We have arrived . . .

Because we are making longer drives in our trip south this year, we are more mindful of the weather on our travel days. When we saw days of wind and rain in the forecast, we decided to head down the road at a faster pace. In fact, we traveled more than six hours on our last day--close to record for us. That drive took us through some fog . . .

and into the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. We're always excited to see that first palm tree! When we get further south, we find them growing even in the highway median. When we start seeing green grass and leaves on trees, we know that we are getting close.

We rolled into our parking spot in Mission, Texas, at the Bentsen Grove Resort on a hot afternoon. The temperature got all the way up to 91 degrees as we were setting up the motor home for its home for the next couple months. That's a little warm for December!

Those temperatures are close to twenty degrees higher than average. We much prefer the 70s, which is the average for this time of year in the Rio Grande Valley. As we survey our little orchard around our camping site, we don't see very many oranges on the trees this year. Perhaps something happened this summer to keep the fruit from setting on like usual?

Much of the citrus fruit doesn't ripen until January. But we managed to find a few ripe grapefruit, and we bought a sack of local tangerines. So we have our bowl of citrus on the window sill like usual. We don't remember ever buying tangerines before this year.

It's good to be walking down the palm-lined streets that we are so familiar with. This is our sixth winter to return to Bentsen Grove Resort for part of the winter.

The reason that we have come to this park for six winters is because Denisa's Mother has come here for 35 winters. Ever since Betty retired, she has wintered at Bentsen Grove. So staying here allows us to spend more time with her. That would include going to a "Welcome Winter Texan" party complete with a photo booth with interesting head gear.

We visited the photo booth more than once, trying on a couple more hats. The party also included a meal, and a live concert with a dance floor. What fun!

We jumped right into the activities that we enjoy at this park. We were playing pickleball at the indoor (and importantly air-conditioned) court, and line dancing with some great instructors by the next day. It's so nice to be greeted with hugs and hand shakes by so many friends that we have made over those years. Yes, we have arrived for a couple months of fun here in the Rio Grande Valley!