Recycling Aluminum Cans

Some large percentage—maybe 50%?— of aluminum cans emptied at Rockport 35 RV Park are "wasted" by being thrown out with the garbage.

They can be recycled!

There's a wastebasket just to the right of the entry to the clubhouse pool room marked "Cans" or "Aluminum" or something like that. Just put your aluminum cans in there and they will be recycled!

Soda pop cans, beer cans, juice cans are all eligible, provided they're made of aluminum, of course.

The park recycles hundreds of dollars worth of aluminum cans each year, and it could be even more. This recycling helps the environment and provides much appreciated funds for those who collect the cans and do the work of recycling them.

I'd also like to think that it helps keep our winter stay at the park a bit more affordable.

Suggestion: The next time you have empty cans, get just a bit more exercise and take them to the receptacle by the club house!

Got Snow?

Here's what we woke up to this morning! Actually, it's beautiful if you're in the right frame of mind.

Cedar Rapids was on the very south edge of this batch of snow. Places further north, like Garner, for example, got much more.

Snowfall for Cedar Rapids this year is close to 60 inches. Just another couple of inches and it will be an all-time record. We don't need a new record in this department!

Those of you still at Rockport 35 RV park can be glad in the Iowa beauty—and be glad that there is/was no snow at the park this year.

Here's the Reason.........

........that we spend the season
with the friendly folks
at
Rockport 35 RV Park!

After a great send-off Monday morning by the Third Street residents, we arrived home about 2PM Wednesday afternoon. Two and a half days is a new record for us, made possible by spending a 12-hour day going from 35 RV to DeQueen, Arkansas, that first day.

The picture shows 100% of the snow remaining in our yard. I'm sure that it was intended to be a reminder to Pat that she did "miss out" on something! (That "something" turns out to be 58" of snow, only two inches short of being the all-time record for snowfall here in Cedar Rapids.)

Because this is my favorite place to stay, I thought I'd mention it in the article. This is at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campground at DeQueen Lake, Arkansas. If you look carefully, you'll see that this is a two-level site. The "sitting room" and grilling areas are located on the lower level to the rear of the trailer. You can just barely see the steps to the left of the trailer.

Not bad: a bi-level site, with water and electricity, for $7.50/night, courtesy of the Golden Age Passport. (If you don't know what I'm talking about or want more information, read this: 62 or Older? Enjoy the Best Bargain in the USA!)

What Happens Now?

Chances are good that by the time you read this, we will no longer be on Space 80 at Rockport 35 RV park. The plan is that we hit the road by 8 AM Monday morning.

Your news can be posted two ways:

* Send it to me in an email and I'll turn it into and article and post it. Include pictures if you wish. Click here to email me: kaw@syntheticsaves.com

* Immediately below each article there is the word "Comments." Click on that word and it will open a page which allows you to write comments. Your comments will not be immediately published, as I will review them before posting. (That is done to eliminate posts which none of us want to see.)

Your RV 35 friends would like to know what is going on in your life, so please do one of the above so your news can be posted!

Enjoying a Perfect Spring Morning

Reading a good book, watching and listening to the birds build a nest in the palm tree at the edge of their lot, and having a cup of coffee: life is good! That's Rick and Dianne, son of Dick and Lucille, enjoying the morning to the fullest


And just across the street, Tony has found another way to enjoy the morning: wax the end-cap of his trailer. We all have learned that it's much easier to keep a waxed cap clean.

Lucille Update #1

Lucille is getting along with no undue complications, which is to say no setbacks such as major infections or things like that. But she still has a long, long, way to come for full recovery.

This morning, Dick reported that in a few days she may move to a convalescent home for a short period, then back to the hospital for grafting of skin. Unlike some people, Lucille's skin is not thick and therefore does not suture well, probably necessitating skin grafts. When that is completed, she'll head back to a convalescent home for the grafts to heal, probably a few weeks.

Then it will be back to the hospital for Lucille for more surgery. This time, they will attach hardware supports ("pins" if you will) to the bones for structural stability.

Because of this back-and-forth movement, Dick suggests that your well-wishes be mailed to her here at Rockport 35 RV Park. I've changed the address in the original post and will give it again here:

Lucille Carlson
Site 40
4851 N. Highway 35
Rockport, TX 78382

Son Rick and Dianne will be leaving this coming week to head back to Michigan so Dick will be left alone. Please remember this family in your thoughts and prayers.

Friends Headed to Northern Nesting Grounds

Each day several rigs leave to begin the trip back North. A few come in, possibly on their way home from "the valley" or just out visiting enjoyable spots in Texas.

In fact, just yesterday I talked with a family from Clinton, Iowa, who were just cruising Rockport 35 RV Park looking for a place to spend a week or so on their journey back home. They termed it, "A beautiful park!"

