State Flags

The nearby City of Weslaco, Texas, has an interesting display near their downtown. A small park surrounds a line of flag poles flying the flags of each of the fifty States of the Union, in the order of their entry into the United States, from Delaware to Hawaii. (Yes, Barack, we only have fifty States.)
















A very up-lifting, patriotic sight. Each pole has an attached plaque giving a brief history of that State including the date that State ratified the US Constitution in the case of the original thirteen States, or joined the Union in the case of the subsequent thirty-seven States.

Makes you feel proud to be an American!

Super Bowl Sunday

I was looking forward to a great Super Bowl Sunday until Carole told me we needed to do laundry. So we loaded up the Blazer with a lot of dirty clothes, towels, and bedding, then drove to the laundry room adjacent to the Clubhouse. Boy, did we have a pile of laundry. I told Carole that we need to get a smaller laundry bag, then we would have to do laundry more often . . . in smaller batches.

We did finish that big pile of laundry, then slipped over to the Clubhouse for the Pre-Super Bowl Party. They served two soups; Chili and Charo Beans. The Chili wasn't very exciting, a Missouri version, I think. But the Charo Beans were outstanding; pinto beans with bacon, onion and seasonings, probably a Southern soup.

In addition, Park residents brought appetizers; a variety of meats and cheeses, veggies and crackers with all kinds of dips and spreads. As you can see, there was way too much food . . . as usual.


A couple of weeks ago, I found a recipe for "Armadillo Eggs" and copied it. It sure looked interesting; peeled hard boiled eggs inside a spicy sausage ball rolled in Bisquick, then baked. Some call them "Scotch Eggs" and they were on the table in the Clubhouse. I tried one . . . I'm going to throw out the recipe.

After that Pre-Super Bowl Party, we returned to our neighborhood where we found a number of groups gathered outside socializing . . . waiting for the game to start. It's nice to be able to just "pull up a chair" and join in the conversation. Nearly all of the people here in the Park are very sociable.


We then retired to "The Bus" where we watched the game on TV. Contrary to most Super Bowl games, this one certainly wasn't boring. A very exciting game . . . with a surprise ending, but the Saints played so well, they earned it.

Maybe the Colts will do better next year. Or . . . just imagine . . . the Kansas City Chiefs!

Beer or Margarita

Glory be! After two days of solid rain and one day of very high humidity, the sun came out, the wind stopped blowing, and the temperature rose to 79 degrees. Given another day to dry out, and today is beautiful!

This weather is expected to hang around for awhile. Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday with a big finger-food & appetizer party planned in the Park Clubhouse. After that, we'll be able to enjoy the game on the patio in shorts and t-shirts. We asked for nice, warm, dry weather, and here it is.

The big decision now is "Beer or Margarita?"

Count Our Blessings

Our weather here in The Valley has been pretty nice. We have had days of warm weather and days of cool weather, but few days of wet weather . . . until today.

Last night at about 9:00 PM, it began to rain. Not a gully-washer as we occasionally have in the Midwest, but a steady moderately heavy rain. It rained continuously all night long and finally began to let up at about 10:00 AM. The rain didn't stop then, but at least it began to slow down.

When we awoke, the streets here in the RV Park were flooded, curb to curb. Fortunately we do have paved streets with curbs, otherwise our lot may have been under water too. I would have taken a picture of the flooded streets, but had left the camera in the Blazer and wasn't about to go out in that steady rain to retrieve it.

South Texas needed the rain, I guess, and the forecast is for more rain throughout the day today and all day tomorrow . . . but the the sun is expected to return with temperatures in the upper 70's on Friday and through the weekend. That will be nice.

I hate to complain about the rain as I should be thankful that we're not in the cold temperatures with ice and snow, which our family and friends are experiencing back home. I promise to "Count Our Blessings".

Horseshoe Wine Rack

Our friends and neighbors here in Palm Shadows RV Park, Doug & Jane McLaren, have a farm in Manitoba, Canada, where we visited them in the summer of '08. They raise Registered Red Angus cattle and, as you may expect, they use horses to round up and separate cattle and, of course, their horses go through a lot of horseshoes.

Last year Doug came to Texas with a big bag of used horseshoes, which he planned to use to make things. He bought a small electric welder and made a flower pot holder for Jane. The RV Park had him make some number holders for tables in the Lounge so waiters would know where to deliver food orders. Doug was still looking for additional projects as he had a lot of horseshoes.

When Carole and I were in California last Fall, I went through a museum in an old gold mining town. On display was a wine rack made out of old horseshoes. I took a picture and sent it to Doug, thinking it may be an interesting project for him.

This Winter, when Doug and Jane returned to Texas, he again brought his bag of old used horseshoes and the electric welder. Before I knew it, he was working on the tailgate of his truck and turned out a wine rack, which he painted and presented it to us as a gift.




We proudly loaded it with bottles of wine and set it out on display in "The Bus". Can you imagine? A wine rack made from old horseshoes from the working horses on a friend's farm in Manitoba. We are quite proud of our new wine rack.

Thanks so much, Doug.

Mustang Sale

Brought to this country by the Spaniards many years ago, today wild horses roam the lands of the West. Sometimes the herds grow too large for the lands they occupy to support, so it is necessary to reduce their numbers. This week, the Department of the Interior brought into The Valley about 30 wild horses which they rounded up to make available for adoption.

They held a "Mustang Sale", 4- legged, not 4-wheeled, at the County Fairgrounds allowing qualified buyers who had the space and facilities to buy and adopt these wild horses.



I didn't get to the County Fairgrounds until after most of the mustangs had been adopted and picked up, but it felt great just to be able to see a few wild horses up close. They had halters on, but no horseshoes. These mustangs should made good pets for new owners who take the time to patiently work with them.

