Busy Week

We have had a fun filled, busy time this week.  That is going to be my excuse for not posting sooner.  These winter Texans sure stay active around here.  Gorgie and Pam have been going up to the clubhouse for the morning exercise classes and then going for a walk.  Harold and I have been walking at some of the bird watching areas. The other day we went to the Iwo Jima memorial, and Marine Corps Museum, that was inspiring.

There was an all day music festival on South Padre Island that we attended.

 

 

You probably didn’t know that Elvis is a winter Texan, did you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Or that Gomer Pyle also winters down here.

 

 

 

 

 

The entertainment was pretty good and lasted for seven hours, a lunch of fish and shrimp was included in our $15.00 admission.

 

 

  The venue for the music fest is a water park in the summer, with lots of pools and slides for the kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                 Harold and Pam dancing to the music.

 

 

 

 

South Padre Island is quickly becoming a favorite place to visit. If we come back here I think we will stay on the island for a while to soak in the “Island Life”.

 

 

 

  The gulf is beautiful. It was 74° that day.

 

 

 

We hosted a birthday party for Duane who is one of our new friends.

 

 

                                                                              Duane and Barb

 

 

 

 

We were still on the Island at sunset so we just had to stop and enjoy the view, the sunsets here are spectacular.

 

 

 

  The pelicans were happy to pose.

 

 

 

More Later,

Rich

Nobody is Born a Winter Texan

Last night we went to a play put on by the local theater group.  The play “Late Bloomers, (nobody is born a winter texan)”, was very funny. It was about folks staying in an RV park, and the old man who owns the place.  A group of ten of us went to dinner then the play, we had a great time.

The other day we went to a wild mustang, and burro adoption auction these animals were saved by this program and some of them were quite good looking.

 

 

 

Not a bad looking critter.

 

 

 

 

 

      This young guy was very alert.

 

 

 

 

We are always busy going and doing that we are getting tired, I guess we are not used to the pace being set by these active folks, so far we are keeping up.

More Later,

Rich

Winter Texans

For the last three years we have proudly called ourselves “Snowbirds”.  This year we are in Texas and the locals and visitors alike call us winter Texans.  I had heard that the local folks are truly glad to have us come down, and try hard to make everyone feel welcome, some businesses are only open for the “winter Texans”, and close at the end of the season. That is very true, everyone is so friendly that we feel very welcome. We are about the only northwesterners here. Everyone else seems to be from the Midwest, east, and eastern Canada (the French Canadians don’t speak much English).

Harold needed to make a Camping World run to Mission, so we made a day of it. We visited the old Spanish mission that is the towns namesake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not far from there is the Riverside Club, LINK . This is a bar, restaurant, and dancehall right on the banks of the Rio Grande River.

 

 

 

 

  Mexico is on the other side. There is a strong border patrol presence here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The ruins of the former monastery.

 

 

 

It was another great day.

More Later,

Rich

p.s. did I mention the temperature in the valley was 89° yesterday?

South Padre Island, Texas

Harold and Pam drove us to Port Isabelle and South Padre Island for the day.  What a wonderful place.

We climbed to the top of the lighthouse in Port Isabelle.

 

From the top we could see the island and the causeway to the island.

 

There are some hotels and lots of touristy things to see. Pam and Harold stayed on the island for a month before moving to the Kenwood RV Resort where we are staying. They showed us around and we had some of if not the best shrimp ever at a restaurant called Dirty Al’s.  LINK

 

 

 

 

We visited the turtle rescue people LINK. To see the good work they are doing to help injured and sick sea turtles.

 

 

 

Hi I’m not feeling well.

 

 

 

Along the way we stopped to see some pelicans, they are all over here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A local fisherman fed them some scraps and they went crazy. 

We ended the day walking out on the jetty and watching the sunset, and some dolphins swimming by.

