Mission to Del Rio and Big Bend

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Its not like a real mission.  We just travelled from Mission, TX to Del Rio, TX.  We really weren’t operating on all cylinders this morning as we awoke later than we should have for a travelling day.  When we were getting ready to go we started talking with a couple from Regina, Veryl and Wally Boychuk who have also recently retired.  This is their second year in south Texas and from the sounds of it they are looking to continue this tradition for the foreseeable future.  They intend to stay for a couple more weeks then start working their way up through Austin, TX before heading home to Saskatchewan.  Hopefully we will meet up with them next year.

We finally pulled out of our site at Canyon Lake RV Park around 10:30.  It was a nice warm morning with a bit of a southerly wind, which would be coming from our back for a change.  We travelled along US83 which roughly parallels the Rio Grande / the Mexican border for most of the way northwest towards Del Rio.  The US border patrol is out in full force.  We had to stop at one checkpoint, and we were asked  where we were from and if there was anyone in the trailer.  He didn’t want to see in the trailer and didn’t want to to see our passports.  I guess we didn’t look like criminals, however; their drug sniffing dog made a trip around the perimeter of the trailer but of course did not find any traces of illegal substances. We saw at least 30 or 40 border patrol trucks.  Many of the trucks also have tracking dogs in the back.

We stopped at Zapata, TX for fuel.  Zapata seems to be quite a fishing community at the north end of the Falcon International Reservoir.  This area is also a lush farming region that grows a lot of various crops such as onions and wheat and pecans.

The blue bonnets are starting to bloom along with a lot of the other wild flowers for which Texas is so famous.  There are also some cactus out in bloom. The Del Rio area is an extension of the Hill Country that extends south from the middle of Texas and there are some wineries along the way; so we will have to put a winery tour on our agenda.

We stopped for the night at the Buzzard Roost RV Park.  It is a small park, that is not really equipped to handle trailers with slides so it was quite tight getting into our site.  It was however the cheapest accommodation on the trip at only $17.50/night for full service including cable and a very strong Wi-Fi signal. 

Monday, March 15, 2010 – On to Big Bend

We were out of the campground before 9:30 this morning.  Not exactly earth-shattering but at least respectable. We started the trip in a light drizzle which would continue for most of the day.  We passed the Amistad National Recreation Area.  This is a large mixed use recreational park surrounding a dammed up section of the Rio Grande, just north of Del Rio.  It appears to be mostly a fishing area from what we could see of it.  Just past Amistad we were once again stopped at a Border Patrol inspection station.  Same routine where they circle the vehicle with a drug-sniffing dog and then let you pass,  We had noticed in the car ahead of us the German Shepherd had stood up on the driver’s side door looking in at the driver…that must have been a bit un-nerving for the driver.

We continued north west up US 90, moving further away from the Mexican border.  All the while we were bucking a strong Texas wind that slammed our trailer on the front passenger corner. As we drove we saw fewer and fewer Border Patrols, only about 6 or 7 today.  The character of the land changed to rolling and hilly with large rock cuts made for the road.  The vegetation also changed from the lush green that we had become accustomed to in the lower part of the valley to a grey, green colour of the desert.  The population density has also changed drastically from the lower valley.  You only see an occasional trailer or home every few miles.

We fuelled the truck and slip tank in a tiny town called Marathon, expecting that fuel in the park will be horrendously expensive..  We then turned south on US385 toward Big Bend National Park.  This has got to be one of the nicest roads on the trip.  It was a two lane, undivided road with wide paved shoulders.  BUT was it smooth!! The contractor for this road should give road-building lessons…it was that nice.  It also helped that for the first time today we had a tail-wind and that made the drive very relaxing. 

Oh yeah, why is it called Big Bend?  The Rio Grande flows generally from the northwest to the south east, forming the international border between Mexico and the United States, in Texas.  At Big Bend National Park, the river takes a sharp turn of almost 90 degrees, towards the north east (a big bend) for about 70 miles before gradually resuming it’s south easterly flow.

