Paradise Lost

I'll start with the bad news.

For the almost 4 years we've lived at Rio Concho West (RCW) on the outskirts of San Angelo, it has always been a pleasure to enter the gates to our little subdivision. Once we passed through those gates, we entered an area of calm and peace, away from the hustle and bustle of the encroaching city.

Those days are gone, and our little paradise has lost a little of what has made it so pleasant.

Unfortunately, there are several acres at the entrance to our community that RCW does not own. Instead, Shannon Hospital owns that property. We have 2 major hospitals in town, with Shannon being the larger by far. Shannon is now developing that property. We've known about this for at least half a year, and we have been dreading the day when construction would start. That day was yesterday.

I've forgotten the specifics of the building going in, but it is some sort of long-term physical rehabilitation care center. It will not be that large, and in the long term it may even prove to be a good thing for our little community. We do have folks who fall or take tumbles from time to time, and these folks need some sort of physical rehabilitation to return to their regular activities. For them, this will be quite convenient.

Now, Donna and I like Shannon. Sure, they aren't perfect, but for the most part Shannon is a pretty efficient medical organization. Overall, we have been pleased with the care we receive there, and this care has been one of the reasons we have remained in San Angelo for essentially all of our retirement. Shannon even ranks rather high nation wide in several categories.

But I'm still not looking forward to the construction phase of this new facility.

We returned from a shopping trip yesterday morning to discover half a dozen or so trucks of various sorts near the entrance starting work on the property. I went out a little later and there were even more trucks. It's a bit congested near the entrance trying to drive past that work area, and I certainly don't walk to go walking around there.

I'm not looking forward to the next year or so, but I'll hope for the best.

On to other things . . .

The weather lately has really been nice. By 10 or so most days, we've been able to get out without jackets, or very light jackets at best. I've even seen buds on one of our trees, and the little red bud tree near the entrance to our neighborhood is already in color. I don't think spring is that far away.

Tuesday night about 8:00 or so, a storm moved into the area and lingered until late Wednesday afternoon. There was a little thunder and lightning, but not much. We tallied about 2.5 inches of rain overall at our house, while other areas nearby got as much as 3 or more inches. That is really nice for us, and it should go a long way in refilling area lakes. I hope it was beneficial for our farmers.

Because of the corona virus that is in the news, we probably won't be making any trips for a while. We're not so worried about becoming ill as we are at getting quarantined or something. So, we'll probably stick pretty close to home until this all passes over. Anyway, I just received a jury summons yesterday, so I have to be available for jury duty for the entire month of April.

I hope that something good will come of this virus. One thing I'm concerned about is hygiene. I'm always amazed at the number of people I see in restrooms that simply walk out when they finish their business and never wash their hands. You would think in this day and age that we would be more enlightened than that, but that is obviously not the case. All the experts emphasize again and again the importance of washing your hands, but there are a large number of people out there that ignore this simple task. In many aspects, we seem to be regressing as a culture, and personal hygiene is one such area.

On Thursday, Donna and I watched The Call of the Wild at our nearby theater. It was entertaining enough, I suppose, but if you are hoping for a movie that is faithful to the original Jack London book, you'll be greatly disappointed. The book is vastly superior. Books are almost always better than the movie versions, don't you think?

Some Casino Action for the Old Folks

Well, we finally did something a bit different. You know how Donna is; she needs her casino fix from time to time. We received some nice offers from Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico (near Ruidoso), and we just couldn't pass them up.

We played a little at this casino back in August one day, then hit it both going and coming on our November trip to Laughlin, NV. That's not a great deal of play, so we were pleasantly surprised when each of us received an offer for 3 free nights as well as some generous food credits. so on this past Monday, we headed over for a 3 night stay.

It's a long trip for us, almost 400 miles one way. But it is closer than Shreveport, and the drive is much less stressful. There are no big cities to pass through, and no heavy traffic areas. The worst part of the trip is the 90 mile or so stretch from the Texas/New Mexico state line to Roswell on US 380. Along that stretch two-lane, there is only 1 town, tiny Tatum with fewer than 1,000 folks. There are  absolutely no passing lanes on that long stretch, and the speed limit is 65. The road surface itself is good, with a good shoulders, but it is a long, monotonous stretch.

We got our first glimpse of Sierra Blanca about 20 miles or so east of Roswell. That means we were seeing this beautiful mountain from a distance of about 100 miles. At 11,981 feet, Sierra Blanca is the 8th tallest mountain in New Mexico, and the highest in the Sacramento range. 3 of the 4 tallest peaks in New Mexico are all located in the Taos range north of Santa Fe, including Wheeler Peak, the highest peak at 13,167 feet.

