Dec 2 - 8, 2019 Harlingen Texas for a month.

Dec 2
We're here in Tropic Winds RV for a month now to relax a little and enjoy south Texas. We aren't in a hurry to go anywhere this morning so we're just taking our time with coffee and I'm working on a blog post. We do need to take our paperwork to the office this morning because we arrived on a Sunday and the office was closed. Leslie made us a good breakfast and we got cleaned up for a walk to do the paperwork. Terry's wife Carol was busy doing other stuff but we got a chance to say hello. Terry was in there and chatted with us for a little bit making sure our first night was okay. 
When we got back to the rig we opened the storage compartment and set up our table, chairs and the barbecue. We can actually leave them out for a while! With all the stuff out of the one side we vacuumed up the sand that was in their from traveling. Leslie wants to grab a few groceries at HEB so I will keep working on the little stuff around the rig while she goes shopping. I really don't want to drive anywhere for a couple days. Maybe we'll nap today too, just because we can. Leslie took a bunch of pics as we walked so you get a glimpse of where we are.

3 flags at the office: Texas, USA & Canada...nice. Laundry room through the door on the right.

Barbecues under a roof, games room and gym, maintenance building and woodworking shop in the back.

Really nice pool and hot tub.

Shuffleboard area, lots of players for this.

Pickleball courts. They look quite new.

There is 4 courts like this.

Just shows some of the landscaping and the pickleball.

Lots of horseshoes pits with nice covers.

They have an RC race track but they are still working on that.

 A nice big off-leash area for the other dogs, not Margaret.

This area is a bird and flower park. No dogs allowed. A place to sit and birdwatch.

Some of the flowers and cactus.

The winner of "don't normally see that" award. Cool rig.

When Leslie got back with groceries she put together everything for a big taco salad for supper. We relaxed with a couple frosty beverages and just enjoyed sitting still for a bit. Great day. 

Dec 3 - Leslie noticed on the activity schedule that they have line dancing and she really enjoys doing that so she is heading out at 9:00 to join in. I'll go for a run around the park a few times to put together a 5-6k run. It's hot already and supposed to be close to 30C this afternoon. Thankfully there is always a nice breeze blowing here to make it a little nicer. Our cement patio at our site is in the shade of the rig too so it's all good.  After our activity we both got showered up and headed back outside to work on the trailer. Leslie is cleaning in and out and I'm working on some loose trim pieces with broken off screws plus I'm doing another coat of McGuires Polish. I'm thinking Raul got a good shine going so if I add an extra layer of polish it will be better and it's not as tough to apply just polish. 
We took Margaret out for a walk around the park and then put on our swim stuff to head to the pool. The activity schedule showed a pool happy hour and then hamburgers and hotdogs at 5 pm at the main hall. Sounds like an easy supper to us and we can maybe meet some people. Perfect.
It's early in the season down here. There were about 6 people at the pool and maybe another 10 inside for the food after 5 pm. Not a huge turnout but we met a nice group of people from Minnesota, Iowa and Connecticut by the pool. We never did go in the pool but just sat around chatting and getting to know these folks. Sorry no pics as we didn't take a phone to the pool. That was about it for the day. Just a relaxing evening at home after supper and we're absolutely okay with that.
Dec 4 - Today we decided to do a driving tour of downtown Harlingen and the area. There is supposed to be a historic section downtown but we didn't really find that?? Lots of traffic today so it's tough to do the tourist thing without being a pain in the butt. Plan B: We'll head out to San Benito and a quick stop at the Harley dealer for a shirt and a little look around. It's another smokin' hot day at 31C/88F so it's nice to just cruise around with the AC going. Margaret's cool with that....get it? She's cool with that! lol.
We went back to the rig and just sat in the shade. Too hot to do much of anything so we just went for a quick swim at the pool to cool off. Only one other person there. Surprising in this heat actually. Happy hour by our rig and then just kick back for the evening.
Dec 5 - While we are here we want to check out some other RV parks in case we come back and want to stay somewhere else. I did some research about other parks and decided to drive all the way to Mission, Texas about an hour west of here. We can have a quick look at some other places along the way before we get there too. We go right through Mercedes and Donna, Texas on the highway and a place called Pharr that has the Costco. Leslie wants to go there soon for some of the bulk items.
We were soon able to cross a couple of parks off the list because they are right beside the freeway. No thanks. Too much highway noise. I don't know if it was me or the GPS again but we pulled off the highway to check out a store on the frontage road and then wanted to just get back on our route. This time the GPS said to stay on the frontage road for another 6 miles then turn right. Sounds okay, sure. Oddly instead of going back up on the freeway and take the exit we are touring all the businesses along the way on a road that is a 45 mph speed limit and stop lights every couple of blocks. Whatever, we wanted a tour today anyway. 
We finally got to Retama Village, an RV community that I have read about on RV Dreams for a few years now. It's off the highway on the access road to a state park. A nice, quiet area that borders a park. Good idea for the developer. Retama Village is an entire neighbourhood that starts with a gated community of single family houses. They are very nice looking houses and very similar exteriors. As you travel further south on the road there is the first RV Park that is really nice; gated of course but the gate is open during the day. We pulled in for a driving tour and Leslie grabbed a leaflet that showed the sites that are for sale and how much others rent for per month. It's a beautiful development, we were so busy looking we forgot to get pictures of the sites but we definitely got pics of the big garage units.

