Wrangler - November 2012

 Nov 2012

Vol. 1, Edition 6

We arrived back here at the Ranch late Friday evening, October 26 to find preparations well underway for another big Halloween celebration. 

Costume Contest Participants

Golf Scramble Participants

Winter Ranch won the beanbag baseball competition again with the talented team pictured below.

 

As usual, a delicious lunch was prepared by Donna Lewis and served by her loyal band of volunteers.

If you were here and didn't participate, you missed a great day!

1^st place in golf cart parade

BUS TRIPS Out of the three Wilder buses, only ours is running at this moment. Big bucks are required to get the other two on the road, so we don't know for sure what's going to be happening. A trip to the symphony was planned and completed on Tuesday, Nov. 13, and a Border Patrol trip went out on the 15^th. JD and Lynn continue to plan trips, so we will just proceed day by day. Keep your eyes on the board. New trips will be posted before the meeting on Wednesdays. Again, you may only sign up your spouse and yourself. The next trip is on Nov 29^th and is to Wink's Saloon and calf-roping. Then on Dec. 2 will be the Holiday Boat Parade on South Padre Island. Both great fun.

PARK YARD SALES Some changes have occurred since last season. We will have one large open to the public sale on February 16^th from 8 AM to noon. There will be an in-park sale on December 4^th from 8 to noon, and another on January 8^th from 8 to noon. More details will be forthcoming.

ALAMO PRAYER BREAKFAST will be on Tuesday, November 20^th at 7 A.M., in the big hall. This

annual event is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and Cathy would like to see a bigger turnout. Breakfast is free to all who attend.

NEW YEAR'S EVE tickets are being sold. See JD if you want to reserve a table for yourself and your friends. Jealous Heart will be playing. Tickets are $10 per person.

BOOT CAMP FOR ACTIVITY DIRECTORS

Kristi and the “Welcome Home RGV” group hosted several days of activities for park activity directors. Since JD and Lynn were busy last Friday with the Veteran's Day brunch they sent Jack and me in their place. We registered on Friday at Louie's Backyard; followed by a tour of the South Padre

Island Birding and Nature Center. This was very interesting and I think people will enjoy a bus trip to this and the Turtle Sanctuary, as well. 

 

After lunch we embarked on a Brownsville Channel trip that combined dolphin watching and an Eco-lesson for us. Also, free beer, soda and snacks! Who could ask for anything more? After the cruise we all returned to Louie's Backyard, where we were treated to a seafood buffet and entertainment by Leslie. She is a great singer and personality and the crowd loved her. I'm hoping JD & Lynn can persuade her to come to a happy hour so you all can meet her. 

Free beer came in pitchers and flowed freely!

And believe it or not – Dolphins

The lovely and entertaining Leslie.

Part of our “catch”, a starfish and some other slimy thing.

The next morning we met on Port Isabel for registration. Then we split into three groups and toured the three museums that are in Lighthouse Square. After another great lunch at Pirates Landing, we had our choice of the Pirate ship or the Thriller Speed boat. Since Jack has done the Pirate ship about five times, and I've done it once, we chose the speed boat ride. Just a reminder, however, that the Pirate ship entertainment changes throughout the season, so now I wish we had gone on that. The speed boat ride was very fast and very WET. Oh, before I forget, the three museums involved a lot of walking, which is a challenge for some of us. Keep that in mind if this is offered as a bus trip. There are plenty of places to sit and rest, though, so that helps.

Before the boat ride we were entertained by one of the Pirates. He was excellent and very funny. He did some dangerous tricks with fire, and warned a child in the audience never to play with fire.

 He lights these torches and extinguishes them with his hands. In this one, he lights his tongue on fire!

Then he puts the lighting fluid in his mouth and blows it out as he lights it. I am proud of this picture!

 This is the Thriller Speed Boat. You had a choice of seats – wet, wetter and wettest! If you have grandchildren visiting this winter, they would enjoy this, probably. At least boys would. The boat seats about 40, I think. Here we are waiting for the old swinging bridge to let us through. I think it's about 1500 HP, so it does go extremely fast. We saw dolphins on this trip too. Hang on to your hats, glasses and hearing aids!

After this ride, we hauled our wet and tired bodies into the Saturn and headed home. It was tons of fun, but we were pooped. We slept for three days! We met some neat people and learned a few things – one, that it doesn't matter much what park you are in – the problems are pretty much the same. We are happy to be here at Winter Ranch because this is where our friends are.

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING AND GIRD YOUR LOINS – THE SEASON IS ABOUT TO BEGIN.

Donna Hulsey, Editor