New Year's Eve

The last day of 2008 is here, and we plan to celebrate by attending a New Year's Eve dance called by Jerry Story and Randy Dougherty, along with several of our new friends.



This morning the RV Steamer, Jack Cook, came to clean our carpets and spray them with stain repellent, a service we really needed after living in Venture for a year.
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Into the Wild

Jerry Story's dance was dark today, so we were able to attend a talk at the clubhouse on keeping RV carpets clean. We were so impressed that we scheduled a cleaning.

This afternoon Ken finally took the truck in to get a fuse installed in the windshield washer heater--a recall that we'd been waiting for some time to have completed. On the way home he stopped at the Video Hut and rented the movie Into the Wild. We watched it with Gary and Mary Ann. The film is based on the true story of Christopher McCandless, who rejected what he saw as his parents' materialism and hypocrisy, gave away almost all his money and traveled to Alaska to live in the wild. Sadly but predictably, the young man died.

Some have suggested that Chris is not the idealistic seeker portrayed in the book and movie, but rather a troubled young man suffering from schizophrenia or some other mental illness. Read more!

Farmer's Market

Today we got a Christmas package from Italy, which included gifts from Greece and Portugal. Thanks, Terri and Blake and Molly! Here's a photo of the tiny chess set for Ken:

We also got Christmas cards and letters from some friends, which we were late picking up because we had misplaced our mailbox key (we're sure it's around here somewhere . . . .) Dennis and Linda's letter includes a photo of their new home, which we saw in progress when we visited this summer. It looks completed, but they plan to spend the next two years finishing the interior. But they won't be starting on that project this month--they're spending Christmas in Hawaii with their kids. Ed and Marlyn's letter hits the highlights of their many activities and travels during the year, as well as news of their kids and grandkids--and the newest member of their household, Bear, a Golden Retriever.

We went to Donna, TX, this morning. First we visited Victoria Palms RV Resort, a very large complex which includes a hotel, motel rooms, mobile homes, and RV spaces. It's an attractive park with great amenities, but we prefer a quieter atmosphere and larger spaces.

Next we went to the Don-Wes Flea Market just down the street. It's a pretty standard flea market, but seemed a bit overpriced in some cases ($1-$2 for paperback books, for example). So we moved on to the Farmer's Market, just across the street, where we found abundant fresh produce. The citrus was especially attractive and reasonably priced. We picked up a few things (no room in the fridge for much more), including some poblano peppers we had for supper in a chile cheese casserole.

On the way home we stopped at Sun Harvest, a health food/grocery store that carries a large selection of bulk foods.
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Christmas Dinner 2008

Christmas dinner was at Hardy and Judy Pottinger's house. We enjoyed a scrumptious turkey dinner and great conversation. It's very rewarding to have friends who've lived or wintered here in the Rio Grande Valley for years. We learn a lot about life in the Valley from them.


















Dinner included turkey and all the trimmings, including some delicious green beans with almonds Judy made and a lovely salad Doris brought. For dessert we brought brickle bars, a chocolate pie, a lime jello/cream cheese/tofu pie, and a strawberry jello/cool whip/tofu pie. The brickle bars were a hit.

The place next to Hardy and Judy's is for sale, so we took a few minutes to look it over--part of our campaign to get smarter about Valley real estate.


Later we finished the day with bowls of tomato soup. Dinner had been a typical holiday feast--lots of delicious dishes. So the soup was all the food we needed for the rest of the day.
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Sun Again

The sun came out today, so we finally had a chance to wash the truck. It was beginning to look pretty dirty, but as long as the forecast was cold and possible rain, it didn't make sense to get out and wash it. Now it's all shiny white again 8-)

This morning we danced to Joe Saltel. Hugh and Juanita, who knew Romney when, brought in a photo of him taken in 1988. Hugh showed it to me and asked if I recognized the handsome young man in the photo. I had to admit that I didn't. Romney was definitely slimmer then!

