How Our Lives Have Changed

It's been two months since I last blogged.  Gee, that sounds like I am in the confessional booth.  lol

There have been many changes in our lives. 

Our fifth wheel is up for sale at Doe Lake Rizzort.  Good deal if anyone is interested.

We have bought a modular home at Riverbend Park in Guelph, Ontario.  It is a one bedroom unit with a fairly open floor plan.  After many trips up and down the highway, we are pretty much settled in. 

Riverbend is open 7 months a year.  Perfect complement to Chimney RV Resort.  We will travel between the two parks hopefully enjoying good weather all year long.  No snow for us.

The park has been here since the 1920s.  My dad used to enjoy visiting when he was in his teens.  We are on the edge of town along the Speed River.  Very quiet and rural but only five minutes from the mall and any facilities you could possibly need.

In addition we are just across town from my parents.  We can help out with errands, going to appointments with them, etc.  It is also nice to be close to my siblings.

A brief pictorial tour of our new home.  We have built a storage shed, relocated all our carved animals and added some colourful flowers.  Love our deck.

So big changes in the Hollingshead family, but overall, good changes.

I'll close with a few photos of the park area.

Park Pond

Speed River

Pool

Club House

Homeward Bound - Spring 2014 - Day 1

Our first day of travel went very smoothly.  We have stopped for the night in the small central Texas town of Franklin.  Hotel is nice but not much in the town. 

The best part of today's drive was avoiding Houston.  Our route missed all of the major Texan cities.  My kind of day.

It's spring in Texas.  Wild flowers abound along the highway and in the fields.

 

 

Lots of road construction.  The highway leading out of the valley has been recently designated as an interstate.  Lots of work need to modify state highways to interstates.

All of these trucks are filled with asphalt - at least 15 lined up waiting.

As you drive out of South Texas on Highway 281, all traffic passes through the Falfurias checkpoint.  It is like going through customs at the border.  A border patrol agent asks you questions, dogs sniff for drugs or illegal aliens and vehicles can be xrayed, searched and seized. 

Tomorrow we head for Arkansas.

Chimney Park Season Winding Down

I'm so far behind in posting - so I think I will just add a few pics to show our season winding down. 

Wayne participated in the Golf Cart Rally

Celebrating St. Paddy's with Al and Rosemary

Border Patrol chopper hovering over field next door.  Looking for illegal aliens or drug runners.

Celebrating at the local German restaurant - boys' table

Girls' table

More fun in the sun

John cooking on the bry

Waiting for dinner

Our hibiscus is thriving.

Meanwhile... Back At The Ranch

Or trailer as the case may be.

The drive from San Antonio was long and pretty boring.  Of course, I was stuck in the back seat and couldn't see much.  The highlight ( actually lowlight) of the trip was a pee break at the most disgusting bathroom I have seen in quite awhile.  Oh well, shit happens. 

Wayne had enough of being a passenger and insisted on driving all the way home.  ( I think that he just didn't want to sit in the back seat.)

The weather was not the greatest for the rest of Kathy's visit.  She did manage a couple of days at the pool and some bike rides around the park and along the levee.  We did some shopping and visited some favourite restaurants.  492 BBQ and Olive Garden spring to mind.

Wayne had a follow up with his cardiologist which went well.  That's good news.

We celebrated Mardi Gras but no parade.  It was raining.  Just not the same but still fun.

492 BBQ with cousins Jackie and Wayne

 

We went to Mexico on a girl's day out.  Totally different than when the guys are along.  Lots more shopping.  Had a great lunch at Arturo's.  Dessert was kind of strange but interesting.  Fun day.

Ruth and Judith having a coffee break

Amazing Ceramics

This was supposed to be Baked Alaska?

Kathy organized a happy hour to celebrate my birthday.  Yet again, the weather was non-cooperative.  So we moved into the rec hall.  Thanks Kate.

Waiting for our guests

Lots of yummy snacks and a DQ ice cream birthday cake. 

And so ends Kathy's visit for this winter.  We took her to the airport at some ungodly hour and she started her travels homeward.  It was a very long day that began at 4:30 am and didn't finish until 11:30 pm.  Equipment problems and plane delays.  No fun at all.

