The wind has abated, and the weather is spectacular, though a little bit chilly in the morning with temperatures in the low 50s.

The highlight of the day was a birding trip to Salaneno with Jerry and Karen Smith. Salome know is located on the Rio Grande River just south of Falcon Lake.  This is west and slightly north of us, about 45 miles. Last year, birding was spectacular as Salome know; bird feeding stations have been established in a clearing, and otherwise densely vegetated area, complete with chairs and places to stand with camera and tripod. However, new owners of the property became concerned about liability issues because the area is so close to the border, and closed it down. Now, feeding is done along the narrow path/trail near the Rio Grande River, on US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge property. It is much more difficult to photograph birds in the new location, and they are not as plentiful. We were, however, able to see both the Altamira and Audubon Orioles (the Audubon Oriole was too elusive to photograph), as well as a number of other species (Long-billed Thrasher, Olive Sparrow are shown in the photographs) we had seen previously at other locations. On our return to BPVRV Resort, we spotted a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on a power line adjacent to the highway, my first for the year. Birds of this species frequent Quarry Park just below Norfork Dam.

Tonight, we played our last bridge in the clubhouse for the season, but hopefully we’ll get in a game or two with Al and Sharon before we depart for home next week.

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We effectively begin our last week tomorrow, and are dragging our feet and making preparations to leave. This has been an incredibly great winter for us, but has gone by entirely too fast. We are immensely enjoying the weather, except for the wind; gusts of over 50 miles per hour occurred today. As a consequence, there was little outdoor activity, allowing us to slow down.  Jerry Smith dropped by late this afternoon and invited me to tag along with Karen and him to Salaneno for some birdwatching; specifically, we would target the Hooded Oriole, a bird I did not have on this year’s list, though the photo shows one we saw last year.

This being Monday, we did play Court Whist this evening. This is a game that I immensely enjoy, though. Kay much prefers bridge.

Another Sunday, another great sermon.  Pastor Duke preached the final sermon on his series on loving relationships.  We are going to miss this church and his sermons when we return home!

As is typical, we stopped for a breakfast sandwich at McDonald’s, and drove to Costco’s to see what new merchandise had arrived, and to pick up a few groceries, including a PFD for our young grandkids; we’re hoping for some lake time this summer.

Back at BPVRV Resort, we walked through the displays of crafts and art done this winter at the resort.  It is amazing the extent of talent that exists here, and it covers the full gambit. The second photo shows two retired mechanical engineers flying a simulator.  They built several of the radio controlled airplanes shown in the photo.  One asked me if I knew the difference between a mechanical engineer and a civil engineer (I’m a civil engineer).  When I replied in the negative, he said civil engineers build targets and mechanical engineers build weapons! The barrel racer cowgirl is a “puzzle” built from many intricate pieces of different kinds of wood.  There were many other crafters and artists just as good who did not display.

Lin, Tom, Karen, and Warren came by to finish their weekend in the RGV, and we all drove to the Riverside Club for music, dancing, and food; Al and Sharon Crawford from the resort joined us, and we had a ball on the banks of the Rio Grande River, though the music was not as good as it had been on previous visits.

By the time we were finished, Kay and I were wiped out; she watched the Academy Awards and I went to bed—early.

Today is our big BPVRV Resort BBQ and dance.  We had already left last year when the this event took place.

Our morning was kind of lazy, though Kay cleaned the RV while I regenerated the RV water softener.  The regeneration proved to be a debacle as I poured out the water softening media accidentally while trying to make room for the table salt, spending the next hour or so making amends and cleaning up the mess.

Kay walked over to the clubhouse grounds early to reserve a table in the shade, and we joined up with neighbors Al, Sharon, Wayne, Bessie, Chuck, and Sue (standing)  to enjoy the early afternoon activities.

Lin, Tom, Karen, and Warren arrived mid-afternoon, and after a brief visit, we all got BBQ brisket, baked beans, and potato salad, with all the trimmings.  The food was quite good. After allowing some time for digestion, we danced to the sounds of Roland Garcia, Jr. our favorite country western performer in the RGV.

After a full day, we said our goodbyes to Lin, Tom, Karen, and Warren shortly after 6:00 PM, and Kay and and I watched TV the rest of the evening.

