Dieter is re-organizing truck bed and underfloor storage and inflating all tires due to requirements. Neighbors around us left already.....
Our time here is up. We came here to test the grounds for permanence, but we want more "home-feeling", which we will get most likely in a smaller RV Park. This area grows more and more together, the Brownsville Metropolitan area with the very busy and too close Interstate 2 is not to our liking to live here for good. We travel according to our itinerary (see page) and will leave here April 1th for Rockport, TX. You will hear about that later on...... The managers and staff of VIP La Feria RV Park are super-friendly and helpful in all situations, I feel sad to leave them behind. Thanks - Ruth and John! Underneath you see a tree in bloom, as so many others in this park, but this one we can see from our entrance area.
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This month we visited a local doctor and got our prescriptions renewed. We got a clean bill of health.
The weather was lousy, more cold than warm - but our thermostat is working fine, we neither feel cold nor hot. Sitting outside is a rarity this winter..... Dieter is reading a lot and I do my usual daily work inside and I am puzzling, one after the other, and sometimes I am on the computer. Dieter did some outside maintenance work on our trailer, he also did patch-up work of the twice painted decals at the outside walls. Our cat wants to be snuggled and be close to me, especially when I have a puzzle open. She comes and tells me that she is more important than the puzzles. See picture underneath.... Dieter and I made the decision that we want to live in Florida when stopping traveling. We tried all states and need to be in a warm climate. I will write more of it all when the time comes..... These days I am busy working my way through a new notebook, HP 15 with a Windows 8.1 system. Everything is different than in the old Windows Vista - lots of trials and errors, but I got it now. I take pride in the fact that I figured everything out myself. I just love computers.
In addition I am baking some different kind of cookies. Dieter and I enjoy our cup of coffee in the afternoon and still stick to the old European tradition to have an assortment of pastry on the couch table. Now to the title of this post. All friends and family - have wonderful holidays and may the new year 2015 be good to you! The following picture was taken by me this morning in the main clubhouse of the VIP La Feria RV Park. We have one red candle standing on our couch table and one very small Christmas tree on our desk. First Advent Sunday was yesterday.
Dieter trimmed the rear window of our Alfa Gold with a colored-lights string . This picture will be posted here first. So many of our neighbors illuminated their lot - well - we have to lure the Christmas spirit albeit the high temps and the sun brightly shining and snow nowhere in sight..... Our managers Ruth and John are wonderful.
They made the introduction of all hosts for the winter time a party with country music from the box..... All new residents were welcomed and Wieners were roasted over open fires via that old-fashioned long fork. Sodas, Water and Chips were on the tables . We also had to pay 2 Dollars for an entrance ticket which was used for a drawing of interesting things donated by local business and by campers. The pictures underneath will give you an impression how it all went. Thanks! It has been fun ! Dieter set the sunshade up and voila.....we have an outdoor room! Our Ellie likes it and so do we. Dieter also felt relaxed enough by now to start crafting again. We had still plastic canvas and perls and other materials from years back. It is very soothing to look at the spirals, the movement is pleasing to the eyes and it makes no sound.
There is also a picture of the sun setting - behind clouds.... Last week we made reservations for next summer in the Rockport area. Please, refer to the Itineraries page. Dieter can fish there, the pier is part of the resort. We know the entire area, have several times camped in Bay View Resort in Rockport Fulton, which is the neighborhood of the one new to us. Otherwise time flies here too....today Dieter helped our neighbor Ross to set up their screen tent in front of their Fifth Wheel. And I am finished cleaning all 15 miniblinds while they are still hanging. It would be too difficult to remove them for that purpose because of the firmly installed window dressings. I used Baby Wipes, cleans good..... We took our bathing suits with us and our towels - just in case. But it did not happen this time. I felt the intense heat at the beach, saw the red flag out and only a handful of young people in the water west of us. The water temperature was 83 degr.F. - would have just been perfect - -but we did not want to jeopardize our health - all we wanted was to be near the sea again. The last time we walked a beach was during our hosting in Port Aransas, TX, 5 years ago.. We inhaled the air, listened to the incoming waves and observed those running birds at the water's edge, saw many Pelicans overhead....
Parking costs: $ 5.00 for a day pass till 11 PM. We were home early afternoon. A waste? No. In our age we better do not postpone any plans to sightsee and act according to the circumstances. No regrets, just joy! When I took the first pictures from the nearly 3 miles long bridge ( from Port Isabel to Padre Island Blvd.) I was disappointed. The skyline looks now like any other, like Panama City Beach in Florida or Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Highrisers competing which each other in hight. Only one access to the beach publicly, which is incorporated in the Cameron County Park System. After driving the Boulevard almost 4 miles east - there it was..... The beach was freshly raked and the public toilets very clean. The parking lot had only a couple of trucks and cars parked....Well - it was just 10:30 AM when we arrived there. One way from VIP LA FERIA RV PARK to the beach on the island have been exactly 50 miles. We made some new memories........... Yes - we are now parked in the most southern area of the big state of Texas. We chose this area because it is one of the 3 hot spots in the wintertime. When you watch the National Weather map on TV in winter, one red hot spot is Yuma, Arizona, the other one Miami, Florida...and the 3rd one is Brownsville, Texas.
We have been in this area in 2001, in Brownsville and in Harlingen. La Feria belongs to the Brownsville/Raymondville Metropolitan area but is located about 8 miles west of Harlingen on Expressway 83. The bigger city Mc.Allen is also on Highway 83 to the west. Being at the outskirts has its adventages, like a lower camping fee for a five-star Resort, which we like. And the area is more rural and has more trees. The crazy crooked meandering line in green you see on the last map is the Rio Grande River, the border in between USA and Mexico. And the color blue represents the Gulf of Mexico. Of course - South Padre Island included...... Our Lot # is C-28 . We arrived here as planned on Oct. 1st and were greeted by the hosts like old friends!
The second picture was taken from the rear of our trailer. The clubhouse is just across a street. You look at the rear of the big building, were one of the laundries is located - and I can hang my wash outside to dry there! Hurray! We are still slowly unpacking stowed away things. This morning Dieter set up our grill and right now works on the window panes. We had them all shiny when we left Broken Spoke, but driving 520 miles does a number on them. The humidity is high here, and when the thick dew pearls cling on them in the morning, they should at least sparkle..... Yesterday we drove to Walmart in Harlingen ( only short of 8 miles) and we need to know other locations we have to visit in the future. With other words - we have to get more familiar with the area. All in good time. Other pictures will follow - when the opportunity to take them is right..... VIP LA FERIA RV PARK is still fairly empty, snowbirds will fill it, that is for sure. We had a nice talk with the German owner of Hofbrau RV Park. The lot was roomy and the sight of trees delightful.....We stayed there from Oct. 27. - Oct. 30. and continued our travels in a wonderful mood. Our cat behaved wonderfully and did hardly ever meow....
We had another stop for one night in Mathis, TX, where I took no pictures. |
AuthorMy name is Karin Bartsch. Archives
July 2015
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