City of Winnipeg, Retirees Annual Dinner

There are a lot of ex-City of Winnipeg employees that come down to the Rio Grande Valley for the winter.  They have an annual Pot Luck Dinner which we were invited to attend.  The membership consists of retirees from Parks & Rec, Administration, Fire Department, Police Department, Operations etc.   As you can see by the turn out in these pictures it was well attended. 

                                                                             

It was the usual Pot Luck Dinner with lots of food, and they even allow, the old BYOB, to go on at these functions down here, which is kinda nice.  A lot of eating and drinking and of course joking around about different departments.  A good time was had by all, but of course one of the main topics of conversation was the Manitoba type weather that we were having last evening. 

As I stated in my last Blog, with freezing temperatures and a constant drizzle we have been getting a coat of ice on everything.  So when the evening ended I could not resist taking this picture from inside the truck as poor Dan had to be out there, scraping ice from the windshield.  That's what we drove all this way to avoid. 

But as I sit here this morning I see blue skies and high white fluffy clouds off in the west and I hear big sheets of ice sliding off of the trailer, this will all be history by tomorrow.

Brrrrrrr! It's Cold Here.

Here we sit hold up in our trailer with the furnace running,

Watching  our windows fog over from the cold weather outside. 

The temperatures are hovering around freezing.  We have kept the water dribbling in the trailer overnight, so the water lines  won't freeze.  And apparently we have another 24 hours of this to get through.  Today they are predicting possible drizzling rain that may turn to sleet if the temperatures drop any further.  With all their predictions it has so far not gotten down as low as they keep predicting, but it's still very cold. 


Meanwell Dan & I are supposed to go to a Potluck Dinner at the Club House for all the retired City of Winnipeg employees that winter in the park.  I am making a large Broccoli Salad and because Dan has Ice Radials on the truck we will drive the 1 1/2 blocks over to the hall.  If it's icy out there I don't want to fall and break something.  And I don't mean my dish. 

The temperatures tomorrow are supposed to get back up into the 60s, and back to 75 norms on Saturday

Another Nice Day in Texas

 The weather is nice, but all the weather men here are giving dire predictions of disaster heading our way.  It's supposed to go down to freezing or maybe even a few degrees blow that, but to hear them talk they might as well be running around their studios yelling "we're all gonna die".  They are asking for donations of blankets, they are opening shelters in all the cities and towns and telling people that they should stay home if they can.  Meanwhile we are still enjoying a beautiful day and evening and we will see what tomorrow brings.                                                         

Dan bought a new Bar-B-Q today.  And like I said, weather was so nice  he was out in his shirt sleeves putting it together this afternoon.  So, we will snuggle down in our little trailer and survive the next few cold days, then we will get t-shirts that say I survived the Winter of 2011 in the Rio Grande Valley.        

                           

Another Hot and Muggy Day in Texas

 It was really warm and humid today.  We took another trip to McAllen, to the dog park and we also had to sign off on the cement work we had done on our lot patio and driveway.  The weather is supposed to turn really cold here there is a cold front moving in that is supposed to drop the temperatures from highs in the 80s to highs in the 30s.  Yeah, that's not a typo, by Thursday the overnight lows are going to be in the 20s and the day time highs will only reach the 30s.  It should be interesting, especially if we get any precipitation.  I don't think anyone around here will know how to drive in the snow or ice. 

I couldn't resist this picture from the dog park today.  This is a nine week old German Shepherd pup, that was more than a little overwhelmed by all the other dogs at the dog park.  He finally got over it and started to interact by the time we left.  So that was our day.  More tomorrow.

Whew! It's Hot!

It was really comfortable here last evening, it only got up to 75, with a brisk breeze, which died right off as the sun went down.  After dinner Dan, watched TV while I as usual mucked about on the computer.  We  never anticipated what arrived today.  When we got up, the heat was climbing fast.  I think everyone decided to put their A/C on, in anticipation of the predicted 82 forecast, and blew out the power in half of the park.  Including us. 

Well the power was out for most of the day, so we went and hung out around the pool for the rest of the day, along with everyone else.  Our usually deserted pool was the busiest I have ever seen it.  According to my indoor/outdoor thermometer I have on board, the temperature climbed to 87 and I think I got a little pink colouring.  That roast I was planning for Sunday Dinner is still in the fridge.  I think it will be Subway for dinner tonight. 

If the temperatures are going to continue like this for the rest of our time down south I think we better invest in a portable Bar-B-Q.    BUT WHO'S COMPLAINING?  Not us.

FYI  in case your didn't know, you are welcome to leave comments on this blog and no one except you and I will see these comments or my answers.  Feel Free to comment.

Today We Took a Cruise Boat Down The Rio Grande River.

 Our dock mates Sharon & Casey picked us up and we went on a boat cruise up and down the Rio Grande River. 


I was amazed at how crystal clear the water was.  It was like looking into a swimming pool, of greenish blue water.  I always thought the Rio Grande would be murky like our Red River. 

This must have been a beautiful cruise a few years ago.  But last year they had a "Flood of the Century" They had torrential rain falls all along the Rio Grande and this area had water levels about 20 feet above normal levels, that did not recede for weeks and weeks. 

This boat obviously floated up as the flood waters came and got jammed up into the boathouse and never came back down again. 

Businesses and homes up and down the river were decimated and filled with silt. 

This was once an extensive and exclusive resort that has still not been restored. 

There is devastation everywhere you look. 

Some will never  recover. 

Some are slowly starting to recover.  The cruise company we cruised with, is one that is on it's way back.  But I am sure they are hoping the scenery up and down the river will improve, and get back to it's former beauty. 

All in all it was a nice day.

The Latest News From Linda and Dan

When we arrived in Texas, we were booked in, to Magic Valley Park.  It's a park we had stayed in last year and knew that we liked.  Once there we heard about the new Off Leash dog park that had opened in McAllen.  So we checked it out, and as I said previously in this Blog, Sea-enna loves it.  Well, McAllen is about 15 miles from where we are staying, so we  started driving back and forth 30 miles every other day to take her to her park .  It didn't take long for us to realize that we should check out RV Parks in the area of this dog Park.  After a few days of looking we found Paradise Park a couple of blocks away. 
After a number of days looking at our options and discussing it we ended up purchasing a "99 year Life Lease", on lot 335 in Paradise Park.  It's a 26 X 40 RV site, with some pavement, Sewer, Water and Electric and two fruit trees.

 IT'S AMAZING WHAT WE WILL DO FOR OUR PETS. 

The lot is in a 55 Plus Seniors Park and it works like a Condo in that now that we have purchased the lot, we just pay $110.00 a month maintenance fee and electricity that we use while we are there. 




 This park has all the same facilities that we have here at Magic Valley.  Shuffle Board, Horseshoe pitch, Pool Tables, Card Playing, Crafts, etc. etc. 

They have a nice Pool and Hot Tub, that we will get plenty of use out of.   And the usual Showers, and Laundry facilities. 

We have been busy with this investigation and decision making process, and that is why I have not been blogging much these past two weeks.  We have made arrangements to have more concrete poured to enlarge our patio area, and we have to arrange for tie downs for our trailer then it will be ready for us and our trailer to move in. 

We are still going to take our holiday tour to the East, but then we will return to McAllen for some of March and leave our trailer on our lot for the winter.  No more hauling it all the way back to Winnipeg.  Then we will travel up to Youngstown, for our visit, then head home.

We have made a deal with each other that we will stay in McAllen for January and March each year, but for the month of February, we will travel around the south and sight see.  So that's the  "Gnus "for now.