Misfits

"You're not in the RGV are you?" a friend questioned in a recent email. "I wouldn't be caught dead there."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Until I read this in an RV forum recently: "Florida is the place for 'nearly deads' and newlyweds. And, the Rio Grande Valley is a lot like Florida. Except, nobody honeymoons in the RGV."

Ain't that the truth?

Of course, we really have nothing to complain about. It's early March. And, we're warm, dry and not working. It can't be that bad.

So, bring out your little violins. Pour a glass. I'm gonna whine.

We don't belong here.

We had friends close by for the first week or so. Now, we're pretty much on our own. Remember that holiday favorite TV special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"? We're feeling like we're hanging out on the Island of Misfit Toys. Why so?

First of all, the weather ain't really all that great. Of course, this winter has been one for the record books. And, the RGV has not been spared. We've had rain since we've been here, and just a day or two when the temps have soared above 70. And, have we mentioned the wind?

Second, we're not snowbirds. At the risk of making a sweeping generalization, here's the deal. Most of these people come from somewhere north to avoid cold, freezing weather. For them, the RGV fits the bill. Yes, it is warmer here than Minnesota and Ontario! They come down here and "camp" for three or four months. They have their friends and don't need any more, thank you. Besides, we're fulltimers. And, they just can't get their arms around that concept. In their avoid-cold-at-all-costs eyes, we are aliens, plain and simple.

Third, we must confess we were warned about this. The RGV is lacking any, and we mean ANY, geographic beauty. We drove nearly 200 miles round trip today to see a beach. It was a treat.

Fourth, there are something like 500 RV parks here in the RGV. I'm gonna go way out on a limb and say that something like 498 of them are on the dumpy side. We've seen the two that are nice and spacious. And, you pay a pretty penny to hang out at those. For a lot less you can call a very little, dusty, gravely, windy slice of Texas your own. Getting your RV in and out of it safely will all be part of the adventure.

Fifth, we're not really 55!

Sixth, as such, we don't play shuffleboard, bingo, hand and foot or euchre. What the heck is a euchre, any way?

Seventh, we don't eat dinner before 5:00!

Eighth, we do eat dinner around 8:00!

Ninth, because we haven't mentioned it in awhile, it's windy here.

Tenth, we're the only people around here who are here for the first time ever. And, something tells me we might be the only people who aren't planning to come back any time soon.

Yep, it'll be awhile before we're back in these parts. But, despite our misfit situation, we're determined to make the most of our time here. After all, we have a rig to wash, taxes to do, books to read, travels to plan, exercise to do and quilts to work on. Here we'll do our best to catch up.

But, before I go, I'll break with tradition and post a picture. THIS is Reason #382 why we don't think we belong in the RGV.

Yep, this guy lives across the way from us. And, this was the view out our Imax window while we enjoyed our morning coffee earlier today. Nobody should have to look at that everyday. Nobody!

With this as our scenic view, we're praying for clouds, cool temperatures and - better yet - rain here in the land of barely-clothed nearly deads.