The Merry Marsden Travels

Getting close to the end of this winter lifestyle in Texas. We have said goodbye to many of our neighbours this week as they head back up north. We have set our takeoff date for April 10 and will slowly make it over to see Tom and Diana in Virginia Beach by the 14 and proceed to Ontario on the 17th. So what have we done lately other than golf, swim, bike, eat and play games? On Saturday, March 26th, another neighbour Barb and I went to the Texas Women's Expo at the McAllen Convention Centre. It was the first time an event like this was held in the Rio Grande Valley and it seemed to be well attended by the ladies of the valley. It was the first event I had been to that I saw more local Hispanic people than Winter Texans. We enjoyed visiting the exhibitor booths and listening to speakers on Yoga, Feng Shui decorating, heart health and even a little fashion show. There was a salon doing haircuts, manicures, eyebrow waxing etc but the line-ups for that were long. On March 30 we enjoyed...

Well just a few days later again. Since arriving in Casa Grande todate, we have: 1) learned how to care for dotty - Tom and Lynn's dog - chihuahua and jack russell terrier mix - 1 1/2 years old, their 3 cats - who don't like the dog, 2 geckos, indoor and outdoor fish. We are staying in Tom and Lynn's house while they went from Thursday to Tuesday to Wisconsin to celebrate Lynn's mother's 90th birthday. 2) We visited exhibits of the Gem and Mineral Show in Tuscon 2 X - an amazing show with tents all over Tuscon for 2 weeks in February. 3) Spent 3 h ours at the Desert Museum in Museum - great place - not to be missed if you are in the area. 4) Picked up Barbara Bellchambers (from Lakefield) at Phoenix Airport when she arrived from Buffalo on Tuesday - just got out before the snowstorm hit - Chicago was closed for 2 days and a severe cold front claimed the USA - we had 3 nights below freezing in Casa Grande and Don had freezing rain in southern Texas. Sally, Russell an...

It has been a disappointing rainy cool week in Texas but we manage to do what we can - no swimming or golf for a few days - but no snow either so we can't complain. We did go on a outing on Thursday night to Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen (across from the McAllen International Airport). It is one of the largest remaining adobe homes built in Texas and dates back to 1935. There is a cottage and hooch (3, 325 sq ft)and a main house( 6,739 sq ft)( all constructed of 12 inch adobe block). An unusual feature of the house was the aluminum sulfate paint on the inside and out to prevent radar waves from penetrating the building. There was 25 x 55 ft adobe block bathing pool. When constructed, the pool was all one depth, that being 12 feet. It was known as a draw and fill pool, as it had no filtration system. It had to be drained and refilled whenever the water became dirty. It was filled from a freshwater well located at the back of the cottage. The owner would attach a six-inch pipe at an air...