What the heck just happened?

OK, so last you heard, it was Christmas eve, and we were bookin' down the road, right?  We had gotten all the way to Top of the Hill RV Resort, in Boerne, TX, and everything was fine, right?  And then we fell off the face of the earth!  Truthfully, I'm pretty sure we died a little bit, too, but then it's now, and we're back.  Let's recap, shall we?

This was our site at Top of the Hill RV Resort.  We took up the entire site, but we didn't have to disconnect.  This is one of the campgrounds we had considered workamping at - on paper, it looked like a desirable and attractive campground, the work didn't seem difficult, compensation offered was only the full hook-up site we were looking for, and there appeared to be a beautiful pool and hot tub onsite.  We applied and within just a couple of days, we were offered a position.  Too bad, though, because we had already accepted a summer position within Balcones National Wildlife Refuge.  As it turns out, though, this campground WAS as nice in real life as it was on paper, but, it WAS at the top of the hill, and it WAS right next to I10.  So, it was pretty darned noisy!  24 hrs a day.  Definitely would not be a peaceful spot for us to camp, and after spending the one night, we were glad we had not accepted a full-summer position here.

 We had worked out our itinerary so that we would be passing through San Antonio of Christmas Day.  Yes, we know all the horror stories about traveling on Christmas Day.  BUT, we thought, if we HAD to go through town, it would be better to do it first thing in the morning, while everyone else was checking out the haul from Santa, and not during a weekday/workday.  Traffic was minimal, thank goodness, but even so, there were lots of options and lots of bridges (noooo, I was too busy navigating to take pictures!).  The speed limit through town was about 65 mph, and I distinctly remember mentioning that I absolutely could not navigate and read signs at that rate of speed.  We would simply HAVE to slow down.  We did, but, geeze, we were still moving right along at a pretty good clip.  I think NEXT time (if there HAS to be a next time), we will definitely take the loop around, thereby reducing our lane/road changes and options.  Hopefully, it will reduce my level of stress, as well.  

Once we got past downtown San Antonio, the landscape began to open up and become less citified.  We saw lots of towers with flames - tell me again about the gas shortage?  And why are gas prices climbing?  If they have so much that they need to burn off the excess, well, then why the talk of shortages and how do they justify inflating the prices so??

And all the oil pumps were pumping...but, again, there were fields and fields of wind turbines and solar panels.  So why are we still reliant on gasoline?  And why are the prices so high?

Anyway.......back down in Alamo, safe and sound.  We got settled in to our site...again, we take up the entire site, and it was quite the feat to navigate our way between the tree limbs and curbs and get ourselves into the site and on the pad properly.  We only had one neighbor come running over, to make sure I was aware of the overhanging tree limb.  Oh yeah, I had seen it.  And the one on the other side.  AND the neighbor's tree across the street that was threatening to put a new crease in the front end.  AND the water spigot on the post in the back that may or may not be under the extended slideout.  AND the electric pole at the back of the site.  Yes, my dear reader, yes.  I was aware of all the obstacles, thank you very much, and bless his heart, our driver was paying VERY close attention to his spotter and did only what I said, and when I said it.  And, thankfully, when I motioned for him to stop and let me check his path of travel, he stopped and waited for further instructions before proceeding.  So we got into the site and on the pad properly, and we are here for the next 3 to 4 weeks.  

Have you ever been to a Mexican flea market??  Oh, let me just tell ya....you can find pretty much anything here for sale.  As Charles would say...quite the cultural experience.

Utility gloves, washers, wire brushes, and lingerie & lace.

Produce, CD's, tools, puppies, parrots, wigs and kitchen sinks.

 And, just in time for New Year's celebrations, pinatas galore!

Speaking of New Year's celebrations, Jack & Diana were throwing a party and invited us.  Soooo, I decided we would honor our TX and FL roots, and bring a couple of alligators to the party.  I took  two large zucchinis and carved them into "legs" and made eyeballs out of cheese slices and grape halves.  I carved mouths into the English cucumbers and inserted sliced grapes to represent tongues. 

