Wednesday, October 31st - Happy Halloween!

This morning, new friends, Ray and Jerry, invited me to play golf with them at Monte Cristo Golf Club in Edinburg. I thoroughly enjoyed their company AND the golf.

On the way home from golf, I got "the call" from John at Valley Machine and Auto. Jasper Jeep is ready to re-enter society! He is back among the living! MA and I picked him up and he started right away and drove mightily to Enterprise Rent-a-Car where we dropped off the Chevy Cobalt that we had rented for the past three weeks. We drove Jasper back to the coach. He seemed relieved to be home.

We attended a free Halloween dinner at the ballroom here at the resort. Ray and his wife, Shirley, held a spot at their table for us. MA brought spice cake squares. There was a costume contest and a man inside a blown up bikini with enormous physical attributes, won...go figure. MA and I went as an early 60's aged couple...that is to say... no costume.

Tuesday, October 30th - Progress on Jasper jeep

The rebuilt cylinder head, which was shipped from Kansas City last Wednesday evening, has arrives in the valley. It has been installed on Jasper's engine and the process of re-installing the engine begins today. John has promised me that Jasper will spend Wednesday night at home.

MA is driving to Progreso tomorrow to get the latest work done. I am not going - I will be playing golf with Ray and Jerry in Edinburg.

Saturday, October 27th - A Quiet Day

I got up at 7am and walked over to the restaurant here at Victoria Palms RV Resort. They serve a good breakfast buffet. Later MA went shopping in McAllen and I completed some fix-it stuff around the coach and then went swimming.

For dinner, it was Chili's.

Friday, October 26th - Day Trip to Laredo (why??)

Neither MA nor I have ever been to Laredo, Texas. Well, that is one more we can check off the list. We went - We saw - We left...end of story.

Could the 330 mile trip be justified by all the beautiful scenery enroute to Laredo? Naah!

Could the 330 mile trip be justified by some terrific, one-of-a-kind eating experience? Naah!

Will we ever again be making an "optional" trip to Laredo, Texas? Naah! Naah! Naah!

Thursday, October 25th - Trip #3 to Mexico

We left our campsite at 10am for the 15 minute drive to the USA - Mexico frontera (border). Enroute, we stopped at Valley Machine Shop to check on Jasper Jeep. Manager, John, has been able to locate a reconditioned cylinder head in Kansas City. This is great news! It is already on the way to RGV (Rio Grande Valley). Once it arrives, probably early next week, it will be installed on the reconditioned engine block and the engine will be re-installed into Jasper. Meanwhile, Jasper, a shell of his former self, sits alone each night, kinda in a coma, awaiting the return of his heart.

As we were driving thru the small village of Progreso, TEXAS, about a mile from the border, I slowed down for a 20mph school zone. I THOUGHT that when I saw a 30 MPH sign that was the end of the school zone. I was wrong. A local policeman pulled me over. He asked for my license & insurance card. "South Dakota, huh??", he said. I did not have my insurance card - it was in Jasper's glove compartment. I offered the rental car documents. That satisfied him. The very nice policeman explained that the school zone did not end at the 30mph sign and that there was a SECOND school that the zone included. He said to please drive slower and did NOT give me a (deserved) ticket!.

We parked and walked over the border and to the dentist office. Again, the waiting room was full of Americans. I got my teeth cleaned ($25). MA was supposed to get her crowns. However, since she was feeling quite a bit of pain on two of the teeth involved, the Dentist needed to perform two root canals. THEN, he cemented the bridges to her upper front teeth.
MA has to return two more times for work on the front, lower veneers.

Meanwhile, I went shopping for more prescription meds. Then I settled in under the palapa near the dentist office and waited for MA, passing the time with $1.25 Corona beers with limes.

After her ordeal, we, once again, ate lunch at Arturo's Mexican Restaurant. As good as ANY I have ever eaten. Then we returned to the USA and took naps.

Wednesay, October 24th - A Big Setback

John at Valley Machine Shop assured me yesterday that our Jeep would be ready by this evening. This morning, I stopped by the shop and John said "Bad news. Follow me". Doncha just hate it when they say that? As he was placing the cylinder head onto the engine block, he noticed a CRACK in the cylinder head! This means that we have to get a new or rebuilt cylinder head. John is trying to find one and, thus far, has not been successful.

Tuesday, October 23rd - Dinner with Cousin Sheila

I finished up the migration of the programs and data from the old HP to the new HP purchased Monday morning at Office Depot. I bundled up all the components of the old HP and drove to Sam's Club in McAllen to return everything. It took about 1/2 hour to stand in line and get everything in order for the return. The electronics clerk asked if the returning laptop is re-sellable. I told him about the problem of the blanking screen and that I would not think is is a good candidate for resale. They refunded my entire purchase price. The only difficulty was that the tax I paid in Kansas was about $8 less that the corresponding tax on the refund. They did not know how to account for the disparity. But, they figured it out and I was on my way.

When we were in Des Moines, Iowa in early August, visiting my first cousin, Ron Heinz, he mentioned that their oldest daughter, Sheila, was working in Edinburg and living in McAllen, Texas. I contacted Sheila when we first arrived and we arranged to spend this evening with her. MA & I drove to Sheila's home in McAllen. It is a beautiful home and she has two energetic dogs, Maxie and Chloe. Sheila drove us to a new high-end Mexican restaurant, Palenque Grill in McAllen. I had the chili relleno, MA had the green enchiladas and Sheila had the chicken fajitas. The dinner was exceptional!

We really enjoyed Sheila's company for the evening. We hope to have a chance to see her again before we depart the Valley.

Monday, October 22nd - Replaced the Laptop - Again!

We have been simply waiting for the Jeep and MA's teeth to be repaired. The weather FINALLY gave us a break from the mid-90's! We had overnight temps in the 50's. For the last two days, we have gone without the air-conditioning.

When the Dell laptop failed back in July when we were in Lake City, Colorado, the display screen simply quit working. A symptom leading up to the failure was that the screen would go blank for 1-2 seconds and pop right back with everything on the screen as it should be. This intermittent blanking became more frequent until finally, it just quit all together.

We replaced the Dell with an larger HP laptop. Well, recently, the same symptoms have been happening with the HP - sporatic blanking for 3-4 seconds. I read this as not a good sign. I bought the HP at Sam's Club in Lenexa, Kansas, near Kansas City. Sam's has a very liberal return policy for computers - 6 months. So I decided that I would return the HP.

Over the week-end, I checked out several sources here in the Valley. Office Depot had the best deal on a smaller 14" HP laptop. On Monday, I purchased the new HP laptop and began the laborious process of migrating the "stuff" from the old laptop to the new one.

Saturday, October 20th

We are staying at the Victoria Palms RV Resort for approximately one month while we get the dental and automotive work done. This is a VERY nice park with approximately 1,300 sites. They are about 30% full now. HOWEVER, starting in November, they will begin to fill to capacity with a waiting list! The rates go up to $600/month (currently $300) plus electricity. I believe that there is a 3-4 month minimum stay required. Several hundred families live here year round.

Beginning November 1st, there will be dozens of activities to participate in...billiard tournaments, sewing classes, day and several day trips into Mexico, aerobics, pot luck suppers, etc.

The short tree to the right of the coach is a grapefruit tree. There is one on the other side also. For the most part, the fruit is not yet ripe. Yesterday, MA found a couple that were edible.

October 19th - South Padre Island

Today, we drove thru Brownsville, Texas, ate lunch at El Pollo Loco (The Crazy Chicken) and then drove out thru Port Isabel to South Padre Island. Padre Island is a very narrow strip of land that parallels the mainland from Brownsville to Corpus Christi.

We heard that there was a sand castle building contest at the beach at the Sheraton Hotel. We parked about a half mile away and took a shuttle bus to the beach. Sure enough, there were several dozen "Masters of Sand" plying their trade. Some were cute, some were complex, all were interesting.
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Wednesday, October 17th - Relaxing Day

After the major dental work that MA endured yesterday, she slept to noon today. Meanwhile, I did some maintenance on the roof of the coach. After lunch at the coach, we went to the swimming pool here at Victoria Palms RV Resort. Later, we went to the cinema in Weslaco to see The Heartbreak Kid and had dinner at Pizza Hut.

Tuesday, October 15th - Dental Work Begins

We arrived in Progreso, Mexico (actually named Nuevo Progreso) around 9:30 for a 10am appointment for MA. We stopped at the first farmicia to get a small amount of Amoxicilin to protect MA artificial right knee from infection during the oral surgery.

I walked MA up to the dentist office. Of course, there were several Americanos waiting for dental work. Dr. Ricardo Carreon is VERY popular with the "winter Texans" that come to the Valley, beginning in November. He is also highly used by local residents of the Valley.

I left MA and went shopping for meds, liquor and a belt. I did buy a brown leather belt and several prescription drugs that were significantly cheaper than costs in the US..

I walked throughout the town and then returned to check on MA. They said that she needed at least 1 1/2 more hours. So I asked for a check-up myself. I was quickly seen by Dr. Flores and he built up 5 front top teeth for a cost of $250.

After I finished up, they were still grinding on MA. I checked on her and told her I would be downstairs. I enjoyed several $1.25 Corona beers until MA showed up. She sorta dribbled down a Corona of her own - the novocaine was still working.

Then we walked to Arturo's Restaurant about two blocks into the town and had a wonderful Mexican dinner. On the way back to the border crossing, we stopped to pick up a couple liters of liquor at the Duty-Free Store.

It is interesting that the border crossing INTO Mexico costs walkers 25 cents and returning to the USA costs 30 cents.

We checked on the progress of Jasper Jeep. All his vital organs were on various workbenches. Progress is being made toward making Jasper whole again.

Monday, October 15th - A Jasper Jeep Update

I have been biding my time late last week and over the week-end. The machine shop recommended by the mechanic at Goodyear, Rio Machine Shop, could not even talk to me until the completion of the move of their facility. Yesterday, a counter man at the local AutoZone suggested that I talk to the nearby Valley Machine Shop.

This morning, when Rio's line was continuously busy, I drove over to Valley. I was greeted by John, the manager of the repair shop. I told him of my situation (see last week's postings). John said that it would cost me $175 to determine the damage and current status of the Jeep. Sounded good to me so, two of his shop workers followed me back to Victoria Palms RV Resort. They put a strap on their trailer hitch and connected to my front tow bar, used to connect to the coach. And away they went, Jasper Jeep being towed by one worker and steered and braked by the other. In a way, it was sad. I'm sure that Jasper had no idea what the heck was happening. He's used to being directly attached and proudly towed by a 40 foot coach. Now, he was being forlornly "strapped" down the road by a pick-up truck.

About four hours later, John called me and I drove over to his shop. It turns out that the metallic rattling sound we heard as we drove south out of Austin was the engine beginning to seize up, due to overheating. My temperature gauge gave me only a HINT of a problem when it registered slightly OVER one-half rather than the normal slightly LOWER than one-half. As the metallic rattling got worse, we took the first available exit on I-35 - about 1/2 mile and as we pulled into the parking lot of the liquor store, the engine died. The temp gauge was ONLY THEN showing very hot.

As stated last week, the cause was a burst lower radiator hose. Now, the engine damage was being assessed. The result is that I need to have the engine block "rebuilt". That is, the cylinder walls are scored and must be reamed out and the cylinders replaced. The estimate is $1,650 and the work has begun.

Poor Jasper doesn't know what hit him. His engine compartment is opened wide for all the world to see his parts. The head is over on a milling machine. The spark plugs are gone and people are sticking and probing his insides.

Sunday, October 14th Not a Good Football Week-end!

Saturday, LSU got beat in triple overtime by the Kentucky Wildcats. Today, the Dallas Cowboys tangled with one of the "elite" teams of the NFL - the New England Patriots. The 'Boys got a lesson in humility.

Here are a couple of pix from last week-end when we stayed with Berri and Colin. The brown dog is Sonny and the black dog is Zack.

Thursday, October 11th - First Dentist Visit

This morning, I got after the bug build-up on the front of the coach. Several weeks without attention and those Louisiana love bugs made a mess. The morning was cool-ish, unlike the still blistering Texas afternoons.

The Enterprise Rent-a-Car driver picked us up at 9:20. We returned with him to the town of Mercedes, Texas and arranged to rent a Chevy Cobalt for one week while we figure out what to do with the Jeep.

Speaking of the Jeep, I talked to Ysidro, owner of Rio Machine Shop in Weslaco. He told me that they are in the process of moving to a new facility. He asked that I call him Monday to arrange for them to pull the head and determine the extent of the damage to Jasper Jeep.

After breakfast at IHOP, we drove 12 miles to the border crossing at Progresso, Texas. We parked the car and walked across the bridge over the Rio Grande. Immediately on our left was the (very colorful) offices of Dr. Ricardo Carreon and Dr. Lorena Soto. We had a short wait because we were early for our 12:00 noon appointment. MA had her teeth cleaned and x-rayed. The primary reason for coming to the Rio Grande valley of Texas was to get either implants or bridges for three of MA's "gaps". Dr Sota offered several "plans": Plan A was three implants and several veneers for front teeth. This required over $7,000 and returning four months later for follow-up work. Plan B was three bridges and veneers. That is the choice - $2,700 and the work completed within three weeks. Work is scheduled to start next Tuesday morning.

We contacted Jerry Hitchcock in the town of La Feria, Texas. He was recommended as a source to purchase the board game, Jokers, that we learned to play at the Newmar rallies. So we drove over to Jerry's and bought a cedar-made "block style". That is, eight strips that connect at the ends to make a 3 - 8 player "board".

For dinner, Ciro's Seafood and Mexican Restaurant was recommended by a work camper here in the RV Resort. We tried it - will NOT go back.

Wednesday, October 10th - Jeep Repaired BUT...

Well, good news and REALLY crappy news.

We drove south to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, arriving at the Goodyear Service Center around 12:30. We dropped off the Jeep to have the lower radiator hose replaced. After lunch at Luby's Cafeteria, we returned to Goodyear where they told me the wrong hose had been sent. MA stayed at Goodyear and I drove the coach to Victoria Palms RV Resort, our home for the next month. Very nice lady, Nancy, checked me in and I drove the coach to our designated campsite, 2246. Well,folks, site 2246 is NOT suitable for modern motorhomes with slideouts. I backed in as close to the grapefruit tree on the left as I dare, got out to see if the slideouts could be extended and realized that I was three feet off the concrete pad on the right side!

I called Nancy in the office and they relocated me to campsite 2320, a MUCH better fit. After I got set up, MA arrives riding in a Goodyear truck. Turns out that Goodyear received a second radiator hose and it was ALSO the wrong fit. So, they dropped MA off and would call when the CORRECT hose arrived from Edinburg, Texas and was installed.

So, we continued to set-up the camp. I cleaned some bugs off the front and installed the sun screens, something we do when we plan to stay a while.

Around 5pm, Goodyear called and said that the Jeep was ready...they would come get us. They picked us up and we drove back to Goodyear, paid the bill (very reasonable) and TRIED to start the Jeep - would not start!!! Water had infiltrated the combustion chamber and the vacuum system. Mechanic, Tony, came out and quickly diagnosed the possibilities: blown head gasket OR a blown engine - due to the overheating that happened yesterday. WOW! He pulled the spark plugs and found one with water on it - not good news. After making arrangements for an Enterprise Rent-a-Car for one week, we were able to start the Jeep and drive it two miles to the campsite. The entire dashboard was blinking warnings but, we had a goal of getting to the coach and we made it!

Our plan is to get the rent car around 8:30am tomorrow and get MA to her 12 noon appointment at the dentist in Progresso, Mexico, about 15 miles from here. I will also discuss the Jeep situation with a machine shop recommended by Goodyear and see what's involved with diagnosing the Jeep's water problem. A lot of moving parts, huh?

Oh, yeah! The good news - we can pick all the grapefruit we want from the trees here. The really crappy news - they are not yet ripe!

Tuesday, October 9th - Jeep Problems!

About 9:30, MA and I left Berri's home and drove to her workplace, Standard Pacific Homes in north Austin. We said "Hi" to Nicole, Susan, Selena and several other co-workers. We then headed south toward San Antonio to join up with our coach which spent the week-end at Holt Caterpillar getting a new injector pump installed.

Just south of Austin, the Jeep temperature guage showed that the engine was overheating! I took the first exit (Buda, Texas) and pulled into the parking lot of the Onion Creek Liquor Store (how convenient!). We had a burst lower radiator hose and the engine was steaming VERY badly. This is SO disappointing because I had ALL radiator and heater hoses replaced last December when I replaced the radiator and the water pump.

MA called Enterprise Rent-a-Car and, just like the ad, they picked us up. We left the Jeep and drove down to San Antonio, got the coach and MA followed me back to Buda where we turned in the rent car and hitched up the broken Jeep to the coach. We headed south, once again, thru San Antonio and parked overnight at Wal-Mart in Alice, Texas. We hope to get the Jeep repaired at the Goodyear Service Center in Weslaco, Texas, very close to our campground for a month, Victoria Palms RV Resort, in Donna, Texas.

Monday, October 8th - How 'bout Them Cowboys!

Because Holt Caterpillar, who is working on our coach, needed a little more time to test out the pump replacement, we decided to spend another night with Colin & Berri at their home in Round Rock, just north of Austin.

This allowed me to watch the Dallas Cowboys on Berris's HD TV! And what a game - as exciting as ANY Cowboy game I've seen and I have been following them since their beginning, 1960.

Saturday, October 6th - Goodbye & Hello

Janet and Bob left to return to Kansas City around 10am. MA and I finished packing up the coach and drove it to Holt Caterpillar, here in San Antonio. As I have written earlier, we have an outstanding problem with the H.U.I.E. Pump on the diesel engine. When we had routine maintenance service performed in Mobile, Alabama, the technician confirmed that we have a defective pump. The techs at Holt will replace the pump on Monday.

SO...we have driven the 88 miles to daughter, Berri's home in Round Rock, Texas. Berri and Colin welcomed us with Shiner Bock Beer, steaks and open arms! We (mostly, I) have watched college football all day - way to go, LSU Tigers!

Friday, October 5th - Catchin' our Breath

Today we just hung out at the campground. Janet is facing hip replacement surgery in early November and although she has been the real trooper, all the walking and stairs on Thursday caught up with her today.

We did go out for lunch at Luby's Cafeteria and to The Old World German Restaurant for dinner. After dinner, we all went down to the pool and hot tub for a soak.

Thursday, October 4th - San Antonio, Texas

We had a full day of enjoying San Antonio. This is truly one of America's unique cities.

We started with breakfast at the Mercado (Market Square) at Mi Tierra which has been in business since 1941, operating 24 hours/day, 365 days/year. This is a VERY unique restaurant. MA, Janet and Bob had the Chorizo Mexicano Con Huevo while I had the Hueveos Rancheros. Wonderful!

We strolled thru the Mercado. MA and Janet bought some jewelry. Then we descended from the street level to the Riverwalk and bought tickets for the river barge tour of the Riverwalk. We departed at 1pm for the 40 minute boat ride. MA and I had taken the trip several times in past years. Bob & Janet really enjoyed this trip!

We returned to the coach to rest up during the hottest part of the day. We returned to the Riverwalk for dinner at the Texas Land and Cattle Company. We first ate at this steakhouse when we lived in Austin back in 2000. The have a special smoked sirloin steak that is very flavorful. We each had this for entree along with a couple bottles of wine. Afterward, we walked to the Alamo and back down on the Riverwalk.

Wednesday, October 3rd - Janet & Bob Arrive!

We cleaned up the inside of the coach this morning. We contacted Janet (my cousin) & Bob Sherman. They were in Georgetown, Texas looking at the Sun City Del Webb community and planned to join us in San Antonio.

I offered them the choice of meeting us at the San Antonio campground or meeting us at the campground in Luling, Texas, 60 miles east of San Antonio, and driving with us to the next campground. They drove to Luling and arrived at 12:30. MA & Janet drove back into the town to take pix. This is a pic of a pumping oil well that has been decorated.

MA & Janet drove their car and Bob & I drove the coach to the campground. Traveler's World RV Park is about three miles south of downtown San Antonio. After we set up camp, we ate a late lunch/early dinner at Taqueria de Guadalahara across the street. MA, daughter, Berri and I ate there Christmas night 2003 and it was terrific then. This time, the meals were equally great! And cheap! $2.99 margaritas, $5.00 plates, etc.

After eating, we drove thru downtown San Antonio, kinda planning our next day's activities. We retired to the coach for the evening. Bob made Manhattan's from his personal, traveling, bar that goes everywhere with them.

Tuesday, October 2nd

Today we drove from Hammond, Louisiana to Luling, Texas, just 60 miles shy of our destination, San Antonio. We are camped at the River Bend RV Park, just outside of town. This is a nice Passport America campground. After a (very) quick tour of Luling, we learned that the town rolls up its sidewalks at 7pm. Therefore, we settled for a Dairy Queen cheeseburger.

Monday, October 1st - Major Maintenance

We set the alarm for 6am this morning and drove the coach to Thompson Caterpillar Service in Spanish Fort, Alabama, outside Mobile. They took is in at 7:30am and began working immediately. I had the oil changed (19 quarts), replaced the oil filter, two fuel filters, the air filter and the thermostat. Thde engine computer was "flashed", updating the firmware to the current version. They added two quarts of anti-freeze extender that will prolong the change interval by three years. They checked all hoses and belts - OK. All of this was routine maintenance, therefore, our nickel.

They also replaced the injection pressure sensor hoping that would fix the "check engine" light I have gotten three times in the past 45 days - did NOT fix it. Therefore, I plan to get the "H.U.I.E. Pump" replaced in San Antonio next week. This is a warranty item, to be paid by Caterpillar.

Meanwhile, we are back on the road again, on the way to San Antonio, Texas. We are parked overnight at the Cracker Barrel in Hammond, Louisiana.