There were beautiful animals at this "Mustang Sale".

Up in the Air

This weekend, the 10th Annual Kite Festival was held on South Padre Island. The weather was near perfect for the event . . . enough wind for kite flying, not so windy as to be uncomfortable, and partly sunny with temperatures in the high 60's.
















A large crowd of spectators was on hand, equipped with lawn chairs and cameras.

Tents were set up for displays, a silent auction, T-shirt vendors, and food vendors, including hot coffee . . . but, alas, no hot chocolate . . . and no beer.

But the show was not on the ground . . . the whole show was "Up in the Air".






Participants came from all over the country. I'm not aware of any competition or awards, but I witnessed many demonstrations of single kite fliers working with "stunt kites" performing to music. They were amazing, like a ballet in the sky. They would set up their kite on the ground, then take-off when the music started and perform routines in time with the music.


Also they gave demonstrations of four performers working together in unison like the Blue Angels. But the most amazing demonstration was performed by a group of ten kite fliers performing in unison. The announcer said these ten fliers were from all over the country and had practiced together for only one hour.

The picture here is of the ten kites lined up on the ground just before takeoff. When the music began, they took off one by one following in line, then began acrobatics in unison in time with the music.







The pictures below show some of the stunts, follow-the-leader through s-curves and circles, dancing in formation, arranging in a circle, then "exploding" in all directions.

















When you stop to think that each kite had four lines to it, the ten performing kites had a total of forty lines. How did the fliers keep from getting their lines all tangled up?

















I just have to get one of those kites so I can get mine "Up in the Air".

Gold Miner's RV

I stumbled across a surprising sight this morning in the parking lot of one of the local Flea Markets . . . a "Gold Miner's RV".

There it was on a trailer. A 1920's something Model T Ford truck with a truck camper built on the back end . . . followed by an outhouse! I guess this was before indoor plumbing, so you had to take your outhouse with you.
















Many of the necessary tools for RVing were hanging on the outside: wash tub, washboard, wringer, saw, shovels, ice tongs, and, of course, rifle with powder horn.

What won't they think of next . . . but I'm sure it would have made some gold miner very happy.

License Plate Geography

Driving around the Rio Grande Valley in Texas or walking through area parking lots at Wal-Mart, Target, or Kohls this time of year can be a real lesson in geography. Just pay attention to the license plates on vehicles, which I call "License Plate Geography". We're in the State of Texas, but in many places around here, Texas license plates are in the minority!


On weekends, the parking lots are filled with vehicles from Mexico. Last Sunday afternoon, I ran over to the Target store and had to park in the back of the lot. As I walked to the store, I was looking at license plates on cars and trucks in the lot and was surprised that 2/3 of the vehicles were from Mexico, only about 1/3 were local Texas vehicles and out-of-state license plates were not to be seen. I guess Winter Texans don't shop on Sunday.



Mexicans apparently come here on weekends to shop. Most of the Mexican plates were from the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, which are just across the border from Texas.

I also saw license plates from other states in Mexico and had to look up where those states were in Mexico. Now that's "License Plate Geography".



During the week, license plates of Winter Texas are predominant. So I decided to engage in a little "License Plate Geography" by taking pictures of the variety of license plates here in the Rio Grande Valley to see what geographic areas Winter Texans come from.

You would expect people to be here from the states directly North of Texas; Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota . . .


South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa . . .


Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas . . .




. . . and, of course, the Great State of Kansas! That's my license plate, but we're not the only Winter Texans from Kansas.







I also saw many plates from states in the East-Central area like Michigan, Illinois, Indiana . . .


Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Every time I look at this picture of the Kentucky license plate which was held on with wire I have to chuckle; the rusty old truck it was on looked like it must have belonged to some "Redneck" from Kentucky.


I would expect East Coast people to go straight South to Florida to avoid the winter weather up North. It's surprising to me that I also saw license plates from East Coast states here in The Valley . . . like New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New York . . .


. . . and the Garden State of New Jersey.








Some Winter Texans come here from the Deep South . . . other Gulf Coast states like Mississippi and even from the Sunshine State of Florida.


I would expect people who live on the West Coast to go straight South to Arizona for the Winter, but some Winter Texans are here from Western states like Washington, Montana, Colorado . . .


. . . and even from the beautiful State of Utah.








Winter Texans are here not only from states in the United States, but many come from Canadian Provinces, literally from Coast to Coast; from British Columbia in the West, to Alberta, Saskatchewan . . .


Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec in the East.


Winter Texans obviously come from all over the North American continent and playing a little "License Plate Geography" here in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas can be fun, interesting and educational. I'm going to continue to keep my eyes open and my camera ready! Who knows where the next Winter Texan may hail from.

Joe's Crab Shack

When we left the Antique Show, it was late in the afternoon, so we drove around Harlingen looking for a place to eat . . . preferably seafood as we were not far from South Padre Island. We didn't have any luck finding a "nice looking" seafood restaurant, partly because our GPS maps need to be updated.

We decided to drive back to McAllen, Texas, near the Palm Shadows RV Park, and stopped at "Joe's Crab Shack" for seafood, as we had talked ourselves into a seafood dinner.

















I had fish and chips, which was very good, reminiscent of the old Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips Restaurants of a few years back . . . plus they were served with malt vinegar. Carole had a Sampler Plate of shrimp, crab cakes and fish nuggets. She said it was all very good. We each had a couple of drinks.

The atmosphere was rustic, the restaurant was noisy, the service was agonizingly slow, and the cost was extremely high for what we got. The quality of the food was very good, but we probably won't go back to "Joe's Crab Shack" again.