Bubbles and other stuff

We have found out the Bubbles, the campground dog, is really a guard dog. We have noticed that when a small dog walks by with it's owner - Bubbles hair on her back bristles up, she barks and runs back and forth. She doesn't like the garbage pick truck, doesn't like any delivery trucks, doesn't like Mexicans, and on and on. Once most of the Winter Texans leave the park, she is left out of her cage to roam around. The front gates are always locked and therefore she is left inside to roam - especially at night. There are a number of 'park models' which is a fancy word for RVs that have been put up on blocks and resided and sheds added and for the most part - look nice. Here is another picture of Bubbles in her caged area. There are a couple of park models that, well, what can I say? Oh boy. Some of these park models have people living in them year round - which means in the summer it has to be just unbearable - the heat and humidity. So - we feel better that Bubbles has a totally different life after us Winter Texans go home. She is loved, fed, cared for, just on a different level. Many Winter Texans are packing up and leaving. Today starts the mass exodus. Which makes sense - these are pretty much a monthly rental spots. Our time is up on the 19th but we won't wait that long. We plan to pack up and leave this Thursday for San Antonio, for at least a week then head to Austin. We haven't a clue when we will be back in Vermilion, but that's okay. And we have changed our plans - we will be bringing the RV back to Ohio, living in it while we are there. Then, come middle of July - poof. Gone out west - somewhere. We are waiting for the Mexicans to come today to clean the outside of the RV. It is so filthy from the dust - and having no rain for the last six weeks - very gritty. Bubbles should have a barking conniption fit when they are here - we are very close to her cage. Then out to dinner to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Tomorrow I will be quilting for most of the day, I joined the group that quilts every Tuesday. Then dinner with the couple who suggested we come here - as a goodbye and thank you for suggesting this place. Wednesday is clean up day, laundry, pack, small errand running. Thursday we head to San Antonio.

Los Ebanos Ferry

We did it! We made it to Los Ebanos on Friday to see the hand-pulled ferry that connects the US with Mexico. This ferry was first started in the 1740's by the Spanish explorers, used by the Texas Rangers to get cattle rustlers, and during the 1920 and 1930 for smuggling booze across the border. This is the only hand-pulled ferry left in the country. Google Los Ebanos Ferry in Mission Texas. Weather was perfect (well, wasn't in the 90's yet!) so we traveled the 16 miles there. The town of Los Ebanos - oh my gosh. How poor. At first we didn't think anyone lived in this small town (population 403) but they do. Dave found a skinny horse tied up in the back of a tourist gift shop. Border Patrol was abundant here. And we didn't find out until the next day that Operation Fallen Hero was underway (see previous blog) and therefore, seemed very hightened security. A number of officers always kept their hand on their weapon. The river is about 15 feet deep while we crossed and the current was quite strong - I put my hand on the rope that the men hand pulled was so taught. And in the pictures you can see how the ferry is pushed downstream but the pullies and the ropes/cable keep it from totally drifting away.

After parking the truck we walked towards where the Border Patrol/Customs is located and saw customs officers and police on the entrance side of the ferry landing and we had to go to pay on the right side. Price to just go look at the ferry, not use it - fifty cents. To ride it - 75 cents. How could we not ride the ferry, crossing the Rio Grande and then stepping on Mexican soil, returning back on the ferry? The ferry can only accomodate 3 cars and about 20 pedestrians. We have noticed since we have been here in McAllen that if you want to cross the border, you typically use the 'main' bridges but there is a wait of about an hour to cross. However, you could easily cross here, it's a four mile drive to the nearest town. It's a good thing Dave suggested we bring our passports along. The Border Patrol helicopter flew overhead, back and forth over the river, kinda spooky. Once we crossed back to the US side we had to go through customs. We think the officer was trying to trip us up - he asked/assumed we didn't cross the ferry at which point Dave spoke up and said - of course we did! We couldn't pass up this opportunity! After our passports were checked, the officer said - did you see the cactus growing out of the ebony tree by the historical marker? No - so up we went and low and behold - wow! Look at all the cactus up there! What a fun cheap day!

