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Saturday, March 4, 2017

March 2017


Thursday, March 30
We took a boat tour to watch the 
Sea Turtle Rescue staff release some turtles
We were on the Double Sunshine
Jerry F., Kathy & Jerry B., Diane, Wendy, Bob
Coast Guard station at South Padre Island
We saw a few dolphins on the trip--
they are hard to "catch" with a camera
Part of the staff
 The hospital is where the injured turtles
are placed until they are ready to go back to the sea
 Nine turtles were relased that day
Free at last
 The turtles were released from two boats
which were back to back so we could 
see the release from the other boat
Ready or not...
Here we go!
We ate at Pelican Station after the turtle release

Sunday, March 26th
We decided to get some "culture"
This was our first play at the theater
in Brownsville....really funny!
Saturday, March 25th
We drove to the Sugar Processing plant 
west of Santa Rosa to watch the trucks
carrying the cane being unloaded.

The trucks (not just the box) get lifted to unload



Fun to watch them go up and down
A growing cane field across from the factory
A young sugar cane field being irrigated  
with the sugar processing plant in the background
After watching the trucks unload,
Bob decided that we should follow a truck
to find the field.  When the truck turned onto a
dirt (not gravel) road, we stopped following it.
The field was a mile off the road.
While we were following the truck south
of La Feria, we passed the gun club....

Pickleball in Harlingen
The low ceiling limits the lobbing!

 March 24th at Boca Chica 

 Trail and beaches


 Never thought about the Civil War extending down to South Texas
 A windy day on the beach

 The entire village was one street


 History (or not) made here


March 21st: Winter Texan Day in Mexico

March 20th
Another day at South Padre Island

The three biketeers: Jerry, Dennis, and Bob
Closing out the day with a brewery trip

End-of-season park picnic on the 18th
 Dennis & Nancy, Charlotte, Wendy, Ron,
Kathy (behind Jerry), and Bob


 We had a band at the picnic...
here's part of the conga line :-)

Doin' the polka
 Parking lot
 I won a free trip on the Pirate Ship (one of the door prizes)
Cane sugar fields are burned out before harvest

Pickleball on St. Paddy's Day
The Brownsville court is in the hurricane shelter



Wednesday, March 15th
Back to South Padre Island
There were lots of kids there for Spring Break.
One of them asked how long were were staying
and was shocked when we said, "three months!"
 Pope Francis went to the Island with us.
When we were leaving, the lady waiting for
our parking spot said her nine-year-old son wanted 
to know why the Pope was on the bike.  He wanted
his picture taken with the Pope before we left!
The kid went to a Catholic school in Brownsville.
Dennis held up crackers to feed the birds,
but this one got a cracker 
and a bit of Dennis's finger!!
 The little boy next to us was smarter--
he threw the crackers up and the birds 
grabbed them in the air.
Last line dancing class with Lois from ND
and Paul the instructor and his wife Carrie.
Paul worked for the Hershey factory in Pennsylvania
and said he got free candy when he was at work.

Driving north and west of La Feria
The Hidalgo County Detention Center
 Orange grove along the road
 The Santa Rosa boys' basketball made it to State
this year, but lost in the semifinal round.
 Cane sugar is a huge ag industry in the Rio Grande Valley.
This is where they process the sugar.  George, the father
of Luis (our bee man) has worked here for over 30 years.
He keeps the machines running.

 Harvesting equipment

 Views of the factory....we wanted to watch the trucks
unload, but they were not working that day 
because it was too muddy.


Tuesday, March 14th
 Charlotte, Diane, Kathy, Nancy, and Wendy
helped Delores celebrate her birthday
We had lunch at Colletti's.  This is my chicken salad!


Luis, who brings his bees to our farm in the summer,
did a presentation at the Audubon Society

On Monday, the 13th, we drove out to the "Salt of the King"
lake north of Alamo.  The water is ten times
as salty as the ocean. (Yes, we tasted it).
 Salt was like gold in the 18th and 19th centuries

 Bob rode his bike down the trail to the lake.



 Actually, we saw one deer before we entered the park--
and no wildlife after that.



 The "salt dune" in the lake
 We arrived after a hard rain, but salt buildup was evident
 I walked to the lake from the gate--about 1/2 mile
 and enjoyed the "flora"


 Salt became trapped in debris when the water receded
 I loved the patterns in the salty sand 
made by the rain and receding water


Awesome--can you see the animal tracks?


Sunday, March 5th
Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show
 Bob met someone from North Dakota
in the Antique Farm Equipment Museum
 I liked the miniature farm displays the best
 "Tote that bale.."
Cotton harvest

Friday, March 3rd
After pickleball in Brownsville, we went to South Padre Island
for lunch at the SPI Brewery.  Then we drove to Clayton's
to see if many Spring Breakers had arrived yet.


We tried to catch up with this car to get a better pic, but...

Our neighbor Terry organizes a ladies' luncheon
once a month at local restaurants.  This month
we went to Stefano's--can you guess what
kind of food they serve??? :-)
I'm in the back with the cowboy hat....
(note the carry-out boxes...I belong to the "clean plate club")

Nephew Doug the fisherman sent fish to Texas with his parents,
so they hosted a fish-fry this week. Yummy!

 We found the Lebanese Bistro in McAllen on Sunday
 I ate the grape leaves before we took the picture.
The food was great!!!
Sam, the cook, created this Madonna and Child
using silver and mother-of-pearl inlay. 
He also did ones of Bill Clinton and Michael Jordan.
He wants to sell this one.

On March 3 we went to see "The Good Vibrations,"
who do "Beach Boys" music
The Vibrations were good
 The "real" Beach Boys
The concert was at Llano Grande RV Park in Mercedes,
a little town west of La Feria

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