Monday, February 26 - We have made a big decision with respect to our westward travels. After two days of heading west, through Laredo, and then to Seminole Canyon, we have decided that it's as far west as we want to go this trip. We've been on the road for 100 days, and it's time to think of heading home. So plans to go to Big Bend were cancelled, and today we start back to the east.

We still have 3 weeks of our planned time away to get home, so we aren't in  hurry. We've had lovely weather here in the Canyon area, did a great 10 mile hike yesterday down to the Rio Grande, and now look forward to spending a bit of time in San Antonio. We have gotten away from the fog and cloud that dominated the Rio Grande Valley, and have brilliant sunshine and warm temps here. So we'll try to find other places with similar weather on our way back. After San Antonio, we'll probably go up to Austin, and after that? Who knows?

We went to downtown Laredo on Friday to go to a small museum, and had a little incident with the rig. We were parked on a narrow street, and should have been fine, except ol' Lar forgot that a parking meter was rather close to the rig. So instead of carefully assessing the situation, and having my navigator outside to ensure clearance, I pulled forward and promptly encountered said parking meter. Result: broke the seating plate of the awning, so that one arm of said awning was hanging in the air, sadly and forlornly. You can only imagine the self-recrimination for the driver's stupidity.

However, we managed to get the arm of the awning seated again and tied it securely to the ladder at the back of the rig. Now we have to find a replacement part, which will have to wait until we get home. We don't use the awning a lot, so it's not a big problem, but just another reminder that when driving a bigger vehicle, you have to take everything into account.

The picture below shows that I am actually on this trip, not just ghost-writing from the comfort of my easy chair at home. I'm standing on the brink of the Rio Grande after hiking for nearly 5 miles. Across the way is Mexico. No one tries to cross the border here, for obvious reasons. Trump need not build a wall here, as Mother Nature has already provided it.

That's it for now. Time to head out in the direction of San Antonio. Stay tuned. More later.

Thursday, February 22 - This has been a week for the birds...literally. We spent yesterday and today in bird areas, wandering about trying to find new species. And we had some luck, as photos I'll post in a minute will demonstrate. It's been fun, especially since the wind has finally died down. A cold front came in last night, chased away the hot weather with a big thunderstorm, and left us with cool cloudy weather today. But it was good for hunting down birds, both days.

Tuesday was housework and planning. After much discussion and debate, we decided to bite the bullet and head to Big Bend Park. It will add a lot of miles to this trip, but we can' t resist going back to this great park. We'll leave for Laredo tomorrow, then Comstock on Saturday, then on to Big Bend on Sunday. We've booked 5 days there, so that will be as far west as we'll go, since we plan to be home by March 21st.

We have a nice guy next door, a transplanted German from Stuttgart who came to Canada 20 years ago. We were chatting this evening when a friend of his came by. He's retired, sold his home in Michigan, and has hit the road in a big motor home. The interesting thing is that he established residency in South Dakota. All he had to do was stay in a hotel for one night, set up a postal address, and he is domiciled in the state. That done, he has the benefit of no state income taxes. Add that to no property taxes, and he saves over $8,000. a year. Nice touch! South Dakota has no state income taxes. Sort of like the big motor sport and tennis stars moving to Monaco.

Anyway, here are some bird pictures, hopefully, and a shot of a little havelina (not a member of the pig family, but looks sort of like one). First, the green jay, which is very colorful; then the chachalaca, a big guy compared to the cardinal on the feeder with him; third, a golden-fronted woodpecker, beautifully colored; next, the altamira oriole, also finely colored; and then the kiskadee, blessed with a beautiful yellow breast. The guy at the bottom is the havelina, fairly common in south Texas.

It's fun to get out in the outdoors chasing around with binocs and camera. We both get a lot of pleasure out of it, and although we don't keep a comprehensive list, we do keep some records of different birds we've seen in different areas. 

Tomorrow we hit the road, with no particularly long drives. We will probably be out of wifi range for most of the next week, so don't be concerned if you don't see anything appearing on the blog for awhile.

More later, maybe a fair bit later. Stay tuned.