Bird Calls in the night

It has been so hot this past week - day highs about 97 - and at night it 'cools' down to 75. Wind is typically high and we have the windows open both day and night, not having use of our a/c. Of course with high wind you get dirt and dust, but oh well. Today is supposed to be the last of the high temps - 97 predicted - for at least a week and by then we will have moved north to San Antonio. This weather is a month ahead of schedule, the locals say it gets this hot only mid March and after. Well, I don't like the heat, Dave is sneezing all the time from the dust, and the cats are so fried from this - have you ever seen a cat pant like a dog? Poor things. Yesterday we almost got kicked out of the park (just kidding) when Dave decided to hook up a water hose and wash the truck - it had turned a cream color from the dirt. He hooked up the hose and turned back towards the truck to start washing it and the pipe broke causing a gusher to spring up about 25 feet in the air! When the work crew came to fix the pipe about 10 minutes later Austin was standing with us and they blamed him at which point, in his grizzly cranky voice, said - I didn't do it! You use that cheap shiX on the pipes - no wonder more haven't broken! That's our Austin!

At night we keep the windows open to get some kind of breeze through. And with that, of course Grace (the wild cat we brought in to keep) kicks in with her night watching and guarding. She paces from window to window, Chip just moves from one resting place to another trying to get comfortable, and we struggle trying to get some sleep. With windows open you hear all kinds of noises in the night, specifically the pauraque night bird. Very distinctive call. Google this bird and listen to the sound. Here's a picture of it even though we don't see it. Sometimes it's right next door, then it moves down a couple of RVs, then it is by Bubbles - the campground dog, but very noisy. And there are feral cats so Grace makes sure they are kept away by her talking to them (her little meow). If a loud motorcycle goes by on the road, or an emergency vehicle goes tearing by - we hear coyotes howling until their ears quit hurting. There is a train track not far and railroad crossings every 2000 feet or so - so continuous whistling of the train - and since we have the windows open - can hear the clanking of the wheels. Ugh.

And then just when we start to fall asleep by 5am or so, the business next door starts up - a blast ringing to sound at 6am to start the workers to work, then tow motors running around, iron beams bouncing on the ground. It's a noisy place! By noon we are so pooped from not sleeping and with the heat so high we are lethargic, we take a 'power' nap for about 1/2 hour to rejuvinate ourselves. Retirement life is hard work!

Local news and Austin!

Not sure if you got the news up north, last week an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer (similar to Border Patrol) was shot and killed and another wounded while traveling in Mexico - coming home from a conference in Mexico City to 'home' of Laredo Texas - about 45 miles from here. The law has determined it was the Zeta drug cartel that was responsible for this and this past Thursday Operation Fallen Hero began to roundup those responsible for the death and also to crack down on illegal operations and movement and people. As of this morning over 200 people have been arrested, most in the US. Wow. Yesterday I went up to the local store and noticed many Border Patrol vehicles, police cars and SUVs just patrolling around. A little spooky. No one had their lights on or had anyone pulled over. I learned last night that this is part of the Operation Fallen Hero. Still we don't feel threatened in anyway. We would definitely come back to the Rio Grande Valley for winter reprieve from the snow flakes.

