Saturday, February 24, 2018 - Bentsen State Park (Biking & Birds); Laundry; Downloading Pictures from New Camera; Visit to Bass Pro; Cracker Barrell;

Saturday, February 24, 2018 - Bentsen State Park (Biking & Birds); Laundry; Downloading Pictures from New Camera; Visit to Bass Pro; Cracker Barrel

What a beautiful morning it was to ride our bicycles at Bentsen State Park.  It was slightly cool to start but warmed up as we rode along.  The ride today was so much easier than our last several times so we hope that means our legs are getting a little stronger.  We added just a little more distance to our route today, increasing by .4 of a mile.  It's small, but adding a little at a time is more doable for us.  We won't be able to ride tomorrow morning but hopefully we can ride most days during our last couple of weeks here.  I'd love to see us reach 6 miles or more by that time.

After the ride through the park, we returned to the ranger station, where we stopped so I could take a few pictures of the bids with my new camera.  I need to bring our tripod next time, so the camera will be more steady.  I did not realize until I was looking at the picture and editing them that I had hit video at some point, and was actually taking pictures while the video was on.  I managed to get a few pictures I will share, but I will continue to work on this and hopefully be sending you some really great pictures soon.  Take the time to enlarge them so you can see the birds in the picture.

Notice the bright orange bird at the top, left of center.  I believe it is an Altimara
Oriole.  There are also several green jays in the trees, and a woodpecker on the feeder.

A green jay and Altimara Oriole on the feeder.

Two green jays.  They are so pretty.

I believe this is a red winged blackbird and of course, a beautiful cardinal.

Another shot of the woodpecker, so you can see his red head, even though it's a little blurry.

I have no idea if these are some of the chachalacas or some other bird, but I just loved the starkness of this picture against the clouded sky.  

After having our breakfast, I drove the truck up to the park building to do a couple of loads of laundry.  All of the parking spaces were taken, so I drove back to Bentley and asked Dean to take me back up and drop me off.  

I loaded the clothes into 2 washing machines and then walked into the exercise room and pedaled the stationary bicycle for a few miles before going back to move the clothes to the dryers.  Once in the dryer I filled one with quarters 3 times and the other one 4 times. Towels are some of the hardest things to get dry, especially in these dryers.  They were still damp after 4 rounds in the dryer.  I brought them home and they are hanging on a shower curtain rod to finish drying.  I also hung up sheets - flat one on the bathroom shower rod and the fitted one in the bedroom using pant holder hangars, the one with clips on each end to hold the pants.  I just clipped sections of the sheet so it would dry finish drying quicker.  This worked great.  Wish I would have thought of it sooner.  Even though the park does not have the best laundry facility I have decided I'd rather do it here for the next two weeks than go back to the laundromat - especially after something in one of the washers got on several of our shirts last time.  I did not see the streaks until after they had dried completely.  

Dean is much better on a computer than I am, so I asked him if he could help me get my pictures downloaded to Google Photos from my new camera.  When he came to pick me up at the laundry later he was still working on it.  We did manage to figure it out and it was slow going when they started downloading.  Eventually all of the pictures were downloaded but I still need to crop them before adding them to Friday's blog.  Once it's past 6-6:30 in the morning the internet really gets bogged down.

After eating a little lunch, I fell asleep in my chair.  When I woke up Dean was outside so I got up and did a little cleaning/picking up inside.  He was in a bit of a funk today (he says he is getting hitch itch) so about 3 or so, I suggested we take a drive to the Bass Pro Shop in Harlingen for something to do.  Bass Pro Shops are always so massive looking, but we have not found one yet that compares to the "Granddaddy of them all" in Springfield, MO, only two hours from our hometown.  Still, we enjoyed just walking around looking in the various sections.  We found a couple of shirts for Dean that were on sale.  He needed a few nicer shirts since I recently removed several of his "good shirts" that were in the closet to the wear while "working outside shirts".

We enjoyed our drive to Harlingen.  Dean prefers taking the back roads even if the distance is greater.  We both enjoy driving through the country.  We took the route furthest to the south where we enjoyed seeing the vegetable fields and cows grazing in their pastures. 

I snapped a few pictures as we were leaving Bass Pro.  They do a great job of "decorating" around their stores.  I love how they brought the Texas theme in with cacti and such.

Steer, and various types of cacti for a Texas theme.

