Tammy & Tina, Their Trip Down Boca Chica Beach…..Part 3

May 21, 2019June 23, 2019w2bergen 2 Comments

We packed up all our stuff from our fun day at SPI Beach, our shells, towels, beach chair, and tent, etc. Rich, Connie, Cassidy and I went home. We were tired. The girls and the 3 little ones decided to go for a drive on the beach in Tammy’s 4 wheel drive Jeep. Last year Tammy found Beach Access 6, and drove on the beach for miles. On the trip back she got stuck in the sand trying to exit the access. She had to get help to pull her out. So now they want to do this again.…..Crazy…..Tammy drove all the way north on the main and only road passing the last of the hotels and restaurants, horse back ridding, Zip Line and all the beach Accesses.

Eventually the rode ends, and it becomes just sand. Because of the winds, the road blows over and covers with sand. The plows have to plow every so often to keep it open. They found beach Access 6 and found they are charging now to gain access with your vehicle. So they decided against that. But of course their is another place to drive on the Beach. Boca Chica Beach is further south, the other side of Brownsville on the Mexican Border. It is probably about a 45 minute drive from Padre. They have to drive around the Port of Brownsville which is a 17 mile man made deep water sea port. This takes you into Brownsville to get to the other side. Then you follow the Port on the south side all the way back out to the Gulf. This area is very large wildlife refuge, full of Wildlife, Dunes and secluded beaches. Their is 1 small Village, Boca Chica Village that was built in the 70’s. It consists of 1 street with a boulevard of Palm trees down the middle. The ranch houses on each side are falling in a state of disrepair.

A hurricane came through many years ago, and destroyed all their utilities. Now the homes that are occupied have generators and water tanks. It is quite a unique little village that is simply standing still with time…………...until now.

Stargate Office

Right next door we have a new development. Space X, owned by Elan Musk. Several years ago we heard of the possibility of this being a Space Launch site. Finally this past year they have started building. Their are 2 sites. The first one is just west of the Village.

The Launch site is further east past the Village and almost to the Beach. They have been building what they call a Hopper. It is not the actual rocket ship, but a test vehicle to test the engines. It is tethered at all times. Last January we had severe winds and the tethers broke and it fell over. Really rather funny I thought. The nose cone was broken. Several weeks before the girls came they started testing. They fire up the engines and keep it tethered to the ground, running their tests. When this happens the road coming out of Brownsville (the only road) is closed to all traffic.

Right past the Launch site is the opening to the beach. The road just dead ends on the beach on the other side of the dunes……Absolutely beautiful……Now Tammy was on the beach. She decided to head south…..Oh No…..What is south????,………Mexico, mouth of the Rio Grande River. I‘m not sure if they thought of that at first. On the way down they stopped and the kids collected shells.

Dead Jellyfish like the one that stung Mileys leg.

Kids had a great time. Finally they arrived at a point where the beach ended. They looked across the river area and seen cars and people walking around. It didn’t register with them yet that they were at the mouth of the river and Mexico was on the other side.

As they sat their watching, a car drove up and parked in front of them. Suddenly they seen a boat appear on the shore. 2 women got out and got in the car……OMG….It suddenly hit them…….They just witnessed 2 illegals crossing the river to the US. They better get out of their. They turned around and high tailed it back up the beach. Suddenly the car was right behind them. They were worried as to what their intentions were. Tammy got over to one side and the car flew by them up the beach…..Whooow….They were safe. They drove all the way back towards Brownsville. Several miles before you enter Brownsville, their is a Border Check point. As they approached they seen the car stopped. They stopped for the officers to check them. They seen one of the ladies being escorted into the office. The girls told the agents what they had just seen. The officer asked, “Was their just one lady?” They said “No their was 2 that got out of a boat”.….the agent said……“Ohhhhhh, Thank You, Have a Nice Day” Away they drove back into Brownsville and civilization and back home.

Now theirs 2 reasons I would not have done this. First the obvious one is the Illegals. They were crazy to be near that desolate area, …..ESPECIALLY IN THE EVENING AND OUT OF STATE PLATES...….and a pretty red Jeep with 2 women and kids in it…..Who knows what could have happened to them. Secondly, …...THE TIDE….If you look at those beach pictures, when the tide comes up, their is no where to go as their are high sand dunes. They had no idea when the high tide comes in. It is around 5 miles or so down the beach to the Rio Grande. They could have been marooned.

They finally returned home after dark. The kids came in whimpering. Suddenly they realized they have gotten sunburned. As the moms took off their shirts, the whimpers became crying…..lol….Then out came the lotion and spray. The crying escalated into some screaming……lol….Miley took it pretty well but Carly was really hurting. They were so red. They all slept in the living room on the sofa recliners. In the morning the lotion and spraying process was repeated. Poor Carly’s ears looked like Dr. Spock. They had a huge blister on the top of each ear. We decided to keep them home for the next 2 days. We broke out the Adult Coloring books and pencils. They played Airport in the bedroom. I walked in and Miley was selling tickets to Austin. He bought a ticket, and Miley told him to enter and board the plane.….So Cute…..

The kids spent lots of time in Grandpas new Man Cave watching TV. I stayed home with the kids while the girls went to Walmart, the outlet mall, and several flea mkts. Rich went back to Progresso with them, and Tina bought several MK purses for her friend. We finally let them go back into the Spa. They sure heal fast.

Austin sporting his new Deer Head…..Crazy Kid….

Back home Tina is a member of her local Rotary Club. I contacted our local Rotary that has adopted our park for the Flag Sponsorship Program and arranged for her to attend a meeting as a visiting Rotarian.

She brought a flag from her Club and a Flag exchange was done at the meeting. I was invited along, and found it very interesting to be present. Thanks to the North Harlingen Rotary Club, Landon Jennings for inviting us. Finally Tina and the kids week was over. She was flying out on Wednesday. It was such a fast week. Tammy was staying until Sunday.

We drove them to the airport and let them off at the door after hugs and goodbyes. They had had such a good time. The kids didn’t want to go. Tina was hoping the plane was overbooked and she could take a voucher. The week before she heard they were offering $1000 Vouchers.….But no such luck….The Plane was full but not overly full. We drove back home and Tina said the kids wanted us to take a picture of their plane. We are only a mile away so we patiently waited and their they went…….

screenshot_20190417-204809_flightview free2867908657962368625..jpg

Back in Chicago with Ed picking them up….and of course, DEE DEE

DeeDee and the Kids sure Missed each other….so did Mom

Now we have a few more days of fun with Tammy, Cassidy, Carly and Aunt Connie.

.……Its Not Over Yet…….

Tammy, Aunt Connie, and the Kids Finally Arrived….Part 2….

May 19, 2019June 23, 2019w2bergen 2 Comments

Tammy, Cassidy, Carly and Aunt Connie arrived on Friday nite around 6pm. They had left northern Illinois the nite before around 6pm. ….. Ohhhhh what a ride.…24 hours in the car, over 1,200 miles nonstop, except for food and gas. Connie had worked that day, and the girls had school. Tammy worked the nite before and had tried to sleep that afternoon. Tammy picked up the girls and last was Connie. Uncle Brian was their to see them off.

Tammy and the kids had been here before, but this would be Connie’s‘ first time. She was very excited and if you know Connie, you would realize she had to bless the car for the trip.

She has oils and things…lol...really not sure what all...but after they were all blest and the car was safe, away they went pulling Tammy’s new Camper. She was so excited to bring it. She wanted to set it up just like she was camping. Her and Carly were going to sleep in it.

It is a little teardrop camper. She has graduated from tent camping to this. You can’t stand in it but it sleeps 2 and has a tv inside. The back end opens into an outside kitchenette, complete with her much needed coffee pot. The former owner also threw in a large screen tent that encompasses the back end into a screen room. Tammy drove for 24 hours, only stopping for gas, coffee and food. She tried to sleep once but after a short time they took off again. Connie of course stayed awake, and made sure Tammy was alert at all times. All I can say….”Glad I wasn’t in that car”….lol….Those 2 together when their both tired is not a good thing.

