a dollar each, you use the tickets to vote on the displays. The first display was called Feeding Dory, it was built by the CGI Team using 4,000 cans. The second display was called Contribute to Family Promise built by Meadow Oaks Baptist Church using 2,487 cans. The third display was called Mixing It Up to End Hunger, it was built by the First Methodist Church of Belton using 2,492 cans. The fourth display was called The Butterfly Effect built by the United Methodist Church using 2,252 cans. As we were leaving Larry donated another $5 dollars towards the cause. We didn't have anything else to do in town so we headed back to the house. On the way we were near the Little Bohemian Bakery so I asked Larry to stop and get us a cinnamon roll. It was about 10:30 and they had a sign on the door saying they were about out of rolls. They only bake a limited amount each day and if they run out they close. They are open Tuesday thru Saturday from 6am until 2pm except on Saturday they close at noon. Luckily they had a few cinnamon rolls and a few coconut cream rolls left, Larry bought us a coconut cream roll. They also bake other things and will custom bake whatever someone orders. Their rolls are outstanding!

Finishing up doing laundry

Mowing the yards

After lunch I finished up doing the laundry, three more loads. We were gone for a month and the yards haven't been mowed. The grass was a little high so I mowed the front yard and half of the back. While I was doing this Larry weedeated, treated for weeds and painted the covers for the irrigation system wires. It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to mow. Flo kept us company the whole time. She loves the sun and the cool weather. 

Getting ready to be assembled

Magical Unicorn Forest

I also decided to start assembling a jig saw puzzle that Louise gave me for my birthday, it is called Magical Unicorn Forest. The pieces are mini so I think it's going to be challenging.

When Larry was going through his e-mail he found an e-mail from Google Play that said we had until March 2nd to rent any movie for $.99 so he decided to rent Inferno. The movie was based off the Dan Brown novel. This is the third movie from the Robert Langdon series. We have the first two movies on DVD and we decided to rent this movie to see if we wanted to buy it. The reviews on the movie are mixed and we wanted to see for ourselves. It was a good movie, I really like Tom Hanks so I may be a little biased. After watching the movie we watched some YouTube videos until it was time to call it a night. We have a great day.

   

Friday 1-27 Doing This and That

Having Fun

We have been gone for a month so there were things that we needed to do. When we got home we opened the refrigerator and the pantry and both were almost empty. This morning we loaded Flo into the car and headed to HEB to do grocery shopping. Flo was one happy dog to be able to go for a ride. Before going to HEB we stopped by the post office to restart our mail, Larry took a couple of minutes to thank the post master for agreeing to hold the mail for a couple of months. After doing our grocery shopping we swung by The Dollar Tree and picked up some bleach for the septic. While I was putting the groceries away Larry got Flo out of the car and put the bleach in the tank. It was nice and cool outside so Flo decided to stay outside for awhile. The Minnie's tags are due in February and before getting the tags you have to have the vehicle inspected. Larry and I loaded into the Minnie and went to Valvoline Instant Oil Change. The guys were happy to see us. It was cold and they were trying to keep warm. Here in Bell County you only have to get your vehicle inspected and it doesn't have to go through emissions so it doesn't take long. 

Getting the Minnie inspected

The next project was emptying the holding tanks. Before we left the valley Larry had filled them about half full with water, he also added soap and softener figuring this would help to clean them. When we had the house built we put in an RV parking spot right next to the house that includes a dump for the RV. After dumping the tanks we decided to take the car dolly back to storage. Larry tries to take the truck for a spin every month so this was the prefect opportunity. He backed the car out of the garage and put it behind the Minnie, then he backed the truck out and turned it around, next he pushed the dolly out of the garage and put it on the hitch of the truck. Flo was asleep the whole time we were doing this. I gave her a snack and then Larry and I loaded into the truck and went to the storage center. 

After putting the dolly in the storage unit we went to town to renew the Minnie's tags. It's a little cheaper to go to town and it doesn't take long. When we got to the county building there were quite a few people there, surprising since we normally walk right up to the counter. We took a number and sat down, there were six people in front of us and we might have waited five minutes, love small town living.

Doing laundry

When we got back to the house I did four loads of laundry. While the laundry was doing it's thing I did dishes and worked out on my Wii Fit for a half hour. Then when dinnertime came around I barbecued cheese burgers.

