The 2006 Travels of Richard n Shirley

Morning low of 46, 65 now with a forecast of 68. Skies are overcast Tomorrow the temp is mid 50's for a high then it warms up next week. For sure there is some golf ahead.

Adouble wide for sale in the northe section. Bring you furniture. Yard maintance is by the owner.

But it is a pretty area, just a bit more than lots of others I'm sure. We are looking around.






This is one of several wifi towers around the area. We are just beyond this tower and have another to our back.

Enjoy the pics here and in the link as we add more with better weather.

Oh, its a wednesday trip and a week stay.

The clouds are gone and the temp went down and its a cold 38 this morning. Thats the bad news. The good news is it is forecast to be 65 this afternoon. The electric blanket kept the bed warm and the electric heater kept the house warm. Oh, its 19 back home.

This is one of the park models for sale. This one is located in the west area. The price is $84,000 for about 900 sf. The additional costs include the carport, a/c, utilitiy hook up, and furniture. I don't know for sure but the land is leased in this area. The lots for sale start at $24,900. Call for size, location and price and utilities.


The first pic is of the exterior of the park model. It is cute. The others are in the north area and in prior pic posts. The interios is cozy. It includes appliances and a stacked washer dryer. A buyer would have to ask if the washer dryer is included. The furniture is not.

I do like the plant shelves but for the price, DW said to buy an RV and park it, cheaper. And lots of folks did just that. There might be a dozen park models but there is several hundred travel trailers and mobiles here.

Where can you live for $300 a month, + elec, have tennis, swimming pool, hot tub, rec hall, pool tables and shuffle board included. And have a place larger than any two bedroom apartment without the common wall noise. And no crime! The elec is .15 per kwh. The golf is real close to free for the residents. At one time it was free. Its a public course so all you "public types" come on out.

Evening update-

We went to Walmart for milk and oj. Looked for tennis shoes there and at the discount namebrand stores. Guess we will be back at Walmart. We did look at a couple places to park for next year. Passed on one and probably on the other. The one we passed on is $350 ($300 here which will go up to $525 for Jan) and thats for a rec hall only. It was on So Bridge street. We will slowly look at others for next year.

We went to the pool hall this afternoon and plated for a couple of hours. DW last 2 by sinking the eight ball. I lost two by scratching when shooting the eight ball. The other games, ole "dead eye" DW won half of them. If somebody lays a quarter on the table, she's the "woman".

Budget info-

• $3751 total
• $1840 for toad wiring, hitch and brake
• $352 Dr
  
• $211 food
• $218 eat out
• $340 parking

• $1833 total
• $147 RV state registration
  
• $75 state park pass
• $236 food
• $225 eat out
• $444 parking

SUV: 1693 mileage, $123, 376 toad miles
RV: 461 miles, $90 gas

Just some information as to what we did with our spending. We, I should say DW, keeps a detailed spread sheet of just about everything we spend our money on. This way we can see were it goes. All our unusual spending has been spent and now maybe we can get back into budget. With the purchase of the plane ticket, maybe we are.

It got here at 10:35 am and when the wind changed direction, it was cold. In came the dust and a few drops so far. We have a wind advisery till 6 pm. The wind is steady at 15 and gusty. The weatherbug shows the McAllen Medical Center to have registered a gust to 57 mph. The temp went from 78 to 57 now at this posting. It is going on down to 35 tonight. Brrrrrr.

This is the north area parking. These are W I D E as I have said and now you can see them. All are pull thru except the far north end.Rates go for $400 to $450 monthly. If you want room, this is it. The only places we have seen more room is state, COE and national parks.

This pic will show you just how much room you get. W I D E .

Before the front arrived, we made a trip to the store and to check on a golf cart. If I can get in enough golf, I can pay the rental on the cart. And everything is along way off. The north area has a sprinkler system, be prepared to get something wet.

Road construction notice- US83 is under construction from US77 west to Mercedes at 2 west exit. There is some US77 construction toward the SPI. And TX 100 to SPI is underconstruction from US83 toward the port. US83 past the 2 west exit is finished and is 3 lanes at 65 mph. We have been to Mission to the west and its 3 lanes.