Tony and his crew do their best to make sure it stays beautiful, and when we get perfect weather like the last several days it does indeed look great.

An the people are always great, rain or shine!

In the photo above, Mary and Norm are headed back to Coldwater, Kansas, after their sixth year at this park. Great folks just keep coming back again and again!

Machine Shed, Phase One, Completed

Construction Superintendent Gene is headed back to the new building, level in hand, to make sure all is plumb. After two and a half days, the structure was up!

Ends will be added, as will a storage area extending beyond the west end. These are Phases Two and Three, with the schedule determined by Tony.

35 RV Ladies Travel to Greune

Yesterday a nearly-full bus left Rockport 35 RV Park with ladies of the park for an outing to the town of Greune, next door to and part of New Braunfels. Some went for the social time, others to hit the numerous antique shops, some for the great lunch at the Grist Mill.
And then there were these two power shoppers—just check out the size of those bags! The Park Patrol ladies, Jeanie and Linda, took a day off their duties to join the crowd and have fun.

Tour Guide Allison did a great job of arranging the trip, entertaining the travelers, and making sure they were "well snacked." Rumor has it that the ladies were even provided chocolate!







The ladies lined up shortly after the crack of dawn (07:45).



Here can see that three hardy fisherman husbands were there to make certain their spouses actually got on the bus and left. Makes one wonder what they planned to do that day, doesn't it!

Lucille's Really Bad Trip

There's a lot more to this story but I won't take time to relate it now. So here's the short, short, version.

Last week, Lucille fell from the steps of her trailer to the concrete patio. One bone was broken in each leg, near the ankle. She has had at least two surgeries and there is at least one to go. One reason for spreading them out has to do with minimizing the chance of infection, or stopping it in its tracks if it does begin.

If you'd like to contact her, the address is:

Lucille Carlson
Site 40
4851 N. Highway 35
Rockport, TX 78382

With such conditions, about all that can be said for recover at this point is that it will be long. Fortunately, son Rick and Dianne are here at the park to provide support to Dick.

As more becomes clear in the process to recovery, I'll post it here when I become aware of it.

More Kenney Family Pictures

The Kenney Family of McGraw, NY, have been at the park for a few days. These pictures were taken during the performance of their Family Variety Program following last Thursday's Friendship Dinner.

Above is Carmen, 13, Denver, 9, and Carrie. Below is Jim and Reilly, 6. Jim and Carrie home-school the children, so they are somewhat concerned by the recent ruling in California that all home school teachers must have teaching credentials. While it is a concern, it is not a show-stopper: Jim has a teaching degree!


They were in Florida before they came to Rockport 35RV Park. While there, one of the guests at their performance took them to Tyndal AFB and showed them the F-22 Raptor. Now Denver wants to be a pilot!

And so does Carmen. She even composed a song about flying—but that was before the visit to the AFB. Tomorrow they will move on to share their music and Christian testimony with others. We have benefited from their short stay with us.

Their website is here: http://jcmusicministries.com

How can email them if you wish: mail@jcministries.com

Construction Zone

Tony's building began taking shape today! Site Supervisor Gene, bolstered by his old sidekick Kevin from back home in Iowa, rounded up a good-sized handful of experienced and inexperienced constructors and got the show on the road today.

Here's a "before" picture. Five of these steel section bolt together to form one "ring." Then each ring is raised and bolted to those already in place.

It takes lots of bolts. And today we used all we had!

Here's the "after" picture: Six rings up, 14 to go.

Last week, the guys poured the footings and floor, so it already has a concrete floor. Tony's gonna love it!

Saturday Breakfast

One of the real treats enjoyed by residents of Rockport 35RV Park is the Saturday breakfast, served by a seasoned group of volunteers for 3$/person. Here are a few pictures of this morning's crew. The bad news is that Bill, a Saturday morning regular, mayor of fifth Street, and all-around darling of the park, has already departed for the snowbanks of St. Paul.


Here's Waiter Marv, always there when the coffee cup gets just a tad low. This is a reliable crew and Marv is always part of it! Here Marv is making sure that Willie and Betty's cups are full.

And here's Tom from Illinoi (no "s", please!), a relative newcomer to the crew. Reports are that with a another year or two of mentoring by Bill, he'll be OK.

Below's another newcomer, Larry. It's great to see new blood work into the kitchen!

And Terry's here, too, of course. There's probably not a job on the park that Terry hasn't done! Of course when you arise at four or so in the morning, you have lot's of time to find things to do and to do them! Terry's our resident poet and favors us with memorized poems at special occasions. And they're not short poems! Poetry is Terry's ministry; he enjoys it and does it well.

This little paragraph on the Saturday breakfasts can be considered my Thank You to all the guys who help make it a great breakfast and a wonderful social hour.

Thanks, Guys!

The Kenney Family

Guest artists at last evening's Friendship Dinner here at Rockport 35 RV Park were The Kenney Family of New York.


There'll be more pictures and words later, but here are the most important ones:

The Kenney Family will share their message with us Sunday morning at Come-As-You-Are Worship Center right here on the park.

Don't miss 'em!

Friendship Dinners

One of the "treats" here at rockport 35 RV Park is the Thursday night Friendship Dinner. The food is always great and the visiting with long-time friends and meeting new friends is even better.

Each week, residents of a specific street serve as hosts. This week, Third Street did the honors. A good portion of the Third Street crew is shown below.


There are many more pictures taken last night but I'm sorry to say that they are not of good quality.

So even though we do not have a picture, we still enjoyed another poem by Terry! He favors us with a memorized poem frequently. This one may have been the last one for this season.

Lans also favored us with a song before dinner. Lans has a great voice and plays the guitar uniquely. And over 50 years ago, he flew PBYs off the airport next door! Bet no one else on the park has that long an association with the area!

Ted Found His Book

Some of you may have been aware that Ted was writing a book, on his computer of course. But he lost the book—that is, it disappeared from his jump drive.

He asked me for suggestions; he'd already done everything I could suggest. Then he looked everywhere again.

Down the drain went the better part of 187 pages!

But there's good news, as reported in an email from Ted today:

Our trip home went very well ... missed the storms ... but it is cold here in Springfield, MO.

Thought you might be interested .... I found my missing book. When I plugged the flash drives I use for internet/email and other special things, into the desk top here at home, it was in a temp file on the flash drive. Go figure. I now have back ups on two CD's and a flash drive, and a copy on my C drive as my working copy.

I'm glad for Ted and Katy, too, that the lost has been found. The lesson here: Back up your important data and information! You can never tell when or how it will leave you.

Visit Iowa ----Virtually

Here's a 7-minute video shot at 64 locations in Iowa. The concept is rather cute, I hope you agree.

The maker did a great job of selecting appropriate icons for each location. Even if you're not from Iowa, you'll probably recognize some of the sights—the house in the painting of American Gothic, for example.



I've been to several of these locations, probably because Eastern Iowa is more heavily represented than other parts of the state.

If you're curious about any of these places, ask an Iowan! There are several of us around the park!

Another Wine Party

If you didn't join in the first one, you have an opportunity to enjoy the fellowship of your friends and neighbors at another wine party! It'll be Monday, March 10, at 4:30 in the clubhouse.

Bring a bottle of wine, alcoholic or not—your choice—properly disguised in a sock or other wrapping and some munchies to share and join the fun! Cheese and crackers, fruit, sausage, etc., go well!

If you have questions, ask Bev (that would be Rip's Bev).

Kathy's Trip to WWII Sites

After the friendship dinner last evening, Kathy gave an illustrated presentation on her trip to her father's grave in the Philippines.

Kathy's father was injured in the horrible combat in the Pacific and died on the day Kathy was born. Her father had been somewhat of a mystery to her until a few years ago when husband Bob helped her locate her dad's family here in Texas.

From that, her information and ties to her father's side of the family grew. And finally, a dream came true: she was able to visit the grave of her father last Memorial Day in the national cemetery in the Philippines.

Kathy had some great photographs to illustrate her trip, printed by Bob.

This is just one more example of great people with interesting experiences to share here at Rockport 35 RV Park.

Texas Hold 'Em Comes to Rockport 35 RV Park

Like to play poker, Texas Hold 'Em style? The first game of which I'm aware was held last night after the dinner and presentation. The big winner: Fran.

The next game will be Saturday, March 8, at 6:30 PM. There's always room for more, so please come join in the fun. Players of all levels, including beginners, are welcome. The more the merrier!

At the first game, we played limit poker. The next game will be no limit to enliven the evening!

Questions? Ask Fran, Russ, Keith, or their spouse.

A Great Chinese Buffet!

Pat and I were in Corpus Christi at lunch time and chose Jin's China Buffet today.

Any food which someone else cooks is good to me, so I'm not considered a food expert. Because of that, I'll not comment further on the food, other than to say that Pat and I both thought that it was good.

But I will say something about the restaurant. First, there is a wide variety of foods on the buffet, mostly Chinese, of course. But to appeal to the local palate, there were BBQ ribs and tamales!

Second, this is a very attractive and very clean restaurant! You'd have to look hard to find one which was cleaner.

This restaurant is located just east of Staples and north of SPID—across the street to the east of JC Penney. A senior lunch is about $5.75, plus optional drinks at $1.49.

If you like Chinese food or a lavish buffet or maybe something a little different, give this one a try.

Great Space Pictures!

Julee sent me a link to a website which has some great pictures of space walks, the shuttle, and a hurricane.

You helped pay for the pictures, so you might as well enjoy them!

Click here: http://www.texasjim.com/NASApix/NASA%20pix.htm