But after 24 hours they pulled in extremely tired. Tammy insisted on setting up her camper. The cousins were glad to be back together.

We spent an evening of eating, touring the park, taking Connie up to her trailer that she was sharing with Tina, and discussed our plans for the next day. But they were so tired they went to bed early….

The kids decided to try out the Spa right by us. The next day was a very busy one. We decided to head to Progresso Mexico. Now this past month has been full of news of the US Government threatening to shut down the borders. The illegals, from many different countries, are coming up through Mexico in the thousands and crossing. The Border Patrol has been so busy trying to stop them, and processing the ones that make it across. Their are so many escaping from their countries from poverty and the threat of harm and murder of their families. Most are just looking for a better life. But also their are the criminals, drug runners for the Cartel and many other not so nice people. The government has put up miles of coiled barbed wire, and also new gates on the bridges. At Progresso, their are now swing gates installed in the middle of the bridge for the car lanes as well as the walk lane. They can now totally close down the bridge if they wish. Around 300 Agents were taken from our area to help other areas with processing of the illegals. Now Progresso bridge is running with a skeleton shift. We usually drive across and the wait time has been around 1 hour to get back in the USA. We decided to walk across as their were 2 cars of us. Everyone had passports but Connie. We had verified she could use her Birth Certificate and Drivers License for ID. We parked our cars and started the walk. Now it isn’t really far. The parking lots are right by the bridge and after you cross the bridge you are already in the town of Progresso. We stopped in the middle of the bridge over the Rio Grande River where the plaque is….The official Border.

Tina, Miley and Austin, hamming it up

Rich and Connie….Brother and Sister

Everyone stops to take these traditional pictures…..Finally walking across to the other side of the bridge the kids seen the hats being shoved through the bridge railings. On the other side was Mexicans begging for money. If you looked down below you would see at least 10 to 15 people begging…..”Hey lady, Quarter, Quarter Quarter”….They would be sitting or roaming around waiting for people to throw change over the railing. Finally we entered into Progresso, went through the turnstyles depositing 4 quarters and we started shopping. We held on to the kids hands and warned them to always stay close. Our first stop was at a small plaza that Tammy had been to last year.

Their was another Artist spray painter their. Cassidy picked out a picture and had him paint it on a dish. It is so cool to watch them paint. It looks so easy. We stopped for a drink at Poncho’s Bar inside one of the stores.

Connie looks drunk doesn’t she?……lol…But she’s not. We headed down to our Pharmacy and introduced Connie to our girl……Its like a candy store. The prices are so cheap and all stacked like Walmart. It is just so hard to understand why Mexico can sell these drugs so cheap compared to the US. No wonder the US citizens flock to Mexico to buy their meds. United States government and Drug Company’s are raping the US citizens for their meds to sustain their live’s. Many people go without because they can’t afford to pay the price. Even dental work is cheap. Theirs a dozen dentists every block. Many are trained and licensed in the US. You can get a set of dentures anywhere from $350 up. You can get them in a couple of days depending on when the dental lab is open. We actually have people come and stay at the park just so they can get all their dental work done in Mexico.

We shopped some more, Tina was looking at all the MK purses, Austin found a deer head with antlers that he wanted. Finally we decided it was time to head back. We made our way through all the people back to the bridge. The car lanes were full. They were in line at least 4 blocks back. At intersections cars butted in. Very frustrating when your driving. A 4 hour wait in a car is common these days. Our Pharmacy girl told us several days before they were backed up to 1 am in the morning. Some even ran out of gas.

We deposited our 2 quarters to go through the turnsyles. We started walking the bridge, and near the middle it slowed down. Their are 2 Border Patrol at the gates near the middle checking Passports. On this side (Mexican Side), was a number of illegals sitting or laying, waiting to be able to pass over.

Now normally the would only check your passport on the other side of the bridge. This is a new procedure. Their were so many people that now if you have a scannable passport, you may proceed ahead to the other side where the main Border agents were. All others that would be a manual check like Connie would have to wait in the other line. Her line was backed up. We sent Tammy and Tina and the kids on home and waited for Connie. It was at least an hour for her to get through the first gate in the middle. We then went on to the other end and waited for her their. Finally after over 2 hours of waiting, she finally came out. She had no problems other than the line was so long. We finally arrived back home after an exhausting but fun day. Sunday we headed to South Padre Island. We reserved tickets for the Original Dolphin Watch.

This is the company I usually use for the park tours. We get discount and their very nice. I was told that the boat we usual use was booked. It is in the back ground and its a double decker. They were putting us on the Diver 1.…It is usually used for Scuba Divers. Well, it was ok but I will never put the park people on it. The kids had fun and that’s what counts. This boat had a large fully enclosed cabin, with a smaller deck on top. We took off towards the Laguna Madre at first to do the Ecology part of the trip first. They throw their nets over board and drag the bottom for 15 minutes. Then they bring them up, sift through the seaweed and debris to see the sea life they found.

The kids all gathered around. They didn’t bring up to much today, just squid and some other small things. Then we headed out to the jetties, which is the opening to the Gulf of Mexico. We were off to see the Dolphins.

We stayed down below but the kids mostly stayed on top. It was way to crowded for us. They were able to see the dolphins. Tina managed to get some nice video of them swimming near the boat. The kids really enjoyed it. Finally, time to go back to the dock for our next adventure. We stopped at a souvenir shop first.

Austin spied this one and wanted to walk into Jaws.…lol..This was the store entrance. We shopped for beach towels, sand toys, and anything fun for the beach. That was were we were headed next…...But where’s DAD?

LoL……He got bored with all the girls shopping. He went back to the car, got out his chair and hat, got a drink and began people watching……We all laughed at him. Finally after all our purchases, off we were to the beach. We went to a small bar that also had beach access. Boomerang Billy’s had food, drink and our favorite singer, Leslie Blasing. It would be a good place for the adults to enjoy and the kids could go down to the beach. After eating, I went down to beach and brought my newly purchase shade tent. Its big enough to put 2 lawn chairs inside.

But it was really windy and somewhat chilly. It was so peaceful to hear the ocean waves and the seagulls in the air. The kids had a great time playing in the water and building sand castles with their new toys.

Carly wearing her googles

The girls had put sun block on them but we didn’t realize at the time what was happening…...They were getting …..”FRIED”….After several hours, we packed up and left. Rich, Connie, Cassidy and I were in our car, and Tammy, Tina, and the 3 little ones in Tammy’s car. We were tired and decided to head home. The girls had other plans. Tammy wanted to ride the beach in her Jeep. She had done that the year before and got stuck. We left them to their own demise. lol If you get stuck, We will be far away, Don’t call us. These girls are way to adventurous.

Well something did happen. The story of the sunburn kids and their latest adventure will be the next blog……All I can say, ……Glad I wasn’t with them…..

Austin was AMAZED at this fish.

Kids are Coming….Tina & The Kids Flew in First…….Part 1

May 4, 2019May 15, 2019w2bergen 2 Comments

Several weeks ago, a number of the family came down. It was a Fabulous 10 days. We crammed so much into such a short time. Last fall Tammy and Tina decided to come down during Spring Break. Tammy brought Cassidy and Carly. Cameron had to work and he also Graduated from EMT Basic. He is an adult now, so adult rules apply….lol… Tina brought Miley and Austin. Ed had to work. Aunt Connie (Rich’s Sister), decided to come with Tammy. We waited a long time for this. Tina and the kids and Connie had never been here before.

Tina arrived on Wed. Her and the Kids flew into the Valley International Airport which is only a mile from us. Frontier Airlines started flying nonstop from Chicago O’hare last fall. Tina was able to by 3 round trip tickets, for around $400. That includes an extra charge for the seats, so they could all sit together. The drawback was no carry on, only a small back pack. Everything else would be an extra charge. So they all layered up their clothes….That is a Phenomenal price….Especially for non stop…

The kids hadn’t flown before so they were so excited. Aunt Beth (Ed’s Sister), drove them to Chicago. Its probably at least a 2 hour + ride. Beth and Ed will be babysitting poor little DeeDee. It will be the first time her mom and kids leave her for a week. The flight down was only a little over 3 hours. We watched the plane on the Flight App on the phone. Pretty cool. You can tell exactly where they are, when they land. We went to the Airport just before they landed. They have just remodeled the airport and it is really beautiful. Small but very nice and easy to get around. They arrived right on time. From cold weather to 85 degrees in 3 hours.

