On Valley Time

Smitty's Juke Box Museum
Jukes on display and being restored.

Helen by an old Rockola.

A variety of old machines.

Moonrise over a Texas Olive.

A green jay and cardinal.

Javelinas

Tom Landry Mural

We continue to enjoy the warm but windy weather of the Rio Grande Valley. Holiday Village, where we are staying because of the good rate, is a very nice park BUT it is to close to the highway and there is constant noise from the traffic. In our travels around the area we have found some nice RV parks away from the beaten path. If we decide to return and stay for longer than the two weeks we stayed this time, there are other places that offer good long term rates.

In Pharr we visited Smitty's Juke Box Museum which has displays of restored music machines ranging from ones that played original Edison records to ones that played CD's. We talked with Helen Schmitt who told us she and her husband have been in the vending business, which her son now runs, for over sixty years. This was a real trip down memory lane for me because many of the juke boxes from the 50's, 60's and 70's were the same ones my dad, Bob, had when he was in the vending business. There were Seburgs, Wurlitzers, AMIs, Rowes, and Rockolas that Bob had used and also antiques from the early 1900's and on. The older machines only had as few as ten 78rpm records to choose from while Helen told us the new broadband Internet jukes have a virtual unlimited number of selections that can be changed and monitored over the net from the office. Helen and I swapped stories about being in the business that also included cigarette machines, bowling machines, pool tables and pinballs. We had one of the old pinball machines in our stix and brix home which was very popular when we had parties and get-togethers and was the last things we got rid of when we sold. If you are in Pharr be sure to stop and see this museum and chat with Helen.

One evening we went to Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park to do some birding. The park which is the home of the World Birding Center is closed to motorized vehicles except for a tram that runs during the day. It is a great place to bike but we chose to walk and were rewarded with seeing some great wildlife. We saw many species including several beautiful green jays, cardinals, chachalacas, a woodpecker and others. We saw several javelinas, which we have never seen in the wild. But the real highlight was seeing not one but two bobcats. As we were looking for birds from a blind a bobcat walked through along the edge of the woods and as we were driving home near the park one ran across the road. We got a real good look at that one because he stayed at the edge of the woods even as we backed up to see him. Unfortunately, we did not get pictures of the cats. They are just too quick. In addition, we saw a huge number of green parakeets on the telephone wires in McAllen as they were getting ready to roost for the night but it was too late to get a good photo.

In Mission we saw the Tom Landry Mural that honors the Cowboys' coach who was born and raised there. While we are in no way Dallas fans, it was neat to see the display that included the signature, hand and footprints of former Dallas running back Tony Dorsett who is a Pitt grad from Western PA. GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Old Mexico

Welcome to Mexico
Doesn't this make you feel safe? These street pictures really do not show how many people were there.

Every one of these businesses is a dental clinic.

Does this guy look like he is bringing drugs across the border?

We are now at the Holiday Village RV Park in Pharr, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Tom and Georgie made the move with us and we all had our first visit to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. This was also the first time the four of us experienced 100 degree temperatures in February. This little town on the banks of the Rio Grande is a shopper's haven for Winter Texans. We parked on the US side and after putting a quarter in the turn style (but 30 cents on the the Mexican side to return) walked across the border into a mass of street vendors, shops, restaurants, pharmacies, and dental clinics. The other thing we noticed was the machine gun mounted on an armored vehicle and soldiers toting some heavy firepower. We had been told that Progreso was safe despite all the killings by the drug gangs in other border towns. We really did not feel we were in any danger and obviously neither did the hundreds of other Americans who were shopping there. Since we are not planning to be back in PA until 2010 and my prescriptions will expire before that, I purchased refills for my blood pressure meds over the counter for a reasonable price at the Almost Free Pharmacy. Many of the shops offer multiple services with one place giving a free dental cleaning if you spent more than $25 on alcohol. At the Arizona Restaurant, where we had lunch, they offered a free coupon to have your teeth cleaned with each meal. As we walked along the streets we were bombarded by offers to purchase the many services such as, botox treatments, eye exams with glasses in two hours, total dental care, even $3 haircuts and much, much more. In addition, the many vendors on the streets sold everything under the sun from jewelery, handbags, hats, leather belts and wallets to pottery, rugs, hammocks and many different types of food, much of which we were left wondering what it even was. The only downer of the visit was the few people on the street and under the bridge begging for a hand out. It was very sad to see this level of poverty. That said, we all made purchases and really enjoyed the experience. It's quite unique so don't pass up the opportunity to visit if you get the chance.

