Another Sunday has rolled around, and we got up a bit early to get to church.  I grabbed a few minutes to work on the blog (yes, it’s a seemingly never ending chore, but one I really like) and Kay snapped this photo, after which we made it to the 9:00 AM church service.  Today’s message focused on being able to “see”, much as the song, “I Saw The Light” talks about.  We really like the minister, though the church is struggling financially.  We feel sure the Winter Texans help a lot with their donations, but it still isn’t enough to keep the budget flush; the church takes in only about 65% of what is needed.

Upon returning to the RV park, we walked, had a large breakfast, and I washed the car.  The mud from all the rain seems to have seeped in all the nooks and crannies, and it is impossible to keep either outside or inside clean.  Fortunately, the park allows us to wash our cars often!

Today was Arts in the Park, and many RV park residents showed their projects.  The resort has a terrific woodworking shop, with lots of wood turners and wood carvers.  They also have classes in wood burning, painting, and Swedish weaving.  There are several radio control (RC) airplane enthusiasts down here, and a few had their RC planes on display as well.

Despite a bit of overcast skies, we did the spa and pool for an hour, and it sure helps the aches and pains of aging.  Both of us are having back pains/spasms, even though the humidity has dropped.

All in all, today was a great day.

Sunshine.  Yes, we awoke to sunshine this morning.  During our morning walk, it was amazing seeing the increased activity, and upswing in people’s moods, even though people down here are pretty happy all the time.  There was just something in the air.  Strong winds accompanied the sunshine today, with gusts of over 50 miles per hour.  One could not even set a partially full, canned diet drink down without a chance it would be blown over by these strong gusts.  However, we’re not complaining because the sun feels so good.

Kay took advantage of the great weather to drive east to Don Wes Flea Market and other shopping looking for a pair of shoes, and I hung around the motorhome working on the blog.  After lunch, the ladder ball tournament was held, and a lot of park residents participated.  Did we tell you that this is a very active RV park, with mostly RVs and a bit of a younger crowd?  Seems like there is always something going on.

Kay and I squeezed in an hour of spa and pool time, and had a great visit with fellow RVers from Alabama who are at the start of a 10-month trip, then met other neighbors at the palapa for social hour.  This afternoon we met a newly retired couple from upstate New York, both having been educators.  They volunteered with an organizations that supports an orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico, with children ranging in age from 2 years to 22 years.  In Mexico, children go to prison with their mother until age 6, so the orphanage does its best to rescue these kids from the prisons.  Many have been so unloved that they are almost catatonic, but relish the attention given by orphanage volunteers.  Reynosa is an industrial town, with many electronics factories like Nokia, but has residential areas that are no more than cardboard shacks with no electricity and no water.  Oh well, enough sad stories.

We also visited with a lady form Prince Edward Island, another from Newfoundland, and another from Nova Scotia, and picked their brains about best times to go, what to see, etc.  We’re considering a short trip, maybe 3 weeks, to the Canadian Maritime Provinces late this summer after another new grandbaby is born, Jenny and Brian’s first, but before all the birthdays start cycling in late September through mid-October (Kay, Karyn, Jenny, Kaden, and Ridge).

Tonight was playing card bingo, and Kay made it to the “stand up” stage once, but didn’t win.  I remained in the motorhome, and read.

It’s raining again today, but Kay said to heck with it and that we were going to Mexico.  We drove almost the same route as yesterday, but detoured past Pine to Palm RV Park where we stayed in January 2008, and again in January through mid-March 2009, then drove on to the border at Progresso.  We parked just north of the International Bridge, saw the border fence, paid our 2 bits ($0.25), and crossed into Mexico.  Because of drug cartel activities, the State Department has issued an advisory warning US citizens not to travel in Mexico, though we felt perfectly safe in Progresso.

Our first stop was at the Pharmacia to pick up meds.  We typically buy Z-packs, amoxicillin, doxycycline, and some penicillin cream at the Mexican Pharmacia to carry when we travel.  We left the bags of pharmaceuticals there and began a shopping spree that included purses (a lady grabbed the one Kay liked right before Kay could get it, so Kay was left empty handed), shoes (no luck here, either), a grizzly bear sow with two cubs carved out of iron wood, woven plastic bags (Kay bought two), a western hat (I sort of look like George Strait when I wear it), tortillas, and lunch at Arturo’s.  We just happened by an open-air tortilla “factory”, and the man saw the look of hunger on my face and brought a hot tortilla—Kay and I shared it, and my, oh my, it was the best one I have ever eaten.  We saw them for sale so Kay ordered one dollar’s worth.  We got a kilo of tortillas, probably about 50, and they were still war, all for $1.