We picked up Ken's ring from the jeweler after having it resized, so now he doesn't have to worry about having it slip off his finger. Then we went to the HEB Plus to see what it was like and to pick up some groceries. The selection was by far the best we've seen in the Valley, so we'll be going back. They even had soft tofu, which we needed to make tofu pies for Christmas dinner.

After we washed the truck, we went and sat in the hot tub for a while, partly because we had been meaning to do it for some time, and partly because we thought it would ease the pain in Ken's leg. The hot tub was nicely warm and had very good jets. It did seem to help.















For supper we had cheese enchiladas, shredded lettuce and tomato, and summer squash sauteed with onions and parmesan.

I wrote a letter to Mia finally and included a photo. We've changed since we were in Nacogdoches in May. I feel bad that I am such a procrastinator--I meant to write much earlier. Christmas seems like a good time to get in touch with people who are important in your life.

Tonight we played dominoes--a very basic version with just a double six set. Ken beat the pants off me in the last hand, when I had to draw all the dominoes from the bone pile before finding the last one was playable. Of course Ken then played his single remaining domino, and I didn't even bother to count the pips I was caught with--it looked like zillions and zillions. Neither one of us found the game very enjoyable, so we'll look for a better two person domino game.

We are trying to play all our games at least once. Here are the ones we still have to get to (of course, there are also lots of card games....):

Backgammon
Chess
Clans
Farkel
Hera and Zeus
Perquacky
Reversi
Uno

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Miscellany

This morning I got our of bed reluctantly, started the coffee pot, raised the thermostat, and jumped back under the covers until the furnace had warmed the rig. That's happened more than once recently, and the fact that we need propane again reflects the time the furnace has been running.

We danced to Jerry Story at the Peppermint Palace, but we won't be doing the same next Monday, because he and Kristi are going to Iowa for Christmas. Jerry said that they are both from Iowa and haven't been back at Christmas for 17 years. I think I'd have let that run continue and visited Iowa in the summertime.

After the dance we stopped at Target, where Ken bought an electric beard trimmer. He's looking forward to getting his beard shaped up.

For lunch today we had meatball sandwiches, baby carrots, a little leftover spaghetti, and apple slices. For supper we had packaged red beans and rice dressed up with canned tomatoes and hot dogs, along with cole slaw. We have been trying to eat our leftovers in a timely fashion and to use up some of the packaged food that has been in the cupboards for a while.
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We're Staying in the Valley

Since none of our friends from Southern California is planning to be in Quartzite this year, we decided we'd like to extend our stay here for a month. After breakfast we walked over to the office to see what the prospects were for staying at Bentsen Palm RV Resort, which we really like. Fortunately there was a site available into February, which we snapped up, so now we'll be leaving here and heading towards Mesa on February 5. We'll move to our new site on January 5. It's a back-in rather than a pull through, but has a nice wide cement pad and patio, and it backs up on the dog run, so it will be convenient for Sweetie.

Today has definitely been another day for cocooning, chilly and overcast.

For breakfast we had fluffy cottage cheese pancakes, made with oat flour and silver dollar size. For dinner we had some great minestrone, made with homemade vegetable broth and great northern beans, along with cole slaw and Carol's brown bread.
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Bird Walk

This morning we joined a group in the state park for a bird walk. There were 10 or 11 in the group, including the park naturalist who led the walk and two volunteer naturalists. We were joined by the 2008 Ohio Naturalist of the Year, Rick Nirschl, who has a hybrid warbler named after him. The event was planned for two hours, but it lasted three and a half. The three naturalists were clearly expert birders. Their list of birds seen during the walk totaled 65 different species. The two of us didn't see quite as many--only 35--and some of them we glimpsed only briefly:

Snow Goose, American Wigeon, Plain Chachalaca, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, White-faced Ibis, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot, Stilt Sandpiper, White-winged Dove, Eastern Screech-Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Great Kiskadee, Green Jay, Black-crested Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Long-billed Thrasher, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Altamira Oriole, and House Sparrow.