Austin - well, have you ever met someone who you just will never forget? This is Austin. He has his motorhome backed up to us (we are all back in sites) and from being here for six weeks and watching people and happenings - we knew he was the man people went to get things fixed. We have often marveled that when we look out the back windows to his RV, he has a small truck that has so much equipment in it, grinders, saws, tools and toolboxes, compressors, generator, etc. A machine shop on wheels. Let's paint Austin's picture for you......he's about 70 - 74 ish, stooped over, no teeth, always always wheres bib-overalls, long sleeve shirt under it, and always has a baseball cap on and grungy blue tennis shoes. He walks with his toes pointed way out, has the most irritating voice - cackles when he laughs, his hands are bent from arthritis and are filthy dirty, his hair - what you can see of it - is scraggly reddish, he wears huge glasses and is cross-eyed, but he seemed to be a gentleman to whoever came by. We have a recliner in the RV that just didn't recline all the way down. After looking at it Dave decided that if we could just get rid of the stoppers that hold it to a certain point, it would go down and be more comfortable. Dave asked Austin to see if he could look at it. When he knocked on Austin's door, Dave said he smelled the most awful things coming out of the unit - he wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Austin came over about 2 hours later, took one look at the chair and said he'd be back with tools. He knew exactly what needed to be done. And within 1/2 hour - the chair was done. We made small talk with him and learned that 'if it's broken and Austin can't fix it, just throw it away'. He has a fourth grade education, but is so street smart and savy, and does he know his tools and mechanics of things. What did Dave smell when he approached Austin's RV? Austin told him that he saurekraut and weenies for dinner - well no wonder it stunk! Just glad we weren't in that RV later in the night! Our encounter of him just proves that you never ever judge a book by the cover. He stayed with us for about another hour telling us his life's story - and a hard one it's been. And where he lives when he isn't here at the campground (northern Missouri at a friends machine shop where he camps out and helps his friend) and how he loves doing anything mechanical. As a matter of fact he built 3 Z-race stock cars by hand and they were driven by his friends' son and won all the races he entered. He had scrap books he brought and shared. What a character! God Bless Austin and all the people he has helped over the years!

Heat, Power Outages, Bubbles

This is the trip for power outages. While we were in Kinder Lousiana over New Years there was a power outage and we were concerned about how long - it was getting pretty cold and that forecast was to drop into the 20's that night. Fortunately it came back on in 4 hours. Then, this morning at 7:15am there was an outage. Sounded like a gunshot, there click, no power. Seems a bird decided to stradle the terminals on one of the transformer boxes on the pole not far from us and - pffft. Bird is fried and most of the park is out of power. Very concerned as to how long this outage would last - yesterday it was 96 and us and cats were miserable. Forecast for today is 87 and with no power - couldn't run fans (can't run the a/c since the site we are on doesn't have 50 amp power) and we thought maybe we would have to put the cats in the truck and go for a ride with the a/c on - just to keep them cool. Power was off only about 2 hours - thankfully it's on now.

There is a camp dog here, named Bubbles, who is a lovely yellow lab. A winter Texan a couple of years ago got sick and had to leave and couldn't take Bubbles, so Bubbles became the campground dog. Every morning someone comes to feed her, give her water. Then about 7am one camper comes and takes Bubbles for a walk. They are gone for about an hour and when she comes back, she usually has on a bandana. He takes it off once he gets her inside her gated area - an area about 30 feet X 25 feet. Inside her fenced area she has a dog house, a lean to where she can hide from the sun, there is a tree which when in full foliage should provide her with alot of shade. The morning visit/walk that Bubbles gets only started about 3 weeks ago. We are wondering if the man who comes get her is thinking about taking her with them when they go. It is heart breaking in the morning to see her about 6:50am start sitting in the corner of her fenced area, waiting for this man to come get her. When she seems him she starts yelping, waging her tail, turning around in circles and we know without looking out at her that he is coming. And then when he has her clipped on her leash, and they go out the gate and gone, Bubbles is so happy! One morning the man didn't come for her until 8:30am, she stayed in the corner just watching - at which point I thought - how cruel that he did that to her! But he did come and they did do their walk. People come all day long and walk their dogs past Bubbles gated pen, they give her treats, she is well cared for in that terms. But it is clear that she would rather be with someone all the time. Because of this and how I feel for her, I am glad we are going next week and won't know the fate if she goes with this man or not. I couldn't bare to see her here after the man has gone.

