SEIZE THE DAY.

We drove to Corpus Christi early enough in the day to find our parking spot and take a cruise downtown and visit an Art Gallery I wanted to see. Jim turned right instead of left and we saw an Eagles Club that wasn’t on Google Earth. We pulled in to say hello and found one of the friendliest guys you’d ever want to meet. And, funny, too.


His name is Larry Mills and we let him entertain us for the rest of the day. He is from Michigan, my home state, but he’s become a Texan since moving here in 1982.


He manages the Eagles Hall, here, and showed us around, though it was closed and we were the only ones in the place. It has a wooden dance floor. As a former square dancer, I nearly drooled.


A great hall, a great guy. We decided to alter our plans a stay a couple more days.
But, since we stayed in, I was remembering two  signs I saw the day we were in the Brownsville museum. Both kind of surprised me.


This one is an old-time Mexican saying since the revolutionary days. With our intrusive policies, it still holds true.


And this one was an excerpt from a priest’s prayer just  before a voyage. Cheerful, bugger wasn’t he? They should have fired him as their priest or burned him at stake, or whatever they did to people in 1596  when he wasn’t doing his job well.


Being on the road as much as we are, we see signs of all types and they kind of amuse or boggle the brain or leave you wondering what they meant. Like this one. From the road you cannot read the small print on the bottom as you can (barely) in this cropped photo I took while driving by.


This is the newspaper delivery guy’s sense of humor. Whoever takes the last paper is greeted with this message. The rack is located in Palm Desert, CA, a well-known vacation spot.


The door is metal and the temperature in Palm Desert gets into triple digits, and yes, the door was hot. You’d think, they’d install a wooden door, now wouldn’t you? We were wintering there and the temperature was in the high seventies.


This drive by photo needs no explanation. I knew immediately the sign maker was talking about Congress. Pathetic, isn’t it?


Another little choice bit of wisdom. Hey, we roadies aren’t waiting in line either. It’s a great lifestyle. Life is short. Come join us. Retire early, hit the road. Enjoy life, not stuff.

ELEPHANT BAR AND A ROLLS ROYCE

A bunch of the gals were whooping it up at the Elephant Saloon-whoops, I mean, Bar.  The Elephant Bar is a huge restaurant with a full service bar, great food and a dignified atmosphere. They have outside tables and gentle fans. As I mentioned in an earlier blog,  I wondered what would happen when I showed up with 14 others and only two people could drive? Apparently nothing daunts the recreation director for Thousand Trails because it all happened and we caravaned to Palm Desert for a fantastic lunch and shopping.

So you meet all these new "friends" and one of them quipped, after we all gave our names and where we were from, "So, you are all going to remember our names, right?"  And another, "There's going to be a test!"
Well, the friendly woman who drove three of us in her dualie is parked in the middle above. She is Virginia. Easy for me since I have a daughter by that name. And, I learned about parking a dualie.(Two or more spaces, yah!)

On the left is an Asian Chicken Salad.Well, at least I remembered what she ordered.  And on the right is Earletta, named for her father Earl, an only child. Earletta lived in Germany for awhile and reminded me of the famous pageants they have in this secluded mountain town where the townspeople prayed for and end to the plague. They promised God if they didn't get any more plague they would put on this pageant to honor God. That was in the 1400's or something. The plague ended. They still put on the pageant every 10 years. Now I'm inspired to re-read my journal so I can remember the details of that trip. See what casual friendships can mean to you?

These two brave women wore white and ordered, (at least one of them did), something with tomato sauce. My mother would never let me wear white to school on sloppy joe day at the cafeteria. Tsk, tsk! One of these gals, (left) likes to iron. LIKES to iron? I told her my brother used to call his wife, LONI. It stood for little or no ironing.

These two gals were already friends and I caught one name, Betty, on the left. Pretty soon you find out that almost everyone here is from California, Oregon or Washington state. Are we having fun yet?

Our Make-It-Happen director from Thousand Trails on the right with a gal from the South, I think. We eventually find out we all have something in common, but it isn't wearing white or pastel blue at a luncheon. (Remember that sloppy joe!!) 

Here is Linda, on the left. I'm cheating on this one. I met Linda in the laundry and she helped me fold sheets. She is a full timer like my partner, Jim. Linda explained to me that most of her friends are people she has met at Thousand Trails because she has been on the road for so long. It happens, I've seen it. Not only that, she has beautiful, thick hair that she can and has donated to "Tresses For..." . I can't remember the rest of the name of the organization that provides hair pieces for cancer patients and others needing hair. And, on the right is the $65 haircut. That is, she asked someone where to get her haircut locally and it cost her $65 bucks. She warned us, "...ask the price first." Whew! That could save me a bundle.

Now, here I am with my table partner to my left. And, being a name dork, I don't remember her's. But, you know, it doesn't really matter. We chatted, and enjoyed each others company because women are wonderful. Who knows when you might meet a Ya Ya from the Sisterhood.

I must share with you my braised lamb shanks-(to die for.).  THEN, we went shopping.  Remember, this is second hand store stuff. I wanted a silverware divider to fit in my motor home drawer. My daughter-in-law gave me a ration about "...setting my sights a little higher". So, how is this Laurie?

This beautiful leather and fox coat was only $995.00. Laur, I WAS tempted.

I really liked this painting if I could have gotten it for $75. But, I wasn't willing to pay $295 for it.

This might have looked good on the Christmas shed wall, but its too big to carry in the motorhome.

 

 So, I settled for a Rolls Royce.

For a link to all 34 pictures I took, click here: https://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/3411GirlsLunchShopDay#