Finally got the new blog site up. Do a copy/past to see it. larry-linda.blogspot.com

I was trying to think of something to write about on today’s blog than this morning Larry gave me something. David Cypcar and Larry decided to go for bike ride in the State Park and before leaving our park they saw three young fellows walking down one of our streets towards them. They waited to see what they were up to. Their first clue that maybe these guys weren’t from around here was 1) they were in our park when the gates hadn’t opened yet (not sure how they got in the first place) 2) sure didn’t look to be over 55 years old 3) spoke very broken English 4) asked to use phones (Larry/David kept saying “have no phones” and 5) once Larry/David opened the front gate they no sooner got out and they were surrounded by border patrol and a helicopter. Let me clarify to our family/friends who think we are in crazy being here so close to Mexico. We do not feel we’re in danger here, like Larry said even though you could tell these guys had probably spent the night out in the brush they were very polite and thankful to have the gate opened for them (not sure once they were surrounded if they were still as happy……). Obviously the border patrol had been watching them for some time and were just waiting for them to leave our park before arresting them. In talking with people that have been confronted with the illegal’s they have all said that they are polite and never have felt in danger of being around them. Larry said he almost felt sorry for these guys, they were very young, maybe early 20’s and probably spent a very scary night out in the bushes after swimming across the river. They had no idea where they were at (kept asking for Mission), other than they finally got to America only to be picked up and be returned to Mexico less than a half mile from the border. Some of these people have traveled for weeks to get here and paid thousands of dollars to smugglers only to be dropped off at river and left on their own. From what the border guys have said they would be told that Houston or Dallas is just a couple of miles once they crossed the river and they would never get caught. So that was the excitement at Retama today, I was in the exercise room the and only saw the helicopter hovering outside the gate so didn’t get to see anything. Oh well. Guess that’s it for now, till next time…….

I know it has been awhile since the last post. There’s not to much happening around here to report. I’m still thinking about doing the new blog and one of these days I will. Just taking the time out of my busy schedule to set it up. We had a community meeting yesterday. Pretty much everyone that is here attended. Not sure where they are going to put people next month when more get here, the place is elbow to elbow now. The owner of development was there and explained the rules about the use of the new pontoon, atv and bikes that are available to us. It went on way too long and most of it was talking that wasn’t really necessary but we learned a few things. Today we went over to friends Larry & LaVila down in Mercedes which is about a half hour from here. We met these neat folks back in 2006 out in the desert at Quartzsite AZ. Always enjoy spending time with them, except LaVila and I wonder why we let those two Larry’s play together, always seem to have to out do the other and us girls seem to get the bunt end of it. Went to Gonzales Burgers for lunch, this is the hottest place for getting a hamburger. They grind their own meat first thing in morning, open the doors at 11:30 am and when the meat is gone the doors close. The menu consists of one size Hamburg, with either cheese or double cheese, fries, onion rings and water or can soda. Tables are the long ones that seat 10 so you get to know your table mates while you wait the half hour for your name to be yelled out. The place was packed and since these burgers are huge Larry and I split one, we both are still stuffed so “if” we have any dinner tonight it will be a P&J sandwich. Guess that’s it for now, till next time……………

One of the nicest things about coming down to the RGV is how the locals all try to make you feel so welcomed. That was one of the reasons that we purchased a lot here rather than say in Florida, that and of course the cost of the lot. It would have been nice to find a lot and park like this at a price we could afford in FL just because it would have been closer for the family to drive. When we spent winters in Florida and Arizona we did look around at parks and lots and at that time anything like this place was going for $80 to over $100,000, granted because of the economy now those prices have come down but still way over our budget. Anyway to get back to my first sentence, people and business’s open their arms to the northerners by putting signs up every where saying “Welcome back Winter Texans”. Last Saturday one of the couples here hosted Oktoberfest which was a complete success. Lots of food was prepared with the help of ladies in the village, it turned out to be a perfect night to eat out on the patio and no one left hungry that night. We finally went out last night for my favorite Baked Potato dinner. Tomorrow we’re suppose to go out with a group to a new Mexican place so we skipped the community pot luck tonight. Way to much rich food all within a few days. I’m thinking about changing to another Blog site. There’s one that a lot of my friends use that I’m able to post pictures beside what I’m talking about. It would be nice for you to see a picture of what I write about. If I do I’ll post it here to let you know. Guess that’s it for now, till next time…………….

Our cool weather looks to be leaving us today. It’s been in the 80’s with fairly low humidity for the last few days. But alas starting today it’s back in the 90’s for the rest of the week. Mind you I’m not complaining, this just means we will be spending more time in the pool in the afternoons. While the temps were down we took advantage of it. The seats in the car needed to be cleaned after the summer with the grandson who seems to have this magnet when it comes to dirt. I swear I could check him out from top to bottom but the minute he would climb on those tan seats…. Well you get the picture. You’d think gr-ma would wise up and put a towel under the car seat. Also Larry was eating a candy bar the other day and lets just say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. So while he was cleaning the seats I started straightening up some of the cupboards in the living room and taking Murphy’s soap to the wood. Good grief we have a lot of wood in this place. By the time I finished the living & dining area’s he was done and we called it quits for the day. Larry grabbed his book and headed for the lawn chair behind the rig in the sun and I took mine out under the awning. That’s how we spent the rest of the day, either reading, talking to friends who walked pass and than happy hour. Guess that’s it for now, till next time ………………