Saturday January 7, 2007

Polka Joe’s Polka Party….Riverside Park, Mission Texas

OK, so I am actually writing this on Sunday, and as you read on you will understand.

The morning was overcast, but it was warm. We had planned to go to Mission to see a polka band this afternoon. They are playing from two til six. I am really not in the mood, but I decide to go anyway, I had not been to Mission which is just outside McAllen. We arrive about 1:30 and the place is already full. All of the tables near the bandstand are taken. There must be over a hundred geezers here, some dressed in lederhosen and feathered caps, some in dirndl dresses and lacy aprons. Quite a site I must say. We sit at a table in the outer area, and we invited another couple who had just arrived at the same time to join us. They were from Minnesota. I can’t recall the gentleman’s name, but I remember her name is Tutie…she is all of 5 foot nothing.

Grandpa and I order a draft beer and our new friends order two diet cokes. Imagine my surprise when little Miss Tutie pulled out a flask and poured two three finger shots into their diet cokes! The Riverside club only serves beer and wine, but you can bring your own bottle. Looking around the full rooms, I see quite a few flasks popping up at the various tables. Too funny. Sure hope nobody gets stopped on the way home!

The Polish Prince finally shows up and orders a coke. The beer is nice and cold so what the heck, I order a pitcher. For 8 bucks it will give us about 6 glasses and the drafts are 2 bucks each. Economical right?

The polka party begins and wow, the floor is jammed. Our new friends dance and when she comes back, Tutie grabs grandpa and off they go. They look perfect together. She is eighty I think she said, and this is a second marriage for both. The husband is recovering from a stroke so he is not able to dance too much. Grandpa gladly takes his place. He just loves to polka.

The pitcher empties fast. The Polish Prince has a glass, and grandpa has a second fill. Ooops. Must be me. I order a second pitcher. We decide to order something to eat. The Prince and I split a brat dinner with sauerkraut, some cheesy potatoes, golabki, and homemade bread. Grandpa had fried cod with French fries. It really was good. Our new friends left about 4:30 and at about 5, I had finished the second pitcher and we were about ready to go home. I cannot believe how well I can walk after drinking so much beer! Off to the parking lot we go and just before we get to our car, a car begins to back out a parking spot right in front of us. Putz…almost hit us! Well, I think I tried to take a step backwards and lost my balance (so what else is new…?) and stumbled. I fell on to my knees but The Prince and grandpa grabbed me and pulled me right back up. OK. So I fell…it wasn’t because I had to much to drink…I swear…it was the uneven pavement, and the goof who scared the crap outta me by backing up so fast! Honest!

Once we got back to the rig, we turned on the football game. I almost fell asleep in the chair. I really wanted to post to my blog but I don’t think I would have been able to type! So, like a good little girl, I decided to hit the sack. I didn’t have a headache, get sick or have a hangover. After all it took me THREE hours to drink that much beer and I was just feeling a bit tipsy…not drunk for heaven’s sake!

Hugs,

dee

Here is grandpa dancing with Tutie...

This is called the board of education....holes had been drilled in a board and then shot glasses are inserted then filled with brandy...ladies and men are invited up and must all drink the shots together...

Dee with Polka Joe in his beer stein hat...he was really sweaty and a bit stinky and I prolly would have not be smiling had I not already consumed a pitcher of beer....

Friday January 5, 2006

Touring mobiles for sale...

Paulie and I were up about 8...grandpa was still sleeping. The old grump finally got up, complaining that we were making so much noise. Baloney. We had the fresh fruit from the Mexico border fruit stand...pineapple and cantaloupe. It was very sweet. We will definitely head to that fruit stand again. It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining and it is supposed to get up to the low 80's. Yes! Winter in the RGV...I hope I can get some sun today.

Paul called the sales gal from Siesta village to see if she could show us a couple of the older homes for sale in the park. We set the time for 11. When we arrived, she showed us the three places she had chosen, based on our preference...bedrooms on either side of the unit. The three units she showed us were all very old units...nothing like the new manufactured homes which have residential fixtures like the doors. Older mobiles have rv type doors and closets, carpeting and laminated cabinets. Fugly. All of these homes were fugly. And stinky...they need to put in air fresheners if they are gonna leave these places empty. All of the units did come with the lot included, and all came furnished. Ick. It was all old tacky furniture. I have my own crap to get rid of...I am not doing it for someone else! We just really wanted to compare the units both value and price to what we saw yesterday. Hands down, there is no comparison, LOL! Paulie and I suggested that we take grandpa to the guy that has the new homes for sale, and he agreed. We arrived at lunch time and he was not there. Paul called the office number and left a message. We decided to grab a burger and wait until he was scheduled to come back to the office around one. We checked out the golf course just on the other side of the Village...and grandpa had golfed there years ago when he and grandma used to stay here in the RGV. We headed back to the sales office and hooked up with Ray...a retired Army master Sargent major, or some such thing, like I know what that heck rank means. He showed us four new models. They are all nice, they all have various things we like and things we dislike. After viewing these, we parted with the master Sarge and headed over to the place we saw yesterday which is for sale by owner. Just then we spot another double wide for sale...how did we miss this one? It looks really nice with vaulted ceilings in the living room. Paul calls the number and leaves a message. About five minutes later a lady calls and says she can show us the house...it is a friend's house. We meet up and wow, this place is a beautiful home...large living room with an open feel and a large open kitchen. Wow again...master suite with it's own sitting room. Wow. Two bedrooms at the other end that are large and the second bathroom has a skylight. Oh Wow. Upgraded carpet, molding all around, textured walls, real wood cabinets and kitchen counters that are edged with ceramic. It also has a wow price. Unfurnished it is about $10,000 more than the other one that is furnished. Hmmm. Dilemma after dilemma! I like this place, but am thinking it is way to big for grandpa to handle on his own. We thank the folks who showed us the place and drive around the corner. We see Clara sitting on the front porch of the other place and Mel is coming out the door. We wave and pull up, and they invite us in to see the house again. We all look again. Dollar for dollar, this is by far the best deal we have found. We all like the park, the layout of this unit and the fact that it has a nice front porch and room in the backyard. It has a great garage with an area that can be turned into a workshop. Not that at 90, grandpa is ever going to DO anything in the workshop. Plus both side neighbors live here year around. They could keep an eye on him on occasion. We visit with Clara and Mel for awhile...I know that they are anxious to get a deal struck but both these pollacks play the same game when it comes to buying something. Leave me out of it...I hate messin' with people.

Back at our rig, grandpa is complaining of stomach troubles. I swear, if I get to be 90, I promise not to obsess about my bowels...like someone I know. There just has to be more interesting subjects right? Ick, ick, ick.

I am falling asleep in my chair so I decide to go lay down. Paulie is already out the door to happy hour as it is now about 4:30. I never do fall asleep and finally get up about 5:15.

We were planning on getting some fish from the Elks for dinner tonight. Paulie calls from the Elks and says the line is out the door and around the bldg. Back up dinner...Popeyes chicken. We wait for Paulie and finally he shows up with Church's fried chicken in his hands. Both Popeyes were closed when he got there! Weird. After dinner we overhear the announcer on TV say that all ten Popeye's in the Valley have been shut down...Paulie says he's vindicated and he's NOT crazy! Was there any doubt? Hahaha.

Friday night TV sucks the big one. Grandpa is still not feeling well, and I think he had his face all fixed for fried fish...and he's being pissy. He is very antsy and keeps getting up and going to the bathroom...then takes Pepi out for a walk. We are leery of letting him out with the dog at night as he complains he can't see in the dark. Just what we need, him falling down again.

We are heading over to the Mission/McAllen area tomorrow. There is a polka band playing at one of the town centers and grandpa is looking to polka with someone....

Not much else to report here...

later

dee

Thursday January 4th, 2007

Sorry about missing yesterday. It was a cool and rainy day so Paulie and I went towards Mexico on International Bridge. There were several RV resorts and a mobile home village that look to be potential look-sees. The first one, Pine and Palms was a nice clean park but the mobiles were all single wides and quite aged. The streets were nicely paved and they had a nice clubhouse and pool/shuffle board area. The second place was just an rv park with maybe two park models located inside. It was far from full. The third place was the charmer. Siesta Village. It is a 55+ community, well maintained with newer doublewides. Just up our alley. There are two for sale signs...one is from the park for resale of used units, then there was a fella who sells new models. We met with him and looked at two new double wides. Both were nice, the second one was very nicely furnished but the front was odd looking. It didn't have one window on the front of the unit, just the front door. Apparently the main closets for the other two bedrooms are at that end of the unit. Duh....put a window in the closet!

We also took down the number for a for sale by owner unit. It looks really nice...Paul called when we got home. It has three bedrooms, two full baths and they will leave it furnished. The couple that is selling the unit cannot sell their home back in Kansas City Mo and can't afford two residences...I can identify with that!

We went for dinner at the Elks Lodge in Westlaco...they have a spaghetti dinner every Wednesday night. The rather rude woman taking money wouldn't let me and Paulie share a plate so I got it to go with extra sauce. Don't mess with me when it comes to being a PIA. We went back home and just watched reruns on TV. Jeesh, when are the reruns gonna be over for heaven's sake!

I slept in Thursday morning. Didn't sleep too well last night for some reason. Paul and grandpa were already up so I just took a shower and then had a protein. Paul called the couple that have the doublewide for sale. We will take grandpa to go look at it at noon.

