February 8, 2013 “Kites and Piñatas”

Try as I do, to keep current on the blog, it seems increasingly harder the longer we are Winter Texans. When we first arrived here in the RGV, CC and I were both easily frustrated by how slow life’s pace was. The people here drive slow, walk slow, talk slow (unless you are trying to communicate in Spanish, then they spit out the words faster than my ears can comprendo). In fact we both commented when we first arrived, “If I get slow like that, just shoot me”. But, since actions speak louder than words, it seems we have in reality, adjusted quite well, as the frequency of our blog illustrates.

The first weekend in February, the 13^th Annual Kite Festival was held on South Padre Island (SPI), and we planned on driving the 55 miles, spend the day, and return home Saturday evening. We got caught up in traffic due to a parade in Los Fresnos, and more congestion in Port Isabel, due to construction on the causeway. What is normally an hour drive, turned into almost 2 hours. It seems the locals have adopted the sluggish behavior of the Winter Texans. We finally arrived to SPI around 11 am, and proceeded to the festival held on the flats north of the Convention Center. The weather was perfect; warm with a slight breeze. (As usual, click on any image to enlarge)

Maybe we had high expectations, due to all the pre-festival hype on the local television stations. We both were a little under-whelmed, thinking we would experience something similar to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, only with kites, since this was billed as the largest kite festival in North America. We stayed for a couple of hours, hoping to see more, but that didn’t happen, so as we left, we checked that off our bucket list, and headed home.

It’s hard to believe we have been here for 10 weeks, as it seems like we just arrived yesterday. Over the past weeks on our visits to Nuevo Progreso (NP) I have accumulated photos of various Piñatas available. In Mexico, they are used at birthdays, and anytime a party for kids is given.  They are empty when you buy them, and are then filled with candy, small toys, money, etc., by the person hosting the party.

The papier-mâché constructed Piñata is usually hung from a tree branch on a rope, five or six feet above the ground. The children are blindfolded, one at a time, spun around a few times to disorient them and given a stick to swing at the hanging Piñata. The children take turns attempting to hit the Piñata hard enough to cause it to break, thus freeing the candy and gifts for the screaming party-goers.

These are but a small sampling of Piñatas available. They will even “custom-make” one if you provide them a sketch or picture. Prices are really cheap, and range from $5 for the smaller ones to less than $20 for the larger more elaborate ones. What sets the host back is the plethora of candy and gifts placed inside.

Almost all of the department stores in NP sell Piñatas. There is even one “Party Store” that specializes in anything and everything associated with parties that have a huge selection of Piñatas ranging in size, price and subject matter. They also sell costumes, which are also very popular in Mexico.

Over the last three winters we’ve been in the RGV, we’ve seen many parties and parades hosted by the local Hispanics, as well as south of the border. They LOVE a party, of any type. But a true party includes a Piñata (or two), food (lots of it),  cerveza fria, loud, loud music and fireworks. If you are ever invited to a party given by them, accept the invitation, and go and witness something you have never seen before. They LOVE their parties; maybe that’s why they are always happy and smiling.

That’s all for now. Take care and stay well, until next time………………….

February 1 - 29, 2012 "So Much for Promises"

Last month, I hinted that I would try to update more often. Obviously that hasn't happened. It's 7:00 pm and we just walked in from one of the residents in the park that had a happy hour and dinner party. Now it's time for the hot tub. CC is trying to do some laundry, as we are preparing for a trip to Corpus Christi this weekend to meet up with Terry and Janice, now residing in Houston. Tomorrow is SOTB Day, to stock up on a few gifts, prescriptions, and to replenish the national beverage of Mexico, a essential ingredient in CC's margaritas. With that said, I promise (?!?!?!?) to update our February ASAP. Now it's off to the hot tub. When you live this lifestyle, you have to set your priorities, and learn to live by them, otherwise minutia gets in the way.

OK, now the update.

