Life in the Rio Grand Valley, part two Feb 13 - 22

I have to apologize to those of you who are anxiously awaiting each new chapter of our trip….  We’ve been out of internet access (yay!) for about 10 days or so, and as a result, I’ve not been able to get the blog updated!  Here’s a quick upate for the 2^nd half of the Rio Grande Valley! 

Mom and Jay seem very happy about the 2^nd half of the trip down the Rio Grande.  How can you complain when there are citrus trees throughout the area where the RV is parked (in Mission TX) and you are invited to pick!  Very fresh fruit in the morning sure tasted good!  Mom sent a box of grapefruit to Allison for her 22^nd birthday! 

Birding opportunities in the lower Rio Grande Valley continue to be amazing.  There are 9 sites that call themselves the World Birding Center (2 state parks, 1 National wildlife refuge, and several private locations).  One of the favorite spots was Estero Llano State Park.  They were there on one of the Great Backyard Bird Count days, so the place was pretty crowded with visitors and volunteers who were leading bird walks and helping with bird identification.  It was a great birding day – they saw 73 species in only a few hours.  This little guy does a great job of hiding in the brush....  Can you find him?  They also have logged their 200^th species of bird for the year.  It was a stilt sandpiper which was observed at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.  Mom saw her first armadillo there, as well…. 

Mom reached her golf milestone for the winter by scoring a 98 the other day.  She sure was happy about that.  Now she wants to do it again, although there haven’t been many golf opportunities for a little bit.  Its been on the windy side!  So she’ll have to be patient till better weather presents another chance!

As long as we are so close to the border, Mom and Jay decided to visit Progresso, Mexico.  Mom says – been there, done that, don’t need to do it again!  Border towns are known for their market places and flea market atmosphere (and local pharmacies that want to sell prescription drugs for very very low prices)...  Need I say more!  She'd rather spend more of her time birding I guess.

We’ve been staying at a few RV parks that are a bit different than any we’ve visited before.  This area is full of gated communities that cater to those of us who have owners that are 55+.  People live in RV’s with assorted side buildings, double wide homes, even brick constructed homes.  Everyone has a golf cart for transportation around the compound.  And people are so friendly.  Mom and Jay got to golf with a group one afternoon and had a great time. This is a picture of the place we stayed at just outside Brownsville….  

They spent 2 days birding on South Padre Island, just east of Brownsville.  They had heard about a flamulated owl (a western species that found its way east this winter!) and people were flocking to see it....  It was perched (actually well hidden) in a tree just outside the convention center doors and was quite an attraction!  There are also some boardwalks there that traverse a neat salt marsh there.  The birds put on a spectacular display - posing nicely in the sun.  Mom was quite taken with the reddish egret - such a beautiful bird!

We’ve reached the southern-most extent of our winter travels and will begin a slow journey north along the gulf coast.  We’re headed to the Corpus Christi area and plan to camp at Padre Island National Seashore.  Hmmmm hope I don’t get too much sand mixed in my hair!