Our timing wasn't great for visiting Brownsville, Texas

After eight visits to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, it feels like we have seen and done everything in this area. But we realized that we haven't spent much time around Brownsville, Texas. We've been there several times, but it was always on our way home from Padre Island. We were always tired from a day at the beach, and hurrying to get home. This year we decided to spend a day just exploring the Brownsville area--even though we soon found out that our timing wasn't great for this trip. Our first stop was another nice Texas State Park--Resaca de la Palma. Our new word of the day is resacas--which are water channels that were once connected to the Rio Grande River. The river no longer flows through this state park, but these disconnected channels still provide some water that provides good bird habitat.

We checked the forecast for the best weather day of the week. We went on a Tuesday when the temperatures were in the low 70s, with no chance of rain, and the wind was light. This seems like great timing, right? At the last minute we found out that this state park is closed on Monday and Tuesday. The rangers are working those days, but they don't open the entrance gate or the visitor center on those two days. Our timing obviously wasn't great. We called and found out that we were welcome to park outside the gate, fill out a visitor pass with our Texas state pass, and walk in.

That's a little more complicated with Denisa's Mother's mobility. We were glad that we had borrowed a wheel chair for today. The resort where we are camped has all kinds of medical equipment available to use. We were sad that the tram tour wasn't running today, as that would have been a good option for her. Again, our timing wasn't great today. So instead, we pushed that wheel chair on a couple trails to see a little bit of the park. That would include the palm trees. While we see the very tall palms throughout the valley, these shorter Sabal Palms are the only ones native to this area.

We also stopped by the bird blind behind the visitor center, to look through the viewing holes to see what birds were feeding this morning.

We had read that this park also hosts some butterflies, and we spotted this one on the ground inside the bird blind.

That was the last picture with our good camera today. The battery was so low, that it shut down. That's no problem because we always carry a spare. What are the chances that the spare battery was also low?!? Our timing for battery charging wasn't great today! So while we watched as green jays, cardinals, and woodpeckers flew around the feeders, our cell phones can't capture them. There are several birds in the picture below, but you can't see them in a cell phone picture.

Our next planned stop of the day was the Palo Alto Battlefield. The weather is just beautiful today, and it was a great to spend some time on the trail outside at this National Historical Park. We were soon to realize that we knew very little about the U.S.-Mexican war.

Displays at the visitor center educated us on what happened here in the 1800s. In 1845, Mexico controlled the area in green on the map below. But it was here at the Palo Alto Battlefield that the first major battle of the U.S.-Mexico War took place. As a result of this war, that map would change drastically.

Now that we are educated, we left the visitor center to explore the battlefield. This concrete path is more than a mile long, and provides a great surface to push a wheel chair.

This was a battle of fire power. While the Mexican army had more men that were lined up over a mile across, their cannons were not as powerful. Mark and Betty are posing beside one of the Mexican cannons on the south side of the battlefield.

We walked another half mile to see the United States side of the battlefield, and their superior cannons. Randomly found among the the cactus and grass are these larger caliber cannons that could shoot 18-pound exploding shells. This ammunition caused more severe damage than the smaller solid cannon balls from the Mexican cannons. Because the United States's cannons were more accurate, agile, and fired exploding shells, they severely hurt that mile-long line of Mexican soldiers. The U.S. forces were also better trained, had better gun powder, and were able to fire more quickly and move their cannons with more agility to put them in better firing range. It was definitely a win for the U.S. forces when the Mexican army retreated to a more protected area five miles away.

The mile of concrete also took us beside the marshy part of this historic park. We traveled over boardwalk to keep our feet and wheels dry.

Besides the retreat of the Mexican army, this park also showcases the retreat of the Rio Grande River. That big river once ran through this area, but now the only evidence of that are these long channels called "resacas." Does that word sound familiar from the name of the state park we just visited? The sign below points out that many water birds make their home here. Right on cue, you can see a white heron in the upper left hand corner of the picture below.

We tried to take a picture of two different herons with our cell phone, with limited success.

We were still lamenting our bad timing and our low camera batteries when we noticed movement in the distance. We tried to determine what kind of animal this could be, and the fuzzy cell phone picture won't help with that identification. The animals in the distance behind the cactus were too thick-necked for any deer we recognized, and the wrong shape for a cow.

A sign along our path solved the mystery. This was a herd of nilgai. Ranchers imported this species of Asian antelope for hunting, and some of the herd escaped to take up residence here at Palo Alto. Since she couldn't take a picture of the real ones in the distance, Denisa took a picture of the one on the sign. Our timing was good for seeing them, just not great for photographing them. Sigh!

While this area is mostly grass and cactus, we did see a few wildflowers on the trail in the historic park. Of course, Denisa stopped to take a picture.

Our next stop in Brownsville was a restaurant that got good reviews. Being so close to the coast, we wanted to eat fresh fish today. But again our timing wasn't great. The dining area of the place we chose was closed, so we went in search of a picnic table. We found it at another national historic site. This is the place where the Mexican Army retreated in search of the protection and cover of trees, and where the U.S. Army followed them in 1846.

