We Leave the Valley, the Trailer, and Texas

• On Thursday, February 26, 2026  we empty the travel trailer and load the truck.  We leave before noon as the temperature is climbing to 100 degrees.  (A lot different than Michigan as you will see in another post)
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• We drove north and arrived home on Sunday March 1.  We spent our third night in a motel near South Haven, Michigan because snow and freezing pavement forced us off the highway!
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• Our friends, Nancy and Phil,  sent us this picture taken Saturday evening showing our empty lot as our Cougar trailer is gone!  Miss Kitty, as Karen affectionately called her, is now in the hands of her new owner. 
• 💔
• The weather situation that we found at home in northern Michigan is much different with new challenges......

Across the Valley

We sold our travel trailer today and will be leaving the Rio Grand Valley tomorrow on February 26, 2026 for the last time.

Below are three pictures of here and there and this and that.

When the contractors need fill dirt for their current building projects they don't mess around.  These three trucks plus two more kept this crane operator busy all day as he dug into the bank below him to fill them up.

This old Thunderbird up on blocks could be worth some real money if restored properly in the future.  It has probably never seen snow or road salt.

We have written about this before in this blog but the fad has increased.  Old folks in our RV park are buying and riding electric bikes.  Here is the swimming pool parking area recently on a hot afternoon.  Ten electric bikes and none of the peddle kind.

Tomorrow we head north even though it is still very cold in northern Michigan.  Forecast for Mission tomorrow is 99  -  high tomorrow in Frederic is 29.

🌞    ⛄

A Farewell Trip to the Zoo

 On Monday we picked up the Smokers early in Mission and headed east to Brownsville.

The weather was bright and comfortable. This tiger was enjoying the sunshine.

Phil and Nancy had not visited the Gladys Porter Zoo before.  Karen and Bill were happy to drive and celebrate Nancy's birthday with them.

Brownsville has an excellent zoo as we have blogged before a few years back.  By the looks of this sign at the zoo aquarium - we assume the zoo management had not received the memo from the White House or were just too busy to change their sign.  (Hint: Gulf of America?!)

🐯        🐳       🐅

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Windy and Hot Southern Texas

 The wind blows often and can be strong here in southern Texas.  It can make Pickle ball difficult to play outside.

These recently planted Palm Trees along a road into a nearby subdivision need support from the wind.

Question:  Do you notice the difference in the name on this vehicle compared to what you see in Michigan?

Answer:  In Michigan you normally see such types of trucks that say Heating and Cooling - not vice  versa.  Here the heat is usually the big problem - not the cold.

 😡   😨

Metallic and Silver

 These vehicles seem to have one thing in common.

Owners who like the metallic look and have money to spend.

🚐

A Night At The Opera - (well kind of)

 Wednesday evening,  February 18, 2026, we attended the musical comedy "Mrs Doubtfire"  at the McAllen Performing Arts Center with the Smokers.

The play was a Musical Comedy based on the movie version that started the late Robin Williams.

We had excellent balcony seats.  It was a one-night performance with a live orchestra pit and professional actors.  Here are Nancy and Phil before the full audience arrived and the lights dimmed.

We enjoyed the show in a beautiful auditorium.  

We all made it home safe.

 🎻   🎹   🎺   🎸   🎷   🎶   🎵

Who Said Inflation?

 These days when so many items have gone up in price, it is refreshing to occasionally come across items that are cheap but still do what they were designed for.

Like these two items:

This electric toothbrush and small flashlight were both purchased recently for approximately $2 each.  And they both actually work!

 🔋        🔦

Memorial Cemetery Nearby

 Just a couple of miles from our campground is a large veterans cemetery.  It is beautifully maintained and holds not only deceased military personnel, but their spouses as well.   We have shown it in our previous blogs.  In Michigan we have such a burial place near Battle Creek. 

Insignias from left to right:  Army, Marines, Navy, POW-MIA, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine.

