Back in the Valley, Meeting Goals & Having Fun

Hi all, Dianne here.  We've been back in the Rio Grande Valley for a week now.  First goal was to finally get some extra planting areas started, so that we could get lemon tree into its permanent spot.  Roger is very happy that we won't be lugging lemon tree all around the country in the RV for another year. 

Look how healthy it looks!  It obviously likes it here in Texas.  (As I always tell people, "I knew it when it was a seed.")

As soon as the guys finished our planting areas and rearranged the drip irrigation system, Roger and I made a trip back to Home Depot to find some Texas-style plants and some fun-looking cactus. 

The Retama landscaping crew planted my lemon tree and a prickly pear cactus for us, and we tried to plant the rest.  The reason I say we tried is that we had never experienced hardpan  Texas dirt before.  It's like concrete!  

I wish we had a video of Roger and I planting this false saguaro (without gloves) by deftly using the plastic flower pots to maneuver them.  It was definitely a comedy routine in the making.   We finally resorted to propping them up with rocks.  

In the area where we will try planting purple coneflowers and black-eyed susans next fall, we spent $1.50 each for our very own little Texas bluebonnets to surround our anacua tree.  We also moved our birdbath to the area for our resident gang of mockingbirds.


I apologize for boring my readers with photos of our new plant specimens, but because we use this blog as a virtual scrapbook for ourselves, I want to see how they grow while we're gone, and if they'll survive the brutal summer.  Lucky for lemon tree, it now has a drip irrigation ring surrounding it.

One more photo, just to show how pretty our front area looks right now.  The rose bushes are covered with blooms, and the purple verbena is creeping far beyond its boundary.

Our second goal was to get back into an exercise routine.  What we've discovered works best for us is for me to head out early for an 8-mile bike ride  around the state park next door.  The heat of the day arrives early now, so beating the heat is my obvious goal.  Yesterday a roadrunner ran across the road right in front of me, and today I saw a number of hawks.  

Roger varies his exercise routine between the weight/exercise room, an 8-mile bike ride, and swimming laps.  On his bike ride the other day, he saw a bobcat!


Having fun has always been our goal.  We certainly met that goal by attending a "tail-light party" at the Retama clubhouse Thursday evening with Bob and Linda.  This was the final party of the season before the tail lights come on and folks head their RVs north.   Bob and Linda each wrote a much better description of this party in their respective blogs (Because-we-can and Because-we-can II), so I won't try to compete with their clever prose.  If you're interested, scroll down to their prior party blog.  They even have a photo of Roger and Bob performing the YMCA song with a bunch of guys.

Here are some brief descriptive words and photos of the evening:  lasagna, wine, good friends, jello shots, karaoke, conga line, and man-in-the-pool.  Who says a 55+ community would be boring??

 Spring came and went, and now it reaches the 90s most afternoons here in Mission.  

Remember as a kid the free feeling of riding your bike to the local swimming pool to hang out with your friends?  Roger and I are discovering that it's just as much fun in your 60s.  The guys bob around and talk about sports, and the women bob around and talk about much loftier topics.

The pet photo of the day shows our handsome boy posing with his spiffy new name tag.