Catching Up

Ah, these are the days!

Blessed with a day of bright sunshine and 80-ish degrees, we spent the day taking care of some loose ends before we travel tomorrow.

First things first, Paul did laundry (Yeah, Paul!) while I caught up the other blog with posts about our dinner at Po Po, geocaching adventures, wildflower hunt and our day in Fredericksburg.

Whew!

After that, we wandered to the park office to pick up our mail, make a reservation here for a month in December and purchase our very own copy of the Big Rigs Best Bets Campground Directory. It's always a treat to get mail, of course. And, we are so delighted at the prospect of spending December here. We first spotted this nifty campground directory in Whittington, IL and were eager to have a copy. Now we do. When you're big, like us, it definitely helps to know where to park.

We made a last trip to Kerrville for a quick haircut for me while Paul scouted out the bank and post office. Then, we picked up essentials at Walmart and the nearby liquor store. Back at our lovely park, Paul did some heavy duty vacuuming while I made a mad dash to the spotless bathrooms here to do a quick hair color.

We did other stuff to get ready to roll, too. But, it's not nearly as exciting. With only 120 miles or so to go tomorrow we won't be in a big hurry. It'll be our kind of travel day. Plus, we've packed it with a special treat in the middle. Then, we'll be back in Austin to wrap up our service issues, see some family and then, finally, head west.

We hear it's windy out there.

Stay tuned.

Eating Our Way

We love Texas Hill Country! The weather is awesome, and it's spacious, scenic and has lots of good stuff to eat. Check Bullwinkle's Travels for our first taste of Cabrito burger. And, there will be a post soon about today's trip to Cooper's BBQ in Llano and Saturday's visit to PoPo's in Boerne.

This place is fun.

It might sound like we're eating our way across Texas, and we might be! But, more importantly, we have indeed found a part of Texas that we like. We geocached our way across part of Hill Country yesterday. And today, after our day trip to Llano, I drove into Kerrville to visit an outstanding quilt shop and a very friendly ranch and feed store where they happily loaded my big bag of cat food into the Jeep.

We like it here.

A lot.

There's so much to do here, and we just aren't going to be able to do it all in the remaining days we have here. So, it's simple. We've decided.

We're coming back.

Instead of December in Kansas City, we're thinking December in Kerrville.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

Breathing Room

We didn't notice it until this afternoon, but we've been straightjacket camping for the last couple of months. We've been squeezing this big ol' moose into tight little spots for far too long. Today we changed all that and treated ourselves to some breathing room.

With a short travel day ahead of us, we took our time loading up and unwedging ourselves out of our spot next to the nudist. It was closing in on 11:00 when we left Buda and began our 120-mile trek back toward San Antonio then northwest into a fierce headwind. With the metroplex behind us the Texas terrain began to change. Actually, it became down right scenic!

Since we arrived in Texas on New Year's Eve we've been in search of a part of it that we actually like. Hill Country might just be it! The rolling tree-covered hills are just beginning to show signs of Spring. And the breeze (It's Texas. Of course, there's a breeze!) is strong but somehow softened in protected spots amongst the hills. One such spot is just off I-10 in north Kerrville. There you'll find Buckhorn Lake Resort, a gorgeous RV park with trees, grass, a creek, level sites and plenty of space.

We've called Buckhorn home since 1:30 this afternoon. And, so it will be for a week. It feels really good! We've shed that straightjacket and are loving the room. The people are friendly and we don't have to lie about our age. There's lots to see in these parts, and we are looking forward to exploring it all.

More later from Hill Country. For now, we're gonna take some time to get out and s-t-r-e-t-c-h!!!!!!!!!

Budists

Our day in Buda (pronounced "bewda") was a day of hurry up and wait. But, it was mostly about waiting.

First thing this morning, Paul walked over to the service counter at the dealer just steps from our campground. Our appointment was confirmed for 9:30. Just before the appointed time, we unplugged the moose, pulled in the slides and loaded our crated cats in the back of our Jeep. We rolled up to the dealer and got things underway. We have a list of minor issues that we need to get taken care of before we get too much farther down the road, and this seemed like the place to work on that.