By now we were getting hungry.....again!  We were trying to decide between Applebee's and Cracker Barrel, and finally selected Cracker Barrel since it did not require leaving the immediate area.  When the hostess told us about their featured dinner (chicken, rice and mushroom gravy, with two sides) before seating us, I thought she said it was $5.99.  After going over the menu, we finally decided we'd just have the featured meal since it was such a good price.  Imagine our surprise when the ticket came and the meal was $10.39 each.  I did ask about it, and evidently I did not hear her correctly, so in the future I will double check the price before ordering.  None of the other meals we considered ordering were as much, so that added to our frustration. The worse part for me is it had a layer of cooked onions between the chicken and the gravy over the rice.  I'm not fond of onions at all and especially these - they had a really strong taste to them.  However, despite the onions, the meal wasn't too bad after I pushed most of them aside.

It was a nice drive home.  I worked on the blog for a couple of hours once we returned, however the internet (both at Val's and my Verizon hotspot) was too bogged down to load the pictures from my camera.  I'll be up early tomorrow to try again before everyone else starts connecting to the Internet.  (As you can see it worked!)

Friday, February 23, 2018 - Walk in the Mist; Citrus Center Winter Festival; Lunch at Willie's; International Ferry Ride; Texas Rest Stop; Mail Delivery; New Neighbors; Haircut; Reading

Friday, February 23, 2018 - Walk in the Mist; Citrus Center Winter Festival; Lunch at Willie's; International Ferry Ride; Texas Rest Stop; Mail Delivery; New Neighbors; Haircut; Reading

Since it was quite foggy this morning, we decided we would walk here in the RV park.  We made one lap.  What we thought was a light mist when we started out, we soon discovered was a heavy mist, so once around was enough for today.  It is supposed to warm up later today after a very cool day (50's) yesterday, so we hope tomorrow will see us back on the bicycles at Bentsen State Park.

This morning we attended the Citrus Center Winter Festival with Dennis and Pam.  It is being held at Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco.  They have never attended before, and it sounded interesting to us, so off we go.  Upon arrival, we saw a number of small tents set up outside, in front of the University Building  Each tent was providing different types of information for residential citrus growers.  Dennis and Pam have a few citrus trees on their property, so hopefully they will benefit from information provided here.  The booths/tents either had literature or talked to attendees about pests and diseases in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley), citrus varieties grown in the valley, what the citrus center offers and new citrus research.  One of the booths had various live insects on display that are harmful to citrus plants.  There was a large plastic container with some really big cockroach looking bugs.  Come to find out they were Madagascar roaches.  Someone said hold one.  No - not me!  The lady next to me reached in and got one and held it so I could take a picture.  Eeek!!!!!

Madagascar Roaches

Can't believe this lady reached in, picked it up and held it in her hand.  

They had a very interesting juicer on display, where  they were giving free orange juice samples.  Dean and I shared a cup.  It was pretty tasty.  Oranges and grapefruit were available for sale, and I believe there were a few citrus plants for sale. At another booth they had different types of grape fruit.  Pam and I  tried one that was pale in color.  It wasn't too bad but a little sugar would have tasted quite good on it.

Juicer they were using. 

To provide a little festivity to the event, a young man was providing live music.  

I'm not sure what the problem was with this tree but I found it interesting.

We believe this tree is a live oak.  

On the way to the University, we passed by a shopping area.  I told Dean "there's a Big Lots"!  Earlier I was telling him about the skinny hangars for $8 at Big Lots - thanks to Drena's comment on a recent blog post.  He didn't think there were any Big Lots here in Texas.  I told him I had already seen a couple.  When we left  the Citrus Festival, as we passed the same shopping center earlier, Dennis pulled into the lot at Big Lots!  A little humor for you this morning!  Pam and I headed to the store while the guys waited in the vehicle.  I found them Drena!  Thank you!  With this purchase all of our hanging clothes will now be on the newer skinny hangars with only a few extras to spare.  I'm still amazed at the increased space these hangars provide in our closets!  Thank you to Dennis for taking the time to stop here.

By now it was past noon, so where do we want to eat?  Dennis suggested Willie's or Tower Burgers.  Pam and I both said Willie's.  It is a BBQ restaurant.  We have not had any BBQ in quite awhile.  We were not sure we would find a place to park when we first arrived, but fortunately the church next door allows the use of their parking lot when it is not being utilized by the church congregation.  As we walked in we noticed several people in line, however it moved quickly.  They take your order, then give you a number that is called out when your meal is ready to pick up.  They have large, old metal ice chests to hold various bottled drinks to choose from.  

