Boy - the weeks are flying by!

This week went really fast! John was busy painting around the park and I learned some more about my job here and my second (afternoon) job at another park. A few more people have arrived and there will be more coming this next week. We've been hearing some tales of nasty weather through Nebraska...

On Saturday, we had our regular breakfast with the gang at Beto's and then we, and our friends Bill and Sandy, headed for South Padre Island (SPI) to see "Sandcastle Days". SPI is the southernmost portion of Padre Island National Seashore which is the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world (about 70 miles). The sandcastles are created by experts from all over the world and were really neat, but unfortunately, it was quite windy and, after about 45 minutes of being sandblasted we headed for someplace calmer. You can click on the picture below to see the detail - quite amazing!

We drove a little ways north on the island to the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center which overlooks the Laguna Madre. We wandered down one of the many boardwalks and look what we found! We looked in vain last year here for an alligator. This little guy was about 4 feet long and the first we've ever seen outside of a zoo or aquarium.

Not sure what this bird is - I suspect it's some kind of heron. Anyone out there recognize it?

This one is a Great Egret. Someday we should pick up a bird book for this area, since there are so many around here.

Quiet day today catching up on naps (John) and paperwork (me). We did get our two-mile walk in and washed the salt off the car. It's a tough life we have here...

Cooling off in Texas

Cooler temps finally! Last Thursday, the electric company FINALLY got the power pole fixed for the section of the park that we're normally in. When John finished his work shift, we moved the RV back to our regular spot. NOW we can get settled in for real!

On Friday we got up, ate breakfast and started washing the RV. Big job, but it was long overdue... Afterwards, we washed the front windows, put up the window shades and John put the tire covers on. He even got the extra stuff out of storage in the car and put away in the bay door spaces vacated by the chairs. And, of course, it rained less than an hour after we finished:):) We sure didn't complain though, because it finally cooled off. Bill and Sandy came over for a fun evening of pinochle. Bill and I won all but one game (had to brag a little!).

Saturday, we went over to Beto's for breakfast with the regular Saturday morning group that have already arrived. Charlotte was there with her daughter. She's selling her trailer and will be wintering in AZ with her daughter/son-in-law. We'll really miss her - she's such a neat person! Not windy today, so John & I got the 10' square sunshade tent set up with Bill's assistance. John did lots of reinforcing with PVC pipe and straps hoping to prevent it from blowing away the next time we have a strong wind. We'll check into getting a couple of mesh side panels so it'll stay nice and shady in there.

Later in the afternoon, we played some shuffleboard with Bill & Sandy. The women's combined scores were exactly the same as the men's combined! Guess we're pretty well matched with them!

Don't know what all today will bring, but we've already enjoyed a two-mile walk, as it's still cool. Very humid, but a whole lot better than those high 90s!!

Work, work, work...

I should have said "hot, hot, hot....", but hated to sound like a whiner! It has been in the high 90s every day since we arrived. John - poor guy - has been working outside every morning using the high pressure sprayer on pool walls, fountains and sidewalks. The place is looking very spiffed up - I think people will be pleased when they arrive.

I've been in training for the office work and just heard today that I will definitely be working an additional part-time job. My boss has also been managing another, smaller RV park not too far away and I've been asked to work there in the office in the afternoons for 20 hours a week. John will work there on an occasional temp job, as will another workamper.

We've got a really nice, fun group this year, but it still seems strange to us with so few people here. We went for a walk this evening and only saw one other person to visit with...

Starting our third winter in the RGV

We left Laredo last Wednesday morning and arrived at Magic Valley a little after noon. It was nice to have a warm welcome from Joe & Fran who will be our bosses this winter! We spent some time getting blocks under the tires, etc. only to discover that evening that the electrical problems we were experiencing late last February and March have not been resolved. John finally unplugged our shore power around 3 a.m. when the "surge protector" kept kicking off and on every couple of minutes.

John started on cleaning bathrooms the next morning and I spent some time swimming with Ruth (her doctor doesn't want her swimming by herself since a heart attack last spring). In the late morning, the electric guy came, discovered nothing and said he would try to get a recorder put on the electric to hopefully find the problem. By late afternoon, there was no word from the electricians so we moved the rig to another spot. It was beastly hot and we spent much of the afternoon hanging out with a few others over by the pool. Our friends, Bill and Sandy, arrived this afternoon also - so good to see them again! Thursday evening, we gathered three other couples and bobbed around in the pool getting acquainted. Nice people!

Friday morning was work time for both of us. Sandy, Karin & I started our office training with Fran and John & Bill used the high pressure sprayer on the pool fencing in preparation for painting. We've all been impressed with how much sprucing up has been done here this summer. The new clotheslines are wonderful and so is the widened sidewalk! In the afternoon, John & I headed for the RV supply store to pick up a replacement thermostat. We knew the thermostat was starting to have problems, but after we moved the rig yesterday it quit working altogether. Still no air conditioning - aaaagggghhh! It's been in the high 90s and miserably hot!! Fortunately the new thermostat worked like a charm so we finally have a cool place to hang out in. We did laundry and then went out to dinner with all the other workampers at a nearby restaurant. Great food and wonderful company! It's gonna be a fun winter!!