Entrusting your home to total strangers takes a leap of faith. We didn't pick this dealer for its stellar reputation. Heck, we don't even know anything about its reputation. It's a Winnie dealer on our route. And, they have their own campground. How's that for selection criteria? Like so many decisions we've made since we started fulltiming, we just trusted our gut on this.

With the moose in hopefully good hands, the family trundled off to a very nearby Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast. With temperatures in the low 60s and cloudy skies, today's weather was perfect for letting the cats hang in the Jeep. They napped comfortably while we had a long and very leisurely meal. After all, we had nothing else to do! After brunch, we wandered over to the Cabela's next door. We continue to be amazed at how this store can captivate two non-sportsmen like us. We spent at least an hour entertaining ourselves in the store, and didn't buy a thing. Next, we wandered next door to Walmart. And, as fellow fulltimers know, if you've seen one Walmart, you've seen them all. We walked the store, killed more time and picked up a couple of things. By early afternoon we'd hung with the Budists long enough. A steady rain began to pour, so we cut our time killing short and headed back to the dealership. There, we waited.

And, we waited.

Days like this come with the territory when you decide to live in a house on wheels. Every so often you find yourself sitting on an uncomfortable chair playing games on your phone while a you-hope-skilled technician works through your service issues. Even with a long, boring wait, we told ourselves more than once that this was better than a day at the office. So true!

About 4:30 we were ready to go and so was the moose. Several items were successfully checked off the list. As we suspected, parts needed to be ordered for a couple of issues. So, we decided to head out tomorrow and spend a week in Kerrville. Then, we'll head back here late next week and finish the job. Such is life lived on the fly!

With the moose checked out, we made the short trip back to the campground to the same narrow site we squeezed into yesterday. With a big metal electrical panel hanging off a pole on the right and a sewer connection sticking up on the left edge of the site, it's a tight fit for a 40-foot moose. Just as we were setting up to make the turn, our next door neighbor popped his head out of the door of his fiver and yelled to me "Watch out for that pole!" To which I replied, "Thanks, yeah, we know!" He closed the door and no doubt enjoyed his front-row seat for the parking festivities as we worked carefully to park the moose without a scratch.

When it was done he popped his head back out and complemented us on our stellar parking job. (We are quite a team!) We chatted for a bit and were struck by how all we saw was his head. When I say he popped his head out, I wasn't kidding. That was all we could see!

After we wished each other a good evening, we started to wonder. Could it be that our neighbor is a Budist Nudist?

We won't touch that one!

Free Fuel

Greetings from Buda, TX, just south of Austin. Our 300-mile day was uneventful, if you don't count the wasp that attacked the cabin somewhere around Falfurrias. (All I can say is, from now on you can call me "deadeye". Turns out my weapon of mastery is a flyswatter in a rolling home!) Add to that the fact that our departure from Mission was later than planned, so we spent the last 50 miles of our journey navigating the freeway between San Antonio and Austin after 3:00 PM.

No, it wasn't fun.

The best part of the day was earlier, when we made our well-planned stop at the Flying J just north of Edinburg. After we had glided easily into one of the two easy access RV islands, we decided to fill up for the first time in two months. And, we did it for free.

Yes, free!

You see, when we bought our new moose back in November, one of the enticements to buy was a "free" fuel card offered by the good folks at Freightliner. Truth be told, it didn't weigh heavily in our negotiations. But, when the card arrived in the mail loaded with 1,250 bucks, we didn't complain. Of course, we could have used the card for anything. But, we decided to use it for that which it was intended: fuel. Paul activated the card this morning before our departure. And, when we pulled into the Flying J it was ready. He pumped $120 or so worth of diesel into the moose and happily charged the card. It was a bit like Christmas.

Sure, we spent a lot of money to get that free fuel. But, believe me, we're gonna enjoy every single gallon of it.

Google Maps and Street View

It's our last night in the RGV.

Yee HAAAHHHH!!!!

The moose is just about ready to roll, and so are we. The cats, on the other hand, are clueless. It's been so long since they've been on the road they've surely forgotten what that's all about. But, they'll be reminded first thing tomorrow.

