momndad-funnyfarm: 03/01/2017

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.