January 19, 2017. Settle down in Texas?

CAMPGROUND:  Retama Village.  We are staying free here for 3 nights as a "perk" for looking at a possible lot to buy.  Also available for RVers to rent out on a monthly basis.  Full everything, including access to beautiful club house.

LOCATION:  Mission, Texas, in very south central trip of state

WEATHER:  Sunny.  As we drove farther south, the temps went up to 80

 

We left Carissa Springs and drove through lots of oil fields, most sitting idle.  Everything looked pretty poor, except for an occasional obscenely huge and ugly mansion.    

We stopped in Zapata for lunch.  We pulled into this local restaurant, mainly because it advertised truck parking. It was full of local workers.  Huge portions for cheap.  We split the lunch green enchilada special.  First came a huge bowl of chips and salsa, then a strange soup with spaghetti noodles in it, then the main dish.  We felt sick as we ate too much......all for $8 total!  That didn't seem to stop others who were eating huge portions of their famous chicken fried steak with heaping piles of side dishes.  

 

We drove about 5 hours to Mission.  The valley around Mission is a popular winter area for snowbirds.  

I had been researching locations that sell RV homes (small homes that have huge RV garages), and found Retama Village in Mission.  When I sent an email asking for information, they invited us to stop by for 3 free nights to check it out.  So here we are!    

It is a beautiful "resort".  There are several sections.  We will learn more tomorrow when we listen to the sales presentation and get a tour.  Our sales rep settled us on one of their RV lots.  Each lot is very big with a concrete driveway.  Each lot has a "coach house".  Some are basic, just used for storage, and others are set up as guest houses, with full bathrooms and small kitchens.  

The coach house where we are staying is still a shell.  We can store stuff in it while we are here.  Everything is neat and upscale.

We aren't sure if this is what we want or not, although it is inexpensive and very nicely done.  We are anxious to hear more about it tomorrow, and to talk with some of the owners to see how they like it.  

 

DINNER:  We didn't feel like driving to the grocery store, so I used items from my back-up box.  I made an orzo dish with tuna, leftover smoked salmon, and peas, all in a cream sauce.  I made extra to take to the pot-luck pool party tomorrow night.