Our New Digs in Mission, Texas

On the 22nd of September we closed on our new "Winter Home" in Mission, Texas.  It is a "Port Home" in Retama Village in the Bentsen Palms Development.  Retama Village is a 55 and over subdivision.  It has 4 different types of "homes."  The most simple is called a Coach House.  It is a 16'x24' one "room" unfinished building with double french doors (usually).  They look like this:

The large concrete pad is for the owner's RV.  So, you live in your RV next to a one room building in which you have finished out to include (usually) a living area: TV, couch, small fridge and small sink.  Some of them even have a corner toilet and sink. 

Another type of offering they have is a "One Bedroom Casita (Spanish for "small house")."  They look like this:

They also build one style of home (and only one NOT for RV Owners).  There are a couple of different models but they all look like standard homes with garages instead of a place to park your RV.  Here's an example:

Ours is a "Port Home."  It has 2 bedrooms and a "RV Port."  We had 4 days - from the 22nd-25th to get "moved in" (for the most part.  They delivered the U-Pack truck that we had packed in Lafayette, IN in early May of this year.  The next day 4 of the guys from Esperanza Homes (the Retama Village Home building company) came by after work and helped us unload the truck.  They were handsome and handsomely paid for their help.

Here's some pics of the box-laden house:

A picture across a box-strewn living room toward the kitchen.

This is the front or "guest" box room right now.

This is a picture of the computer alcove before we started unpacking boxes.

Slowly, over the next 2 days Irene chipped away at the boxes and a "home" started to take shape:

The kitchen all cleaned up and pretty.

The master bathroom shower is beautiful.

This is one of our display cabinets with our Romanian Porcelain in it.

As Irene worked inside the house, I was outside in the storage shed designing; building and installing shelving.  We have a 5 1/2 feet wide 16 feet long 2-story storage shed.  I've put 8 feet long; 2 feet deep floor to ceiling shelves on one side.  They are made for heavyweight use.  They are 2"x4" support structure with 3/4" AC grade plywood for the 4 shelves.  On the other side I put in shelves 1 foot deep and 8 feet long.  These are made with a 2"x2" support structure and the same 3/4" AC grade plywood for shelving.

In between the 2 sets of shelves there is a set of pull-down attic stairs.  I've got my eyes on the upstairs for an N-scale train layout.