Family Time

Gas for 2200 mile round trip.....................308.00

Boarding for 2 cats for 15 days................360.00

Hotel room for 14 days...........................1105.00

Hugging your 2 year old grandson...................Priceless!

Coen in a racing helmet from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This was their Christmas card with the statement

"We are all revved up for Santa"

Coen's 2nd birthday party was December 18th.

He got lots of toys.

In the above photo he's playing with paper plates and plastic cutlery.

Christmas eve he decided to whet his appetite with a chocolate bonbon
followed by artichoke dip. Quite the gourmand.

My son Bob with his dad. John and Bob resemble each other more every day.

They share so many mannerisms.

My daughter Amber on the left and Bob's girlfriend Dawn on the right.

Amber, Bob and John with Coen in the front,

now interested in the salsa held by Dawn.

I'm not sure why Dawn didn't want to be in the photo,

but you can see she is flexible and very graceful even with her left arm in a sling

We drove in town from Texas to celebrate Coen's birthday and Christmas. When we left Mercedes TX it was 70 degrees and sunny. It was 10 degrees when we woke up this morning in Kansas City, and spitting snow.

We hope the kids come to Texas next year!

Ooooh-----Festive!!!!!!!

On December 5th at 5:30 the Christmas lights were officially turned on. In addition a golf cart parade took place. The residents decorate their carts with all manner of lights, tinsel and plastic reindeer. Many of us living on Cordoba met in my neighbors' Linda and Larry's driveway to cheer on the drivers. My other neighbor Candy baked cookies to give them. We were in a high state of excitement and really full of the holiday spirit. We caught sight of them three blocks behind us and my goodness they looked grand. We all got our cameras ready, and then they drove away! We were Scrooged over! Bah Humbug!

The above photo is a palm tree about ten feet tall.

A lot of the residents return here every winter. They own their lots and put pre-fab homes on them instead of R Vs. Some of the displays are so detailed I wonder where they store all the decorations.

Every neighborhood needs a little "Chevy Chase" themed yard.

This cowboy roping Rudolph actually rocks back and forth.

Another one of the pre-fab homes.

And now for the most festive tradition in the park.

The water aerobics class must wear Santa hats in the pool.

We have a workout choreographed to "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

After class we get in the hot tub for a while.

That's me in the middle and the instructor Diane to my right wearing reindeer antlers.

The woman second from the right in the picture is from Kearney Mo.

It's all about Bella

This is our dog, Bella. She is quite sure she's the world's best dog, and until lately had little patience for common canines. Her list of doggie friends was short and very selective.

The two cats who also live with us are tolerated so long as they understand their place in Bella's world, and that place is to entertain Bella.

She is blissfully unaware of her shortcomings intellectually.

Bella is a Yorkie, a breed not known for high intelligence, but Hey!--she's cute!

Here's Bella at the dog park inside our R V park. It's a wonderful area for the dogs, and some of the residents tell me they return here just because of it. When we arrived Bella was very shy. She loved going to the park but the other dogs scared her. She'd hide behind my legs and peek around, feeling like the new kid in school. I wouldn't let her off leash because she was so nervous. I wasn't sure she'd come back to me. Two and a half weeks have passed, and Bella is now struttin' her stuff. She knows and recognizes many of the dogs, now friends, that terrified her not long ago. She absolutely will not drink the lake water, no matter how many of the other dogs do, and is spell-bound when one of the dogs dives in for a swim. She stares in utter disbelief that any dog would get wet on purpose.

We make three trips a day to the dog park. I have told her it's Disney World and she believes me.

A Tale of Two Kitties

This is Earl Scooter, a cat who came to us from the Humane Society. He moved in at the age of eight weeks and took over the house as his rightful domain. Earl is not a cuddler. He sees signs of affection as beneath his dignity. He is the king and expects to be treated as such.

This is a picture of our living room in the before condition.

We'll be returning later.

Meet Winston Merlot. Winston arrived in our back yard starving, hidden under the grill and trying to catch a bird from the feeder. He was the skinniest cat I've ever seen. We began to put food out and you know the rest. We eventually got to touch him, then coaxed him in the house and grew to love him as he grew to trust us. When we learned that our home would be torn down one of my first concerns was Winston and what would happen to him. He had grown to depend on us for his food, and I was afraid he'd starve if he went back on his own. He'd spent the winters in our house and was no longer used to the sometimes brutal winters in Kansas City.
I tried to find a good home for the little cat who had so much love to give, but no one wanted him. I couldn't put him in the pound with the thought that he might be put down, and even though I begged the Humane Society they would not take him. My daughter and son-in-law, knowing how much I loved Winston, offered to take him in with their pets. They already owned two dogs and two cats, but willingly invited Winston in to their home. I was so relieved to know he'd be safe and well cared for. Winston, however , was not happy.
He was so timid he couldn't blend with the pets already there, and hid in the basement for months. I couldn't let that sweet little heart live in solitude, so I drug him out and brought him home. We have had some rough patches, but here he is.

Earl has no interest in the salt shaker, but some other cat in the house does.