After spending more than a month here, we know there's a certain stretch of freeway we'd like to avoid on our way out, if we can. It's out of our way, for one reason. And, if we need another, all we can say is it's CRAZY! When we picked up our licenses the other day, we tested out a possible alternate route out and it looked good, except for one weird little four-point turn around a courthouse in the middle of the road. With that trial route behind us we loaded our starting and ending point in Google Maps once again and tweaked it just a little, and it found a way to avoid the courthouse in the middle of the road. Woo hoo!

When you're driving 50-plus feet of really tall vehicles that you can't back up, you learn early not to trust Google Maps or any other GPS routing program. After all, most of them are designed to find the shortest route from Point A to Point B for your basic sedan, and not a tall, wide and long rolling billboard. Thankfully, there's Street View.

By clicking on the cute little yellow man on Google Maps you can virtually cruise along any route and check for low clearances, narrow shoulders and the like. In just a few short minutes I gave the Google-suggested route out of here a big thumbs up.

It's been a couple of months since we've bought fuel. And, we're gonna need some tomorrow. I remembered seeing a Flying J on the way here a month or so ago. But, of course, its exact location is a mystery. With a quick check of the Flying J website I found the location of the travel plaza. And, with Google Maps I checked out the satellite view and spotted the two easy-access RV-friendly islands. It looks good and should be an easy in and out. With a quick point and click I adjusted our route to include a quick fuel stop. I mailed the route to myself so it'll be easily accessible from my phone as I sit in the navigator/safety director seat tomorrow morning.

We have 301 miles to travel tomorrow. It's a bit more than we like to do. But, with the help of all this technology we sure hope it's a breeze. At the very least we'll get to avoid that crazy RGV freeway.

Crap

First, this morning the winds blew and the rains came...and poured all over our freshly washed motorhome.

Second, there were clouds everywhere and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in 5 minutes. What happened to Summer?

Third, our beloved #1 seeded Jayhawks lost. In the second round.

Tomorrow has to be a better day.

Madness

We’ve been watching a lot of basketball around here these days. It’s our favorite time of year! With our beloved Jayhawks drawing the overall #1 seed in the tournament, we’re hopeful our team is the one to cut down the nets this year. We shall see.

We took a break from basketball this morning to wash the moose. Paul’s done it before, but this was my first effort. It’s all part of the experience of bonding with our new rolling home. With the South Texas winds blowing, Paul climbed up and tackled the roof while I stood on the ground with my fingers crossed. A couple walked by and gave us a look, to which I explained that this was the most nervous part for me.

“I know,” said the woman. “I’m always prayerful anytime he’s on the roof. It’s the wife’s lament.”

So true.

With both of us on solid ground, we went about washing, rinsing and drying the vertical surfaces. Just as we were getting started, we watched a Class A roll by. Like most RVers, we are in the habit of looking over rigs that are on their way out. With a friendly wave we take a gander to make sure nothing is sticking out or up where it shouldn’t be. Most of the time, of course, everything is fine. But, we have saved an antenna once or twice. So, we always look. Everything looked fine as this motorhome passed by, then I spotted something on the back bumper: A set of keys.

Without thinking, I started running after the rolling home. (Now, those of you who know me know I don’t run.) With a bright orange Sham-Wow in one hand I started waving my arms and shouting “Stop!” (Yes, I’m sure it was a sight!) Yelling “Stop!” in an RV park is akin to yelling “Fire!” anywhere. It attracts some attention. I heard others join in the shouting and within seconds I saw brake lights. I grabbed the keys and handed them over. The captain was grateful. Fellow campers waved and cheered. A couple in a car drove by and told me I “run good”. I said thanks and thought to myself “I’m not sure I’d be able to do that if I was really 55!”

The big moose bath took longer than we had planned. Turns out washing a rig is a real conversation starter in this not-so-friendly park. Had we known that we would have washed the moose on day one! Several people stopped to say hi, admire our rig, complement us on our work and visit for a bit. It was nice.