I snapped this photo just west of Roswell. If you click to enlarge the photo, you'll see snow-capped Sierra Blanca straight ahead down the highway. To the right is Capitan Peak at just over 10,000 feet. No snow on it.

Our favorite part of the drive is the approach to Ruidoso along US 380/70 from where the highway first enters the foothills around the tiny community of Riverside. From that point west, the roadway dips and weaves its way toward Ruidoso following the Rio Hondo and, later, the Rio Ruidoso. It's truly beautiful country.

We stopped in Ruidoso for a late lunch at Garcia's Cafe, a nondescript eatery on Sudderth Drive. Donna enjoyed a plate of bean chalupas while I dove into a plate of cheese enchiladas with red sauce. Everything was fresh and tasty, and the salsa had a nice bite that got you in the back of the throat. Good food and good service at a good price. We'll definitely return.

From there, we headed to the casino and checked into our room. The room was large and comfortable, with a balcony overlooking a lake. In the background, partially hid by another mountain in the foreground, loomed snow-covered Sierra Blanca, about 10 miles away as the crow flies. I took several pictures of the scene at different times of the day. In big sky country, I love the way scenery changes appearances based on light and time of day.

View of Sierra Blanca from our balcony.

I zoomed in for this shot of Sierra Blanca.

Looking in a different direction from our balcony.

Sierra Blanca near the end of the day.

We played a while on Monday, but I was rather tired from the drive. Since I was not doing well, I quit early. "Forever Young" Donna continued mercilessly pounding the machines for a while, though. I prefer to play early in the morning, so on Tuesday I rose early, got a nice cup of coffee and sat at my favorite game and had a good play. I was able to win a little money during that session, then moved to another machine and had another good session, hitting a $150 jackpot. Donna was not having any luck on that day, though.

We used some of our food credits for a nice lunch at the buffet. I'm not big on buffets, but I enjoyed this one. It had a nice variety of entrees, and everything was tasty and well prepared. I'll certainly eat there again.

Hotel lobby. Because of lighting, you cannot see anything out of the large picture window.

Here is the view from the hotel lobby. I could sit here all day!

After lunch, we retired to our room and watched the weather change from sunny and bright to cold and snowy. It did not snow a great deal, but we lost our view of Sierra Blanca for quite awhile. And then, just as suddenly as the snow had moved in, it moved out and the sun returned.

A light snow moves in. Where did Sierra Blanca go?

The snow got a bit heavier!

Wednesday dawned at a low of 9 degrees. Brrrr! We had planned to go into town that day, but decided we would just stay put in our warm casino. And the good folks at the Inn of the Mountain Gods do keep the casino warm. It is pleasant to play there. Today would be Donna's day at the machines. She hit quad deuces on the deuces wild video poker machine she was playing for a total of $250. For lunch on Wednesday, we dined at the Broken Arrow Tap Room. Donna had a turkey sandwich and I enjoyed some really tasty brisket tacos.

The next day, beautiful weather returned. We didn't get much snow, but you can see a light cover on the ground.

After 3 days, we left the casino about 7:00 AM (local time) to head home. We had a good time during our stay, and we definitely plan to return. Alcohol is not served on the main casino floor. There is one designated bar in the casino area, and neither Donna nor I played there. I liked that. The place is pretty smokey, though, and I definitely do not like that. We were very happy with our room and the eateries we tried. Self-serve drink stations are located in the casino area, and we found the coffee there to be quite good.

I snapped this photo as we were leaving Thursday morning. You can see the top of Sierra Blanca greeting the morning sun. Casino is on the left while hotel and restaurants are more towards the right.

Entrance to casino. The picture just above this one was taken up the slope in the background.

We played quite a bit, so we are hopeful we will get some more offers in the mail. We would like to return in the summer so we can sit out on the balcony and enjoy that beautiful scenery.

Just Waiting for Some Warm Weather

We've had quite a bit of cold the past couple of weeks. In my previous post, I mentioned the light cold and freezing temps we have had. We did manage a couple of nice days last weekend, but this week we have had some more cold and about three-quarters inch of rain. Add to that some really cold northerly winds, and we just haven't had any desire to get out.

We did manage to get out and watch a movie this week, though. We saw 1917, a World War I story about two young British soldiers and their efforts to warn a couple of brigades about a planned offensive about to be launched. The scenery and landscape in the movie actually becomes a major character. I really enjoyed the movie, though Donna was affected by much of the gore.

