Super Bowl, Zoo, and King Ranch

We have been having a great time with our friends, Kathy and Ken, Barb and Duane, and of course Pam and Harold.  These folks are all Michigandians.  They had told us of a Michigan delicacy “Koegel’s hot dogs and how they are the best anywhere. So I went online and had some shipped to the Rio Grande Valley.  For Super Bowl I made a pot of no bean chili and we cooked the dogs on the BBQ.

 

Everyone enjoyed them and I must say they were excellent.

A demonstration of the Michigandian technique.

Gorgie asked if anyone needed a fork and knife and was promptly shouted down.

Kathy and Ken seem as though they enjoyed their Koegle’s.

I’m sure we were the only folks who had Koegle’s in Texas for the Super Bowl.

Down in Brownsville they have a really great zoo ( Gladys Porter Zoo ).  Pam, Harold, Kathy, Gorgie, and I went down there for the day Monday, it was fun to see all the animals, they have some great exhibits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a weekday it was not crowded at all, so we were able to take our time and enjoy the animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  There were some two legged characters around as well.

 

 

 

Our next adventure took us to the King Ranch. Everyone loaded up on a tour bus for the 100 mile trip north.  At 850,000 acres the King Ranch is the largest ranch in the world.( LINK to King Ranch )

 

 

 

                      Ready to hit the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Lolo”

 

 

 

 

 

Lolo talked to us about some of the history of the ranch, and how he was the first person to ride Assault the only triple crown winner from Texas in 1946. He has lived and worked on the ranch all his life.  The tour was very nice and the ranch was interesting to see. 

We have been very busy here the last month and tomorrow is our time to move on, sad we really enjoyed our stay, and all the new friends we have made.

 

 

 

  Kathy and Ken

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Barb and Duane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Pam and Harold

 

 

 

 

We will miss these friends and hope to meet up again soon.

More Later,

Rich & Gloria

Frio on the Rio

Winter has visited the Rio Grande Valley! It has been cold here for the last three days. Yesterday it never went above freezing the high was 28°, on Wednesday it was 34°.  The lows have been around 26° for  the last three nights, then to top it off it started raining yesterday afternoon so this morning we woke up to scenes like this.

And this.

Harold and Pam’s dog Katie (she’s so cute), had to look out the window, to see what was going on.

This is very uncommon weather for this area, lots of accidents, schools closed, the main highway is closed, and groceries are selling out.  Lots of homes around here don’t have heating systems, so they are using portable electric heaters and it is causing power shortages and they are imposing rolling blackouts.

We had signed up for a bus trip up to the King Ranch that was scheduled for Thursday but it was delayed to Tuesday next week.  The good news is that the temperatures are  supposed to be back up into the 70°’s by Sunday.

Last Sunday it was in the 80°’s, and we took a trip the the Island (South Padre Island), and enjoyed sitting on the jetty reading our books and watching the water scenes.

Well it’s going to be another day waiting for the return of the normally great south Texas weather.

More Later,

Rich

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