Mid fternoon update-

Its now 57 here from 78 before the arrival of the front. The wind is 25-30 and gusty. Expected low is now 38. Its 25 in Weatherford with 28 at DFW. I'm glad I'm here, sorry your there.

Late after noon update-

This is general views of the older section "East" of the park, in the light blue and tan to the right in the site map. These have been here the longest and most are permanent single wide mobile homes. Some are pretty old but look nice. Some are much newer and look nice.

The additions include a car port, some have a garage, a golf cart port, back/or side yard cover, decks, etc. Some had rooms added also. I don't know if this is leased land or not. There are a few vacant lots. Everybody has a golf cart with lights.


The streets in this area are narrower, maybe 20 foot. They don't look to be 25 foot. other parts of the east area have 25 foot streets.

Its all as to when it was built and to what code. Electric poles are in this area. There is natural gas. Sewer system is there but I don't know what kind. This is the area of the rec hall, tennis courts, pool, laundry and fitness center. The main office is in the newer "west" area. There is a pool and showers in the west area. As of now, wifi is not in the east area. There are some really cute homes in the east area for sale. some are very well kept up. The park standards see to this. For information about any "for sale" older east homes or other areas, call the main office. More on "for sale" tomorrow.

They are putting in a new area to the north of the east area. The site map is oriented with the top of the page being south. There is atleast one MH there so it may be ready to be occupied. This is layed out for single/dbl wide mh or permanent housing and is the brown color.

I will post more tomorrow about the west area we are in, the new north area with the W I D E spaces. I will need to get pics of the new "north-east" area. The front is to be here tomorrow around 8 am and will cool it down into the afternoon 60's for a couple of days.

Temp: 82 with the wind still blowing, 65 overnight till the front arrives about 8 am. Then is 40% chance of rain and a north wind. For you back home, stay warm.


Orange trees and groves abound. We have not see them pick the fruit yet and hopefully we will. Lots and lots of trees around.


This morning, DW has her exercise room instruction on use and care of the equipment. Thats at 8:30 am. When she gets back, I'll go to the golf course and see about playing. The forecast is still for it to be a windy day. Not much water and very little hazards here so it wont be to bad. More on this when I get back after lunch.



The internet dish will also go up today. This constant having to sign back in is a problem.

Mid morning post-

the dish is up, ANCHORED, no more signing in. The golf is off. Winds are a steady 25-30 with gusts so far to 41. These are readings from the McAllen Medical Center. Standing in and hitting a ball in that is insane. Another day. Its 78 now with a high of 88 and sunny. The front is expected here around 8 am. The other station I was using just stopped working.

Shirley is back from the exercise room and looking at flights to DFW next week. The rates are up from last night and appear to be climbing. I guess I'll be batching it for sure.

Directway: 144* azimuth, 55* elevation, -28* skew

We will be getting the oil changed in the Vue this morning. It will be the first one. The suv has an oil change light that has not come on yet with the 3660+ miles. I checked the oil and it is down about a 1/4 of a quart. I do like to change the oil at the 3000 mile point. The 94 Cavalier is a good example of this. The car has over 157k and uses very little oil. Its oil has been changed at 3k nearly every time.

We will have to go to McAllen which is about 15 miles to the Saturn dealer. We went to Wal-mart but they dont have the filter in the computer. I'm sure its the same as the 06 but will find out at the dealer. I will try to get to the driving range and get in some needed practice too. It's past due for golf.

This is our thru the wind shield side yard. As you can see we have one neighbor. I'm sure that will change soon though.

Mid afternoon update-

I arrived at the Saturn dealer and got the oil changed. Total of $19.95 + 8 1/2% tax which included a wash, vacuum, tire pressure check and fluid check. Not to bad. Next change will be at the 6700 mile mark.

We went to the rec hall for lunch. They served sandwiches only so we ordered burgers for $7.00 with water and tea. No fries, etc. On wednesday is the evening buffet starting at 4:30. We will make that and see what there is and the cost. Hope it is good.

