We’re Still Alive and Kickin’ Part 2

Moving right along….

Picking up where I left off in Part 1, this is where we made the last leg of our trip to Mission Texas from Corpus Christi. 

The trip went really fast and when we approached McAllen, we were instantly on the cell phones, marveling to each other about how modern everything was and all the businesses and malls and restaurants that were lining the expressway toward, and through, McAllen, and several other towns on our way west. 

We couldn’t tell when one town stopped and another started and just kept OOO-ing and AWW-ing at all the great places to shop or eat or just about anything else we wanted to do.  And it continued on right into Mission, so even tho I had expected a “bigger than average” town, I certainly didn’t expect to see all of that.  And for some reason, DeWayne had it pictured as a little town, out in the middle of nowhere that might have a store or two “down the road a piece”.  Haha!!  So he was in TOTAL shock!

We continued on and were also pleased to find that the RV resort was about a mile off the expressway and there was a Walmart and a huge “H-E-B” (a great supermarket chain) right there on the exit we took for the park.  Along with a Home Depot and countless other shops, stores and restaurants.

So needless to say, we were smiling all the way to the resort.

And there we were….looking at our winter home. 

Most of the residents don’t start arriving until the first part of November, so we didn’t have neighbors at all when we pulled in and got the RV set up.  This is the street we were parked on.  That’s us on the right.  Since this picture was taken later on, there’s a motorhome close by, but it wasn’t there when we got there.  We had the entire block to ourselves.  Even the park models on the upper end of the block (not shown) were not yet occupied.  Sure was quiet!

There was no rest for DeWayne when we got set up, since he discovered a boo-boo on the roof that hadn’t been there that morning.  So, guess who was up there in the hot sun for over an hour?

I thought he looked kinda sexy up there, but he was in no mood to appreciate my comments.  Hmmm….best go inside until roofs are patched and moods are lighter.  Yeah, that’s the ticket!

It was hot and dry when we arrived in Mission.  They hadn’t had any rain since April, so there was dead grass and dirt everywhere and the wind blew like crazy in October.  So needless to say, there was a lot of dirt blowing around, and in the windows, for a while.  But we did eventually start getting rain, later in the fall, so the grass greened up and the dirt settled.  Thank goodness, because I was starting to believe we had taken a wrong turn somewhere and were smack in the middle of WEST Texas. 

By November, the temperatures were in a more comfortable range of mid 80’s and the wind didn’t blow every day, although it blew on occasion all winter.  But one thing we noticed right away was a huge surprise to us…

There were NO BUGS!!! 

 No mosquitos, no flies, no spiders, no anything crawly except for a few ant beds here and there.  We could leave the door open if we wanted or sit outside all evening and never be bothered by a single critter.  Now, how great is that, I ask? 

We discovered when we arrived that Dann and Pat were parked just up the street from us, so that was an added bonus.  And soon after we arrived, we found an invitation in our mailbox to our first official workamper meeting and also to our first official workamper social, which included hamburgers and all the fixins, provided by our gracious hosts, Scott and Cynthia, who are the park managers.  We all brought a dish to go with it, so there was more than enough food to go around. 

They had also hatched up a plan that I knew about, but was sworn to secrecy, to pull a little trick on one of our camp hosts, Lillie.  They knew she was a good sport, so it went well.  See the plan was set up before the social and involved Snookie and also “Bunkie”, who is half of another great couple we grew to know and love during our stay. 

The plan was to have a pumpkin carving contest and the catch was that all three participants (Lillie, Snookie, and Bunkie) had to wear blindfolds during the carving.  So here they are, Bunkie on the left, Lillie in the middle and Snookie on the right.

It was ready….set….go!  But the REAL kicker was yet to come.  Because it was set up ahead of time that once they got started, Snookie and Bunkie would take off their blindfolds and just pretend they still had them on for Lillie’s sake. 

Poor Lillie!  She couldn’t tell where one end started or the other ended, but was having fun anyway.  Snookie and Bunkie proceeded to carve neat and tidy jack-o-lanterns with intricate detail, while poor Lillie just hacked away at her pitiful pumpkin.


Just before time “was up”, Bunkie and Snookie quietly put their blindfolds back on, so Lillie would be none the wiser, so imagine her shock when she looked at the difference in the pumpkins!


It was all in good fun and Lillie ended up laughing as hard as the rest of us.  We had a great time and met a lot of our future co-workers, as well as the returning workers from prior years. 

I’m not real sure if Bunkie was dancing or bullfighting there, but it looks like she was doing a fine job. 


Above are Eddie and Toni Ewing, another couple that we grew to know and had great times with.  And Below are the guys:  DeWayne, Chip (Bunkie’s other half), Dann and Bob, obviously solving world problems.

So a great time was had by all and it was a great kick-off to the winter season.  I’ll stop here and get this episode posted, so I can get another one started.  Hope you’re enjoying the trip down memory lane so far!  Stay tuned for Part 3…….