February! The groundhog saw his shadow and....

 

Bob and his brother Jerry watched the JFK Aircraft

Carrier being tugged to the Brownsville port on Feb. 1st

to be demolished.  The orange tug was pulling the ship,

and two smaller white tugs were "steering".

Since our park isn't having Wednesday night entertainment,

we went to Llano Grande in Mercedes on the 5th to see

Lindley Creek, a family that does "bluegrass" music.

Cousin Leon and Lisa arrived on the 5th, so the next

day we took them to the ND/SD reunion lunch 

at Victoria Palms RV Park. Two neighbors of Bob and 

Leon's cousin Fred were there. I didn't know a soul,

but a lady from Lisa's hometown of Cavalier 

recognized her!!

On Friday, we went to the Harlingen History Museum,

to see a Vaquero exhibit and a quilt show.

Then we headed to Dave's BBQ for brisket,

came home in time for a quick Skip Bo game,

with Lisa, Wendy, Jane and me,

and went to the Legion for the fish fry before

the UND hockey game on TV.  Lisa and I went to

play Bingo at the Citrus park instead of watching hockey.

William Florian performed at Kenwood Park in La Feria

on Saturday, the 8th. He told us that The New Christy

Minstrels were planning to do a revival for next year.

Bet you don't see too many signs like this!

We went to South Padre Island on Sunday,

so Bob could ride his bike on the beach.

Kathy brought me birthday flowers

on her way to the Super Bowl party next door!

Came back to the park for a Super Bowl party 

at Jerry and Wendy's--and a Super meal!

RJ is 13 on the 9th

We drove to Mission, TX, for the Awards show on the 12th

"Sister Luv" really rocked! "Steven May and the Southern

Knights"  got the best male performer, best group, and

best entertainer awards.  The finalists are nominated

by the Activities Directors of the RV parks in the

Rio Grande Valley, and all the winter Texans have

the opportunity to vote.

When we got back to our park, our friend Irene

came by with flowers, candy, a new outfit,

and a teddy bear for my birthday!

 

Janie's kids were taking her to Arizona, so she could

fly in an air balloon, but she stopped by on Thursday

to bring me flowers for my birthday!

I think Bob was shopping all week

for the balloons, cake, and orchid

that appeared in our house today!

Valentine dinner at Stefano's. Prime rib and wine. :-)

Birthday party with lots of chocolates.

La Feria's Fiesta was on the 15th,

The Cruisers rocked and rolled on stage!

Leanne arrived at the Harlingen airport on the 16th.

After brunch at our mobile home in La Feria,

we took the Los Ebanos ferry across the Rio Grande.

Leanne and Bob helped pull hand-over-hand rope pulley. 

Then we drove to the Basilica

in San Juan

We made it to the Basilica

in time for the Spanish Mariachi mass.

Afterwards, we had lunch 

at the Rancho Grande in San Juan.

  On Monday, we headed to

Boca Chica and the site of the last battle

of the Civil War...now on the road to Space X.

After exploring the Space X site,

Bob drove all the way down the beach at Boca Chica

to where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Fishermen in the background are in Mexico!

From there we went to Port Isabel for lunch 

at the Pelican Station restaurant.

After lunch, we crossed the Queen Isabella causeway bridge 

to South Padre Island.

The island is named for Padre Jose Balli

whose family settled there.

In the campground at the South end of the island

is a memorial to all the men lost at sea.

We drove to the "dead end" at the North

side of the island after stopping to catch

the view at Clayton's, a local hot spot.

and then stopped to see the sand

sculptures before heading back home..

On Tuesday we walked across the bridge

over the Rio Grande River. Halfway 

across, Leanne set foot in both countries!

Made it to the Mexican side of the bridge!!

Nuevo Progreso is filled with Dentists, Pharmacies,

and all kinds of stores and shops.  Leanne bought

gifts for her grandkids, and we stopped for Margaritas.

Finally, a stop at the alley bar for a beer for Bob

and a boot shine for Leanne.

After teaching Leanne to play 
Mexican Train Dominoes and

grabbing a quick supper, we went

to see William Florian perform at

a nearby park. He played with The New

Christy Minstrels who are planning a 

revival for next year.

The Gelman Stained Glass museum

was our first stop on Wednesday.

I forgot to take pictures,

so you'll have to ask Leanne

to see her photos!

The power went out at the Gelman, so we went to the

International Museum of Arts and Sciences in McAllen.

A special feature this week was Spanish religious art.

We went back to see the stained glass after this

because the power came back on!

Thursday's visit included this museum.

The museum had a quilt show,

a village with historical buildings

and a video telling the story

of Harlingen's founding and growth.

And a special feature was the 

DAR exhibit about the history

of soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

We went to the Iwo Jima memorial first on Thursday,

but the museum was closed, so we crossed the road

to the Harlingen museum site.

Insignia on the monument. 

We enjoyed brisket at Dave's BBQ for lunch.

Leanne had "beginner's luck"

at Bingo on Thursday night!

On Friday. we watched a video about Iwo Jima

and explored the museum for more history.

And learned the story about Kilroy!

Lots of history at the museum.  We probably

could have spent an entire day there!

Saturday's "Irish Festival" featured

several musical groups and a lot

of booths with vendors.  I bought

some Girl Scout cookies! 

We moved on to Edinburg to the

South Texas Museum of Natural History

where Leanne met this Wooly Mammoth!

And the jail actually had a "hanging room" with a

floor that dropped out when someone got the noose!

Saturday night while the guys watched the Sioux

hockey game on TV at Jerry's, the "girls"

(Wendy, Kathy, Nancy, Leanne, and I)

played Mexican Train Dominoes at our place.

The Sioux won, and so did Wendy!!!

Early Sunday morning, Leanne left

for Cleveland (via Dallas).  We

are sure going to miss her!

A park in Donna, Texas, had a fundraiser

for the Veterans' Home in Pharr.

Steven May performed and they 

raised over $6,000 in donations!

Bob heard the noise across the fence on Tuesday night,

so we went out to watch. He saw the paramedics

carry a body out of the house. On Wednesday

we found out that the red hat lady who played

Bingo on Friday nights had died.