Rocking in the Rio Grande Valley

Since this is our fifth year to come to Bentsen Grove Resort, we've tried most of the varied activities here. But this year we're trying something new to us--the Rock Club. In our travels this year, we've been picking up rocks, and we're excited to see what we can do with them this winter. We found that the first step is getting trained in all the equipment here at this resort. They have a work room filled with rock saws and polishers of every shape and size.

After cutting a slab of rock, the next step can be cutting it down to the size needed to make a piece of jewelry. Even though it looks like Denisa is about to cut off all her fingers, she's actually trimming a rock slab into an oval shape that can be polished.

During our training, the other rock club members described their weekly rock hunts. Every Friday they go to an area ranch, where they have permission to pick up rocks. So we were up early to meet the rest of the group at 7:15 a.m. for our first Rio Grande Valley rock hunt.

It was an hour's drive west to get to our destination, and it was raining most of the way. The good news is that the moisture made the rocks really shine. The water droplets also clung to this spider web, making it almost as pretty as the petrified wood and agates we were finding.

Our new French-Canadian friend, Guy (pronounced Gee in French), took us under his wing. He showed us examples of different rocks we were finding. We also found a lot of "leaverite." Those are the plain rocks that you should "leave her right" there.

You might notice that Guy has a long metal scoop for picking up rocks so he doesn't have to bend over so many times. He also warned us that this tool was useful for another reason if you look closely at the picture below.

Many times scorpions are hiding among the rocks, and we found a good number on our first rock hunt.

We walked a couple miles, always with our head down to find the next treasure. It's easy to get lost among this tall grass and brush. Our walk took us up a hill, where we could finally see the landscape around us and our vehicles waiting below.

Our best finds of the day were the lacy agates that this part of Texas are known for. Mark found this one already broken open to reveal it's lacy inside.

With Guy's instruction, we came to recognize the rough outsides of these fancy stones. 

Hopefully, we'll learn to cut or tumble these beauties before we leave this winter. We also found some nice pieces of petrified wood. The minerals in the area gave them some interesting color as the wood turned into rock a long time ago.

Again, we hope to learn to make something that we can take with us in the motor home.

After a good morning outside, we found that the rock club eats lunch together on the way home. We are just a few miles from the Mexican border, and we stopped at a little restaurant where the menu was only in Spanish. We decided that the "especial" was the way to go.

It was very special! For $7.50 we got a generous portion of grilled chicken, peppers, and onions smothered in cheese. With sides of rice and beans and an appetizer of little corn pancakes it was a great authentic Mexican end to our authentic day. We liked our rock hunting adventure, and another new activity to try here in South Texas.

After a morning of rock hunting, we switched to another form of rocking for the evening. Every Friday evening, the park hosts a live band for a dance. The dance floor was packed as we enjoyed the rock and roll of the 1960s and 1970s. You have never seen so many old people having fun as we danced to the music like we were still in high school. So this Friday included a good day of Rockin' with old and new friends here at Bentsen Grove Resort!