NEW TIRES AND EXTREME HEAT!

Monday, October 14 – It's been VERY HOT here in the Rio Grande Valley. High in the upper 90's everyday and only cooling off to about 80* at night. That's way too hot. Our AC has been running ALL day and even comes on periodically at night. It's pretty uncomfortable to sit outside even in the shade, which we normally enjoy doing. To make matters worse the humidity level is sky high....in the 90% range. We can understand why people wait until November to begin arriving in the Valley.

We're into one of those “When was the last time we had any real rain” cycles. We don't believe we've been rained on since our stay in Moab back in early September. That's fine for Paul – he hates rain – but when it's this hot, an all day rain might be enjoyable.

Last Thursday, Paul took his truck to Discount Tire to have the tires rotated. While there he decided to shop for new tires for the 5^th wheel. He had Michelin LT M/S2 235/85R16 tires installed on the RV. They are LT (light truck) instead of ST (special trailer) tires. They are load range E 10 ply radial tires with a manufacture date of 3713 (37^th week of 2013). Everything matches the trailer tire except they are built in America for trucks instead of tires built in China for trailers. We'll see how they wear. Hopefully, this will solve our tire issues.

Bella isn't crazy about anywhere we stop that doesn't have grass. There is really no grass here to speak of in Leisure Valley, so she has to find other ways to entertain herself. The other day she discovered this little gem.

She also has decided she wanted to find a new bed to sleep in. Why she picked this place is beyond our understanding.

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

 

OFF TO MEXICO

Wednesday, October 9 –  This is one of the reasons we decided to spend some time in the Texas Rio Grande Valley......dentist appointments in Progresso, Mexico. We have a 10:00 a.m. appointment with Dr. de la Rosa. We are both getting crown work done and regular scheduled cleaning.

We arrived early to avoid the crowds. Several times in the past we have found ourselves third or forth in line – even with an appointment. Thankfully this morning, we were the first to arrive and the first patients to see Dr. de la Rosa.

He works on us both at once....Marsha in one chair and Paul in another. The room has a divider down the middle. He started with Marsha's x-rays and then moved over to Paul. The good news is Paul doesn't need a crown. The doctor felt he could do a deep cleaning and fix things up. So that's the work Paul had done.

Marsha on the other hand needs two crowns and a cavity filled. He's been warning her about the one cracked tooth needing a crown, but the second one was a surprise. He did the preparation work,3.5 hours worth. Marsha will have to return in two weeks for the permanent crown.

For anyone wondering about our dentist's credentials, Dr. de la Rosa lives right here in Mission, TX, and was educated in the USA. For those wanting  a comparison to similar work done in the USA, Paul's bill for a deep cleaning and two x-rays was $80. Marsha paid $560 for x-rays, a cleaning, two crowns, and a filling.

With our dentist visit done for the day, we stopped at the Red Snapper for lunch and then did some shopping among the many vendors along the street and some strolling through some of the many shops selling just about everything an American tourist would want in Mexico.

Winter Texans haven't arrived yet. We have never seen the streets and sidewalks so bare.

Our daughter, Carrie, wanted a pictured painted by the same guy that did ours last year. José is excellent. He paints only with spray paint, a piece of cardboard, index card and Walmart bags.

Finished product.

For those of you having visited Nuevo Progreso in the past, there's been one big change crossing the border. You still pay 50¢ at the turnstile when entering Mexico. Now you must feed new turnstiles 35¢ when leaving Mexico too. Gotta get the gringos! Ha ha!

The migration of the butterflies continues. There are just thousands of them down here. They love the Lantana bushes.

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

BACK IN MISSION, TEXAS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 7 – We arrived safely in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas on Friday, October 4. We've returned to Leisure Valley Ranch, where we've spent the last three winters. We aren't wintering here this year. We are here to visit our friends and our Mexican dentist for some needed dental work for both of us (crowns). We expect to be here for about three weeks or so.

We are parked on a our friends' lot across the street from where we spent last winter. It's a very nice lot and even has some shade to sit under on a sunny afternoon. Steve and Amy also own the empty lot next to the casita and no one is in the casita next to us. We've got the entire area to ourselves!

We are definitely an early arrival in the park. There are only about 10% of the normal winter residents in the park. Most don't start arriving until after November 1....too hot!

On Saturday and with temperatures hovering in the upper 90's, Paul hit the roof early this morning.....time to give the 5^th wheel a good scrubbing! The roof, surprisingly, wasn't as dirty as Paul expected. He only used his regular car wash soap and his handy long-handled RV brush. It was soon sparkling white.

Of course, all the filth runs down the sides so once started he was forced to wash the entire RV. Paul worked fast because once the sun comes up in South Texas, the water dries as it flies out of the hose....ha ha!

He successfully finished the job, but man was it getting hot. Now of course, the windows are all spotted so he had windows to wash.....a man's work is never done... :-)

While relaxing in the shade with a cool drink, Marsha asked Paul, “Hey, did you see how that tire is wearing funny?” What, another tire problem? Sure enough, one of the 5^th wheel tires has worn down to the belt on the inside. WOW! That could have been another blow-out!

Inside, but only on part of the tire.

Other side of the same tire.

So that's the final straw. Time to replace all the tires on the RV. Paul's done some online research, and he's getting rid of the Goodyear Marathon ST235/80 R16 – known on the Cameo Forum as “Chinese Bombs” - and go with 17.5 rims and Goodyear 114.

This is a fairly expensive decision, so he went to Discount Tire and got a price on two Goodyear Marathons to replace the last two 2010 Marathons on the rig.  They kindly gave him an adjustment for the existing "bad" tires.  He'll get two Marathons for a little over $200 for both. This should hold us for awhile. We'll move forward with replacing the rims and wheels in the near future.

With all this work going  on, Marsha was catching up with her girlfriends here in the park.  Marsha's got a smile on her face....it's “party time” here in the Rio Grande Valley. Paul calls it her “party mode.” She loves a get together!

Let's see....Friday night it was “get together with Angie and Rick at their place.” Saturday night it was “country dancing” at a neighboring campground with three other couples. Sunday afternoon it was a “Social Hour” with several couples here in Leisure Valley Ranch. Paul says, “It never ends.”

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