Rio Grande Valley is for the Birds!

We have been having beautiful weather in Mission, Texas!  We think it is ironic that we spent the summer in the mountains where the highs were often in the 60's so we didn't wear shorts all summer.  Isn't it strange that we didn't wear shorts in July, but we had to dig them out of the back of the closet in December?!?

In fact, we have seen record-breaking warm temperatures this week.  With highs in the low 90's and low's in the 70's, this is the warmest weather for mid-December ever recorded in McAllen.


It's been great weather to be outside, so this day we took the bikes for a ride into the Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, just three miles from where the motor home is parked.  The Texas State Park pass we bought last January is still serving us well, as we got in for free with that pass. It's great to have a place to ride the bikes with level roads and without car traffic!

We enjoyed spying on the resident birds in the park.  This is one of our favorites--the beautiful green jay.

Our spying was made easier by the bird blinds set up throughout the park.  Behind the blinds are bird feeders and water sources to entice the birds to the viewing sites.

We spied these yellow-bellied birds, that made a distinctive sound that is something between a baby kitten's meow and a creaky door.

There were also some very Christmasy-red cardinals darting through the forest that day.

We finished the day at the Hawk Tower for a panoramic view of the valley that leads to the Rio Grande River and Mexico.  At the tower we are about one mile from the Mexico border.  The only vehicle we saw on our bike ride was a border patrol pickup. 

There's a beautiful sunset in the works, and a nice bike ride through the trees.  We are really enjoying our time here in the Rio Grande Valley.