While Denisa's sister and brother-in-law (Connie and Joe) are visiting us here in the Rio Grande Valley, we've been eating out more and playing more games than usual. We're also showing them a few places that they haven't seen before. On one of those outings, we got a picture of Denisa with her sister and mother in front of one of the gorgeous bougainvillea shrubs. They come in many different colors, but this one was loaded with the bright purple blooms that are Denisa's favorite.
That Sunday morning, we took them to church at an RV resort about 30 minutes away. That's because we know the couple well that have been pastoring this congregation for over twenty winters. Before they retired from full-time ministry, they spent eight years at our home congregation in Beaver, Oklahoma. During that time, Rev. Hardy performed our wedding ceremony. He also did the ceremonies of both of Denisa's sisters. So this is a special couple to our family, and Connie and Joe hadn't seen them for many years. It's a special Sunday at their church, and the Hardy's are dressed up for "Cowboy Church." He mentioned in his sermon that he got his first cowboy boots and cowboy hat the day he arrived in Beaver, Oklahoma. Great memories with this couple that God called to the ministry so many years ago!
Another day, we took our guests to the Citrus Festival parade. We eat a lot of the citrus here in the Valley, and we love it that the city of Mission celebrates it in a festival every winter.
The highlight of the event is the Citrus Parade, where most of the floats are decorated with grapefruit, oranges, lemons, and limes.
The above picture showed a little of the detail of one of the winning floats decorated by the local Catholic church.
The theme of the parade was "Adventure in Odyssey" so there were outer-space icons on most of the floats.
We thought it was interesting that Saturn and its rings were decorated with many of the fruits and vegetables grown here in the Rio Grande Valley. We see celery, onions, sweet potatoes, peppers, beets, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower, etc. We had no idea that Saturn was such a healthy planet!
A vital part of the Citrus Festival is the crowning of the king and queen, and the many princesses. On floats throughout the parade we saw a long line of duchesses, dressed in their citrus-colored ball gowns.
While most of the floats went to elaborate measures to comply with the citrus theme, some preferred the more basic approach of simply strapping on bags of fruit.
The citrus parade is a good time to advertise other notable events that take place in other seasons of the year. The McAllen Lighted Holiday Parade should not be missed for anyone in the valley in the beginning of December.
The city of Hidalgo also has an amazing Christmas light display.
The weather forecast called for rain, and we were glad that we only got a few sprinkles. But this high school wasn't taking any chances of getting their uniforms wet, as they dawned matching rain gear for the parade.
We also road-tripped to the flea market at Don-Wes, and went to several concerts and a musical while our guests were visiting. Many of the entertainers that spend the summer in Branson or Nashville, spend their winters here in the Rio Grande Valley. So we have first-rate entertainment for bargain prices. One night we all went to the Mollie B concert. This is our third concert of hers, so instead of taking her picture, we opted for a picture of her Father doing pre-show entertainment with his button box.
Just to prove that we don't have sunny skies and things don't go perfectly all the time, we got a flat tire on one our road trips with our guests. Mark got to try out the sealant and air pump that replaces the spare tire option in Denisa's Mother's car. Something malfunctioned, spraying sealant all over Mark, the car, and the passengers hovering over his attempts to get us back on the road.
Mark and Joe got the tire fixed the next day, and now we're back in business. Connie and Joe finished up their two week-stay in the valley with Connie's birthday celebration. We made birthday goodies, and let her plan her special day. It included bean bag baseball. That included her hitting two home runs. Even though we had been sworn to birthday secrecy, Denisa decided it was time for that group of 70 people to sing "Happy Birthday" after that second home run. We forgot to take pictures of her, but we did get a picture of Joe after his home run. In appreciation for such expert bean bag throwing, the team escorts the home run hitter back to their seat.
That day we also played table shuffleboard, and games at Denisa's Mother's house. Then we celebrated with a meal at Khan's Grill, complete with birthday cheesecake. Connie had the honor of striking the gong in celebration of another year. The gong was surprisingly loud, and her reaction was priceless.
They left early the next morning after her birthday, making that long drive back to Oklahoma. While they were here, we enjoyed having them for a little road-tripping in "The Valley!"
We have been enjoying guests during our visit to the Rio Grande Valley this winter. Denisa's sister and brother-in-law (Connie and Joe) are staying in our park for two weeks. While we are staying in an RV site, Denisa's Mother has a park-model home, and they are staying in the rental apartments.
We are continuing the activities that we enjoy at the resort, and they are trying some of those activities as well. Connie is in beginner line dance class, and attended the beginner pickle ball lessons. She is also enjoying the greeting cards class. They have also gone with us to bingo, and Joe was one of the winners in card bingo. In the picture below he is showing off his winnings in nickels.
We have also played lots of indoor shuffle board, and they went with us to bean bag baseball. We had around 70 people show up, and they were divided into six teams.
Then everyone takes turns throwing bean bags at the board that has holes designated for a single, double, triple, and home run.
There is also the dreaded "out" hole. When a player lands a bean bag in the "out house," you get to hold the toilet paper "trophy" until this honor is bestowed onto the next unlucky player. In the picture below, Connie is showing off her winnings. It's not quite as much fun as holding a handful of nickels.
They are enjoying the warm weather, and having the opportunity to be outside getting exercise in the middle of winter. They've taken over 10,000 steps every day. We got some of those steps during trips to our neighborhood state park. Those old live oak trees bend to the ground and just invited us to take a sister picture.
We also got a different kind of exercise on a different trip to the park. The state park has bikes for rent, so the four of us rode all the paved loops. Connie decided this was the first time she had ridden a bike since she was a child. That was (ahem) a few years ago.
The second trip to the park also got us a close-up of a collared peccary. They were enjoying the seeds that had fallen out of the feeders at this bird blind.
This guy felt so comfortable that he laid down and flashed one of the ugliest grins we've ever seen.
We hiked most of the trails in the park, including the two-mile trail that goes closest to the Rio Grande River. On that hike we saw these curious concave indentations in the trail surface.
Mark did some research, to find out that these were dug by a fierce looking bug named an ant-lion. The ant-lion lays in wait at the bottom of the cone, hoping that an errant ant will get caught in the slanted sand trap.
Besides those ugly wildlife sightings, we have to finish up with pictures of the pride of this state park. It is headquarters of the World Birding Center, and we've always found plenty of birds when we've visited.
Cardinals and green jays are some of the most colorful birds in the park, and it was fun showing them to our guests.
Just like the birds, the weeks are flying by. We're still enjoying the weather, the activities, and guests here in the Rio Grande Valley this winter!
We are a fan of Texas State Parks. We purchase an annual park pass every year, and enjoy staying in the campgrounds as we make our way through this very big state. While we stay in the Rio Grande Valley for two months, we like to make visits to the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. This park also serves as headquarters to the World Bird Center.
It's just three miles away from Bentsen Grove Resort, where we are spending two months this winter. It's easy to ride our bikes to the park, or load them onto our car's bike rack and drive to the park. Once inside the park, it seems that we start seeing birds immediately.
They stay close to the areas where bird seed is refreshed every morning. Often our pictures will include the feeders where they are literally hanging out.
We aren't good at identifying birds, but we know the names of a few of the local favorites. These chicken-size birds are chachalacas.
We found out that is spanish slang for a babbler, or one that chatters all the time. So now we know that if we overhear one of our hispanic neighbors calling us a chachalaca, that probably is not a compliment. They are rather noisy birds! They like to hang around the feeders in groups, so they are easy to photograph.
We also can identify the great kiskadee, mainly from that bright yellow breast.
One of the most unusual birds that we see frequently is the green jay. With their lime green bodies and blue head, they are easy to spot even for inexperienced birders like us.
An easy pedal around all the paved loops is a four-mile bike ride. Cars aren't allowed in the park, so it's nice to ride on pavement without having to watch out for too many vehicles. We will see an occasional park ranger pickup or the park tram taking visitors on tours. But the most frequent vehicle will be a border patrol officer. We saw them in pickups, motorcycles, and on mountain bikes. They also have eyes in the sky, as this curious looking balloon is tethered to the ground. A zoomed-in photo gives a closer look at the surveillance balloon in the sky.
On another trip to the park, we watched as this helicopter hovered over the desolate area just north of the Rio Grande River. From our vantage point on the hawk tower, we could see the helicopter quite clearly.
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park is located right on the border with Mexico. In fact, if the proposed border wall is built, most of this park will be south of that wall. Right after we left the visitor center, we crossed over the levee where the wall is supposed to be built. So at this point we would be on the wrong side of the wall.
Based on the Border Patrol presence in this area, this must be a popular place to cross the Rio Grande River into the United States. So we are enjoying this state park now, knowing that it could be closed to the public very soon.
Staying in one spot in south Texas for a couple months, it is the best time to take care of some major shopping purchases. Now we have the time and the close proximity to major sellers to get things bought. Most men would think that is a dangerous combination for their wives. But Denisa doesn't really like to shop, and we don't have room in the motor home for extra purchases. So the "major shopping purchases" we are talking about are just replacements for things that are wearing out since we started full-timing.
That would include our couch. We replaced the upholstery on our captain's chairs over a year ago when the "ultra-leather" started cracking. Much discussion has been made on the Tiffin forum about the upholstery fabric used in their motor homes a few years ago. Just like the chairs, our couch cushions also started cracking.
Mark sent the picture above as proof of the deterioration of the fabric. But unlike the Flexsteel Company, who stood behind the chairs and sent us new covers, the couch manufacturer didn't do anything to help us. So we shopped for a new sofa, hoping to replace it with something that had recliners and was more comfortable. But whatever you buy must be bolted to the floor, and will have to be rigged to include seat belts. La-z-boy is the easiest replacement because its furniture comes with backs that come off--making them much easier to get into that narrow 26-inch motor home door. We shopped and figured, and Mark made a detailed diagram of all the measurements of the slide and the space available for a replacement couch. It was further complicated by the window, and the valances on the wall, and the slide measurements. To buy or not to buy?
We thought we had found a good option, only to realize that it was two inches too deep to fit into our slide when reclined. We were so sad! So we decided NOT to buy. Instead, we got only the cushions reupholstered. We have found that south Texas is a great pace to find quality workmanship at a fair price. We got the two cushions done with life-time fabric on both sides (the originals were only upholstered on the top) using materials that the upholsterer had in stock. We think that they match the arms and back of the sofa very well. So our decision this time was not to buy--but to repair.
Our tow vehicle odometer turned over to 100,000 miles on January 1, and we decided it was time to start looking for a replacement. We have really liked our 2014 Honda CRV. It can tow flat with no alterations needed. It has 37 cubic feet of cargo capacity, and that is important for storing our inflatable kayak, bike gear, camping chairs, and all the miscellaneous junk that happens when you live on the road. It has basically become our "garage" for storing things we need as we wander.
We would have replaced it with another Honda CRV, but in 2015 the manufacturer changed the transmission so that it is no longer towable. Industry-wide changes to auto transmissions have really reduced the number of good towable vehicles. So Mark had to re-research our options for a replacement. He used the Motorhome Magazine Dingy Guide, but over and over he read that you have to check the owner's guide to be sure that even the models listed in the guide would work for us. His short list of replacements included the Chevrolet Colorado pickup. But only the four-wheel-drive model is towable. We would gain some storage, but would have to add an expensive cover for the back. This model would also be more expensive, gets worse gas mileage, and is heavier to tow.
We looked at several Jeep models--from the new pickup to the Grand Cherokee. Some were too little, some too big, and all of them seem to have a bad reputation for reliability.
We were pretty thorough with our shopping. One of our concerns is the storage, so we even moved the tub that holds our inflatable boat into the car to see what space was left over for our other outdoor hobby equipment. Our boat almost filled this Jeep Cherokee's 26 cubic feet of storage, and totally blocked the rear view mirror's view.
The Jeep GRAND Cherokee has 36 cubic feet of storage space. So it would be able to hold all of our equipment. But it is bigger, heavier, longer, and much more expensive. We would have to buy the 4-wheel drive model in both of these jeep models to be able to tow behind the motor home. That also makes them more expensive.
We wanted to see the Ford Ranger pickup, but again the only model towable was the four-wheel-drive. The price tag on the luxury model scared us, and the dealer didn't even have any of the cheaper models in stock because they are so popular.