Because this place is rather large, most everybody has a golf cart to drive. Since we will be here a month, no cart for us. Rental prices range from $95 to $180 via hersay. Still more than the suv will cost for the month. They have park models and mobile homes for sale here. The park models go for $80k. The one we looked at had a deck and car port. We just looked so we don't know what is included. I think we both are more interested in the Granbury area or something up that way.

Be sure to check out the pics link for more than will be posted on the blog.

Evening up date-

Shirley went to bible study at 1 pm and I updated the blog. After she got back, we went to the golf course and hit balls at the driving range. Practice, practice. After that we went to the pool hall, sounds bad doesn't it, and shot some pool. DW is pretty good. I told her all her days in the bar when she was younger have paid off. We came back and had dinner about 6 pm.

There was bingo at 7 pm in the rec hall so off we went. First time either of us have played since we were kids. Didn't win a thing. Just donated our $2 bucks. Oh well, it was fun. We got back at 8: 15 pm.

We will watch some tv, cable here, and or do the internet thing. The wifi here requires us to sign in way to much. I will probably have to re sign in before this is posted. Tomorrow up goes our DW dish and away goes the sign in. I will lock all others out since the wifi is here, free or not.

Tomorrow is walk on golf for me, fitness center instruction at 8:30 am for DW and then later she is going to a Swedish weaving class. Lunch for her is at the rec center and at the golf course for me. The afternoon plans are yet to be made but we will do the evening buffet at 4:30 to 6 pm. Lets see what that is like and how much.

We have spent more in Oct than we will here for our stay at this resort. The rv is at a half a tank and will get its fill up when we leave. Its all budget things. We budgeted only one tank for the suv and we have already put in three that I can remember. And it has averaged 23+ for all the gallons so far. Usless info till you need gas on an empty tank and its 12 miles. Do you have enough? Thats for the month. Oh well, we will have to re figure that item. We are trying to do a $1700 budget and see if this is workable. Some months no and maybe some months yes. We just need to average it over several months.

I'm going to get some pics of the permanent resident housing. Some of the spaces are close and some are not. They are well kept up and very nice looking. The new park here is called the north area and it has W I D E spaces. Our space is probably 25 feet. The north area must be 35 feet wide and longer, say 60 feet. Our 36 footer fits but suv parking is tight. The space is around 45 foot long. My only complete is our west area has water outlets too tall. So tall it is in the way of our storage doors. If they were no more than 24", no problem. They are about 36" tall.

Thats all for today. Lets see how the golf game is, winds at 15-30 and gusty. We have a front coming thursday am and hence the high winds. It does blow here but not like that. Normal winds are in the 10-20 range and not gusty. The course is a par 72, 6718 from the black, 6327 from the orange (or white), slope 105. The par 5's are 509, 514, 505 and 562. On a windy day, they get real long. The par 3's are 176 to 193. Going to be fun.

We are now in the RGV at the Llano Grande RV Resort in Mercedes, TX, 78570. We arrived this morning around noon, signed in found us a spot, paid our money, $300 plus $15.80, for a pull thru. We finally went to lunch at 1:30 pm.

These two pics are of our space from the left side and the right side. Got to find a better place for the car than where its shown. We are barely on in the rear and not enough room in front for the suv.

And we are 551 miles to home.


There is room in the back but just barely. So its in the back. We probably not be using our DTV dish as we get 90 channels on their cable.

We will probably not be using our DW dish as the wifi here is 4 bars and looking good. The tower is behind us or in front of us but close.

This is our front yard with grass. We don't have any neighbors on either side yet so its more open. I'm sure there will be somebody on each side later.


A better view of our front yard. The chairs are not out yet. Do you notice that there is something missing? Take a guess.

Well, it's the table, or lack of a picnic table. We have a small table but not anything larger or large enough to keep it from growing legs.

There are tables available that we can buy, but where we would store it is another matter. We will just have to put it up during th evenings or lock it to something.

Its written and said this way, " In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash". This is a very nice place. We have seen not as nice for more and up to $180 more a month. We will be here till 12/27 or earlier depending on DW's flight.

Address: 653 Zoila
Mileage: 104 from last camground
Temp: 81 with a high of 84 and a forecast low of 66. No front till friday.
GPS: N26* 7.814', W97* 56.702'