Most of the birds were too far from us for us to get pictures, but we did get one shot of the Eastern Screech-Owl. Here's what it looked like to us from below the branch it was sitting on. (Look closely to see tail feathers below the branch and part of the head visible above.):



And here's how the Audubon Society presents it.




















For supper tonight we had pizza and salad, with apple bread pudding and ice cream for desert.
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Birding Scope

This afternoon we got out the new birding scope and set it up. After some collaboration, we managed to get the finding scope calibrated to matching the main scope aim. Tomorrow morning we'll go on a birding walk at the state park and perhaps get a chance to use the scope. We'll need a target willing to sit still while we set up and aim the scope. Fortunately the park usually provides lots of birds to watch.

This morning we went to dance to Darryl Lipscomb, as usual. Ken has been talking about having his ring resized, since it's loose enough to fall off on occasion. We asked if anyone had a jeweler to recommend, and one of the ladies gave a glowing recommendation for Rico's Jewelry and gave us directions. It turned out that our friend Doris had several rings to resize, and she suggested that we go together. It's a good thing we did, because we all agreed that if we had been alone, we'd have definitely have been put off by the location and appearance of the shop in a run-down strip mall, and by the limited English skills of the staff. Encouraged by the recommendation and bolstered by having a friend along, we went ahead and left the rings.
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Christmas Shopping

We've done almost all our Christmas shopping online, but today we shopped for a couple of needy families being sponsored by our RV park. It was fun, but also a bit eye opening. We found selections sparse and prices high on children's clothes, toys, and books. We're enjoying our little bit of Christmas spirit 8-)



















When we got home, a large package was waiting under the rig, a Christmas present from Ken to me. He urged me to open it early, because he said I might want to use it before Christmas. It turned out to be a birding scope with a tripod. We decided to wait until tomorrow in daylight to take it outside and adjust and try it out.




















We packed a lunch to eat between shopping and dancing--peanut butter and banana sandwiches with a little honey, which were surprisingly good.
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Still Cold

We have nothing scheduled on Wednesdays, and today was chilly and overcast, so we did our laundry and cleaned. Even in retirement, some days are like that.....


We decided not to keep the duvet. It made the room darker than we liked, and the bed too warm. Since we bought it in the going out of business sale, it isn't returnable, so we'll donate it, in the hope that someone else will enjoy it.
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Another Cold Day

Chilly drizzle and overcast made today a good day to cocoon. We did go to Pharr this morning to dance to Joe Saltel. There were 12 squares, a pretty good crowd, but we hear that he draws many more at the height of the season here, January and February. After the dance we went to Jason's Deli for lunch with friends. We split a Southwestern chicken sandwich and the featured soup, Poblano corn chowder. Both were delicious. The chowder was creamy, but with a bite.

After lunch we stopped in the Linens N Things going out of business sale. The main thing we bought was a green satin striped duvet and bedskirt. The store was nearly empty. We put the duvet and shams on the bed when we got home.

We used Amazon for most of our holiday shopping this year. We ordered subscriptions to Discover and O: The Oprah Magazine for Kelley. The magazines won't start arriving until February, but Kelley said that hearing they were coming made her smile and brightened her day. That's just what we hope for when we select gifts, and it was thoughtful of her to let us know we'd hit the mark.

For dinner I made salmon patties with lemon yogurt sauce. It was a different recipe than I usually use, with mashed potatoes incorporated and breaded with seasoned stuffing crumbs.

We're hoping for better weather tomorrow, but the cold front that dipped into the area yesterday may persist a while. I finished reading a Robin Cook novel, Marker, borrowed from the resort library. I read it largely because I recalled enjoying some of Cook's earlier work, but the last few of his I have read have been pedestrian and predictable.
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Butterflies and Bugs

One of the regular activities at the state park next to our RV park is a butterfly walk. We took that in this afternoon. A park naturalist and a volunteer butterfly expert led the walk.