How nice is this? They list from $205 - $350K USD.

Fifth wheel or motorhome, they fit anything.

This one is not as fancy but I would be okay with it ;)

The regular RV sites in this section are almost all concrete and they have a large shed or a small casita that have different amenities in them. Some are just storage while others have laundry facilities and bunk beds for guests. Of course they are deep enough for any size RV and all have a patio for putting out your chairs and a table or whatever. The whole place is very clean and the landscaping is beautiful. The sites range from $750/ month for a back in with a shed to over $1200/ month for a casita (USD of course so add another 35% for Canuck bucks!) They have a great website you can check out with all the prices etc. Here's a link to the website Retama Village , check it out.
We really took our time in this section of the development, it's super nice. Everybody waved and said hello as we drove around looking. They probably see that lots. I actually recognized the rig at one site as Jack & Dianne Mayer. Impossible to not recognize a shiny New Horizon Majestic RV with a monster 780 Volvo parked beside it and a Smart car in front. I stopped in front and considered getting out to say hello but got shy at the last second. Seemed like too much of a groupie thing to just roll up on them like that. Didn't even take a picture of his site. We continued our tour of the park.
Oh but wait there's more!! You come out of that section and go a little more south and there is Benton Palms RV attached to the other park. Benton Palms is a definite place we would check out if we come back. The sites are easily big enough for any size rig and some are long pull throughs oriented around large circles with a focal point of some type. There was pool tables under a gazebo in one circle, pickleball courts in another, a big barbecue and some picnic tables in a third and in the fourth and final one was a nice sitting area under a gazebo to just chill in the shade. All around the outer edge were large back in sites, some with great shade trees and all with ample room to relax and enjoy the great weather here in south Texas. It was a great tour and we really enjoyed checking it out. I guess it's not everyone's idea of a good time but we liked it.
We're right next door to a state park so we will park and go for a walk on the trails. We have the dog with us and she could use a nice walk but it's really hot and we're in the trees so no breeze. We'll go until Margaret stops walking.

The roads are closed for construction so it's a walk all the way.

Some info on the park.

We started walking down the closed road and there are bird feeding stations fairly close to the gate. Margaret doesn't even notice them and she's just sniffing all over and "marking" her turf.

I think a green jay on the feeder and the others are Chachalacas??

Going by the sign board.

The walk was over quickly. We only got maybe 300 yards or so and had to turn around again. Margaret is panting and just stopped walking. Time to go back for water. We asked the park ranger about the tram tour but no dogs allowed on the tram. There was only two other people but the rules applied anyway. We walked around the visitor center and looked at the displays after we all got some water. It was okay but not like being out seeing the live version. That's the risk sometimes when you bring the dog.

Information on the canal system.

She can't read obviously. We didn't see any snakes.

By the time we got back to the truck it was time to head home. I would prefer to miss the height of rush hour on the freeway. We got delayed in construction on the way back and didn't get back to the rig until close to 6 pm. It's pretty busy on the freeway around here at rush hour. We sat outside for a cold drink and then went in for supper and TV for the night. 

