Saying Good-bye to the Rio Grande Valley

When Denisa's Mother mentioned that she would like to go on the shrimp boat tour, we thought that could make a great Christmas present idea. An excursion like this wouldn't fit into our small entertainment budget, but buying three tickets would make a good gift that all of us would enjoy.  So we looked for the best weather day, and made reservations for the boat ride that leaves from Padre Island.

It was foggy as we pulled out of the pier, but the bon voyage committee of pelicans didn't seem to mind the fog.

We saw shrimp boats moving out to sea with their nets ready for the big catch of the day.

Our captain explained that this smaller boat was netting the bottom of the bay for bait fish.  He was followed by an entourage of birds hoping to also score some bait fish today.

This "Blind Faith" shrimp boat blindly got off center of this narrow channel and was grounded on the sand.  They would be there until high tide would provide them enough water to float back to the channel.

We were entertained by a few resident dolphins that seemed to enjoy playing in the wake of our boat.

As we neared the Port of Brownsville, we turned into the channel where the shrimp boats are parked.

The sign at the entrance touted this as the "Shrimp Capitol of the World."  This channel was filled with newly painted shrimp boats,

as well as rusty old sea worthy vessels.

The next part of our tour included gliding by several huge naval vessels that were parked in the Brownsville port.  They are being scrapped for their metal, as they are now worth more in pieces.

The ships included the very latest in naval technology when they were built in the 1950'.  The air craft carrier above hosted up to 90 planes and 4000 sailors in its heyday.  With the reduced price of scrap metal, they now aren't worth the manpower it takes to dismantle them.

In the same port with the oldest ships were the newest of oil drilling equipment.  That would include off-shore drilling rigs with platforms that can be adjusted to different heights.

As we turned around to go back through the port, we were entertained by the shrimp boil that had been simmering on board all morning.

Some of the shrimp were as big as Denisa's hand, and we had all we could peel and eat as we sailed back to the pier.

We stopped in the village of South Padre Island after our boat ride and meal.  Known for its sand sculptures, we posed by this one in front of the visitor's center.  After sculpting these detailed formations, they are brushed with diluted Elmer's glue to make them more durable.

No trip to Padre Island would be complete without a walk on the beach. 

We hadn't seen this metal pipe before, but it was visible the entire length of the beach.  It's part of the beach renourishment restoration project that we heard about on our boat ride.  In order to make the boat channel deeper for bigger ships (and so shrimp boats don't run aground) they are trenching out the sand in the channel.  This sand is then pumped several miles through these pipes to beaches to replace the sand that has eroded away.

Back at our camping spot in Mission, Denisa had to take a picture of the latest bloom on the orchid tree on our lot.

But our favorite trees are still the ones that produce fruit.  The oranges are still a little green, but we found they make surprisingly sweet orange juice anyway.  We juiced and then froze some bags of the orange juice so we could take a little bit of this liquid sunshine on down the road with us.  We found last year that this 100% orange juice makes delicious juice when defrosted, and is even better when it is icy and slushy.

The grapefruit tree on our lot is covered with fruit.  We know from our experience last year that the fruit at the top of the trees will go to waste, and will make a mess as it falls to the ground and rots. Living in a  55+ park means that not many people climb ladders, and no one climbs the tree to get to those best fruit at the top.  That was, until Mark moved to this park.

We have also enjoyed the bike rides, the dancing, the swims, the pickleball, and the walks around the park.  The weather has been great.  We also get to spend time with Denisa's Mother every day.

We have made new friends, and we have found park activities that we really enjoy.  Did we mention they have $1 ice cream every day?  So why would we consider leaving this little slice of Camelot we have found? 

It's because we have a home on wheels, and it's time to get them rolling.  We have too many items on our things-to-see list to stay in one place all winter.  Just because we are having lots of fun can't keep us here--we have new places to see!  So call us crazy, but we are leaving this southern tip of the Texas and heading north this winter for other spots along the coast.  You're welcome to come with us!