I'm still adjusting to my new phone. When I purchased the phone from Target (they are affiliated with my provider, Consumer Cellular), the young lady there swapped the SIM card from my old phone into my new phone. Well, that caused quite a bit of trouble. I was able to use my phone in my home when connected to my network, but away from home, I had nothing. I made a call to the Consumer Cellular help desk and a patient young lady named Sonia worked me through my problems. Everything now seems to be working well. I continue to be pleased with the customer service provided by Consumer Cellular; I wish I had switched to them years ago.

Spring will be here in another month. I look forward to warmer weather. I'm ready to get out and do some walking and hiking. I always feel better when I can get outside.

A Little Snow and a Cancelled Trip

Yeah, as noted, we've been a bit boring lately. We had plans to rectify that situation, but things did not go as planned.

We had made reservations to take a cruise with Vanishing Texas River Cruises over on Lake Buchanan near Burnet, Texas. In fact, we had already purchased tickets for the Scenic Wilderness Cruise. But the weather did not cooperate. A winter storm blew through the area on the date we had scheduled the cruise, so we wisely cancelled a couple days ahead of time. San Angelo was on the low side of the storm, and we only received a trace of snow. But daughter Courtney and the band of assassins she is training to the north of us received a great deal more snow. Because the public schools closed due to the weather, Courtney was able to provide some special snow training for her young assassins.

As you can see, most of the snow we received stayed on the rooftops, though a patch or two of light snow did settle on the ground.

Looking out our front door, snow is mostly on the roof and the top of our brick wall.

 It did get quite cold here. The low one night touched 20, and the high did not get above 35 or so on Tuesday. I'm glad those cold spells do not linger long.

Well, my phone has died on me. Guess I'll have to replace it. I hate that I have become so dependent on that thing. Now, I don't use it while driving, or while I'm walking, or any time like that. To be honest, I rarely use the phone feature; anyone who knows me knows I hate talking on the phone. But I do like the convenience of picking it up while watching a travel show and researching a destination being discussed. And Donna and I both rely greatly on the calendars on our phones. And when we are large grocery stores, at casinos, or otherwise apart, the text feature is a handy way for the old woman and me to keep tabs on one another. Donna has a bad habit of wandering off and making me look for her. She often won't even respond to my texts. Guess she just wants to get away from me sometimes.

So, I'm in the process of securing a new phone. I believe I've found one through my provider that I like, so hopefully I'll be up and running soon.

Another note on the weather. It is raining here today (Monday). We haven't had much rain, less than a quarter inch, but we should get more today and tomorrow. We've had a decent amount of moisture so far this year.

Still Doing Nothing

Well, the boring couple continue to be boring, so you can probably just skip reading this.

We continue with the routine we've developed here at Rio Concho West. We attend events at the clubhouse whenever we can. Donna plays games once or twice each week, and we both play bingo on Saturdays. I walk as often as the weather allows. I was fortunate last week in that I was able to walk several times. One day, I even drove over to walk the Red Arroyo Trail. Donna and I walked this trail a couple of times when it was completed almost 4 years ago (see "Red Arroyo Trail"). I enjoyed my afternoon there; I really should get over there more often. It's nice to walk a trail where you don't have to worry about traffic. In fact, I enjoyed the walk so much that I returned there yesterday for a 3.5 mile walk. The weather was great, with the temp reaching the upper 70s. You can't beat that.

Red Arroyo Trail is paved and wide. It's an easy walk.

It's easy to see why it is called Red Arroyo.

The neighborhood next to the trail has a nice little lake.

The trail runs along the Red Arroyo from Sherwood Way to Knickerbocker. It's a nice open area amidst housing developments.

This egret was looking for some lunch in one of the holding ponds along the trail.

Numerous spurs provide access to nearby neighborhoods.

I also try to get to the library on a regular basis. The clubhouse has a nice little library, and I use it frequently. Lately, I've been reading the Navajo detective series by Tony Hillerman. The series features the characters of Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. I read all of the books of this series in the clubhouse library, so lately I've been going to the public library downtown. I also have some magazines there I try to read when I get the chance.

Our turkeys are really becoming aggressive. When we first moved to RCW almost 4 years ago, they kept away from people. Now they come into yards, roost on houses, play on patios, and make a general nuisance of themselves. They are fun to watch, though.

Close up of the yard invaders.