In early February, CC and I decided on a day trip to Boca Chica Beach, which is the southernmost beach of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico; at which point, only the Rio Grande River separates the US and México. While there we saw numerous Customs and Border Patrol vehicles, as well as other surveillance operations. The following photo might lead one to believe no one was watching. Maybe that’s what they want you to think? (As usual, click on any image to enlarge.)

We have had several comments on the number of times we go SOTB, and I’ll have to admit, we do go often, but not as much as some. We have spoken to other Winter Texans that will NEVER go, fearing it too dangerous, and if that is their belief, so be it, as “Chicken Little’s” exist everywhere we have traveled. We just do not want to live that way. Make no mistake, if we thought there would be a risk, we would not go; just as we don’t visit Matamoros or Reynosa as they are undoubtedly not safe, even for the Mexicans living there. But, do as we do, and one morning our long lost friends from SPI called and said that a group of 10 were on the way, to which we replied, “we’ll meet you at the border at 11”. They actually arrived around 11:30, so after a Rita (or more by an individual that will go un-named wearing a Corvette cap), it was off to lunch at one of our favs, The Iguana house for lonches and tacos.

We averaged two trips SOTB weekly during the month. Why? CC loves to shop, we both enjoy the $2 Ritas, the food is tasty and reasonably priced, and the people we go with are just so much fun; this is life imitating craziness. On this particular trip, Ms. Banana Pants got her “beak in the creek” and ended up on the tables after lunch doing a little “Salsa”. Who says retirees are boring? Does it look like she’s having fun?

On yet another outing to Nuevo Progreso, the “sistas” (Texican for sisters) were on a mission to see who could buy the most bracelets from the many street vendors hawking their wares. Here they proudly display their hard work for the day.

Flea markets are a way of life in the Rio Grande Valley, mostly because they are THE way of life in Mexico. Almost every single town in the RGV has one, and the largest of them all is the 77 Flea Market located a few miles north of Brownsville just west of Hwy 77. Think of an outdoor Wal-Mart, K-mart, and Target combined, and you have the 77 Flea Market. The drive from Weslaco is about 30 minutes, but the line of cars exiting the highway entering the parking lot added another 20-25 minutes to the trip.

Everything from soup to nuts, as my Dad used to say, is for sale at the 77; new and used, some possibly obtained by, shall we say, less than lawful means. This sentiment is widespread by the Winter Texans, but I must say that in my dealings with the natives, I have been impressed by their work ethics and family values.

Our friends, Carl & Carla, and former park mates here at Country Sunshine moved to South Padre Island (SPI) on the first, so Carl could feed his fishing addiction, and we’re glad he did, as we were invited to a fish fry. Upon arrival at SPI, we were informed the special event was to be held at Dirty Al’s, the legendary seafood restaurant on SPI. There were four out of the group that decided to tackle the 40 piece challenge, and much to our misbelief, ate the whole damned thing, complete with fries; that my friends, is some serious eatin’.

In nearby Mercedes, the Texas State championship, Smokin’ on the Rio, was held and attracted 150 teams. The $5 entry fee was a small price to pay for sampling some seriously good “Q”. We left completely stuffed on chicken, sausage, fajitas, ribs and brisket. The smokers used by the competing teams are always interesting and fascinating, and this year was no different; some small, some large, others unique.

So, that's a summation of our February, thanks to Mother Nature, as it is in the high 50’s here today in early March. Thanks for stopping by, and until next time, take care and stay well………….

November 3 – 18, 2010 - "We be Winter Texans"

We arrived at our new “home” for the winter in Weslaco, TX, the Country Sunshine RV Park. http://www.rvonthego.com/Country-Sunshine.html Originally, we had planned to stay here until Dec. 15, and move to either a different park in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), OR, move to Arizona. The first week we were here, we drove around and looked at 20 – 25 different parks in the RGV, extending from Mission, TX on the west end to Port Isabel on the east end, a distance of about 60 miles. We also charted average daily high and low temperatures, not only in the RGV, but Arizona as well. After we discovered that the RV parks in Arizona are about 40% - 50% more than they are here, AND, the average temps in Arizona are 4 – 7 degrees cooler, we decided to extend our stay here until March 15. CC and I have made an appearance at the heated pool (85 degrees) and hot tub (104 degrees) every day since our arrival.

