Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (DAY 27) This was a "free" day in as much as neither of us scheduled any activities. We decided to travel to Mission, TX, and visit the World Birding Center at the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. We hiked most of the roads and trails, a little over 4+ miles, and saw some very colorful birds, a raccoon, and several javelina, or collared peccary (see photos). Included in the bird species were green jays, chachalacas (about the size of a small pheasant), ladder-backed woodpeckers, mourning and white-winged doves, Harris hawk, cardinals, and Altamira orioles (much larger than the Baltimore oriole). We took several photos, but photography does not do the colors justice. Interestingly, the birding center is only about 0.2 mile from the US-Mexico border (see photo of boundary marker), and there is constant US Border Patrol traffic on the interior "no autos" roads, and it is somewhat a disturbance to the birds. Nevertheless, there were a couple of blinds, and they proved invaluable in watching different birds feed. After the long hike, we tried to make the senior lunch special at Golden Corral, but missed it by about 2 minutes. Here’s the thing about the senior lunch special, i.e. buffet. The senior lunch special is about $2.50 less than the regular buffet, and extends to 4:00 PM. Many of the RGV seniors, and Mexicans, try to arrive at Golden Corral about 3:45 PM as the steaks and shrimp begin showing up in the buffet line at 4:00 PM. That way, they get the full buffet at senior prices. You got to watch these seniors! Unfortunately, we got behind some folks who culturally don’t move too fast, nor did the young lady at the cash register, and we had to pay the full amount. Our friend, John, will have to let Ted, the Golden Corral CEO, in on this little tidbit of senior trickery. We watched television the rest of the evening. We’re sure going to miss HDTV.