With three sides down and one to go, we decided to break for lunch, a bit of basketball and a lesson on RV electrical systems. The lesson, of course, was unplanned but valuable.

I pulled lunch out of the freezer, put it in the microwave and pushed the button. It sounded bad. Really bad. So, I immediately shut it off. Something was wrong. The voltmeter confirmed our concerns. Voltage was low, which happens in this park. But, this was unusually so. Something was definitely up with the power. In the process of elimination, we checked the inverter. It was on. Yep. We had lost power and the inverter automatically took over. It’s a seamless switch. But, the inverter isn’t enough to handle our power-hungry microwave. And when a microwave isn’t getting enough power it makes that really bad sound.

Our first moose didn’t have an inverter, so this is all new territory to us. We’ve had it set to turn on automatically when power is disconnected. That works great when we break camp and hit the road with nothing but the refrigerator running. But, when you’re just coming in for lunch and everything seems normal but it’s not, you could burn up a microwave or an inverter or worse before you knew what hit you.

So, the lesson for the day is to turn the inverter off when you set up and turn it on when you pack up. We’ll definitely add those two tasks to our checklists.

We figured we had just knocked the power cord out while we were washing, but it wasn’t us. No, the entire park was out. And, the office was closed for lunch. So, nobody had a clue what was going on. But, with a rapidly thawing lunch on the kitchen counter, we knew what to do. We fired up our trusty generator! As soon as it was on-line I popped lunch back in the microwave and it hummed away happily.

Since we’ve been sitting for over a month the generator was due for some exercise anyway. So, we kept it running, turned on the AC and enjoyed a hot lunch in a cool moose. Of course, somewhere in this park’s rules and regulations it states that use of generators is prohibited. But, if the park can’t supply us with power we won’t hesitate to make our own.

We noticed that some of our neighbors with pets were away, and their rigs were closed up tight on this warm, powerless afternoon. That got us thinking about one of the moose’s features we’ve yet to set up. The generator has a nifty gizmo that will fire it up whenever you program it to do so. For example, you can set it to start if the inside temp gets to 82 degrees and run for an hour with the AC on. On a day like today, with no park power and rising temps, that’d be just what we need to make sure our cats were OK while we were away. The gizmo requires some setting up before you can program it. That task has moved to the top of our to-do list!

An hour or so later we gave the generator a rest and Paul plugged us back in. We were pleased to see the park had power once again. With that, we checked in on a couple of basketball games and then headed back outside to finish bathing the moose.

After all that madness we are ready to kick back, relax and enjoy the rest of March Madness. Rock chalk!

Erin Go Elders

Happy St. Patrick's Day! While we went about the day quietly wearing the green and taking care of our obligations at the Department of Public Safety (The Texas equivalent of the DMV), it seems our fellow park residents had very different plans.

Around 6:45 PM, while we sat outside for a little holiday happy hour, the park started to buzz. Green-clad residents were gathering in groups in preparation of the park's St. Patrick's Day Dance, which started at 7:30. (All of this is well after dinner for them, of course!) We watched them all happily head off to the party.

An hour or so later, with a distant drum beat coming from the clubhouse, we're just about ready to sit down to a quiet dinner for two. But, before we do, we're noticing something. Golf carts are whizzing by. And, drivers of said carts are toting open containers of adult beverages.

Really?

Woah! A big diesel truck just raced by. The driver was adorned with one of those nite-light necklaces. And, we suspect, alcohol was on board. And, yikes! A brand spankin' new ATV loaded with party goers just cruised by at a high rate of speed. And, no kidding...as if on cue, we just saw a local police cruiser pass by with spotlights shining.

What in the hell are these seniors up to?

With our freshly minted temporary driver's licenses in hand, we're watching this irresponsible, and likely illegal, behavior through mystified eyes. These folks are not quite old enough to be our parents. But, it's close. As we sit here quietly minding our business, we are so tempted to step outside, flag them down, wave a finger in their faces and say....

..."you're gonna feel sooooo bad in the morning!"

Shopping for Others

Several times today I was tempted to update my Facebook status to say: Shopping for RVs. But, I didn't have the energy to explain it all. You see, I wasn't shopping for us. I was shopping for friends.