If the shaker is not put away before bed someone bats it all over the floor,

leaving a white trail of salt in abstract patterns across the carpet.

This is our trailer-sized Christmas tree decorated in (what else)

pink flamingos. A white feather boa is wrapped around the base.

I know what you're thinking------an invitation to disaster, right?

It's not like the cats don't play together.
When the lights go out a party starts at full force.

The poet who wrote "The fog comes in on little cat feet" never met our boys.

It's a feline fiesta, a cross between Bristol Motor Speedway and a cat rodeo.

The cats have so much fun it drives Bella nuts. She tears in and breaks things up 'cause if she's not having fun nobody else is allowed to either.

Yeah, you were right about the disaster, but the question is--- Who dun it?
How'd they push the tree off so it fell backward?

Why'd they leave the feather boa alone?

There is a clue to the perpetrator in the photo.

See the brown furry "tail" on a stick in front of the tree?

It's Earl's favorite toy, and neither of the other two are smart enough to plant evidence.

A criminal often returns to the scene of the crime.

Sadly (for some of us) there were flamingo fatalities.

Earl, smug and satisfied with a job well done.

The tree is back up----------------for now.

Port Isabel and South Padre Island

The Port Isabel lighthouse.

I assume the Christmas lights are just up for the season.

The door was open so I guess it would be O K to climb up and look around--

if anybody really, really, really wanted to.

You drive through Port Isabel on the way to South Padre.

It's about a 45 minute drive from Mercedes, and we wanted to check out the R V parks.

Sometime in the future we might want to stay here.

Kite surfers on the Gulf side of South Padre Island. These people amaze me. They go up and down the beach with seemingly no effort at all. The water on the west side of the island is much smoother, and had many more surfers with kites.

What looks like a hill in the background is the Queen Isabella Causeway,
a two and a half mile bridge that connects South Padre to Port Isabel.

Water front businesses and homes on the

Laguna Madre (west) side of the island.

The houses are built on the water here.

Back on the Gulf of Mexico side.

Many of the buildings I thought were condos are hotels.


The following photos show a "unique" business a few miles west of Port Isabel.

BOBZ

I've found many stores whose entry is a shark mouth,

but this is the first shark skull with dinosaurs.

The outside decor continues........

One of a pair, because a single enormous conch shell just wouldn't look right.

An area under construction. King Kong Golf?

Easter Island?

A volcano erupting with a strange creature surfing the lava flow.

How could I not go in this store?

What would a store that looks like this sell?

The weirdness sucked me in to the store.

This place has a huge selection of sea shells,

thousands of t-shirts and a truck load of hermit crabs.

I have to admit I was kind of disappointed in the inventory,

but the music was worth the walk in.

Christmas caroles were booming over the speakers at a deafening level.
I can't really explain why, but hearing "White Christmas" and looking at a fiberglass

Tiki God/ Easter Island figure is wrong, very wrong.

Thanksgiving in the RGV

The RGV is the Rio Grande Valley, and the initials are used a lot. There's RGV Plumbing, RGV Tow, RVG Auto repair etc-etc-etc. This refers to the area starting at the coastline/South Padre Island/Brownsville and going inland fifty or sixty miles. The most important word in the phrase is Valley, because that is definitely where we are, in a valley. The land is flat as far as the eye can see. The highest elevation would be one of the overpasses on Highway 83.

There is nothing to slow down the wind, and we have had some wind since we've been here. The other residents tell me it's not wind 'til it gets above 35 MPH, below that it's called breezy.

Thanksgiving Day was breezy, good thing since it was also 94 degrees. A cold front came through last night and today's high was 54. I have to admit I felt pretty chilly.

The weather is a big part of the newscasts here, probably because so many people come here to escape the cold. There was a long segment tonight about the white Christmas they had in 2004, and how beautiful it was. We plan to be in Kansas City for Christmas, and it doesn't need to snow here OR there.

Sunset at our winter home

We are still exploring the area. Today we took the motorcycle to old downtown Mercedes, and a little farther east to what looks like a great outlet mall. John and I agree that I should return............alone.

It got very cold last night for this part of the world, 48 degrees, and the local news couldn't stop talking about it. It warmed up to 78 this afternoon. It will be in the low 80's tomorrow. That's why we're not in Kansas anymore Toto!
These views are from the back of our R V.
See all the empty pads? The park is fully booked for January, February and March according to the aquarobics instructor.
There are many "Park Model" trailers here. These are trailers that aren't really meant to move around. Many people use them as a vacation cabin, but these are used as full-time homes. I talked to a woman yesterday who has lived here 20 years. Some residents have been here since the opening 37 years ago.

