While in South Texas, we participated in what may turn out to be an annual ritual: Birthday Sushi for Liz! We discovered a Sushi Restaurant in McAllen that is really quite excellent! We did this last year, but a month or so late (after my Pacemaker Implant). This year on a more timely basis!
While we were able to find an excellent Sushi place, there are certain ethnic foods that remain elusive down here. For example, getting a good Bagel is not really possible.
We DID find a specialized Bagel Café; not to be confused with a Panaderia that makes bagel-like things. Don’t get me wrong…I really like Mexican pastries, but bagels, they don’t and ain’t!!! The bagels at the Café were adequate at best, and still reflected the dominant Latin sensibilities common down here.
Returning the favor of visiting-while-on-the-way, Peggy and Rick passed through and spent a couple nites parked next to us in the RGV. On one day, we swung over to the SpaceX facility.
While in the RGV, we made a very substantial bus enhancement. Our plan was to eliminate the dinette area, which we NEVER used because it is horribly uncomfortable. Instead of completely removing it, as we did in our previous bus, we had a plan to build a cabinet and countertop on top of the Dinette structure; thus allowing the next owner of GOOD TROUBLE to choose whether they wanted a dinette.
Our plan was to find some sort of sideboard or cabinet setup at an antique (junk!) store, which we could bastardize into a credenza, and that buy a piece of Butcher Block to affix atop. We spent the better part of 3 months looking for cabinet(s) of the right dimension, without much success.
Searching for Cabinets
We miss our furniture-maker friend, Bob White, and think of him often, but ESPECIALLY knowing he would have (gladly!) built us the perfect cabinet.
Anyway, after weeks of searching and NOT finding, we happened upon 4 identical 2-drawer file cabinets that were not only dimensionally correct, but also the exact same color as our existing countertops! We acquired the cabinets, then found an unfinished butcher block at Floor and Décor in McAllen. THEN, I found a jigsaw and palm-sander owned by a fellow snowbird in the park. A few days later, I had completed construction, and we are VERY happy with the result!
I was also able to repurpose the section of butcher block I removed to create a window-well…made a side-board that affixed to the bus for a serving buffet next to the BBQ.
Again, VERY happy with the result! I know this because I was also continuing my experiments with the new grill/smoker.
I made both a smoked chuck roast (poor-man’s brisket) and a smoked pork tenderloin. Both came out quite edible…I am zeroing in on perfecting the necessary techniques!
Throughout my project work, I could imagine Bob White standing over my shoulder, chirping a little bit about my design decisions, cutting strategy, varnishing efforts, etc. The new countertop/cabinet is right next to the drawer/liquor cabinet he made for us, and I get a little misty when I see them together.
One of our routine activities when in the Rio Grande Valley is to visit the Mexican Dentist. As we have described before, we have found these folks to be VERY professional and quite fiscally reasonable. Anyway, this time, Liz’s college roommate, Marie and husband Rick, joined us for the adventure.
We found that the number of patients was WAY DOWN this year…the streets were not crowded and the dentist office waiting room not nearly full. I think this is mostly because the normal contingent of Canadian Snowbirds were not present…Canadians have mainly decided to forego visiting and spending money in the US while our politics are so unfriendly towards their country. This is a further manifestation of the “Elbows up” mentality we saw last summer. Sad, really. Certainly hurting US businesses down here, who rely on “Winter Texans,” many of whom have historically been Canadian.
Because the dentist office was so uncrowded, we found ourselves on the horns of a dilemma: by 10am, we were done at the dentist. The dilemma: Is 10am too early to start drinking Margaritas? We decided no, not too early when you convert to Mexican Standard Time!
There is a reason why they sell T-shirts that proclaim: MEXICO – the Fun side of the wall!!!
While Marie and Rick were down in the RGV, we also wandered over to South Padre Island, and then to the SpaceX Facility in Boca Chica.
While in the RGV, we sadly learned that our dear friend, Nancy Sinclair passed away. She had been diagnosed with a nasty version of Leukemia in early summer, but the suddenness of her passing caught us by surprise. We hopped on a flite to have a toast to her and her family.
One of the fun parts about the park we stay at in Texas (other than leaving the bus here while we travel) is that there are a variety of amenities and activities. There’s a pool and hot tub…and weather very amenable to both. They also have pretty regular live music, and a pretty large dance floor for those who wish to engage in such senior shenanigans! Let’s just say it can be a Wild nite in Rio Grande Valley with a good band… indeed many if not most residents are not even in wheelchairs…
One of the amenities we enjoy are the Pickleball courts…there are rotating games every morning…mixers where you just paddle-up and play in random combinations. Good players are pretty tolerant of those on the more “beginner” end, such as Liz and me…but we ARE improving, and enjoying! I was, however, reminded of my aged self…I acquired “Pickleball Elbow” …it’s like tennis elbow, I suppose, except slower and less acute (like us!) …still enuf to need to abstain from activity for a week!
Finally, we have booked our trip to Costa Rica…we leave next week and return in March, so for almost 2 months. We were hemming and hawing about dates…had not committed to anything firm, when friend Norman from Australia mentioned he was passing thru the states in late January…where were we going to be? I took that as a sign to make reserves, and we booked one of those HORRIBLE overnight connections to Costa Rica via Dallas. You know, the ones way down the list of options, because who, in their right mind, books an overnight connection … even if you could save a few $$$$.
But, in this case, it allows us to meet Norman for dinner in Dallas and travel onwards the next day (for cheap!)!
SO, we have only the first few days “planned” for our trip to CR. We’ll stay in the Central area of San Jose for a week, and use that time to decide where else we’ll be going. We are travelling very light, and staying flexible. The next of these missives will undoubtedly be from there.