They were so excited to be here. We left and came straight home so they could take off some of their layers of clothes….We put them in a rental for the week where they would have space. The trailer is a 2 bed, 2 bath. Tina and the kids would have one bedroom and Connie would have the other one when they came.

We gave them a tour of the park. Of course the kids had to take turns driving the golf cart. We went past the pool and spa’s, and then went and ate supper at a Mexican Restaurant, Vegas Café, and stopped at the Dollar Store to pick up some essentials on the way back home.

Of course we had to enjoy the spa that is about 20 feet from us across the fence. After a nice relaxing evening, sitting out, we all went to bed. Thursday we went to Progresso Mexico. This would also be a first for Tina. In recent weeks, their has been news articles that President Trump would close all borders. All the illegals are crossing in the thousands and looking for asylum. This particular border at Progresso really doesn’t have that much of a problem. That is more west and in California. Many of them are crossing the river here to sneak across, not at the bridges. Here at the Progresso crossing they have installed large gates in the middle of the bridge for the cars as well as the Pedestrian traffic. I was told they were for closing if the Caravans decided to rush the bridge all at one time. But this illegal activity to the west is calling for more Border Patrol in other areas. We were told they have taken around 300 agents and transferred them to other areas to help patrol and processing of illegals. Now this is starting to cause a back up time coming back into the US. So far we have only ever had a 2 hour wait to cross back. Walking is usually fairly fast. Maybe only a half hour.

After only a half hour drive from Harlingen, we crossed over in the car. We always drive over anymore as we are getting to lazy to walk like many do. lol…….We started shopping at all the little shops on the street. The kids were very observant as to what they seen. Many little kids were trying to sell items on the street. Old men and women were sitting on the sidewalks shaking their cups for money. We kept the kids close and held hands. What we didn’t realize was that Austin was watching the little boys approaching people with their shoe shine kits. They wanted to shine peoples shoes for a dollar or two. This is causing an impression on him that i’ll write about later. We came upon the man who paints pictures with spray cans.

Austin was fascinated with him. He painted a picture for him. It was really amazing to watch how he painted. The best part was watching Austin’s face.

Of course Tina had to buy it. It was only $20 which wasn’t to bad of a price. Miley picked one out also. The painter gave Tina a good deal on the 2nd one.

We walked down to our favorite Pharmacy and introduced Jasmine the owner, to Tina. It is amazing to a first timer to see all the different meds that are sold over the counter. They are so cheap. Many people including us buy all their meds in Mexico because of the price. Its just like shopping at Walmart.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants to eat lunch “Arturo’s”…..Its a very nice clean place to eat. The waiters are all dressed up and prices are very reasonable. So after much shopping and Tina looking at MK purses, we decided to leave and head for South Padre Island. The wait line in the car to get out of Mexico wasn’t to bad at that time. Maybe a hour to hour and a half. After about a 45 minute drive, we finally arrived at Port Isabel…..

Now for the beautiful 2 mile long Queen Isabella Bridge crossing to South Padre Island.…It is the only crossing to get to the Island. The Island isn’t very wide. It has 1 main street lined with touristy shops and restaurants and a street on either side. The side streets have either Bay or Gulf property and are lined with Condos, Hotels and Restaurants. First we stopped at the Visitor Center to see the huge Sand Castle.

We headed to the beach for some fun. Miley and Austin were having a blast. We hadn’t intended on them getting wet, but they of course did anyway. They were running up and down the beach.

All of a sudden, Austin came running towards us. Miley was behind but not running as fast. More like a fast walk. Austin said Miley got stung. As Miley came up to us, she was crying. She said she got stung by a Jellyfish. It wrapped around her leg. She felt something on her leg and thought it was seaweed. She grabbed it and it felt like jelly. As she squeezed it to pull it off, it started to sting her leg all the way around to the back. She of course panicked as I would have also, and pulled it off and ran.

As I looked down the beach a Beach Patrol truck was coming. I stopped them and they checked out Mileys leg. The said it was either a Moon Jellyfish or a Portuguese Man Of War. …..Oh Yuck…..The life guard had some spray to help diminish the sting, but it would probably take up to 4 hours to go away. Do NOT wash it with fresh water, only sea water. If you use fresh water it could open up any of the poison cells that may still be attached to the leg.

Man of War

Moon Jellyfish

That was the end of the beach for the day. We went to Louies Backkyard to eat. It is located on the Bay side of the Island. We sat on the Patio area and enjoyed the evening as the sun started to set.

The view from their is so pretty. The Catamaran “Southern Wave” had taken off for a sunset trip. We had a great relaxing dinner and finally decided to head home…..

It was really a long day. Miley was feeling better but she could still feel the sting. We did so much in one day. Normally we would never do Mexico and the Island in one day. The next day was Friday. Now we would be waiting for Tammy, Connie and the kids to get here. They left on Thursday after school was out. Tammy believes in driving straight through which is almost 24 hours. I think she is crazy, cause she probably wouldn’t let Connie drive and I was right. Friday, we spent the day staying in touch with them during their drive. We did some shopping and then it was pool time. Tina wanted to start on her tan…..We went to the pool around 2pm. Probably wasn’t the best time as that is the time set for the residents to congregate together and solve all the problems of the park. As we approached with the kids, I could tell what they were thinking as they stared at us. So I kept them in the shallow end while Tina laid in the sun. I was talking with one of the lady’s and the others were looking toward the kids and getting excited. They said, “look what they are doing”..….lol….I turned around and all they were doing was clearing out the box of noodles that we all use to float. I told them to put them back…..Only 1 apiece….Some people seem to forget they were kids once, but it is a 55+ park….lol… Finally evening came, and sure enough less than 24 hours after leaving Illinois, Tammy, Connie and the kids pulled in…...So that’s a continuing story for the next blog….

Look who’s here…...Carly and Cassidy.….Tammy is pulling her new little teardrop camper with her red Jeep.….Here’s just a few more beautiful pictures from the island….

“Southern Wave” returning with their mast lights all lite up…..

View from the patio deck of “Louies Backyard”

Our Eastgate Catamaran Cruise….

February 16, 2019February 17, 2019w2bergen 1 Comment

Last Thursday we had our 2nd Catamaran Cruise on Southern Wave. I scheduled one for the end of January. It was so popular, all 40 of the spots were taken in a short time. So we scheduled another for Valentines Day. Ron and Theresa headed up the first one. Their son Jeff was here on vacation and was suppose to go. The winds kicked up to 50 mph+, so we postponed it for 2 weeks. It sailed last week and they had a WONDERFUL TIME. Now it was our turn.

Port Isabel in the distance and the Causeway bridge that crosses to the Island

Its about a 45 minute trip down to the island, so I usually schedule at least one and a half hour to meet and leave. Its nice to get their early, not at the last minute. Some people know where their going, and some do not. So I copy Google maps for everyone with the address of Longboard Bar and Grill. It certainly helps…..After checking off all 40 people, and everyone who was carpooling, off we went to the Island.

We all arrived with a half hour to spare. I checked them all off and paid the bill. We got a great rate of $32. $3 of it was for tips. Finally it was time to board. Rich and I went in front. Their were benches all around the front. In the center was a table were the food would be brought. Either side was the netting that you could lay or sit on if you wanted. In this area you could gather all the sunshine you could want on a sunny day.

In the center of the boat, their was a more sunken area under a canopy. It had many benches with a table for serving food in the center also. The very back of the boat was raised and the cook had an area for his grill with a canopy over head. Their were several seats their also for a few people. We had all 40 onboard placed comfortable around the Catamaran.

