hot hot hot

I am sitting here in the rec hall at the Fig Tree rv resort. It is air conditioned in here hooray because it was 93 degrees F. today and very windy........cold front coming through tomorrow so the highs will only get up into the 70's The hot temps. are making it uncomfortable with my shingles........ hope they clear up soon. There is a country and western concert going on next door at the park. I met Genni and David Bailey who are from Brantford. They were very nice to invite me to accompany them doing the rounds of flea markets etc. tomorrow but I declined........don't want to spread the shingles around (wouldn't wish them on anyone else). I am also having a problem with the microwave in the RV it comes on turntable goes round but it doesn't heat up anything at all......and of course it is Friday soooooo I guess I'll have to wait till next week to get it looked at. I did e-mail the dealership hopefully they can arrange somewhere for me to get it looked at. Lots more here down in the valley to do and it is alot greener than just north of here where the drought is much worse. I am here for two nights and then Sunday I go over to Mission, (a short 45 minute drive) and the Bensen Palms Village park where I will be for the next month. The fact that the microwave is not working means I have an excuse to try out a few of the local restaurants as it is too hot to use the stove and oven in the RV or so I think
:-)

Packing up

Went for my morning walk again this morning.... Last one here. Will pack things up this evening so I can leave here tomorrow morning after I settle up my bill. The charge here was $250.00 for the month plus Electric.....so I take the meter reading in tomorrow and I will see how much that will cost. I figure about $75-$100 as I did use the electric heater earlier in the month and the air conditioner is going now. I am off to the Fig Tree resort in Harlingen for two nights then over to Mission to the Bensen Palms Village where I will set up for the month of March. This has been a nice park very quiet with lots of things to do in the park if you wanted but not much in the surrounding area soooooo I haven't spent a lot of money this month, except of course for yesterday. I had to pay for the doctor visit and meds myself ( I will eventually get it back) , the doctor visit cost $70.00 and the meds cost $230.00 wow one little tube of creme cost $166.00 ouch. I hope it works. My shingles are still there (feels like a bad sunburn on my left shoulder and back) hard to sleep when I toss over to that side at night. Oh well hopefully it will be gone or at least diminished in a few weeks. Wouldn't you know it they fixed the internet here a few days ago ..........just in time for me to leave? Well trying to keep cool :-)
Doug.

ouch

Well after a 3 hour wait to see a doctor (actually a physician assistant) my diagnosis was confirmed yes I have Shingles. Very painful on my left side under the armpit and upper chest and back. Anyway had to pay up front for the visit and my insurance provider says I will get the money back eventually. Also need to go to the pharmacy to get 3 presciptions filled, an antiviral drug, a antiviral creme and pain killers. I was also told to keep cool and dry, which considering it is in the 80's today and forcasted to go up to the 90's by the end of the week, could be difficult.
Guess I will have to crank up the air conditioner. Off to find a place to eat lunch then get my presciptions filled and head back the 25 miles to the campground.

wasting time

Well here I am at the Kingsville Library wasting time while I wait for my insurance provider to fax information to a medical clinic so a Doctor can check me out. For the last week or so I have had a burning pain in my left side and kinda think it may be shingles. We will see.
Well Monday I drove down to the Valley for a day and was able to drive through the Bensen Palms where I will stay for the month of March .......looks like a nice place. I will probably spend two nights at the Fig Tree resort as I have to leave the Seawind on the 27th and don't get into the Bensen Palms till the 1st of March. The valley is much different than here in Kingsville, a lot greener and wall to wall shopping (Sue's going to like it :-) ) Lots of smoke in the air as there have been alot of brush fires and they are burning off the sugar cane. The reason I went down to the valley for one day was because there was a Titanium owners luncheon which was quite nice. (and I won another titanium hat). On my way back I stopped into the Baffin Bay Inn to have a seafood supper which was really good. Shrimp, fish, scallops, and camalari. I have posted a few more pics. in the gallery for you to check out. http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99
Yesterday I washed the RV and when others saw me do that they all came over to ask when I was leaving....... I guess that's what they do here before they leave this park is wash the RV soooo everyone knew I would be leaving soon. Oh they finally are fixing the WiFi here and I can now connect once more from my RV instead of driving down and sitting in the truck outside the laundry room.
Well off to the clinic again to see if they have received the fax authorizing payment for the visit.

Windy

Well it seems the winds don't stop blowing very often in this part of Texas. I attended a line dance performance yesterday put on by the club here at the park. They did a good job actually. Saturday there is going to be a Tiquila Fest here at the park .........apparently they eat Mexican food, dance and drink Tiquila someone is bringing samples of different types to sample much like a wine tasting back home. Today however, I drove up to Aransas Gap and took the free ferry over to Mustand Island then drove along the beach (yes you can drive on the beaches down here) down to Padre Island then back over to Corpus Christi to site see and visit some malls. Picked up a few Solar Lights to put out by my trailer......... getting right into the trailer life here. Tonight it is going to get cold here going down to the low 50's overnight and only up to the high 60's tomorrow. I'll have to dig out the blanket I put away. :-) Well only here for one more week then hopefully someplace with a better WIFI setup. Also got lots of pics of the many birds that spend the winter here. Check out my new pictures at http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99
Click on each folder to see more pics.

