ESTERO LLANO GRANDE WORLD BIRDING CENTER

Friday, February 24 – Busy, busy, busy…no other word for how we feel when we stay down in the Rio Grande Valley area.

On Monday, we went to Mexico…yet again…with our friends, Jane and Joe. Marsha had to go for the third of four visits to the dentist, and Jane had a dentist appointment. Once that was all taken care of we headed to Estero Llano Grande World Birding Center. Estero Llano Grande is located in Weslaco and attracts a spectacular array of South Texas wildlife with its varied landscape of shallow lake, woodlands and thorn forest.  There are nine unique locations in the Rio Grande Valley. This particular one has the largest wetlands environment in the World Birding Center network.

Entrance

We didn't have much time to explore the entire Birding Center. We were only able to walk two of the many trails. We think, due to the overcast skies that many of the birds and alligators were in hiding. But we had a wonderful time watching the wildlife that was out and about.

Great Egret

White Ibis

One of the many water areas.

They have an alligator lake here in the park. We only saw two alligators.

These little guys were enjoying what ever sun would pop out ever so often.

On our way back to the car, this Northern Shoveler duck was sitting on the boardwalk.

This cute little Coot was swimming in the water next to the boardwalk.

The motley group.
 

Spring has sprung here in the 80+ weather.

Some of the beautiful flowers in the park.

Just thought we would throw a picture of us in so our kids remember what we look like.

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

FOLKLORICO AND MARIACHI PERFORMANCE

Sunday, February 19 - We went with friends Jane and Joe to Juarez-Lincoln High School's presentation "Grupo Folkdorico "Sol Azteca" Mariachi and Conjunto "Sol"", dances that emphasize local folk culture. This high school is located in the La Joya Independent School District. This was an awesome show. The kids are 9-12th graders. The entire show lasted two and a half hours but flew by. The dancers, singers and musicians were all super!

Here is a little example of what these kids can do.

AZTECA (CONCHEROS) – Mexico
Mexican ritual dance that preserves many elements of pre-Columbian religious ritual.

These bells on the dancer's feet made the music for the dance. It was a real treat.

Spain
Flamenco music and dance of the Andlusian Gypsies.

In between each dance segment, the Mariachi "Sol" group played. What talented singers and players.

Panama
There is a great influence of African, native American and European backgrounds.

Veracruz- La Bailadora
Dance of the Quincenera.

Conjunto "Sol"
Another type of Mariachi band.

Costa Rica
Colorful costumes and cowboy yelps reign in this traditional folk music.

Baja California (Calabaceados)
”Cowboy Dance”

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

THANKS TO OUR READERS

Sunday, February 19 -

SUMMER TRAVEL PLANS
Thanks to everyone who left us a comment or email about our long-range plans. We even received several comments and emails from new visitors. Thanks everyone for the suggested additions to our Northwest trip this summer. One of the reasons we wanted to post our intended summer travel schedule was to inspire readers to suggest additional stops and places we should be sure “not to miss!”

One comment we received many times is…you need a couple of years to do Oregon and Washington alone. We TOTALLY agree. We can only do so much this time. We just hope we can hit some of the highlights and go back for more later. If you think of any "must see" places, please don't hesitate to write.

We sure hope to cross paths and meet many of our RV'er friends and Blog readers. If you are in the same area this summer, drop us a quick email.....hopefully we can get together!

EXTENDED WARRANTY
Just an update on our extended warranty research. We signed on the dotted line with Jeff Shelton from Wholesale Warranties (800.939.2806). We obtained a 4-year, 48,000 mile warranty with $100 deductible, with Consequential Damage and Exclusive Benefits. It seems to cover just about everything, actually more than we wanted. Jeff is an independent underwriter and searches for the best policy to fit your needs. Our policy is with Assurant Solutions. If you are looking for an extended warranty, give Jeff a call and tell him we recommended Wholesale Warranties. Yep, we receive a small gift for anyone we send his way.... :-))

SHOUT OUT
We want to give a SHOUT OUT to Rick of Rick and Paulette's RV Travels. At one time on our blog, comments would automatically be posted without Marsha approving them. Well for some reason this changed. Now that we think of it, it changed when Marsha went to the new version of Blogger. Oh dear….new = better….not so fast my friend. For some reason, the approval for comments changed. Marsha fretted over this for a couple of hours and finally said, "I'll just ask Rick." She did, and of course Rick knew the answer. He told her to go back to the old version and she would be able to make the change. YEA!!! It works. So new  ≠  better…at least not all the time. Thanks again, Rick, for responding so quickly!

BELLA
We have no idea why Bella has "all of a sudden" decided this is her favorite place to sit when outside. One person in the park said it is because it is cool on the grill. WHAT COOL? It has rained here nearly everyday for the last two weeks, AND it sure isn't that hot! What is going on with this weather? We are in the southern most tip of Texas. They don't or at least aren't suppose to get rain like this here. Today it has taken a turn for the BETTER! It was beautiful…YEAAAAA!

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