San Antonio is calling us

The weather has turned very hot here, supposed to be only in the high 70's but since last week we have reached over 90 for many days and 96 just 3 days ago. The humidity is high and it makes for very uncomfortable days and nights. We cannot run our a/c since we don't have 50 amp power, so we run two fans to circulate the air and we have 3 roof vents that pull up the hot air and out. By 6pm the temp typically falls down to mid 70's and it begins to cool off nicely. But during the day we suffer and again - so does the cats. Chip is lethargic most of the day. Grace just sleeps and is awake all night. The wind is still very strong which means we can't put out our awning over the front door because the wind will lift it up and collapse it. Isn't worth staking it down because we still run the risk of it being lifted right out of the ground's stakes with winds gusting to over 35 and makes it quite dusty to boot. So - we made a plan! I made reservations for a campground in San Antonio for next week, for a week. It's much cooler there - only about 200 miles north from McAllen, and we are looking forward to the move. Still have one more sightseeing to do before we are out of here. That's the hand-pulled ferry across the Rio Grande and we will do that either tomorrow or Friday - which ever day is coolest.

We stay busy by me quilting and Dave doing photo editing. With this heat we don't feel like doing much else. I have to develop a 'to do' list before this weekend, of things we need to go get or do before pulling up and leaving. We are planning on having the RV power washed and waxed - hopefully Tuesday, but a group of Mexicans that go around to all the campgrounds to do this service. Since it's so dusty and we haven't had rain in 6 weeks, the RV is just gritty dirty. Dave has washed the truck by hand and will do that again before we go. Defrost the fridge, restock the cupboards by grocery shopping, go get cat food at the pet store, refill the propane tanks in the RV in case we need to put the furnace on while heading to the north in the next couple of weeks, get some more oranges and grapefruits, etc. Fun list to do and thankfully everything you need is just so close. Great experience and again, glad we came here - but now it's time to go.

Hot in the Rio Grande Valley

Yes, it's hot - 90 yesterday. And I don't like hot. Neither does Chip. At night it cools down to 70, but that's still warm. And VERY windy. We are kinda clean fanatics - and we just can't keep the RV clean with the windows open - I wipe down the counter and 5 minutes later the wind blows in dust. So - we have a reprieve from cleaning for now. We have gotten hooked on the citrus fruit - we have gone through so many oranges and grapefruit, I have never tasted as sweet citrus before as these. I even made an orange pie! Lasted 2 days. Planning to ship home fruit to family.

We have a couple more things to do before we head out of here, which should be about the 5th of March. At that time we will head up to San Antonio for a week then start booking towards Vermilion. Two things we need to do yet are: going to the Los Ebanos Ferry which is a hand pulled ferry across the Rio Grande River to Mexico. Can only carry 3 cars, about 10 pedestrians at a time. We will land in Mexico, then turn around and do it again back - not take the truck just be a pedestrian. And the second thing we want to do yet is go to Laguna Atacosta National Wildlife Refuge not far from South Padre Island. It's a wetland and bird watching area.

Life here at the '55 and older' park is sure different than what we have experienced. Would we come back? Sure, but we want to try another park closer to Bentsen State Park to see what that life is about in another park. But next winter we plan to be in New Mexico. Then - the following winter - maybe back here in McAllen. We love McAllen - it has everything you want and need, and it certainly caters to the Winter Texan, which we feel we are now. Great experience. Strongly recommend coming here to the Rio Grande Valley - and if you are into water and sun - South Padre Island.