Yep. We have some friends who are shopping for the fulltiming motorhome of their dreams. It's a future thing, so we're looking at current new models in hopes of scouting out some great used deals in the future. They asked us to provide a bit of help, and we happily obliged. It's sure been fun.

I love to shop when I don't have to worry about spending any money. It's great!

And, just a note to all you future fulltimers out there. If you just so happen to have some friends who are newbie fulltimers and recovering workaholics, are you lucky! Those are exactly the people you want to ask to help you find the rig of your dreams. All you have to do is ask for help and they'll be on it like white on rice.

In that spirit, our wise friends asked me over the weekend to check out five or six models for them. I was so happy. I had a project! I carefully went about the task of compiling and evaluating specs and floor plans. I even started a spreadsheet. What a way to spend a Monday!

Now, I'm the first to admit that I am not an expert. That said, however, I have lived in a motorhome fulltime for 8 months, and part time for a year or so before that. I know a thing or two about how motorhomes live. Don't ask me about trailers, because I don't have a clue. But, it feels good to put this body of research I've created and conducted about motorhomes to good use.

These days I can look at floor plans and specs like GVWR and black water capacity and give a hopefully helpful assessment of how such a place would live and drive as a fulltimer. Oh, such is the value of experience.

I haven't made a penny at any of this, of course. At this point, I'm just happy to be providing a wee bit of help.

At least, I hope it's helpful.

The Last Spot

We're out of here in 11 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes. But, who's counting? Meanwhile, I'm pleased to report that our Spring and Summer travel plans are taking shape. With a mere 10 weeks to get from Mission to Idaho, we have places to go, people to see and many things to do.

Chief among them, we need to think about the holidays.

Our Memorial Day plans will take us back to one of our favorite spots along the California coast, in Fort Bragg. Knowing that's an area that's in high demand on holiday weekends, I decided to make a reservation today. With no online reservation capabilities, a phone call was required to make the deal. After sharing all of the pertinent information, I heard a familiar line.

"I'm putting you in the last spot we have," said the cheery voice on the coast.

Really?

In our newbie fulltiming career we've learned a few things. One thing is that, when it comes to holiday weekends and wintering in Texas, reservations are a must. And, the earlier the better. The other is that when you're heading to a popular part of the country, you can just about bet that when you call to make said reservation you'll be told you're getting the last spot.

It happened last summer when I made reservations for a month this winter in Port Aransas. Arriving at that park, the place was maybe two-thirds full. And, turns out, lots of our fellow campers were told they were getting the last spot, too. We all felt so fortunate!

And, it happened again last summer when I made reservations for our spot here in Mission. Then I was told something just a bit different. I was nabbing "one of the last spots" in the park. And, again, upon arrival we quickly discovered that wasn't really so.

Do they teach this stuff in Campground Owner School? I can hear the teacher now: "Make the customer feel oh so fortunate to be staying in your park by telling him/her that he/she is getting the last spot."

Well, that might work. But, let me tell you. After you've heard it once or twice, it gets old. Fast.

But, still, come Memorial Day weekend, we will be oh so glad to have a reservation!

We've Lost a Fulltiming Friend

This afternoon we received an email that immediately brought tears to our eyes. Our dear friends da Godfadda and Juanita wrote to tell us that Bodie, their furry travel companion, crossed the rainbow bridge this afternoon.

We read about Bodie, the fulltiming wonder dog, for more than a year before we had the great pleasure of meeting him in Port Orford last summer. And, while we are - truth be told - cat people, Bodie was our kind of dog. And, he was well-traveled! How many beagles can say they've been to Alaska?

Our hearts are heavy as we think of our friends Gordon and Juanita in their time of sorrow. Losing a beloved pet leaves a hole in your heart. It's a hole so big you can physically feel. While it does heal in time, it takes time to recover from such a loss. Our hope is that our dear friends take care of themselves and each other during this difficult time.

Bodie was one lucky dog. First of all, he was blessed with the best parents ever. And, after growing up in a place where it's never too warm or too cold, he got to travel all over the western United States, meeting all kinds of people. Known on the internet through his family's travel journal, Bodie had fans. Yep! He was special.