Watching YouTube videos

In the evening we caught up with our YouTube videos. We had a busy day doing this and that. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!    

Thursday 1-26 Going Home

It's time to go home

After a fabulous month in the Rio Grande Valley it was time to go home. It took us about nine hours to get home. We stopped at the HEB in Kenedy to get gas in the Minnie and we saw this pay phone, who designed this? It was so short that you would have to be on your knees or sitting on the ground to use it. When we got to Belton we stopped by The UPS Store and picked up our mail then we had dinner at Taco Bell. Once at home we unpacked the Minnie.

Larry standing next to the pay phone in Kenedy Texas

During our stay we danced 38 dances; 25 Advanced dances, 4 Advanced workshops, 7 DBD dances and 2 Plus dances. We had the pleasure of dancing to five square dancing callers: Nick Hartley, Joe Saltel, Bronc Wise, Rand Dougherty and Darryl Lipscomb and one line cuer, Karen Tripp. We met people from, Canada, Norway and all over the United States. We danced with friends and other people that we hadn't seen in a long time. We spent a lot of time at the dances with a group from Marble Falls. The dances and workshops were challenging and fun. All the floor time we got made us better advanced dancers.

Larry enjoying a chair in the McAllen Library

Carpenters Once More

Tips O Texas cloggers show

When we weren't dancing we drove around the valley to check out the small towns. We visited two Flea Markets: Don Wes and Mercadome and bought a new belt for Larry. We saw the Carpenters Once More show which was a tribute to Richard and Karen Carpenter at The Border Theatre in downtown Mission. We went to McAllen Library, which was an old Walmart conversion to watch videos. We went to the International Museum of Art and Science, the Rio Grande Valley RV Show and the Rio Grande Valley Woodcarvers Show. Karen Tripp invited us to attend a cloggers show she was putting at Tips O Texas, the theme was Gypsies. 

J-Five RV Park

Going for a ride in the park

At J5 RV Park, there were different activities for people to do in the evening and during the day. One day I played darts and one evening I played Card Bingo. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning we went to the get together for doughnuts and coffee and to find out what was happening in the park and to visit with the people in the park. We attended their New Years hamburger dinner. The people at the park were very friendly and helpful. Every time we take Flo for a walk people say hi to her and stop and visit. As we were preparing to leave lots of folks stopped by to talk and wish us good luck. We had a super time at J5 RV Park. 

     

Wednesday 1-25 Free Time

Relaxing

What do you do when you have free time? Some people read, write, watch television, drive around town, shop, go to a movie, house stuff, work on hobbies or projects.

Today we hung up our dancing shoes and hats and just took it easy. First thing we did was go to the J5 get together. They had a special speaker, a lady from an insurance company. She has been coming to J5 for about ten years and some of the residents have insurance with her company. She did a short talk and told people if they wanted any information just swing by the office or get in touch with her before she left the park.

 

The next thing we did was take the Minnie for a ride. Larry wanted to put air in the tires, fill it up with gas and test out the new fuel pressure regulator. We first of all stopped by a Stripes for the air. It cost $1.50 for five minutes, Larry made sure that the hose would go all the way around the Minnie, then I put the money in the machine. He put air in one tire and then moved to the next one, instead of adding air to the tire it was actually going down. He moved on to another tire and it did the same thing, I guess the compressor couldn't keep up with the amount of air needed for the motorhome tires. Larry decided to go to Discount Tires, we have bought our tires from them for decades and he knew their air machine would work. Every time we go to Discount Tires we have a great experience. The customer service is outstanding and the workers are friendly and very helpful. 

Lunch

  After getting the tires taken care of we returned to J5 RV Park and plugged back into power. Next Larry dumped the holding tanks, he added some Dawn and softener and filled them about half full with clean water. He figures as we drive home this will slosh around and help clean the tanks a bit. Next up was lunch, we had seen a Fuddruckers a few miles down the road and we like their burgers and onion rings. 

Karen Tripp teaching cloggers a new dance

Clogging to Karen cuing

One of the visiting groups clogging to their cuer

Cloggers dressed up like Gypsies

After lunch we went to Tip O Texas RV Park to watch the cloggers. Karen Tripp had invited us over to watch the cloggers perform. The theme for the performance was Gypsies. Cloggers from different RV Parks showed up and performed. Karen and a few other ladies cued the cloggers through each song. They first of all walked them through the steps and then they danced to a song, it was fun watching. We have watched cloggers before but today's performance was different than we had seen in the past. There were also a few men clogging and the dancers wore gypsy outfit. The ladies wore belly dancer belts and the men wore scarfs around their heads. Both the women and men wore earrings. The outfits were very colorful. We stayed about an hour.