After a quiet few days, yesterday began a whirlwind several days for us. Today we met Lin, Tom, Karen, and Warren for a trip to Progresso, Mexico. We enjoy going to Progresso, always buying a few things, including some meds, and having lunch. After a couple hours of shopping, we walked to Arturo’s for lunch, and had great Mexican food. As we were finishing our meal, Karen remarked that she had to dig out her passport; Kay and I looked at each other with dropped jaws, both realizing at the same time that we had forgotten our passports. After a short panic attack, we figured the worse case basis would be a severe lecture by customs agents, and a long wait while the others went to retrieve our passports.

We left the restaurant and picked up a few remaining items from the store across the street, and began the dreaded walk to the border. There are two lines for exiting Mexico to the US, one is a seemingly fast line outside and the other line is inside, both for those with passports. Assuming the worst, we got in the line for the inside check station, figuring we would be interrogated in an office.  The lines seemed to move faster than usual, and before we knew it we were at the guard station. Kay gave her drivers license to the agent and said, “We don’t have passports.” He exclaimed, “You don’t have passports!”  Realizing her faux pas, I quickly said we had passports but had forgotten them. He asked Kay for her birthday, punched in a few numbers and signaled for her to go on through. I gave him my drivers license and he again punched in some numbers and waved me through as well. I whispered to Kay to not say anything, and keep moving until we got into the public area. That may have been the fastest we’ve ever walked across the border. Anyway, all is well that ends well. We said our goodbyes, and drove to Costco for gasoline, while Lin, Tom, Karen, and Warren drove to their motel.

We arrived back at BPVRV Resort just in time for happy hour at which much discussion continued about the future of the resort.

Our Friday night entertainment was The Coins, Andy and Brenda.  While they traveled with country-western stars. Some time ago, they now split their time between Branson and the Rio Grande Valley. They were okay, but our poorest entertainers to date.

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s birding day. We convoyed the short distance to Anzalduas Park, about 7 miles from the resort. Anzalduas Park is ust upstream of an International Boundary Commission dam on the Rio Grande River. We ended with 55 species with the
best being great looks at the Peregrine Falcon, Wood Stork and Yellow-headed Parrot; the pair below were looking for a nesting site. 

Jerry and Karen Smith, our “bird club” leaders, announced that this was their last year at BPVRV Resort as they had bought a place in another resort in the RGV, but not too far away.  As full timers this will give them a place to store personal things during their spring, summer, and fall travels—a place to call home base.  We are very happy for them and though we will miss them in our resort, we look forward to spending many days afield in the future looking for birds.

The “big” Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort meeting began at 1:30 PM today, but the auditorium was full shortly after 1:00 PM.  Mike Rhodes, owner and CEO of the corporation that owns the resort opened the meeting, giving a brief bio and his vision for the Bentsen Palm development.  Richard Parker, whose management firm has been hired to manage operations, future development, and sales at Bentsen Palm properties provided an outline of their plans for the future.  Speculation among resort residents was that “super” sites, 31 in all, would be placed on the market for sale for about $25,000, with some shuffling of displaced renters.  Much to everyone’s surprise, ALL lots were listed for sale (except for some of the less desirable one which will be made available for marketing), with prices beginning at over $40,000, with some near $100,000 with attendant “condo” fees of just less than $200 per month.  Virtually everyone in attendance was in shock.  Needless to say, that was the topic of happy hour at the palapa, with much speculation about who would go, who would stay, etc.—certainly unsettling to say the least.  Kay and I will be formulating our plans for next winter in the coming days, after we look/inspect other RV parks in the area.

We returned dinner favors to Bessie and Wayne Nickerson from Nova Scotia who entertained us last week with fish cakes, beans, etc. Kay’s chicken enchiladas, refried beans, and Mexican rice were a real treat and quite tasty.  We have immensely enjoyed getting to know Bessie and Wayne this year, and look forward to next year with them even though they are moving to another resort up the road.  We, for sure, will take dancing lessons together.

Kay and I wrapped up the evening washing dishes, ending a very stressful day.

It’s Monday, and everyone remains on pins and needles, awaiting information to be presented in the big meeting on Thursday, February 21, concerning the future of Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort, and whether or not we will be able to even rent here next year, and if so, if we’ll still be able to remain at the same site. This has been the winter home for some of our Canadian friends for many years, and the uncertainty has caused significant discomfort.  Consequently, most BPVRV Resort residents were in bit of a depressed state, and there was not a lot of activity.  And, to make things worse, at least for us, the pool heater has been in a state of disrepair for over two weeks now, and at 70 degrees is a little cold for us.  We were able to play Court Whist tonight, and had a blast, though neither of us won.