Monday, Feb 19 - We're just back from Nueva Frontera, across the border. We were assured by several people that this is the safe place to cross, as the ones to the east and west aren't safe. Nueva Frontera, on the other hand, is set up to deal well with the hordes that flow over the border every day. Park for two bucks, walk a couple hundred meters across the bridge after paying a 50 cent toll, and you're in. The main drag is chock-a-block with hawkers and craft stores, people selling everything you can't even think of. But the main products are pharmacy and dental. There are all kinds of shops where you can get cheap, very cheap meds, some that we would need a prescription for, such as penicillin. And the dentists take you without appointment, do free assessments, and will do all manner of work if you have the time.

I talked to one fellow who told me he has been going to the same dentist there for more than 10 years, and is very happy. You can save a ton of money if you need work done, and if you have the time to go back a couple of times if you're getting crowns, partials or implants. An implant can be had for less than $1,000, just to give you an idea of the savings. You have to know the dentist you go to, probably best on someone's recommendation, but the general quality of work is supposed to be very good, according to a few people I've talked to.

We walked up and down the main drag, had a beer, got haircuts (nicely done for $5. each), and had a good Mexican lunch in a packed restaurant, full of Winter Texans, but quite a few Hispanic folks as well. Bought some booze, as prices are generally very good, and recrossed the border. This time you pay 25 cents to cross back, and we had to pay another $8. duty on the two bottles we had purchased. A good day all round.

You won't believe it, but Saturday we stayed put at River Bend Resort. Went to the pool and did the lazy most of the day. That night there was in-house entertainment, in the person on a song and joke performer from Vegas. Lots of cover songs, and corny jokes, but he went over very well.

We were joined at our table by a couple from Saskatchewan. The gentleman and I got talking at intermission. Turns out he spent 30 years as a hotel owner. "Where in Saskatchewan", I asked. "West of Saskatoon." "You didn't happen to know a couple named Vic and Marie...?" I asked. (They are related to our good friends Eddie and Sonya Koral, who we were in Germany with.) "Yeah, I knew them. Vic was my cousin." Lots of info shared after that revelation.

Yesterday on our way to Westlaco, where we're now staying, we stopped off at one of the premier birding spots in South Texas. It's a great state park that has been reclaimed from former cotton fields. So much wind, hardly a bird dared fly, so we didn't see much.  But we did some good walking and enjoyed the birds that were on the ponds. After that we did a huge grocery shop at the H.E.B., the dominant chain down here. A swim and a hot tub capped the day.

Enough. Speaking of a swim, it's time. The wind just blows and blows, so a swim will feel good. More later. Stay tuned.

Saturday February 17 - Almost a week since the last posting, again because of lack of internet connection. We are now just outside of Brownsville, right on the Rio Grande in a golf community. Two of the holes on the golf course actually run along the river, so with the winds that blow here, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine hitting your drive and it ending up in Mexico. Apparently the Border Patrol are here a lot, just to make sure all is secure. I'd play the course, but it's so windy, it wouldn't really be enjoyable. Talking to a couple of the folks staying here, they tell us it's like this most of the time, especially in Feb and March. I put the awning up yesterday afternoon, but took it down this morning for fear it was going to get wrecked. My neighbour told me no-one has theirs up because of the constant winds.

Before getting here, let's go back. Our last day in Corpus Christie was cold and rainy, so we went to the South Texas Art Museum. It was well worth the visit, as there was a big display of Chicano Art, promoted by Cheech Marin, of Cheech and Chong. He's been an ardent collector of art produced in this distinctive Mexican-American style, and has been instrumental in its promotion in the U.S. The paintings are very different, dark, heavily symbolic, with the Latino culture spilling out of the canvasses. A whole new genre for us, so it was very interesting.

Next day we packed up and headed for Brownsville. When we got to the Texas Tourist office outside the city, we learned that there were sites available on South Padre Island, so decided to go there. We stayed in a large park that faces onto the beach, and that is at the southern tip of the island. South Padre extends about 5 miles to the north tip, where there is another County-run RV park. Cycling is fine ,as there's a wide bike path all the way from one end to the other. The main drag is lined with beach-wear stores, so many you wonder how they survive, restaurants, a few bars, offices and souvenir stores. It's an ideal place to spend some time if you like the beach lifestyle, much like Daytona, Cocoa Beach and all the others.