Because of the rain, the roads and streets were quite muddy.  The street shown in the photograph had about 1/8 inch of mud on top.  Many of the secondary roads in both Mexico and South Texas are not paved, and because the area is typically very dry, dust settles upon everything; now it has turned into mud.

Back at the RV, Kay took off for the spa to soothe her back spasms, and said it helped a lot.  We joined folks in the palapa again for social hour; these are really enjoyable as we get to meet and know lots of people.

Our 7:00 PM Friday night show was Gordy and Debbie from Branson, Missouri.  They used performance tracks (CD based instruments, etc.) and sang country western tunes, and hit songs from the 50s through the 90s.  He had a good voice, and hers was average, but they put on a good show, though there was too much talking and not enough singing.

Rain is forecast for today, again.  So this means a trip to the Outlet Mall today—just my good fortune!  A trip to Mexico had been planned, but the weather is to iffy. 

Kay coveted a trip to the outlet mall, just east of Mercedes, Texas—about a 35 minute drive for us.  We arrived about 11:15 AM to find the mall a bit sparse.  We walked every section, and it seemed like  we peered into every store.  Kay found some great Merrill sandals, a rain jacket for Ridge, and a lamp for the motorhome.

Back at the RV, she capped and sliced the huge strawberries from yesterday.  Somehow, she is having spasms in her back, maybe from sitting in a folding chair in the damp weather too long.  consequently, we took advantage of the spa, which greatly relieved the pain.

We are becoming regular members of the 4:00 PM palapa social hour, and enjoyed visiting with several new folks from our “circle”.  It seems that today the US delegation outnumbered the Canadians, and there were 3 couples from the south:  Arkansas, Alabama, and Florida; we 3 couples were the only ones who did not talk funny.  We should note, though, that we really like our Canadian friends; this is the friendliest RV park in which we’ve ever stayed.

We can’t seem to win the battle of wanting more sunshine, yet it remains hard to complain after the severe drought folks in the Rio Grande Valley have suffered.  Out of 15 days, we’ve had rain about 10 of them, with more forecast for the next several days.  These fronts are setting up in Mexico and blowing through the southern Rio Grande Valley.

The fresh fruits and vegetables are awesome and the fresh strawberries make for a wonderful breakfast addition.  And, pineapple is one of my favorite fruits.  Last time we were down in the Valley, I ate so much pineapple that a rash developed!

With cloudy skies, and some light rain, we didn’t venture out except for an emergency run to Walmart; Kay is scheduled to sing at the talent show tonight and wanted a jewel case for the CD performance track, and a permanent marker to label the CD.  The strawberries looked too good to pass up—a sale for the huge dipping berries that didn’t sell for Valentine’s Day. Also, there were loads of gardening supplies as spring has sprung in the Rio Grande Valley.

The talent show proved to be a bust, and was more of a risqué comedy show with several skits and some really average to bad music by the jammers.  Gosh, we are appreciating Baxter County music more and more.  Fortunately, they “forgot”  to call Kay’s name to come and sing, but it was for the best as she was so much better than anyone else.  She has some great Anne Murray songs ready, though, for next time!

Just an ordinary day, for most men.  However, it’s real important for our sweeties.  Kay didn’t protest when I offered to serve here breakfast in bed.  And then, she surprised me with a Valentine’s Day card.  I had to confess that I had not yet found just the right card for her, but she would definitely get a card before the day was over.

As a matter of routine, we have been walking all the streets in the RV park each morning when weather allows.  It is about a mile and a half, and takes us about 30 minutes; we’re slow walkers and stop and visit with other RVers.  Despite overcast skies, this was going to be a great day, complete with warm temperatures.  Kay spent part of the morning downloading songs for the park’s talent show Wednesday night.

We drove to McAllen for lunch at Costa Messa, a Mexican restaurant billed as one serving authentic Mexican food.  Arriving at 12:30 PM, the place was packed and we easily may have been the only gringos in the establishment.  The restaurant was really nice, the food was great, and it wasn’t too expensive—all a formula for excellence—in fact it was the best Mexican food I have had in a long, long time.

Afterwards, I hightailed it to Walgreen’s for a card and some Dove dark chocolate pieces, Kay’s special request for Valentine’s Day.  Wouldn’t you know it, I was blessed to find just the right card.  On the way, we passed this truck with a bunch of Valentine’s Day stickers and notes.  We wondered if he put them there, or if a sweetie put them there unbeknownst to him.

We returned to the RV park for part of the jam session where neither the musicians nor vocalists were very good.  In fact some were pretty bad.  Guess we’re just used to the great talent in Baxter County.