Some of the volunteers we've seen in the park wore the same khaki and green uniform as the park employees, but these volunteers were different. Mike is a lepidopterist, and his red jacket and soft hat were in sharp contrast to the uniform.
















Sometimes the group had the butterflies surrounded. The people who are really into butterflies came equipped with serious cameras and binoculars.














The expert commented that the cold weather we've had around here lately has reduced the number of butterfly species he sees during a day. During the summer it was 80-90 a day, lately it been only 30-40. Here are pictures of some of the butterflies we saw.





The Queen.






















The American Snout.

















The White Patch.











The White Peacock.













The Fatal Metalmark.












Besides the butterflies, we say a number of other interesting insects. One was a spider that was in the process of wrapping silk threads around a bee that had gotten caught in its web.















Then there's the Mesquite Bug.












And a pair of Cotton Stainers.
















Before going on the butterfly walk we enjoyed a couple of hours of square dancing. Mondays and Thursdays we dance to the calling of Jerry Story, one of Lee's favorite callers. Our new friends Bob and Doris are the couple in the white shirts in this picture.














After the square dance this morning, we stopped at a craft show and sale at Mission Bell to look for removable sequin appliques. I got some for Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Fourth of July. After the removable pressure sensitive glue is allowed to dry on the back of the appliques, they can be put on any shirt. The beauty of this for a fulltime RVer is that we have no room for holiday clothing that can only be worn for a short time each year.

For the last couple of days, I (Lee) have been sending out holiday "cards" by email, and we've gotten some replies. My niece Juli sent greetings--the first communication I've had from her since her dad's funeral over a year ago. It was good to hear from her. We've decided to save trees and postage and simplify our lives, now that we're retired and traveling, so we won't be sending out any paper Christmas cards. That is, unless Ken finds some with a fifth wheel and palm trees in the sunshine--his idea of a great Christmas scene.
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Sam Is Two

Today is Sam's second birthday, but his mom says that he is insisting that he is four. He is definitely a charmer. Julie posted some pictures of the birthday party on photobucket. It's not the same as being there, but it is wonderful to be able to see the photos so quickly at a distance.

Cate helped her brother celebrate.

We decided to put up our Christmas tree and decorations. This is the first Christmas we'll actually spend in Venture, and the holiday lights add to the Christmas feeling.

We got up at 9 after staying up late last night and had a lazy day. The wind blew, as it has been doing a lot lately. Ken put the rope lights we had bought around the patio, so we have some light at night.

We took a cd of our photos from last night over to share with Gary and Mary Ann and got copies of their photos. I showed Mary Ann how to email photos, so we hope to get more from them. They leave in the morning to celebrate Christmas in Kansas with their kids.

Breakfast was ham and french toast with applesauce topping and grapefruit. Supper turned out to be fish soup--mainly because I goofed and thought I was adding some frozen chicken bits to the soup, but they were actually tilapia intended for fish tacos--oops. The soup was okay but not especially good, so won't do that again....
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Holiday Fun

Gary and Mary Ann wanted to check out Pepe's on the River, a live entertainment bar and restaurant in a very large palapa overlooking the Rio Grande. We set out at 5 p.m., Gary driving and Ken navigating. Pepe's is at the southern end of Conway St., but the last part of the route is on top of the levee. When we arrived a country western band was playing in the palapa, which was somewhat enclosed by hanging tarps. We decided to eat on the deck overlooking the river, partly for the view and partly so we could talk more easily.

We ordered margaritas and nachos supreme, which had been recommended by someone in guest services. The margaritas and the company were great, and the view of the sunset over the river was too. However, the nachos took a very long time to arrive and were rather cool when we got them. We decided to leave rather than ordering food.

We drove to Hidalgo, a town south of McAllen, which has a very large holiday light show our friends had suggested. It was easy to tell when we had arrived--the lights were dazzling.

The most unusual and attractive display was of two Chinese lions made of bottles filled with colored water.