Getting into a Routine

Well they repaired the WIFI here at the park...... kinda...... It is not as powerful or as fast as before....but I only have a couple of more weeks here then off further south. I can check e-mail and use Skype to talk to Sue and occasionally I can get onto my blog to update it. The temps. here have been pleasant with highs in the 70's to 80's and lows in the low 60's or high 50's.
The residents here have been getting ready for their big Valentine’s Day dance I have put a couple of pics in the photo gallery of that as well as a few pics of the "Threads of Love" program they do here at the park. Basically the women make clothing for newborns and on this week the men were finishing building small caskets for still born or small newborns that die. I guess the local hospital has a need for these as they just finished 15 and were asked for more. Too bad the demand is there but kudos to the people here for helping out. I have been walking along the beach but it really isn't a big beach area. It is really not sand as such but piles of small shells piled up. The big beach areas are out on the Barrier Island (Padre Island) where you can drive your vehicle right on the wide beaches. I will eventually get out there but you have to go up to Corpus Christi or south to Brownsville to get out there. I still am amazed by the variety and numbers of birds in the area. North of Corpus Christi is the Aranasas wetlands area winter home to whooping cranes and thousands of other seabirds. Around here are geese, pelicans,
Plovers, ducks and many other shorebirds as well as thousands of smaller birds.Check out the pics at
http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99

problems problems problems

Well the internet connection problems continue in the park I am in. The "techies" have been working but from what I understand the system needs to be replaced, anyway I can occasionally get on to check e-mail but the system is too slow most of the time to update the Blog. The internet connection at the next place I am at is apparently much better, but I won't be there till March 1 Keep checking back.
I have been getting into a routine walking, socializing, reading (have read 4 novels so far) and generally puttering around exploring the area. Speaking of the area ....... this area of Texas is apparently one of the poorer areas not a lot around here and a lot of people who live in trailers. In the past most people going to the Rio Grande Valley just passed through without stopping...........this is changing now that the local county built this RV park. Business has been so good that the extra revenue has been helpful and the local police dept. has been able to hire more officers and don't have to expend alot of resources on our little community (law abiding old folks) Sooooo last Saturday they held an appreciation dinner for all the people in the park, providing us with a free mexican food meal. Tomorrow the park manager is haveing an appreciation reception for us as well. I have met a lot of fellow Canucks and there are quite a few in the park. A couple just arrived here from Ottawa and we compared the border crossing at Detroit. They had a few of the same difficulties I had. They also had a further glitch as the wife kept her own last name and because they had different last names they were asked for a copy of their marriage certificate to prove they were married........ not sure what that was all about I didn't know you had to be married to cross the border anyway they obviously relented and let them into the states.
The weather has been quite pleasant with highs up to the 80's and lows in the high 50's nice for sleeping. I am planning a few side trips to see a few of the local sites one of them is the King Ranch...... which has 825,000 acres in an area known as the Wild Horse Desert. It is a working ranch with over 60,000 head of cattle as well as a museum, and wildlife refuge and hunting area (I know bit of a conflict, but they love their guns and hunting and fishing down here).

lost in cyberspace

well the internet wifi connection went down last thursday night and it still hasn't been fixed. I am accessing this from Kingsville Texas on the campus of Texas A&M or rather near it..........hooking into someone elses wifi. The public library which I would have used is closed on Mondays. anyway it has been very windy here for the last few days and cloudy but no rain It is very dry and they haven't had any significant rain here since last Oct. well I have to go as I am getting some stares from students walking by as I write this in my truck.... I guess I will have to go to a restaurant for supper now that I am in here ....... :-) oh well hope they get the internet fixed soon.

walkin

Another lazy day. Did some more reading of a new novel (The Island) and lay in the sun a bit to get rid of that white glow I have. I did go for a long walk today and took some pictures of the area. They can be viewed at
http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99
I did see a javalina skoot through the brush but by the time I got the camera out and on he was gone so only got a fleeting shot of him. We had a social hour this afternoon as well few of the people brought instruments and sang songs , served chilli dogs and cake. This evening I met a couple from Texas who have a Titanium trailer a bit bigger but older than mine. Nice folks and they came over to inspect my rig with their friends. Tonight the international space station passed overhead I tried to get some pics but need a tripod ......the thing moves fast it only took about 3 minutes for the satelite to go from horizon to horizon. Don't work too hard (at PJ) back home. :-)

another day in paradise

Watched the superbowl in the rec hall and met a couple from London, ontario who are just travelling around sleeping in a tent or the back of their pickup. Glad I had solid walls as it was a bit chilly last night.............got down to the low 40's but warmed up to the 70's during the day. Well I got one book read (the Appeal by John Grisham) and have started another one.(The Island) I am continuing to go on morning and evening walks and am facinated by the nightly display of thousands of birds coming in each evening to roost in the marsh area behind the RV. I put a few more pics in my photo gallery at http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99 Today I went on a trip noth to Corpus Christi and out to the outer islands. Followed some smoke which turned out to be a controlled burn. I ended up at Goose Island state park (few pics in the photo gallery) then came back down the coast. They are expecting a big increase in March break this year because of the damage up Galveston way. I also stopped and did some shopping ......... got a pair of sandles for $5.00 as well as groceries and laundry pins (guess I'll have to do laundry soon) I also swapped out the smoke detector that was in the RV with a new one that has a hush feature...now I can burn toast without waking up the whole campground. :-)