We made that trip to the island early because the weather forecast was predicting the next couple days to be soggy. Just about the time we brag on our great weather, we get zapped with rain. We were just sad that it had to happen when we had guests. But we were glad that many of our planned activities were indoors. That would include a rousing game of card bingo. Over 60 people were playing, and we arrived just as the game was starting. Out of all those people, Claire got the second bingo of the night. That was fun! The very next game, Blake got a bingo. Since he was the first male to win, he became the king for the evening and got to wear the crown. That was really fun! (at least for his wife, Mother, and Grandmother who thought he looked very cute in his layered head gear.) We had three generations playing card bingo that night.
Mark was obviously beaming with pride to be sitting with royalty.
In the course of the evening, Claire would win again, and Mark also got a bingo. We took a picture of the three winners--taken by the loser. It costs five cents for each round of bingo, and their bags of nickels were mighty heavy with all their winnings. That was fun!
We ate our way through some home-cooked meals and some south Texas classics. We learned that if you want tamales from the most popular place in the valley you must order two weeks in advance during this time of year. Tamales are the preferred holiday meal for many of the hispanic families in our town, and Delia's makes the best! We were lucky to get a couple dozen tamales on the last day they were open to the public before the holiday-reserved tamales were made. That was fun!
Another indoor activity is pickleball. Claire has never played a racket sport, so we were really pleased that she did so well. We played twice, and that was fun! We also took them to play an indoor version of bean bag baseball that they had never experienced before. Another indoor game is table shuffleboard, and we played several times. The first game was won by the oldies--that would be Mark and Denisa.
But the second game was won by the youngies, who seemed to be having a lot of fun.
When we returned for the tie breaker, the youngies won a thrilling game that ended at 21-20. That was fun!
One of Blake's fondest memories of childhood trips to this park was riding bikes up and down the palm-lined streets. We got a break in the weather for a bike ride. That was fun!
We also went to the Friday night dance, where the oldies taught them a new dance and a new move or two. That was fun for a dancer like Claire. The next day we visited a couple clubs along the Rio Grande River, and did more dancing. We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures!
We also took them to the Pulga. That's the Spanish word for "flea" and we are out shopping for fleas at the flea market. It's another three-generation outing, as the people in our group at the Pulga ranged in age from 27 to 89.
It was a smaller-than-usual crowd at the pulga because of the rainy weather. But we still got to purchase the produce we were shopping for. We bought avocados for twenty cents each, pineapples for 50 cents, and oranges for a dime. A $1 bag of limes had more than twenty in it. Because we like to try new things, we also bought a papaya and a bag of rambutans. A rambutan is a hairy-looking fruit that hides an over-sized grape-like center that tastes a little like a pear. We love the produce bargains at the pulga! That was fun!
We also checked out the prepared food options, buying things like the "elota en vasa" and "espiral papas fritas." Most of the vendors speak only Spanish, so there's a lot of pointing and charades going on to place orders. The picture below is of our espiral papas fritas--also known as a tornado potato. That was fun!
One thing on Claire's bucket list was picking a piece of fruit directly from a citrus tree. The fruit harvest looks a little slim this year, with the fewest oranges we have seen on our trees. Most of this fruit won't ripen for another month or so, and the oranges on Denisa's mother's trees are still green. But we managed to find some orange oranges so Claire could pick her own fruit. That was fun!
We spent another evening boiling up the fresh shrimp that we purchased on our trip to Padre Island. It was yummy! We topped it off with a three-generation card game at Denisa's Mother's house. That was fun!
So we packed quite a bit of fun into a three day visit. We think that our son and daughter-in-law enjoyed hanging out with the senior citizens. So we guess that we can say that a couple of twenty-somethings can have a good time at a 55+ resort with the correct supervision from a couple parents that seem to always have fun. We love you and thank you for spending your precious vacation time to come see us!
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