The Travels of the Agnew Family

Time for a vacation from the vacation. 16 of us went to South Padre Island for a few days. Long range forecast didn't look good but as the date drew nearer the forecast improved. Happily we had good weather.


A statue on the south end of the island in honor of the sailors that have lost their lives.


Two happy pups.




It was a bit windy so the sail borders were having a great time.

Five of us ladies decided we needed to go on an excursion. Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen was the destination. It's an old home surrounded by gardens and a forested area filled with paths and bird feeders. In past years we have seen many birds here but this year not so much. According to an avid bird watcher there aren't a lot of birds in the valley. My theory is .... drought means less food for the birds, less food means less birds. We also went out for lunch.




A usual visitor to the bird feeders.


I was impressed with this photo .... got the bird landing.


Lots of sparrows.


Wildlife.


The ladies .... ready for lunch.

Second and last fun night of the season. Also the longest fun night I remember ---- 2 hours ---- last a lot of laughing. Thanks for the photos John --- Ed decided to leave the camera at home as we were involved in a skit.


The whistlers --- these guys were great. One of the fellow who was persuaded to participate in this skit didn't realize that he was going to have makeup applied to his body and wasn't happy about. I heard that some of the best lines of the night were said in the dressing room.


Some of the prettiest ladies in the park strutted their stuff.


I play bridge with Myron, the "lady in red"


Four of the ladies relaxing and watching the remainder of the show. The lady in blue is my neighbor Glenn.


Do you remember the hilarious dentist skit by Tim Conway and Harvey Korman from the Carol Burnett show? These two guys did the skit for us.


Ed and I were drafted for a court skit. Ed managed to a get a laugh with his one line and I managed to get two laughs --- one for each line I had.


Julia lectured us on the evils of "thongs" --- the underwear that is.

The street rep from Dacia street decided to have a street party and invited not only the people from her street but the people from Poinsettia street which included Ed and myself.

The grass was soggy from the previous days rain so the party was held on the road.


The gangs all here.

The neighbors dogs watched the party and were sad that they couldn't participate.





The guys had fun playing ring toss.


A hot game of hand and foot was going on.


Harold and I teamed up at the bean bag toss and beat all those that challenged us.


We all chipped in and had pizza delivered.

One day it's hot and muggy and the next day it's cold and rainy. Thought I had put my hat and mitts away till I got home (you never now about April) but I had them out today. Another 1/2 inch of rain so everything is swampy again. When it rains I have to keep remembering that Texas is experience a severe drought and they really need all of this rain. Our plans for today had us outside enjoying a smoke fest but we decided to wimp out. Went out for lunch instead and did a little shopping.

The best news of the day is Dave (not my brother, but a fellow 2 units over in the RV park) is home from the hospital --- one week after the car/quad accident. He still has some healing to do but I'm sure he'll be up and about in a couple of days. Bullet, his dog, is very happy that Dave is home. And we're happy that we are back to one dog. Bullet reminded us that puppies are hard work.

Hot and muggy today --- I broke down and turned the air conditioning on and Ed didn't complain. Suppose to be even hotter tomorrow.

Ed and I enjoyed lunch out with Jim and Ester today. We went to a very nice Steak and Seafood restaurant.


Ed's salad.


My Tilapia.

Our neighbors Glenn and Linda left on an overnight trip yesterday leaving Gypsy (their little dog) in our care. The neighbor that was in the accident is still in the hospital so his wife is spending a lot of time at the hospital as well, so Ed and I are walking and spending some time with Bullet, their dog. Think I might just open a doggy daycare. The people in the park are having a good chuckle as they never know how many dogs I'll be walking or who I'll recruit as helpers. Bullet's dad is continuing to improve and has been moved to a semi-private room.


Zaph and Gypsy --- still need to get a photo of Bullet.


Gypsy spent the night with us which I really enjoyed. It's been a log time since Ed and I have shared the bed with a small furry creature. Kind of miss it.

No rain for the past two days and no rain in the forecast. Yeah!!!! maybe the ground will finally dry out. This is the greenest I've seen south Texas and I asked someone who has been coming here for at least 20 years and they said the same thing. Unfortunately, the rain and green has produced a bumper crop of mosquitoes, gnats and lawn mowing. Not enough rain to end the drought but maybe the rain can wait a couple of weeks before it comes again.

Two months and five days with a nice clear windshield. Saturday as we drove back from Don West flea market a pickup truck threw a stone into the air and into our windshield creating a small crater. Tomorrow the truck will get to visit the glass place for a repair. Happy that the entire windshield doesn't need to be replaced.