Relaxing in the Rio Grande Valley

February, 28 to March 12, 2010 

We travelled a couple of hours up the Rio Grande Valley from Brownsville to Mission, Texas.  We had tried to make reservations at a couple of places as we found out that February was the  busiest time for the campgrounds and RV resorts.  By the beginning of March a lot of the people from the middle states (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri are heading home  The people from Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin are still hanging around here till the end of March.  And of course all the Canadians – Lots of people from Ontario, a fair number from Quebec, a few from Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  (You see the odd vehicle with licence plates from the other provinces.) – We’ll likely be here till the end of March too. 

We found a campsite in the Canyon Lake RV Resort.  This is a little newer than the Rio campground that we were last at.  This campground has a “lake” in the middle of it. The lake is probably a former quarry, that has perhaps 10 feet of water at it’s deepest point. There is at least one large turtle in the lake and numerous nesting birds. We are able to walk around the lake and the grounds which takes about 15 minutes.  Seems like a lot of “old” people here – population appears to be approx. 70 years.   And it seems that everyone  waves at anyone driving or says hello to anyone walking.  Every campground or RV resort has “Planned Activities” for their guests. The activities range from cards and knitting to billiard and horse shoe tournaments. There seem to be a large number of people wearing name tags which would indicate that they are involved with these activities.  Janet and Jerry still don’t feel that they are  “old enough” to get a name tag.

On Tuesday we visited the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley – World Birding Center, State Park.  This is a fairly small park, only 760 acres, that borders the Rio Grande River, just across from Mexico.   It was late in the afternoon when we arrived there so we just took the tram ride around the site.  While we were riding in the tram a couple of people asked us if we had seen a “Chuck-a-loo”? They must have known from the blank looks on our faces that we didn’t have a clue what a Chuck-a-loo was.  Then Janet opened her mouth, “I wouldn’t know a Chuck-a-loo, if it landed on me.”  Well they didn’t say anything else to us.  They knew we didn’t belong there and that we weren’t birders they could talk to.  We found out later that it wasn’t in fact a Chuck-a-loo but a Chachalaca.  The park is also noted for the rare green jay and other rare and exotic species.  We did see a couple of “javelina” (a small wild pig) and a bobcat.  Before we leave the valley we intend to return to the park earlier in the day: hopefully we will see a Chuck-a-loo or a Chachalaca, whatever it is.

A few days later we returned to the park early in the day to avoid the crowds and the mid-day heat.  We were setup in one of the bird blinds with a front row seat and the green jays and orioles were very active.  We got off quite a few shots when the low battery indicator started to flash.  I reached into my pocket where I keep the spare batteries.  Well that’s where they should have been if I had my other pants…our picture taking was finished for the day so we decided to walk around the park until the next tram came along.  We landed up walking almost two miles in the heat of the day when the next tram finally came.  We were less than 1/2 mile to the visitor centre so we decided to tramp the rest of the way.  We returned the following day and were able to get the shots that we wanted.  There was a short trail that leads down toward the Rio Grande River.  We stopped at the observation deck that looks across the river to Mexico.  (That was likely as close as we would get to Mexico on this trip.)  On the tram ride back we were talking to another couple who told us about another state park located near Weslaco, (Estero Llano Grande State Park).  We continued talking to them about RV parks and touring Texas, when Janet asked them where they were from. They said that they were from Canada; a place called Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Small world.  They live in Charleswood and she grew up and she also taught in St. James.  They have been coming to Texas for a number of years and have purchased a mobile home in the Pine to Palms Resort.  They told us that the park was full of Canadians, mostly from Manitoba and Saskatchewan. 

