POTR #28 Laid Back In texas

PEACE ON THE ROAD
Laid Back In Texas
February 12, 2007

This is the first time that we have been in a place and have not moved for over fifty days. Once, at the very beginning of our travels we stayed longer in one camp but we kept going to a dealership for repairs on the Vectra. And then we would come back to camp for the night. Considering the fact that we have been here for about half our time scheduled it is rather different. I have not even started the engine for any purpose.

Here in the Rio Grande Valley there are enough activities that go on at the various resorts that a person could spend from morning to bedtime doing things. In a paper the other day a reporter said that there were over sixty jams listed for every week. I believe there were thirty-six listed as country jams, a big band jam, a polka jam, several gospel jams, and eighteen that were simply jams. We went to the polka jam one afternoon. There were thirty some musicians on the stage. In addition to guitars, violins, keyboards, bass fiddle, and harmonica. I counted twenty-five accordions. Several musicians had two accordions and one I believe had three. Each jammer performs a song accompanied by the rest of the musicians. Most jam sessions allow two performances per musician. But with so many musicians there is often only time for part of them to perform twice. As you can see there is a lot of music performed.

We had been told that a certain resort put on a very good Sunday Gospel jam. When we drove into the resort we were told that there was no room for any more people. We later found out that it was necessary to arrive a couple hours early to even have a chance of getting a seat, and nothing is assured even then. It is in a small hall and the people of the park often occupy every available chair. We have not tried there again. Another night we went to the Big Band jam at another park. It was in a small hall and there was a lot of emphasis on the sales of pizza and beer before the jam started. We felt bad about occupying a table for an hour or so when people needed a place to sit and eat. There are too many others to attend to be uncomfortable in one place.

With little sunshine I have been taking less pictures than normal. Still I have taken some that are interesting. As an example, have you ever wondered what happens to the older Hawaiian hula dancers? I don’t recall seeing many dancers that are not very young, perhaps even still teenagers. Today we found out what happens to them. They ship them to south Texas where they lose their tans, and they entertain the residents of the resorts.

HULA DANCERS AT THE BENTSEN GROVE HAWAIIAN DINNER AND SHOW

We are staying at Bentsen Grove and I think there is enough things going on in this resort to keep a person occupied every day of the week. This Hawaiian Dinner and Show is only one example of the shows that are put on here. All the people that attended the program seemed to enjoy themselves. Of course there were some that enjoyed it more than most of the others. We are going to a class of conversational Spanish. I am not sure how much we will be able to retain, but we are having fun trying to pick up a few new words. There is a wood carving club, a computer club, quilting group, several types of dancing classes, theatre group, choir, painting, small bore shooting group, bicycling, and the list goes on. With all that there is still shuffleboard games several times a week, several card games going on many places all week, meals and/or ice cream served every day. In a nut shell there is more going on here than anywhere I have even heard about anywhere.

AN ATTENDEE AT THE SHOW THAT WAS REALLY ENJOYING HIMSELF

I would have difficulty telling you how many times we have been on vacation in an area and had someone tell us something like, “You should have been here last week. It was twenty degrees warmer and the sun was shining until yesterday.” That has happened on at least four vacations, twice to California, once to Florida, and once to Texas. Now that we are in the Rio Grande Valley we are hearing basically the same thing. “This is the coldest and cloudiest winter that we have ever seen here, and we have been coming here for eighteen years.” We have had a few beautiful days and some sunshine for a couple hours on several other days. Still there have only a few days that the temperature has been threatening to be below freezing at night. I am sure that you who have been in temperatures close to zero for the high of the day really feel sorry for us. Just remember that the cactus and yucca are starting to bloom. The citrus are just about to bloom, and there are many other flowers that are blooming. I am sure that there will be many more in the next few weeks.

We are not very far from South Padre Island. The beaches there are very nice, at least during sunny weather. It is one of the places that the college students go during spring break. My understanding is that there is not room to walk down the street during this time. And the causeway bridge across bay is turned into a slow moving parking lot. I can understand why so many students make this an annual trip. The lighthouse in Port Isabella is very picturesque. All the operational equipment has been removed and it is not a functioning light, but it is open to climb. The view from the top of the tower is great. To see the boat out on the bay and the city spread out below

In our travels we have come across a lot of different birds and animals. Except for the sea bird on the beaches one of the best places we have been is the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. One day that we went to it we saw at least a dozen roadrunners along the road. In the past I have considered myself to be lucky to simply get a glimpse of one. The refuge employees set out feeders with seed, citrus, apples, and other bird attracting treats. The feeding program is extremely successful. There are more kinds of birds there than I have seen any other place. One of my favorites is the green jay. They are so bright and colorful. In one feeding area there must have been at least a dozen flitting from feeder to feeder. There were also several cardinals in the area at one time. They are a lot shyer and not near as willing to be photographed. It is a fun place to visit.

GREEN JAYS AT THE LAGUNA ATASCOSA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

I have mentioned that a lot more things will be blooming soon. Well, soon is starting now, I saw a lot of blooms on a grapefruit tree at the end of the street on which our Vectra is parked. I have pictures of oranges but not grapefruit. When the sun starts shining I will have to get one
We met some people today that have been coming to this resort since 1983. That is a long time to go to one place. I guess they will come here as long as they can; it sure seems to work for them. We don’t know where we will winter in ’07-’08, let alone where we will go from here in about six weeks. We are thinking that a visit to Colorado by way of Kansas is about due. We have been away from our friends and family for over two years now, and it is likely that it will be summer before we get to either of those places.

Till Later This Is Doug Of
PEACE ON THE ROAD