We thank them all for their service to our country.

🎑         🗽      🌄       🌅    

The Cacti are Almost Blooming

 A large RV park up the road from us has a very good library that is open to all winter Texans.  It is run by the honor system and usually no one is working there.  Consequently, it is a good stop on bike rides, not to mention that it is across the street from a Dollar General.

This Prickly Pear Cactus in one residence is about ready to bloom.

The purple buds will soon burst into yellow and pink flowers.

When that happens the bees down here will be happy!

🐝     🐝       🐝      🐝      🐝

A Tire Cover to Remember

 This is a Jeep in our Texas park with a clever spare tire cover..

The owners brought it along in an enclosed trailer pulled behind a huge motor home.

🐑

A Back Road Memorial

 A few miles from our RV park, on a narrow gravel road that runs up to the border wall, Bill came across this roadside memorial while on one of his bike rides.

We will never find out what happened here but the loss of two souls was felt by loved ones.

🙏

Lucky - Lucky - Lucky

 On Friday evening Nancy and Phil Smoker brought two visiting girlfriends from Michigan over to our RV park for another evening  of Card Bingo at the clubhouse.  There were 128 people in attendance as it is a very popular weekly event.

and..........

Wouldn't you know it?  Lightening strikes again as Nancy won one of the four $ quarter games for $32.!  That is the third time she has won money since December. We would like to say it is due to good clean wholesome living but we know better.  She sure impressed her Michigan friends.

😻     💲     💰

Super Bowl Today

Night at the Museum ....Part 2

 

Note:  See blog below for part 1

Here are a few more of the beautiful artistic pieces on display at the Gelman Stained Glass Museum in San Juan, Texas

Healing the sick and raising the dead as happened in the Bible.

The lady above was viewing the displays and got her picture taken with Saint ?

She appeared in this photo as well.  This gives you an idea of the spectacular window art on display.

There was a story and a history behind every character on display, with lighting from behind.

The Gelman Stained Glass Museum is truly amazing to see.  As far as Art Museums go...we would rate it very high -  right up there next to the "The Wall"  Museum in Tasmania.

🌟       🏤        🌠       

A Night at the Museum

 On Thursday evening, February 5, we had a night out on the town.  Before we went to dinner at a Longhorn restaurant (Christmas gift) we visited the Gelman Stained Glass Museum in San Juan, and are very glad that we did.

The huge building was constructed by a Jewish man named Gelman who had it built to look like a cathedral from the outside.  

But inside it is a huge gallery of stained glass artwork and statues.

Many of the art pieces were collected from cathedrals and churches that were being torn down from around the world.

And some of the items were carved from marble and granite.

All the art pieces made from stained glass were specially illuminated from behind to bring out the true colors.  Most were from stories in the Bible like the Nativity you see above.

More to come tomorrow.....

💒

Derby Day

 Our RV park recently held another "Derby Day" event to raise money for the clubhouse.  Not only are there "horse" races decided by the throws of soft large fuzzy dice, but tacos and Mint juleps are served, and many participants wear their Sunday bonnets.

Here is one of our favorite horses just coming out of the starting gate!  It is all in fun, obviously!

   🐴   🐴   🐴    🐴   🐴

Opossum with a Suit of Armor

 Across the road we recently saw a lady walking her dogs who became excited  and started yelling at them to stop running.  Come to find out they were chasing the critter you see below who dove into a drain pipe to escape.  The lady walked over to the fence to tell us it was an Armadillo.

A couple of days later Bill walked along the road and took this picture before it scurried into the deep grass.  To us folks from Michigan it looks like a mix between an Opossum and a turtle.

🐢

Another Lucky Winner

 Can you believe it?  A winner again  in our small group of four - this Month!

Last night, January 30, 2026, at card Bingo in our clubhouse - Phil Smoker, of Vicksburg, won one of the final three games for dollars.  He had to split that pot with another player but still brought home $61 dollars.  Not bad, and now for the month of January all four of us have won a game (and some cash).