We drive over to Siesta Village and view the home; it is really really lovely. The furniture will stay. They had purchased this unit less than four months ago and bought it with the designer furnishings. I really liked it and I could tell grandpa did too. For once even Paulie was impressed. There was only one thing I didn't like and this is really just my taste...it had dark green carpet which matched the decor. Ugh. But, it is in good condition so it can stay for awhile.

Mel, the owner was very nice and for the life of me I have forgotten his wife's name, but she too was very sweet. Mel had to go to a billiards tournament, so we left after talking with them for a while. We went around the park and showed grandpa the pool and shuffle board courts, and he was very impressed with the large woodworking shop available for use. The ballroom is large and well kept and they even checked out the "men's club" where poker is played and drafts beers are two for a dollar. Grandpa's eyes lite up with that news.

We stopped at the post office and then headed back to the rig. Grandpa had a sandwich and I my usual lunch of cottage cheese and crackers. We will dine on roasted hotdogs for dinner.

The sun is now shining and the air is warming up. Paul and grandpa join Uncle Ben outside to chew the fat and Snickers and I head to the bedroom for our usual afternoon nap.

Paul made hotdogs and corn on the cob for dinner. Afterwards, we drive over to Radio shack to see if there is something that can boost this wifi signal. I was unable to get on at all since yesterday morning. Grrrrr. Nothing boosts range. We then went to Walmart where we fought crowds to get some more soda. This Walmart is always busy. Makes Springfield look deserted!

Well, I am sitting in the clubhouse typing this. I get a strong signal here. Wonder what the bugaboo is now for not getting the signal at the rig?

Friday is supposed to be 82 and sunny. Mexico is calling me if I can convince the two old farts....

later

Dee

Tuesday January 2, 2007

Another beautiful sun filled day in the RGV. Rain clouds will be moving in this afternoon and will stay with us until at least Thursday. I predicted rain yesterday when all I could do was sleep!

We had a nice easy morning and had coffee with bagels for breakfest. I would like to go to the Big Lots store to check for some curtains. I want to get new shorter ones for the front of the motorhome, so I don't have to cut and sew the old ones from our bedroom. They are battenburg lace and they will be a stinker to shorten...besides I am a terrible seamstress...

After browsing through Big Lots and Dollar General and coming up empty Paulie picks me up and we head west to find the RV supplies place. We need to get more of the drawer supports for the panty. The plastic ones break in a heart beat. Hopefully we will find some that are metal. Doubt it, but we shall try!

We look around the RV store and climb up into a couple of new RV's (these people's prices are outrageous...!) After a quick lunch at Burger King, we decide to check out the International Bridge to Mexico. On the way, grandpa decides he wants to stop at the Dickies outlet and find some pants. After purusing the entire store, grandpa decides he is not gonna spend that much on a pair of pants that will outlive him by 20 years...he says Walmart is fine with him. OK. Back on the road we head towards Mexico. We pass a number of neat looking stores that have Mexican decor and several fruit stands. We see whole pineapples for a buck each and decide we will stop on the way back. We thought we'd see a store that sells Mexican car/rv insurance but come up empty. All of a sudden we are at the crossing so we pull a U and head back to the fruit stand. We purchase a cantalope, a small seedless watermelon, a couple of extremely sweet smelling pineapples, some cherry tomatoes and some lemons. What a deal! 7 bucks. Hopefully we didn't throw our money away and the stuff is edible!

Back at the rig, our FedEx package has arrived so Paul and grandpa go through all the stuff. I am fading fast so I decide to lay down in the bedroom. My head is killing me from the pressure of the incoming rain and it takes me a long time to doze off. Paulie wakes me up around 6 and we have leftovers for dinner. Not much on TV tonight so I guess I will spend some time surfing the net. Zack sent the other Dish receiver so we will try to set the thing up tomorrow. I want to go to Walmart tomorrow to check out the curtains. Since it will be raining that will be a good way to get out of the rig for a while. Now, let's see if I can persuade Paulie to let me go by myself. Hmmm.

Well, that's about it for today.

Hugs

dee

New Year's Day
Januaray 1, 2007

Paulie and I got up around 8 and showered. The sun is shining but it is a bit cool...temp will only get to the mid 70's today. Sounds good to me. After making my protein shake (hey it's the New Year, I need to start off on the right foot...now if I can only bring myself to swallow all those vites!) I think I feel the new front coming in that will be bringing in some rain...I am really feeling exhausted. After drinking my protein, I passed on coffee and headed back to bed. I actually slept the whole day away! Some start to the New Year! I finally crawled out about 3. What a waste of a beautiful day. I had some crackers and cottage cheese as my head was pounding due to not eating all day. Paulie is making a nice dinner for us to celebrate...steak, augratin potatoes, salad and roasted peppers and onions. Sounds wonderful. Grandpa is in the recliner dozing. We watch the skating special, me on the couch, Paulie in the front seat. Soon I am asleep again! What is going on here?

Well, dinner's ready, I will post more later...

from the exciting Rio Grande Valley....

dee

Sunday December 31, 2006

New Years Eve

We all sleep in...I was awake at 8 so I turned on Sunday Morning on CBS one of my favorite shows. After we get up and make the beds, Paul makes us breakfast of french toast and sausage. He adds vanilla and cinnamon(just like I showed him how...) so the french toast was quite tasty. We clean up the rig while grandpa goes to sit outside with Uncle Ben. The sun is shining and there is a beautiful blue sky. Perfect weather. It is supposed to be in the mid-70's.

I get dressed and we head out to check out some of the RV resorts in the area. First stop was Victoria Palms. It is really a beautiful park. There are lots of small park models and single wides in the first section of the park. As we meander thru, we find the seasonal sites for RVs. They are ok, a bit close together for my taste. We go into the next section which has double wides and larger single wides. We stopped at a few new units that have been placed throughout the area. Then we spot a for sale by owner sign with a open house sign. OK, we decide to look. It is a very nice wider single wide with two bedrooms and two baths. The couple that owns it is building a house in Edinburg. He is quite a handyman and had done a ton of updating on the unit. They also had just put on a screened in porch and a "Texas" room. Very nice. New linoleum floors, custom kitchen cabinets(wood not laminate), and ceiling fans in each room including the screen porch. Grandpa was sold. He was ready to get out his checkbook. Good thing Paul has hidden it! We talked to the owners for a while and they told us about all the updates that they had done including all new piping and new airconditioner. Looks like a great deal. Lot rent is $350 but that includes cable TV and internet (thats over $150 we spend right there!)

We say our goodbyes and go on to the next park, Alamo Palms which is a sister park to Victoria. It is a much much older park, and the units are a bit on the shabby side. The landscaping is not nearly as nice and it just looks old and worn. We don't stay long. We stop for a quick burger as it is now almost 1:30. We head over to Mercedes to see Llano Grande which is a golf resort. We are surely not impressed when we first arrive...like the previous place the first section is old and the units small and close together. The landscaping is ok, but non-descript. These lots and units are owner owned where at Victoria, the owner owns the mobile but rents the lot. We go into the newer sections and are quite impressed. Nice large lots, lots of fruit and palm trees. We look at several set-up new units. They are beautiful. The lots in the new section are $35,000, a bit steep. The models are very pricey...$99,000 to $104,000. For a manufactured home. Nope. Not for me. They were beautiful tthough, and one can pretend right?

Back at the rig Paul and grandpa go to happy hour while I lay down for a while. Paul woke me up for dinner and Uncle Ben is joining us. He is still uncomfortable with the brace he has to wear. We had manicotti with the leftover sauce from the other night. Not bad, but not a bell ringer either. After dinner Ben went home and we settled in to watch the Bears last game before the playoffs. We should have skipped it. Da' Bears suck the big one tonight that's for sure. Of course, with the announcers it should be called "The Bret Farve Salute Show" for chrissakes. I can't believe how bad the Bears are and the playoffs are here. *Sigh*.

Well, it is almost ten and I am trying to decide if I am going to even try to ring in the New Year. We didn't even have a cocktail! Well, the boys did earlier and I think Paulie is nursing a Bloody Mary. It is beautiful sleeping weather here at night...in the fifties and sixties. Perfect.

Happy New Year to everyone...

hugs

Dee

Saturday December 30, 2006

We are up and about by 8 and Paul takes grandpa to the shower house to take a shower. After walking Pepi and bringing grandpa back to the rig, we decide to go to the flea market and then the farmer's market. Paul is driving as usual and I figure he knows where he is going. Wrong. We are in Mercedes before he realizes we are not anywhere near the place we were heading. We turn around and backtrack finally finding the place. What a bunch of junk we saw! It is one of the biggest in the area and very very busy. Wow. Socks, T-shirts, shoes, tools, kettlekorn. You name it, somebody had it. While we are walking around, Paul gets a call on his cell from our friend Arnie McMillan. He invites us to drive over to Brownsville and then go to the Island for shrimp. Ok! We won't turn down shrimp! I want to change clothes so we leave the flea market and stop by the fruit and veggie stand. Paul and I pick out some tomatoes, onions and some green peppers. Back at the rig, I make the boys a beef sandwich and have some cottage cheese and saltines for lunch. We change clothes and head out to Brownsville. Traffic is very heavy and it takes about an hour to get to their place. Barb is in the shower so we visit with Arnie out on the deck of his home over looking the resacas that wind thru the resort. It is a very nice place and I like the area. Barb is ready so we take off for South Padre Island. It is nothing like I imagined it would be. I was expecting more of a Florida type atmosphere. There were tons of condos and beautiful homes...a huge county campground and a KOA right on the water. Very different...not as nicely "green and flowering" as Florida. Well, that shows how much I know about Texas! Arnie drives us around showing us the Island. We decide to eat so we go to a favorite place of the locals, Dirty Al's. Just a shack really with a huge bar but a nice view of the water. I ordered boiled shrimp, Paul got fried, grandpa got a combo fried oysters and flounder and Barb and Arnie shared fried shrimp and oysters. It was very very good. The service was a bit slow, but the food was great. After we finished, we piled back into the car and did some more sightseeing, going almost to the end of the Island I guess. Arnie drove us back to his place in Brownsville and we visited for awhile. They have a lovely double wide in a beautiful Resort (I was corrected after I called it a mobile home park, lol!). They gave us a tour of the park, and showed us what was for sale. We may come back and take a closer look later in our stay here.
The ride home was quick and once back at the rig, we just watched a bit of TV. Paul took the dog for a walk, and I talked to Zack on the phone. He is going to a New Year's party in Edwardsville. Then he will go back to Rochester for his appointment with Terri the PA next week. We don't know what we will be doing for New Year's eve...there is a dinner dance here at the park, but we are not sure. Da Bears will be on Sunday night football....hmmm...Bears or dance? Guess what Paulie is gonna choose?

I want to find some shorter curtains to hang in the front of the rig...the ones I have are way too long and I have no desire to shorten them. I don't have a sewing machine so...buying new ones is a better alternative.

I can't believe we have been traveling for 5 weeks. Life is good....

hugs

Dee

Friday December 29, 2006

Not much going on here in the Rio Valley Estates...we were up around 8 and had some coffee and bagels for breakfast. Surprisingly, grandpa is better this morning...he is even walking better on that bad toe. His face looks horrible. It's gonna take a while for the shiner to go away. After visiting with Ben for a while, we take off. Ben is off to see the doctor...they finally called about the MRI on his knee. We decide take a ride around Westlaco. We did have to go back to Walmart to order grandpa's glasses, and I needed to pick up some stuff we forgot yesterday. We had also purchased a water filter for the hose leading into the rig which leaked. After Walmart we tooled around for a while, just checking out where things are. We decided to stop for lunch and wanted some tacos...we pull into a taco place and go in. The menus are all in Spanish. Hmmmm, I order the special taco plate which has 4 tacos and some sides...what they are I haven't a clue. We are going to share the meal between the three of us. The waitress brings us three cups of frijoles...what we think is bean soup. We all dig in and wow, were we surprised! A bit of a kick in that there soup! She also sets down some tortilla chips, a very thin salsa and a bowl of lime wedges. Lime wedges? We ask the waitress what the limes are for and she tells us for the chips! Hmmm, ok. Then she brings out the tacos...just sliced skirt steak on wilty taco shells and a huge baked potato with butter, sour cream and cheese. Not your Taco Bell takeout tacos to be sure. They were very tasty and the potato was really good. After lunch we did some more sightseeing and wound up back at the rig. I needed a nap in the worstest way so I laid down. Paul woke me up about six. Uncle Ben will be joining us for pasta. He is now in a brace on his bad leg from ankle to thigh...his knee was broken and it took two weeks after the MRI to get the results. Poor guy. The pasta was good and we enjoyed the food and the company. After dinner, Ben went back home and Paul got the laundry started in at the park laundrymat. He came back and picked me up and we folded clothes together while talking to friends on the phone. After finishing the laundry we head back to the rig and put everything away. By this time its bedtime so another day in the life of RV'ers has come to an end. Don't know whats on tap for tomorrow.

later

dee

Thursday December 28th.

Heading South to the Boarder...

We left the Hitching Post right around nine. Grandpa and I talked about sitting shotgun. I quite frankly told him that if we go to Mexico, there is no way I am going to sit by myself in the back of the rig the entire trip. We tried to put one of our new folding chairs in between the two front seats but it was too big. If I have to BUY a comfy chair that fits in that space I will do so. For now, grandpa has agreed to share the shotgun and co-pilot seat. As we make our way south, he says I can sit up front. Grandpa is having a stomach problem so he has planted himself in the bathroom. Sure hope he has good balance...doing anything in the bathroom while cruising down the road at 65 is a challenge. We see diesel fuel for $2.25 and make a beeline to get it. Wow, that's the lowest we have seen for at least a year or more.

Grandpa lays down on the couch and we proceed south to Brownsville. At Brownsville, we catch Hwy 83 and are close to our destination. I was hoping to get in some driving today, but the wind is blowing so incredibly hard, I pass. It is all Paul can do to keep it on the road. There are wind advisory's as the Valley is getting the tail end of the huge storm that is pounding Colorado.
We pull into Rio Valley Estates at 11:45. Uncle Ben is waiting for us. Paul unhooks the car and eases into lot #15, our home for the next month or more. Nice little park. I barely got the slides out getting set up when I hear Paul yell for me to get a towel and washcloth. Grandpa fell down in the street. Apparently the wind blew off his hat and he tried to run after it. He fell face first onto the ashphalt and messed up his face. really really bad. It looks as if someone had beat the crap outta him. There are pictures below. Uncle Ben advises to call an ambulence as the wait at the hospital emergency room would be all day. They arrive and proceed to clean up the old guy. He doesn't need stitches but boy is his face a mess. He also hurt his knee and shoulders with scrapes and we think his big toe is broken. It is huge and purple/black. We get him back into the rig after the medic leave and put ice and wet clothes on his face. It is now almost two and we haven't had lunch so Paulie spreads out the leftover shrimp, and some cheese and crackers. Uncle Ben looks great...he has lost about 50 pounds and seems to walk better. He is waiting on some test results from an MRI on his knee and tells us it is giving him some trouble. Paul and I finally give grandpa a vicodin and lay him down. He is out quickly. We make our way to the office to pay and sign in. There are about 15 mobile homes for sale so I check out the listings on the office wall. Two folks from Minnisota arrive and we chat for awhile. Very nice folks, fulltimers who rest up here in the RGV for about two months each winter. Paul and I go back to check on grandpa. Still out like a light. We get back in the car and head to Walmart to get some groceries and supplies. We take grandpa's glasses which have been mangled in the fall to see if we can get replacments. At Walmart I stop in to have a nail color change while Paul deals with the eye glasses. Afterwards, we shop and can't decide what to make for dinner. Paul and I are sure that grandpa won't be able to eat much...he also has a swollen lip...so we decide on pasta with meat sauce which we know he will eat as it is soft. Back at the rig, he is awake but can't walk. I hate to say this but I am really not looking forward to this...even he admits he is a baby when he hurts or is sick. I just know this is gonna drag out forever. *sigh*. Uncle Ben comes over and invites me and Paul to "happy hour"...a group gets together each day with cocktails and visit for a while. We had a nice time. After it gets dark we go back to the rig and we have a beef sandwich. Grandpa won't eat anything, so we make him drink lots of water. We are watching to see if he needs to go to the hospital...you never know at 90 what he could have hurt for gosh sakes.

I give grandpa another vicodin so he will sleep. Paul and I hit the sack early as we are both tired and just a bit overwhelmed by the events of the day. No rest for the wicked as they say. I think I am going to like it here. We are sleeping with the windows open. The wind is still howling but we don't care. We have no real plans for tomorrow and will see how grandpa feels. Maybe Ben can babysit him if Paul and I go out.

hugs

dee

Here are some pictures...

Thursday December 28th.

Heading South to the Boarder...

We left the Hitching Post right around nine. Grandpa and I talked about sitting shotgun. I quite frankly told him that if we go to Mexico, there is no way I am going to sit by myself in the back of the rig the entrie trip. We tried to put one of our new folding chairs in between the two front seats but it was too big. If I have to BUY a comfy chair that fits in that space I will do so. For now, grandpa has agreed to share the shotgun and co-pilot seat. As we make our way south, he says I can sit up front. Grandpa is having a stomach problem so he has planted himself in the bathroom. Sure hope he has good balance...doing anything in the bathroom while cruising down the road at 65 is a challenge. We see diesel fuel for $2.25 and make a beeline to get it. Wow, that's the lowest we have seen for at least a year or more.

Grandpa lays down on the couch and we proceed south to Brownsville. At Brownsville, we catch Hwy 83 and are close to our destination. I was hoping to get in some driving today, but the wind is blowing so incredibly hard, I pass. It is all Paul can do to keep it on the road. There are wind advisory's as the Valley is getting the tail end of the huge storm that is pounding Colorado.
We pull into Rio Valley Estates at 11:45. Uncle Ben is waiting for us. Paul unhooks the car and eases into lot #15, our home for the next month or more. Nice little park. I barely got the slides out getting set up when I hear Paul yell for me to get a towel and washcloth. Grandpa fell down in the street. Apparently the wind blew off his hat and he tried to run after it. He fell face first onto the ashphalt and messed up his face. really really bad. It looks as if someone had beat the crap outta him. There are pictures below. Uncle Ben advises to call an ambulence as the wait at the hospital emergency room would be all day. They arrive and proceed to clean up the old guy. He doesn't need stitches but boy is his face a mess. He also hurt his knee and shoulders with scrapes and we think his big toe is broken. It is huge and purple/black. We get him back into the rig after the medic leave and put ice and wet clothes on his face. It is now almost two and we haven't had lunch so Paulie spreads out the leftover shrimp, and some cheese and crackers. Uncle Ben looks great...he has lost about 50 pounds and seems to walk better. He is waiting on some test results from an MRI on his knee and tells us it is giving him some trouble. Paul and I finally give grandpa a vicodin and lay him down. He is out quickly. We make our way to the office to pay and sign in. There are about 15 mobile homes for sale so I check out the listings on the office wall. Two folks from Minnisota arrive and we chat for awhile. Very nice folks, fulltimers who rest up here in the RGV for about two months each winter. Paul and I go back to check on grandpa. Still out like a light. We get back in the car and head to Walmart to get some groceries and supplies. We take grandpa's glasses which have been mangled in the fall to see if we can get replacments. At Walmart I stop in to have a nail color change while Paul deals with the eye glasses. Afterwards, we shop and can't decide what to make for dinner. Paul and I are sure that grandpa won't be able to eat much...he also has a swollen lip...so we decide on pasta with meat sauce which we know he will eat as it is soft. Back at the rig, he is awake but can't walk. I hate to say this but I am really not looking forward to this...even he admits he is a baby when he hurts or is sick. I just know this is gonna drag out forever. *sigh*. Uncle Ben comes over and invites me and Paul to "happy hour"...a group gets together each day with cocktails and visit for a while. We had a nice time. After it gets dark we go back to the rig and we have a beef sandwich. Grandpa won't eat anything, so we make him drink lots of water. We are watching to see if he needs to go to the hospital...you never know at 90 what he could have hurt for gosh sakes.

I give grandpa another vicodin so he will sleep. Paul and I hit the sack early as we are both tired and just a bit overwhelmed by the events of the day. No rest for the wicked as they say. I think I am going to like it here. We are sleeping with the windows open. The wind is still howling but we don't care. We have no real plans for tomorrow and will see how grandpa feels. Maybe Ben can babysit him if Paul and I go out.

later

dee

OK, almost caught up...scroll down to where you left off and begin...

I promise some pictures tomorrow...my wifi signal is quite weak and it takes forever to upload anything...sorry.

hugs

dee

Wednesday December 27, 2006

We are up at 7, and break camp. We stop at the local doc who had treated grandpa and pickup his blood test results for his PSA test. We are on Hwy 59 and heading to Kingswood which is a suburb of Houston. The doc that will give grandpa his shot is here so we need to stop for that. We get to Kingswood about 10 and it takes about an hour for the doc to review the test results and administer the shot. Before we set off again, we have a quick lunch. We get back on 59 and brace for the trip thru Houston. Surprisingly we have no problems and breeze thru town. We will stay on Hwy 59 for quite a while and then catch Hwy 77. The sun is shining and the temp is in the high sixties. Nice.

We stopped for lunch. Had a bit of a snit...who me? A snit? I wanted to stop for lunch. OK...they want to eat in the rig. Heck...I have been a nice girl and have quietly sat in the back this entire trip. I am getting bored back here. You really can't SEE anything from the side windows and I get a crick in my neck cranning it to see out the front window. Grrrr.
We stop in a small town, name escapes me, but I remember the High School team names...Bulldogs. We park by the McDonalds, and Paul walks over to a Mexican resturant to see what the buffet has on it. Grandpa mumbles something about not being hungry, can't eat, we will be eating Mexican "down there". Hmmm. Why does this honk me off? Don't know, just did. There is another Texmex place across the street along with a BBQ place. Paul reports that he couldn't determine what was on the buffet...ok, let's forget that one...I vote BBQ. Paul says he doesn't care. Grandpa says whatever youse decide.... OK, BBQ it is. I decided...for everyone. We go in, and at the counter we review the menu. I order a BBQ brisket sandwich with beans and a diet coke. Paul and I can share. Grandpa acts like he can't read the menu so Paul reads it to him. My snit begins....finally he orders a BBQ wrap. A BBQ WRAP?!?!?! WTF? They have ribs, chicken, beef, pork and a bunch of other stuff and he orders a wrap? The little girl behind the counter goes to check if they have tortillas. Of course...they don't. He starts to whine about not being hungry, he doesn't like this kinda food, blah blah blah. So, me now in full snit, tell the girl to pack up my BBQ beef TO GO and mutter something under my breath like "I am gonna take this old fart DOWN..." which makes the girls behind the counter crack up. I tell Paul "pay her..." grab my bag and head out the door, leaving the two of them in my dust. I cross the street to get back to the rig. Grandpa must just KNOW by now that I am pissed. Paul hands him the keys and walks over to McDonalds. French Fries....he wanted french fries...fine, just SAY all you want is fries...this whiny old man shit just irritates the crap outta me! Back in the rig I eat my half of the sandwich all the while exclaiming how marvelous it is...it is so tender and moist, so tasty, so flavorful. Paul just glares at me. Go ahead, foolish man...say something....NOT! I stew in the back seat the rest of the way.

We stop for the night in a little town called Sinton at an RV park called the hitching post. Grandpa is just exhausted(!) and lays down as soon as we get set up. Paulie and I sit in our new folding chairs out in the warm sun and soak up the sun and the breeze. I tell Paul that IF we go to Mexico...I WILL NOT SIT IN THE BACK ALL THE TIME! Just then grandpa shows up with Pepi. Before I go any further, I should tell you that since Pepi has come home from the vet where he was boarded, the old man has talked to the mutt as if they were lovers...baby talk, coocooing over this dog. I have said something several times about it and have been ignored. Nothing grates on my nerves more than this high pitch voice he has talking baby talk to a freakin' dog. I am NOT making this up. He is walking a fine line here. I vote to stop at a gas station and forget him. JUST KIDDING!!!! But he is getting on my nerves with this baby talk to the dog crap.

We decide to take a ride and see the town. Not much here. Not even a Walmart. We get some ice and head back to the rig and I make dinner...leftover ham, pineapple sauce, corn on the cob and cornmuffins. I made the corn muffins wrong and they stuck in the new silicone pan (nothing sticks to silicone, what the heck did I do?). We watched a bit of tv and turned in early.

We should be at our destination in Westlaco by lunch tomorrow.

hugs

dee

Tuesday December 26, 2006

Paul and grandpa are up and on the road to Houston with Zack by 7 am. I sleep in. I am really tired. After all the excitment of the cruise, getting reset-up and our parties, I am pooped. OK, so I am a wuss.

Paul and grandpa are back by 11:30. We sit outside and talk to our neighbor, Don. He is the President of the Escapee's Mexican Connection Chapter 8. He is telling us about the February caravan to central Mexico. It looks like a lot of fun and since the caravan is manned by volunteers, the cost is very reasonable...$30 per person and then the camping fees. Of course, this doesn't include meals or insurance or anything. Still seems like a good deal. We will talk about it I guess.

A very quiet day. We will be breaking camp in the morning and heading south. Paul and grandpa go to play poker and I start the stowaway process...

We have a quiet night and hit the sack.

Later

dee

OK, here is the rest of the story from Christmas


Christmas Day

Paul and I have to go help to decorate our dinner table at 10 a.m. We are both up and showered and out the door by then. We have our dinner service and help get the table decor set up. There are about 17 tables of 10 to 14 seats so there will be quite a crowd for dinner. The Escapees club will provide the ham and turkey with gravy. Each table decides what they want to serve for dinner and then assign folks to bring these items. From what I can tell based on the table decorations, some of these folks go all out. I suppose that it is because as full timers, the Escapees that will share a Christmas dinner together become like family. I always tried to make Christmas and Christmas dinner special for my family and I think we have a lot of great memories of Christmases past to remember.

After we were done decorating we were off to pick up Zack. Since we are not bringing really anything to the dinner, I asked if anyone would like pineapple sauce for the ham. Everyone said go ahead, so I will need to get the stuff for that. We stop at the CVS, the only store open in town to pick up more cough and decongestant stuff for snotty Zack and to see if they have the stuff to make the pineapple sauce. Well, they had the pineapple...I need corn starch and corn syrup (one of our table mates, Louise offered to let me borrow some from her if I didn't find what I need...hmmm, hello Louise?) We pick up Zack and head back to the rig to make Christmas morning breakfast. By the time we get home it is like 11:45 and by the time Paul makes our eggs, ham and muffins it is almost noon. Not too good for breakfast, and our dinner is at 2. Not a problem...we have stuff from last night(boiled gulf shrimp, cheese and crackers, bread and dill dip) that we can nosh on later tonight if we get hungry. After breakfast, I make the pineapple sauce. We had stopped by Louise and Bill's rig and picked up the syrup and starch. She was laughing and said she didn't know how OLD they were, and wished me luck. Funny that when you cook at home, you have most everything you need...on the road you have to plan for heaven's sake. No way would I have corn syrup and corn starch in the rig for any reason. Thank goodness for people who travel full time...they have everything.

We all get dressed and head over to the activity center around 1:45. The place is hopping. You should see the food that is being brought in...coolers, crockpots, chafing dishes, casseroles and baskets...it is amazing. The smells are incredible. Our table mates arrive and we proceed to set up the goodies...Paul pours the wine and then the entire group pauses for a moment of silent prayer. Our table host Steve, heads up to the kitchen to get our ham and we dig in. One thing I will say...it was great. Company was great and we all had a good time. The ham was a spiral cut and to me tasted a bit salty. The ham we have at home is better I think!

We all stuff ourselves...well, not really. The Ziaja's were still full from breakfast so we didn't eat too much. After dinner we cleaned up our table, said our goodbyes and headed back to the rig. It seemed that everyone had a great time and enjoyed the dinner. There were about 200 people there I think.

We had talked about going to see Night at the Museum at the show earlier. Zack was itching to get out so we went to the single screen theater in Livingstone. We did get popcorn and a drink...popcorn was really good...hot and fresh. The movie was only so-so. It is geared to kids actually, but Zack and I laughed our butts off. Paul fell asleep...so what is new?

After the movie, the rain had finally stopped and we headed back to Rainbow's End. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean with Zack for awhile. He is very anxious to get outta Dodge. I understand. I am very happy that he was here with us. Sometimes he is gonna hafta make a sacrifice now and then right? We don't know what is in store for next Christmas, so spending time with this grandpa and us is important for all of us. I am not going to take the drive to Houston tomorrow to drop Zack off at the airport. We say our goodbyes and I am sad to see him leave. He is chomping at the bit. I will miss him. Nothing was clearer than this...he is grown up and has a life of his own and we will be lucky to spend time with him whenever we can. Our little boy chattering with excitement about Santa's arrival....taking pictures in front of the tree, leaving cookies and milk for Santa...just memories now, but oh so sweet. Our first Christmas in the rig. It was unremarkable and quiet . But we are together. Zack and grandpa celebrated with us. No gifts, a tiny little tree on the table; no cookies, no fruitcake or candy. Just us remembering Christmases past and looking forward to Christmases in the future.

Merry Christmas

Dee

Thursday December 28....
Westlaco Texas

Well, I am almost caught up....scroll down to where you left off reading...

I will post the rest tomorrow...promise. Downloaded all the photos, now just have to take the time to upload all of them to yahoo photos....

dee

Sunday December 24

Christmas Eve...

We are up and around about 9. By the time we are dressed and out the door its after 10. We call Zack to wake his butt up and we will go for breakfest. We go to Charlies Family Resturant. I have eggs, grits and biscuits. Zack has biscuits and gravy and some eggs and bacon. Grandpa orders a egg sandwich. Egg sandwich. How weird is that? Paulie gets his omelete and we have a nice meal.

We hit the H.E.B. store first for groceries and stuff for the Christmas party tonight and the dinner tomorrow. I am bringing cheese and crackers and a bread dill dip bowl. Paul had picked up wine at Walmart when he stopped there last night. We get a ham for later in the week. We make a second stop at another grocery store as H.E.B. doesn't have dill dip or the right bread. I walk over to the dollar store, hoping to find a sugar and creamer to put on the dinner table tomorrow. I come up empty. Back at the rig, we sit around for a while til the Vespers service at 5:30. It is a very simple candle light service where all we did was sing Christmas songs after someone read the Christmas story. It was very nice. I sat next to a blind woman who had the biggest yellow lab guide dog I have ever seen. We talked with some folks for a while and then headed back to get the appetizers ready for the party at 7. It was a very nice party, lots of nice finger foods and the line dancing ladies did a couple of Christmas song line dances. Santa arrived to give everyone a candy cane. Then for the participants in the gift exchange got in a huge circle and passed gifts right and left while a poem was read about the Wright family. We did this one year at our Cenois club and it was hilarious. Watching these folks goof up handing things to the left and then to the right when they heard the words right and left was hysterical. Of course, thru out this whole eveing...my son was just chomping at the bit. I don't think watching old people is his bag, LOL!

After the party we go back to the rig, watch a bit of TV(nothing on..what gives? Where is Scrooge...? No Its a Wonderful Life???) Paul takes Zack back to the motel and grandpa and I hit the sack.

Merry Christmas!

later...
dee

Saturday Dec 23

Houston

We arrived in Houston about 3 am according to Zack who was still out and about I guess. Eye witness. We got up around 7 and were down in the dining room about 8. Zack joined us for the first time for breakfest. 7 days at sea and he makes one breakfest. I can't wait to see this bill. We may have made a fatal mistake giving a 21 year old a key that buys booze. Hmmmm. We shall see....

We get back to the room and wait til the green bagtag is called. They called us about 9:20 and we were off the ship in about 10 minutes. We find our luggage very quickly and grab the porter to helps us transport it to the car. We are in the car, on the highway by 9:45. Unbelieveable. No hunting for bags, waiting in line for customs (we breeze right thru...me on my scooter, grandpa being wheeled in a chair by a steward.)

Well, off to Livingston to get the rig and set it up. Zack is just a tiny bit tired so we will drop him off at the motel and then go set up. We stopped at the CVS and got more cold rememdies. Zack and I are suffering with the whole head cold thing...cough, fever, running eyes etc., etc. Grandpa slept all the way home from Houston to Livingston. We also stopped and got some Subways for lunch. Zack heads off to his room. Back at Rainbow's End, we get the rig from storage, get our new site and proceed to get our home on wheels back up and running. We are in a section called
"the hill". Grandpa and Paul have lunch outside, I try to muddle thru my email while noshing. I still can't believe its a day before Christmas (actually the day before Christmas eve...). Paulie and I rush around to get the laundry together and Paulie takes a run over to the laundry building. He comes back and picks me up for the announcements at 4. We find out that we are assigned table ten and that the only things we need to bring to the Christmas dinner is cream and sugar! I suggest we get some wine and maybe an appetizer. Steve, table ten ring leader or as he is referred to "host" of table ten nixes the appetizer as they think there is enough stuff on the list already. Alrighty then. Paul and I fold clothes and finish up the laundry. We call Zack and wake him up. There is a POKER game this evening and the boys will all be playing. Paul goes to get Zack and then he picks up grandpa and off they go. I put stuff away, straighen up the rig and watch a bit of TV. The three big losers come back about 9:45 and they are off again to take Zack back to the motel. Paul will stop at Wally world for some cream and stuff for breakfest. I hit the sack. I am still sicky from this damm cold!

later...

dee

Friday....December 22 2006

I am really wicked sick with this cold. After breakfest, I go up to the cabin and lay down.

That's what I did...all day....sleep.

The show this evening is the last of the singer/dancer extravaganzas. Can't miss this. It was a really good show and the troupe sang songs related to water....Navy songs, Broadway songs, etc. The skinny Romanians again did their thing and the acrobat from down under did some interesting moves using a curtain. I guess you hadda be there, lol!

We couldn't get reservations for Trattoria. That is the bad part of the "freestyle" crusing concept. You either have to wait forever to eat at the popular times or should I say normal dining hours. We ended up eating too late at night. We did see all the first shows but who wants to eat at 9:30 every night? I am not sure if I like this concept.

We had to have our bags outside the door by 2 a.m. No problem. We made sure Zack was aware of this. Grandpa headed back to his room to pack. Zack and Paul went off to the goodbye party. I wandered around the ship for awhile and then decided to get a cup of coffee at the sports bar. No Mexican coffee for me today...not with taking all that cold stuff...

The sports bar staff was preparing the late night buffet. I decided to stick around and see what they were serving. Hotdogs, hamburgers, finger sandwiches, salad bar. No dessert. Crap. I could have used something chocolate. I opted for a plate of fries. They tasted blah. It was the darn cold tampering with my taste buds.

Back at the room, I packed up all my stuff and Paulies stuff. We didn't buy anything anywhere so we didn't have any problems of how to get stuff in our bags. We had one full suitcase of dirty clothes. Zack and grandpa had already done their packing and their bags were already gone. Paul showed up and we got them out into the hallway. Gosh, this week went fast. Too fast. Of course, having a cold for two days sucked.

We are expected to dock in Houston about 8 a.m. We have green bag tags for our deck so we are not going to be called right away. I guess we will get off around ten and get back to the rig about noon. We won't be able to pick up the furkids as the vet is closed for the holiday.

later.

dee

Thursday December 21

At sea...

I wake up with a freaking cold. Crap. I guess I will stick near the room today. I do join grandpa and Paulie for breakfest, had some oatmeal and lots of orange juice. Back at the room I pop a couple of Dayquils. Lord, those pills are horse pill size! The sun is shinning and Paul, me and grandpa go up to 12 to get some sun. Maybe that will help me feel better. It is too hot up there for me and grandpa. We see Zack and he sits with us for awhile. They are still serving omelets and waffles down at the pool area so he heads down to get a waffle. We all sit and talk for awhile. Zack goes off on his own, and grandpa decides to go back to the room and prepare his mental state for the Texas hold'em tournment this afternoon. He is convinced he is gonna win this one intead of coming in third...

Paul and I go down to lay out in the sun on deck 8. We are in the rear (aft) and it is just beautiful. We all watch the dolphins jumping out of the water playing. They are such fun creatures to watch. After a while, the sun decides to go behind the clouds. Before we know it, it is lunch time. Paul and I go back to the Four Seasons for lunch. We are seated next to some folks we had talked to during our flotation device practice session on Saturday. They are very large folks, from Oklahoma. He eats two entree's. In addition to appetizer, and soup. They also have dessert. I had a really good skirt steak with mango salsa. Oh, I do love the flavor of skirt steak! After lunch, I retreat back to the cabin and down a couple more Dayquil horse pills. I laid down for a while and promptly fell asleep. About 5 Paul comes in to check on me and we both shower and get changed for dinner. Grandpa got bounced in the Texas hold'em first round. Awwww.... I am feeling like the last rose of summer. There are two shows...first the magician guy and later the comedian does a late act. The magic guy is really good and very funny...I ususally skip magic acts. Zack was the last audience member to get up on stage with him and practically stole the show. I guess I gave birth to a natural comedian/dancer/karaoke singer. Zack again took off after the show and the three of us went to dinner. We went back to Terraces and had a nice dinner. By the time we had finished our entree' I was really sneezing and feeling lousy. I really wanted to see the late show, but there was no way I was gonna make it. I headed back to the room, and downed some Nyquil. Ugh. Nothing worse than the onset of a cold.

later

dee

Wednesday continued....

After showering and dressing for dinner, we joined grandpa and Zack in the Showroom Lounge. The singers and dancers did a country kinda show. It was good. After the show, Zack took off for parts unknown(well, I know he is somewhere they service booze....) and the three of us went off for dinner. I mentioned earlier that we had a early dinner/very late lunch after getting back from Belize City and our Zoological adventures. We went to the Four Seasons to have a late dinner. Grandpa was fine until we finished our first course. He suddenly started gagging on something and thank god they have big napkins as he barfed into his and Paul's. OK...my dinner's done thank you very much. We left quickly to get him back to his room without more barfing. Ick. He had eaten one of Paul's brussel sprouts (see what happens when you eat that kinda stuff???) and the outter leaf had lodged in his throat which he couldn't get loose. Ick. I'm gonna lose MY dinner if I keep writing. Ick. Ick. Ick.

Paul set out to find Zack after getting the old guy settled and of course, I get ready for bed. I am not feeling all to great myself. Prolly cause I barf just HEARING someone gag.

Tomorrow and Friday are at sea...

later

dee

OK....I am finally back...I had to HAND WRITE my blog on paper for gosh sakes. It was almost as bad as if I had to chisel it out in stone, LOL!

Merry Christmas...I finally am able to type up my notes from the cruise...make sure you scroll down all the way to Dec 14th where the last entry was made before I became truly wireless....I will not get pictures uploaded until tonight and will post the addy when they are done.

Right now we are in Livingston Texas at Rainbow's End once again. We are not sure when we will head south to Westlaco. It is a beautiful day here in east Texas. The rain and cold are gone...

Enjoy and check back later for the rest of the story...

hugs

dee

Wed December 20, 2006

Belize City, Belize

We had breakfast with grandpa and another passenger Mark from LA about 9 a.m. After breakfast, grandpa said he wanted to go to his cabin and rest, and Paul and I decide to go into Belize City. I am taking my scooter this time…forget walking. I even called to make sure I could take the scooter on the tender…we are docked quite a ways out since the coral reefs here prevent ships from entering the port. I told Paul we could do a tour anyways…they can just put the scooter in the back of the van. That is if we go on a professional tour in a van and not a bus. On the tender going into the city, we are given some shore excursion info by one of the crew members. Paul and I decide that we would like to do the city tour and the Zoo tour. The guy promises us the scooter would not be a problem it would fit into the back of the van. Don’t worry…be happy. We arrive at the pier and follow our crew member through the market area. He has told me that we are the only two from the tender that want to go on a tour so it will be in a smaller vehicle…but that the scooter was still no problemo. OK. We follow this kid thru the mall, up the back alley and into the street. Me tooling in my scooter, Paulie bringing up the rear. We turn into another street and there is a little Datsun car and a driver. We are introduced to Yolanda, our tour operator. Yolanda is the tender crew member’s mother. OK, I get it…this guy is using the tour company name to get dumb ass foreigners like us to go on private tours with this mother! It seems ok, and she speaks good English. Several young men materialize out of nowhere and help to get the scooter into the trunk. OK. We get in the car and Yolanda takes us through the city. What a poor place this is. We get on a two lane highway supposedly to the Zoo first. It seems as if we are driving forever! I have no clue where the hell we are going, and Paul is merrily chatting with Yolanda. It is surreal.

The drive continues…finally I see a sign, Guatemala 100 KM. GUATEMALA! Crap. I have this overwhelming feeling that we are being kidnapped. I imagine us getting our throats cut and our bodies stripped of vital organs. Our organ-less, lifeless bodies will be dumped in the jungles of Guatemala only to be eaten by crocodiles and insects. Zack will never be able to collect the insurance money because there are no bodies and the local corrupt officials will not issue death certificates…no certificates, no benefits. This is how I think. Finally, a sign that says Zoo! We are there! We are not being kidnapped.

Once at the zoo, Paul puts my scooter together and off we go. We are in the only zoo in Belize. We have to pay 8 bucks per person to get in. Only Belize natives get in free. OK. We pay the money and see quite a few tourists. This must be a good zoo. Oh. My. It is a jungle. We see toucans, pumas, otters and even white tail deer. A beautiful ocelot paces in her cage. Parrots and parakeets are everywhere. Crocodiles and wild snapping turtles share a lagoon. As I tool around on my scooter I am amazed to think I am in Central America, touring a poor little zoo that was built by hand by the natives. Each rock along the path was placed by hand. The animal habitats made by natives. Nothing like what I had imagined…remember I am a Chicago girl...a zoo in my head is Brookfield, yanno? Suddenly, my legs are itching. I look down and I am covered in some type of gnat insect. When I brush them away, they leave a drop of blood. OH MY GOD! Blood suckers. The area they bite turns pink with a hot red center and itches like crazy. I am doomed. Deadly Tsi files... my dad told me all about them once. I won’t make it thru the night. Then my heart stops, I have been bitten by a mosquito! Damm the Tsi flies…this is serious! I could get all kinds of deadly diseases from a misquito bite! Remember bird flu? I tell Paul I am getting the hell outta this jungle paradise. I must have 150 bites on my legs. I look like I have pink pooka dot stockings on my legs. Oh gosh. We get a coke and a bag of popcorn at the little shop and once again we are heading down the highway, Yolanda putting the pedal to the medal. I can’t imagine blowing a tire. They will never find all our pieces. Hear that Yolanda?

We stopped at Old Belize City which is a neat tourist area with a beautiful beach, a great looking bar/restaurant and beautiful boats at anchor. We take a few pictures and then its back to Belize City for our city part of the tour. My gosh, I have never seen such poverty. This makes Cancun look like a model community. Such a pitiful place this is. Yolanda proceeds to take us past the US embassy, a private college, some Catholic schools, the Prime Ministers house, the court buildings and some huge banks. You know…the offshore Belize banks where millionaires stash their money so they don’t have to pay taxes? Finally we are back where we started. We weren’t murdered for our vital organs after all. Paul pays Yolanda and we are off to the dock to catch our tender back to the ship. We didn’t have any lunch (and I wouldn’t have eaten anything here anyways) so we went up to the pizza buffet. They had a meat sauce for pasta that was out of this world good. So much for dinner!

Later…

dee

Tuesday December 19, 2006

Cozumel, Mexico

Grandpa met us for breakfast in the Four Seasons. We decide to go into Cozumel and look for a tour like the one the boys took yesterday in Progresso. Both guys convince me I cannot do a tour on a bus and take my scooter. I guess I will not take my scooter into Cozumel. The walk from the ship to the end of the pier almost did me in. I hate that I cannot walk at all anymore. I am just too young for this. My hip is ok, but the knees are bothering me. I think once I am back home, I will go see Dr. Borowicki and have some X-rays done. I think my walking gait has changed since the hip and it is affecting my knees. This really sucks. I need pain meds, NOW. I will eventually run out of the stash of pain pills I have. I can’t take vicodin forever…We stop at a little shop that is selling soft drinks and water. After we get the water and I take the meds, we continue to walk to find a tour place. Paul thinks that he may have paid $21 for that bottle of water…he had two new twenties and thought he had given one to the clerk for the water…but now all he has is $19.00. Good grief. If I confessed that, I‘d never hear the end of it….from Paul or grandpa. He was so concerned about making both me and grandpa sit down to rest, he wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing. I know he means well and wants to look out for us, but sometimes his controlling goes over the top…but will he admit it? Oh pishaw.

We are approached by a guy selling vacation packages. Promises us free lunch and a tour of the Island for only 20 bucks for the three of us. Wow, a challenge for Paulie! He loves dicking with salesmen. Mexico is no exception right? OK. Off we go in a taxi to a beautiful new resort in Cozumel. The International something or other. We do the obligatory questions and answers, and tour the suites. Very nice. Very VERY nice. No lunch just yet. We go to the sales office where our rep, Margarita gives us level one sales pitch. Nope. Not interested. Tina arrives to give us sales pitch….level two. She is a cute little Brit and orders diet coke for me and a coke for Paul, with water for grandpa. Paul sips his drink and announces this is rum and coke. Ok. Grandpa grabs it and is happy. The waiter brings another drink. Same thing…rum and coke. Hmmmm. Something’s fishy here. Gosh, maybe they will slip us a roofie and we will buy the whole place? This time Tina instructs the waiter NO BOOZE! He brings Paul a plain coke.

After about 15 minutes of hard sell, Paulie says not interested. This brings on Jorge, pressure sales pitch level three. Hmmmm. They said no pressure. Sure. He only lasts five minutes with Paulie before he gets really peeved. They don’t know Paulie. He is a master at this sales game. They are pikers next to him. OK, here comes STEVE… the big gun from Las Vegas, the ultimate closer… you can tell by his air of bravado and swagger….he gives us the fourth level sales pitch…he’s got the best offer all afternoon. An offer I just can't understand how he can even make. Its plain stupid...or he thinks we are....Paul says….NOT INTERESTED and says this is the last time. The guy tries again…nada. He has met his match in this polish prince. The guy makes some crack about coming back to the resort for $3000 bucks per week the next time we are in Cozumel…I tell him nicely…”Not in THIS lifetime”. The original sales rep comes back to escort us back to the taxi area. Still no lunch. And we won’t be getting any lunch either…that’s for folks who have bought into this scheme….a 30 year commitment to vacation all over the world at certain luxury resorts, or cruise all over the world for a mere $75,000. Easy payments with only 11.99% interest. Yeah, right. We do however get our tour of the island. A very nice taxi guy gives us the costal tour, stopping at a few local spots for pictures. I am starving at this point and will be having the shakes soon if I don’t eat now. We stop at a little roadside cantina and Paulie and I split a club sandwich. We all have the local brew, Sol beer. Grandpa won’t eat…hmmmm. Two rum and cokes, now a beer? Ok.

We finally arrive back at the pier and make the long walk back to the ship. I am pooped so I go up to the cabin to take a nap. Later, we dressed and went to meet grandpa and Zack for the show. It was a country themed song and dance show, nicely done again. After the show, we went to the Terraces for dinner…Zack had other plans so he took off. We had the most wonderful prime rib with a delicious rosemary glaze. Oh my. After dinner, Paul and grandpa went off the casino and as my usual habit I went back to the cabin, took my meds and drifted off into never never land. That’s my life…one party after another.

Later

dee

Monday Dec 18th

…somewhere in the Yucatan…oh yeah, Progresso….

It is soooooo foggy you can’t see your hands in front of your face. We are up and out by 8 am…this time we get grandpa outta bed and make sure he has breakfast with us. Old fart. The party boy is passed out on his bed. Why am I not surprised? Grandpa seems to be ok after his bouts last night and no more worse for wear. We head down to the Four Seasons for breakfast off the menu. Yummmm, eggs benedict! Paul and grandpa got omelets while I scarfed down just one egg benedict…why waste food and why be sick? I also had fresh fruit which was really not in season and tasteless IMNSHO.

After breakfast we head back to wake up the party boy. He won another dance contest last night. The life of the party so I am told. Everyone knows his name as they see him on the TV all the time…the video of the previous evening’s activities is shown on the in-room TV’s. One of these nights I am going to have to stay up and catch his act, yanno?

We decide to go into Progresso. I am going to use my scooter. I have yet to use it for more than a few minutes or so and I still am not 100% in control of the thing. Of course, I have not one but THREE critics telling me how to drive the damm thing. Shut up everyone! It is 85 and hot in town. We proceed to go to the little shopping area. I was thinking it would be like Costa Maya with the beaches and shops all along the waterfront. Wrong. A couple of shops and a bar…not much to see or do. You hafta take a bus into town and I am on the scooter…not gonna work. So. I head back to the ship and the boys decide to check out Progresso. They wind up doing a city tour that was very entertaining and informative. They all had a great time. Of course, the cheapskates won’t buy lunch, they come back to the ship to eat lunch at 3:30.

The ship was deserted as everyone was ashore in Progresso. I go to the cabin, and put on my swimsuit and cover-up, thinking I will buy some sun screen and sit up on deck 12. I stopped off at the library to browse for a book. Up on the uppermost deck, I get myself settled into a deck chair and start the baking process. Oops, I forgot the sunblock. It is so hot, I don’t stay out there very long. I meander into the sports bar and get some fruit, again it was terrible. Just not ripe. I go to deck nine and check out tonight’s dinner menus. I stop at the coffee bar and get myself a Mexican coffee(Kahlua, express and cream). Oh. So. Good. After drinking this, I need to take a nap! I head back to the cabin to nap. Paul got back to the cabin about 3:30. I went with him and grandpa up to 11 so they could eat. Somewhere they had lost Zack when getting back on the ship. Prolly went to get a beer. The big Texas hold'em tournament is today at 4:30, once we sail out from Progresso. All three of the Ziaja’s will be playing in this…hey only 60 bucks each entry. And they all scolded me because they said I didn’t need that $2.00 hat in Progresso! Pffft!

While the guys played poker, I went to a shopping seminar about Cozumel. Diamonds International. I need say no more. After the seminar, I walked over to the casino and both Paul and Zack had been bounced from the tourney. Grandpa was still in. I tell Paul to let me know what’s going on so we can make plans for dinner. I headed up to the room to shower and take my afternoon siesta. It is about 5 p.m. I really didn’t sleep at all. By now it is 7 pm and I am getting just a little bit pissy. No one is around. I get dressed for dinner, leave a nasty note for Paul and go down to the coffee bar. It is formal night(if you care to participate this being a free style cruise) and all these folks have lined up for photos before they have dinner. Finally about 7:45 Paul shows up in the coffee bar. He is so very surprised I am not in a happy mood. But, But, But…grandpa came in THIRD in the Texas tournament! Like I know this!?! Did anyone call the room…did anyone come up and tell me this? NO. Paul had put our name in for dinner and Zack and grandpa appeared. Paul went up to change, and by the time he got back, two of Zack’s new friends, Paul and Cindy had arrived. They joined us for dinner. Steak was on the menu, so that’s what we all ordered, except for Cindy having chicken. I actually experimented with the appetizers. Lamb sausage with grilled peppers and feta cheese rolled up in spinach leaves was the appetizer. I followed up with a vinaigrette salad of pita, peppers, onions and cucumbers. Oh my goodness, it was soooooo good. I donated most of my steak to Zack who had not eaten all day or so he said.

After dinner, we parted…our guests to shower and get ready for the late night activities, which was a sock hop, me to the cabin to go to bed and only God knows where Paul and the old fart would be. I was kinda bummed out…I would have gone to the sock hop to see the dance contest, but I can only do so much.

Later…..

Sunday December 17, 2006

At Sea

Paul rolled in at 3 am. Foolish man. He just thinks he’s 21 again. Like Zack. We are awakened by the poor little steward at nine am. He stammers out that we need to put out the do not disturb sign. Poor kid. Paul goes out in the hall and puts the sign in Zack’s door. We figure that grandpa was out til 2 or 3 so he may need some sleep…who knows when Zack rolled in. Paul and I get dressed and head out to find some breakfast. This NCL cruise is called freestyle cruising…you don’t have set times to eat like for dinner the first seating is usually around 6 and second at 8. This means you get a reservation for when you want to eat. Also, there are two specialty places…one Italian and one French which has a $15 surcharge (can you guess which one I won’t be eating at?). On 11 there is the Trattoria which is the Italian place which has continental breakfast only. There is a waffle station and an omelet station out on deck 11, and in the pizza/pasta buffet they have fresh fruit, salad, cheese and stuff like oatmeal, eggs, grits, etc. The sports bar has a breakfast buffet also, and the Four Seasons has the traditional sit down off the menu breakfast. We settle into a table at the Trattoria with some fruit and juice. Paul goes off to find me some oatmeal and then he gets an omelet. After we finish, we start to explore the rest of the ship. At around 10:45 we head back to the cabin only to find a very upset grandpa. He is all pissed off cause “there was no breakfast anywhere, anywhere on this ship, I’ve been on every deck of this boat”. Baloney. If he had been on 9 he’d have seen the main dining room open. If he was on 11 he’d have seen the waffle guy and the omelet guy and the line into the Pizza buffet. If he had gone up to 12 he would have found the sports bar breakfast buffet. He claims he was looking all over the ship for us since 9:30 and he could not only not find us but he was terribly upset he didn’t get breakfast. Hmmmm….I think he is mixed up or has his times goofed up. Sometimes I wonder about his mental clarity. I should be so sharp at 90. But it’s not all the time…he has his moments where he looks totally confused. Like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights.

Zack joined us and we headed up to the deck 12. The sun was shinning, it was warm and everyone was out and about. They were setting up the lunch BBQ so Zack and grandpa could get some lunch soon. We found some lounge chairs, grabbing the last 4 on the entire deck. Soon we see folks carrying plates of food so Zack and the old man go searching for lunch. The Caribbean band is playing a jaunty tune and the sun was hot…there was a nice fresh breeze off the gulf which kept everyone nice and comfortable. Now THIS is a vacation. I doze off in my deck chair, like a big ‘ol dog laying in the sun…suddenly, some fool is kicking my chair. It is the only old fool I know, back with his food and for some reason he can’t sit down without kicking the shit outta my chair. I guess he just didn’t realize what he was doing(ok, so he’s now a doddering old fool, lol). He finally sits down and begins to eat. He doesn’t like this…the steak is too tough the ribs inedible…blah blah blah... Meanwhile Zack has scarfed down a huge plate and is heading back in line for more. Zack says his steak was perfect so I don’t know why grandpa’s is so tough. Maybe it’s the choppers. No, I think somebody has a HANGOVER! Yep,the old fart has one hell of a hangover. After about an hour, I can feel my skin starting to burn so I decide to go back to the cabin and put on my swim suit and get the sun block. I didn’t bring sun block. OK, so I won’t sit in the sun too long. On my way back to the deck, I stopped and got some French fries from the pizza bar. Oh they are so delish. Paul and I share a plate of fries for lunch. Some healthy stuff eh? After a while, the sun is getting to me, and my skin is starting to tingle…enough sun for moi. Just as I am readying to leave, they announce an ice sculpting demo so I wander over to where Paul and Zack are sitting at the pool bar…and we watch the demo. I don’t see the fish he carved but everyone clapped when he was done, so who am I to criticize? I get my stuff and go back to the room. I leave Paul and Zack to take care of ol’ cranky man.

Our dinner reservations are for 8 at the Italian place Trattoria. We plan on going to the 6:45 show which is a singing and dancing show. We all meet up in the show lounge. We are being entertained by a Canadian torch singer until showtime. It is a cabaret style show that showcases the singers, two guys, two gals (typical cruise ship entertainment) the dancers and this troupe features a couple from like Transylvania or Romania or some such place that do ballet. She is so thin you can almost see the veins in her body, ick. The show was ok, and both grandpa and Zack had to pop the eyes back into their heads.

After the show we went to dinner. It was excellent. Service was a bit slow, but the food was superb. Paul thought he was going to share my veal parm, he he he, I ate it all! Grandpa was still as cranky as all get out so he just left after the main course. Me and the boys had dessert. After dinner we sat in the lounge and listened to the duo from Russia perform in the piano bar. She had a nice voice. Finally, I went up to our cabin while Paul went to check on grandpa. He reports to me that grandpa is sick with the squirts and upchucking. Great. Paul puts him to bed and then heads out to find Zack the party boy. Once again I take my meds and hit the sack early. I can’t really “do” the nightlife anymore.

Later…

dee

Saturday December 16, 2006

The ship

Paul was up, showered and out to the free breakfast b7 7:30. Fool made so much noise he woke me up several times. He, grandpa and Zack ate breakfast buffet. I was just getting up when Paul came in with some breakfast for me…a cherry Danish, a sausage patty on toast and some coffee. I ate a little bit and then showered. By the time I got dressed it was only ten am and we still have time to kill before boarding time. We loaded the car and headed towards Kemel which is a little town on the gulf that has an old fashioned board walk with amusement rides, carnival games and a ton of neat shops and restaurants. We walked around for a while; saw some local school kids singing Christmas carols in reindeer hats. By the time we had walked the entire boardwalk, my legs were achy and I was getting just a bit cranky. Finally we loaded up the car once more and headed to the pier. It was literally jumping at the pier…buses, cars; taxi’s all trying to get folks unloaded at the entrance. We pulled up and unloaded the car and Paul set up the scooter for me. Thank goodness for my scooter. Paul takes the car to park it while we wait near the entry way. At the entrance to the parking lot, the Polish prince observes that it is gonna cost him 50 bucks to park the car for the week. He says to the attendant, that other cruise lines we have traveled with provided free parking for the handicapped. (I don’t have a clue WHAT those other lines are, yanno?) The gal sees the handicapped hanger in the window and says’ “Are you a veteran?” Paulie says yep, look at my plates….they are Purple Heart plates. She gives him a free pass ticket and Paulie just saves himself 50 bucks. Jeesh. Shister. We meet up and a NCL rep is there to meet us…we were allowed to move past the crowd and get special services to help us. We had our pictures taken for ID, then we went thru security quite quickly. It is nice to get ahead of the long lines, but I would much much rather be able to stand and walk and be in line than have to use a scooter because I CAN’T walk or I am in terrible pain. The cruise porter had given us some new tags for our luggage as we didn’t get any in the cruise packet. The ramp to the ship is huge, I guess for the ease of boarding the handicapped. The Norwegian Dream is the smallest ship I have been on. I think. We get to the room…right off the hall directly across from the elevators. Great. No hiking to the room. The rooms are small but clean and nicely decorated. We don’t have a fridge, darn. I wanted to keep some water in there for the evenings. We get rid of our bags and the four of us take a tour…we first go up to the 11th floor as it is the top floor this elevator goes to. We are on the pool deck where there is a buffet set up with Pizza, Pasta and burgers…nice salad bar too. We grab a bite to eat and then head back to the room. We pick up our flotation devices and head down to deck 7 for the 3:30 emergency drill. We are muster station M with a trillion other folks. We hear from the crew that we won’t start the damm drill until 4…grrrr…why do I havfta stand in this huge crowd of people with this stupid life jacket on for another half hour! The ship is supposed to SAIL at 4. Are they holding the boat for somebody? Nope. Waiting for fuel. Guess we can’t sail if we have no fuel. Finally the crew lines everyone up…we are seven deep from the front to the very back and guess where I am? Yep very back row, my butt plastered to the ship wall. I never was claustrophobic until this very moment. My face was in Zack’s armpit (I wonder if he put deodorant on, it didn’t seem that he did….). FINALLY drill is over and off we go to dump the floatation devices and head to the sail away party. Decks 11 and 12 were JAMMED. There are tons of kids…cripes if I wanted to be on a cruise with kids I would have gone Disney for heaven’s sakes. Ugh. Lots of kids and teens. Why aren’t these children in school for cripes sakes. There is a whole WEEK before Christmas…what ever happened to mid year exams and stuff like that? Do these kids MISS this stuff or are they out on vacation already. Who cares, all I know is there are too many freaking kids for ME. Of course, the congo line is starting and our little wallflower Zack jumps right in. The noise and the crowd is a bit much for me at this time of day, so I head back to our cabin to take a shower and do my nails. Paul gets back to the room around 6 and tells me Zack won the first dance contest with some girl who asked him to dance. Then he proceeds to tell me that they have been eating all afternoon as the sail away party was a BBQ. Great. No dinner for me I guess. I can wait until after the show. The show lounge is having a kinda preview of the entertainment. The show was very good, a very funny magician (and you all know how I hate magic acts) and a comedian I know I have seen before as he looks familiar. After the show Paul and I head up to 12 to the sports bar where there is a buffet. We had missed the main dinner which really honked me off. I love to have dinner on the cruise…the best meal of the day….appetizer, salad, soup, main entry, dessert and yes, an after dinner drink. Darn it anyways.
In the sports bar, there was a little gal making fresh Caesar salad. Wow. I took some halibut off the buffet. Ick it was as dry as cardboard. Not too impressed so far with the food from NCL. The hotdog I had earlier was only so so but the French fries were really good! The Caesar salad was WONDERFUL, best I have had in a long time (maybe since the last cruise?). I sure hope it gets better, but then again, this is ONLY a three star ship right, LOL!

Paul went to find Zack and grandpa. No one had seen the old man for a while. Not good…a missing grandpa. Our bags had arrived at the cabins so I unpacked while Paul went grandpa hunting. I decided that I would turn in for the night, but Paul said he was meeting Zack up on 12 in the disco. Have fun.

Later

dee

Friday, December 15, 2006

Off to Houston….We were up and around by 7 am. We completed all of our breaking camp tasks and packed up the stuff we would need on the cruise. Paul drove the rig to the storage area, with me and grandpa following up with the toad. We were out of the park around 9 am. We stopped at Randies Donuts for coffee and something to hold off the hunger pains. Next stop was the vet to drop off the fur kids. We were on Hwy 59 headed to Houston by 9:30. We rolled into town about 11 but it took forever to find the hotel in Baytown.

I gotta tell ‘ya, to me Houston is kinda dreary looking. Especially so when the sun is missing. Oil storage containers as far as the eye can see…refineries and chemical plants everywhere and the sky is totally filled with electrical towers and thousands of miles of electric lines. Pretty fugly if you ask me. Along the highway, the typical big box stores and restaurants as far as one can see. All the same everywhere you go…the same franchise places that have overtaken the country. We finally got to Baytown and promptly got lost again. A GPS in definitely in our immediate future. After finally finding the damm place, we got a room (it was too early for check in time after all…) we dumped some of our gear to make room in the car for Zack and his stuff. We got back in the car, pulled out the mapquest directions for Hobby airport and took off to pick up Zack. About ten minutes later, Zack is on the phone, his plane has landed on time and he is on his way to the baggage pickup. I instruct him to get his stuff and just step outside the lower level at arrivals and we would just pick him up there. We find him right away, and we get him and his stuff loaded. After a bit of discussion, we decide that we have a free afternoon so we decide to go to Galveston and have lunch on the waterfront. We find Hwy 45 and off we go the island. Just as we hit Galveston, the fog has rolled in again. We do find the beachfront, but all that is visible is a few whitecaps coming in. By this time we are all starving and start to look for a place to eat. We find a gourmet burger place right on the waterfront that looks like it is a kewl place and tromped on in. Paul and I split a burger, grandpa had sausage and shrimp gumbo and Zack had a huge cheeseburger. The hand made onion rings are superb, but even ½ of the hamburger is way too much for me. I sure hope this lasts on the ship…I hope I don’t eat too much.

After we had eaten and sat around and kinda rested, we drove along the waterfront hoping the fog would lift a bit. Unfortunately, it just got worse so we decided to head back to the mainland and the hotel. Like any tourist area there are a lot of places for rent. Too bad we couldn’t see the water and the beautiful resorts that are here…it looks like a great place to vacation. We needed to get some last minute stuff from WalMart so we stopped at the one right on the island. While Zack and I waited in the car, we witnessed the police bust two apparent shoplifters in the parking lot. I see white guys running past the car with GUNS…oh sh*t! They may have also been doing drugs because they started tearing into the couple’s van. Such excitement! We took route 146 back traveling along the gulf coast which was a lot better than the highway back towards Houston. Traffic heading out of town was horrible, but we had no real problems getting back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, we got the other room and settled in. Zack immediately feel asleep…he had been up since 5 getting to St. Louis for his flight. I read the paper, Paulie did a dry run to the cruise dock and did some pre-trip stuff with the car and the suitcases. It is amazing what we have to get into this little car…my scooter, all of our suitcases and carry on stuff plus the camera and video stuff. Hmmm…hope it all fits! Paul came back bearing pizza and beer so we had some and then we all decided to get to bed. We don’t have to board the ship until 1 so we have the whole morning to kill. I think the guys will go have breakfast here at the hotel as it is FREE but I don’t need to eat all that junk stuff. I will sleep in I hope.

later....
dee