Santa Ana Wild Life Refuge

One of the places we wanted to visit was the Santa Ana Wild Life Refuge located in Alamo Texas, not far from McAllen. And people have told us how wonderful it is, many birds, beautiful hiking and biking trails, etc. With the temperature in the 80's yesterday we got to the Refuge about 1pm. Unfortunately they don't allow bike riding right now - they were also flooded out from Hurricane Alex and the two dams being released this past summer have caused damage to trails. I told Dave that I felt that I was walking underwater - you can see where the water marks are on everything - some places the water was about 4 feet deep where others about 15 feet deep. Because of the flooding the vegetation hasn't come back yet. The waters just receeded in the area we walked about one month ago. No vegetation, no insects, therefore no birds and small animals. There is a fire watch tower that allows people to be above the treeline. And two towers with a rope bridge between them - we didn't cross that - just took some pictures of it. As we were standing on the top of the watch I am sure we were looking across to Mexico but with all the trees - oh well. While we were walking we saw a tree that sure looked like marks of an animal crawling up and then staying there. We can only imagine what became of all the animals. This picture shows the water marks on all the vegetation. And if you look closely you can see the trail where it is so dried out now that it's cracked open. We have not had rain since the middle of January and they say that this is normal. None in the forecast for the next 10 days either but highs in the upper 80s, lows at night in the low 60s - dream weather! We will have to come back to this park in a couple of years to see if the park has rebounded. The naturalist that we talked to said he hasn't seen many birds or animals, however yesterday during his nature walk he did see an armadillo. Wouldn't that been cool to see? Dave takes pictures all the time and while we were at the bird watching blind he captured these two red-wing black birds - the one in flight is awesome! He has started to use the tripod with all his pictures and I see a huge improvement on what he can do. As we check off the different sights we want to see, we still have the 'big kahuna' to go to - the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge not far from South Padre Island. This is the biggest of all the bird watching/wildlife areas and we will probably go to that one early next week.

Dolphin Boat Ride - South Padre Island

Yesterday we drove to Port Isabell on South Padre Island and took a 3 hour boat ride down the Intercoastal Waterway into the Port of Brownsville. About a 25 mile ride one way. Was absolutely gorgeous weather, was smart this time and had lots of sunblock on and avoided the big burn. Talk about desolate - the barrier islands between the intercoastal waterway and the Gulf of Mexico is uninhabited and was barren, very sandy, did not see any wildlife on it. Did see dolphins riding along our bow, ospreys nesting in the range markers, lots of comorants and sea birds. The most educational and very worth our trip was the Port of Brownsville. There are 4 major scrap companies located here, many ships are brought in when they are being scuddled (scrapped out) and we saw ocean freighters, naval ships, barges, and an assortment of ships in various stages of being taken apart. These ships are 100% recycled - nothing goes to waste. This picture shows the captain on the bow of our boat pointing and telling all he knew. In the background behind him is a WWII destroyer in the process of being cut up. The captian of our boat is a 23 year old Tejano (Texan of Mexican descent) and he explained everything that we were looking at - from what types of barges were there to how the scrap is taken and recycled. He grew up in this area, a third generation shrimper, his father took him out on the shrimp boat when he was just a small child and since he could run the boats that early, he was able to qualify and get his captains license at a very young age. He also has a special permit to bring charter boats into the Port, since 9/11 the government only allows those with special permits to enter the Port. Part of the tour he took us back to where the shrimp boats were tied up to dock. Many of them shrimpers are out of business now and there are 3 major shrimping companies that run. He said that the foreign shrimpers - from Taiwan, Japan, etc. have really hurt the American shrimp industry. He wanted us to make sure we buy only US shrimp and help our fellow Americans. After the boat ride, the price of the trip included a taco dinner at the restaurant located right at the pier. Pretty tasty - I had grouper tacos and Dave had shrimp. Dave and I want to come back to South Padre Island before we head home because there is a turtle rescue place and it is closed on Monday's - so will make this trip again - and I will make it a point to get us to walk along the beach of the Gulf of Mexico.