We have been watching the local news here and there is still significant unrest just across the border in Mexico.  There are continuing reports of running gun battles between Mexican police and soldiers and the drug cartels.  We hear daily of huge drug seizures on this side of the border.  The USA has closed it’s consular offices in Reynosa, Mexico, because of the uncertainty.  We have therefore, decided, that we won’t go across the border, at least until things quiet down and the situation is under control.  It certainly is an interesting area.

When we were driving in on Sunday we noticed that there was a large flea market just off the expressway around Pharr, Texas.  We have since heard from an number of people that there are flea markets all over the valley.  We decided that we would try one so, we drove the 30 miles to Donna on Sunday. Just try to imagine hundreds of garage sales, gathered together in one place, some on a temporary basis and others set up in permanent stalls: then you’ll have an idea of a flea market.  Judging by the amount of dust on some of the items I would say that they have been displayed here for some time.  We noticed a couple of things with thick layers of rust.

Estero Llano Grande State Park – This is another bird sanctuary although we didn’t actually come for the birds.  We had heard about the alligator lake from the Winnipeg couple, earlier this week.  As we were walking in there was a group of people on the brick walkway looking into the bushes beside the walk.  On a tree branch there was a large hawk having lunch.  The hawk was holding the bird or small animal against the branch with his talons, as he pulled strips off with his beak.  We watched him for some time before we checked into the visitor centre.  As we were getting ready to leave a park volunteer came in and asked if we wanted to hold a tarantula spider.  As we turned around there he was with a large tarantula in his open palm.  Of course Janet and I are both arachnaphobes so we didn’t want to touch it.  He insisted that the tarantula’s sting and venom are usually no worse than a bee sting, unless you have a rare reaction to tarantula bites.  They usually protect themselves by releasing the hair from their bodies which can get into the victim’s eyes or lungs and this can cause serious problems.  Apparently, the tarantula is very common in southern Texas and can be found under boards or in garden sheds.  They are very active at this time of the year as the males are seeking mates.  Soooo, we’ll be watching carefully as we lift the levelling boards under the trailer and hopefully we won’t bring home any hitch hikers.  (We finally touched the spider and we didn’t get stung.  We only had nightmares for a few days afterwards!!)

It was fairly hot and we didn’t actually expect to see any gators but we continued along the pathway towards Alligator Lake.  As we approached the lake we saw warning signs like “No Swimming or Fishing”, “Keep Pets on Short Leash”, “Do Not Feed Alligators” and my personal favourite “Do Not Throw Objects in Water for Dogs to Retrieve”.   Common sense is indeed Not All that Common!  We saw lots of birds around the lake and numerous turtles sunning themselves on rocks near the shore.  After a 20 minute walk, we finally arrived at to the observation deck where we immediately saw a gator floating about 30 feet offshore.  The gator appeared to be about 15 feet long and it moved effortlessly through the water by gently moving it’s tail side to side.  It didn’t make any sound and it didn’t create any wake as it swam.  As it approached the far side of the lake a heron that had been sitting near the edge flew off with a loud wail.  The gator crawled onto the far bank of the lake and just laid there.  The park attendant had told us that there were five gators in the lake but the other four were nowhere to be seen.  The temperature was around 86 degrees Fahrenheit so it may have been too warm for the gators as well.

 

