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.

To Each His Own

I noticed an ad in the local newspaper for the 39th Annual Antique Show & Sale put on by The Women of St Alban's in Harlingen, Texas, which is about 25 miles from here. Carole is very "into" antiques, so on Saturday afternoon we jumped into the Blazer for the trip to Harlingen.



It was a pretty good size show with a large variety of antiques and collectibles, although I thought there was a preponderance of glassware, pottery and jewelery. Carole spends a lot of time at such shows "talking antiques" with the people there, which is over my head. I spend the time wandering around admiring the historic significance the of items on display.

















Carole did find a set of eight demitasse cups and saucers which she couldn't live without . . . so she made her big purchase of the day. I don't know what she will use them for, but she's happy to have them. I told our neighbor they were shot glasses with handles, but Carole didn't think that was funny.

"To each his own."