At our park, a produce truck and trailer come every Tuesday afternoon, and Kay bought some zucchini, broccoli, radish, and pineapple.  We are really enjoying the fresh fruit down here, particularly strawberries and pineapple.

Kay adjourned to the hair stylist, while I headed to the pool and spa.  Oh, the advantages of not having much hair!  The sun peeked through just enough for a good sunbathing experience.

At about 4:00 PM each day, the neighbors in our circle gather at the palapa in the center of the circle for social time.  I went solo since Kay’s was still at the hairdresser; with so much hearing loss, it’s hard to partake in much conversation, but you at least get to listen a lot.  The neighbors are an eclectic group, with residents being from Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, New York, and Massachusetts, and of course Arkansas.  Most are retired, though some still work, most having their own businesses with good staff to run them in their absence.

We finished the night watching both NCIS, NCIS LA, and Body of Proof.

We awoke again to temperatures in the high 40s, overcast skies, and a bunch of humidity.  This isn’t the Texas we remember!

Coffee, email, and breakfast were followed by a “walk in the park”.  It takes about 30 minutes to walk all the way to the end and back, including the various circles in between.  With rain out of the forecast for the next few days, I wiped down the car with a microfiber cloth, and it looks a bit more respectable.

After lunch, the sun poked through the clouds, and we hurriedly dressed for the pool and spa, and found them to be void of other sun bathers.  The pool is heated, and felt cold until the sun totally escaped the clouds, but the hot tub was wonderful.  I should’ve taken a photo, but maybe tomorrow.

We joined neighbors from our “circle” at the palapa, a palm leaf covered area in the center of the circle, for some social time and conversation.  All of them were from Canada, but had traveled the US far more that most “Americans”, and even more than Kay and I had traveled.  Canadians really take advantage of their “holidays”, their term for vacations or trips.  We shared information about good campgrounds, and asked them many questions including major differences between Canada and the US.  Surprisingly, they commented that margarine in the US was not very good compared to Canadian margarine, and that US bread was too sweet; consequently, they bring their own margarine, and many make their own bread.  I’m convinced that our flour processors add sugar to create an addiction to their product.  There were also other differences, including processed meats.  Kay commented that we could not find Rotel tomatoes in Canada enroute to Alaska in 2009, and asked about Nabob decaffeinated coffee, a favorite of friends, John and Sandra.

There was not much to watch on television, so Kay downloaded some music tracks for the talent show Wednesday evening, and I completed editing photos and worked on the blog.

Our respite from the rain was short lived.  It began raining last night and has not stopped—and the car was pretty clean, too.

We are really enjoying the Mission First United Methodist Church.  The crowd for the 9:00 AM praise and worship service was somewhat sparse again this morning.  After the service, we visited the coffee bar and met a Winter Texan couple from Iowa; he had been a mechanical engineer for Maytag, and was a graduate of the University of Missouri, Rolla.  They had canoed both the North Fork of the White River and the Buffalo River, so we had much to talk about.

We met friends, Jim and Sheryl, who are Winter Texans from Republic, Missouri, for lunch, and then adjourned to our place to continue the visit.  We always enjoy their company, and share so many interests, particularly bluegrass and gospel music and RVing.  Because of the rain, we didn’t get to take them to Bentsen RGV State Park to see the birds, but hopefully we can visit with them a few more times before going back to Arkansas.

Yesterday’s day trip to Salineno, Texas, resulted in a bunch of new photos to download, sort, edit, and file; I spent the rest of the evening working on those while Kay read.

We’re supposed to get a break in the weather tomorrow, with sunshine forecast for most of the next 7 days.  We’ll see…

There was no rain yesterday or last night!

Someone at the Bentsen RGV State Park told us about sightings of a rare brown jay at Salineno, Texas, earlier in the week and we wanted to see it, too.

We drove northwestward on US Highway 83 from Mission, Texas, stopping at Chef McDonald’s for breakfast.  As we left Mission, there were fewer towns and the countryside was sparse, reminding us of the way the Rio Grande Valley looked in times past, and of the significant influence of Mexican culture.  There were no palm trees as these were not native to the area, and there were lots of cacti.  Even the names of places and things took on a Mexican feel as we paralleled the Rio Grande River.  We passed several cemeteries, with lots of colorful decorations, and noted Mexican architecture in most of the private and public buildings.  We drove through Roma, Texas, founded about 250 years ago, and Rio Grande City, founded about 150 years ago.  This was the real south Texas.