Some Observations

• School zones – driving around Texas you are made very aware of where the school zones are; they are marked with a flashing yellow light with a line right across the road. The sign states, “School Zone” “20 Miles Per Hour, when Flashing” it also says that “Cell Phone Use is Prohibited”   And people obey those signs!!!  20 mph and that is the top speed.  There is another line at the end of the school zone and people are immediately back to the speed limit.
• Almost every school is surrounded by a fence and has operational gates and/or at least one visible security guard.
• Every Texas registered vehicle, even brand new vehicles in the show room must have a current safety inspection sticker in the lower left corner of the windshield.  There are numerous inspection stations where people take their vehicles at their own expense.    
• McAllen, Texas uses a special item to enforce speeding laws.  As you approach it, it appears as an emergency vehicle with the normal red and blue flashing lights.  Then you notice that there is a tower raised on a scissor lift to about 20 feet above the traffic.  The “booth” at the top of this tower has dark, blacked-out glass, so you don’t know if it is manned with officers and radar or it is just like a red-light camera.
• Oranges – Since about March 6, we have noticed the fragrant smell of the orange blossoms.  It doesn’t smell anything like an orange, just very sweet and fragrant.  Wherever there is a tree you notice the smell.  What is so unusual is that on many of the trees there are still oranges, amidst the new blossoms.
• Warm and Windy – The temperatures have been in the high 80’s for the last few days and actually hit 94 degrees one day.  We haven’t had to use the air conditioner as the humidity has been low and the wind is always blowing.  Always.

Rio RV Park

Saturday, February 27, 2010  

It is a little cooler today with a fairly strong wind coming out of the north.  We went for a walk around the Rio RV Park late in the morning.  There used to be a driving range just behind our trailer associated with the park and we had been walking around the perimeter for the last few days.  By walking around the perimeter we avoided the slough that had been created by all the rain this year and we avoided many of the interruptions that are encountered in the park.  We tried this again but it seems like so many other things in Texas they grow their mosquitoes BIG.  We were chased back to the concrete to avoid being carried away by these blood suckers.  It turned out very well in that we met a really nice couple from Port Dover, Ontario.  Bob and Linda Lever are down here for the balance of the winter before they head back up north in time for taxes.  They have travelled extensively through North America and have been to Alaska four times.  They have also been to Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean.  We talked for about half an hour and were also introduced to Sally, their Boston Terrier.

The Rio RV Park is an older park and is in need of some major work to bring it up to modern standards.  The sites are uneven and badly rutted and many of the electrical/cable TV pedestals have been knocked over.  The sites are only 18 feet wide and are not suitable for the multi-slide RV’s of today.  They advertise how good their Wi-Fi signal is; however, I found it to be very flakey.  Up one minute and then down the next.  It appears as if they do not have sufficient access points and should probably switch to an outside provider, but I would guess that they want to grab the money for it.  All the sites are electrically metered – which we have only come across once on this trip – so we will have to see tomorrow how expensive this place really is.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Final bill for the week for electric was $34 but this included $20 for Wi-Fi (a bit steep for the Quality of Service)  so electric was $14.

Gulf of Mexico - a Day at the Beach

Friday, February 26, 2010

I simply cannot believe how dumb some people really are.  We were awakened this morning by the loud voices of our neighbours from Kansass.  There were four couples travelling together but unfortunately we were placed between them. Our site for the last few days has been a beehive of activity as people passed around and through it.  Anyway that all ended about 6:30 this morning when they started hooking up their rigs to leave.  It seemed that they had to do everything together and they were totally oblivious to the time of day.  Jerry managed to fall back to sleep for a short time, when we were again woken by the sound of the neighbour’s motor home alarm.  The siren continued for about 10 minutes while the dolt tried to figure out how to silence it. When he was successful that only lasted for a few minutes before it sounded again., and again for another 12 to 15 times. This continued off and on for about an hour.  Janet overheard the fellow talking to his buddy saying that he didn’t know how to turn it off.  Not that she was eavesdropping – they were outside our bedroom window. (The sites are only 18 feet wide!)  Apparently it was something on his key fob…go figure.  They spent the next couple of hours trying to close one of the slide rooms on a different unit (this is a relatively new brand of rig called  Open Range, which has individual electric motors operating the slide rooms independently – not good advertising for this unit.)