 

 

What a Great Day

More Later,

Rich

Santa Anna Bird Sanctuary

We went to the Santa Anna Bird Sanctuary in Pharr, TX with Pam, Harold, and Kathy. It was a grey day but but we really enjoyed the place.

 

 

   This was the greeting committee when we pulled into the parking lot.

 

 

 

 

 

He was out for a drink when we pulled in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Then he was off.

 

 

 

There are trails that go through the woods that were flooded not long ago, as soon as spring arrives I’m sure it will rebound quickly.

 

 

 

The Oriole's were out in full color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    What a nice day.

 

 

 

 

More Later,

Rich

Happy Valley RV Park Del Rio, TX

We spent the last two nights here in Del Rio.  This is a nice community on the Rio Grade River and Lake Amistad.  When we were looking for a place to stay I looked on the internet and read the reviews about the RV parks in the area and this one jumped out at me. It is everything they said about very friendly, helpful, quiet at night (during the day as well). If we didn’t have plans we might just stay here for a while.

 

 

 

 Texas Chicken

The campground has a mascot, an emu that has no known name, but likes apple, and dog food, probably most anything else you have to feed it.  There is also a very pregnant horse in the same field that Gorgie just had to feed some carrots to.  In the evenings there are about a dozen deer that come out to eat as well.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   It has been t-shirt and BBQ weather.

Today we move on to Zapata, TX a drive of just over 200 miles so it’s time to pack up and hit the road.

More Later,

Rich

West Texas

This morning finds us in the small West Texas town of Marathon (pop. 413).

We seem to making a habit of visiting post offices in small towns and finding the nicest people and places. Yesterday we found the historic Gage Hotel and the White Buffalo Bar LINK .  We visited with the bartender “Ci-Ci”, and some nice folks up for the weekend from Odessa, TX. We had a couple of great Margaritas made from fresh squeezed lime juice, Yummy.

We spent the night at the Marathon Motel and RV Park.  This is a very nice place with restored cabins and a beautiful courtyard.

 

 

 

   Sunrise in Van Horn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                              That long lonesome highway US-90.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Sunset at the Marathon Motel & RV Park.

 

 

 

It’s on to Del Rio today where we are thinking of spending two nights to get a break from the road, although the drive has been very pleasant and not difficult at all.

 

More Later,

Rich

Van Horn, TX

Today was an easy 222 mile drive, from Deming to Van Horn, TX. We are staying at the KOA in Van Horn, TX. We don’t normally stay at KOA’s but this one was highly recommended, and  we were not disappointed.  This is an older park but still in ok shape.  They have a diner here and we went for dinner, Gorgie had the German spiced chicken and I had the country fried steak, both were very good and the price was right, $22.00 with tip.

We had a ceremony of sorts as we put two more states on our map, Both New Mexico and Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is as far east as we have been in our motorhome so far.

We continue south in the morning, we are due in La Fiera on Wednesday.

More Later,

Rich

Deming, NM

We spent three great days with my Dad and Marge at their home in Tucson.  We parked in front of their house and stayed in the house.  We went out to dinner to some nice places, visited, and played some games (I never won a single game).  It was a very nice time.

Today we drove to Deming, NM.  This is the furthest east that we have traveled in our motorhome.  Deming is a really nice small town.  We had to make a trip to the Post Office and as we were returning we spotted a brewpub, (The Mimbres Valley Brewing Co.), LINK ,  well we are not known to pass those places so we pulled in.  They have only been open for about six months but is already a popular place.  We tried a green chili brew and it was delicious.  We were having such a good time that we stayed for an early dinner Gorgie had a Philly cheesesteak and I had a green chili burger, both were very good.

We are staying just one night at the Hi Low RV Park. A nice place if not anything special.  We will be in Texas tomorrow somewhere east of El Paso.

More Later,

Rich

PS I have posted the weather at our destination of La Feria, TX. on the top.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

We wish everyone a wonderful 2011

Gloria and Rich