CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S FEBRUARY ALREADY

Newsy Portion of Issue 5

Diary published weekly since 2001
Read a different version Here.

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Hi All: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the hundreds of condolences John and I received last week reference Katie’s passing. We are missing her big time but the overwhelming email and e-card support definitely helped ease our trauma. We have learned two things from this disaster. Number One - there will always be 2-dogs in this house, so when one passes we have another to love (this is our first time in 28 years we have been without a furry baby to keep us company – it is not pleasant). Plus we also have a stronger appreciation for the value of all travel partners. We only lost our beloved pet, but through this I now understand more intensely how important it is to be super nice and to keep peace with your travel partner. None of us know when a family member may no longer be with us – appreciate their good points and learn to accept their less than perfect habits as well. Life will be very lonely when any of us suddenly find ourselves on our own.
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OUR BUSY WEEK MADE FOR FUN TIMES

During a routine maintenance check on Tuesday, John discovered our starting BATTERIES HAD DIED. It is too long a story to go into the 'why this happened', but since we will have to move on the 12th Feb to have the bottom of the LUXOR painted at the VTV collision shop, we needed to find a solution. Of course, we do have a battery charger – but since we had not used it for a while, we moved it to our Canadian storage last fall - not the smartest move we recently made.. Sites in Alamo Palms are long and narrow, this would make it difficult for an ERS Truck to come to our rescue – our batteries are located near the rear of our motorhome. For access we would have had to take down the Dish, pack up all the chairs, move the BBQ plus more just to make room for a vehicle to move in to give us a charge. Soooo after a short visit to the park maintenance shed, our problem was solved. We send a special thanks to John who gladly shared the parks 200-watt heavy-duty charger. Lesson learned – our crisis was solved in a day because we asked those on site (or nearby) for assistance. RVers love to share.
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ONE MORE JOY ABOUT VISITING MEXICO

Tuesday we ventured again to Mexico for my DENTAL APPOINTMENT. As an ex-dental assistant I was not completely happy with the level of my treatment. The dentist treated me well but I was not comfortable with my choice of clinic. However on the way out of N Progresso I did find a quality dental clinic to have my bridge replaced. His set-up was much more appealing. When my bridge is completed, I will share the name of the clinic/doctor. I do not like to recommend without trying the service out, Why I am mentioning this is during my Tuesday appointment for fillings, the Dentist found another cavity, but since he had MC signs posted I agreed – I knew I did not have enough cash to pay for the extra filling. However – when I went to pay, his MC machine was down. So I left the clinic with an IOU of $20.00. Next stop was to Garcia’s – our favourite classy restaurant over the Canada House. When I went to pay for that meal/drinks using my MC – their machine too was not working. So again, we finished our meal and paid for it with an IOU. Guess things like this can only happen in Mexico. Maybe it helped that the manager knew us from the December Explorer Club Luncheon, but we still find it a bit unusual that we paid for these services via an IOU.

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WINDSHIELD REPAIR

Routine prices in the Rio Grande Valley are generally on the low side, but early Tuesday morning en route to Mexico we stopped to see Carl, the local ‘side of the road’ window repair guy. He fixed a large spider shaped ‘ding’ in the car windshield for a mere $25. By the way, we discovered this next tidbit from personal experience - for those who are unaware – it is not wise to put these inexpensive repairs through your insurance. Even though the costs are minimal, insurance companies consider a stone chip repair in the same category of a complete windshield replacement. Claiming a small repair will come back to ‘bite’ you when or if you have a ‘real’ repair down the road.
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JANUARY EXPLORER RV CLUB LUNCHEON WAS A HUGE SUCCESS

On Thursday, 122 attendees (Club Members-84 and Guests-32) gathered at the incredible SUN PALACE CHINESE BUFFET, 6013 N 10th St in McAllen. What an outstanding place for either individual dining or as a group – their menu consists of over 200 items, plus a Mongolian Grill and Sushi Bar. They set aside a huge area of the restaurant for our group and everything went so smooth - even though another group of 72 was using the same venue. My pictures are posted Here. (Best viewed as a slideshow). Door prize winners – Marg (member) has a new Club T-shirt & Nancy (guest) took home a box of chocolates. Sure enjoyed it guys! John and I send a huge ‘Thanks’ to everyone who joined us. Next month we are booked for the 28th Feb at Harold’s Country Kitchen in Donna. Hope Cdn RVers in the Rio Grande can join us, Details to follow in later blogs.
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DON WEST FLEA MARKET

I keep relaying that things in the valley are very reasonably priced. Saturday morning we visited the large local flea market, so I could pick up a couple of bathing suits. I ended up with 3-neat ones at a mere $5.00 each. Mine were wearing out and the selection and styles of their suits at the Swim Suit Shop in Don West are extremely extensive.
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FINAL THOUGHTS

This has been such an enjoyable week. John even dragged me away from my computer to go for a relaxing evening swim a couple of times. Sure happy he was persistent – next time we go I will even have a new suit to wear – the chlorine from the pool is hard on them. But at $5.00 each it is no big deal. The weather has been so pleasant that a late night swim is a perfect way to relax. John also continues to win his games at the pool hall every week.

In a word, 'Life is good in the Rio Grande Valley'. I cannot believe that we are in our 4th month in S Texas this winter. Time sure flies when we are having fun. For those who are still in the north, we pray that the storms will soon go away and you each will be enjoying an early mild spring. Take care Guys – till next week. Those on the road please travel safe. This comment from an email from Jean this week explains all that life has to offer. “ Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened” P&J