We waited for these folks to get away before we ventured out.  We then drove  the 27 miles to South Padre Island.  I don’t know what I was expecting when I got there but I wasn’t expecting the well established tourist resort that is here.  High-rise hotels, condos, restaurants, gift shops and surf shops; they all run along the main street that stretches for about a mile to the edge of the developed area.  The road then continues north outside of town with the Gulf of Mexico, just to the east occasionally obscured by huge sand dunes and on the west is the Laguna Madre and the intercoastal waterway.  There are about 6 access points to the beach before you reach the end of the road and the unofficial start of the South Padre Island National Seashore.  There are many vehicles driving on the packed sand of the beach, although we chose to walk in from the road. 

Janet was like a little kid when we got to the ocean.  She had an armful of seashells in a few minutes and I was back to the truck to get what turned out to be the first of two bags for the shells.  The day was perfect, bright sunshine with a temperature around 22 degrees Celsius.  The water was a little cooler and we didn’t see anyone swimming; but there were a large number of surf fishermen.  We didn’t see them land any fish, though. We spent about an hour and half on the beach collecting shells and soaking up the sun.  We saw a few trailers and motor homes parked along the beach.  I suppose these would be great places to camp but we have gotten used to running water and electricity in our trailer.

We crossed the bridge back towards Brownsville and stopped in Port Isabel.  This is small community that also caters to the tourist trade.  The town centres around the lighthouse which was constructed in 1853 and was used until 1905.  It’s light could be seen 15 miles out to sea.  We climbed the 74 steps and the three ladders to the light room and took a number of pictures from the gallery looking toward South Padre Island.  We roamed around the dock area for a little while and then headed back to our trailer.

 

Brownsville Texas

Monday, February 22, 2010 to Thursday, February 25, 2010

We have spent the last few days relaxing around Brownsville partially, because the weather hasn’t been that great.  When we had arrived on Sunday, the weather was really nice with a temperature around 20 degrees Celsius.  We were finally able to get shorts on and we thought we could finally put our sweaters away.  Wrong!  Monday morning was nice but the afternoon clouded over with the arrival of a cold front from Canada.  It started to rain Monday evening and continued off and on till Wednesday.  The temperature on Tuesday night dropped to about 4 degrees Celsius with a strong north wind. When I say strong it was gusting at times to 35 mph with sustained speeds of 30 mph.  It certainly got the trailer rocking.  And the 4 degrees…well we broke the all-time record low temperature.  But it is an el Nino year so this is what we can expect as we go forward; crazy weather – just look at the weather in BC for the Olympics.

What can I say about Brownsville.  The population is over 90% Hispanic.  Almost all of the signs in the stores are in Spanish.  When we were in a Wal-Mart a couple of days ago there was an announcement over the PA in Spanish, only.  We waited for the English announcement but none came; we both remarked on this.  The local TV anchors are almost exclusively Spanish and the Spanish names roll off their tongues so easily.  And the news lately concerns Matamoros, Mexico; the city just over the Rio Grande River from Brownsville.  There have been numerous kidnappings and shoot-outs in the streets of Matamoros between drug-lords and law enforcement.  It has become so bad that the US government has issued a travel advisory for American citizens against unnecessary travel to Mexico.  The police forces on the American side have been put on heightened alert and the Border Patrol have increased their presence in the area.

As we drove around some of the rural roads near here we ventured toward the Rio Grande River.  As we got closer to the river we saw a high steel barrier close to 20 feet high.  The steel posts are spaced very closely and are topped by a sharp point.  There is no cross bars within the top 10 feet for anyone to connect a rope.  We heard on tonight’s newscast that this is called a border wall and is an effort to keep the “bad guys’ out.  And there are numerous reports of drug seizures including a travel trailer caught at the highway checkpoint near Kingsville, just north of here.  We also heard that a tanker truck had been seized full of marijuana.  Now that is a lot of smoke!

Corpus Christi to Brownsville or Searching for Citrus

Sunday, February 21, 2010

We left under a drizzly, cool sky for the short drive down the coast to Brownsville. The farm fields around here have been ploughed and disked but the fields are covered in water.  They have had so much rain here…February has had four times the normal rainfall for the whole month.  The terrain here is very flat almost like it is around Winnipeg.  As we passed through Kingsville the land became much more rocky and covered with scrub brush and small trees.  The east side of the highway is dominated by the King Ranch, this is the largest ranch in the Texas at 825,000 acres, larger than the state of Rhode Island.  This is definitely cattle country.