Let's Play Catch Up

I know, I know.  It's been a month or more since my last blog.  (Man that sounds like being in confession)  We have been taking each day as it comes.  Some are adventurous, some quiet.  Some days have cold weather and some have nice warm temps.

Kathy came for a visit.  With the doctor's permission, Wayne and I headed up to San Antonio to meet her.  Just about gave Wayne another heart attack to let me drive most of the way there.  He drove the first 15 minutes and the last half hour. 

Kathy's plane arrived and we all checked into a nearby motel.  Friends Nancy and Nick were visiting some of Nancy's relatives.  We all met for supper at the Texas Land and Cattle Company restaurant.



Great company and delicious food

 Next morning, bright and early, we headed to the Alamo which is located downtown.  We spent at least 3 hours  checking out the historic site.  I learned that Davy Crockett made a speech in parliament after the troops trapped in the Alamo sent for help.  The gov't wasn't too willing to help.  He said "You can all go to Hell.  I'm going to Texas."  This has become my new mantra.

A couple of southern belles.

The Alamo consisted of more than this building.  There were barracks, kitchens etc. inside the wall.  This building is the chapel and the building that everyone thinks of as the Alamo.  The women and children stayed in one very small room for safety during the siege.

Next up was a boat ride on the river.  The river walk is very famous.  The river system travel through the downtown area for miles and has been developed as a tourist attraction with many restaurants and shops.  Beautiful.  Even includes a mall with the canal flowing through.

River Center Mall

Tour Boats waiting for us to load

A bell for each of the five missions in San Antonio

Checking out the sights from the river

By this time we were getting hungry.  After disembarking from the boat, we wandered along the waterway to one of the cafes.

Great lunch included crispy tortilla strips and fresh guacamole made table side.  Delish.

 

Pointing something out along the river.

 The next day we completed our short tour of San Antonio with stops at a great bead store and Trader Joe's.  Trader Joe's is a chain of grocery stores with a boutique feel.  They stock many interesting products not easily found elsewhere.  Also the home of $2 buck Chuck wine. (Although it costs $3 now) lol

Next up - Back in Mission....

What A Shock!

Post Heart Attack

So we left off with Wayne dressed in drag.  It was so shocking to his system that he had a heart attack or MI (myocardial infraction) as it is technically called. 

He was going to buy me flowers for Valentines Day but the price was so high that it gave him an attack.  At least that's his story.

Wayne woke up on the 14th with indigestion (so he thought), but soon decided that he might be having a heart attack and woke me up.  We called 911 and they arrived less than 20 minutes later.  By 7am Wayne was in the emergency department of the Mission  Regional Hospital.  By 10 am he had  balloon angioplasty with a stent and was settled in the ICU department.  Great service.  One artery was 100 % blocked.  Another two have lesser blockages.

He was in the hospital for three days and is now recuperating at home.   Feels well but gets tired often. 

Thanks to all friends and family for all the kind thoughts and wishes.

Before all the excitement, we went on a field trip to Brownsville.  We visited a costume museum displaying native clothing styles for North, South and Central America.  Gorgeous.

Outside the museum in Brownsville

The museum wasn't very large.  It was an annex attached to a Children's Museum.  The  display was so beautiful and colourful.  It showed an amalgamation of traditional clothing and European influences.  Well worth a visit.

We had lunch at Luby's which is a Texas institution.  Luby's is a cafeteria style restaurant chain that is known throughout the state.  We enjoyed the daily special.  It's kind of fun to pick and choose what you want.

Next on the agenda was a stop at a shrimping company to learn all about the wild shrimp fishery.  It was very interesting and detailed. Included was a tour of a shrimp boat and fresh boiled shrimp to taste.  Yummy!  Way more flavour than farm raised shrimp and better for your health too.

Wild Gulf of Mexico Shrimp

Checking out the boat

View of the Shrimp Basin

The shrimp boats are manned by 3 to 6 man crews and stay out at sea for 30 to 50 days per trip.  No way would I want to do this job.  It's heavy, stinky hard work mostly done at night with little time to sleep or eat.  The kitchen and head were very tiny and had only very basic amenities.  Not my thing.

Wayne continues to improve and we are eagerly awaiting Kathy's arrival later this week.  Stay tuned for some Texas fun in the sun.