Sun, Turtles, Birds & FRIENDS

Georgie & Tom enjoying the warm Texas weather. You need to click here to see how Tom has changed since he got a haircut on January 20th when the new president was sworn in. He had vowed not to get it cut as long as Bush was in office.
Birds along the gulf coast.

You can see that this turtle is missing a flipper.

Look closely and you can see a green jay and a chachalaca.

A heron wading near the Laguna Madre Trail.

Nanc, Tom & Georgie basking in the setting sun.

Texas Sunset

Jim, Nanc, Joe, Jin, Tom & Georgie enjoying an evening out.

Once again we had a personal mail delivery from our friends Tom & Georgie who drove to South Texas and spent a great week with us. We had a wonderful time going to the beach, dining out, watching the sunsets and catching up on everything going on back in Wash, PA.

One day we visited the Sea Turtles on South Padre Island, a nonprofit rescue center started by Ila Loetscher in 1977. The center rescues ill and injured turtles and works to nurse them back to health. Turtles that have lost only one flipper can be released back into the gulf but those that are severely injured, often missing more than one flipper, are sent to other zoos and aquariums or kept at the center to help educate the public on the plight of the gulf turtles, all of which are endangered or threatened. Many of the injuries are caused by the turtles being caught in fishing lines or fishing nets while other injuries are the result of predators. They were even experimenting on a prosthetic flipper to help a turtle which had only one. The center allows up close views of turtles from young small hawksbills to large nearly full grown leatherbacks weighing up to 300 pounds.

We also took Tom & Georgie birding on the Laguna Madre Trail on Padre Island and to the Sabal Palm Audubon Center in Brownsville. Sabal Palm has some of the only protected palm forest remaining along the Rio Grande. The area is an excellent habitat for birds and other animals with trails that take you through the forest and along the river and lake and offers great opportunities to view many species. We saw a variety of ducks and wading birds, chachalacas, green jays and a kingfisher. The jays and chachalacas are native only to the Rio Grande Valley in the US.

We took advantage of the warm weather by walking on the beach collecting shells and watching the wildlife. We watched beautiful sunsets across Laguna Madre Bay while enjoying our favorite beverage at a couple of local pubs. We also got to play euchre several times which we used to play regularly with the gang back in Wash, PA. On another evening we had dinner with our realtor and his wife, Joe and Jin Koval, who just happened to be here vacationing. They have been coming to Padre Island for years and are the ones who recommended we try it for the winter. We are really glad they did as we have enjoyed it very much and plan to return.

More of South Texas

Shrimp boats in the harbor at Port Isabel.

Looking from the motorhome at a ship heading out into the gulf.
Looking out for pirates while fishing on South Padre Island.
A HUGE oil rig cuts through the fog on its way to the gulf.

On the beach at Boca Chica.

Ditsy Dotty is saying we have arrived! NOT!!

Trophies from Port Isabel sport fishing tournaments.

Those who served here in the Mexican American and Civil Wars.

We have accepted the fact that it is always windy and continue to enjoy South Texas. It has been in the 70's and 80's with sunny skies almost every day. We love watching the birds as well as all the interesting things that go by on the water. We have done more exploring going to the Brownsville area and the beach at Boca Chica. We can see Boca Chica from the motorhome but it is a forty mile drive to the end of the paved road to get there. It is a beautiful beach with very few people. You can drive on the beach from where the Rio Grande enters the Gulf of Mexico to the inlet at South Padre Island. Driving to Boca Chica beach we only passed a few cars but the Border Patrol has a permanent check point set up where you must stop for inspection on your return trip. We did get to use our new GPS (Ditsy Dotty) which we purchased with gift certificates given to us by my brother and sister-in-law, Rick and Denise, for Christmas. She got us to a restaurant in Brownsville without a hitch so we decided we would go to Rasaca de La Palma State Park to do some birding. The picture above shows the results of that trip so I don't think we will be throwing our maps away.

