3/30/2012 The Aftermath

After getting ready for our workday and early morning meeting we left to make our way to the hall on the the Mission Bell side of the park.

Lots of people were out on the street already and talk was all about the storm last night.

When we got the golf cart ready for our morning Bob pointed out the five gallon bucket in the back. This is what accumulated in it from the storm. That’s a lot of rain!

The patio furniture in the pool area ended up in the corner.

We lost nine flag poles in all.

Telephone poles came down and live wires laid across park models. Some people had to be moved to safer places last night.

We saw lots of car ports that had given way to the force of the wind.

Large branches were lost from mature trees.

This is just a very small portion of what we saw on the way to the hall for the meeting.

The turnout was good considering the majority of the Winter Texans have left. Of course there’s the ones who don’t show up when there’s work to be done.

Scott, our manager, led us in prayer, giving thanks that none of us were hurt and what was lost were only things. Replaceable things.

I was assigned the duty of taking pictures of damage for insurance purposes since so many of the resident have gone. Bob took the golf cart and helped those that had branches and limbs in their yards.

The parks really looked like a war zone with branches and limbs and leaves everywhere. Not to mention the buildings that were damaged.

I worked with Pat, who we first met in South Dakota last summer. She took one side of the road and I took the other. We knocked on doors asking if there was any damage and took pictures of it if they needed us too. The places that were empty we just walked around and took pictures of anything we saw that damaged.

The fountain area that we were so hard at keeping neat looking.

The shuffleboard courts.

This shed was knocked over the wind.

It landed on a utility pole.

When Pat went to this mobile home and Carol, the owner, answered the door, she asked, “Did you have any damage from the storm?”

Carol replied, “Ya think????”

This house had a carport that came right to the front of the house.

Parts of it were found on the next street over.

This site was all too common.

Rescued flags.

Oh no! Not the WIFI tower! Thankfully, the pole may be down but its still transmitting. Mission Bell didn’t fare so well. They’ve lost their WIFI signal.

This next picture is kind of hard to comprehend but the carport that belongs to the house on the right is laying on top of the carport that you can see in the picture. It just flipped right over the house.

This is just a very small sampling of what these parks look like after the storm.

I must say, it was heartwarming to watch neighbor helping neighbor and mere acquaintances pitching in to help the guy down the street.

Bob worked through the afternoon on clean up duty, removing tree limbs and pitching in here and there where needed.

At one o’clock the RV guy showed up and I told him the AC had been under water and he said it didn’t matter that the important parts were enclosed in plastic and it that it would work just fine. An hour and a half later it was all ready to go. Sure enough it works like a charm and our house is now so much cooler.

I asked Matt the RV guy if he had gotten lots of calls this morning and he replied, “It started ringing at daybreak.” Most ripped awnings. We had a lot of that in this park too. Those who didn’t know this was coming kept their awnings up and then couldn’t get them down because the hail was so bad.

As Scott said in the meeting. “We’re all thankful no one was hurt.”

3/29/2012 They Called it a Perfect Storm

When we heard the weather forecast on the morning news we heard 20% chance of showers in the afternoon. Eh, no big deal, probably wouldn’t even sprinkle.

The afternoon showers didn’t happen.

We didn’t listen to the 6 p.m. news as we were watching something else on TV while we ate.

Shortly after dinner the RV repair guy brought over the new air conditioner he is going to install on Friday. Oh yeah, our AC wasn’t cooling as well as we thought it should so we called the RV Fixit guy and he ran some tests and sure enough we had a leak. Since we are still under warranty for the AC the factory decided to just send us a new one. Since it wouldn’t fit on RV guys work truck he wanted to bring it over this evening so it would be here for the installation. No problem, just lay it there on the patio.

All is good. And then……

It started to rain. No, no, it started to pour. Bob ran out to cover the AC which is still in the cardboard box with a tarp.

And the THUNDER and LIGHTNING were relentless. Many times it looked like daylight outside. I don’t know what time all this started but it wasn’t long after it had become dark.

And the wind came, gusting to 72 miles an hour.

And the hail started coming down and continued to do so for 27 minutes. Twenty seven long minutes. Hail hitting an RV is a horrendous sound. Deafening. You just think about the damage its causing. The RV, the truck. And it continues to come down and all you can do is pray for it to stop. And then you yell at God, “Enough! Make it stop!”….and it continues to come down. And then if you’re me you start to cry and you beg your husband to take you away from this place. You beg him to get on the road and leave this Valley far behind.

And it rained harder.

What we missed on the six o’clock news was the prediction that if a cold front from the north collided with a warm front from the south the result would be a huge, HUGE storm. Lots or rain, hail, wind, thunder, lightning, possible tornado… a perfect storm.

And it rained harder still.

Our RV sits in a little valley. The rain water pools here. Every time. Tonight the water rose very fast because we got 5 inches of rain in a matter of 40 minutes. Five inches. That’s a lot of rain in a very short period of time and it had nowhere to go. In no time at all we had 8 inches of rain all around our RV and truck.

Bob got on the computer to look at the radar screen and it wasn’t a pretty sight. And the storm was huge. And then the warning went across the screen. Tornado possible at McAllen Airport. Five miles away as the crow flies.

Finally the time between thunder and lightning strikes was getting longer which meant the storm was moving.

The rain was letting up somewhat, the winds diminished, thunder wasn’t as loud, the lightning wasn’t as bright, the hail was gone,,,the worst part of it was over. Just normal, regular rain remained.

A knock came at our door at 10:30. Scott, the park manager was making sure everyone was ok and to let everyone know that there was a meeting the next morning at 8a.m. for all park residents as there was lots of damage in the park and everyone would be needed to help clean up.

We had no idea of what we would see the next morning.

Our new AC…underwater.

3/27/2012 A Day Trip to South Padre Island

We get these free throwaway papers here in the Valley that give all kinds of information on what’s happening in the area. The most recent showed some tall ships, actually replica’s of Christopher Columbus’ Nina and Pinta were here for viewing and touring.

So we traveled to Port Isabel to check them out.

The Niña is a replica of the ship on which Columbus sailed across the Atlantic on his three voyages of discovery to the new world way back in 1492. Rather than type all the details and facts about the ships you can read all about them HERE.

The Niña.

The Pinta.

There weren’t too many going beyond the gate to get closer. They were asking $8.00 a piece to go on board and neither Bob or I really felt the need to spend sixteen dollars to go get a close up look at a replica. Now if it had been the original Niña and Pinta, the ones that crossed the oceans back in 1492, well, we’d be all over that! Replicas? Eh, not so much. So we stood and looked at them. Ok, we’ve seen them, let’s go.

On the way out we noticed the shrimping boats were in dock. Look how close they park these boats. Park? Do you park a boat? No, I think you dock a boat. Whatever, they were close together.

Back on the road we head over the bridge to the causeway.

WATER! Oh, we both so needed this! Being beach people we really miss not being near water. This is the first large body of water we’ve seen in nearly two years.

As we got over the bridge I got a real wakeup call about South Padre Island.

I did not expect to see high rises at all! I had this vision of this rustic, nearly undeveloped island with old wooden beach bars and small little cottages here and there. Oh was I in for a surprise! I don’t know where this perception came from but it was totally Any Coastal Beach Town, USA!

First order of business was lunch! We drove directly to Pier 19. Now I didn’t see piers one through eighteen so the significance of the number nineteen was lost on me.

What’s wrong with this picture?

We went into the restaurant, a building made out of corrugated steel, and had window seats from which we watched the dolphins play while we ate.

Also in our view was this pirate ship that took island visitors out for dolphin watches.

When we got back out to the parking lot I saw something which made it really hit home for me just how homesick I am.

Yep, a seagull. I haven’t seen one of these in a long time. Somehow it didn’t effect Bob the same way it did me. It may have had something to do with the fact that this bird had just flown past our truck and left a remembrance on our windshield…..on his side.

We took a ride for several miles and the main part of the town was a typical beach town. Condo’s, motels, T-shirt shops, lots of restaurants and bars. Lots of bars. This is after all a hot spot for Spring Break. Luckily, that was last week and the island for the most part was pretty deserted. As deserted as it can be with 5,000 fulltime residents and the Winter Texan population.

I saw one restaurant with the name Padreritaville, a clever play on Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.

We rode the main drag until we ran out of town.

After turning around we drove out on the beach to watch the wind surfers.

This fella got air!

We stopped at a hospital on the way back through town. Not a people hospital, but a turtle hospital.

I had heard a lot about this place and was so glad we had the chance to stop and see what it was all about.

Founded in 1977 by Ila Fox Loetscher, better known as "The Turtle Lady of South Padre Island”, this hospital rescues,rehabilitates and releases injured sea turtles. Of course they are also all about educating the public about sea turtles and conservation efforts for all marine turtle species.

Inside the hospital.

We were able to see some of the turtles close up as they came to the side of their pools.

There were turtles of all sizes.

There is a large Wall Of Fame that gives you a true feeling of how much good these people do. It has many pictures of turtles that came to the hospital because of injury due to boat propellers, getting tangled in fishing nets, ingesting plastic, (this is a huge problem!) getting tangled in fishing line and the six pack plastic thingy’s. Each picture also represented not only the fact that the turtle was rescued but that it was also released again to its natural habitat.

A display of nets that entangled and injured the turtles.

Turtle tail. I didn’t realize they there that long.

Even though they come close to the edge of the pool and seem like they are begging to be petted, there is a federal law in place that says, DON’T TOUCH! In fact, there is ample signage telling visitors DON’T TOUCH!

Well of course there always that one idiot that has to pet the turtle anyway, completely oblivious to the signs that plainly state that the turtle bites with 2,000 pounds of pressure! Sure enough, while we were there someone pet a turtle. A hospital employee, or perhaps even a volunteer, wasted no time in getting right up in the idiots face and saying, “DON’T. DO. THAT!” in no uncertain terms.

Before leaving I had to use the ladies room and was glad I had my camera. I never thought I’d be taking pictures of the inside of their bathroom!

The mirror over the sink.

Ceiling light fixture.

The walls.

On the way back off the island we passed this great fishing pier. This really made Bob homesick!

On the way home this motorcycle passed us and we both did a double take.

A motorcycle with training wheels! See the three tires?

We had a great day!

3/26/2012 Welcome New Readers

I’m going to take this time to welcome some new Frequent Readers and introduce you to their blogs.

Wayne & Margie are from our home state of Delaware. They are full-timers also and Wayne writes their blog about their travels. They are also workampers and will spend the summer in Maryland. You can follow them at Wayne's RV Blog.

Lizze Jack is also a new reader and wrote Travels with Mr. Nimble. This blog was a journal of their trip west between March and October 2010. They hope to be back on road again soon.

Sharon Wallace write The Odd Essay. She and her husband are full-timers and have traveled all over North America. Check this blog out!

Jessica & Harry are still preparing to hit the road. You can follow their path to fulltime status as they get the house ready and are county down the days to retirement. I remember this time in our lives so well. Follow them at Planning for RV Days with Jessica and Harry.

Alan McMillan and Gypsy Boho are also new Frequent Readers but I couldn’t find any blogs associated with them. And that’s okay!

Welcome to our journey, all of you. I hope our paths cross some day.

3/23-3/24/2012 I Miss the Daffodils

I’ve been talking to friends and family at home and I’m hearing a lot of, “Oh Snookie, the daffodils are in bloom.” These yellow blooms of springtime are my all time favorite flower and I miss seeing them. There are no daffodils here in the Rio Grande Valley. At least I haven’t seen any and I’ve been looking. Spring is much too early this year. Things are blooming too soon. Temperatures are too warm in places where it should still be winter. Things seem to be changing and I’m not sure I like it.

I received a box in the mail on Friday. I belong to a group of thirty some women who reside all over the world and we held a Sekrit Bunni exchange. Don’t ask me how the spelling got skewed because I don’t know the answer to that. Anyway, I got my gift from one of my online friends who resides in Maryland. As it turns out, she had my name and I had hers. Let me tell you, my friend was very generous.

See that bag of cookies on the right hand side? Three words. To. Die. For. Oh my gosh they were some good great chocolate chip cookies. I hope she gets my name again at our next exchange and she can send me nothing but cookies. Hint, hint, Jen, I know you’re reading this. I was also given several boxes of very pretty notecards and a double walled glass full of chocolates! This is some kind of friend!

Have you made online friends? This group I’m with is the most amazing gathering of wonderful women I could ever imagine. We range in age from 20’s to 60’s and we live in America, Canada and Australia. We come from all walks of life, some married, some single, some career women and some stay at home mom’s and some career women who are mom’s. We laugh. Lots! We discuss current events and get some pretty good debates going once in awhile. We share recipes and childhood memories, give advice in parenting and matters of the heart. We know so much about each other and yet we still learn something new all the time. We cheer each other on, are ready to go to bat or even use a bat on somebody if someone is treating one of us badly. Most of all, this group of online friends are here for each other and with the time zones we span, that’s pretty much around the clock. I appreciate this group of online friends so much. I wish everyone had a group like this!

When we were out in the golf cart today I took a picture of this rock.

We are so counting the days…..

3/22/2012 Waitin’ for Tiger’s Peeps To Call!

Today was a first for me….for us. I golfed. We golfed together. The best part? There wasn’t a windmill in sight. “What does that mean?” you ask? It means we weren’t at a putt-putt or mini-golf course! Now before you get the wrong impression altogether we also weren’t at a full sized golf course either. We went to a chip and putt I think its called. Par three course.

Remember when I bought this golf glove? Well I didn’t wear it. I couldn’t find it this morning. In fact, I’m thinking I may have returned it thinking I was never going to use it.

I’ll have to look around a little more and maybe have to go buy it again.

We got up this morning, went to work and it was just delightful outside. An absolutely beautiful morning, everyone’s step was a little lighter, the hello’s a little louder, a really feel good day. We got off at eleven and Bob says, “It’s such a nice day out we should go to the golf course.” I think he was waiting for me to say, “No way, Jose, I’m not playing golf.” I think he was quite surprised that I readily agreed that yes it would be fun to go hit that little white ball and then chase after it. So off we went.

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but this wasn’t it. We pulled into a driveway and drove past someone’s house that was in much need of a coat of paint and lots of repairs. I looked at Bob and he assured me it was ok.

As we got out of the truck the golf course owner came out and we paid her for the round of golf and to rent me a putter.

We get to the first tee and the lesson began. How to hold the club, which I find uncomfortable but maybe that’s because its just new to me. Head down, knees bent, don’t look up, keep your eye on the ball. Swing. Follow through. This whole thing is going to take some getting used to.

So we start. My first whack at the ball, and that’s exactly what it was, actually connected but the ball didn’t go where I wanted it to. Regardless, that first par three I got the ball in in five. I thought that was good for my very first time. I’d rather not talk about the hole that took me eight shots if you don’t mind. Or the other hole that took me eight either. I think I’ll pass talking about the three holes that took me seven too. I absolutely refuse to talk about the one that I had to whack that ball nine times to get it in that damn little tiny hole. There were several times I asked for a “do-over” but Bob wasn’t having any of that. Did I mention the two balls that went in the water? He had the nerve to charge me extra strokes for that!

Ok, it was par 27 for the nine holes we played. Let’s just say my age is closer to 27 than my final score was. It’s all good. It was only my first time. I’m waiting to hear from Tiger Woods’ peeps to ask me to partner up with him for a tournament any day now. I better find that glove!

3/18-3/20/2012 Just Stuff

We’re off these three days and we didn’t really do much of anything.

Bob puttered around the house, spent time in the house on the computer in the air conditioning, yes, its gotten hot again. I did morning chores, got my nails done, spent afternoons by the pool and evenings in the hot tub with my friend Bama.

Life. It just happens.