Bill & Karen Make Me Jealous!

Enclosed are some pictures of our houseboat trip in September.

It is hard to chose what to send so we will send more later.

What a fantastic trip.

Day one we set out from the Marina,

get used to steering the boat,

we all took turns.

Each day you put in at a beach of your choice, dug in the anchors then head for the back of the boat for a swim.

If beach is private enough and we were very lucky:) we hit the slide and then the water nude yeah. BRRRRR water only 80, we are use to Sandpiper's 94 degree pool but we were hot and dusty after mooring the boat so we hit the water.

Every day was more beautiful than the one before, each evening we celebrated the day and the sunsets with a Happy Hour, filled with good food, good drinks and the laughter of great friends..

Kayaking was a great way to explore the canyons. We were on the water a whole week. We have hundreds of memories to share more later.

--
Karen and Bill Hazlett

Monique checks in.....

Hello, this is a few pictures of my apartment in Montréal Québec.

A 1 1/2 studio on the 11 floor. The view is at sun rise that is the view from my balcony... and I sent you (The top cat) Snowwhite.

I still didn't tell her that she was the only cat participating.

I miss every one so much.

I still have to wait for doctor to see my next one is November 11, after that I believe they will have to get together and study my case.

(In case I am really expecting a out of space creature...)

LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS TEXAS BADLY.

Pictures from my apartment...

Love, Monique & Snowwhite

Would You Like to See Some Pictures?

I finally have gotten around to taking a few pictures of the improvements

Jay & Karen have been creating this summer.

As you enter the front gate (well, it's not done yet, but soon) you will gaze upon a flagpole garden complete with red, white & blue flowering plants and accented by Ellen's terrific gazing balls made from old bowling balls.

They will be scattered around in a few select places.

The community room now houses the Flip Flopz Cafe...

And the laundry, of course...
The original flip-flops have been moved to a nice display in the corner...
A new fridge!
This is the new electronic bulletin board/calendar...work in progress.

Aren't these new lights & fans? The bathroom murals look great!
And now...the pool!
Pretty terrific, huh?

And the filled in hot tub area in the pavilion has a new life...look, a ping pong table!

Bet you can't wait to get back here, huh?
The weather is going to be wonderful over the next week or so.
Low humidity, NO RAIN!, cool nights!
One more pool picture to whet your appetite for fun in the sun....

Shingles Shot

Patsy Offers These Timely Words....

Several years ago, Ken and Lois informed us

about the availability of the shingles vaccine

at Hidalgo County Health District.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the shot at that time.

Now I have been battling the pain of shingles going on the fourth week.

I also have been referred to a retina specialist

because my shingles is centered in my left eye.

Garland got the shingles vaccine after my experience

and said that he hardly felt the shot (he hates to get shots).

I would advise anyone who ever had chicken pox to check with your doctor

and get the vaccine.

It is especially recommended for people over 60.
Thanks, Patsy

*********************

And a reminder...

it's time to get a flu shot!

Home for a Week.....

And let me tell you of my impressions on the improvements around here....

they ROCK!

The pool looks so classy with the new wrought iron style fence...

pool deck is larger and better defined...

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hot tub is world class gorgeous!

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VolleyBall (yes it finally stopped raining and we are playing again) has some new improvements with more nets and the poles

and nets are color-coded to make set up easy.

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Dead trees have been removed, new trees planted.

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Boo-Hoo, the butterfly garden is but a memory. Some plants survived the flooding, but not the big Mexican Olive tree, tho the little one looks good.

Almost all other shrubs and plants are toast.

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Peeps are arriving daily....Karen will tell you where to park your rig for storage....

but don't even think of driving into the field.

It looks solid enough, until you hear

that even the lawn mower/tractor is still getting stuck in mud.

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The community room looks great,

The cafe is called Flip Flopz....cute!

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Hmmmm, what else?

Temperatures are beginning to moderate. Next week they are promising lower humidity with nights in the 60's!

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Did I miss anything?

Pam & Bob, Yellowstone Flowers.

Yellowstone had a wet spring and summer

so there were lots of plants in bloom when we visited. Some bloomed in areas where you wouldn't think they could survive.
Others were obviously thriving as they covered the hillsides.
Some were familiar flowers like Queen Anne's Lace.
Others were grasses I'd never seen before.
I enjoyed them all!

Pam & Bob in Yellowstone.

On our way to the AANR convention last month, we stopped near Yellowstone National Park for a week.

I took so many pictures I had to break them into categories (animals, flowers, and water) just to make sense of them.
This trumpeter swan was the less than spectacular first animal we came across.
Happening upon this little fellow as we walked a secluded trail was a pleasant surprise.
You can see there was a camera hog horning in on the picture I was taking of an elk grazing in the Mammoth Hot Springs area.
When we saw other tourists pointing their cameras, we knew to head in that direction.
Traffic jams were always another clue that wildlife was nearby.
Although there were tales of bear sightings, we saw none.

We did see lots of other park features that grabbed our attention. Stay tuned for flower and water reports.

Pam & Bob

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

We made it home on Thursday afternoon, timing it just right to lasso a dinner invite from Sherry & Tony, Bill & Annie. Yumm!

Tony pulled out his Scotch collection and we sampled the different brands.

Winner?

Balvenie...the one on the left.

OMG! Terrific!It has been raining, off and on, since we got home.

A massive lightning strike fried our modem and microwave.

A jungle has taken over the yard...

water and toads are running amok in the streets!

Ahhhh...it's great to be home!