Saturday afternoon a loud crash brought a lot of people out of their trailers and down toward the entrance to the RV park. We were all saddened to see the remains of an accident. A fellow from our park was riding his four wheeler and was attempting to cross the highway when he was clipped by a car. The man and seat from the four wheeler flew into the air as the four-wheeler flipped and slid down the road in thankfully another direction. The car also flipped crushing the roof and ending up a few hundred yards down the road on it's wheels facing the direction opposite to what it was traveling. The police closed the highway and spent a couple of hours studying the scene. The good news is everyone is currently OK. The fellow from the four-wheeler is currently in the hospital in intensive care with a broken rib, punctured lung and bleeding in both the lung area and the brain. He's being watched carefully, in case surgery is required. The doctors are optimistic that the bleeding will cease on it's own and he'll be fine. The three women in the car were shaken and received non-life threatening injuries.

The fellow, his wife and dog live two trailers away from us. As Zaph and Bullet (the dog) get along we've been helping out by walking Bullet and letting him hang out with Zaph.

Sunday was the birthday party for LaVerna who will turn 100 on June 4 of this year. We were given a number of old photos of LaVerna and asked to do a slide show. As usual Ed did a marvelous job and received a lot of compliments. The party was a great success .... several people sang, the video was shown, cake, ice cream and punch were served.

I know Texas really needs rain but I'm starting to get tired of it. Another 3/4 of an inch today. This is making the park greener than I've ever seen but also muddier than I've ever seen it. Lots of fun bringing Zaph in after a walk. The forecast shows more non-rain days than rain days for the ten days so maybe the park will dry out some. Spring has definitely arrived .... the trees are leafing and the flowers are blooming.

Last evening Ed and I attended a CPR course that was offered by the Mission fire department at the park. Don't know how I'd be in an emergency situation but hopefully now I have enough knowledge that I could be more of a help than a hindrance.

No rain during the day today but it was hot and muggy. A couple of people mowed their lawns spewing grass odor into the air. That along with tree pollen caused a nice swampy smell. I'm not a fan of air conditioning but I turned it on --- shocked the people living around me as I almost never turn the air conditioning on.


The "guys" having a pecan shelling time.



This little guy was out enjoying the day.

Dinner tonight was salmon cooked on the smoker. Can't believe we didn't take a photo of it as it was very pretty --- very tasty too.

No rain today but lots and lots of dew this morning. It's a tradition in our group of friends in the park to give out treats on Valentines Day. So I made chocolate chip cookies and thimble cookies (which Ed baked for me) to give out. Lots of sweets in the house today.

I had borrowed a sewing machine to sew a couple of things so I made matching Valentine bandannas for Cait and Zaph.


Another tradition is for the 18 of us to go out for dinner on Valentines Day. We enjoyed great food and great service at BJ's Brewhouse.

Five people from our park belong to the Senior Ambassadors Choir and this afternoon the choir performed at our park. The pre-show was the Om-papa band consisting of four members of the choir, intermission included a quartet from the choir and a "saw" player also a member of the choir. As always it was a wonderful show. This was the first time I had seen anyone play the saw ... very interesting and good sound.

A very nice way to spend a rainy afternoon.

This year we decided to forgo the pasties fund-raiser and just make pasties for ourselves --- Cheryl, Ester, Jim, Carol, John, Ed and myself.

The ladies went grocery shopping on Friday to pick up supplies and were very excited when the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile was spotted. Not sure if that was the highlight of the day or if it was the stop at Dairy Queen.

Saturday morning it was time to make the pasties.

The pastie crew ... Esther, me, Cheryl, John, Carol and Patty (we borrowed her oven).


Carol's fingers were just flying as she closed up a pastie.

The end result was very good pasties and a couple of pies --- needed to use the left over pie dough. Now the pie story. John and Carol have a convection / microwave oven in their trailer. John decided that he wanted to try baking a pie in his oven. We got out the book and the instructions said 45 to 50 minutes on 400F for a pie. First pie was an apple pie .... it was a smaller pie so we opted for 45 minutes. At around 40 minutes John called me over and we decided the pie was done and removed it from the oven. When we ate it we realized that it was more than done ---- the apples had the texture of dried apples, lots of flavor but a little tough. Pie two was a peach pie using canned peaches (not a lot of choice in fresh or frozen fruits at reasonable prices). We watched this one a lot closer and pulled it after 30 minutes --- it was cooked perfectly and the canned peaches were acceptable.