The cook is grilling our shrimp appetizers and beef and chicken Fajitas

We finally cast off our lines and headed out. It was about 75 degrees or warmer and a cloudy day. But it looked promising that the sun would come out. The boat just slowly cruised near the shore and we could see all the beautiful homes, condos, and restaurants along the shore.

Causeway Bridge on the horizon

These are views you never see from the land. These homes are in private areas that are off the main drag. Also I need to mention that we were in the Laguna Madre, the bay area of the island, certainly not the Gulf side. It would be far to windy out their.

As we slowly cruised along, a girl sang songs and played guitar. It was so relaxing. You would view the homes imagining spending a summer sitting on the gorgeous decks, watching the sunsets at nite, swimming in the pools…...Ahhhhh……so relaxing....all the while, the music played in the background.

Very soon, the girl deck hand brought around a tray of Butterscotch Snapps shots…..Ohhhh Yum…..Now I’m not a drinker, but those were so good…..Next she brought out a tray of grilled shrimp. I had one and the flavor was excellent, barbeque with a little kick, but I’m just not a shrimp lover. I’m not fond of the texture when you bite into it.

Grilled Shrimp

It doesn’t look like much here, but the dish was deep. It fed all of us in the front, with left overs.

Finally the main course came……What a spread. Corn and Flour Tortillas, beef and chicken, pepper, onions, tomatoes, cheese sourcream, amazing. Everything for Fajitas. We certainly filled up on that. The boat was very sturdy. We even walked across the netting to make our plates. The hardest part I found was to hold your plate in the breeze. The food was wonderful. Finally we were near the end of the homes along the shore.

The boat turned into an inlet. It was so cool to see all the homes and some business. Many were still closed for the season. They will start opening soon when Spring Break comes and then summer. A few people were their sitting on their balcony’s and decks enjoying the view. We all waved back and forth to. We turned around and came back out, now facing the wind.

Now the Deck hand girl brought out a Beautiful plate of mixed fruit cut in bite size pieces. Honey Dew, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Pineapple, Strawberry’s, and Grapes…..Just Awesome…..

Now we turned into another inlet. It is amazing to see how large these inlets are. It branched off in several areas like a highway. As we made it to the end, we seen a hotel we had stayed at in the past. We knew it was on an inlet, but had no idea how intricate it was. Finally, we turned around and returned back to the bay area. Again it became windy.

Everyone was just enjoying the scenery, the sea gulls, the wind blowing through your hair, the sun that finally came out, and above all….friendship….

On our way back, we seen 3 Wind Surfers. It was so cool to see them out their, just flying across the water in the wind. They went really fast to. I’m sure the wind was in their favor that day. They made it look so easy to just jump up on their board, hold their sail and take off in the wind. If only I was younger……and thinner….lol…

Hard to see, but this condo had an Infinity Pool

We floated back past all the homes and condos. Many with pools and even seen 2 with Infinity pools. You could see the water gently cascading over the edge. We passed many boat docks, another Catamaran, Laguna Bobs, which is a great bar and entertainment club. Next was Louies Backyard.

It is a huge restaurant with large patio areas, indoor dinning and a bar. They offer a rather extensive menu and entertainment. Its one of the Islands favorite places to go. Finally we arrived back at Longboard Bar and Grill. We docked and had to leave this beautiful Catamaran. They had 2 more trips to prepare for that day. Everyone had such a good time. Definitely a great trip worth every dime….

Longboard Bar and Grill was just purchased this past summer and is remodeling. They have made vast improvements, and is continuing to do so. The have an indoor area as well as a vast outdoor area, filled with several layers of decks filled with tables and chairs. Their is an outdoor horse shoe bar to service everyone, and also a gorgeous stage out by the water for their everyday entertainment.

The Southern Wave Catamaran docks at the edge of the patio. The new owners are really making it a great place to come and spend the afternoon or evening for fun, food and entertainment.

Longboard Bar and Grill in the Evening….

Winter……So Glad I’m South…

February 10, 2019w2bergen Leave a comment

Today was a rainy chilly day. A cold front came through yesterday and dropped our 80 degree weather down to the low 40s last nite. Today is only the high of 49. For us that’s rather cold. Winter coat weather. “Brrrrrrrr”. The weather has been hard to predict this winter. We would have cold days and then it would heat up to gorgeous days. But we have had more than the normal of chilly days.

Back home in Illinois and the whole north has had very bad record breaking weather. The snow storm dropped a record breaking amount of snow, I believe 10″ at home. Then a week or 2 later the temperature dropped to an all time low. -25 degrees.…..

Now that is so so cold. In a 2 week period the kids only went to school several days. Most all the business’s were closed. Even the Putnam County Court house where Tina works. Many of the Post Offices were letting their postmen even stay home on the very coldest day. Cameron, who drives semi from the gravel pit also did not work. Tammy, of course, being a Nurse had to work. She drove in to Peoria which is 45 mins away. I thought she should have just stayed there. Would have been so much easier. I just can’t imagine cars even starting at -25 degrees. The only places that worked were a few of the DC’s in the area…..Of Course my Former Employer was open..….Advantage Logistics…. I’m sure everyone was expected to try to make it to work…..“Really”…..They preach about safety, but they want you to risk your life just to come to work. If you break down on the road, the time for frostbite at -25, is a very few minutes…..No one should be out in that weather unless it is an emergency. Is it really worth risking your life? Is it really that important that the trucks at the DCs are loaded just so the retail stores get their product? I sure don’t think so…….But they push their employees by making them feel guilty or giving points for absenteeism for not coming in. The people fear loosing their jobs, especially the ones with families. I guess that’s why I am retired now. My attitude towards life has changed. No Longer do we fear that Corporate attitude that they brainwash you with when your younger. Were some of the few who have been able to retire and enjoy life after work………lol…..

This is what you see on the highways. Its really a scary and unsafe place to be in a storm. They had so much snow and wind, that the roads were so drifted the plows couldn’t keep up.

Our Heroes are the Policemen, Firemen, Ambulance Personnel and the Highway workers. They have to be out their in full force just to take care of people who are out their. They all risk their lives for us all. The Hospitals must have a medical staff to take care of their patients’. Doctors and nurses risk their lives to go to work. Then their are the ones like my Son in Law Ed. They work for a company that has to maintain their plants in order to keep them operational. It is risky but necessary to keep them up and running. These are our HEROS…...We owe them all if nothing else…..A HEART FELT “THANK YOU”……For doing their daily job….

This was just west of Spring Valley on Rt. 6..…After its plowed, you can see how deep the drifts were. I’m just glad I’m not their. The temperature has now warmed up to a balmy 25. So the worst is over for them.

Here at the Park we’ve been busy. Winterfest Music Festival was held at Schlitterbahn in Jan. Rich and I went down to South Padre Island and stayed over nite at the hotel. We attended The “ABBAFAB” Dinner Show the nite before.

They are an ABBA Tribute Group… They sang a great “Dancing Queen”. Very talented. The little blonde singer was the 4th runner up in American Idol the year Jordan Sparks won. The next day was the Winterfest Music Festival. They had groups playing all day with 45 minute time slots. This was our Favorite.

Lobo Del Mar is a huge family group. Mostly men play instruments and sing. Some dress in kilts. They play the Scottish bag pipes. Now the girls are beautiful dancers. They have lived all over the world including Hawaii and have incorporated all the different types of music into their repertoire. Now they live on the island and have bought a restaurant. We intend on going soon. After listening most of the day, we decided to leave it was really getting chilly with the wind coming in off of the gulf.

The following Sunday was the Super Bowl. Now I know nothing about football. I wanted teams to win according to color. It is easier to decorate that way. So 2 blue teams won. …….Bummer...…So I hung balloons from the ceiling in the blue, white, yellow, and red colors. I used plastic table cloths cut in 4s for table runners. I asked for empty water bottles and received 58 in one day. I bought 8 lbs of Pinto Beans and filled each bottle with 1/3 cup of beans. Taped a strip of blue construction paper around the middle and decorated the tops in curly ribbon in yellow and red. We scattered them around the tables and they were used for noise makers. …..And they did use them…..