Tuesday was much the same as Monday, and folks again were still kind of sluggish, awaiting word on the future of the park.  We played party bridge in the evening, and my streak of really bad hands continued, though Kay was the big winner, taking home all the money.

Again, Wednesday was just like Monday and Tuesday.  The pall hanging over the resort and its future is definitely noticeable—otherwise, not too much is going on.

Several photos of us have been posted to the resort’s Facebook page, all taken by Beverly, our resort photographer, and I am copying them below.  The first photo was taken at the Valentine’s Dance, the others at another dance in the resort.

We have “lived” here long enough now to have established a weekly and daily routine, including Sunday. On Sundays, We typically awake early enough to read e-mail and newspapers online, shower and dress for early church (in our case, we attend the 9:00 AM Praise and Worship service. After church, we grab breakfast, usually fast food, and drive to Costco for their 10:30 AM opening for gasoline and shopping. By the time we get back to BPVRV Resort, it’s close to 12 noon.  And then, we have the afternoon for bicycling, bird watching, butterflying, etc.

Today, BPVRV Resort celebrated its first Derby Days, complete with stick horses and beautiful hats for the ladies and Al Crawford, our good friend.

The races consisted of “riders” on stick horses lined up at the “starting” gate, a chalk line on the pavement.  And then, based on the roll of a large pair of dice, riders took a step toward the finish.  For example, a pair of really large dice were thrown and if the numbers “2” and “5” came up, riders “2” and “5” take one step toward the finish line.  This was continued until a rider crossed the line and won.  Of course, my favorite jockey was Kay, but she didn’t finish in the money.

Bets were made, and the betting line was quite long. We all had a great time and it appears that this will become an annual event as it proved to be very popular and well attended.

Afterwards, our neighbors in Circle 3 gathered at the palapa for happy hour.  Kay and I then retired to the coach for a much needed quiet evening.

I helped next door neighbor Lorna this morning set up Picasa on her computer for cataloging and editing photos, and for emailing them to family and friends.  Lorna is an excellent birder and amateur lepidopterist (butterflyer), and had been having problems emailing photos from Kodak Easyshare.  Regrettably, Kodak no long supports this software, so she opted for Picasa.

An email from Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort was sent out to resort residents this morning inviting us to a meeting on Thursday afternoon.  Preceded by an emailed survey, speculation is running high among resort residents as to what will be said at the meeting.  Some believe the park may be changed to accommodate more park models, others believe that lots may be sold, and others believe that residents will be given a chance to lock in a long-term commitment to reserve a site at a fixed price—only time will tell.  My view is that Kay and I have lots of choices, and after collecting all the information we want/need, we’ll decide what to do.  Frankly, I do not see any significant changes for next year, except for rate increases.  We’ll keep you posted, but fully anticipate having reservations for here again next year! 

Wayne and Bessie Nickerson from near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia invited us over for a traditional Nova Scotia “fish cakes and beans” dinner; Bessie has been cooking this scrumptious meal all her life and was fortunate to find salted cod down here in the RGV.  Our meal tonight consisted of fish cakes, beans, and salad, a meal I had several times during our September visit to the Maritime Provinces with John and Sandy Simank.  As a side note, many Canadians have beans for breakfast as a side dish to accompany eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, and even pancakes.

After our typical morning routine of coffee, email, and newspapers, walking through the resort, and breakfast, I accompanied Jerry and Kerry to view some Burrowing Owls. The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a tiny but long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America.  It is endangered in Canada, threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA.  It is a state threatened species in Colorado.

Our entertainment tonight was Wade Landry.  Born and raised in Abbeville, Louisiana, he has played fiddle for many great artists including Jimmy C. Newman, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Buck Trent, and Mel Tillis, and often plays with Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys.  His Branson show, Wade Benson Landry’s Swingin’ Cajun Style Show appears at the God and Country Theatre located at 1840 W. Hwy 76 in Branson, usually starting at 10:00 AM.  He is appearing in 20+ shows in the RGV this year, and is already scheduled for 30+ shows in the Valley next year.  He is an excellent fiddler and singer, and his wife is a terrific singer, sounding much like Connie Smith, Brenda Lee, and Patsy Cline, rolled into one.