Bentsen State Park and Birds

We took our folding bikes and went to Bentsen State Park which is located right on the border and in the town of Mission yesterday, and had a nice biking hike and watched alot of birds. By the end of our ride the wind had really kicked up and it was getting difficult to get off the bikes and park them while we sat and bird watched - the wind would topple the bikes over. Many Winter Texans out bird watching also. Dave is always interested in what others have in terms of cameras and takes every opportunity to ask what kind of lens, what setting, etc. just so he can hone his skills in picture taking. I think he has done a marvelous job - after all, it's a hobby, not a profession and the pictures serve as memory keepers for us. Here are some pictures you will enjoy - birds that you will not find anywhere else in the US. The Green Jay and the Altamira Oriole are two of the most colorful birds here and only here in Texas. While we were visiting the park we made sure we took a picture of the International Boundary marker between Mexico and US. And made sure one of our bikes visited Mexico. Did see the Border Patrol driving inside the park where you only see a tram for moving people. This park was closed in July 2010 due to Hurrican Alex. Two lakes further up the Rio Grande River were overflowing from all the rains and Mexico decided to release both dams within one hour of each other and within 6 hours the park was under 10 feet of water. Some areas are still not open to the public and that is a shame. Here's a picture of our bikes at the border marker. They told us to look out for the bobcats, they were seen that morning wandering around but they are very skittish of people. And javelinas (wild pigs) are roaming also. Didn't see or hear either one.

Visit to Mexico

Yesterday we went into the city proper of McAllen to look at the shops and sightsee. From this picture you see that maybe we are in Mexico? Sure felt like it. Every store front was busy with people, sales persons outside hawking their wares - and when we walked by them - they quickly switched to perfect English - am I that obvious that I am not a Tejano? Perfume shops, gold jewelry shops, junk shops, small stands selling tacos and such, electronic stores, and a really cute store that sold children's formal wear. This store catered to the family looking for that perfect first communion dress/tux or babtismal outfit or wedding outfit. Was just adorable! And, I noticed a number of stores where there were Asians running the stores behind the counter. Hmmmm. In town is a JCPenney store with an historical marker in front. We read it and it said that the building was built specifically for JCPenney and has been used continually by that company since being built. Of course, I had to go in and see what was so special. I felt like I had stepped back way in time, when I was a kid and my sister and I taking the rapid transit to downtown Cleveland and walking through the Woolworth store on Euclid Avenue. Multiple floors, stuffed just crammed in, people every where. And anything you could want was there. Wow. Another wow for the day - some stores had "Aceptamos Pesos" signs meaning that they accepted the Mexican Peso for cash. At the Penney store the woman in front of me in the checkout handed all her money to the cashier to pay for it - obviously not knowing how to count or make change in American currency. When we left and began our drive home (about 5 miles down the road) it didn't dawn on us until we passed the bus station, but the international bus depot was just one block over. Most of these people came in off the bus, shopped, then head back to the bus for the trip home that afternoon. And no, we won't go to Mexico - the reports in the paper and on TV reflects terrible violence with killings, drug trafficking, just 10 miles from here. But we would definitely come back here to McAllen for another winter, feel absolutely safe.

Stranger in my own country

I got a coupon from JCPenney in email and talked Dave into buying some new jeans for himself. We trekked over to one of 6 indoor malls in McAllen this morning and got our business done. Since I am still not feeling 100% from the flu, I stopped in the middle of the mall in their food court to get a lemonade and just sat and watched people, rested. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, spoke Spanish - I was wondering if they would understand me when I ordered the drink. Not sure who were Tejanos and who had come over the border for the weekend from Mexico to shop. Me being red head and very light skinned - I stood out amongst all. After sitting there about 1/2 hour people watching, Dave found me and I made him sit and just watch and look. I told him that sitting in this mall was deja vu - this felt just like when I have sat in the mall in Jerusalem, Israel - watching people, not being able to converse or understand what is spoken around me, unable to determine the flavor of peoples' conversations that you always pick inadvertantely. You just smile, watch, and conjur up in your mind what people are saying to each other. Dave told me that in order to get a job here you HAVE to be fluent in Spanish. Si, senor. He also said - he noticed everyone he observed buying something paid in cash. Not credit card, but cash. Walking to the truck we noticed taxi vans and shuttles and many cars from Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and one car from Coahuila which is far piece away parked all around us. These are border states of Mexico. Business here in the Rio Grande Valley is booming. As David - the tinting guy from a week ago said - this area never really felt the recession. And people were buying - bags and bags of purchases! Many families with young children, extended families with older folks along to buy something, teenage kids, older couples just strolling, just a busy busy mall!