Gary parked and we walked into the central display area in front of City Hall. A boys choir in striking costumes was performing holiday songs in Spanish, with the younger boys having lovely clear soprano voices. Tours of the displays were offered by tram and by horse drawn wagons. Mary Ann's reaction to the horses was not positive--she said that the farm animal she liked was cows, because "they make money"! We took the tram ride to see the displays and heard a commentary about the light show and the history of the town that was quite interesting. The displays were quite eclectic--including Cinderalla's coach and a group of dinosaurs along with hundreds of large "Christmas card" posters. Before we left we posed for pictures in front of the City Hall Christmas tree.

















Afterwards we were hungry and went home to fix bacon and eggs with toast and fresh pineapple and mocha cappuchino, a delightful close to an evening with friends. Gary and Mary Ann are leaving Sunday morning to go home to Kansas for Christmas, and we aren't sure if they will return before we leave January 3. If not, we hope to renew our friendship next season when we all return.
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Chole and Rummikub

We did our laundry this morning, as usual, and danced to Jerry Story this afternoon. For supper we had a version of chole Masala, an Indian dish with garbanzo beans and tomato gravy spiced with garam masala. We ate it over brown rice and topped with plain yogurt. Ken and I both liked it, and the exotic smell was still in the air when Gary and Mary Ann came over to play Rummikub.


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A Touch of Frost

In the morning we square danced to Joe Saltel with our friends, then home to lunch. The day was sunny and fine, so we set out with our neighbors, Gary and Mary Ann, on a bike ride through the state park. It was their first trip to the park, and they were trying out their new folding bikes. We saw lots of chachalacas and javelinas and enjoyed the ebony grove and resaca.

Since we've ridden through the park a few times, Lee was able to use the park map to point out where we'd be going.


We paused at the ebony grove. It's across the trail from a group of bird feeders.
















We saw a lot of chachalacas today. Some of them were watching us as much as we were watching them.



















The water in the resaca was a smooth as glass today.










This evening we went with Gary and Mary Ann to the annual holiday concert of the Rio Grande Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, called "A Touch of Frost." Not that there's actually any frost here, but the title works as a play on words, since the major sponsor is Frost Bank. We planned to arrive early, at 7:30 for an 8:00 show, but when we arrived we realized we were none too early. The lobby was jam packed with people. We joined a line snaking up and down the large area and waited patiently, making very slow progress, with thousands of other patrons (the audience was 2600). It turned out that the snaking line was a spontaneous creation of early arrivals, and as we were approaching the front of the line, the organization collapsed and everyone just started moving towards the entrance. We got to our seats with moments to spare, but the concert actually started late to permit most of the crowd to be seated.

The new McAllen Convention Center is a striking facility, but event planners clearly have some things to learn about crowd management. The seating in the vast hall was on folding chairs, and all the lighting and sound system was specially installed for the performance, a tremendous feat.

The performance included quite a variety of music. Several offerings were from the Messiah. Some were Mexican in origin; Mexico en la Piel, for example. In keeping with the festive nature of the holidays, there were several light-hearted works by Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride, Syncopated Clock, Bugler's Holiday, Forgotten Dreams, and Plink, Plank, Plunk. The musicians were talented. The music was upbeat. We had a great time. It was especially nice to be able to share the experience with friends.

For lunch we had BLT's with the leftover tomato soup. For supper we finished off the turkey green bean casserole along with yellow squash and onions, and of course salad. The fridge and freezer are packed to brimming again, so I'll have to work more assiduously to clear them out.
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Valley Real Estate

We've been noticing that winter Texans have a number of different types of housing available to them around here. Some live in RV parks like the one we're in. Some have their own homes, often in developments that have amenities like those we find in RV parks--community rooms, swimming pools, billiards rooms, etc. The latest options include homes with high-roofed storage for RVs--often with full RV utility hookups.

Today we decided to take a closer look at some of the possibilities. This seems to be a growing area, and it might pay us to invest in some local real estate. We drove through a few developments and looked at a few homes and some lots that are for sale. Then, on the way home, we took another look at the model home in Retama Village, the development just north of us.


We probably won't buy anything this year, but we feel good about starting to collect information on some possibilities for the future.

For supper we had planned a weenie roast with our neighbors, but the gusty winds made us decide that building a fire probably wasn't a good idea today. We had sweet potato pancakes, applesauce, ham, and tea instead. The pancakes were surprisingly good. Here's the recipe in case you'd like to try it:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/4 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, combine the flours and baking powder.

In another bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, and mashed sweet potatoes. Add the dry ingredients. Blend only until batter is evenly moistened. Add more milk if necessary to make the batter workable.

On griddle over medium heat, nonstick spray, ladle 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet. With the back of the ladle, spread batter out (it will be a bit thick). Cook for about 1 minute, then, using a spatula, turn and brown the other side. Continue with remaining batter, adding more spray as needed to prevent sticking. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 oven.

Note: if the heat is too high, the pancakes will burn before they are cooked in the center. You can microwave the sweet potato (one large one will do it)and let cool slightly before scooping out the flesh, or use canned, or boil and peel.

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Burger Bash

The park hosted a burger bash this evening, with burgers and fixings, potato salad, chips, barbecue beans, and M&M mini cookies. We went with Gary and Mary Ann and set up our lawn chairs outside because the clubhouse was crowded and the day was fine.












By the time we had finished eating, it was twilight and chilly. Gary and Mary Ann came back to the rig with us and taught us to play a card game, Play Nine. We used regular cards rather than the special card game, so we didn't have the cute little golf ball character on our cards, but it worked just fine. It's an easy social game to chat over, with lots of luck and some strategy.

For brunch I fixed whole grain silver dollar pancakes (oat flour and whole wheat) with blueberry topping, served with tropical fruit and bacon. Yumm--reminded Ken of the wonderful breakfasts we enjoyed at the Bed and Breakfast lodging we stayed at above Kealakekua Bay on Hawaii's Kona coast. For lunch we had homemade tomato soup with cheese toast and bananas. I think we're a bit short on veggies today.
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NABA International Butterfly Park

We went back to the butterfly park today. This time the air was still and the temperature around 75--a great day to view butterflies, and there were plenty of them. We saw some Zebra Helliconiums, a Common Mestra, a Brown Longtail, many Queens and Soldiers, and lots more we don't know the names of. Most of the rest of the people at the park were clearly experienced butterfly watchers. One group offered us advice on which binoculars to buy that wouldn't break the bank--but it turned out that they meant "under $400."


Butterfly "bait" had been put out on a number of logs and posts around the park. Today they were attracting more wasps and bees than butterflies.










Afterwards we biked through the State Park and took a short hike along the Kiskadee Trail. Along the trail we found a bird blind we hadn't seen before. We didn't see many birds, but one was a Great Kiskadee.


This is one of a number of places in the park for seeing birds and other wildlife up close. They usually have several bird feeders and a small pond or other water feature.











For breakfast today we had huevos rancheros and black beans with adobo sauce, spicy and good. One of the reasons was that we had bought some fresh corn tortillas, and yes, they are better. Tonight we had a version of tortilla soup, with crispy strips of corn tortilla for topping.
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Creatures of the Night

Another trip to Bentsen State Park--this time to view wildlife by night. Our tour leader, Josh, is a specialist in dragonflies, but very few of those are active at night. He was also a wealth of information about other night sights at the park, including the elusive Pauraque, a bird that looks for all the world like a heap of leaves--very well camouflaged.


Josh was scanning the area with a spotlight mounted on the top of the van, and the main indication that a pauraque was sitting along the roadside was the yellow eyeshine.

We saw lots of javelinas (as usual), mainly foraging under the bird feeders. We also saw a couple of raccoons, doing the same. One of them was perched on a hanging bird feeder, and when the spotlight surprised it, it scurried along the wire.

It was quite cold tonight, so few insects were active, but we did see a wasp nest. We sat quietly by the resaca and heard a leopard frog and a sheep frog, along with lots of crickets.