Dec 6 - Leslie is going to line dancing again from 9-11 am so I'm just working on the trailer again in the shade. Don't feel like going anywhere today. I polished another section on the trailer and then washed both bikes. They are a holy mess after going this far. We went for lunch at the main hall when Leslie got back. They have taco salad, burgers and hotdogs for lunch really cheap. There was only five people in there while we were there. It is really quiet here still, lots of open sites, but they have way more booked for January. We just kept puttering away for the afternoon and sat down for a happy hour by ourselves. Haven't really bonded with others in our section. Not many folks outside here in our area. 

We have a great idea for supper tonight. We are going to try to prepare the shrimp we bought in Rockport similar to the way Leslie got them at Paradise Key Restaurant. Jumbo shrimp with a slice of jalapeno, wrapped in bacon. I'm excited!

I started on wrapping shrimp while Leslie made a Greek salad and then she helped me finish up the shrimp. I'm doing the shrimp on the barbecue and Les put a potato in the microwave for me. Awesome, awesome dinner. So good! We added some wine and it was perfect. A good day in the life.

Absolutely nailed it! A fantastic meal.

Dec 7 - I need a couple new drill bits and I want to try rivets on the front of the rig where the skin joins together. I have tried thicker screws but they just snap in half? Lots of shear damage from the vibrations of the road I assume. We headed to Lowe's but they didn't have the right rivets so we went across the road to Home Depot and they had what we needed.

In the same parking lot was a Texas Roadhouse Restaurant and we have never been to one before. We're both hungry so we'll check it out. OMG is this a good find for a chain restaurant! It is pretty busy but we got a table in a back corner that is pretty quiet. It took us a bit to decide what to have for lunch because there are so many good choices. The waitress was really nice and we told her we have never been here before so she helped us out with our choices. I'm getting a full rack of ribs and Leslie is getting a keto friendly steak and rib combo.

Oh and Leslie had a Margarita haha.

Happy Texas Roadhouse rib face.

I went to wash up before my ribs and the manager came to our table and gave Leslie a bag of peanuts (they serve them by the bucket here) and a gift card for a free appetizer at our next Texas Roadhouse because it's our first time here. How nice is that?

A nice surprise for us.

Our lunch/supper was really good and we have some leftovers for tomorrow too. Great stop. If you have never been to Texas Roadhouse it's worth checking it out. We didn't do much the rest of the day, we're so full. In fact I think we ended up lying down for a bit after we got home lol.

Dec 8 - Today our buddy Ailsa is running in the California International Marathon with two of her pals from Edmonton. It's in Sacramento and they are having a girls race weekend. It's a different crew that gets together to run really fast for 26.2 miles. I have been texting with Ailsa yesterday before the race and I sent her a text to cheer her on this morning. She's using this marathon as a tune up for longer races coming up. All this race talk has inspired me to get out for a run too and Leslie is doing a walk with Margaret then a walk alone. Of course we are done way before the race is over so we showered and watched how things were going on the race tracker. She almost beat her personal best time on a marathon when she crossed in 2:50. Yeah that's fast! Leslie worked on some inside cleaning and I went out to try the new rivets on the front fiberglass. We'll see if they hold for longer than the screws. I also did another small section of polishing on the outside. If I do just small sections it doesn't wreck my right shoulder so bad. Leslie took the truck for groceries while I was outside and when she got back we decided to go to the pool. It's a nice warm day and the pool will feel great. There was only three other people down there when we got there. Still not very busy around here. A couple we met earlier this week, Brian & Mary from Minnesota, came to the pool and joined us for a little while. It was nice to chat with some other people for a bit. They are about the same age as us and have a similar situation that they have a house back home and are spending the winter traveling. Brian got to bring his Harley on the back of his motorhome so I'm a little jealous of that lol. They rode by our rig yesterday and waved. That's not very nice. lol

When we had all had enough pool time we went back to our rigs and relaxed for the evening. Not a tough day for sure.

We're doing exactly what we need to do while we're here. Just relax and enjoy the sun. It's -30 C at night in Bonnyville. I have been watching their weather. Tropic Winds is a very nice park if anyone else is looking at this area. We haven't really met a bunch that enjoys happy hour like we do but that's okay. Everyone is friendly and you can do as much or as little as you want. That's exactly what we want right now. We're warm, safe and happy. Can't beat that.

Cheers everybody.