We toured the Port Isabel Historic Museum which offers interesting exhibits on local history and the shrimp fishing industry. At its height over 12 million tons of shrimp a year came through this area. Presently, forty percent of the country's shrimp is still shipped from Port Isabel. The history of the development of sports fishing and tourism is also shown. Historically, there was a dispute over this land that lies between the Neuces River near Corpus Christi which Mexico said was the border and the Rio Grande which the US claimed as the border. The Mexican American War was fought to settle that dispute. The first battle of that war was fought near here at Palo Alto in 1846. The US won the war after Mexico City was captured in 1847. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago established the border and ceded all of California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other states to the US. Among the soldiers who fought here were Grant, Lee and Meade who later played important roles in the Civil War. Ironically, the last battle of that war was fought near here at Palmito Ranch more than a month after Lee's surrender.

Living on Wheels

We have been on the road for over 18 months and are really loving this new lifestyle. While we have chronicled the many adventures we have had, there are many routine things that are made very different by living in a house on wheels. Some of these differences are because our home is both mobile and self contained. Electricity, as an example, can come from plugging in at a campground but you can have 20, 30, or 50 amps. This has a real impact on which of the many on board appliances we can use. One place we stayed in Ohio gave you a 20 amp fuse and if it blew you had no power. At other places the power (unlike a stix and brix) is not consistent, which can also cause damage. We like having 50 amp because it enables us to run all electric items without worry. If you have 20 or 30 amp you must closely monitor everything you use. We also have a generator to provide power and charge the batteries if we are not plugged in but this runs on diesel fuel which last summer was near $5.00 per gallon. You can purchase solar panels to replace some of the need for a generator, but we don't think it is cost efficient. Even at $5.00 per gallon you can run the generator a long time for the several thousands it would cost to install solar panels. Additionally, we have a inverter that converts battery power to AC electricity to run some appliances but this quickly uses the 12 volt battery power that is the source for most of our lights and provides the "spark" to start things (fridge, water heater and furnace) that run on LP gas. We carry LP gas for the furnace, water heater, fridge and cooking. Both the fridge and the water heater can also run on electricity when you have enough power. For our water supply we also have two sources, either attaching a hose to a spigot in a campground or from our 110 gallon on board water tank, which requires the batteries to run the pump. Our practice of spraying Clorox on the spigot before we hook up the water was reinforced when we recently saw someone at an empty site running water and letting his dog drink from it. Of course water must be disposed of so we have two sewage systems on board. One is for "gray water" (shower, washer & sinks) and the other is for "black water" (toilet.) When in a full hook up campground a hose, also known as the "stinky slinky," can be attached directly to a sewer line. But, unlike a house, we must empty the black water after the tank is full because leaving it trickle out will result in a hardened "mound of doom" and this is something you never want to deal with. After you empty the black tank it must be flushed out by attaching a hose (not the same one used for drinking water) to the tank. The emptying of the black tank has lead to an occasional toxic spill. An unnamed friend once turned on the wrong hose and in a short time wondered why water was running out of the stand pipe on the roof and down the side of the rig. At the same time, on the inside his wife wondered why the toilet was making a strange noise and flushed it to check the problem. The good news, they now know the toilet seal works. The bad news, the sudden opening of the seal caused a terrible eruption of _ _ _ _. So just when you think all is well something happens resulting in an emergency hazmat clean up. We discovered while having no water or sewer hook up for 14 days we can make the black tank last for 13. You don't want to have the urge to go in the middle of the last night so it is good to know your limit. When you do not have a sewer hook up you must empty at a dump station where there is always a line of waiting RVers watching and critiquing your technique. Another way to empty the sewer is into a blue boy, a waste water carrier on wheels that we call a "turd trolley." We have not gone there yet. Though you should NEVER fill your fresh water with the dump flush hose, it does not take very long on the road before you see someone doing just that. Another thing that is different on the road is garbage disposal. At our stix and brix home, once a week we put the garbage on the curb and when we came home from work it was gone. Very rarely do they pick up the garbage in a campground so you get to carry it to the dumpster each day. Often, especially after a long weekend, it is filled and overflowing with several days of trash. This can be a very aromatic experience on a hot day so we generally take a romantic after dinner stroll together so we can tag team the dumpster for quick disposal. While many misadventures involving RV systems are shown hilariously in the movies Christmas Vacation and RV living them in real life is just as funny (when looking back).

While all the systems were overwhelming in the beginning we are really glad we no longer have a stix and brix home. To reinforce this, Allan and Sharon, a couple we met in Rockport, had a pipe break at their home in Arizona and the house had severe damage that was not covered by insurance. As to our old house, while just recently reading the local paper on line I could see it in the background of a front page photo telling of a shooting in the old neighborhood. I just think about those kinds of things when I'm washing out the stinky slinky and realize it isn't a bad job at all.