Where you place your order -- notice their menu written on the chalkboard above. Pam and Dennis placing their order.

We didn't have to wait too long for our food.  Pam and I both ordered the Cowboy Bowl, Dennis chose the Stuffed Baked Potato and Dean went all out with a 2 meat/3 side meal.  He chose brisket and pork ribs, cole slaw, potato salad and macaroni and cheese.  They failed to give him the mac n cheese, but he was too full to eat it so didn't bother asking for it.  We took quite a bit of food home with us.

My Cowboy bowl, beans, rice, pico de gallo, cheese and brisket.

Dennis' stuffed baked potato.

Dean's 3 meat/3 sides (without one of the sides).  He had the brisket and ribs.

Dean asked Dennis if they had anything else planned for this afternoon.  They did not so Dean mentioned going to see the International Ferry at Los Ebanos, Texas.  It is the last hand operated ferry on the Rio Grande River.  Both Dennis and Pam thought it was worth checking out.  Since none of us had our passports, we made a stop at both of our rigs to pick them up.  When we arrived at our rig, we had a package waiting for us and at first I thought it was our personal mail that was shipped on Tuesday, but instead it was a book I had ordered.  Debbie told me about it before they left for home last week.  It is called "1,000 Places To See in the US and Canada Before You Die".  My goodness it is a heavy paperback book.  I think you could knock someone out with it if you wanted to.  

Next was a quick stop at Dennis and Pam's for their passports.  Both Dean and Pam had the route pulled up on their phones.  It was interesting while studying the GPS, it indicated an arrival time of about 48 minutes - it didn't take near that long.  Sometimes the GPS does funny things!  Several folks take this ferry, otherwise they would need to drive twenty miles to the next bridge crossing.   

Prices to ride the ferry.

We found our way to the ferry boarding, located a place to park and walked down to watch the ferry as it left the US side; as well as the five men on board who pulled and worked the rope to move the ferry across the Rio Grande.  It was fairly windy and there were some small waves as we crossed the river east to west.  The ferry crossed at a point where there was a large bend in the river, which threw me off when trying to determine what direction the layout here is.  When you think about US/Mexico you naturally think it is south from US to Mexico, but not at this particular location.  For $4.50 each, Dean and I both were able to ride the ferry over and back.  The ferry over and back didn't take long at all, but it was an experience we'll probably always remember.  

As we walked toward the ferry landing these folks were going through customs to take the ferry over to Mexico.

Where we paid our fee to ride the ferry.  We paid $2.50 here, and another $1.25 for each of us to ride the ferry back to the US.

The ferry just picked up passengers in Mexico and are bringing them to the US.

Disembarking on US soil.

As we walked down to board the ferry.

As we pulled away from the roadway.

Looking down the Rio Grande River from the ferry.

We did not disembark on the Mexico side.  There isn't much there but in retrospect, I kind of wish we had at least walked up to see what was there.  While looking at the GPS satellite as I write this, I see several buildings in the immediate area that might have been some shops.

We had to wait for vehicles to load on the Mexico side to return to the US.  Only three vehicles will fit on the ferry.  There are benches either side, for passengers if they choose to set, and we did.

Loading vehicles from Mexico.

As we near US soil.

Looking down the Rio Grande River.

Cars leaving Mexico returning to US.

Customs building where cars entered to have their passports checked.  The guard did check the inside of at least one of the vehicles before allowing them to go through.

As we reached the US side, we walked off the ferry, and approached the customs building on the US side.  There was a path that led to a walkway in the fence.  We assumed this was the entry to the building and where we started to go. Then we noticed a sign saying not to enter.  Based on that we waited in line for all of the cars to go through before starting to walk to the booth in the vehicle area.  The gentleman working said we needed to go through the opening in the fenced area into the building where we have to show our passport to reenter the states.  We explained our confusion because of the sign.  He asked where we saw the sign and we told him it was posted on the fence.  Here's a picture of it.  We took the sign literally, but I guess it was there for a different reason?

Door opening that leads to building, but sign to right says "Warning No Trespassing.  Restricted Area Keep Out.  Authorized Personnel Only.