We got to the beach for a walk once, instead spending most of our time at the north end, where there's a very good Birding Center, as well as a Turtle Rehab Center. We even saw some new birds, new to us, which I won't bore you with, other than to mention my new second favorite, the Reddish Egret (pelicans are still number one). This guy is comical, as he sort of prances about in the shallows, almost as though on tiptoe, looking for food. He goes hophophop, using big steps, then lunges to score a win and gulp it down. He's quite tall, about three feet, so he's fun to watch as he goes through the motions, so unlike his stately and patient egret cousins.

Anyway, weather is always one of our main topics. On South Padre it was warmer, but foggy, thick fog, especially in the morning. We were there for four nights, and only once did we waken to sunshine. But not to complain, as the temps went up towards the 80s, and by mid-day, most of the fog was gone. But because of the warm air over the relatively cool Gulf waters, fog is the result. It didn't affect us too much, except when riding home the first day in the fog, Gail misjudged a curb and went down. Skinned her elbow, shin and knee, the latter rather badly. She made light of it, but is still tending to the knee, antiseptic and band-aid. The worst of it...she broke her new mirror. That's her second bike mishap this trip. so hope these things don't come in threes.

I should also mention the turtle rehab center. Today they will be moving into a brand new building on the gulf, a great step forward for this organization. The movement was started by a woman who became deeply moved by the plight of injured turtles, and thus worked tirelessly to develop the center through donations and volunteers. They now have more than two dozen turtles in house, some that will never be returned to the wild, because their conditions are too extreme. Turtles live a long time, so as a volunteer and I agreed, we won't be around when some of the residents will still need care. Could be our grand-children's generation looking after them. The rest will be released as they are able to deal with conditions in their natural habitat. Quite a few of them were badly affected by the cold winter water this year, and will be released in the spring. Most of them are greens, and are quite beautiful when you get a chance to see them in their tanks up close.

We moved on yesterday, and spent a good part of the day in a Birding Center, a big park not far from where we are staying. It was middle of the day, with not much happening in the bird department, so no exciting sightings. But we were able to ride our bikes and get some walking in, so it was okay.  Hot, too! When we left we drove down the quiet side road to Military Highway 189, and were met by a lengthy wall about 20 feet high, if not higher. Mr. Trump's dream, as this section of wall runs along the Rio Grande just south of the highway. Not sure how far it extends, but we'll find out as we move further west.

We decided to extend our medical coverage, and after much debate, are now covered until March 21st. That will give us a total of 4 months on the road, which for this unusual winter, will be just about enough. We aren't sure how far west we'll go. As usual, the weather may be a determiner. It would be nice to go back to Big Bend Park, but it's quite a long way from here, so we'll have to see.
Meantime, we have a pool and hot tub here, so we'll enjoy the rest of the day, and decide where to go tomorrow.

Pictures: Gail celebrating sunshine and warm weather on the beach at South Padre; a beautiful green turtle; my new second favorite bird, a reddish egret; and fog enclosing the top of one of the high rises on the beach, sometimes totally shrouded.

That's it for now. Stay tuned. More later.

Sunday, February 11 - Yesterday started out cool and foggy, but by early afternoon, the sun finally showed its face, and the temp zoomed up to 70something. We headed over the causeway across the Inland Waterway, to North Padre Island, and despite the crush of vehicles, managed to find a place to park. The Beach Mardi Gras parade had taken place in the morning, but there were still loads of people wandering about an enclosure featuring food trucks and craft stalls. So we grabbed a bite, then headed over to the beach.

To our surprise, the beach is a drive-on. Lining the strand as far as you could see were cars, trucks, jeeps, and beach buggies, their owners set up for an afternoon/evening of partying. We wandered along in both directions, went to the fishing pier for a drink, and decided to do the beach thing ourselves. Hence the three pictures, the first a group of Mardi Gras celebrants, the second a shot of the beach from the pier, showing the extent of the party crowd, and the third our rig on the beach. It was warm and such a nice change from what we've had for the last few days, so we really enjoyed the afternoon.

