Instead of walking this morning, we got up early, did some more packing, and then met Ralph at the club house for one last game of golf. Fortunately it was still on the cool side with some clouds when we played--the sun and heat arrived just as we were finishing up. We headed back to the club house where Ralph treated us to some Dr. Pepper and we visited with other golfers who were coming in off the course. This gave John and I an opportunity to say goodbye to many of our friends.

John spent the afternoon preparing the golf cart for summer storage and put it, the grill, and outside chairs into the shed. He also loaded more of our bags and boxes into the Honda. We only have a couple bags and the computer left to load tomorrow morning.

This afternoon Dave and Valada invited us over to their place for supper. That was very much appreciated as our fridge is empty--we thought we would have to dine out this evening. On our way to Sandwicks, we stopped in to say farewell to Harlan and Betty Wright. Betty is John's carving mentor. Once were back home, John and Lois Carlson stopped in to say goodbye. They just stayed a few minutes visiting before they headed back to their place. Our final goodbye was Sam and Leta--we walked over to their condo just to touch bases with them one more time. It's always hard to leave here each spring--we have made just good friends and will miss them over the summer. Tomorrow starts the homeward journey and adventure.

The cool temps of yesterday still lingered this morning so it was sweatshirts again for our morning walk. After breakfast, John left to play the men's nine hole golf game. There were only eight guys this morning, so they divided into two teams of four and played best ball. His group shot an even par--John was pleased that his putting had improved a little.

I spent the day washing rugs and doing some more laundry so we won't have much in the way of dirty clothes to haul home. Following lunch, we mopped the bedroom, bathroom, and main living area floors. We had quite a few dust bunnies rolling around under the furniture, so it was time to do a good cleaning. John took a little break from mopping to go to the driving range with Ralph Ramsey where he gave John some hints on swinging the golf clubs.

This evening, Stan and Jan took us out for supper. We ate at The Herald, a very nice restaurant in Old Town Del Rio. We had never even heard of this place before, but after eating there, we are sure to come back again. The food and service were excellent with a very nice atmosphere. After dinner, Stan took us on a ride around Del Rio and the surrounding area--we saw many beautiful homes and the canal system that brings water into the area. We even drove right by the huge iron fence that runs along the border. We had a fun evening and it was a perfect way to end our stay at Fort Clark. One more day to go--plan on some golf early tomorrow morning. Thanks once again, Stan and Jan, for a very nice evening.

The strong winds of yesterday brought much cooler temps for today. We decided to sleep in this morning and skipped our morning walk. Actually, I made the decision not to walk as I was scheduled to play golf at 9:30 a.m. and would be walking the nine holes.

Following a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast made by John, I headed off to the club house were I met Mary Jane, Natalie, and Leslie for our for our regular Tuesday morning golf date. All the other members of our group have already headed home--I leave Friday and Natty will be going the following weekend. It was a perfect day for our final golf game and we had a great time playing and visiting. We plan on meeting again in November to resume our weekly game of golf.

John spent his morning fixing the solar panels on the condo roof, trimming some trees on the Metcalf property, and hitting some balls at the driving range. As soon as I got home from golfing, we headed off to Burger and Shake were we met up with Gene and Jeannie Bevins for a farewell lunch. They are off to Indiana bright and early tomorrow morning. We put them on our list of folks this visit this summer.

This afternoon I worked on some finances, getting everything in order before we head home, while John cleaned out the car and loaded a few crates that were ready to go. Stan stopped over for a visit and to invite us out for supper tomorrow evening. Our evening was spent just relaxing and watching the Biggest Loser and the women's NCAA Final Four Championship game.

When we took our walk this morning was it rather warm and humid with the breezes starting to blow. By mid morning the winds were very strong, the temps dropped and the afternoon turned out to be a very pleasant. We were able to turn the AC off and open the windows for some fresh air.

John went over to Ralph's this morning to help him fix the driver's seat in his RV and from there on to Leta's to adjust the downspouts he had put up last month. My morning was spent changing bed linens, doing laundry, and packing. Just about everything is ready to go--just a few last minute items left to pack. I made one more shortcake so we could use the last of the frozen strawberries we brought down last fall.

After supper, we took a little golf cart ride around the fort. Things sure are quiet--the condos are just about completely empty. I think John and I will be the last to leave among our circle of friends. After ladies' golf tomorrow, we plan to have lunch with the Bevins as they will be pulling out on Wednesday. This evening we watched the Final Four Championship game and ate the shortcake.

Today was hot, hot, hot! It was 75 degrees when we left the house at 7 a.m. for our walk. The morning was overcast with high humidity--just walking made you hot and uncomfortable. It felt good to get back in the AC.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and headed off for our last Sunday at Frontier Baptist. It is always hard to say good-bye to our church friends. They tell us we are "wimpy" for not to staying on the fort for the summer months. We tell them they are "wimpy" for not coming to northern Minnesota in the winter. The discussion always ends right there.

There was a strong breeze this afternoon, so John and I decided to play some golf on the par 3 course. We only played five holes as it was just too hot. We decided we need to play first thing in the morning before the day heats up. In order to cool off, we headed down to Pico's for some banana split ice cream--that did the job. Later in the afternoon we took the golf cart over to Sandwicks to return a couple of jigsaw puzzles and books that we had borrowed earlier in the winter. John had gone into Ralph's place to see what job he wanted John to do for him tomorrow and then they both came out and joined Dave, Valada, and me on the patio.

We ended our day watching the women's NCAA Final Four games. Only four more days until we start the journey homeward.

This morning we decided to sleep in for a change--no walk. John needed the extra sleep time after putting in a couple of days of long, hot hours finishing up Stan's porch. I didn't have any excuse for sleeping in--I just felt like it.

John spent the first part of his morning bringing tools and equipment back from Metcalf's and storing them back in our shed. We then loaded up the Honda and headed off to the recycling center with our plastic bottles, newspaper, and cans. The temps were reaching the 90's so we decided it was a good time for lunch and to stay inside and keep cool in the AC.

Gene and Jeannie Bevins stopped over for a visit and told us about their recent trip to Corpus Christi with their family who were visiting from Indiana. They will be heading home on Wednesday, so we made a tentative date to get together for a final lunch early next week. Just about all the Winter Texans have left for home--we will be about the last ones to leave next week.

Our groceries are pretty well used up, but we still needed a few things to get us through next week. We decided to take a quick trip to Del Rio where we washed the Honda, made a quick stop at Wal Mart, and then ate supper at Jack In The Box. Tonight we watched the NCAA Final Four games and finished up the strawberry shortcake. There is still one bag of frozen berries left, so maybe we'll invite someone over for more shortcake and use them up.

This morning we just walked around the golf course as John wanted to get an early start on Stan's porch before the day heated up.

Today was the final day of the porch project. John painted the last of the trim and finished putting that up. After lunch he hung the two screened doors and took care of the last little bits of the job. Following supper we took the golf cart over to Stan's so John could show me the finished product. Jan was very happy with the porch and looks forward to using it quite a bit this summer.


It was very hot this afternoon with temps reaching 99 degrees. I spent my day inside in the AC doing more packing--just about everything is packed or ready to be put in a container next week. I feel that I will be ready to leave without being rushed. Also, we'll have time for more golf next week. We ended our day with more strawberry shortcake and a movie.