Rich cooked 6 pork shoulder butts and made pulled pork. We also supplied little weinies, and nachos and cheese.

Of course we always have shrimp. Its nice to provide a luxury item. We usually get 10 lbs of fresh frozen shrimp. Its all gone by the end of the nite.

Also of course veggies and dip, cheese and crackers and…… a half barrel of beer……I also went out and collected 32 items for door prizes.

The 1st prize was donated by the owner. It was a collapsible canvas wagon and 2 bag chairs. The rest were many restaurant gift coupons, South Padre Boat tickets, and many other things. All the food was provided by the owner also…..They all had a good time except they weren’t happy about who won….but….That’s out of our control.…Thur we have a Catamaran trip down at the Island scheduled. It is a 2 hour cruise. It includes Butterscotch Snapps, Shrimp appetizers, shrimp, beef, and chicken fajita’s, and fruit plates. They cook on the Catamaran, and a musician is softly playing background music. So far the weather is looking like 83 degrees……

…….Hoping It Stays Warm for the Trip…….

Tammy & The Kids Visit….Part 2

January 28, 2018w2bergen 2 Comments

We had a fun day in Progresso Mexico and then headed back over to the US side. We headed for South Padre Island which is about a 45 minute drive. Rich and Cameron were in our car leading the way, and us girls in Tammy’s Jeep. We arrived after dark at our motel and settled in. Now we had a number of things planed, but the weather was going to cause us a problem. Cameron wanted to do a Deep Sea fishing Trip in the Gulf. We also wanted to take the Port of Brownsville Tour and see the ship yards where they dismantle the decommissioned Navy ships. The USS Ranger is their and the USS Independence just arrived last May. The weather has not been stable at all this season. The forecast changed from the 70s to the 60s with some rain. We had tickets lined up for both but they were both cancelled because of the weather.

Tammy did manage to take several drives up the beach. The first one she was very excited to finally drive up to the end of the road. South Padre Island has only one main road down the middle. It continues north until it turns into sand. It passes all the beach access points, the hotels, condos, restaurants and bars. It also passes a Zip Line area. They also offer horse rides on the beach. It is the farthest north facility on the island. Then it turns into sand a ways up the road. It gets so windy the road is always blowing over. The plows regularly have to plow and maintain the road. As you see it was sputtering rain on her windshield, but that didn’t stop her. She drove back to Access 6 and entered the beach. She said she drove a number of miles north. On the way they passes the horses out for a ride.

It was chilly to be on the beach. The wind blows in from the ocean constantly.

But I guess if you love horses and the beach, it doesn’t stop you. It probably was a dream come true for some of those people. The weather just didn’t cooperate.

Along the way Tammy stopped and they looked for shells. She actually found some large Conch shells. They probably had washed up from the storm that had just come in a day before. Carly brought her fish net and loaded it up with all her special shells she found. They loved ridding on the beach. Its such an exhilarating feeling as the wind blows and the sea gulls fly and chirp. The feeling of peace, tranquility and Freedom. Mother Nature at her best.

Carly on the upper deck…..It was so Cold and Windy

The next trip we did was the Dolphin Eco Watch. The boat is a double decker. It holds quite a few people. It is around a 2 hour trip in the bay, looking for dolphins. They also drop a net to the bottom and drag it to catch different types of fish. It was so cold. We bundled up in our sweat shirts and jackets and boarded. The girls had so much fun….Even Tammy. We seen the dolphins many times just swimming around near us. They would surface and then go under and come up a ways ahead. The deck hand had dropped the net and reeled it in. He had quite a few different variety’s of fish. He cleaned them out of the net and put them all in a bucket with water. He took them out 1 by 1 and showed them to the kids and adults.

He actually caught a Sting Ray. He explained the danger and how to react when near a Sting Ray. He also showed a Puffer Fish and several others. Finally he dropped them all back into the bay. Then they took the boat clear out past the Jetty’s of Padre. The wind was blowing, the waves were blowing high and splashing against the Jetty Rocks.

It was so beautiful to see all the hotels at a distance and the beaches. We also seen Dolphins clear out here. Finally after almost 2 hours we went back to the docks.

Now we were all hungry. We decided to go to Pier 19. It is a restaurant out on a dock. Very cool atmosphere. Every table is by a window. It is a long and narrow restaurant as it is built actually on the pier. We had seen Dolphins near the restaurant when we were on the boat, so decided it would be a great place to eat.

They had some great food. I had a Hawaiian Burger. It was awesome. I can’t wait to go back. The next day we decided to go to Brownsville to the Gladys Porter Zoo. It is situated on 31 acres. The zoo houses about 400 animal species and over 250 tropical and neo-tropical species and subspecies.

We didn’t see to many animals as it was still so cold. But we sure seen Flamingos. It is such a beautiful unique zoo. The animals are all housed in areas that are natural to their habitats. You don’t see many in cages, as they are all in natural out door settings. But since is was so cold, I think they were mostly brought into their indoor areas to escape the unusual cold weather. Just Carly, Tammy and I went here and we had a great time. We also took another side trip out to Boca Chica Beach. It is on the south side of Port of Brownsville. It is a desolate beautiful area just a stones throw from the border. After a 20 mile drive it dead ends into the beach at the Gulf of Mexico. Several years ago they anounced that Space X had bought some ground for a new Missile launch area. It is being built now, but we were told it would take another 2 years before the first launch. That night ate out at Louies Backyard on the Bay side. Tammy and Carly stayed at the hotel as they were tired.

Glen and Kathy from the park came down to spend a nite. They had spent the afternoon at another Club listening to the singer “Leslie”. After she was done their, she came to sing at Louies. We had some good food and fun times.

The next morning, Tammy wanted to go for another drive on the beach. Rich and I and Cameron stayed in the room. Awhile later, Tammy called…….”Dad do you have a tow rope in your car?“……lol….Oh no…..They had driven into Access 6 again and drove for miles up the beach as it was low tide. They had a great time until they came back and tried to get back through the Access area. In these areas the sand accumulates into drifts. If not cleaned out regularly with a plow, it is like snow drifts up north. You simply get stuck and end up bottoming out if you keep trying. Well that’s what happened. The other thing was, all this time she thought she was in 4 wheel drive. Cameron had showed her to put the switch in 4 wheel but neglected to show her the other part of the process. She was lucky she never got stuck earlier. Well “Dad” didn’t have a tow rope…….Rich and Cameron drove out their and their was a whole crowd helping her. She had of course bottomed out trying to get out. Several vehicles tried pulling her but to no avail. Finally another Jeep hooked up and pulled her right out. She was so excited that she never took any pictures. She was disappointed when she realized others were taking pictures but she didn’t get any. So another Adventure for her to talk about…..lol….But no pictures. Later she had to wash the Jeep as she was so full of sand.

Our stay at the island was coming to an end. We had nice rooms. Cameron stayed with us in ours so the girls could have their room to them selves. Our room was obviously quieter. When you went into Tammy’s room it was a disaster. Clothes all over, and Carly always had her little toys out on the table playing with them. She always has to have play time with her little toys. We had a great Breakfast every morning down in the Lobby. All the cold cereal, donuts, bagels, and toast as well as eggs, potatoes, waffles and juices. Anything you could want for breakfast.

We left the Island to go home, but Tammy was still staying another day or two. We both drove and headed for Brownsville, 77 Flea Mkt. This turned out to be a beautiful day. The Flea Mkt is huge. Rich and Cameron took off and us girls started to slowly make our way through. The girls had fun, even Cassidy. We found a cheap stroller to put Carly in. She would have never walked the whole thing.

