Sunday, December 7, 2014

• Not too cold this morning at 63, but it's suppose to be a cool day, high only 70. In fact, it looks like we're in a cool period for the next several days with high temps only about 70 each day. And several of those days include rain. (But you never have to shovel rain.) ;-)
• now, do we have a surprise for you. For us it was a once in a lifetime experience. But let me start at the beginning.
• We heard that some Budweiser Clydesdales were at the fairgrounds at Merced (30 miles east of here) and could be viewed by the public. So late morning, we headed for Merced.
• Sure enough, we found the horses, but they were all loaded into 3 semi trucks about to head down the road.
• In fact they were headed for Mission, TX, where they were to show the horses complete with the wagon & dog. So we followed them for about 40 miles to this residential street where they parked the 3 semis.
• We ended up talking to the boss of the group who told us they were making a presentation to a local person who have won a raffel.
• But as luck would have it, heavy fog blanketed the area and prevented the horses from being off loaded as each horses harnes costs $100,000 and take 2 weeks to dry out when they get wet.
• However, they did offload 2 horses & walked them to the front lawn of the house of the raffle winners.
• One of the really important conversations with the Budweiser employees was about that story of discontinuing the Clydesdale operation. They said it was not true, that it was press errors. And they told us of their schedules into late summer.
• I took lots of pictures below.

• Tonight we're going to the ice cream social at the Hall, followed by hamburger or hot dog supper, followed by the movie, Philomena. Should be a fun evening.

Friday, December 5, 2014

• Last night Jim announced that we were going on a 6 mile bike ride at 9:30 this morning. Hope I can last that long.
• Suppose to be a nice day with temp at 9:30 of 69, wind 11, high of 80 later in the day.
• I'll be back later to report on the bike ride. And yes, I'll add some more pictures later today.
• And I almost forgot. Could someone who has a list of my siblings, Theresa's siblings, and our other relatives, send out an e-mail giving them the address of this blog which is http://tx2015.blogspot.com. Thanks.
• (Saturday morning) Friday turned out to be a very busy day.
• Tropic Star, the park just up the road, had a craft sale with a breakfast of biscuits & gravy. Jim had to have that. So first off, we drove up to Tropic Star.
• Then upon returning, we headed out on our 6 mile bike ride which turned out to be 10 miles - I haven't gone on a bike ride that long for years. But I made it. And I'm not even stiff or sore this morning. See the bike ride pictures below
• We heard that Progresso Nuevo was having a party to welcome back the winter snowbirds. So off we go to Mexico. Bought some meds, vanilla, & had ice cream at Arturo's - our favorite eating spot.
• After supper, Jim went to the hall to play cards while Diane went to McAllen to play Bingo. I stayed home to install my new TiVo with a required DataCARD from Times-Warner. And I can report it's working very nicely with my new 28" Samsung Smart TV. 
• In the middle of my setup processing, my youngest son, David, called to chat. Sounds like things in the Twin Cities are going fine except that the cold & snow are continuing (and it's not even Winter yet). Thanks, Dave, for thinking of me.

Bike Ride

• From our place we went West about 3 miles; turned North on 2nd Avenue in a strip park along the water canal; crossed the freeway (see picture) & went up to a reservoir - 2 miles; came back to highway 83 & biked 3 miles back East to 281 (Cage Avenue); the South on 281 2 miles back to home. Below are several pictures I took in route.

Here I'm on the overpass on the sidewalk, where we usually bike, with cars zipping back & forth behind me.

We stop every 3 miles or so for a water break. Our friend, Louie, has a trike & goes about 20 miles a day.

Here we are back home. I decided to finish the travelogue with a "selfie". Know that blind guy behind me?

That's about it for a busy Friday. Guess we're going to the Flea Market today (Saturday).

That's all for now.

Minnesota Fall

The bean & corn harvest did not go well. It was a late harvest. Both crops were wet and consequently price got docked. The harvest lasted 3 1/2 weeks, but I only lasted 2 weeks. We worked nearly 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. And that was just to difficult for me. Eventually, I told Jim I had to stop or I'd have had an accident. I was losing my ability to focus on the work. And when you're driving 50 tons down the road, one must focus. So after 2 weeks of work, I came home & Jim got other help and got done a week and a half later.

November was a very bad month, weatherwise. About the 10th, the temperature dropped below freezing for most of the remainder of the month. Then about the 15th it started snowing and kept it up every day or two through Thanksgiving. But on Black Friday at 3 AM, Jim & Diane & I left Minnesota with the temp at just 13 degrees.

Highway 16 & I-90 were both snow packed. But by the time we got to Mason City they were dry. Then by the time we got to Kansas City, the temp was above freezing. By the time we got to Pharr, it was 80. We drove about 850 miles on Friday to Gainesville, TX and about 550 on Saturday getting to our new home at about 3:30. All in all, the trip went quite smoothly.

Until yesterday, the temp here had been 80 each day. But yesterday we had a cold snap with the high only 51. Today is warmer and by Friday, it's suppose to be 80 again.

Here in Pharr, Jim & Diane & others have been going to Polka Jams in the area. And y'all know how much I like old time music. So now I have time to work on this blog.

Everything here is just fine. While I write this, my computer is organizing my pictures which I'll include a bit later.