Earlier today Ken picked up his glasses with the new lenses he had ordered. We also dropped off our malfunctioning DirecTV receiver at a Fedex drop site, filled up on cheap diesel, stopped by the bank, and did some grocery shopping. This morning we did our laundry. Altogether a productive day, and we had fun dancing to Jerry Story this afternoon too.
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We Take Out the ATV

Bentsen Palm Village provides lots of amenities, including free use of an ATV. We took it out this morning, mainly exploring the areas that Mike had shown us on his tour a couple of weeks ago. However, we didn't include the trip through "the jungle." We also decided not to attempt the sheer drop down to the resaca which terrified me (Lee) when Mike did it in the big off-road vehicle.






We did get off the ATV to walk down to the resaca. We might want to kayak on this resaca if we decide we want to try to get the kayaks down to the water. Here's Lee checking her GPS unit to see how far we are from the Rio Grande.









We'd left the ATV on a levee, so getting back to it required a climb.












We also drove out to Mike Rhodes's Rio Grande River frontage. We wanted another look at the river.























Here's Lee ready to get back into the ATV for the trip back to the RV park.











A highlight of the trip was a visit to NABA, the North American Butterfly Association headquarters. It was a windy day, so we didn't see thousands of butterflies, but we did see a few Zebra Helliconias, real dazzlers.

We observed several Border Patrol agents, including a couple on horseback patrolling near the river. Have I mentioned that Ken is growing a beard? I managed to snap a photo showing the current progress.















We have new neighbors from Ames, Iowa, in a motorhome south of us. They were delayed by a snow storm or they would have been here a couple of days ago. I made some very easy cookies to take to the Margarita hour--pumpkin spice cookies. The two main ingredients were a spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin, and I added some raisins. They were quite popular.
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Busy Day

We danced this morning to Joe Saltel. Hardy and Judy stopped by towards the end of the dance and invited us to join them for lunch at Taco Fiesta, along with Bob and Pat. Hardy has recovered nicely from his cataract surgery and is scheduled to have his second eye done this Friday. The surgeon predicts that Hardy will have 20/20 vision.

After lunch we dropped Ken's Electra off at Bicycle World to have the headlight repaired. Then we went to McAllen Convention Center to buy tickets for us and for our neighbors for a holiday concert next Tuesday. The new convention center complex is quite impressive.

Then we stopped by Best Buy for Ken to look at cameras. He wants to replace the Kodak that has quit working (probably because it was involved in a collision with the ground when Ken fell crossing a stream while carrying it).
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Jerry Story

Jerry Story is one of our favorite callers, and today was his first dance of the season in the Rio Grande Valley. We had fun despite the fact that there were only three squares. Jerry quipped that there were a dozen and a half donuts per square. We expect that many more dancers will be joining us next week. Jerry calls at the Peppermint Palace--clearly so named because it is red and white striped--in El Valle del Sol RV Resort.

We drove around the park, which has lots of RV spaces, but didn't like it quite as much as Pharr South.
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State Park Tram Tour

This morning we enjoyed another part of the state park's "walk off the turkey" program. A naturalist (Jerry Brite) drove us around the park, stopping here and there to introduce us to the birds, mammals, ants, and plants of the Rio Grande Valley.

Some of the birds are very colorful,


like the green jay--













and the fly-catching Kiskadee.



















At some stops we saw more peccaries than birds.









One peccary preferred plumbed water over ground water.















We were joined by another naturalist (Carol) and some college students who were doing a class project providing publicity for the park. Carol was very lively and a trove of information. We observed and noted a great deal that we would never have even noticed had we been alone exploring the park. For example, the peccaries have a musk gland with which they mark their territory, and all the members of the group participate in spreading the scent of the alpha male and female.

We saw harvester ants, whose nests were flat and surrounded by denuded soil. They had trails leading to the trees they were harvesting, and specialized workers snipped the leaves, carried them back to the nest, moved them underground, and arranged them in chambers to grow fungus on. It's actually the fungus that the ants eat.
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