Cassidy found quite a few things. Several pairs of slacks, make up brushes, and her best item was a blue tooth speaker with disco lites on wheels. It was made like a rolling suitcase. Great for taking to her friends or wherever she wants to go. Tammy found a rolling suitcase for herself, and many other things and food items. We were half we through and I was tired. I mentioned, are you getting tired yet, but…… NO…..she wasn’t…..So we finally did the WHOLE FLEA MARKET. I don’t think I ever walked the whole thing before…..Now we were very hungry. We ate at a Chinese Buffet. Good Food. So we finally went back to Harlingen and Tammy went back to Padre. That nite they decided to go fishing by the Causeway.

Would you believe Cameron caught a Sting Ray. It was being chased by a Puffer Fish.

He finally pulled it on the dock. A Mexican who didn’t speak much English helped Cameron get it off the hook and finally sent it back in.

Now that is something you sure can’t catch in Illinois. More memories were made. The next morning they decided it was time to leave. The kids wanted to go home. They arrived back at our camper around 11:30. Tammy come flying in and said….”Dad, Dad, take me to Mexico one last time….Please?” Cameron said ” No, you don’t need to go”…..Tammy looked at Cameron and said….“I’m the mom your the kid…..You can’t tell me what to do”…..Then she looked at Dad and said ” Please Please, I want to go back one more time”.….So of course, Tammy, Cameron and Dad went back to Mexico…..I took Cassidy and Carly and went to Mr Gatti’s. Its a Pizza Buffet. It also has Pasta, Mac and Cheese, Baked Potatoes and the fixings and a great Salad Bar. We went back to the park and I had 2 more things to do with the kids. My friend Gail Rollo has written a Children’s book. She is selling it in certain book stores and on Amazon. She has been doing some book signings also.

Its a wonderful book of a dream that she had when she was a child. After all these years, she has written the book and Published it. Were all so proud of her Accomplishment.

I wanted Gail to sign one for Carly so we stopped at her house. Gail read the book to her and then signed her very own book. Carly loved it. She held the book with 2 hands against her chest when we left. It was very special to her.

Our next stop was Roberta’s. Roberta and Ken have 2 Parrots. Maui is a Beautiful Red and Blue Parrot.

Cassidy met her 2 years ago. At that time Maui was the only one she had. Since then, Roberta has been given Benny. His owners had passed away and he desperately need a family.

Benny is a beautiful blue and yellow Parrot. Roberta is so good with birds, animals of any kind and has a wonderful green thumb. She can grow anything. So Carly poised for this picture with her doll and they had their matching dresses on, that they bought in Mexico. Finally Rich, Tammy and Cameron came back around 5. They drove across this time. Tammy had to walk almost the whole length of the shopping area that we stick to in Progresso. She shopped and shopped and made sure she had her Margarita. She loved it.

But now it was time to head out. I thought they would be to tired to drive, but they wanted to go. The kids sleep at nite and travel better. So around 5:30 the left. I figured they would stop and sleep. It is a very long drive. But with Cameron and her driving, they made it straight through in 22 hours. They pulled into home in Illinois before 4 pm the next afternoon. …. OMG….No way.

It was a great time having Tammy and the kids here. We didn’t get to do everything we wanted but we did a lot. We never had a dull moment. It was so nice after going on 4 years that one of the kids have finally came down and seen where we live in the winter. Their is so much to offer in the Rio Grande Valley. It is such a different life style than back home. Harlingen area has so much to offer. So much to see and do. It never gets old. Much history and many things I’m sure I haven’t discovered yet. It is a life style that is so unique, and so hard to describe to anyone up north. It is an area the Winter Texans come back to every year to enjoy the warmth of the weather, the beach, and the culture of the Southern Texans……It is so nice to think, the beach and the ocean are just a short drive away.

…….We Made So Many Wonderful Memories…..

3 Year Anniversary for the Blog….Aug. 25 2014

August 24, 2017w2bergen 3 Comments

Hard to believe that 3 years ago I posted my first blog. …..8/25/14….I know that date so well as it is also my …..”BIRTHDAY” ….. We had been planning on retirement for several years. The date was coming nearer…..I turned 64 and I retired the end of Sept. 2014. Rich worked till Nov. 1 and retired. He turned 65, Dec. 25 2014. We were so ready to sign up for Social Security, Medicare A and B and the whole ball of wax. If truth be told, I would have probably been fired sooner if I hadn’t planned on a retiring date. Things weren’t going well at Adv. Logistics…..I feel for all you guys still their……They pay a good wage, and good benefits, but they work you like a dog……They’ve lost lots of Really Good people through the years…..

So as the date came closer, we were getting so excited. We had been accepted as Workampers starting Dec 1 at Eastgate RV & MH Park in Harlingen Tx. I had been following several bloggers and asking questions about Fulltime Rvers for almost 2 years. I started to think….”I Can Do That Too….I Can Write”…..This was going to be an Adventure that we had no idea how it would turn out. What would we see, and do??? So I started to research on WordPress and set up my blog site myself. I was rather amazed at myself. I did it by trial and error and finally succeeded. I wrote my first Blog and published it on Aug. 25 2014, my 64th Birthday. My goal for writing these blogs was so that the kids and our friends knew what we were doing. Hence the title…….And Let The Fun Begin……We wouldn’t have to explain to everyone our activities, they could just read about it. As time went on, I realized that someday these would all be lost in cyberland. I needed a way to preserve them. I also came to the realization, that everyone works back home. The kids were busy living and working. Time marched on, we were having fun with no schedules while they still had that regimented life style called work. They weren’t reading all of them . I found a company called Blog2Print that would print your blogs into books. I pick the dates, the covers, set up the dimensions inside and they can print them to soft or hard back books. So the printing began every 6 months.

This was the first book that started it all. First I printed them in paper back. Every 6 months I print one, so I have 2 each year. I try to make each one a different color and design. Each book is running around 160 to over 200 pages.

I decided with this last book to try a hard back copy. It really wasn’t much extra. We were so pleased with it. I have been replacing them all now with the hard back. The black one is the only one left. I will be done before the year is out. When I started printing them a book cost around $80 with shipping and handling…..They charge you so much per page after the initial 20 pages…..The last one just cost me around $130…..But they are so worth it….

The pictures inside are pretty nice considering they are all from my phone. I have the pictures made big and the paper is semi glossy. Now as time has gone on my goal for the books has changed.

At first it was about our travels and experiences. Now I realize how much history we see. When we are at a historical place, it seems so important to write about what we see and how we view it. Take for instance the LBJ Ranch. We lived President Johnsons time in office. I want to take what I know from my time in life to what we see on the tour, and write about it. Also the different anniversary dates that we pass each year. We witnessed the assassination of President Kennedy on tv and in newspapers. I feel it is important to write about that piece of history and what we seen and heard and felt during that time. It is so important to tell the story of what we were doing at the time these events happened. The kids nowadays aren’t really taught a lot of these things in history. I try to research it and convey all the historical facts and what we witness to try to tell a full story.

Also as family pictures and special events happen, they can be captured and preserved. So many reasons to write these storys and make sure they are preserved for them and the grandkids.

This will be our gift to them, Our Storys……Our Legacy…..lol….(kids your not getting any money, lol you’ll have to be happy with these books)

But Rich and I are very “PROUD” of these books. We hope that someday the family will enjoy reading them as much as we have enjoyed the experiences. I really enjoy writing them. I feel that its a talent I would have never realized if we hadn’t embarked on this adventure in life. Life is good down here in Harlingen. But only for the winter. lol. Sure is hot in the summer. We do have so many other things to do yet. We just renewed our Security License for Texas again. We have other things we would like to do in the summers. So time will tell what we do next summer.

………So Today I celebrate my 67th Birthday…..are we going out to celebrate????

I’m afraid not…..Another 1st…..Hurricane Harvey……. is on its way in….We are not in the direct path, but we will be included in the outer bands. Their calling for 4″ to 6″ of rain and up to 70 mph winds. It will be landing as a Category 3 around Corpus Christi and Port Aransas. They are doing evacuations right now. Once ashore it could drop 22″ to 24″ in some areas. South Padre Island campgrounds were evacuated today. People boarding up windows. Even though their not getting a direct hit, it is still front line to the Gulf. Their expecting huge storm surges of water. All beaches are closed and most people actually left for the mainland. Today we took down our screen room, put in all the awnings. Put away the chairs and everything outside. The park went around and put away all the pool chairs and anything that could blow. So we are all prepared. So well spend my birthday enjoying ….Hurricane Harvey 2017….