In the other direction, we could see the second battlefield of the day where the U.S. forces again outgunned the Mexicans. This is where the Battle of Resaca de la Palma was fought in 1846. (Note--there's that resaca word again!) The U.S. forces again won this battle, as the Mexican army retreated back south. The U.S.-Mexico war would continue for two years, and would result in Mexico giving up what is now California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, half of Colorado, and that all-important Oklahoma panhandle where we were born and raised. Without the win at the two battlefields we visited today, we could have been citizens of Mexico. 

The next stop of the day was Betty's favorite--the SAS shoe outlet store. Our timing wasn't great because Betty forgot her coupon and we missed the $20-off sale that will happen this weekend. But they gave her the special deal on the shoes she bought if she promised to mail in her $20 coupon as soon as she got home. No pictures, because how picturesque can a shoe store be?!?

Our last stop was one of our most anticipated. In the eight years we have been here, we have never made the trip to Boca Chica beach. This is the southernmost beach in Texas, and it is about 23 miles southeast of Brownsville. We've always headed over to the beaches at Padre Island instead of this off-the-beaten path beach on Highway 4. One of the reasons to explore this new beach is because it also allows for a drive right by Elon Musk's space flight experiment. He has built "SpaceX Starbase" just a few miles from Boca Chica beach. This is where he has been launching experimental space craft in anticipation of his first orbital flight of his starship prototype. We watched one of those launches from Padre Island last year. So we were looking forward to exploring a new beach and getting a look at SpaceX. But . . . our timing wasn't great. Because it was such a beautiful day, they had scheduled "maneuvers" at SpaceX that required closing the area. We signed up for the automated updates on Highway 4 closures, and we got one while we were in Brownsville. Rats!

So we don't have pictures of Boca Chica Beach or SpaceX because the road was closed today. While we got to see some interesting new-to-us sites around Brownsville, we didn't get to make the last stop. Our touring day was a little shorter than planned, and it felt like our timing wasn't great ALL DAY!

We finally saw the Green Parakeets!

For eight winters we have heard the flock of green parakeets that sometimes hang out here in the Rio Grande Valley. We have heard their chatter as a flock flies overhead. We have heard people talking about seeing them. After all this "hearing" we finally got to "see" them too! 

One of the shorter palm trees just down the street from our motor home was chattering when Denisa rode her bike by. She raced home to get the camera, and spent the next thirty minutes taking pictures.

This was a rare opportunity to see them, and Denisa took full advantage of it. Many times the parakeets are flying high in the air, or perhaps they perch in a tall tree. But today they were closer to the ground in this short palm.

When she first approached the tree, she could only hear their chatter. Can you see them?

If you look closer, you can see that little green tree was covered with green birds that seem to blend in with the palm fronds.

A passer-by explained that they were probably eating the palm nuts. Sure enough, those nuts started turning up in the pictures.

While Denisa expected this to be a fleeting glimpse of the parakeets, they weren't interested in flying as long as the palm nut smorgasbord was open.

The tree was full of these very happy green birds!

A few birds left the palm fronds to perch on a nearby tree. Of course Denisa has to include some blue-sky-green-bird pictures.

Sorry for an entire blog about a single flock encounter, but Denisa was pretty excited about seeing these guys up close for the first time!

After years of hearing them, it was a special thrill today to actually see them so close! It feels like we have once again wandered into another of God's wonders!

We do a little work --- sometimes!

It sounds like all we do is play, but we have pictorial proof that occasionally we do a little work. Mark started on his Mother-in-law's "honey-do" list as soon as we got the motor home parked this winter. That list included trimming up the fruit trees that had freeze damage from last year's unusually cold Valentine's Day. Mark had to use some creative use of the ladder to get to the top branches.

We're not sure how the trees will look next year, or if they will produce any fruit, but the dead branches are now gone. We've also bagged a lot of leaves as the trees down south let loose of their leaves just before they immediately grow new ones.

Another one of our chores is picking fruit. While it is less abundant this year, it still is a job to climb a ladder and clip these tangerines off those top branches.

Because of the hard freeze last year, many of the trees are damaged and most of the blooms were frozen. Citrus trees usually bloom in February or March, and those blooms produce the fruit that is picked the next February or March. This year's tangerines are smaller and not as pretty as usual.

This two-month stretch in one location also gives us time to do some work on the motor home. We did the annual roof cleaning and waxing. We've seen RVs with white streaks on the sides caused from the deterioration of their white fiberglass tops. This annual process of washing and waxing helps to preserve our fiberglass roof and keeps that from happening. This is a picture of the just-cleaned roof right before we applied two coats of wax.

Once the top is clean and waxed, it's time to start on the sides. After seven years, we have acquired some pretty good cleaning tools. We have the foldable ladder, the telescoping brush, and a couple good chamois. 

