After two days of sunshine and warmer temps we were back to cool cloudy weather again. There were a few rain drops this morning, but we were still able to take our morning walk. After breakfast John and I headed off to Sunday School and church. We spent a rather quiet day at home. I started sorting through photos on the computer and John watched the PGA on TV while we were waiting for the Super Bowl kickoff. Sorry to see the Colts get beaten. Ended the evening watching a movie.

Today dawned clear and sunny--the perfect morning for a walk. We needed to stretch the muscles and work out the kinks after yesterday's hike. John had several items on his agenda today, so after breakfast we headed out. First stop was the post office to pick up the mail. After that we dropped off a load of newspapers, plastics, etc. at the recycling center. Then it was on to Wallace's where John put the finishing touches on his pelican. This entailed painting it with linseed oil--that brings out the colors of the paint and also seals the wood. He put the coating on outside the shop since the process was rather messy. The pelican will dry over the weekend and on Monday he should be able to come home.

Since it was such a beautiful day, after lunch we decided to play golf on the Par 3 course. Many other golfers had the same idea. The little course was crowded and we ended up playing the back holes first and then jumping around the front five as the holes became available. No one seemed to mind--it was a good time. John chipped in two times in a row for birdies.

I ran into Brackettville to Super S to pick up a few groceries to hold us over until we can get into Del Rio for our regular grocery run. We ended the day by watching college basketball and movies from the library.

This morning we were up bright and early to leave for our day trip to Seminole Canyon and Langtry to visit the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center and Cactus Garden. Tim and Mary Ellen picked us up a little before eight and we met John and Theresa and Jim and Kathy at the Teen Center. We were all a little concerned about the weather as it was foggy with mist--we drove through the fog all the way to Seminole Canyon.

Our plans were to tour the canyon in the morning, have a picnic lunch, and then head to Langtry. Upon arriving at the visitor center at Seminole Canyon, the guides told us the 10:00 a.m. tour was canceled due to the fog and wet rocks. If conditions dried out, there would be another tour at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. It was decided to reverse the order of doing things and we headed off to Langtry. By the time we got there, the sun was starting to break through and the fog was lifting. We toured the center and the historic site where the judge handed down his unique brand of justice. By the time we were ready to walk through the Cactus Garden Interpretive Trail of Southwestern flora the sky was bright blue and the sun was shining.

We took a little walk through Langtry and then headed back to Seminole Canyon for our picnic lunch. We ate at the spot where the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers meet. We ate tacos in a bag, cookies, and fruit. After our lunch, we headed back to the visitor's center at Seminole Canyon. There we spent time looking at the many historical displays about the early people who lived in the area and the ranching and railroad history. At 3:00 p.m., the guide gathered everyone together and we started out on our hike down to the bottom of the canyon where we saw rock paintings called pictographs. The park contains some of the most outstanding examples not only in Texas, but in the world.

By the end of the tour, all were pretty tired, so it was decided to stop at the Emporium in Del Rio for ice cream to revive our spirits. Must say it was a fun day!

Not much happened around here today. When we got it up it was raining and that meant the morning walk was off. After breakfast, Stan called John to say his hot water heater was not working and asking him to take a look at it. Seems the only problem was a power surge last night that caused the water heater to trip out. John just had to hit the reset button and all was well. John has been carving a pelican for wood carvers, so he spent the afternoon over at Wallace's with Betty Wright getting the bird painted. As far as our electrical work on the shed, Wallace came over and found the problem--a circuit breaker needed to be tighten--easy fix.

I spent the day doing some laundry, reading, and baking cookies to take on an outing tomorrow. We are heading back to Seminole Canyon and then to Langtry to learn about Judge Roy Bean. While John was back at carvers tonight, I watched the preview of the new Survivor. Can't wait for it to start!

We got the heavy all day rains that were forecast yesterday. It started raining last evening and continued all night and through today. The weather put an end to the morning walk which was just as well as we had to be up and out bright and early this morning. Today was the tour of the Del Rio Border Patrol facility. This was one of several tours we signed up to take when we attended the Del Rio Winter Texan Breakfast last month. The photo was taken from our deck--yard was pretty flooded.

We drove through heavy rains and some road flooding on our way into Del Rio. There was quite a turnout in spite of the bad weather. The supervisor of the Del Rio station started off by having us view a short video which explained the whole border patrol operation. He then did another presentation which focused on what is done by the Del Rio station. I was amazed at how much territory is covered by Del Rio--25 miles of border along the Rio Grande in addition to covering the inland area. There was a time for questions and then we were divided into two groups--one went outside to see the different vehicles, boats, four wheelers, etc. that are used by the agents. We also saw a couple of the horses that are used. It was interesting to talk to the agents about what they do and how they are trained. Our group then returned inside to see and look through night vision goggles, see the rescue equipment, and talk to the guys who are on a SWAT-like team. The tour ended up by seeing their arsenal and processing area for illegals when they are caught. After taking this tour, I must say I have a much greater respect for what the border patrol does and the dedication it takes to do this job.

After the tour, I checked into Weight Watchers, and then we stopped at Wendy's for lunch. By this time both John and I were ready to head home and get out of the rain. We were both rather damp.
I spent the afternoon working on my new jigsaw puzzle and John watched some TV. We ended up the evening at Tim and Mary Ellen's playing Hand and Foot. The guys beat us both games. Oh, well, there is always next time.

Today we woke up to slightly warmer temps--45 degrees; however, there were heavy clouds and mist. Since the forecast for tomorrow is calling for heavy rains, we decided to just bundle up and get a good walk in this morning. After breakfast, John got a call from Stan Metcalf that Mary Ellen's dishwasher was leaking so he gathered up some tools and went over to the Condo's to see if he could fix it. Seems there was no leak, but she may have been using too much detergent. She will try cutting back on the soap and see what happens.

This afternoon John finished up the electrical work in the shed. Only one problem--nothing works. Seems there is some wrong connection somewhere. He has called on his electrical experts, Carl and Wallace, to help find the problem. They will probably tackle that later this week as John had to leave this afternoon to attend the Planning Committee meeting.

As the day stayed cloudy and cool, I just hung out around the house, started a new jigsaw puzzle, and made a jello salad to take to the RV potluck this evening. After the meal we played a couple of games of 31. I hate to brag, but I was the big winner again.

It was another very cool morning (39 degrees) with heavy clouds and light fog. Again, we had to bundle up for our morning walk. After breakfast John picked up Tim Miner and they headed off to wood carvers. I had just started on my Monday morning chores when there was a knock on the door. Mary Ellen was on her way home from her morning exercises and decided to stop in for a visit. We hadn't seen each other for a few days, so it was nice to catch up on what each other has been doing and to also make some plans for future outings.

When John got home, we had a quick lunch and then headed into town to return books to the library and check the post office for mail. Posted a picture of the library so folks at home could see where we get our reading material. There was a nice surprise in the mail. Our son Matt sent us a CD of our grandkids' basketball games. We had our evening's entertainment all set.

Since we went to Home Depot yesterday to pick up the parts John needed to continue his electrical work on the shed, he spent the remainder of the day getting the wire laid underground and connecting the line to the main pole. The only thing left to do is hook up the receptacles in the shed.

This evening around five o'clock the sun peeked out and we had a
cute little visitor in the yard.