Trip to the RGV (Rio Grande Valley)

Well, we are now in South Texas after a long hiatus in Plano (since August, 2022).   We came south to get away from the 'winter' weather in Plano, but shouldn't complain too much - here is a picture of Judy's sister, Pam, up in Minnesota - 3+ feet of snow!!!

We had an issue with one of the RV wheels on the way down here.  Just before we got to our halfway point (Luling, TX), we noticed that one wheel was HOT.  The next day we tried to find someone who could look at it, but were unsuccessful.  We did find a heavy equipment repair shop that greased the wheel for us assuming that the bearing was the issue.   So we continued down the road toward Weslaco and got about 30 miles away when the wheel overheated again.  (At the time the temp was 100!! and the sun was pointing on that side of the RV).  So we stopped and waited about 20 minutes and the tire pressure went down so we continued on and made it to our RV Park.  

We did have some nice scenery on the way down.

This church is in Karnes, TX.

As we got closer to South Texas---

Palm trees! 

Anyway, we are now at the Leisure World RV Park in Weslaco for the month of March.

There is a bird sanctuary near our site so we have birds flying around alot (but none have come over our site to do a job on our truck!).

We quickly found out that the wind blows here almost all the time (and usually somewhere between 10 and 25 MPH!)

We came here specifically to have the carpet replaced in our RV.  It is 15 years old so it's time.  We had Lee from All About Floors store in Weslaco come out with many samples and we found one we liked.  Installation is scheduled for Monday, 3/27.

We are also considering replacing the kitchen countertops as they are cracked in places.  Hopefully, we can get that done here as well.  

On Fridays they have all you can eat fish fry dinners.  The first time we went they were also selling bread pudding that the cooks had made from leftover bakery goodies.  We bought this one for $5 including the sauce to go with it.

It was delicious.

In the meantime, we found a place to have our wheel looked at (Camco Wheel and Tire in Pharr).  Turns out the brake was bad on that wheel so had new brakes installed on all wheels and also have new bearings greased. 

The waiting room had has these crosses on the wall.  Very interesting.

While we waited, we found this restaurant to have a late breakfast.  I had the special of eggs, bacon, and 2 pancakes;  Judy had her favorite:  biscuits and gravy.

Food was so good we may have to got back there again!

We found a church to attend on Sunday.  Rather interesting situation here.  At one time they were the Faith Lutheran Church and some of the congregation wanted to be a part of the Free Lutheran Churches while others wanted to be part of the ELCA group.  So they split and now the Faith group meets at 9 and the ELCA group (Love of Christ) meets at 11:00, both in the same building.

We have been going at 11:00 and have enjoyed the services.  Everyone is extremely friendly.

Each Wednesday afternoon at the RV Park they have entertainment. To celebrate the St. Patrick day holiday the Activity Director did his dancing on the floor in his outfit (?).

They served a meal of mashed potatoes, corn, peas, and ground beef.  Can't remember what they called it but it was very good.

We took a drive one day to check out the area and found that the crops are already in and growing.

Flowers too...

Saw this sign for Mexico...

And then saw the border fence...

We've had some beautiful sunsets while here...

And we've had temps that have ranged from the low 40's to the high 90's.  But we've been enjoying our stay here and glad we've finally made it down here.

More later on...

Summer Trip Away From the Texas Heat (cont'd 2)

 We drove back to Lake Benton Monday, the 8th and on Tuesday morning woke up to 49 degree temperature!!

Anyway, we packed up drove to Waterloo, NE a suburb of Omaha where my sister and family live.  This bridge separates Iowa and Nebraska.  The river is the Missouri.

We went out to dinner that night with Judeen at Boyd and Charlies BBQ which we always like.  (We have not been seeing Jim because, with his health issues, he is concerned about getting COVID).

On Wednesday Judeen and granddaughter, Aliza, came out to the campground.  She loves to throw rocks and tries to skip them/!

We walked over by the dam and did some rock throwing there as well as taking our shoes off and playing in the mud!

Aliza is also a very good artist for an 8 year old.  Judy had some small jars of clay and Aliza made a number of things, including the two animal faces you see here!

On Thursday we had lunch at LePeeps in Elkhorn.  The place was busy but we liked it because it gave us time to talk with Alison and Katie.  (Judeen didn't actually order all of that for herself.  One of the orders was going to Jim at home afterwards!).

