BENTSEN-RIO GRANDE SP AND BIRDING CENTER

Monday, January 18 – We spent the morning at the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park and World Birding Center. The 760-acre Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, together with over 1,700 acres of adjoining U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge tracts, is a  treasure trove of "Valley specialties," tropical birds found nowhere else in the United States.

Admission is $5 per person but Paul, being an old fart, has the Texas Parklands Passport for Seniors which provides a 50% discount on the entrance fee for him. Interesting the way they “round off to the nearest dollar,” so his discount is only $2 instead of $2.50. Those Texas State Legislators know how to squeeze every penny out of us since there is no state income tax in Texas.

Great Kiskadee

Northern Mockingbird

We began our hike at the bird feeders near the entrance. The Rio Grande Valley hosts one of the most spectacular convergences of birds on earth. Almost 500 species have been documented in this unique place. There were numerous chachalaca, green-jays, cardinals, and many smaller birds feeding at this station. We enjoyed watching these birds for quite awhile before heading down to Resca Vieja Trail.

Red-Winged Blackbird…we think.

The famous Green Jay.

The entertaining Plain Chachalaca.

We think we may have been interupting something private.

The Resca Vieja Trail is a short 1.5 mile hike through the mesquite trees to a small nature observation area. There wasn't any wildlife in this area, but it was an enjoyable hike regardless.

Our next stop was Kingfisher Overlook along the La Parida Banco (a river). This is an area one might see birds that prefer aquatic areas. Unfortunately, again there were no birds enjoying the water. There were cardinals and green-jays at a nearby feeder.

We continued our hike to the Green-jay bird blind. This was a very enjoyable stop with many birds and even a raccoon robbing the bird feeders. It's nice to relax in the blind and watch the birds through the small windows of the blind.

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Never saw this guy at the Birding Center before.

There is a shuttle available, and we considered hopping aboard for a ride to the hawk tower observation deck but when the trolley passed it was full. We hiked out to the tower on our previous visits to the Birding Center, but Paul has been bothered by a soar knee, so we decided to call it a day and hiked back to the entrance. He has meniscus surgery already scheduled when we return to Houston.

 

Due to the high winds and the flood of 2010, many of the trees having amazing shapes.

It was an enjoyable morning at the World Birding Center. We hiked a little over 4.5 miles and saw quite a few birds and some other wildlife.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

VISITING MISSION, TEXAS, FOR JANUARY

Monday, January 4 - We pulled up stakes and headed South out of Houston, TX, this morning. Nice to be heading in the opposite direction of all the commuters going to work in Houston. We have a long day ahead of us, but it's pretty easy going. We should be at Leisure Valley Ranch in Mission, Texas, by early afternoon.

We arrived as planned after an uneventful trip. We are parked at friends, Amy and Steve's, place. They have an RV lot with a cassita that we have used several years. This past summer, they built a beautiful new house next door with a nice RV pad. They plan of eventually selling the place we are currently using.

Looking left.
 

Looking right.
 

We are here to visit friends and enjoy Mexico. We didn't waste any time with that agenda. Angie and Rick had a social at their house a couple of hours after our arrival. It was a nice welcome and a chance to renew some old friendships.

Wednesday, January 6 – We are off to Noevo Progresso, Mexico, this morning with friends, Angie and Rick. We've made this trip many times and always enjoy our day in Progresso. We park at one of the lots on the USA side of the border ($2 for all day) and walk across the bridge into Mexico. We do pass through a pay turnstile ($.50) upon entering Mexico, but we do not need to show a passport or go through customs. Only on the return to the USA.

Rio Grande River dividing the US from Mexico.
 

Upon entering Progresso, we needed to quickly become accustomed to the numerous fellas trying to hook us up with a dentist, pharmacy, or sell us some trinkets of pirated movie CD's. A simple nod of the head, a smile, or simple “no” and they quickly move on to the next “gringo.” If you have never visited Mexico, you will get use to it rather quickly!

The lifestyle is noticeably different in this small Mexican town, that's for sure. We should mention that at no time do we feel uncomfortable or threatened. The people of Progresso are very friendly to Americans. They want you and your money to visit often. They want you to feel welcome and go out of their way to assure you have a safe and enjoyable visit.

We often come here for inexpensive dentistry but not today. As a matter of fact, we have an appointment next week at the dentist we normally visit for a cleaning and a check-up. Today is a fun visit and a day to do some shopping. Marsha has vanilla to buy for friends, some medication to price, and is looking for some Tekali Tequila she was introduced to in Arizona last winter. She had no luck finding the Tequila, but she did find a place where she could purchase a new body.

The vanilla is available in almost every store here. It it twice as strong as that sold in the USA. Marsha and her friends love it for baking. Prescription medication is very inexpensive here also and can be purchased over the counter without a prescription. The tequilla – well of course that is the “national drink of Mexico.”

We stopped at our favorite restaurant, Arturo's, for lunch. This is a very nice restaurant with very good food and reasonable prices. We paid $6.95 for our lunches, and all Margaritas are two for the price of one.

Marsha needed a new prescription for her contacts. We go to Frank Bautista at Medical, Dental y Optica Center. Paul got his eyes examined last year. He will tell you that it is the best pair of glasses he has had in a very long time. Marsha’s exam is $20. Each box of contacts is $25. She pays $45 in the US.

We enjoyed the afternoon visiting the 100's of small shops looking at pottery, sombreros, silver dishes, and what-not. The following are just a few “special” gifts that we could buy but didn’t.

On the way back towards the border, we stopped at Jessica's, our usual pharmacy store to get our medicines. After our purchase at Jessica's, we are invited next door to their cantina for a free Margarita and to enjoy the music. That's right. A free Margarita with every purchase. I told you life here is a little different.

Paul, Rick, Agie and Arturo, the owner of Jessica’s.

We then headed back across the bridge toward good old USA. Again we pass through a pay turnstile ($.25 on this side of the bridge.) and enter US Customs. We showed our passport and answered a couple questions concerning our visit and any purchases we made. If we bought alcohol or cigarettes, we would have to pay taxes before entering the country.

We returned to our car and headed down the highway for the 30 minute drive back to our RV park in Mission, Texas. It was a fun day and we'll be going back next week for the dentist and to visit Paul's favorite barbershop for a haircut. Come back and travel along with us!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

Thursday, December 31 – We celebrated a wonderful Christmas day with our family. Santa was very good to us all again this year. We must be doing something right..LOL.

Another year has passed by so quickly. It was an exciting 2015. We did a ton of traveling this past year. We spent last winter in California and Arizona. This past summer we did "Paul's Memory Tour" of Michigan and his old fishing grounds. This past fall found us touring Florida for the first time...down the Atlantic to Key West and up the Gulf.

We will be starting the the new year in Mission, TX, for the month of January visiting our friends. We then plan to return to Houston for the remainder of the winter. 

May the new year bring our family and friends excellent health, safe travels and wonderful adventures.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!