Godspeed, Bodie.

And, take good care, dear Godfadda and Juanita.

Spanish Lesson

"Buenas tardes," said the greeter. "Bienvenido a Wal-Mart."

"Buenas tardes," we replied in unison.

"Que producir necesitamos?" I asked Paul after we stepped inside the store.

"Como se dice brussel sprouts?" he replied.

We went looking for the answer.

"Coles de Bruselas!" we discovered together.

Que bueno!

After we had found the cebolla, limon y pez we were looking for, we went in search of one more item.

"Donde esta?" I started to ask, then stumbled.

"Como se dice salad dressing?" was my interim question.

We followed the signs and learned together.

"Ah! Aderezo de Ensalada," we read together.

Repita.

"Aderezo de Ensalada."

With that it was committed to memory.

Salad dressing in hand we headed for the checkout. The place was packed. So, with less than ten items we opted for the Pedido Rapido. Within minutes we had made our purchases and were headed out the door.

"Muchas gracias," said the greeter. "Buenas tardes."

Marveling at how quickly our high school equivalent Spanish has improved since our arrival in Mission, I asked Paul how we'd respond to anybody who asked where we learned to speak Spanish.

"That's easy," he replied. "Walmart!"

Eureka!

I have figured it out. It took me a few weeks, but I think I've got it.

Let me explain.

In case you couldn’t tell, we’ve been in a “mood” lately. As the resident “feeler” at our house, I’ve spent considerable time trying to figure out why. Today, I have a theory.

A year ago our pre-fulltiming angst was at a peak. Work sucked for us both. Really sucked. And, our desire to chuck it all and hit the road was high. Really high. And, there was a bunch of stuff in our way. Really in our way. Despite our best efforts, we were behind in purging our belongings and getting the house ready to sell. We worried that once it was ready to sell, it wouldn’t.

Get the picture?

On those dark winter days we searched for a lifeline. And, we found one in the blogs of the good folks who were already out there on the road. Reading about the daily lives of fulltimers helped us keep our eyes on the prize.

Many of those fulltimers were parked in the Rio Grande Valley. As we read every day about these people living the life we were oh so ready to move toward, we formed a mental picture of the RGV. Like Dorothy’s Oz, it became a dreamy, mythical place. From our overworked, bloodshot eyes, the RGV looked like heaven. Nobody worked. Everybody smiled. People sat and soaked up the sun. They bicycled to Mexico. They had happy hour every day. Yep, there was nothing but peace in the valley!

The bloggers didn’t do this, mind you. We did. It was us who glorified the place. The bloggers told us about the wind and the traffic and the tight, gravely RV parks, too. We simply stuffed those facts to the back of our minds. Plus, we understood the whole “Winter Texans” concept: a tsunami-size wave of trailer-pulling and motorhome-driving snowbirds who flood the barren valley for several months each year. But, there was little room for that reality in our growing fantasy. We looked forward to our stay there the next year. Parked in the RGV enjoying the warm version of winter, it would be official: We’d be wannabes no longer; We'd be fulltimers.

Fast forward a year. With some 8,000 miles between us and that very dark place where were last winter, we know that this heavenly lifestyle has its good days and not-so-good days. While many days have been filled with sunshine, bicycles and happy hours, others are about mechanical problems, detours and nasty weather, especially in an El Nino year.

With a much more realistic view of fulltiming, we headed south to just north of the border nearly three weeks ago. Shortly after we landed, we knew it. We don’t like the RGV. We even got all whiny about it.

Really, that’s not like us. In our first eight months on the road we’ve gotten pretty good at seeing the good in any situation. But, here we were nagging about a place we’d just paid to call home for five weeks.

So, what gives?

Somewhere between all of the packing and purging we did to prepare for this lifestyle, seems we packed that fantasy view of the RGV away deep in our subconscious minds. And, once we got here, we were wrestling with it.