Aliza enjoying her meal.

After lunch we got a picture of Judeen, Katie, Aliza and Alison.  It was a fun time!

On Friday we started for home.  Got as far as Carthage, MO (near Joplin) and spent the night there and then drove home on Saturday.

We had a great trip and enjoyed every part of it as it's always great to see family and friends!

Minnetonka - Pam & Steve's Wedding Anniversary

 On Tuesday the 2nd we left the trailer at the CG and drove to Minnetonka, MN to visit Judy's sister Pam and husband Steve and family there. 

The first night we were there, there was a thunderstorm.  Judy and I slept in the bedroom in the basement in the back of the house and never heard a thing, but this is what occurred outside our window.

Anyway, Jessie, Phanie, and a friend came right over and by noon it was all cleaned up and out by the street for city to pickup.

It's now official that Judy and I take Mathias and Crawford to McDonalds when we are in town!  We thought it was only when they had birthdays but I think it now becomes a 'tradition' whenever we are there!

 It was their 50th anniversary on the 5th so they had a great celebration.

On Saturday 22 of us went to a Twins game.  The weather started out drizzly but stopped after about an hour and it was really nice from then on.  As you can see, our seats were along the 1st base side and looking out to right field.  The view was great.

The first picture is when we got there - about 5:00.

This one was after the game started so you can see that there was a good crowd (around 27,000).

Ceremonies before the game included recognizing Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat as they had been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Tony gave an inspiring speech about his time in the league.

And, there were bobblehead dolls to be had!

This is all of us prior to the game.

Front row - Judy, Me, Steve, Pam, Crawford

Second/third row - Jenelle, Marcus Matt, Graden, Jesse, Alice, Ben, Molly, Zac, Mathias, Lauren, Phanie, and Violet.

On Sunday we went to church and then went out to dinner at a place called The Wok in the Park (so named because it is Chinese and it is located in St. Louis Park!).  

Pam and Steve know the owners very well and they opened the restaurant for them so it was a private party.  29 relatives and friends were in  attendance there!

Picture of their wedding party (1972).

This is Pam and Steve with his family.

And this should be the Pivec siblings, but MaryLou got in there on the left!

Tom, Tim, Jay, Patti, and Steve.

Everyone circulated and enjoyed getting together.

These are Pam and Steve's grandchildren - Graden, Alice Marcus, Mathias, Crawford, and Violet.

They had also invited their neighbors, Jim and Ann to the festivities.

And, Jim and Ann's kids, Mia and Henry.

It was a great time with great food and conversation!

Continued,,,

Summer Trip Away From the TEXAS HEAT!! (cont'd)

 On Monday we left Michigan for Wisconsin and got about half way in Rockford, IL before spending  the night.  On Tuesday we made it to Merrillan where Tom and Cindy Clark are now living.  We knew them for many years as Tom worked for JCP and they attended our church before moving further north of Plano.

We found our campground - Doc's Bunkhouse - and got set up on our site.  We did see this CG along the way but opted NOT to stay here!!!

We found their house by the lake and enjoyed getting together, reliving old times and having dinner.

View of their house from the dock.

Lake views:

Tom and Cindi - they never age!!

Typical farms in the upper Midwest.

On Wednesday (while Tom was at work) Cindy took us around the area.  We visited a Menonite store that was really amazing.  It had everything you could possibly want!  

Notice all the items that are bagged.  We bought some blueberry jello and some chocolate chips (both in bags!).

Then we found an old saw mill - unfortunately it was not open so we could not get a tour.

We spent some time out on the deck waiting for Tom to come home and then had some refreshments before going out to dinner with them.

On Thursday we left there and drove to Owatonna, MN which is about halfway to Lake Benton, MN and got there on Friday where we plan to spend a couple of weeks.  Got together with my cousin Gary and his wife Shirl for dinner that night at one of our favorite pizza places - the Lakeside Resort.

On Saturday we met with my cousin, Claudia, at the Mexican Restaurant in Pipestone.  Margaritas of course and some good food.

We spent the week enjoying the cool weather and being with family and friends.

We also went out to dinner with Claudia again, this time to a restaurant in Ihlen, MN (about 10 miles south of Pipestone) with a population of 61.  This place has been a number of restaurants over the years but this one, Burgers and Brews, was really good and very nice atmosphere, and great food.

Continued...