Yes, it is cold in South Texas!

We did get nasty weather as you all got up north this week - only very mild by our standard and devasting by their standards - crops ruined and everything came to a standstill Friday morning. I didn't know too much about it - I came down with the flu late Tuesday night and was pretty much out of it until about 5pm today. Hope no one else gets this awful crud. Moaned alot, slept alot, was just pure lousy company for Dave. We learned a huge lesson with this sickness - I had not prepared the RV for anything like this - no medicine, no thermometer (what that would do - who knows - you know when you have a fever, dah!) When we head out next time - we will make sure we have brought all the first-aid, home remedy stuff from the house. As it turned out weather wise - our high Wednesday and Thursday was 37, the low at night got down to about 27. We were fortunate that our water lines didn't freeze - we watched our neighbor fight with getting ice out of the hose until about 10am which is when the sun rose far enough to hit the hose and melt the ice. Woke up Friday morning to about 1/4 inch of ice on everything. Very pretty - but very hazardous. Was beautiful watching the sun beating down yesterday morning on the palm trees and seeing ice chunks flow down. Lucky no one was hurt.

We have decided to extend our stay here from 1 month to 6 weeks. There is still so much more to see and do - and with me getting sick and loosing this week, well - we just have to add more time to the end. We have started to see some folks pack up and go, I think by March 1st we will see a mass exodus - temps here are typically near 90 and people don't like that. By March 1st we should be headed to San Antonio then begin our journey back north.

South Padre Island

We went to the South Padre Island Birding Center yesterday and what a lovely day it was. Temp about 77, sunny, just gorgeous. We stopped at Palo Alto Battleground National Park first which is just north of Brownsville. Palo Alto is where the first battle between Mexico and the US over the Texas territory was and started the Mexican/US war in 1845. Interesting, alot of history. Traveled to South Padre from there, about 15 miles north of Palo Alto and on the Gulf of Mexico and spent almost 4 hours walking the boardwalk looking and taking pictures of all the birds and fauna. We are astonished that we have seen birds that most people haven't is an understatement. Birds like Skimmers that fly with their mouth open skimming the water for bugs and small aquatic life, ghost crabs, fiddler crabs, American Bittern, Purple Gallinule, Long-Billed Curlew, Reddish Egret, Tri-colored Herons, and of course, the American Alligator. So many other kinds of birds just too many to mention - Dave has lots of pictures and will send on - just truly amazing. This picture above is from the observation deck of the birding center, and it gives a flavor of the boardwalk that winds in and out of the marshes and waters. If you have never been to South Padre Island, I think of it as Fort Lauderdale on a smaller scale. Tall condominiums and hotels, lots of touristy things to see and buy, alot of restaurants, and deep sea and dolphin watch tour boats. We are going on a bout tour here on SPI on the 14th with some folks here at the campground and then lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking the water. This is a beautiful place where you don't have to leave the US to get to a tropical destination. Beaches are sandy white, access to the beaches are everywhere. This picture is of a Brown Pelican jumping after many of the mullets (fish that look like catfish) and they were about 8 inches long, but you can see the high rises in the background. For the next couple of days we are going to sit tight - the storm you all are getting, we are getting but very high winds, temperatures dropping dramaticaly, sunny but cold - freeze warnings out for all crops for the next couple of nights (28 is predicted). We definitely know we don't want to experience a Northern Ohio winter ever again. Warmth it is!