South Padre Island

 Back again .... the pics above show you how they taped it all up for spraying the cabinet frames.

These pics show the cabinet frames all sprayed up:

Last night we ate at Dirty Al's ... the best fried shrimp on the island. It looks like this:

We are awaiting the arrival of the countertop and backsplash installers.

The countertop folks DID get here about 10ish .... and installed them ... really nice job. However, the backsplash people are not coming ... numerous phone calls later reveals we are scheduled for MONDAY! Hopefully, we can sort that out tomorrow; but, if we have to, we'll survive till then and move our return from Sunday to Tuesday. Tomorrow we can concentrate on getting the plumber back to hook up the sink/disposal/spigot.

More to come ...

South Padre Island

We spent the day ... waiting ... waiting ... waiting ... for the cabinet refinisher, who was to be here at 9ish ... turned out to be 3ish after we called twice and insisted they get started  because the plumber was coming tomorrow afternoon to disconnect the stuff from the sink. Sadly, the contractors in the Valley have a very different concept of the term "timely" and seem to focus on "later".  Anyway. we are on the timeline again, and if they show up as promised tomorrow at 9ish, we are good to go.

The kitchen is all taped up for the spraying to begin so we were forced to enjoy some yummy Church's Chicken w/cole slaw and freshly made biscuits.

More to follow ...

South Padre Island

Woke up to another lovely day in South Texas! Yesterday was a shopping day ... went to the outlets at Mercedes. Enroute we stopped at a huge Shell Store (they sell shells and all kinds of crafty things) outside San Benito and bought a bunch of shells (of course), wall hanging thingees, and other decorative items to spruce up the condo.

                                                                         

Then we stopped at Julia's in SB for lunch .... had a huge Tex-Mex combo plate (taco, chalupa, frajita, and tamale w/refried beans and Spanish rice) ... that was the meal for the whole day! We waddled back to the car and headed for Mercedes. Most of our buys were for replacement items for the kitchen ... folks either misplace, break or steal all kind of kitchen things, it seems. On the way home we bought a new 26" TV for the second bedroom which had died ... plus the batteries in the remote were missing and it was broken. We seem to lose batteries from most of the remotes over time; maybe tenants need them more in their stuff!

                                                                           

Today we plan to go to Brownsville and look for a couple of new rugs, lamp shades and blind for the kitchen. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

More to come....

South Padre Island

It is a bright sunny morning here in South Texas ... Beckett and I walked down to the beach and watched the sunrise --- over the years we have noted they are a thing of beauty here.

In the past, our blogs always talked about FOOD. This is no exception ... yesterday Gene had a platter of Migas a la Mexicana, an egg dish of scrambled eggs containing strips of tortilla, onion, green pepper and jalapina pepper; served with refried beans and hot flour tortillas. You know it is good when your nose runs and your eyes water; it is REALLY good when you sweat after putting the accompanying hot sauce on it. Donna had an omelet with toast --- not too exciting. Last night we steamed some yummy Gulf shrimp (you can get it off the boat so you know it's the real thing), tomatoes, and  raw carrots and cauliflower with ranch dressing. Beckett had dry dog food which he gobbled down -- a usual!

We are awaiting the arrival of the crew that will refinish the cabinets --- black semi-gloss lacquer. The kitchen now looks like this:

  
That's all for now!

South Padre Island

We have been working for some time to upgrade our condo at Beachview on the island hoping to make it more attractive to renters. It is a two bedroom/two bath unit which is one of 42 in the complex which has a pool and hot tub in the atrium in the middle. Part of the package includes cable TV and WiFi. It is located on Gulf Blvd and across from a beach access point. Two years ago we installed new appliances (stove, microwave, washer/dryer and dishwasher) and now we are moving into the next stage - countertops, backsplash, sink w/spigot and a paint job on the outdated oak cabinets. Working with a kitchen planner at Lowe's in Harlingen, he set up the purchases of materials we identified at the Lowe's back in League City -- it really worked out well.

Wednesday morning we piled into a fully packed car with Beckett snuggled into a comforter on top of two side chairs in the back seat. It was a beautiful day for the eight hour drive through Victoria, Kingsville and Harlingen. After some scampering about yesterday - the sink needed to be changed and the cabinet refinisher couldn't be located - we are back on track with countertop installation scheduled for next Wednesday followed by the backsplash going in after that. Hopefully the cabinets, at least the frames, will be done by then. Perhaps we can relax a bit this weekend ... hit the beach or pool ... eat some shrimp. You know you are getting old when you see a cute bikini clad damsel on the beach and wonder what her grandmother looks like!

Sandfest Rally at Port Aransas, Texas

We left the storage area on Wednesday, April 18th heading south for Port Aransas. It was a beautiful day ... sunny with little wind. The drive  shadows the coast down Texas Route 35 and you pass through Alvin, Bay City and Palacious on the scenic route. Much of the southern part of the 200+ mile trip passes through coastal wetlands which are teeming with birds and small critters. The interesting portion of the trip includes a free ferry ride across the intercoastal waterway at Port Aransas. It is a fascinating experience watching the very capable crew that directs you onto and off the ferry. It is doubly awsome that they easily deal with a 41' motorhome towing a car which adds about twenty more feet! We joined our rally group of ten rigs at the Pioneer RV Resort, a very large and well equipped, destination on Mustang Island which is near Corpus Christi.

We spent Wednesday traveling and getting set up on the campground. Several other rigs came in early and we all went out to Kiko's for  a seafood dinner and returned for some games, TV, etc. Thursday was the arrival day for the rest of our group and some spent the day visiting the Sandfest site as they prepared for the construction of the sand sculpures that the fest is famous for. You can visit their web site at: http://www.texassandfest.com/. That evening, after a social hour,  we grilled our meat of choice and brought other "stuff" to share; fellowship and games followed.

Friday was the beginning of the "fest" ... the sculpurers began their tasks which are timed - they have two days to complete their project whether it is a solo or dual effort. Sadly, we had some storms that evening and much of their efforts were damaged by the wind and rain; but, they were back at it bright and early on Saturday. The pictures you see below were taken on Saturday afternoon and show some of the exhibits partially completed.They should post the 2012 winners on the web site at some future date. An estimated crowd of 100,000 folks attend the fest each year.

                                                                             
AND THEN ......... on Saturday night, after a very yummy shrimp boil (shrimp, potatoes, sausage and corn on the cob) prepared by our hosts, we had BIKINI CONTEST! Here are the very shapely and sexy contestants:

Under great pressure the judge, whose spouse was in the "lineup". was unable to select a winner and had to designate ALL of the contestants to be winners.

We drove home on Sunday after "Caring and Sharing" ... such a great weekend with some super fellowship and ,of course and as always, very good food.

Easter 2012

Backyard on Easter Day

We're Pregers!

The Happy Crowd

The Beautiful Table

We had a wonderful day ... after all, Easter is a wonderful ... wondrous ... day. Our daughter, Jean and hubby Jim hosted an all day soiree beginning with a breakfast of all of the makins for breakfast tacos .... very yummy! Their daughter, Courtney and her husband, Keith, came over from San Antonio for the weekend and stayed with them. Excitedly, they are expecting their first child in a few months ... much boy/girl speculation ... should know on the 13th of this month. We all went to church and regrouped at their home to celebrate with a scrumptious ham dinner and all of the trimmings. Their son, Trip, and his special squeeze, Casey, plus Courtney's college chum, Catherine and her fiance, Ryan, joined us.