We seem to have some kind of magic touch when it comes to bringing abnormal weather to the area where we are staying. It hadn't snowed in 13 years, but it snowed twice and we had freezing rain as well. And it was windy almost every day. And I don't mean 15-20 mph, it blew 30 mph consistently and gusted to 45. We do not care for the wind and so we did not care for the Rio Grande Valley.
We had to get out our winter clothes and put the electric mattress pad on our bed. Highs in the 40s & 50s for most of January was not what we signed up for, but that's Mother Nature.
Jane still went to line dancing a couple times a week and I was able to go back to Fun & Sun, where we spent December, and play pickleball inside. On the days it was warm enough to play outside, it was too windy.
We went to dances and saw a couple tribute bands. Our friends Dan & Lori from Washington state, were going to pick us up and go to dinner before seeing "Fleetwood Mac". About 3 that afternoon it started raining and by 5:30, it had rained a little over 7 inches. The rain was pouring straight down because it was not windy at that time, but it was so loud on the roof of the RV, we had to yell at each other to communicate. The water on the street at our site was ankle deep. In other places around the park, the water was over 2 feet deep, but it all drained off within a couple hours.
Jimmie and Ed came for a few days at the end of February. We went on a dolphin cruise.
That's not our boat, but it looked fun.
We did see some dolphins jumping out of the water just in front of the bow of other boats.
We also went to a sea turtle rescue facility, saw an Eagles tribute band that was great, took them to one of my softball games and celebrated Jimmie's birthday.
Harlingen has a Marine Corps prep school along with the original Iwo Jima monument which was used to cast the one that now stands in Arlington National Cemetery.
Jane and I had planned to go to Arlington and spend the night with Brian as I had a Dr. appointment in Dallas, so Jimmie & Ed rode with us, spent the night at Brian's and they caught a flight to California the next morning to see Ed's daughter.
The next week was spring break for Caleb. We met Chris and Angie half way between Houston and Harlingen and took Caleb and Hannah with us back to the RV park. We went to the zoo in Brownsville where Caleb fed the giraffe
Hannah and Gram with the flamingos
went to a children's museum,
Hannah put on a puppet show, while Caleb showed great aptitude for . . .
. . . a future as a Dr.
went to a movie, then one day went to a place called Bob'z World where Caleb played laser tag and we played mini golf and other games.
The weather warmed up enough for a us to go to the pool. Chris and Angie drove down on Wed. of that week and stayed until Saturday.
We all went to a fair and rodeo in McAllen. It was the first time the kids had been to a rodeo. It's always good to get that first one out of the way, so at the next one they can say, in their best Texas drawl, "This ain't my first rodeo." Caleb had been very anxious to see the bull riding but it turned out his favorite event was steer wrestling. Hannah was pretty tired by rodeo time and she took a nap. Caleb rode some pretty scary rides but Hannah was not into the rides. She liked the animals better.....pigs, chickens, goats and lots of cattle.
Me and Caleb riding the swinging pirate ship.
Gram was on the ground yelling "Hold on to him!"
We had met many people in Tucson as well as the RGV who go to Mexico for their prescription drugs and dentistry and I wanted to try it. We didn't buy dental insurance when we signed up for Medicare and both needed to have our teeth cleaned. We drove to Nuevo Progresso, at the border, parked on the U.S. side, walked across the bridge
Jane crossing the Rio Grande going to Mexico
and found the dentist who was recommended by our friends, Bob and Peggy from Kansas and got our teeth cleaned for $25 each. The facilities were clean and although Jane said her hygienist wasn't the most gentle, we accomplished our goal. While we were walking around, Jane went into one of the hundreds of pharmacies that line the street and picked up a prescription for about a third of what she pays for it in the U.S.
Before we left the RGV, we drove to Kingsville to tour the famous King Ranch.
It's run by a corporation now, but the main house is still used for annual meetings where some 200 heirs come and stay.
The ranch still boasts 825,000 acres with 26,000 head of cattle along with oil producing wells, but they now derive more income from hunting leases than oil.
We finished out our time in Harlingen and moved to Dickinson on April 8. Then we left a day later to drive to Arlington, spend the night with Brian (really glad he bought a three bedroom house) and fly out of DFW to Ohio for the wedding of our niece, Becca.
Jane loves the wildflowers along the highway in the spring.
Back a week later and had the grands for three days. Hannah helped Gram make brownies . . . .
. . . But somehow, Caleb got in on licking the bowl.
We'll be here until the first week of May; then we start our spring travels. Caleb is 8 and playing coach-pitch baseball this year (since he lived in London previously, there was no chance to play baseball before) and we've enjoyed watching his games. He likes playing catcher because it keeps him involved in every play. When he wants the ball thrown to him, he jumps up and down and waves his arms in the air...so he is REALLY involved. It is lots of fun to watch.
Caleb all geared up to play catcher
He tagged a runner out at the plate for the last out in one inning and then hit his first home run which tied the game in the last inning. Time expired and the game ended in a tie. His two big plays made an impact.
From here, we go east and north then back south to Arkansas for summer on the lake.
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