'18/#30 'Tis The Season

We are well into our winter season here in southern Texas and are getting back in the rhythm of the park we are staying. It is getting close to the end of November and that means the holiday season is kicking off. First and foremost Mary and I would like to thank everyone who wished us Happy Birthday. To quote Clarence Oddbody of It's a Wonderful Life, "no man is a failure who has friends!". By that account Mary and I are way beyond successful in life when looking at the list of people we count as friends. Thanks again for all the well wishes.

Now on to the holidays.  First up is Thanksgiving. This year we are going to keep it simple and have a Thanksgiving for two. That means we will sleep in, watch the recorded Macy's parade, get a start on all the holiday programming on TV, and of course eat too much delicious food. We will probably stay in our PJs all day and make phone calls to friends and family before falling into a food induced coma.

The rest we get from the previously mentioned coma will come in handy since Mary has found a few Black Friday sales she wants to go to. Fortunately Black Friday is not the insanity it was years ago thanks to Internet shopping and Cyber Monday. Our holiday shopping is going to be curtailed this year.  We are planning ahead for the next couple of years and need to enhance our financial status if want to take on the adventures we hope our future holds for us.

The next holiday we celebrate is Chanukah. This a celebration of the miracle of the rededication of the temple. The story goes that one day's worth of oil lasted eight days during this time. We will celebrate it like most Jews with the lighting of the menorah but we seem to have started our celebration a  little early... only with propane instead of sacred oil.

We have a propane cylinder that needs a new valve and the propane tech told me to use up the full cylinder so we didn't waste 9 gallons of propane. For the last 3 plus weeks we have been using propane for everything even though we get our electricity for free. We heat our hot water, heat our house, cook, and even run our generator all with propane instead of electricity which is our normal procedure. And still the propane cylinder is not empty! In West Yellowstone where we used electricity for everything, and propane only to supplement the electric heat, we used a cylinder once a week. I am not one to believe in miracles but....... Anyway, it has lasted way longer than we thought it should. We are glad that we will be able to get by on less propane when we go back to normal but we also would like to get the defective valve fixed.

Well the laundry is done and needs to be folded so I will end this with a "Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone from our home in Pharr because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'18/#29 It's Winter Texan Time!

Our summer season is over and West Yellowstone is behind us. We left before the temperatures dropped and the snow started to pile up. That is why we are full time RVers and our houses are on wheels. That and the fact that Mary didn't know what a snow shovel was! HAHA. The trip south was relatively uneventful and we were welcomed back to Texas with open arms.

This first week back we got the rig set up for a long term stay. The truck was washed and de-bugged and we got caught up with the laundry. Then we drove around checking out some of our favorite stores and doing a little shopping. We also went to the office to get a bit of a refresher and updates on the office procedure. My mind is at that age that if I get away from a regular routine it just seems to fall out and get lost forever.

Part of our reintroduction to the area was reintroducing our stomach's to some of our favorite foods. Six months in Montana and we forgot what seafood was. Also Mary had to get her Whataburger fix. We are looking forward to some real Italian, Chinese, and Mexican food. The Mexican food is especially good being only a few miles from the Mexican border.

Speaking of the border, we are also looking forward to our trips into Progresso and enjoy the Mexican welcome for the Winter Texans. We are officially Winter Texans which is very different from Florida's Snow Birds. Snow Birds are tolerated while Winter Texans are overtly welcomed. Not just the winter communities but the towns all around us have special events and promotions aimed at the Winter Texans.

Well this is our first day back at work in our Winter Texan home here in Pharr Texas because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary