Pirates on Padre Island!

We don't know if you caught the story on national news, but pirates have been sighted on South Padre Island!  Normally this would alarm us, but in our adventurous retirement we volunteered to go aboard their ship.

Perhaps the real story is that Denisa's Mother won a free ticket to the Black Dragon Pirate Ship cruise out of Port Isabel, so she treated us to tickets to go with her.  Someone with a marketing degree must have figured out that's a good way to sell tickets!  It's a two hour cruise that goes to the very southern tip of Padre Island, and comes with pre-trip pirate entertainment. 

During the trip there are "pirate lessons"  teaching us how to pillage and plunder.  Notice that Mark is holding a gun, ready to back up the lead pirate as we steal a treasure chest from the folks at Pier 19 on Padre Island.  Also notice that the gun's ammunition is water, and know that there were a lot of squirt gun fights during our voyage.

Because you must look like a pirate to become part of the crew, we were treated to complimentary mustaches and beads.  In the picture we just happened to be standing in front of the "wenches" restroom on board.

We sailed under the causeway that separates San Isabel from Padre Island (where we were entertained by some playful dolphins),

all the way to the southern tip of the island, where we could take the "postcard picture of Padre."

Even if you aren't as brave as wanderers like us, you can still hang out around the pirate landing for some great photo ops!

Almost an International Bike Trip

We finally fit a bicycle trip into our busy schedule!  We rode the 4 miles south from our resort to the World Birding Center at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park.  Since this is another Texas state park, we get in free with the annual pass we purchased.  We love free entertainment!  It's a nice flat ride through a 3 mile trail once you get into the park.

  This park is on the migratory route for thousands of birds going south in the fall and north in the spring.  (That sounds like our travel plans as well!) Birders from around the world flock here to see the birds throughout the year.  Since we were only four miles away, it shouldn't have taken us so long to get here! They feed the birds twice each day in areas along the trail, and next time we'll bring the good camera in hopes of catching a picture of some beautiful bird like a green jay that isn't blurry.

  For today, we only have biker pictures.  Mark is checking his phone because he just got a text message that international roaming charges would apply.  The southern edge of the state park is the Rio Grande River, so this bicycle ride was almost an international trip!

After our 10+ mile bike ride, we finished the day at another concert--a benefit for the Lion's Club Camp for children with disabilities.  We heard the Swing Street Big Band (local musicians age 21-84), the Senior Ambassador Singers (winter Texas men), and the Rio Grande Valley Concert Band (winter Texans).  We are getting so cultured!

Busy at Bentsen Grove

We are surprised at how fast the days fly by!  It doesn't seem like we have time to publish a blog entry because we are too busy having fun!  We are still living off the fruit of the land--tangerines, navel oranges, and juice oranges--plus beautiful pink roses off Denisa's Mother's rose bush.

But we are having to practice some behavior modification since we first got to the Rio Grande Valley.  After a new friend confided that all her clothes were getting tight, she had figured out that each orange has 100 calories.  So us adding 800 calories of citrus per day probably isn't a good thing.  We have cut our consumption in half--way down to only 4 pieces of citrus per day this week.  We have also cut out all afternoon ice cream, limiting ourselves to only one huge serving of ice cream in the evening.  What a strict diet we are on!

Since man cannot live on citrus and ice cream alone, there is a produce truck that comes to the park every Friday at 2:00.  A great selection of fresh grown vegetables and fruits makes a veritable smorgasbord of healthy selections.  They even peel and core the fresh pineapples while you wait!

If there is anything else you need, the Dollar Store is just a short walk away down a golf cart path.  They stock milk, eggs, and a surprising amount of grocery items.  So you could really survive quite nicely without ever starting up the engine in your car.

For our first full week at Bentsen Grove Resort we are trying more activities.  In addition to continuing most of last week's activities, Denisa tried Tai Chi, Zumba, ping pong, swimming, and Spanish class.  Mark added wood carving and pickle ball to his repertoire.  Every week we get a schedule of all the activities available.  Denisa highlights her possibilities as soon as the schedule arrives, and it looks like the page has turned from white to bright highlighter yellow when she is finished.

We also took in a concert at the park.  Many groups that spend the rest of the year in the Branson area do performances in the Rio Grande Valley in the winter.  For $6 per ticket you can see some wholesome entertainment that would cost at least 3 times that amount in Missouri.  Since they are at the recreation hall here at the resort, again you can even get good entertainment without starting up the car.

Texas Citrus Festival

Saturday was the annual Citrus Festival in downtown Mission, Texas, so we got to take in all the local activities.  There was a barbecue cooking contest and vender kiosks around the downtown park.  But we especially enjoyed the tent that housed the citrus fruit entries that were judged.

There were trophies and ribbons awarded and we learned that there are perfectly round lemons, and grapefruit that are bright orange on the inside.  There were also huge pomelo (that weigh around 3 pounds each) and awards given for the freakiest fruit.

But the thing that brings thousands to downtown Mission is the Citrus Festival parade.  We were there almost an hour early in order to find a space for our chairs.  Considering that the 3:00 parade started 45 minutes late, we had eaten a lot of that huge bag of kettle corn by the time we saw the first float.

The parade would be almost two hours long, and we found out that the area high schools have very large bands that were quite good.  We also found one tiny band that got to ride instead of march down the parade route.

We discovered that the area cities in the Rio Grande Valley had each selected a teenage girl to compete for the Queen of Citrianna and her Royal Court.

All the local royalty were dressed in appropriately colored dresses, and each rode in a convertible with their young escort.  The picture is of the Duchess of Pink Grapefruit.  But as expected in a citrus parade we also saw Duchesses of Orange, Marshwhite Grapefruit, Tangerine, and Ruby Red Grapefruit.  Before the two hour parade was over, we also saw the Duchesses of Honeydew, Bluebonnet, Cactus Blossom, Delta Waters, Live Oak, Butterfly, Wildflowers . .

But the highlight of the parade must be the floats decorated with citrus fruit. 

The parade theme was "Old Time Rock 'n Roll" and these floats looked good enough to eat!  Just like the Rose Bowl Parade, most of the decorating must be done at the last minute.  Besides the obvious citrus fruits, we also found that they used leaves and things like onion seeds to attain different colors.  The following is a sample of some of our favorite floats:



It's like summer camp for seniors!

What do people do to keep from being bored when sitting in the same campsite for weeks at a time?  Well, it doesn't look to be a problem here at Bentsen Grove Resort.  In the first two days we started the day with 8:00 exercise class; danced our way through line dancing; went to an evening dance (that would be our second dance this week--a new world record!); sang with the church choir led by their 90-year-old director; and played an evening of card bingo.  Denisa also had her first clogging lesson; sweated through an additional aerobics class; and played through her first pickle ball round robin.

All that exercise should equate to some serious calorie deficiency.  But we also participated every time the kitchen was open at the rec hall.  That would include two ice cream socials (in one day) and several meals.  This allows campers to concentrate on activities instead of cooking. This generous serving of ice cream only costs $1, and is plenty for even an ice-cream-aholic like Mark to share!

 

Food is inexpensive because it is served and cooked by volunteers.  They served 6 meals over a seven day period at the "Y Cook Cafe" and there is always a long line of hungry campers.  

While Denisa did most of the playing, Mark got some maintenance activities done.  He cleaned the battery posts, got the in-house vacuum system operating, exercised the generator, and cleaned the bathroom vent.  I guess that proves that you don't get away from home maintenance even when you sell your home and are living in vacation mode.

We would have participated in even more activities, but we took Denisa's Mother to an emergency dental appointment on Friday morning.  Who knew that tooth problems could be contagious?  She had a crown fall off, and it will take a couple more appointments to get it fixed.

We have met so many people in these first few days, and we are amazed at how friendly everyone is.  We can't begin to remember all their names, but we have determined that if you are talking to guy, "Jim" would be a good guess.  

Activities are free here at the resort because they are taught by dedicated volunteers that want to share their hobby.  There is even free equipment to use so you can try new activities without investing in clogging shoes or a pickle ball racket.  

We don't know how this compares with other resorts, but we think it is great so far!

Palm and Orange Trees!

Before our travel day to Mission, Texas, we had two business stops.  Denisa drove to her dentist appointment to get her temporary crown. (Temporary crown sounds like her royal status is fleeting!)  We can't say enough good things about Dr. Hoeppner and his staff.  Denisa was in the dentist chair 5 minutes before her scheduled appointment at 8:00, and got finished in record time!

Meanwhile, Mark got things packed up at camp and drove the motorhome to Boerne to get our Texas safety inspections done.  This is one of the hoops necessary to become Texas residents.  This was a smooth process, and we were on the road heading straight south through San Antonio by 10:30.

We have driven to Mission, Texas, many times to visit Denisa's Mother over the last 30 winters.  It's always fun when we start seeing palm trees.  It's a sign that we are entering a warmer climate.  The weather warmed as we drove south, and we were ready to change into shorts and sandals when we pulled into our next home at Bentsen Grove Resort at 3:00.  Denisa's favorite part of our lot is the orange tree growing right beside our window!  Even before we were set up, she was picking and eating an orange (or maybe two oranges?) 

We also have a grapefruit right behind our motorhome.  

Denisa's Mother had made supper for us, and sent us home with tangerines from her tree that is loaded with fruit.  We have been eating (or drinking) 7-9 pieces of citrus every day since we got here.  If high doses of Vitamin C prevent the common cold, we should have a very healthy winter.

We also celebrated Christmas with Denisa's Mother.  We decided a delayed gift exchange would be better than mailing presents.  So Santa Claus came a month late this year.

We are feeling very blessed to be enjoying warm days amongst the palm and orange trees!  We think we'll stop wandering and stay here for a while.

San Antonio Missions Bike Ride

We had been in a hurry to replace Mark’s bike because we wanted to ride the new River Walk bike/hike trail in San Antonio.  Tuesday was the last full day in this area, and we had temperatures in the upper 70’s—a perfect day for a 15 mile bike ride!

 Everyone knows about the Alamo, but there are 4 other missions south of the downtown River walk that are now joined by a wide, smooth path.  (Note that I did not say it was a flat path because there were definitely a few hills.) All of the missions are part of the National Park Service, and have free admission.  So it was a cheap day of exercise and education.  It is so much fun biking for hours without worrying about car traffic, and enjoying beautiful missions along the way!

We started the day at the mission 3 miles south of the Alamo—El Concepcion.  We left our car in the parking lot and walked through the beautiful church.  

After we left Concepcion, we unloaded our bikes and headed the 4 miles south to the second mission—San Jose.  This includes a one mile ride off the trail, and either the signage isn’t very good or we are both rotten at reading signs. This was the only time that we felt lost all day. Because we have visited San Jose before, we didn’t watch the national park film this time.  The compound walls are the most intact of any of the missions, and made it the easiest to imagine life for the Franciscan friars and the local Indians they were trying to convert.  I love the deep blue sky against the white limestone walls of the mission!

The next step was the furthest south gem on this necklace of missions—Espada.  Less visited because of its more remote location, we enjoyed talking to the volunteer guide here.  He was spinning wool and practicing dying it with powder he made from the cochineal we learned about during our hike 3 days earlier.  We might have left the university, but we’re still learning!  We assume this new knowledge will be helpful the next time we decide to spin our own yarn to make new red clothing for ourselves.

We headed our bikes to the other side of the river and rode back towards the downtown area.  We stopped at the 3^rd mission in the chain—San Juan.   Check out the prickly pear cactus that is a head taller than Denisa!  

  

 All the missions have active congregations that have services on the weekend.  Because they are also operated by the National Park Service, there are friendly docents to answer any questions at each stop.  We talked to the group here who are living in their RVs, working 3 days per week in exchange for a free camp site.  Once we settle down from wandering, we might do the same.  

Our total bike ride was over 15 miles.  We started a little before noon, and returned to the car a little before 5:00.  The path was smooth and reasonably flat.  But I can’t lie—I chose to walk my bike up a few of the longer inclines.   Mark was showing off with his new bike, and rode to the top of all the hills (even though once I passed him while he was riding and I was walking).

We stopped for water and protein bars, but we definitely burned more calories than we consumed.  So we celebrated by fighting the 5:00 rush hour traffic to get to Grimaldi’s Pizzeria--home of the coal brick oven pizza!

We also stopped in at Trader Joe’s.  It was our first shopping experience there, so I googled for recommended things to buy.  We were proud of our healthy choices of Spinach and kale greek yogurt dip and the grape seed oil.  But we are looking more forward to trying the cookie butter and Joe-Joes.  It was a great day wandering around San Antonio!