We've also developed a plan for washing the motor home. The front is the worst with its bug splatters, so that is done in one session. Then the back can be done in another session. Then the sides of the slide outs are cleaned. Finally, we put in the slides and do each side of the motor home in separate sessions. That's five different sessions spread over two or three days instead of one marathon day. We've found that each session of washing requires that we chamois it dry to avoid hard water spots. Even though this description uses the word "we," Mark did most of those sessions while Denisa was busy playing. The final project was 35-feet of gleaming fiberglass.

Even though it might not qualify as "work," we did some shopping while we had some time on our hands. The custom bedspread that came with the motorhome matches the valances in the bedroom. But it looks tired and needed to be replaced.

We shopped at a dozen different locations, before bringing home a plain quilted bed spread that lightens up the room and doesn't clash with the busy fabric on the valences.

As we look around the motor home, we see that after seven years we have replaced the uncomfortable RV L-shaped couch, got rid of the living room chair and had a new wooden chest added, took out the malfunctioning fireplace and replaced it with a wooden cabinet, and we got new carpeting. 

We also reupholstered the dining chairs, and had the driver and passenger seats redone. 

Looking around the motor home, we've done a little work on the interior to make it more comfortable and more durable. We've also done a little work on the exterior to keep it shiny. So while we play most of the time, we do a little work--sometimes.

It feels like Mexico without crossing the border

We are four miles from the U.S./Mexico border, and sometimes we can find places on the north side of that border that feel very much like we are in Mexico. For example, we like to try some of the local cafes in the area. One day we were searching for a different authentic Mexican food place, and we stopped in at a random store front with a little sign. The only word we recognized on the sign outside was "enchiladas."

We soon realized that we were the only ones in the restaurant that didn't speak Spanish. They had no menu so we couldn't even point at pictures or use google translate to order. After an awkward few minutes with our waiter, we finally got something ordered. We sat back and waited, wondering what we had ordered, how many we ordered, and how much it would cost. It worked out well, as we were very pleased with the food that soon arrived at our table. We found out that this is the way a real enchilada is served in the Veracruz area of Mexico. We enjoyed our corn tortillas with a little cheese folded in half and smothered in green sauce with thinly sliced grilled chicken served on top. A great value for just $8!

Another day we were looking for a variation of the franchise Tex-Mex food that we are more familiar with. We stopped in at an open-air place called Nana's.

The locals here told us to order their specialty--lonches. Their fried bread spears are stuffed with meat, and then covered in cabbage, cilantro, tomatoes and avocado. You won't find this dish on the Taco Bell menu, and their charro beans were great!

For another touch of Mexico, we enjoy going to the local flea markets all over the Rio Grande Valley. We've been to a couple new ones this winter. This one is located close to Mile 7 Road and Conway Avenue in McAllen. While it has very little parking, most of the patrons just drive in front of the vendor booths, and make their purchases from their vehicles. Here we found an unusual assortment of animals to buy that included rabbits,

parakeets,

quail, pheasant, guinea, duck, goats, sheep, and of course chickens. We could have also purchased the hay to feed some of those animals, as well as clothing and damaged and out-of-date health and beauty items. Who knew that hot items at the local flea markets are contact lenses? It appeared that we were the only non-hispanic shoppers at this market, and very little English was spoken. But we can communicate using a combination of finger-pointing and our limited Spanish. We don't need to buy any animals, but we did end the day with a lovely assortment of fruit and vegetables for just $9. It's not unusual to see avocados priced at 3 for $1, and pineapples for $1.50. Those cherry tomatoes were 50 cents. It's a cheap cultural experience to attend a flea market, and it feels very much like you are in Mexico. But it's better, because you wouldn't be allowed to take that fresh produce across the border if you bought it in Mexico.

Produce prices are low because much of it is grown right in our neighborhood. We like driving on the lesser-traveled roads that take us along the agricultural fields. The fields of cabbages remind Denisa of rows of rose blooms.

We bought a beautifully fresh large head of cabbage for just $1 at the produce truck that stops in our RV park.

As we look south across those agricultural fields, we can see parts of the unfinished border wall. We don't understand why there are often longer sections, then spaces between single wall sections.

Another Mexican cultural experience is attending a local folklorico performance.

Many of the high schools in this area have outstanding music departments, and they call the traditional dance program a folklorico. The program will also include the school's mariachi band--a specialized Hispanic band. The folklorico dance performances are well attended by the locals and the winter Texans as well. 

The program we attended this winter was at the University of Texas--Rio Grande, and the costumes were outstanding.

The girls' skirts are so beautiful, and they twirl and spin with them to show off the bright colors. They are made from two circles of fabric! Denisa is really coveting one of those full skirts to show off her line dance spins.

We have crossed the Mexico border many times over the years, and we have always felt very safe eating the food and enjoying the shopping south of the border in the town of Progresso, Mexico. But this year we are content staying in the United States. But we have found that we can also enjoy a bit of Mexico without crossing the border.