We spent the rest of the day with Flo. We had a very relaxing day.

Tuesday 1-24 We're Tired

Sunny windy day

It was a gorgeous hot and windy day. It got up to 90 degrees but the wind was blowing hard so it didn't seem to be that hot. 

We started the day out by going to Tropic Star to an A dance called by Joe Saltel, the line dances were cued by Karen Tripp. There were 57 couples which made 14 squares plus an extra couple. I have been wearing my belly dance belts to the dances and on lots of days women come up to me and say they heard me jiggling so they knew I was having fun. Joe had us thinking a lot during the dance and  at times when I think too hard I have a tendency to make mistakes. Even though I made more mistakes than usual I still had fun.

On the way home from the dance we swung by Wendy's and had lunch. I had the chicken sandwich, Larry had a small chili and we shared an order of cheese and bacon fries. When we entered  into Wendy's a couple from J5 RV Park waved at us. When we sat down to eat lunch we sat by them so we talked a little. While we were talking they suggested that we buy a $2 key because the money goes to an orphanage. When you buy the key you get a free frosty for a year. The frosty is very small but it was for the cause and not the free frosty. Larry and I shared the frosty.

We hung around the house all afternoon. I took a nap and Larry and Flo went outside and relaxed. 

In the evening we went to Pharr South for a DBD Plus Dance which Randy Dougherty calls. We like dancing to Randy but tonight the entire floor was having problems. We still had a good time. 

Square Dancing is fun

Today we didn't dance too well. We made mistakes that we shouldn't have, we figure we must be tired. We have been dancing 10 dances a week and each dance is 2 hours, tomorrow we're going to take the day off.       

Monday 1-23 Doing Projects

Doing Projects

It was a gorgeous sunny day. Our car was filthy and we have been meaning to run it through the car wash but we never made the time. This morning we were early for our first dance and the car wash is just down the street so off to Fast Break Express Car Wash. There was one car in front of us and a few cars at the vacuums so it didn't take long. After washing the car we vacuumed it out. Where we park the car at J5 RV Park I have to walk in the grass and I drag a lot of grass and dirt in the car. From the car wash we went to our dance with Bronc Wise at the Peppermint Palace, there were 11 squares and we had a super time.

The car wash sgn

Driving through the car wash

Larry wiping down the car

 When we got home I made lunch and then took Flo for a walk. On our trip down to the Valley The Minnie was acting up a bit so Larry did some research and decided the fuel pressure regulator was the most likely culprit. While doing the research people had written in and said it was all but impossible to get to the fuel pressure regulator, it is buried behind and below stuff under the hood, you can't even really see it. Larry checked to make sure he could get to it, he found it and decided to see if he could remove it, luckily he had the correct size Allen wrench to remove the two screws. He thought he could get it out so he ordered the part from Advance Auto Parts. Before going to the car wash we swung by and picked up the part. This afternoon Larry decided to work on replacing the fuel pressure regulator. Since he couldn't see the regulator he had to go on touch. He had to be careful not to drop the Allen wrench or one of the screws. He was doing good but when he was working on the easier of the screws he dropped the wrench and couldn't find it. Off to Walmart we went to get another wrench. We found a set of wrenches both metric and American for a whole $2 that we bought. When we got back I got the umbrella out to help keep the sun off Larry. Then we went back to the project at hand. It took about an hour. When Larry finished he started up the Minnie to make sure that it would start. It had no problem starting. Now we will have to wait until we head home to make sure the problem has been corrected.

Buy the fuel pressure regulator

Larry changing out the regulator

Next project is spraying for ants. When we arrived at J5 and they were showing Larry the RV sites they told him they were having a problem with ants and they were treating for them. Today when we were at Walmart he picked up an ant killer. After he finished the fuel pressure regulator he sprayed for ants  He only treated where Flo didn't lay.

Treating for ants

In the evening we went to Pharr South to dance to Randy. The dance had 17 couples, which made 4 squares and one extra couple We danced every tip and had fun.