Los Fresnos Rodeo

Riding the bull while the bullfighter taunts it and the clown on the barrel gets ready to attract it away from the rider.
Many of the rides were less than eight seconds.

A roping team chases down a steer.

The team has the steer with one rope on the horns and the other on the hind legs.

A Bucking Bronc

A cowboy jumps off a perfectly good horse to wrestle a steer to the ground.

After the cowboy has roped the calf the horse keeps the rope taut while the cowboy ties the calf's feet.

The barrel rider is a blur as she speeds to the finish line.

What a hoot as the kids chase the calves to pull the ribbon off its tail to win a prize.

Another first for us was attending the nearby Los Fresnos PRCA Rodeo that included many different types of events based on the skills used by cowboys on the ranch. The events were bull riding, bronc riding, team roping, steer wrestling, tie down roping and women's barrel riding. The rodeo clown, Rudy Burns, not only entertained the crowd with his antics, he also helped attract the bulls away from the riders after they where done with their 8 seconds (or less) atop these raging animals. Two bullfighters, Rex Dunn and Wacey Munsell, also helped rescue the fallen bull riders after running in front of the bulls to taunt them so they will jump faster and higher. The Outlaws Drill Team did horse mounted drills and carried flags and banners of rodeo sponsors. For the kids they had several 4H members in the arena chasing calves with ribbons tied to their tails which the kids needed to grab for a prize. The whole event was very entertaining and we truly enjoyed this traditional Western show. It was jam packed with entertainment and there was never a dull moment. We have always talked of attending the Calgary Stampede and seeing this small rodeo convinced us we need to definitely include that in our future travels.

Looking Over Texas

Port Isabel Lighthouse
Looking from the top of the lighthouse over Port Isabel at Laguna Madre Bay and South Padre Island.
Not a great pic but check out that temp.

Nanc at the top.

Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage

Sunset across the bay.

Iwo Jima Memorial

So True

We continue to enjoy South Texas. Even with the winds we were warned of, the temps in the 70's almost every day make it very pleasant. A wind chill of 70 is very tolerable. We explored more of the area and visited the Port Isabel Lighthouse which, at 72 feet, towers over the town. It is visible across Laguna Madre Bay from Brazos Santiago Pass where ships enter the protected waters of the bay from the Gulf of Mexico. We see ships arriving and departing the Brownsville Ship Channel several times a week from our motorhome. Built in 1852, the lighthouse survived the Civil War and many hurricanes and in 1952 became Texas' smallest state park. It is the only lighthouse on the Texas coast that is open to the public and the only one we have visited that allows you to get up into the room were the lens used to be. There is also a replica of the keeper's cottage on the grounds that serves as a visitors center. The view from the top is well worth the climb.

We have discovered that by going to South Padre Island you can get a beautiful view of the sunset over the bay. Since we are more likely to see it set than rise, we have gone across the Queen Isabella Causeway a couple times to enjoy the view from outdoor bars that offer sunset specials. You know you are in the right place weather wise when there are restaurants and bars with only roll up shades and no exterior walls.

Another day we drove to Harlingen to the Marine Military Academy to see the Iwo Jima Memorial. The memorial, which is the original working model that sculptor Dr. Felix de Weldon used to make the bronze castings for the memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, was given to the Academy in 1981. The Academy was chosen because it is the only military school based on the customs and traditions of the U. S. Marine Corps. Also, Harlon Block, a Marine in the memorial, was from nearby Weslaco. It depicts the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, the first Japanese land taken by the US on February 23, 1945 as captured in a photograph by Joe Rosenthal. Three of the five Marines, PFC Franklin R. Sousley, SGT Michael Strank and CPL Harlon Block where killed in later action on the island. The other two Marines, PFC Ira Hayes and PFC Rene A. Gagnon along with Navy corpsman PM2/C John H. Bradley posed for the sculptor which was dedicated in Arlington in 1954. We have seen the Arlington Memorial many times and this one is just as impressive in size and meaning. Just a couple of years ago I learned that my Uncle Art was on Iwo Jima and witnessed the raising of the flag but, like many veterans, never talked about his war experiences. The Academy's museum is honoring the service of all those who where on Iwo Jima by registering Marine veterans who were there.