Mercedes TX

"We must not cease from exploration" --T. S. Eliot


Yesterday we arrived in Mercedes, TX; our home for the next four months. It will be the longest stay we've had anywhere since we began to live in an R V full-time.
Our campground, Llano Grande, is huge. We had to get I D tags today so we can access some of the buildings. The campground offers lots of diversions; dance lessons, exercise classes etc. We learned today that there's a group of motorcyclists that ride together twice a week, and hope to ride with them next week. We are very close to one of the pools, but best of all in Bella's opinion --they have a fabulous dog walk area.
It will take us a couple of weeks just to get to know the park.
We drove around the area today, going to the Mexican border 7 miles away. We drove west to McAllen and had lunch there. McAllen seems to have a lot going on, and I definitely need to go back and shop.
Going east we'll see South Padre Island and the city of Harlingen.
We've done enough driving to learn one thing-- South Texans are not the best of drivers. Lanes in parking lots are just suggestions to a lot of these people. Parking between the lines is an abstract concept to many of them.

Gone Coastal

We are on a ferry going to Port Aransas,and meeting one coming our way.

Sunset from our R V park.

This entire Airstream trailer has been wrapped in a beach scene. The owner is the camp host at the resort we're staying in at Aransas Pass.

(A camp host is someone; not the owner; who manages the R V park, takes reservations, organizes activities etc. They usually get compensated with free rent and/or a small salary.)

This is the first trailer I've seen done this way. I once saw a motor home wrapped with a Jaggemeister label theme, but I figured it was a promotional vehicle owned by the company.

Turns out our host grew up in Thayer MO, close to my hometown. She swears she's been to Hartville many times -- and no one would make that claim to impress people. She then moved to K C and graduated from Grandview High School in 1966.

At a pot-luck dinner Thursday evening I sat next to a man from Harrisonville, MO and met a couple whose daughter just moved to Overland Park.

The beach scene trailer is surrounded by what the locals call "live oak". It passes as a tree here, it wouldn't at home.

On another topic, a cold front came through last night. Yesterday the temperatures were in the 80's and this morning it was 57 degrees. The natives are wearing parkas and knit caps, seriously.

King Ranch

This is the old carriage house at the King Ranch, built when it was still known as the

Santa Gertrudis Ranch. The ranch was once 1.2 million acres, but is now 825,000 acres spread over several states and countries. It is still a family owned business.

These are some of the 450 horses on the ranch. The horses weren't originally raised to sell, but to work the cattle. They are also trained and compete as cutting horses. The farm also raised thoroughbreds and one of their horses, Assault, won the Triple Crown in the late 40's . Assault and five other favorite horses are buried at the ranch.

The Santa Gertrudis cattle at the ranch are micro-chipped, keeping their breeding records precise. The cattle are tagged and ear-notched as well as branded with the

Running W.

No one seems to know how the brand came about, but many different brands have been used on the ranch.
The Santa Gertrudis were developed on King Ranch by crossing Short Horns and Brahmas

(Pronounced Bray-ma)

This is a "bump gate", developed by the oil company who held leases on parts of the ranch for drilling. The oil workers didn't watch the gates well, so a self-closing gate was invented. You drive up and bump the gate open, drive through, and the gate swings shut. If you don't hit it hard enough the gate closes too quickly and scrapes the side of your vehicle. If you hit it too hard the gate swings too far and breaks out your tail lights.

This is one of the entrances to the family home. See the peacock at the top of the stairs? The birds were a favorite of Henrietta King, because they keep snakes away. Henrietta once started a program where she paid five cents for every rattle snake "rattle". She got such a big response that she dropped the price to three cents, and eventually bought 250,000 rattles before the program had to be dropped.

The window over the door was made by Tiffany.

A grander entry to the ranch home with more Tiffany stained glass. Tiffany also did the interior decorating for the home, but we weren't invited in. The house is no longer used as a home but more like a luxury hotel when family members visit the ranch.

And now for one last creature found on the ranch.........

Yessiree, that's a alligator.

He's a dandy one too. Our guide thinks he's 10 to 12 feet long, and he looked every bit of it!

There is a large pond on the property stocked with bass and cat fish, and the employees are allowed to fish there. They are extremely careful when the eggs hatch. Momma alligators are very protective.

Port Aransas

The guard at the entrance to the pier.

He was quite tame and bold.

Today we took the ferry over to Port Aransas. It's a short cruise, just a few minutes, but the atmosphere changes dramatically. Aransas Pass is a quiet little town, and Port Aransas is a tourist destination. The docks are filled with fishing charters and jet ski rentals. This is the slow season here, with many shops and restaurants displaying signs like "See you in April". Many snowbirds have already settled in for the winter, and the R V parks are filling. We've discussed spending the winter here next year if we're disappointed with the area in the Rio Grande Valley. It snowed here last Christmas, dimming the chances of a long term stay.

The fishing boats at Port Aransas


This is the entrance to a gift shop.
John took a better photo of the shark, but my butt looked bigger.
Speaking of such, the largest grocery chain in the area;
maybe the state; is H E B.
Their slogan is Here Everything's Better.
John couldn't stand not knowing what the letters really stood for and I couldn't find anything on the web. Today we asked the girl at the Board of Tourism.
The founder was a man named Henry E. Butts. (Butz?)


O K brace yourselves!


ANOTHER trailer one floor up!
This one's a classic 50's model with an enclosed garage!
Have I been missing a whole school of architecture?