The General Motors line has two SUVs that can be towed--Chevrolet Equinox and the Buick Envision. We thought one was too little, and the other was too big. Just like Goldilocks, we couldn't find anything that was "just right." Buying a new tow vehicle is a major decision, because we will also have the expense of getting the air brakes mounted on it, adding a hitch that will fit our bicycle carrier. and bolting on a baseplate that attaches to the towing apparatus. It's an expensive and time-consuming process after the new car purchase. To buy or not to buy?
So after hours of research and a day of shopping, we have decided to drive our old car for another year. We hope this decision doesn't leave us stranded on the side of the road with a major repair bill. But we will definitely be looking for a vehicle in the next year.
In the middle of all this shopping and research for couches and cars, our computer decided not to turn on one morning. It looked like we were going to be making yet another unplanned purchase. Is it the charger or the computer that has gone bad? To buy or not to buy?
Denisa is glad to be married to a handyman that knows his way around a computer. He took it completely apart and worked his magic to get it working once again. So the decision is "not to buy" once again. But just like the other decisions, we'll probably be seeing a new computer some time in our future.
This seems to be a season of "to buy or not to buy" for us. We've spent the time researching and shopping, and we didn't buy anything new. But we are more informed and more ready when we make that decision that we have to buy. It's not glamorous, but this is yet just another part of wandering this season.
Since returning to south Texas from our Christmas trip, we have resumed the activities that we enjoy at Bentsen Grove Resort. One of those activities would have to be eating the local food. It's a different life-style from our wandering around the country, but we enjoy these two months of staying in one place. It's a great respite from the cold weather that most of the country is "enjoying." We've been wearing shorts and t-shirts and loving the blue-sky warm weather days of January. The average January temperature is in the 70s.We love the palm and citrus trees that surround us.
We have to say that there is less fruit on the park's trees than we have ever seen here. Last year, this tree was covered with oranges at this same time. This year you only see two!
The orange tree closest to us is a favorite with the resident birds. By the time the fruit ripens, the birds have already pecked a hole through the rind, and then neatly removed all the juicy fruit through that opening.
Another sign that the citrus season is crazy, are the blooms on our closest tree. These usually don't appear until mid-March. But this year we're seeing many trees in the park in full bloom in mid-January.
A tree shouldn't be blooming when fruit is still on the branches. But you can see the fruit in the blurry background behind the blooms. We wish we had the capability to share the sweet scent of these citrus blooms with you. It is Denisa's favorite smell in the world.
With fewer pieces of fruit on a tree, some are growing to gigantic size. This is a lemon from a neighbor's tree, and it is bigger than Denisa's hand. We made lemon ice and lemon pudding from a couple of these big fellows.
Last year we were juicing oranges and drinking pitcher-fulls every couple days. But for the first time in the six winters we have stayed in this park, we have purchased fruit and juice. We finally got to squeeze some fresh fruit this week, but it may be the last time.
One good place to buy fresh produce is the local pulga. That's the Spanish word for "flea" so this is a local flea market. Most of the vendors speak only Spanish, so they keep the pricing structure simple--most things are bagged in units that cost one dollar. We had been buying 5 avocados for $1, but today they were two for $1. Mangos were 6 for $1, and large bell peppers were 3 for $1. A $1 bag had 20 limes in it. The watermelon was $2. Last time we bought 3 pineapples for $1, but this week they were $1 each. So it's always a fun shopping experience with interesting bargains.
We weren't in the market for birds, but they are also available at the pulga.
Besides citrus and other fresh produce, we have other interesting options for food here in south Texas. We enjoy eating with the locals at the pulga, ordering things that we don't know how to pronounce. We also eat most of the meals prepared in the resort's kitchen. Aptly named "The Y-cook Cafe" we don't see any reason to cook if we can get a good meal just a short walk from our front door. They use volunteer help in the kitchen to keep the prices low. This year we are volunteering on ice cream nights, and we are working on our swirling skills to make a pretty serving of ice cream.
By checking the local "Winter Texan" newspaper, we find other resorts that have meals that are open to the public. We've tried Taco Tuesday and Fish Friday at other parks, as well as breakfast buffets in the area. So after losing weight this summer while we hiked up north, we can tell you that we are gaining weight as we eat our way across the south.