With that decision behind us, it was time to do some exploring, so it was off to Nuevo Progreso, south of the border, in Mexico. From our new “home” it’s a 5 mile drive to the parking lot, where $2 allows for all day parking. Walk up to the bridge, pay your $0.25 each and walk across. That’s it; no inspections, no customs, no immigration – nada. It didn’t take long to realize we were in Mexico, as the street vendors were aggressively “hawking” their wares as we strolled down the sidewalk. It reminded us of landing in Puerto Vallarta and being bombarded by the time share sales people at the airport. We just smiled, replied, “no gracias”, and kept walking. By the time we had covered 3 blocks, we were both in need of some refreshment, so we stopped at one of the many sidewalk bars, the Red Panty Bar. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ob-1/3323032415/

On to lunch, at The Arizona, where for $9.95 USD, two can dine with margaritas included. We chose the beef fajitas, and they were very good. The presentation is not exactly what we expected, but good, none the less, and the portions were sized perfectly for our appetites.

(CC blogs) I had the opportunity to go to a “Ropa” (Ropa vieja, which is Spanish for "Old Clothes"). Ropas are located in large buildings where the old clothes donated from Goodwill, Salvation Army and the like are piled up on the floor 10 or 12 feet high at times. Those interested shoppers can climb up on the piles and dig through, pulling and tugging for special treasures; the cost of these purchases is 20 to 30 cents a pound.

A Winter Texas couple here at County Sunshine had married earlier this year so the park residents decided to put on a mock wedding for them. Part of the wedding festivities was to find the wedding parties attire at the ropa. The ladies of the park invited me on this wonderful adventure. We had a lot of fun climbing, laughing, giggling, crawling, tugging and pulling clothes at three different ropa locations. At the end of the day the exhausted group found a bridal gown and numerous bridesmaids dresses in need of some alterations. (Pictured below, in the foreground is Gayle, the blushing bride) And finally, what better way to end a wonderful shopping trip, but with a dip in the pool.

Since South Padre Island (SPI) is less than 60 miles, we decided to make a day trip, and check out things just southeast of our “home”. It was wonderfully warm, around 83, when we arrived. I captured this flock of fledgling sandpipers as they scampered in the shallow waters looking for lunch, with watchful Mom nearby and out of the picture.

After a stroll along the beach, and some “shelling”, we decided it was time to silence our growling tummies. Daddy’s was recommended as THE place for seafood and Cajun on SPI. Starting with calamari, and culminating with the main entrée of blackened red snapper, topped with shrimp and crayfish, the food was fantastic.

The following day it was back to the grindstone, and our winter job with The Border Patrol of apprehending illegal immigrants.  In the picture below, CC and her partner, zoom by on their way up river to make an apprehension. No doubt the culprit was young, as CC the cougar, was wide-eyed as she flew by.

Neighbors here at the park, have told us about a “burger joint”, in nearby Donna, TX, Gonzales Burgers, with instructions to get there early, as they open at 10:30, and close when they are out of meat. It's difficult to see in the picture below, but there is NO signage at all; NONE. The place was very crowded, and we waited about 30 minutes after we placed our order, to get our meal. This place is truly amazing, no signs, no advertisement, only word of mouth that drives their business; the quintessential "American Dream Success Story". The burgers are HUGE, probably ¾ pound each. CC and I both ate only half, and were stuffed, so we took the remaining half home for dinner.

That pretty much sums up what we’ve been up to the last couple of weeks, not to mention a couple of pot luck and buffet dinners offered here at the park. These Winter Texans love to eat. If we have a meeting scheduled, be on time; but if there is food involved, get there at least 15 minutes early. As they say, “The early bird gets the worm”.

Till next time, take care and stay well…………………….