We were still about 60 miles away from Brownsville when we saw some flashing lights ahead of us.  As we approached, we could see that the other side of the highway had been narrowed to a single lane and some traffic had been pulled over to one side.  This was a US Border Patrol checkpoint, checking for drugs and illegal aliens.  As we proceeded on our side of the highway there was an array of about 40 infrared cameras aimed at the vehicles on this side of the highway. 

We arrived at the Rio campground just after noon and the sun had finally come out.  When we pulled up to our spot we were besieged by a lot of old people wanting to help to get us parked.  For an old person in an RV park this is a golden opportunity for some excitement.  Some will just come out and watch but for most they have to get involved with parking the new people; as if the new people had never, ever parked an RV before.  As I said, there has been a lot of rain here and the sites are really wet.  The wheels of the truck and the trailer have left deep ruts in the ground, just waiting to fill with more rain which is predicted in the next few days.

After a quick bite to eat we were off in search of citrus.  Specifically oranges. The temperature had risen to about 22 degrees Celsius and we were finally able to get shorts and sandals on.   We pulled out of the campground and headed east having heard that oranges are sold everywhere along these rural roads.  We had only driven a couple of miles when we saw a barricade in the middle of the road.  It was another Border Patrol, checking traffic. The guard was about to wave us through, but I rolled down my window to ask him where we could get some oranges.  He directed us back to Boca Chica, where we found a couple of old beat up half tons with the beds almost overflowing with oranges and corn. The Mexican spoke broken English and my Spanish consists of maybe 3 words, but we finally purchased about 19 pounds of oranges for $7.00.  We also bought 4 ears of corn for $2.  We were looking forward to fresh corn on the cob for supper.  What a disappointment.  After we had cooked the corn I had slathered it with butter only to almost break my tooth biting into it.  I might just as well have saved all the energy cooking it. It was totally inedible. This certainly isn’t the same kind of corn we get at home.  I wondered afterwards if this corn is perhaps taken off the cob to be used for tortilla shells or something.

Mammals and Birds Steal the Show at the Aquarium

Saturday, February 20, 2010

We arrived at the Texas State Aquarium, just after the 9:00 AM opening.  They have set up the displays and viewing windows so that they are fairly low, at a child’s eye level.  Like so many zoos and aquariums that we have seen there is a very heavy emphasis on education, and this aquarium does an exceptional job throughout.  Their displays almost always includes an ecological or educational component.  Throughout the day they conduct “chats” where a biologist will talk about a particular species.  We saw the river otter chat and the sting ray chat.  The sting ray apparently has a sharp, nail-like barb on the end that it uses as protection.  It is made of the same material as a finger nail.  At the aquarium they remove this barb so that guests will not be injured in the pool.

The Dolphin show features 3 dolphins and their trainers.  Of course they wouldn’t do these tricks in the wild but the training treats really help to shape their behaviour.  They are able to clear the water surface by almost 10 feet.  Wild Flight features a number of raptors in free flight over the audience.  Again they are doing this for the food reward but they are still majestic in flight.  It became very apparent that the trainers and the dolphins have a close relationship

There was a couple of common themes here; neither the dolphins nor the raptors are fish and all the mammals and birds came to the aquarium as a result of rescues and rehabilitations OR were bred in captivity.  None of these animals can ever be released back into their “natural” environment as they just wouldn’t survive.

There is a break-water that leads out into the bay behind the aquarium and near the USS Lexington.  We walked to the end of the break-water where a couple of people where trying to fish, while trying to prevent a pirate pelican from stealing their bait.  I must say that the pelican was not afraid of any of us.