'20/#5 Why We Do What We Do

Today was the annual Volunteer Appreciation Lunch in Texas Trails. Like many RV parks the activities are run, attended, and supported by volunteers. Whether it is a holiday dinner, the weekly dance, or in our case the weekly Chuck Wagon the volunteers make it all possible. Many of the events would never happen without our volunteers. The best part is that anyone can volunteer! There is always something to be done and something for every level of ability.

This New Years Eve party Mary and I volunteered to take charge of the decorating. There was plenty of decorations from past years and we added some new to brighten things up. When we asked for volunteers to help we got about ten people step up. We also had several more who wanted to help but were commited to a previously planned bus trip. In less than two hours the hall was decorated and ready to usher in the New Year.

Every one had a skillset to bring to the table. Some of the older ladies unpacked and fluffed up the hanging items while others taped art work to the walls. Some of the gentlemen set up the components for our photo back drop including ballons and a giant champagne bottle. I ran up and down the ladder hanging things from the ceiling while Mary kept things organized and jumped in where ever she was needed.

We don't expect our older residents to climb ladders or move tables but they can set tables, roll silverware, and assemble table decorations. There is a job for everyone and every little bit helps. If the activities in your community need volunteers try and help. Even the tiniest help is something that needed to be done. It is also a way to get to know your neighbors in this RV transient life style.

Even though the lunch was for the volunteers, almost 200 of them, we still volunteered to help serve and clean up after. That is what volunteers do! Well I will sign off from our home in Texas Trails because......

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'20/#4 Hanging On For Now

Here we are in South Texas and the weather is a bit colder than we would like. With temperatures getting down in the 30's we are hanging on down here as long as we can. We will be heading north soon enough and there will be colder weather where we are going. We and the rig will be all prepared for the road as well as the weather.

Our list to get ready is getting shorter and longer at the same time. While getting the water connection fixed we found a leak in the water heater. This was a job better suited to a professional so that was something added to the list. That was taken care of and then a rock hit the truck windshield. Another thing added to the list. When we got that taken care of we found someone who could take care of our slide topper. One thing off the list and another added. If we keep going like this the list will never end!

With only seven weeks left the list has to get done. We also have a few other commitments on the calender that have been planned all winter. Once again I ask "how did I find time for a full time job?". Even without all the volunteering we aren't doing anymore I'm sure it will come down to the wire.

It is time to get to the list and try to stay warm so I will sign off now from our home in the Rio Grande Valley because....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'20/#3 Racing The Calendar

HOLY CRAP! I just looked at the calendar and realized that we will be on the road in just over two months. Where did the winter go? I know I talked about all the volunteering we have done and the work we do but it still sneaked up on us. There is so much to do and so little time. We have stopped volunteering to give us more time but that just allows us to enjoy a little "do-nothing" down time. Now that we have rested a little, it is time to get back into gear and start checking things off our to-do list.

That being said I thought that I would tell you about our next volunteer project. Yes we have one more volunteer job that we are committed to. We are cooking St Patrick's Day dinner. That means corned beef and cabbage for 350-400 people. This is the last social event of the season before all the Winter Texans head north and is also one of the most attended events of the year. Others will be organizing the parade, games, contests, and other activities and there should be no shortage of volunteers for all of it. No doubt we will have many hands helping in the kitchen.

This last party cuts our time down to 4-6 weeks to get everything we want to do and see before we leave. This summer we will be getting some work done on the RV and anything I can do myself is money we can save for some of the bigger projects we have planned. Such is the life the full time Rver.

Well we have to get started on our day or as they say in the old westerns,"we're burning daylight!!". So here's so long from our home in the Valley because......

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'20/#2 Unsung Volunteers

2019 ended with the usual flurry of holiday activity and the activity is carrying over into 2020. The weekly activities that were suspended during the past few weeks are getting started again. As is common in most RV parks all the fun and games rely on the volunteers that organize, run, set up, and clean up to keep things running smoothly.  Now if you know Mary she is one to step up and take charge when needed. If you know both of us you also know when you get one of us for anything you usually get both of us. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am a volunteer whether I know it or not.

Here in Texas Trails there are sign up sheets for all the activities and I make it a point to check and see what I have volunteered for. Many times I have volunteered and signed my name in Mary's handwriting. During the activities I get the chance to talk to other volunteer husbands that don't remember signing up but nonetheless are here doing their part. The common factor is they seem to volunteer in their wives' handwriting. None of us mind as long as we get a heads up before we actually have to show up. We are the unsung and sometimes unknowing volunteers that keep the park a community.

The next few months will be plenty busy for us. We have a laundry list of things to do before we get back on the road in the spring. All of this is in addition to the activities in the park that we participate in and some of the excursions we have planned in the Rio Grande Valley. It still amazes me how full our calender gets even though we are retired. I'm not sure how I ever found time to hold a full time job before.

Well I have to go and check the volunteer sign up sheet so I will be saying goodbye from our home in the RGV because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'20/#1 A New Year and Life Goes On

Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to 2020! After bringing in the New Year twice, once on TV on the east coast and again in person in Texas in central time, it is time to start the new decade. It is also time to remember the past year so we can appreciate what we have and also what we have lost. It is a time to plan for the future. So my rambling begins.