Pineapple chunks with cherries and cheese blocks with grape tomatoes were all skewered with toothpicks and then stuck into the cucumber bodies.  They were a big hit, and almost everyone knew right off that they were alligators.  One lady thought they were sharks. ??? I dunno.  Maybe alcohol was involved?

We didn't stay all night, and though we didn't get to watch the NY Times Square ball drop, we did watch Rio de Janiero's fireworks display.  It was all very pretty, yes, but, geeze, there were millions of dollars spent, gone up in smoke, literally, when that money could have been more productively spent to eradicate poverty, hunger, sickness, financial inequity, et al.  But then, they didn't ask me, did they.  

The day after New Year's we had our dental appointments.  They had originally been scheduled (way back in October!) for Jan 7th, but then, someone broke a crown right after we arrived and settled in.  I called the office at which we were scheduled, but not one of 'em spoke English!  So, I had to call back to our agent and reschedule with an office that could take us AND could speak English.  So, Jan 2nd found us crossing the river.  Border Patrol was evident....

As were the looooong lines coming back into the States....

The Rio Grande is not super impressive as a border river at this point, is it.  It looks soooo easy to simply walk across the crick and enjoy the land of fruit and honey.  Can you see the wall, way back there, stretching across the middle of the photo below?  

Whoa, this is new....a movable gate that can stretch across the sidewalk as necessary.

In the middle of the pedestrian bridge....

And, for the paltry sum of $1 each, we gain entry into a whole 'nother world.

FIVE HOURS LATER (4 of which were spent in the chair!!), we walked out of the dentist's office.  Teeth were cleaned, but, so was our wallet.  Turns out, THIS dentist charges higher prices than the one we had originally booked.  I guess English-speaking comes at a cost!  The crown Dick broke is the same one that came off while we were in Colorado and had to have emergency-cemented back on.  With super good cement, apparently.  Poor dude, they had to chisel and pry it off.  He was definitely put through the wringer.  He said, at one point, they were pulling so hard, he thought they were gonna just pull the tooth right out.  (one week later, update - his gum is still sore!!)

We took the more scenic route back to the campground and were treated to fields and fields of kale, lettuce, collards, onions and cabbage.  Last time we were here, it rained so hard, they couldn't get in the fields to harvest the cabbage, so it all rotted.  Oh, my, the stench was unreal.  Thankfully, that doesn't appear to be an issue for this year's harvest.

And then, because the dentist cost more than we had expected, we went in search of a pot of gold.  We found it in the least expected place!

And thus began the week from hell!  After we got our money, we went home, I took a shower, and went straight to bed, not feeling very well.  And there I stayed for the next solid week.  Shivering and well, ummm....let's just politely say, not feeling very well at all....

Finally, FINALLY, after a solid week of no solid food, today was a new day, and a good day for dancing.  

If you can't see the video below, click HERE to go straight to YouTube and enjoy the sweet, dulcet tones of Joe Saltel.  Ten squares on the floor!  That's really quite a feat in today's dancing environment.

For those of you with really long memories, can you hear Tim Mariner in Joe's voice? 

 We miss Tim, and we'll always be grateful to him for sharing his love of dance with us and our girls.  (click on his name up there, and you'll see a short video of him in action; turn up your speakers and enjoy his voice and passion)  And, just for your listening and watching pleasure, here's Jerry Story & Tim, in Washington, DC (WASCA), in 2016, just before Tim's untimely and sudden passing.  We will be attending another Joe Saltel dance tomorrow evening, then we'll start packing up to head back up to Corpus Christie area.  We have an appointment to get our continuing coolant leak looked at (yes, again), then we can settle in at Lagoons RV Resort, in Rockport, TX, for the rest of the winter.

Roger & Rosemary, we eagerly anticipate you joining us for dinner at Charlotte Plummer's before long!!  But, in the meantime, Bailey is insisting that it's time to walk again!  The wind has died down just a bit, and if it continues to ease, we may even be able to put our slides back out again.  We've got them all tucked in because we don't want to damage our slide topper awnings.  

Please continue to pray for the people and animals of Australia; if you have the means, please consider making a donation to WIRES, a wildlife rehabilitation organization, or the World Wildlife Organization, Australia.

Blessings to you all...