Turns out the RGV isn’t the Utopia we created in our heads when we most needed one. Nope. It’s actually just a place in the southernmost part of the country that retirees in RVs head for in hopes of staying warm for the winter. Makes sense. Because of that, it’s crowded. Because it’s south Texas it’s windy, and it ain’t exactly what you’d call “purdy”. Because it’s an El Nino year, the weather ain’t been all that good for sitting outside. Besides, you’ve seen the half-naked guy across the street. He makes El Nino a blessing!

Are we sorry we came? No.

We had to! We simply had to see for ourselves the place that helped us keep our fulltiming dream alive during some of our darkest days. For that, we are truly grateful. And, though it isn't what we're looking for, the place really isn’t that bad. We’ve reconnected with friends here and met some nice people. And, even in an El Nino year, the weather is better here than most places in the rest of the country, if you don’t count the wind. We're paid up for another couple of weeks. So, we'll quit our bitchin' and actually enjoy the rest of our stay. We promise.

Will we come back? Don’t bet on it.

Travel Updates

Check Bullwinkle's Travels for recaps of our time in Port Aransas, Rockport and Whataburger. We also have a recap of our first weeks in the RGV and yesterday's trip to South Padre Island.

More when I feel inspired.

Misfits

"You're not in the RGV are you?" a friend questioned in a recent email. "I wouldn't be caught dead there."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Until I read this in an RV forum recently: "Florida is the place for 'nearly deads' and newlyweds. And, the Rio Grande Valley is a lot like Florida. Except, nobody honeymoons in the RGV."

Ain't that the truth?

Of course, we really have nothing to complain about. It's early March. And, we're warm, dry and not working. It can't be that bad.

So, bring out your little violins. Pour a glass. I'm gonna whine.

We don't belong here.

We had friends close by for the first week or so. Now, we're pretty much on our own. Remember that holiday favorite TV special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"? We're feeling like we're hanging out on the Island of Misfit Toys. Why so?

First of all, the weather ain't really all that great. Of course, this winter has been one for the record books. And, the RGV has not been spared. We've had rain since we've been here, and just a day or two when the temps have soared above 70. And, have we mentioned the wind?

Second, we're not snowbirds. At the risk of making a sweeping generalization, here's the deal. Most of these people come from somewhere north to avoid cold, freezing weather. For them, the RGV fits the bill. Yes, it is warmer here than Minnesota and Ontario! They come down here and "camp" for three or four months. They have their friends and don't need any more, thank you. Besides, we're fulltimers. And, they just can't get their arms around that concept. In their avoid-cold-at-all-costs eyes, we are aliens, plain and simple.

Third, we must confess we were warned about this. The RGV is lacking any, and we mean ANY, geographic beauty. We drove nearly 200 miles round trip today to see a beach. It was a treat.

Fourth, there are something like 500 RV parks here in the RGV. I'm gonna go way out on a limb and say that something like 498 of them are on the dumpy side. We've seen the two that are nice and spacious. And, you pay a pretty penny to hang out at those. For a lot less you can call a very little, dusty, gravely, windy slice of Texas your own. Getting your RV in and out of it safely will all be part of the adventure.

Fifth, we're not really 55!

Sixth, as such, we don't play shuffleboard, bingo, hand and foot or euchre. What the heck is a euchre, any way?

Seventh, we don't eat dinner before 5:00!

Eighth, we do eat dinner around 8:00!

Ninth, because we haven't mentioned it in awhile, it's windy here.

Tenth, we're the only people around here who are here for the first time ever. And, something tells me we might be the only people who aren't planning to come back any time soon.

Yep, it'll be awhile before we're back in these parts. But, despite our misfit situation, we're determined to make the most of our time here. After all, we have a rig to wash, taxes to do, books to read, travels to plan, exercise to do and quilts to work on. Here we'll do our best to catch up.

But, before I go, I'll break with tradition and post a picture. THIS is Reason #382 why we don't think we belong in the RGV.

Yep, this guy lives across the way from us. And, this was the view out our Imax window while we enjoyed our morning coffee earlier today. Nobody should have to look at that everyday. Nobody!

With this as our scenic view, we're praying for clouds, cool temperatures and - better yet - rain here in the land of barely-clothed nearly deads.