ANNIVERSARY IN SOUTH PADRE ISLAND

Since we were scheduled to work New Years Day we decided to go to South Padre Island Thursday night to celebrate our Anniversary.

A trip to the Birding Center and Laguna Madre Bird Trail.  Laguna Madre separates Texas and Northern Mexico from its barrier islands.  It is one of only three hypersaline bays in the world.  Ample sunlight reaches the bottom promoting sea grass growth which serves as a nursery for developing marine life .

A walk up to the top deck

View of one of the Boardwalks

Several boardwalks  traverse the wetlands to "bird blinds"

The refuge is nestled in the otherwise developed vacation resorts.

Great Blue Heron

I saw my first Roseate Spoonbills! 

Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy Egret and Tri-Color Heron

Snowy Egret   

Great Egret Catching a Fish

Brown Pelicans and Gulls

The Laguna has the largest concentration of breeding Redish Egrets in the World.  This one was performing a "dance" of sorts in the shallow water.  It was funny to watch - hard to focus on!

Had to look these up - Common Moor Hens

Tri-Color Heron

The birds have plenty to eat! 

Over 1/2 of the fish catch in Texas comes from the Laguna Madre

Just down the road is the Turtle Rescue Center - Sea Turtle, Inc.

It was founded in 1977 by Ila Fox Loetscher,

better known as "The Turtle Lady of South Padre Island.

The building houses several tanks where injured Kemp Ridley, Green Sea Turtles and Loggerheads are being nursed back to health and rehabilitated before being re-released.

Young Atlantic Green Sea Turtle 

Rogue - a Kemps Ridley Turtle stranded in 2008

missing all of it's front right flipper and a piece of its shell due to a predator attack.  Another Green Turtle named Allison was given the first successful sea turtle prosthetic in the world.

Sea Turtles are often injured by marine debris.  Plastic bags and balloons are mistaken as jelly fish - their favorite food.  Discarded nets, fishing line and six pack rings cause many strandings and injuries.  Turtles are notorius for eating trash.  If they eat plastic it does not digest and they can starve to death because their stomaches are full so they are not hungry. 

Here's a link to their "Turtle Cam"

Sea Rescue Inc - Turtle Cam - South Padre Island, TX

We ate Dinner at Louie's Backyard on the deck overlooking the Laguna.  An all you can eat Seafood Buffet with Peel & Eat Shrimp, Shrimp Scampi, Cajun Shrimp, Fried Shrimp, Scallops, Crab Legs, Blackened Fish, Prime Rib and BBQ Ribs and more . . .

The next day we head to the Beach - We find the trucks are out plowing the roads.

We walk the Beach to walk off Dinner

In hopes of becoming shadows of our former selves!

The beach was pretty open - there was no one within 50 yards of us in any direction.  A family arrived and plopped down 3 feet next to us.  The kids were down by the water with the father and the mother would yell to them from her spot.  No nap for me!  We finally had about enough and headed to Dirty Al's for "Linner" - more scrumptious fresh shrimp!

We leave the Island - unfortunately since we work New Years Day we will not be able to participate in the "Polar Plunge"  Yes - they have one - I told them it isn't a Polar Plunge if you don't have to chisel ice out of the way!

Return Home with a stop at Bobz World - a Beach Shop on steroids

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CHRISTMAS DINNER

The Rec Hall is all decked out for Christmas Dinner

Shirley and Marie did a wonderful job decorating our table- Thanks for the handmade placemats and

to Pam for the lovely place settings!

 The Usual Suspects

 Marie's children sent the Edible Centerpiece Arrangement at our table -

Yum - chocolate covered strawberries!

Dinner of Ham, Turkey, Stuffing and Mashed  Potatos - served with Holiday Cheer!

Did I mention the side dishes???

And in case that wasn't enought there was the dessert table!

Needless to say it was well attended!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!



HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (and until the end of March!)

We are settled into Kenwood RV Resort in LaFeria, TX.  When we got the job at the flea market, Gary asked what RV parks were available in the area and response was 100's.  They gave us a couple names and we found some others.  This was one of their suggestions and the first one we looked at.  We both liked the fact that there were a lot of trees and I liked that the Pool and Hot Tub were inside.  We looked at a dozen others and finally came back to this one.

Entrance

 Office

 Shuffleboard Courts

From our site:   Laundry on left Rec Room Straight ahead

 Home!

Pool House 

 Hot Tub and Pool

 Excercise Room, Billiard Hall and Woodworking Shop



FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS - Hidalgo, Texas

Hidalgo Festival of Lights is the largest Christmas lighting display in Texas with more than 2 1/2 million lights and more than 250 large lighted displays on a 3 mile trail through Hidalgo. We went with a group of 10 from the Park.  $10 got us dinner at Town Hall . .

a narrated Trolley ride thru town . . ..

, and entertainment by the Rio Grande Valley Sweet Adelines . . .

and Washboard Willy!

The Lights were spectacular.  The town square is covered with lighted displays

and there are lots more throughout the town.

Getting ready to board the Trolley

Ramón Ayala is an accordion player and singer of norteño music from Nuevo León, Mexico.  The King Of The Accordion and 4 time Grammy winner, featured in 13 movies, and has recorded 105 albums.   He is known for his great generosity and annual Christmas party for children at the annual Posado in Hildago.  He provides toys for thousands of children along with a concert and food.

Would like to go back and check out the Christmas Displays at the Pump House

In 1910, an irrigation pump house was established on the banks of the Rio Grande in Hidalgo. Water from the river was pumped into a canal system, at a rate of 400,000 gallons per minute at its height, to irrigate thousands of acres of chaparral, which were then cleared and sold for the growing of sugar cane, cotton, citrus and vegetables in the semi-arid land.

Visit to an Aloe King - Aloe Vera Farm

The Park organized a tour of a local Aloe Vera Plant including lunch - so off we go!

Although the aloe vera plant closely resembles a cactus or agave plant, it is actually a member of the lily family. The sticky, mucous gel in the center of the thick leaves is an ingredient in hundreds of consumer products.

Sigrist got into the aloe vera growing business almost by accident. His parents retired to the valley to escape the harsh winters of northwestern Missouri in the Seventies. Initially they went into the mobile-home-park business, but his mother's dry skin problems led to the use of aloe vera for its curative properties.

Sigrist decided he wanted to try his hand at growing aloe vera, and borrowed $500 to rent five acres of farmland outside of Mercedes, Texas. His first crop of $200's worth of plants netted him $2,500. He was hooked on the economical value of the plant as well as the medicinal value.

 His mother still gives tours and runs a small gift shop of products at the farm.

Interesting centerpieces - actual resin coated frogs.  What did they do?  Drop them in a bucket of resin and pulled them out in the various poses and then stuck the appropriate instrument in their hands?

Tour of the aloe vera fields.  They harvest the individual spike and leave them on the ground for several hours for the liquid that is a laxative drain out.  The guide sliced off the outer skin and the inside was just a completely clear gel. 

The owners dog followed the tractor.

The tour ended at the gift shop where his 90'ish mom gave an information tour.  I missed most of it because I was chatting with her husband who makes sand bottle paintings using naturally colored sand they found over the years (except the green which they can no longer find because houses and shopping centers were built on their supply!