There were several international birding centers along the way, but our target was Salineno.  When we got there, it was as if we had driven right into a third world country.  The buildings and streets reminded me of rural cities in Bolivia in South America.  As we approached the Rio Grande River, we saw a gated opening in a fence-in area, with a sign saying, “BIRDERS WELCOME WALK ON IN”, and lots of cars parked along side the road.  We parked near the river, took a few pictures of the Rio Grande River and Mexico, then walked into the opening.  About 50 yards up the dirt road, we came to another opening and saw two 5th wheel RVs parked at 90 degrees to one another with two rows of chairs, with lots of people sitting and standing; we didn’t know what we’d gotten in to.  As we walked in, there were feeders everywhere and more orioles than I had ever seen.  I took many photographs of Altamira orioles, Audubon orioles, and Hooded orioles, golden-fronted woodpeckers, warblers, green jays, cardinals, and black-tufted titmouses.  The volunteer kept busy putting seeds and suet in the feeders, but was quite friendly and offered information on the various species of birds.  Several folks had come to see the brown jay, but it had not shown up today.  It was obvious that many were serious about birding—some as bird watchers and others as bird listers (those who keep a life list of bird species they have seen)—with some traveling thousands of miles and much of the year in pursuit of a “new” bird to add to their list.

Having heard much about Falcon Dam and Lake on network television recently in regards to the jet ski rider who was kidnapped and killed by the Mexican drug cartel about a year ago, we drove just a couple of miles northwest of Salineno to the dam and lake.  We begged the gate attendant to let us drive through Falcon State Park and took a few photos.

On our drive back “home”, we stopped at Los Ebanos, home of the last hand-drawn ferry in the US.  Again, this little town looked like it came right out of Mexico.  I could imagine cowboys chasing rustlers across the border and using the hand-drawn ferry to cross the Rio Grande River as part of the chase.  The Border Patrol is constructing a new modern border station here, and will forever change the culture and ambiance of the crossing—another piece of Americana lost forever.

Today’s road trip was a great one, and one we would recommend for all of our friends who visit the Rio Grande Valley.

NOTE:  More photographs of the trip can be found in our Picasa Web Album.  The link (address) is in the email letting you know about this update.

Dry surroundings greeted us this morning, despite overcast skies.

After coffee, email, and breakfast, Bentsen RGV State Park beckoned us with the possibility of seeing more unusual birds.  We picked up our pass at Guest Services, walked to the gift shop to get our park wristband passes, and stopped at the first feeding station to watch the birds, and quickly saw a golden-fronted woodpecker eating suet; these are pretty birds with both red and yellow spots, each the size of nickel, on their heads.  We also saw several green jays, greater kiskadees, and Altamira orioles.  We walked to the next one, but there were few birds, so we caught the shuttle to the blind where we saw fewer birds than the last time we were there. 

After a few photos, we caught the shuttle to the Hawk Tower, walked up the switch-backed ramp, but only saw an egret and a few ducks in an otherwise empty pool of water.

We caught the shuttle back to the first feeding station, also the entrance and exit to the park, and the volunteer advised that they would be feeding the birds in just a few minutes.  While waiting, we saw most of the birds suddenly fly off, and I spotted a Cooper’s Hawk setting on a lower limb.  The smallish hawk had a beautiful mottled, ginger-colored breast, and was obviously looking for a meal because the other birds avoided the place like the plague; the Cooper’s Hawk preys mainly on songbirds.  However, a lone ladder-backed woodpecker was eating suet, but stopped when it noticed the hawk as it looked upwards, and remained motionless for several minutes.  The volunteers at the park were amazed and had never seen anything like this occur in the park.  My friend, Wayne, and I had seen two hawks team up in a failed attempt to take a squirrel on our patio in January 2011, so knew how lethal they could be.  We were fortunate to see all this played out right in front of us.

We drew a large crowd who joined us in watching the stand-off.  When the volunteer finally brought bird seed, the hawk flew to an adjoining tree and the ladder-backed woodpecker escaped.

As we walked back to the Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort, we saw several bikers pedal past.  It never ceases to amaze me as bikers in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s pedal all over the place here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Back at the RV park, we walked past the Friday afternoon horseshoe tournament.  Today’s crowd was small compared to last week’s.

I washed the car since constant rain for 6 days had added a layer of dirt and road junk.

Kay bought tickets to the 4:00 PM show, Roland Garcia.  Roland Garcia and his band comprised a 5-member Mexican band that played Tex-Mex country western music, mostly from the 1960’s through the 1980’s.  The band featured a drummer, steel guitar, fiddle, guitar, and bass.  All of the members were in their 50s except for the steel guitar player who appeared to be in his late 60s or older; they were pretty good, and quite entertaining.  We wished the clubhouse had been bigger so we could have danced.  As an aside, Roland Garcia is a 5th generation American (US citizen).

NOTE:  The Mexicans down here pronounce Mexican as “Messican”, and Grande as “Grandie”.