WAX ON, WAX OFF

Saturday, January 25 – Last Saturday, Paul started waxing the 5^th wheel. He started on the nose this morning before the sun heated things up. This would be a much easier job if he didn't have to work from a wobbly folding RV step ladder.

It was the old “wax on, wax off” routine for quite awhile. By the looks of things this waxing hadn't been done for a long time.....if at all. Paul waxed and re-waxed four times until he was satisfied with the appearance.

Finally shiny and looking like new! This should make bug removal after a day on the road easier too!

Using an orbital buffer makes removal of the wax film fairly easy and results in a pretty nice shine. The only draw back is the cloths need to be changed frequently because wax residue builds up and ends up back on the clean surface. Well, that put Paul out of business eventually because he only had three covers for the buffer. Marsha took them and his rags over to the laundry so he would be able to resume work tomorrow......slave driver!

With one day down, Paul completed the nose and part on one side. He went up to Walmart to purchase several more buffer cloths so Marsha can keep him working longer tomorrow. So after church it's back on the ladder – wax on, wax off!

Marsha completed a basket for her good friend, Angie. She's been secretly working on it since we arrived here in Mission, TX. Sunday, after church, Marsha asked Angie to stop in the RV for a second and surprised her with the gift. She was so surprised and simply delighted with her basket. Marsha was pretty happy too!

Paul has been going with some of the guys to play Pickleball at an indoor facility in Mission. This is nice because it is not effected by cool morning temperatures or windy conditions.

Pickleball is an “old guys” version of tennis. It is a cross between tennis and ping pong. It is played on a small tennis style court, but you use a paddle (like ping pong) and a whiffle ball (a plastic ball full of holes). You still get a nice workout, but it is not as intense as tennis.

This was taken last year at the outdoor court. Just wanted to give you
an idea of the size of the court.

At the Mission Park building, you pay 50¢ to play and rotate in and out of the games played on three courts. This gives you a little break between games. We play from 9 a.m. to about noon.

Paul and Rick went last week and were joined by Barry and John this week. You never know how many guys and gals will be there. All are welcome. We play for the fun of it not getting too serious about winning (yeah right!).

Wouldn't it be nice to just curl up and sleep like this.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

THIS BLOG FOR THE BIRDS

Tuesday, January 22 – Well, we finally saw them! We have searched in vain the past three years for the Mexican Green Parrots. Sunday night was our lucky night.

They come to different areas around Mission, TX, at about 4:30 p.m. to roost for the night.

The other night friends, Donna and Norm, called to inform us the Parrots were in the trees by K-Mart. Unfortunately, we couldn't drop what we were doing and go, so Sunday evening we headed to K-Mart about 4:15 hoping to see them.

Sure enough, about 4:30, we heard a racket and here they came. WOW! What a sight.

They landed in some trees near the Jack In The Box fast food restaurant.

The tree they landed in was a nut tree. They were cracking the nuts open and dropping the shells on on the cars below. What a nosey bunch they were.

We ran around taking pictures and noticed there were more in the trees across the parking lot at K-Mart. And just like Donna and Norm reported, there were 100's landing and squawking in the trees near the store.

They were beautiful! Dark and light green in color with a yellow beak. They are pretty large too! Boy can they make a racket!

A little love in the air?

We enjoyed watching them for quite awhile. Now, I wonder why they travel to this area to spend the night? Think it could be the “blue light specials” at K-Mart?

Marsha was so excited, she immediately called Angie and Jane. She made plans to take them all to K-Mart on Monday night. Everyone met at our place at 4:05…strict orders from Marsha. We arrived at K-Mart at 4:15 and began the watch.

"There they are!" someone yelled.

But, why aren't they landing? We watched for about ten minutes as hundreds circled the area. Paul walked over to the K-Mart tree and noticed two huge hawks sitting there. Oh dear, now we know why they wouldn't land.

Stupid hawks

We saw where they did land and dashed in that direction. How lovely they looked against the background of the palm trees.

If you are in the area, visit the K-Mart off of I-83 and Bryan around 4:15. They arrive anytime between 4:20 and 4:30.

Keeping in the animal line of thought, we had a great time the other night playing RATZ! The card game. Marsha organized (She loves throwing parties – usually big ones too!) a game night at the Clubhouse inviting 20 people. Well, as things usually do, it quickly swelled to 30 people.

We divided into tables of six and explained the game to the newbies. After the first round of five hands, we switched people around and played a second round.

Everyone brought an hors d'oeuvre to share, and their choice of beverage. Marsha even had prizes for the ten winners. Nothing big…bubbles, silly putty, paddle ball, etc. What a great time!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

HEAT IT UP!

Sunday, January 20 – With Mother Nature continuing to treat us with some rather “BRISK” temperatures – especially at night, on Thursday, Paul decided to install our Blue Flame propane heater that he removed from the Motorhome. It took some searching to find all the needed parts, but after driving all over the RGV, Paul gathered all the parts and hopefully will get the installation completed in one day.

He started by installing a shut-off valve in place of an existing 1/2” plug in the propane line. This will allow us to shut off the propane gas supply when we remove the heater in warmer weather.

He then ran a propane line from this shut-off to the location of the heater. This required the removal of a wall in the main basement storage area. By removing this wall, Paul could crawl into an area normally reserved for running electrical, water, heat, and other utility lines.

'

From there he drilled a hole through the wall,

fed the propane line through the hole

and bingo….he had a location for the heater. He used a quick disconnect on the heater so it could be easily removed and stored when not in use.

To finish up, Paul then checked all the fittings for leaks, using a soapy solution. No leaks, so the final check was to turn on the heater and see how it works. It was a pretty simple install except for the many trips to Home Depot for materials. It doesn't matter how well you plan, it always seems to require extra trips for parts and supplies......jeesh!

Bella prefers the warmth of the sun.

POST NOTE (SEVERAL DAYS LATER). It's amazing how much warmer the RV is with the Blue Flame heater and with very little propane used. These cold mornings made the overhead heat pump work pretty hard or required using the RV furnace which is not very fuel efficient. Now the Blue Flame heater has everything toasty in no time!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!