Today, we have a cold front that came in overnight, so temps will stay in the mid-50s. There's an aircraft carrier museum at the harbour, so we may go down for a tour. Gotta do something on these gloomy overcast days. Tomorrow we're thinking we'll head to Brownsville, and South Padre Island, and decide whether to stay for awhile, or head west.

Just a note or two about a couple of people we met in Galveston. One was our server in the Hilton bar along the waterfront where we stopped during our walk for a libation. Bouncy, cheerful, in her 40s, as it turned out, full of optimism. She's entering her final year of medical school next semester. She served as a medic in the military for a number of years, has raised a family, and now is on to her next stage of career development. Quite a woman.

The other person we met was an artist, who has a beautiful gallery downtown. His name is Robert Peterson. His work is land and sea animals and land/sea scapes. Realism, a la Robert Bateman. As soon as I saw his paintings, I thought of Bateman, and the first  name that he mentioned as an influence was Bateman. Wish I had a bucketful of money, as his paintings are fairly expensive. Turned out he's a former Art teacher who moved to Galveston from California, where he found the pace of life and the conditions there unsatisfactory. Happy as a lark doing what he does in Galveston. He has four kids, all doing amazingly well, so if you want an example of a happy retired teacher, there he is. Really nice guy. His website is VacationOnCanvas.com. Look him up. His acrylics are amazing.

Gail is stirring, so time to get Sunday breakfast going. We may go crazy and have pancakes. Stay happy, everyone. And healthy!! Thinking of our friend Sandy Taylor and her fight to get better, as well as  Ron Harris and Noreen MacKay, both of whom came home from Mexico not feeling well. Also former Lahr Colleague Jim Gollert, who got a staff infection in Cuba, and succumbed to it during open-heart surgery last week. Travel doesn't always end well, so be mindful, friends.

All for now. More later. Stay tuned.

Friday, February 9 - We are now in Corpus Christi, after a long drive from Galveston. Mixed cloud and rain for a good part of it, so although it's nothing new, this weather, it took away somewhat from the drive.

 I posted the first picture, a view of the huge oil/gas processing complex that welcomes you as you enter Texas at Port Arthur. It's massive, with towers in vast numbers spewing who-knows-what into the atmosphere. But it's not the only complex of this nature. As we drove along the coast today  toward Corpus Christi, there were at least 4 more complexes of even larger dimension scattered along the Gulf. Huge expanses of complex processing equipment! Truly, there is so much strategic importance to these processors, it makes one wonder what would happen to the U.S. economy and general order if they were put out of commission. I hope Big Brother isn't monitoring this as I speculate.

The second picture is The Bishop's Palace in Galveston. Gail says it's the most beautiful house she's ever been in, and I have to agree. The design and the details are hard to fathom, as there is so much artistry in the interior, so many imported materials from Europe used to complete rooms, stairways, entries, library, salon. The owners were a prosperous couple, he a lawyer and statesman, she an artist and good at spending his money. They oversaw the whole business of design and construction, an immense job. After their deaths. the Catholic Church purchased it as a residence for their Bishop, a most imposing place for a humble member of the cloth. He put up with it for his 30 years in office until his death. Poor soul.

The third picture is of a demonstration ocean drilling platform in Galveston Harbour. It's barely visible in the fog, which engulfed the city the first day of our arrival there. We walked all the way down-town and back, so despite the weather managed to get in a 3 hour walk. That's about all we did this time in Galveston...walk, walk, walk, as it was too cool to ride our bikes along the seawall avenue.

We're hoping tomorrow will be better, as there is a Mardi Gras parade on the beach, which we may try to get to. We had a little mechanical problem on the way today, so that's something we have to sort out, but it can probably wait until Monday. Watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, as I imagine many of you are, so will close for now.

More later. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, February 7 - Posting from Galveston, Texas, where it's in the 40s F and windy and a little rainy. We can't seem to get more than a day or two of good weather. The air changes, it gets cooler, maybe rains, and we find our activities restricted. We'd hoped to ride along the seawall today, but it's rather cool and very windy, so we'll find something else to do instead. Maybe tour the Bishop's Palace, do some reading, go for a walk in the wind.

A word or two about the pictures posted above, and that'll serve as our post for this session.
First photo is a typical Mardi Gras scene in the French Quarter, with folks out for a carriage ride below the wonderful balconies enclosed by colorfully decorated iron railings.
Second, one of several street poets, this one set up in the middle of Royal Street. Give her a topic and for a few bucks, she'll conjure up a poem for you on her little old-fashioned typewriter.
Third, Gail enjoying a hurricane, NO's theme drink, outside an open-air pub, with Marilyn supporting with a beer. No problem wandering the streets with drink in hand.

Fourth, Gail imitating a street performer, who strikes this pose and doesn't blink an eye until someone feeds him some change. He took Gail's humour in stride with a smile.
Fifth, one of the fellows we met along the way on our swamp tour with Billy Gaston, our Cajun Man. The big guys, 8 to 12 footers, are still in hibernation, so it was a treat to see a few of the smaller gators in their natural environment. Billy knows a lot of the resident gators and calls them over to his boat so that he can feed them a bit of chicken. We got to feed a small guy by extending some chicken on a hooked pole.
Sixth, we also got some great views of eagles, females on their nests, partners perched nearby in protective mode.

Seventh, we saw our first Mardi Gras parade, this one in Houma, a small city south of NO that claims to have the second largest MG celebration in the U.S. This is one of the 27 floats we saw that night. This was a Men's parade, so 8 to 10 guys were on each float flinging out 'throws', bead necklaces, single or in packages (which made quite an impact if they hit you on the head), stuffed alligators, frisbees and all sorts of other stuff. People along the way bring big sacks, and stuff them with the 'throws'. We helped a couple fill at least four sacks, which they will use when they take their place on a float later this month.
Eighth, a really nice little guy beside us on the parade route, who Gail befriended.
Ninth, another of the massive and elaborate floats in the parade. These floats are used in several parades by different 'krewes', and because it was a Men's parade, the theme was overwhelmingly football, focusing on the Saints. The parade we saw consisted of the floats and three or four high school marching bands, and not too many people walking in costume. In NO, walkers in elaborate costumes, some of them pretty minimal, are more evident. Parades are labelled mature if the paraders are is skimpy or provocative costumes. Didn't get to see one of those...too bad.

Tenth, one of the many street bands you see all over the French Quarter. The quality of music varies, but generally is pretty impressive. Music is the soul of New Orleans, so you see little kids of 7 or 8 years beating with drumsticks on upturned plastic pails with impressive rhythm, looking for a dollar or two as a reward. High school bands are really impressive, the kids showing excellent musicianship. At the Jazz Museum, I heard a group of students who attend a specialty school do a very difficult suite commemorating the Battle of New Orleans. It was tough stuff, with a lot of solos, and they handled it very impressively.

We stayed in a Best Western near the airport on Sunday night, so we could get Marilyn to her 7 a.m. Monday flight. She had a great time with us, and didn't want to leave, but we were up at 4:30 so I could go with her to the airport to see her off and make sure all was okay. Staying in a hotel also allowed us to watch the Super Bowl on a big screen t.v., as we cheered the Eagles on to victory. Great game. After we had Marilyn safely on her way, we had to decide whether to go back to the warmth of southern Florida, or head west to Texas, with iffy weather. Here we are, hoping for better things as we go south to Corpus Christie, Brownsville and Padre Island later this week.

We know there is more snow falling today in Picton, and more again scheduled for Friday. So we are wondering when it's ever going to end. Hopefully before long, as everyone must be getting tired of it all. Our dear daughter-in-law Sharon sent us a picture yesterday of our driveway, cars covered with the white stuff, walkway drifted in, so we're glad we aren't there for that.

That's it for now. More later. Stay tuned.

Thursday Feb 1 - It's been quite awhile since our last post. Sorry about that but we haven't had reliable wifi for a week. Now we seem to be okay, out in the boondocks in swamp country southern Louisiana. We're in what is pretty much a trailor park, poor style, single wides that haven't been updated for awhile. But we're close to the bayou, have a field behind us, have electricity and water, a warm evening, and no wind. So what more could you ask for?

We put the fireplace on, had a drink or two, and recounted the day. We did a swamp tour with Captain  Billy Gaston, who gave us a great tour through the bayous and canals and swamps of this area. He's a true local, having lived here all of his life, so he had many stories about growing up in the the bayous, hunting alligators, tracking through the swamps as a teen-ager, trapping nutria (large rat-like creatures brought in here years ago from Brazil), and all sorts of other experiences that make him ideal to run a swamp tour. We saw alligators, lots of shore birds, and several eagles, which nest deep in the swamp areas.

Billy feeds many of the gators, so a high-light was his calling a smaller beastie over to the boat so we could feed him. When Billy started to call him, he came swimming right over, and several of us had a chance to feed him chicken off a hooked pole. The gator was just like a pet doggie, coming for treats. Normally he feeds up to 30 of the beasts, some as large as 12 feet long; but today it being winter, only the smaller gators were up and about. The big guys are still in hibernation.

We also saw several eagle nests, which was a treat. There were a number of the big birds either at the nest or sitting up in a nearby tree, so there were some good photo opps. Billy is currently in a battle with the owners of the swamp property, who want to close off some of the waterways and put him out of business, so they can run an airboat operation. He's fighting them hard, and we're all in his corner, as he has such a love of the area, and has so much insight, it would be a tragedy if he were not able to continue what he's doing. Hopefully he'll come out of it all right.

All of this follows 4 days in New Orleans. To go back in this saga, we spent a couple of days in Mississippi, including one night in Biloxi, where we did a huge walk along the waterfront.  We were so tired by the time we got back to our rv park, after 3 hours of walking, that we found a nearby bar/restaurant called Slap Yo Mama, and had a nice time over a beer and cheese fries. There was a young guy sitting near us who we chatted with, along with his friend the bartender, Boe. Turned out the young lad is a graduate engineer specialized in space science, and has worked on projects at Canaveral. He's also 6 feet 6 and 250 pounds, which made me feel like a wee one standing next to him. Two really nice guys that we enjoyed some time with.

We picked sister Marilyn up at the Louis Armstrong Airport in NO, not without some challenges, as it was pouring rain. But we figured it out with least wetness impact, and were soon set up in our little funny rv park out in the east end of NO. We spent four days in the city, so without boring you with details, let it be enough to say that we covered the French Quarter very well. Music, music, music, all the way from the Jazz Museum, Frenchmen's Street (where the real jazz can be found), Preservation Hall, to the noise of Bourbon Street. Cafe au lait and beignets at the Cafe du Monde, the French Market, Jackson Square, the Garden District, the Riverwalk, the back streets, we did it all in 4 days. And at the end of those 4 days, agreed that we had had enough. Not for ever, as we always enjoy ourselves here (this being our 6th time to New Orleans), and will probably come back again.

But we think we gave Marilyn a good taste of the city, all the way from riding the busses and trams, to dealing with the numerous street people, to just wandering the streets and drinking in the atmosphere. Music everywhere, whether a group of young guys doing traditional stuff  or young guys beating on empty buckets in amazing rhythms. Just as we left Bourbon Street the last night we saw two little guys aged about 7 or 8 who were starting their street careers pounding on empty pails with great rhythm. Seems to be in the blood here. How could you live here without having music course through your veins?

We're down in Cajun country now, so tomorrow will probably tour one or two of  the old plantations, then go for Cajun food and music in Houma. Sposed to rain a bit tomorrow, so that would be a good day to do such. Saturday we may move on to another area, but still hope to have the Cajun experience. The people are very friendly and welcoming, and the food and music are hard to beat.

So that's a brief update. Hopefully the next posting won't be so long in coming, as I have a hard time remembering what we've done more than a day or two ago. Have to also add that this is about the first time in our 70 days on the road that it's been warm enough to sit outside and enjoy some time around the fire without feeling chilled. Wish it would last but not scheduled to do so, as the temps are to drop again on Saturday. Not complaining...just saying!

That's it for now. More later...stay tuned.