On the last day of this month, Donna and I will complete our 9th year of retirement. I can't believe how quickly those 9 years have passed, but I think the old girl and I have done quite a bit of living in that time. And we ain't done yet. We have several trips planned in the months ahead. Nothing huge, mind you, but little ventures that will amuse us. We are learning that we don't like the long trips we once took. I don't like staying behind the wheel for 12 or more hours at a time anymore. Today, we think of 6 or 8 hour drives as our limit. To be honest, I could do shorter than that. And we enjoy making short stops along the way.

Another early morning turkey jam in RCW. Notice two toms at left displaying their tail feathers. 

The kids are coming this weekend. They felt that I wasn't punished enough at Christmas, so they are returning to finish me off. I'm good, though. Stopped at the liquor store on Saturday and stocked up on survival supplies. I think I'll make it.

We Are Boring People

I guess we are becoming boring people. Of course, many who know us would probably argue that we have always been boring. True enough.

We simply haven't done anything worth writing about lately.

I guess we are reaching a point in our lives where we don't travel as much. As a result, there isn't much worthwhile to post on this blog. As a result, I may reduce my posts. I try to publish something at least once a week, more often if we are doing something. But with the slow pace of our lives right now, I may start posting only once or twice a month. I've even considered removing the blog altogether. But I'll continue for now and see how it goes.

The good news is that we are receiving rain as I write this (early Friday afternoon). The rain moved in sometime early Thursday before daybreak. It was that gentle soaking rain that many native Americans call a "female rain." Most of the rain was able to go right into the soil, and our very dry soil desperately needed it. As of right now, we've received just over an inch, and I think the rain is about to move out of our area. It's been nice to get a slow, easy rain without all the thunder and lightning that we often have. Yep, I like those female rains. We need more of them!

We continue to stay active here in our little community. In fact, Donna started a new thing yesterday called "ladies' time out" or something to that effect. It's where a bunch of ladies gather together at the clubhouse to plot how to take over the community. The old woman seemed to enjoy herself, though, and she has plans to go back to the next get together in a month or so.

It's cold outside right now, in the 40s, I believe. Yesterday was a bit cooler. That is a result of the rain system that moved through. I like to stay in when it's cold. I don't seem to be able to handle the cold like I once did.

So, that just about catches you up on our boring lives. I'll crawl back in my boring hole now and wait for the cold and rain to move through. I'd really like to get out and take a walk.

Back to Normal

Things are gradually returning to normal following the holidays. I, for one, am glad. It's nice to have these little breaks of one sort or another, but I'm always happy to get back to normal. I'm really glad that area schools resumed their classes this week. Get those little rascals back in the classroom where they belong so they don't get in my way in the restaurants, grocery stores, and movie theaters!

Donna and I made an overnight trip to nearby Midland. We lived there about 20 years ago for 5 years, and it was an enjoyable time for us. It was the first larger city we had lived in, and there was so much to do. We loved the restaurants, civic theater, shopping, and other things to do there. Son-in-law Michael started a new job about a year or so ago just to the west of Midland. As soon as grandson Xander graduates from high school (spring 2021), the kids will move to Midland. They have already started plans to build a home there.

Boyhood home of President George W. Bush in Midland

For some reason, the old woman and I think we probably need to be near the kids as we grow older. We think that will make things easier on all concerned. So, we have been looking at housing in the Midland area for the past year or so. Well, I guess we're just too poor; things haven't changed much for us in all these years, Trish. Housing prices there are very high compared to where we currently live. That's what happens in a boom area. I think we have finally given up on finding anything affordable there. Besides, the town has just changed so much since we left in 2002. Traffic is bad, and the personality of the town has changed greatly. We really didn't enjoy our visit there, and I don't think we would enjoy living there again. Perhaps Tom Wolfe was right -- you can't go home again.

Weather is fairly mild right now. Temps during the day are consistently climbing into the 60s, which makes for some great walking weather. Nights are chilly, of course, usually hovering around the freezing mark.

We have in the midst of a somewhat busy week. In addition to routine things like hair cuts and stuff, Donna has 2 medical appointments, just routine stuff. This afternoon, the good folks from Bilbrey Tours will make their annual visit to San Angelo. Each year, they make a stop in town to tell us what trips they have planned for the year. Hopefully, they will have some trips we are interested in.

Early morning traffic jam in Rio Concho West.

Donna and I, along with 2 other couples, are hosting the birthday dinner at the clubhouse tomorrow night. That really sounds like more work than what it actually is. Each month, different folks host the birthday dinners. We serve drinks as folks come in, check them in at the food line, and greet them at the door. It's really all about community fellowship. This will be our second time to host in the 3½ years we've been here.

I hope all of you are off to a great 2020!