This picture of the ferry operating in December 1950 was located inside of the customs building as we were leaving.

Home again!!

Once we were approved to reenter the states, we walked up the slight incline toward the car.  Pam noticed these cacti growing in the tree near where we were parked.  Hmmmm, very interesting!  A new variety --- cacti tree? 

There was a rundown building on the right side as we left that appears it is still being used.  Here are a few pictures of the area near the ferry.

See the bell at the top of the sign?  The wind was strong enough to make it ring.

Directions!

This part of the building looks in better shape, than the one above.

And of course in Mexico you alwasys find signs like this.  It was open!

The little town of Los Ebanos may have seen better times, but it did house a beautiful church and Dennis was kind enough to stop for me take pictures.  

San Miguel Arrangel Church, Established 1912

Closer view.  It was in a very pretty setting.

The front of the church.  The windows were a beautiful deep blue.  They looked as if they were stained glass

Many of the houses here were quite forlorn.  As we drove in we noticed one family had a small fire going in their yard.  We watched a couple carrying a small couch toward the fire - we wondered if it was to burn it.  We noticed when we returned, yes it had been burned - only the frame and its ashes remained now.

As we began heading back north to 83 Highway, we noticed the survelliance balloon was turned at a side angle and was closer to us, so we stopped along the road to snap a few pictures.  

The fields around this area are full of cacti.  I'd hate to get caught in this stuff.  I don't know how you'd ever find your way out without lots of "stingers".  Ugh!

Soon we were headed southeast toward our RV parks.  Pam suggested we visit the Texas Stop Sign before we return to our respective homes.  Do you remember what the Texas Stop Sign is?

Well, Dairy Queen of course.  Dean and I had blizzards and Dennis and Pam chose sundaes.  They hit the spot.  I'm not sure if we'll need any dinner tonight.  We had another fun day.  Dennis and Pam are very good ambassadors to the area and have shown us many wonderful sites, telling us about numerous good eating establishments and have just been fun to spend time with.  In addition, we've had a great time with our Heartland friends, Escapee friends, friends from our hometown and friends we have met while we have been here!  You all have been wonderful to make us welcome, and ensure we know about the area, during our first winter in South Texas.  We appreciate each and everyone of you for introducing us to all kinds of fun times, good food and great conversations.  We look forward to coming back next year.

It's hard to believe that we'll be leaving here in two and a half weeks.  The time has flown by but as they say, time flies when you are having fun, and we have definitely been having fun!

When we returned to our park, we asked Dennis to drop us off at the office so we could pick up our mail, and we would walk home.  Unfortunately, they did not have our mail, but the walk was good for us.   Our mail was supposed to be delivered by UPS yesterday.   The last time we had UPS forward our mail, UPS passed it off to USPS (US Postal Service) to deliver to the park, so we hoped they had done the same thing this time.....they had not.  A few hours later, Dean stepped out of the RV and there the UPS package with our mail was, laying on the ground.  We purposely left our door open when we returned to Bentley, because we expected it would be delivered today.  We were surprised the driver did not knock or say something like previous drivers have when leaving us a package.  We were glad to get it though!

We noticed while we were gone, new neighbors had moved in to the lot right next to us.  Our former neighbors Rich and Jane, one lot to the east of us left Wednesday.  They were from Hannibal, MO.  Unfortunately, with all of our running around we had not visited with them until shortly before they left.  They were a very nice couple, and we wish we had met them much sooner.  Our new neighbors are Randy and Kathy, from Ohio.  Dean was outside and introduced himself.  I heard them talking, so I walked out to meet them too. We really enjoyed our visit with them.  RVer's are great people!

Dean has been wanting his hair cut for several days now.  He borrowed my mirror and tiewrapped it to something outside on Bentley so he could see to use the clippers.  Once he was finished I went out to take care of the areas he cannot see well to do himself, around his ears, back of his neck and making sure there are no long sections on the top of his head.  Now, I am the one that needs a haircut.  I was going to make an appointment here, but I've decided to wait until I get home so my hairdresser, Marla can do it, that is if I can stand my bangs that long.  

This is a wonderful book with many wonderful things to see.  It will be very helpful on our trip east this year.

For dinner we had our leftovers from lunch.  Afterwards, I read my new book "1,000 Places to See.... until I could not keep my eyes open any longer.  We were both tired and were glad to lay our heads down tonight.