Wandering Around Near Mission TX

There is more than one border wall down here along the Rio Grande River, and the one above is a private wall built a couple years ago to keep migrants from entering the USA and hiding in the fields of crops.  They had to be flushed out by the border patrol when detected, and valuable crops were damaged.  Therefore, the rich land owner had this shiny silver wall built.  Note how it spans the horizon into the trees.  It is about four miles long with a great concrete apron to ride a bike on if no one is looking!

 

Above, looking through the private wall, you can see the local tour boat chugging up stream in the Rio Grande on one of its two daily tours.  We have ridden the boat a few years ago, before most of the walls were built along the river near Mission and McAllen.

On one of Bill's recent exploratory bicycle rides into the nearby state park, he found a usual locked gate open so he ventured into some strange back roads.  After a few miles he came onto this group of vacant cabins.

In front of the buildings was this floating dock that was very unsteady and difficult  to walk on.   Across the lake you can see the State Park's normal launching dock for canoes and kayaks.

Tucked behind one of the cabins was the pen you see above.  It had sides that were about four feet high and there were portable benches under a canopy nearby.  We are still not sure for what purpose it was built - but it sure looked like it was a great place for dog and/or cock fights!!

(Just Guessing!)

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More News from Texas in 2023

 We have been down here - deep in the heart of Texas - for almost a month and today, 1/27/2023, we are seeing our first actual rainy day.  (It is more like a constant steady drizzle).  The only people we see outside this morning are animal lovers out walking their dogs.

This Sunday we get to watch two important NFL football playoff games with Philadelphia playing San Francisco and Kansas City playing Cincinnati.   The two winners get to go to the Super Bowl.  There are quite a few KC fans in our park as you can see in the small statue above.

Every weekend our park offers live entertainment in the clubhouse for very reasonable prices.  Here is the remaining schedule with admission prices for this season.  FYI.

On one of his many bike rides Bill noticed this sign near a school driveway.  He wonders if any Michigan schools have the same rules on school property?  Notice the Spanish at the bottom of the sign.

These neighbors are back again this year and their fancy metal sign always catches our attention!

(Wonder why?)

We have plenty of wild Turkeys in Northern Michigan but we are starting to think there are more down here!  Notice the large size of the Tom in the middle above.  

The birds down here are Rio Grande Turkeys and are a subspecies of the Eastern Wild Turkeys that we see in Michigan.  We do not remember seeing so many in previous years.

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Down On the Border - Part 2

 We have now been in the Rio Grande Valley  for more than one-half a month and we are yet to see or feel a drop of rain.  The weather continues to be very warm during the days and cool at night.  Back home in Frederic our friends are wishing for snow and snowmobiling has ground to a halt with unseasonably warm and dry weather up there as well

Last Saturday evening this group, above, called Nu Blu entertained us at our park with some lively music and a few jokes as well.  They were from North Carolina and put on a good show.

After the show they spent the night in our small RV park (which is unusual for entertainers), and we were surprised to see that they were riding/living in a Prevost Motor coach.  Prevost is the most expensive motor home or bus on the market.

Tuesday morning Bentsen Palm Village hosted a presentation by the U.S. Border Patrol in our club house.  They brought six members and after their short talk they answered questions from the audience for mote than an hour.  The club house was full of us old folks!

The Monitor

One small luxury that we enjoy while in Texas is having a local daily paper delivered to our RV site each morning for little more than a dollar each day.  It not only covers local news but also National news as well and sports, comics, etc.  The newspaper covers the Rio Grande Valley and is well written and informative.

A story in last Sunday's Monitor explained an activity going on down here that we found rather unusual yet productive.  There is a $2 million annual anti-rabies campaign along the Mexico border  here in Texas.  The State hires pilots with airplanes to fly out and drop meat baits coated with rabies vaccine for foxes, coyotes and skunks.  The pilots drop 64 to 70 baits on every square mile of the 12,600 mile territory.  The baits consist of vaccine laced treats dipped in fish oil and coated with fish meal crumbles.  Yum!!

The paper states that the program has been very successful!

😼  😾  😿  🙀

Down On The Border (part 1)

 Just down the road from Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort this old lonely horse is still standing by waiting for a friendly hand to give him some attention.

Whenever a friendly person is willing to stop and pick up some tasty green grass he comes right over....

......for a hand full of green nourishment and a scratch behind his ears.

Last Saturday night the resort offered Goldwing Express for the live entertainment.  They were very good and worth the $9 for two hours of great music.  We have seen them before and would pay to see them again.  The man on the right is father to the other two.

On a neighborhood ride we thought this sign really told it like it is.  In our park a former Marine neighbor often has his black cat outside on a leash.

We see plenty of golf carts down here but we are pretty sure this one belongs to a woman.

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Southern Texas in 2023

We have now been in Mission, Texas for one week and the weather has been hot each day and cool at night.  We have seen temps in the 80's every afternoon and few clouds in the blue sky.  We heard from his widow, Nola,  today that our old neighbor, Vivan Smith, or Smitty, died last Tuesday January 3 at the age of 94.  

Back here in Texas.....

Just down the road the National Butterfly Center has reopened for visitors each day.  It closed last year during a fight about the border wall being built across their property.   Apparently, the issue has been resolved.

Just across the road from our RV park this helicopter was flying yesterday to herd some immigrants toward the State Park where the Border Patrol was waiting to capture them.  We saw the same activity many times last year.

This bus is then brought in to transport the foreign people to a processing center in McAllen.  The bus goes by our campsite about every other day to wait across from the Park, so apparently business is busy.

On a bike ride this week Bill not only saw three Roadrunners like this fellow above, but also a tiny snake in the bike trail.  We are hearing loud coyotes each night as well as a Great Horned Owl.  The temps get so low at night here in this desert  region that we have to close our windows in the travel trailer, and run a small heater in the morning.

Everyone knows that Texas is known for its BBQ cooking but this small portable cooker is taking it to the next level.  The pickup owner is ready to cook wherever he goes.

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