Yes, I went to the party as well. A smart Tupperware representative called up the activities director and asked if she could come to the park to tell us about Tupperware and show us how to cook using Tupperware in a microwave oven. The food cooked would be served to the participants. Everyone knows that a free meal will get seniors attention every time. At least fifty people showed up, mostly women but five men as well.

A whole chicken with stuffing, a pork tenderloin, a meatloaf, broccoli, and three cakes were cooked in the microwave and all were very tasty. The Tupperware representative was very knowledgeable about cooking in the microwave and I learned a few things. I think Ed enjoyed the party and he encouraged me to buy a couple of pieces. A lot of Tupperware was sold.

I think February will be remembered for it's rain. There was a half inch of rain on Saturday, an inch of rain on Tuesday, almost an inch of rain on Wednesday and it's raining today (the 9th, you caught me I back date the blog) and there is more rain in the forecast. If this keeps up we'll have to get floats for the trailer. I'm not really complaining because I know this area really needs rain.

Shouldn't complain as we've had some amazing weather this winter but I think our week of winter has arrived ---- hope that's all we're going to get. Its rained some, been deary and cold .... OK cool. The highs have been in the fifties and it's suppose to stay like this till next Monday.

It was Cheryl's birthday today so a group of us went to the Riverside for dinner. It's a very casual restaurant ... they don't believe in washing dishes so your food comes on paper plates or in baskets and the cutlery is plastic. The inexpensive drinks come in plastic cups but the more expensive drinks come in glass. The food was good and the company was great and on top of that we had a view of the Rio Grande.

Today is a day we look forward to each year, the SPI kite festival. The weatherman wasn't being co-operative and was predicting thunder storms in the afternoon. We crossed our fingers and headed for South Padre Island.


Zaph and Cait were ready to go ... think Cait was elected to drive.


Overcast but dry . Think that's the widest load I've seen on a highway .... he took two full lanes.


Sunny and warm on the island .... the weatherman was wrong again. As the day progressed a line of clouds came towards us but didn't cross the bay. We found out later that areas we had driven through received quite a bit of rain and there were some funnel cloud sitings. About 6 drops of rain did fall on me but the sun was shining at the time.

Ed shot about 650 photos .... took a while to choose the photos I wanted to post. The photos don't do the day justice as you don't see any movement and can't hear the music that the routines are choreographed to. One set was a scene from jaws where the fish were flying happily in the sky and the black sharks appear and attack. In other sets the kites danced to the music. Awesome to watch.


The sky was filled with large kites.






Lots of animals and birds were represented. Ed talked to some of kite owners and was told that these huge kites could cost up to five thousand dollars. The second photo gives you an idea of the size of the duck .... he was one of the smaller kites.

A number of individuals and groups flew their kites but the group I enjoyed the most was Team IQuad. They are professional kite flyers .... bet you didn't know there are professional kite flyers. The team consists of six members and two alternates from the US and Canada. They fly in competitions and exhibitions in Canada, the US, England, Japan and Columbia. They all have day jobs but most of them are kite related.


Ed found a good vantage point where he would see both the kite flyer and the kite. This was smart as it was sometimes hard to decide if you wanted to watch the kite or the flyer.








If you just watch the kites you miss all moving the team is doing.


Looks easy but it's very hard to get the kites in this position and hold it.


Humor is also included ... the kites are all standing on end and the last kite flies by and knocks them all down.


One fellow from the team did a solo routine. He was absolutely amazing. The kite just danced for him and then when you looked at him you realized he was pretty much dancing too.

Hope Ed and John picked up a lot of pointers. They'll need to practice more often if they want to impress Carol and I.

Our friend Cheryl finally made it to the valley arriving yesterday. We decided to have a cook out in her honor. John and Ed smoked some pork tenderloin and barbecued flank steak and sweet Italian sausages.


Fetched some tables and chairs from the rec hall and set everything up. Then the rain came .... so much for the weatherman and his prediction of no rain.


Packed everything up and moved to Cheryl's covered driveway. So much for being organized ahead of time. The sun started poking it's head out as we started to eat. Lunch was very yummy, everyone brought something very tasty.


Let the games begin. After everything was cleaned up we moved back to our trailer to enjoy the rest of the warm sunny afternoon visiting and playing bean bag toss.


Good throw Linda!


Chilling in mom's sunglasses