Mr. Rhodes's Wild Ride

Today we had a little more excitement than usual. After square dancing in the morning, we went on a tour of the local real estate developer's property. The Bentsen Palm Village RV Park that we're staying in, and the Retama Village we rode our bikes through yesterday, are two parts of a single development project. Mike Rhodes, the man who owns the development company, takes people on tours of the property he's developing. That's the tour we took today.



Mike is both driver and tour guide.











The tour was as interesting as we expected, and a lot more exciting. The tour bus is an off-road vehicle of Mike's own design. The three-hour tour had only just begun when we found out why he needs this kind of rig. He stopped on one of the levees used along the Rio Grande. To stop he pulled off to the side of the road that runs along the top of the levee. But the road covers the whole top of the levee. So pulling off to the side meant that the rig ended up parked on the sloping side of the dirt levee. We found ourselves sitting at what felt like a 45 degree angle. It probably was less of an angle than that, but it was enough to feel very uncomfortable.



The Beast.











To show us everything he has planned, he had to take us into some of the undeveloped land along the Rio Grande. That involved some more use of the off-road capabilities of his vehicle. We plunged off the levee and onto a small track through the vegetation. Mike pointed out a resaca--an ox bow lake created when the Rio Grande took a more direct route and left one of its bends apparently unconnected to the current path of the river. The water remains fresh because the lake and the river still communicate underground. One route took us onto what Mike called the jungle road, which looked basically impassable.



Here's Mike explaining that it really does make sense to head into the "jungle."











Mike explained that his property measures 4 miles by 4.5. He has plans for 11 different housing developments in addition to the RV resort. He has worked out deals that involved changes in the use of the state park next door, the location of the North American Butterfly Association's headquarters, and the establishment of a charter school that's breaking all sorts of records.

Mike pointed out an interesting house that was bought recently in one of his neighborhoods. It's a big house--4700 square feet. It has 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, and a media room. Mike said it has almost all the available upgrades--like granite countertops. The house sold for $250,000.






Mike showing us the Rio Grande side of his property.









After the tour Mike treated us, and the whole campground, to free margaritas. It's a weekly event we plan to attend regularly.