2019 was like any other year with it's ups and downs. As travelers we saw many wonderful places and got to meet a ton of great people. In our travels we had a few mishaps that in the grand scheme of things were truly only bumps in the road. At the time it may have seemed bigger, but bumps and bruises are signs of a life lived to the fullest. The past twelve months also had a number of people leave our lives. Some moved on to live where we probably won't see them again, but we never know. Others have moved on to a more permanent destination where we know we won't see them again. Those, especially the ones closest to us, really can be as close as the memories we have of them. I'm not trying to minimize the loss, I am just saying that life goes on and hopefully the memories of the good times will help numb the pain of loss that we all feel.

Now 2020 will be a year like no other simply because all of us have to do our part to make it what it will be remembered for. First I would like to say something and get it out of the way. 2020 is a presidential election year and everybody has an opinion. I am not taking sides here but I am saying that if you have an opinion the place it matters the most is the ballot box. 2016's 60% voter turnout is shameful. Government by the people means ALL the people! Just vote! And please let us be civil to each other.

Off the soap box and back to our plans for 2020. As I have posted before we will not be workcamping this year but will do more traveling in and around our old stomping grounds. We will be trying to reconnect with friends, old friends, and some really old friends and visiting with as much family as possible. Along the way we want to give our home some much needed TLC and possibly some up grades to take us into this new decade and all that it promises. Since our home is on wheels and our plans are written in jello we are just making tentative travel plans. We are also looking for new workcamping opportunities along the way. We might even find one near these old friends and family.

Right now I am looking out the window at a dreary rainy January 1st, but maybe it is 2020's way of washing off the old 2019 to give us a new clean slate to mark our own 2020 on. So, again, Happy New Year to everybody who follows us from our home on wheels in Pharr Texas because......

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'19/#41 Tired, Retired, Reretired

Just about everybody works with an eye on the light at the end of the tunnel, the light being retirement. We all put in those years in the work force looking forward to the time that we can do what we want, when we want, and relax...especially relax. Well be forewarned that retirement can be as hectic as any job only more so because you are doing what you want to do.

Here at Texas Trails we enjoy our time in the office. It is relaxing and low pressure and well worth the compensation we get. On the other hand as residents of the park we like to volunteer as a way of getting to know the other residents. It also lets us get involved in groups, activities, and other get togethers. If we are not careful we can get ourselves over extended as we did the past two weeks. Between the holiday preparations and the weekly Chuck Wagon dinner we knew it would be a busy time. Add to that one of the girls in the office had a family emergency and as the friends we have become over the years we stepped in to fill the gap. Also as will happen in a group of people of a certain age (seniors) someone wasn't feeling well and could not do the shopping for the kitchen activities. As a Chuck Wagon volunteer we volunteered to do the shopping for the next two weeks. Toss in our usual household chores and a doctor's visit or two and the last two weeks has us beyond tired or retired. We are now reretired.

This next week has a lot of blanks on the calender and the plan is to keep it that way. A relaxing week and a planned date night just for the two of us will go miles to help us recharge our batteries before the next round of holidays. Christmas will be just the two of us but we have volunteered to take charge of decorating for New Years Eve and will also help in the kitchen. After that we have President's Day, St Patrick's Day, Valentines Day, Easter, and (we should be gone by then) Memorial Day. All these  holidays are celebrated in one way or another in the park. Based on our full calender I'm not sure when I had time to work before retirement.

I have been making time to blog in the middle of all that has been going on but I will say goodbye for now from our home in South Texas because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#40 Remember Wheels and Jello

Mary and I were just sitting around and talking about ideas for the next year. We are always saying our house is on wheels and our plans are written in jello so things can  change in a moment, so this is tentative right now. In other words no one should be getting excited or changing their own plans based on what I am writing today.

"Home is where we park it" is our motto but we still consider Florida home. They say home is where the heart is and since all of our children and grandchildren are in Florida.... We also have a lot of friends that we made while living, raising our family,and working that are still living in Pinellas County. These are people we haven't seen in almost three years of traveling in western America. Having grown up in NY and Virginia we have a lot of people from our past still living in or near the I-95 corridor that we also haven't seen in many years. Well we think that will change this next summer.

We have plans that will not include workcamping. First we will head up to Indiana to give our almost 15 year old rig some much needed TLC. Indiana is where most RVs are made and the parts and know how are centered there. What better place to get some of this work done? After that the plan is to travel up and down the east coast and see as many of these long lost friends as possible. We just want to visit some of our old stomping grounds.

Like anyone else we have friends and family from school, from work, and from raising our family. Our travels have allowed us to make even more friends all over the country. We are enjoying our life and consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to look back at how many friends we do have. As Clarence from "It's A Wonderful Life" wrote, "no man is a failure who has friends". With that in mind Mary and I feel we are living a most successful life and are grateful to everyone who has let us into theirs.

With a general outline for next year we will try to make some plans and hope the jello does not get disturbed too much. Keep your eyes and ears open as we firm up our plans and hopefully we can see as many of our friends and family as possible next year.

I will leave you with wishes for you to have a happy and healthy holiday season with those near and dear to you from our home here in the Rio Grande Valley because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary