Resort living in the Valley
Well we had fun in the valley area and Mexico, but it is time to move on and go camping.
Resort living is like apartment living in the city, and camping is like living in your own home in the country. I guess I am a camper at heart and not a resort type person. I gave it a try, and at this stage of my life I feel that I am too young for this life style. I don’t think it is for me, maybe after I get a few more miles on this old body of mine.
Will be glad to be moving on up the road. Resort living is very nice if you are very old ,or very old at heart. There are plenty of things for old people to do. Don’t take me wrong there are many people who seem to enjoy living like that.
Personally I miss camping. I like waking up in the morning and looking out the window at the sun coming up over the water, or through the woods, or sitting outside on the picnic table and having my coffee in the morning, or fixing a meal or roasting marshmallows over a campfire in the evening. Here in the resort you get to sit at your kitchen table and look at the side of another mobile housing unit while drinking your morning coffee. Resorts don’t even have picnic tables. Most resorts are built out in the middle of nowhere and then a recreation complex is build within. No matter how you look at it or how nice they are, the resorts are one very big trailer park with very little if any green space. Us old country boys need some open space around us.
I guess that is why they put wheels under these trailers, if you don’t like living where you are you can always just move on up the road and try something else.
Will be stopping at many state and county parks on the way back home, and do a lot of CAMPING. Most parks are there for a reason, either there is something scenic or there is some form of natural recreation in the area. Why just visit one, when you can take your home with you and live in the park for a while? Hope to take advantage of what many of these parks have of offer.
.
H.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Harry usually spends his Birthday out of state. This time he spent it out of the country on our one day bus tour to Monterrey Mexico along with Bud and Carol!
We got on the tour bus at 6 a.m. and returned home after 10 p.m. Monterrey is the 3rd largest city in Mexico and is home to more than 3 million people. We crossed the border at Reynosa, and traveled 150 miles to Monterrey. We then boarded a. boat and cruised down the “Paseo Santa Lucia”- Monterrey’s River Walk. This beautiful park/ river was built where an old steel mill had been. The “river” begins at the pond with a large steel bucket emptying into the water and runs a mile and ½ to the downtown area- a stunning sight with the Saddle Hill Mountain behind it. We enjoyed a bus tour of the downtown area and an inside tour of the regal Governor’s Palace and the Grand Plaza. Our lunch was a wonderful buffet at the Radisson Hotel, which was built in 1912-a grand staircase, black marble floors and wonderful food. . We got back on the bus and rode up into the mountain, thru dusty, narrow, winding streets of small communities and REALLY narrow switchback roads to a spectacular waterfall called Cascada Cola de Caballo or “Horse Tail Falls”. To get to the actual falls we had to walk ½ mile up a cobblestone path and rocky steps-but it was well worth the effort! We even got to stop and shop at a roadside flea market on our way back!
Today we went back to Progresso Mexico with Bud and Carol for the last time. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been across the border 8 different times at 4 different border crossings. Today Harry finally bought himself a new pair of cowboy boots! Every time we go over to shop – he looks and looks-today Bud finally talked him into buying!
We’ll be moving on this weekend. We’ve been at Sunshine RV Resort for a month. We’ve met a lot of great folks from all over the USA and Canada. We’ll miss them- but it’s time to go camping! We’ll miss Bud and Carol too, but we know where they live and when they’ll be home!
We got on the tour bus at 6 a.m. and returned home after 10 p.m. Monterrey is the 3rd largest city in Mexico and is home to more than 3 million people. We crossed the border at Reynosa, and traveled 150 miles to Monterrey. We then boarded a. boat and cruised down the “Paseo Santa Lucia”- Monterrey’s River Walk. This beautiful park/ river was built where an old steel mill had been. The “river” begins at the pond with a large steel bucket emptying into the water and runs a mile and ½ to the downtown area- a stunning sight with the Saddle Hill Mountain behind it. We enjoyed a bus tour of the downtown area and an inside tour of the regal Governor’s Palace and the Grand Plaza. Our lunch was a wonderful buffet at the Radisson Hotel, which was built in 1912-a grand staircase, black marble floors and wonderful food. . We got back on the bus and rode up into the mountain, thru dusty, narrow, winding streets of small communities and REALLY narrow switchback roads to a spectacular waterfall called Cascada Cola de Caballo or “Horse Tail Falls”. To get to the actual falls we had to walk ½ mile up a cobblestone path and rocky steps-but it was well worth the effort! We even got to stop and shop at a roadside flea market on our way back!
Today we went back to Progresso Mexico with Bud and Carol for the last time. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been across the border 8 different times at 4 different border crossings. Today Harry finally bought himself a new pair of cowboy boots! Every time we go over to shop – he looks and looks-today Bud finally talked him into buying!
We’ll be moving on this weekend. We’ve been at Sunshine RV Resort for a month. We’ve met a lot of great folks from all over the USA and Canada. We’ll miss them- but it’s time to go camping! We’ll miss Bud and Carol too, but we know where they live and when they’ll be home!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Another sunny windy day! We will not complain - not one bit! Not after we had that cold, damp, rainy, windy 3 weeks! Temps last night were still low 70’s and today was 90. But the wind gusts were near 40 mph. They say you get used to it.
Met some more nice folks from Michigan this evening - Alanson Michigan! And they go to the same Nazarene Church that my dear friend Jan did, before she died of breast cancer. They knew her well and spoke almost as highly of her as I do.
The days have started to run together - up at 7:30am, watch the morning news shows, have our bagels and coffee, head to the pool, ride our bikes, meet more neighbors, read our books (mine is the autobiography of Mark Twain!) check our emails, watch some TV and if we’re lucky – watch the 10pm news! The excitement Monday was my haircut and today’s is grocery shopping.
Oh yes - - and today we went to the Mardi Gras Parade here in the park! Harry flipped up his shirt and flashed all the old ladies in the parade so he could get more beads and more candy! Cheap thrill.
There is a small lake in the newer section of this resort and in the evening, a gazillion egrets, herons, whistling ducks and cormorants fill the branches on the one side of the lake to roost for the night. We’ve heard that there is a small flock of Spoonbill Cranes that also roost there and the other afternoon we finally got to see them. Flamingo size and pink in color with big bills that look just like a large spoon! Too far away for a picture and no camera besides. Tonight when we were riding over there, they were not there but we were lucky enough to snap a few pictures of the Whistling Ducks. These ducks do not quack – they whistle! The sound is like a hundred dog toys with whistles being squeaked at the same time!!
Met some more nice folks from Michigan this evening - Alanson Michigan! And they go to the same Nazarene Church that my dear friend Jan did, before she died of breast cancer. They knew her well and spoke almost as highly of her as I do.
The days have started to run together - up at 7:30am, watch the morning news shows, have our bagels and coffee, head to the pool, ride our bikes, meet more neighbors, read our books (mine is the autobiography of Mark Twain!) check our emails, watch some TV and if we’re lucky – watch the 10pm news! The excitement Monday was my haircut and today’s is grocery shopping.
Oh yes - - and today we went to the Mardi Gras Parade here in the park! Harry flipped up his shirt and flashed all the old ladies in the parade so he could get more beads and more candy! Cheap thrill.
There is a small lake in the newer section of this resort and in the evening, a gazillion egrets, herons, whistling ducks and cormorants fill the branches on the one side of the lake to roost for the night. We’ve heard that there is a small flock of Spoonbill Cranes that also roost there and the other afternoon we finally got to see them. Flamingo size and pink in color with big bills that look just like a large spoon! Too far away for a picture and no camera besides. Tonight when we were riding over there, they were not there but we were lucky enough to snap a few pictures of the Whistling Ducks. These ducks do not quack – they whistle! The sound is like a hundred dog toys with whistles being squeaked at the same time!!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
A good day with Good Friends! Bud and Carol picked us up and we all headed for South Padre Island for the 8th Annual Kite Fest with a stop off for a breakfast taco at Julia’s in Los Fresnos. An omelet in a really big flour tortilla! The flea market was going on in Port Isabell, so we HAD to stop there also. Bud got to buy something!
We have never seen so many kites or so many flown at one time. There were lines of kites, a huge red octopus, big triangles of bright Dacron fabric that stretched across the sky and strings of multi colored fish and sharks! The competition showcased teams from all over the US and Canada. Teams of 4 or 6 were flying choreographed programs set to music- floating or dancing in air, stopping, turning and pirouetting. In one of the single competitions, the single kite flying had 3 tails that were over 100 ft long- twirling and twisting out behind the kite. What a sight! And the teams of folks that hung onto those kite handles also had to dance and pull and move to keep all their lines from being eternally entangled. And to top off the afternoon we stopped off for all you can eat shrimp at the Shrimp Haus. - -- ONE more time!! We were 4 contented souls as we drove home watching the coral sunset- slide down over the city of Harlingen..
If you’re not familiar with where we are in Texas, we are at the same latitude as a line drawn across Florida from Naples to Ft. Lauderdale. Next week we will move north to the Corpus Christi area, which is the same Latitude as Tampa, St. Pete area.
We have never seen so many kites or so many flown at one time. There were lines of kites, a huge red octopus, big triangles of bright Dacron fabric that stretched across the sky and strings of multi colored fish and sharks! The competition showcased teams from all over the US and Canada. Teams of 4 or 6 were flying choreographed programs set to music- floating or dancing in air, stopping, turning and pirouetting. In one of the single competitions, the single kite flying had 3 tails that were over 100 ft long- twirling and twisting out behind the kite. What a sight! And the teams of folks that hung onto those kite handles also had to dance and pull and move to keep all their lines from being eternally entangled. And to top off the afternoon we stopped off for all you can eat shrimp at the Shrimp Haus. - -- ONE more time!! We were 4 contented souls as we drove home watching the coral sunset- slide down over the city of Harlingen..
If you’re not familiar with where we are in Texas, we are at the same latitude as a line drawn across Florida from Naples to Ft. Lauderdale. Next week we will move north to the Corpus Christi area, which is the same Latitude as Tampa, St. Pete area.
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