This picture is Thursday late afternoon, ready for the storm….Blue Sky overhead….Hard to believe that west of their behind the shed a hundred miles is Hurricane Harvey 2017, developing from a Category 1 to a 3 at landfall.

These are our new Personal Cards….Rather Cool I think…..Blog address on one side…..This picture was one I took last year as we left Adventureland….

Back In Harlingen For a Month…

July 28, 2017July 29, 2017w2bergen 2 Comments

Wow, hard to believe we’ve been back for over a month already. Back to the everyday life. So what is that…..

Rich is working on the rental trailers. When people move out, their is always repairs or updates to be done. He just finished replacing a floor and drawer area in the bottom of a closet that had rotted. Now he is working in another that had a water leak in the kitchen. New plywood and flooring, and also the counter top was so bad, that he is now building a new counter top. He bought a sheet of laminate from Home Depot and had to cut around it and then glue both sides and glue it down. It is a process but a huge money savings process on a counter that is an odd size. In this picture, he had just cut it to size. He will then take it off, glue the bottom of the laminate, and the top of the base of the counter. He will then put the dowel rods on top of the base on the glue surface as in the picture. Then he will lay the glued laminate down on top the dowels. Then starting on one end of the counter, he will take out the dowels one at a time, pressing down the laminate to the counter making sure their are no air bubbles. Then he will cut a strip and do the edge the same way. After dry he will use a router on the edge to cut it to a smooth finished edge.

I am back at the theater, Cinemark 10. I only work the outside box office. During the school months the Box Office is only used on weekends. Otherwise the tickets are sold at the Concession Stand. I have been getting an average of 20 hrs a week give or take a few. But the business has lessened during the week because school is beginning soon. Starting next week during the week the tickets will again be sold at the Concession Stand. Now I will only be getting weekend hrs. But that ok, it is still something. My week days will again be free. It has been interesting in this job. I have again met many nice customers. I enjoy the joking that can be in 30 seconds of contact as you sell a ticket. Some people are so spontaneous. But then their are others. I have been chewed out in Spanish on the Phone. Box Office is also the switch board per say of the theater. I answered one day and the man spoke in Spanish. I said, “Sir I’m sorry I don’t speak Spanish”. Now usually they change to English at this point. Did this Guy????…..No….His voice raised and he again ranted in Spanish. I again repeated ”I don’t speak Spanish” I would get a Spanish speaking person on the line. Well, his voice raised HIGHER and LOUDER…..I can only imagine what he was saying. So I got a manager and guess what…..He Hung Up…..lol Oh Well….. Another lady called one day. Now keep in mind we have 10 theaters playing 10 or more movies. She asked me what movies we were playing, what times, and what time did each end. Now each movie also plays an average of 4 times a day…..Do I have time for that with customers at the window???? Nope…..Tried to be nice, but she was rather abrupt and finally hung up….Everything is online you know….About a half hour later she called again and asked about 1 specific movie. So much easier to answer that. Another time nobody was at the window and a customer called. As I was answering her question, a lady and her husband came to the window and started to order their tickets. I held up my finger saying, 1 minute please. She stormed through the theater doors. I was done with the call and she came out. I apologized to her and said I was taking to a customer…..She said rather blatantly and rudely,…..”Well, I Am A Customer Too”…..He husband muttered something to her and she said, “Well never mind, Just give me my tickets“. But most people are very nice. I have a couple who come at least once a week. He usually brings several pages of jokes to read. Also a very odd old man who wears a big straw hat. He has turned out to be the most pleasant man to talk too. So many people come regularly because of our prices. You see we are a discount or second run theater. Therefore our prices are cheap. Week ends are the most expensive….$2.79 a ticket. Tue and Thur….$2.17 a ticket. Monday….Groups of 3 or more $1.30….Seniors….$1.68……Wed. Discount day for all …. $1.41 for all……Most people are happy about the prices. But you have no idea, how many people complain….”What, I thought you were the Dollar Theater” …….Go to the big citys…Check their prices…lol

Temperature has been running around 100 degrees. My Box Office has A/C of course. The other day it started raining, and it came down in sheets….It was beautiful…The temperature fell. My windows were fogging up and it became hard to see. I realized finally, I was getting really cold….Now that’s a new concept…Cold….I went and checked my thermostat and it was set at 61 degrees….Wow…No wonder, so I set it back at 70. All in all it has been another experience to add to my list. It’s the first time I’ve ever handled a register. It’s touch screen. Once you learn it, it’s really easy. All the employees are really nice. Of course their mostly kids. Some will be going off to college soon and some back to high school.

While we were in Illinois, Richs’ shed was delivered. He needed a shed to put in his tools. So he ordered a shed from Sam’s Club.

So this was a shed that came in 3 million pieces, with pages of directions and pictures….OMG….so that mess is suppose to make a shed,……and it was so hot….So you work in the morning for awhile and then at nite. I almost passed out one day, well I felt like it….lol….Finally a week later with several other guys helping he got it done.

He now has a place for his tools. We have a washer and dryer inside. He built 2 work benches, so now he is set.

Ive finally been spending time at the Pool. The pool is around 88 degrees. So so nice. This is the view as you lay on your back sunning in the pool. The gorgeous Palm Trees..…They just blow in the wind. It still doesn’t seem possible that this is my life now. I can do this everyday if I choose too. I still think of the people at Advantage where I worked. They are doing the same ole drag day in and day out…..Their is hope out their….Just takes time……My message again is “SAVE YOUR MONEY….PUT IT IN THE 401K”….After a nice dip in the pool and floating on a noodle, lol, now time for the Spa/Hot Tub. Ohhhh just feel those jets pound on the sore muscles. This is the Life. Last week we went to South Padre Island.

We drove to Access 6, which is free parking and entrance. Rich had our chairs and walked up the ramp and down to the beautiful sand beach. We found our spots in front of the Life Guard. It was a beautiful day. Even though it was near 100 in town, it was a wonderful cool and breezy temperature at the beach.

This was the gorgeous view down the beach towards all the hotels and Beach Clubs. Many people were out but it wasn’t crowded. The water was so nice. Wasn’t cold at all. You could just step right in. I walked out till it was up past my waist. The power of the waves felt so good as they pulled you back to shore and then back out. When it got to be hard to stand, I decided to go back and sit and just enjoy the sun.

So many Sea Gulls were their. They were watching all the picnickers and waiting for free handouts. Sometimes they just congregated in groups and faced the Gulf and just stood their. They were fun to watch. We just sat their and listened to the pounding of the waves….coming in….going out…over and over. The sounds of the Sea Gulls, and the kids and family’s on the beach. Laughing and Playing. Finally time to leave.

Behind us the Beach Patrol had stopped and was visiting with the Lady Life Guard. Now we were hungry.

So we headed to everyone’s favorite…..Louie’s Backyard. Well lets say one of everyone’s favorites. Their are so many all the way up and down the beach on both sides of the island. Louie’s is on the Bayside. They offer fine dinning, cocktails and entertainment every nite of the week. They offer an All-You-Can-Eat Seafood and Prime Rib Buffet in the Dinning Room, drinks and snacks on the patios by the Bay or an abbreviated Menu in the Sports Bar. That was were we went. They had home made Potato chips on the bar, and the Special of the nite was Barbequed Ribs. Ohhhh Yes….That’s what we got….They were fall off the bone good, with lots of gooey sweet barbeque sauce….Yummm…..So, the end of another day….We could have stayed for entertainment on the outside patio deck on the bay but, we were SO FULL….Time to go home. So Ill close with a picture of a beautiful Plumeria that is growing in our Memorial Garden.

It as started from another plant in the park. All you do is cut off the stalk in a long piece and it will root. Some many have been started. This Plumeria was planted last Nov. So it hasn’t even been there a year yet. We have a wonderful gardener in the park that has started it from a cutting and tends to it regularly. Roberta is such a talented lady.