💰     💲     💰

PS:  Last night the U of M   basketball team beat MSU in East Lansing for the first time since 2018!

GO BLUE

🏀

A Day spent with the Smokers in Mission

 On Wednesday we drove east into the Mission, Texas urban area to visit the Smokers.  We dropped off some miscellaneous household/camping items, that we no longer needed, for their RV park to sell in their upcoming park yard sale.  We then went to lunch at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in McAllen.

After lunch Nancy drove us to her favorite beverage store - "Total Wine and More" in McAllen.  They have wine and liquor tasting along with the largest selection of beers, wines and liquors that we had ever seen.  Needless to say, we all found some beverages we wanted to take home so our shopping carts were busy.

We finished the afternoon back at the Smokers playing Pinochle and Euchre, and made it back to our RV park just before sunset. 

🌞

Another Piggy that did not Make it to Market

 On a recent bike ride - just around the first curve from our RV park Bill came across this critter beside the road.  

It was a Peccary - also known a Javelina, that had been hit by a car, probably during the night before.

We had seen a couple of these critters in our RV park a couple weeks ago and this was a large female.

A view from the front of this animal shows us how they can defend themselves from the coyotes that we often hear hunting a night.  Those fangs could be deadly!

🐷

A Big Winning Night at Card Bingo

 On Friday evening the Smokers came over from their RV park to join us for Card Bingo.  

AND......

Here is the end result after eleven games of cards  at the clubhouse.

Bill won a Quarter game worth about $27 and Nancy won one of the three dollar games for &130!!!

We had a few drinks at the trailer to celebrate.

The weather people say cold weather is coming....

😰

A Long Bike Ride Along the Wall

 On a recent sunny day Bill decided to test out his new heart valve with a long bike ride to the private border wall, and along it.

It is about a 3 mile ride to get to this portion of the wall along the Rio Grande River.  Here the wall is one of the first portions constructed, and we have been told it was paid for by a wealthy land owner.

Above is a Mexican boat launch across the Rio Grande probably on private land.

As Bill rode along the wall he met two Border Patrol vehicles in which the drivers just waved.  Above is a U.S. tourist boat that we have rode in on a previous year.  Bill was exhausted when he got back to the trailer from such a long ride,  but there were no flat tires from the nasty thorns along the remote roads.

🚴

A Saturday Night Winner

 It did not quite match up with Karen's Bingo Night win a week ago, but nevertheless, our friend, Nancy Smoker, from Vicksburg hit a dime pot Saturday night.  Here she is afterward over at our trailer showing off her $9 winnings.  Hey, that is a lot of dimes!  

She and Phil brought with them two friends from the Vicksburg area so we had some good drinks and some good laughs after Bingo.  Their friends were Amos and Kathy Cook.

💲💲💲

An Upgrade to our Old Companion Trailer

 Our eight-year old travel trailer furniture was made from part of a large industry batch of poor leather that started to peel and flake after only a few years of use.  Needless to say, we were told the faulty material came from China. That does not excuse the U.S. RV industry from using it anyway!!

Above is what our couch looked like when we returned this year and Karen could not stand it, even if we might sell our trailer in March!  The two marching chairs were in similar shape. Sad. So we went shopping and then Bill talked the RV park's utility man to bring a helper and take the old stuff away.

Now...

Here is the couch that was delivered today and we unboxed and assembled.  Not bad. huh?

And here are the two new chairs.  Karen is much happier now and Bill finally got the three large cardboard boxes taken apart and thrown into the dumpster.  All done before noon!  Thanks to fine weather and two truck drivers that squeezed the large boxes of furniture into our trailer where we could then go to work.

🚚

Lucky Again! Don't You Know??

 

Last night, 1/10/2026, at card bingo Karen won one of the three dollar games to bring $90 back to the travel trailer!

😊     💥      😁