She can make anything grow.

The Last Days With Friends…..Randy is Traveling….

April 24, 2017w2bergen Leave a comment

The Park is almost empty of all the Winter Texans. We’ve had a few more head north. On Sunday we went to the Island with Cathy and Bud and Ann, Cathy’s sister. Ann flew down from Canada to spend the last week with them. They are all leaving Wednesday. We ate at Dirty Al’s, at the Pelican Station in Port Isabel.

It sits right on the Lagoon near the bridge that goes to South Padre Island. It has a beautiful view through the windows of the bridge.

You can also see the Dolphin Watching tour boats that are right down the street. Sometimes you can even see the Dolphins from here swimming and jumping in the water.

After we eat a wonderful dinner we decided to ask for Dessert…..Oh How SINFULLY Delicious it was.

The waiter and waitress were so nice, the took our pictures and had fun with us. Just look at those yummy desserts. Key Lime Pie, Cheesecake, Pecan Pie with Ice Cream and chocolate syrup……Yes, We Left Full…..

Last Friday we took a trip to Progresso which was also Cathy and Buds last for the season. We walked around the streets and through some of the shops. Bought some meds….(cheap)….eat dinner and stopped at Ponchos for a drink. This girl is always on the streets trying to sell her jewelry. She doesn’t speak English and is slow. But she knows how to sell. She know all the regulars and always hangs around. Her name is Judy, although its spelled different in Spanish. She calls Cathy and Bud her Mommy and Poppy. But she also calls Glen her Poppy….I think she must call everyone that. Last year, she hung around and wanted to carry my Piñata all the way to the border bridge. Several of us gave her money and she was happy, but she still hangs around till you leave. The last 2 times we have driven across now. No more walking across the bridge. But they get you for parking. They find you a place and want money for watching your car. You can also get a hand wash and wax for around $12. It is a Good Deal.

We had some fun trying on hats…..They always say…..”What you want Lady? It almost Free” ……So another 2 days and they will leave for Canada.

I also want to report on Randy the Reindeer….Remember him from Christmas?….Randy decided to head to Maryland with his Eastgate Parents Alice and Tom. He has never met his family so he is heading east….He will proudly ride on the dash in his chair and see the sites of this great America. You realize he has only seen it at nite with Santa, helping to pull the sleigh on Christmas Eve. So this will be a GREAT EXPERIENCE for him. We’ve had our first report from him.

He went out shopping to buy appropriate Beach wear. He has new sunglasses, swim trunks, even flip flops on his feet. He has a visor on his head also to protect him. But he still has that Margarita glass in his hand…..I think his parents will help him control his drinking problem though. Alice and Tom are good people and they know what’s best for him……lol…

Here is a really cool picture of him on the Beach. They are at Galveston Island for April before they start heading north. So I will be reporting on Randy every time he reports in….. So I will close with several pictures of friends gone north…..Everyone goes North ya know…..We are the most southern point of the USA…….If you look at the map, you will see we are almost in line with KEY WEST FLORIDA

…..You just can’t go any further south…

……..”See You All Next Year”……

Winterfest at South Padre Island on The Gulf

February 8, 2017w2bergen 1 Comment

Winterfest is held every year on the island. It is an all day music festival of 5 musical groups that are playing in the Valley for the winter. Last year we went and the weather was so cold. They had it in the indoor water park at Schlitterbahn. It was still cold They had patio heaters running but it didn’t help. I usually get a pair of tickets free as its one of the perks with the job. Rick from Schlitterbahn came up and gave me my bundle of tickets to sell in the park. He is the manager or chairperson for Winterfest. As the date came closer we realized it would be warmer weather. We decided to spend the nite at Schlitterbahn. They were running a special of $59 for a nite. Great way to spend the evening. Finally the day came and the weather turned out to be beautiful. It was a little chilly but sunshine blue sky and no clouds. We met some friends their. Ron and Theresa Fisher our friends from AdventurelandS met us their, and Alice and Tom met us also.

We enjoyed watching and listening to the bands at the Outdoor Water Park. It was a beautiful outdoor Tropical setting. We were served a Shrimp or Chicken Basket from Shrimp Haus. Then we decided to take a walk to the crossover bridge that took us to the beach on the Gulf.

This is the bridge view from the concert area. The water park of course is drained right now for the winter. We took a walk up the stairs behind the stage area to get to the bridge.

From the top of the stairs we had a great view of the Concert area. Onward we went, all 5 of us, as Tom stayed back. He can’t walk that far. We crossed over the bridge and the boardwalk extended a long distance ahead stopping at the beach with the ocean lapping on the sand…..

What a beautiful view it was. Left to Right. Alice from Maryland, Theresa and Ron from Nebraska, and Rich. Were all Eastgate folks…..lol….We headed on down the boardwalk to the Gulf.

It was a beautiful day, a little windy and beautiful blue sky. The sand was so pretty and the sea gulls were flying around enjoying the wind and the waves.

The view up the beach to the hotels was so beautiful. The haze in the air made the hotels look so magical. People were just walking and enjoying the sun, water and the sounds of the waves lapping on the beach. Rich found a chair that someone carried down from the Water Park….lol….

Theresa snapped this picture. One of the few pictures that I allow of me…..lol….

We walked back up to the Concert This is the view from the top of the bridge over the drained Water Park.

We went back to our seats by Tom. This was the view of Schlitterbahn Water Park from our table. We stayed for the rest of the performances.

This is John Sager. He is a performer from Branson. Very Popular in the Valley. He is an Awesome singer and has won many Awards. The last performers were the Port Isabel Mariachi Band. They were awesome also. Wonderful musicians and singers and only High School. They played last year also. We all finally left, and stopped at the Schlitterbahn Resort to check in. Alice and Tom and us were staying the nite, and Theresa and Ron heading home. But not before we had supper together. We headed to Louie’s Backyard.

Its a really cool restaurant on the Bay side of the Island. Most everyone had the Sea Food Buffet. Of course I don’t like fish so I had Prime Rib. After a great dinner and conversation we all left.

Outside was a Catamaran taking off with a party group. The music was blaring and laughter in the air. Such a beautiful Sunset. The lights on the boat were so pretty as it went floating by. Finally we said goodbye to Theresa and Ron as they were driving back to Harlingen. Tom and Alice and us went back to the hotel to enjoy a peaceful evening in our hotel room. In the morning we headed back to Harlingen

We have been doing crafts on Tues. This is our latest one. I’ve been trying to do things cheaply and using recycle. These are water bottle made into Whirlygigs. They are colored with permanent markers.

This is the finished product. Really easy and very cute. Great project for kids….lol

or Seniors????

………….''AND LET THE FUN BEGIN''……………..

Our Diaries of Daily Life and Travel

South Padre Island

Tammy & Tina, Their Trip Down Boca Chica Beach…..Part 3

DeeDee and the Kids sure Missed each other….so did Mom

Now we have a few more days of fun with Tammy, Cassidy, Carly and Aunt Connie.

.……Its Not Over Yet…….

Tammy, Aunt Connie, and the Kids Finally Arrived….Part 2….

Well something did happen. The story of the sunburn kids and their latest adventure will be the next blog……All I can say, ……Glad I wasn’t with them…..

Kids are Coming….Tina & The Kids Flew in First…….Part 1

Our Eastgate Catamaran Cruise….

Winter……So Glad I’m South…

Tammy & The Kids Visit….Part 2

3 Year Anniversary for the Blog….Aug. 25 2014

Back In Harlingen For a Month…

The Last Days With Friends…..Randy is Traveling….

Winterfest at South Padre Island on The Gulf

DeeDee and the Kids sure Missed each other….so did Mom

Now we have a few more days of fun with Tammy, Cassidy, Carly and Aunt Connie.

.……Its Not Over Yet…….

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Well something did happen. The story of the sunburn kids and their latest adventure will be the next blog……All I can say, ……Glad I wasn’t with them…..

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