Still at South Padre Island

We've been enjoying South Padre and exploring the surrounding areas. Yesterday we drove over to Brownsville to see what is there. It's a nice town, probably just a bit bigger than Traverse City. Lots of shopping and a busy downtown area just on this side of the border with Mexico. We drove past the border crossing and it is a busy area. The downtown here is bustling and looks well kept up and prosperous. The neighborhoods just out of town had very nice homes. This must be quite a retirement and resort destination.

We're at South Padre for two more days and the weather looks really nice going forward, until at least through the weekend.

Fisherfolk out on the jetty at the south end of South Padre Isalnd. This is just outside our campground and a short walk.

Camping at the County Park.

Out of the Fog

We were starting to think the fog never ends here, but today it's clear and sunny. Wed had a great beach day yesterday for about two hours before the fog came back in.
Today we went to the Padre Island Birding center and walked the boardwalks. Later to the convention center to the market. It was a huge vendor market with lots of crafts and flea market type vendors. Then we went to the beach outside of town and parked at a beach access site where people were driving their cars onto the beach. Several didn't make it and got buried in the sand. We had about an hours worth of entertainment watching other trucks try to pull them out. Eventually all were out and aon their way.
We are starting to like this place and can see spending a month here at some later time.

Sand castles on main street on South Padre Island

We had dinner at Pier 19 Friday. It's a restaurant built on a long pier over the bay. All seats are on the water!

The boardwalks at the birding center.

Roseate spoonbills in the marsh

A common galinule. Bright red beak!

A heron sunning itself.

Northern pintail ducks. They were gorgeous. 

Black bellied whistling ducks. New to me!

Lots of folks driving on the beach. There are over thirty miles of beach on the gulf side of the island

South Padre Island

We made it to the South Padre yesterday and are impressed with the county park campground and the island. The campground is huge, but the sites are adequate and we have full hook-up including cable TV. We are right next to the beach with the Laguna Madre on the other side. There is a long causeway connecting Point Isabel to South Padre Island and both sides have a touristy feel to them with resorts and restaurants and shops.
We can ride our bikes to town and on toward the north end of the island where the road ends after about twelve miles. Nothing but dunes and water just outside of town. This place is reminiscent of the Florida panhandle or certain parts of the keys.

Driving the causeway to South Padre

Arriving at the Island

A monument dedicated to the fishermaen who were lost at sea over the decades

Walking the South Padre Gulf beach on a misty morning

We drove to the end of the highway north on the Island. About twelve miles from our campground. Nothing but sand and water

Another view driving to the end of the road

Point Isabel light house

The shopping district at Point Isabel

The causeway in the background

My new bud "Blacky"

A Cloudy and Bleak Morning

We woke this morning to a misty, cloudy sky. It's cool, about sixty and the light spray just won't give up.
On Sunday we took a ride south as far as Rio Grand City. It's the bigger town in the area and had HEB and Walmart. We stopped also at Roma a little closer to the campground and walked around the town square and the Rio Grand. There was a lookout over the river here and we met some folks from Holland, Michigan, and we talked with them for awhile. Mexico just over the river, had us talking about the Trump Wall and what they might do here to put it along the river. There were people sunning and fishing on the shore on the Mexican side.
Yesterday we stayed at the park and took our chairs and lunch and spent the day by the lake. I did some fishing, but the fish wouldn't show themselves.
Last night was weird. In the evening there was a helicopter flying along the lake shore with a spotlight looking for someone or something. It flew all around and at one point over the campground. After hovering for about fifteen minutes it finally headed north and back toward Laredo. Yesterday on the lake shore we found a new baby bugy and some drinks lined up on the shore. All abandoned as if someone left in a big hurry.
Tomorrow we are moving on to South Padre Island and back to the coast. We're hoping the weather will cooperate with us and we can enjoy the Gulf and do some fishing and kayaking. This will be a new area for us so there will be a lot of exploring to do there.

Looking across the river from Roma Texas. Where will the well go here?

Another view from the Roma lookouit

An osprey and a great egret at Falcon Lake

Another egret

What else?  A Greater Yellowlegs 

Two days in the mid 90's and now a cool-down

The past two days have been sooo hot! Highs pushing the high nineties and sunny. It kept us hunkering in the shade and reading both afternoons. Be careful what you ask for! This morning a cool front blew in with some drizzle and wind and now it's at 66 degrees.
On Friday we took a ride to explore the area and went as far as Roma to the south. There is a bit of development here along the Rio Grand but mostly ranches and rural. We found a wildlife area with a camper where hosts are taking care of a bird viewing area. We sat and watched for a while and saw birds that we have never seen before. The Rio Grand valley hosts a few species that only come to this very southern tip of Texas.
Roma was the bigger town near by and even had Burger King, McDonald's and Pizza Hut although we went back to the campground and made our own lunch.

A crested Caracara on the highway doing the roadkill shuffle 

A Green Jay at the birding station

The Great Kiskadee

Chachalacas are like small pheasant type birds. Found nowhere else in the United States, they are a tropical bird of Mexico, and Central America.

A Hooded Oriole at the hummingbird feeder. The hummingbirds aren't here yet this year. Too cold.

A sign for the Salineno birding yard where we watched for an hour on Friday afternoon.

The Rio Grande. Where do you put the Trump Wall here?

Looking at the sunset across Falcon Lake in Mexico. Where do you put the Trump Wall here?

Blooming Yucca about twelve feet tall!

Falcon Lake State Park

Gary and Bev are on their way back to their winter home in St Petersburg and we have been enjoying the warm weather. The temperatures are in the eighties for highs and the nights are staying warm. We ran into some neighbors from near home in Leelanau county. Mike and Martha live on Burdickville road just south of us across from Glen Lake High School. We are hoping they are going to join us for a camp fire so we can get better acquainted.
There is also a couple from Grand Rapids across the street in the campground but we haven't had a chance to talk with them.
This is a nice campground on the Mexican border with a big reservoir next to it. Falcon Lake was created by building a dam across the Rio Grand River. We are out in the country and in a very rural area so it's nice and quiet. The javelinas are around and we had one in the campsite the other day. We see them on the trails as we are walking. Birding seems to be very popular around here also although we haven't concentrated on that yet. Eight nights at this camp so we will do a lot of exploring. Stay tuned.

Yucca in bloom along the hiking trail. We did about a three mile walk yesterday morning.

Our last day at Lake Casa Blanca

We woke up to bright sunshine this morning just as it's time to move on! We're heading south to Falcon Lake on the Mexican border.Don't tell Nancy but the area is notorious for the tourist shooting some years ago where an American couple were jet skiing on the Mexican side of the lake and the husband was shot and killed. They pinned it on drug runners but I don't think the murder was ever solved.
The bass fishing is supposed to be excellent there so maybe I'll get into that!

Here's hoping everyone is surviving the snow and cold in the north country. I know the kids are enjoying all of the snow days!

A pair of Northern Shovelers on Lake Casa Blanca

Toughing it out in Texas

The weather here is testing our true grit as we tour Laredo and Rio Bravo. John Wayne would be proud. The cloudy skies and cool temperatures are staying with us making a liar out of the local weatherman.
We've been taking rides to amuse ourselves and see the local attractions but we are having trouble finding anything interesting. Yesterday we drove south to the town of Zapata to find the old Spanish square but couldn't find it. On the way back we stopped at San Ygnacio and there we found the old Spanish village from the 1830's A lot of the buildings were in pretty good shape and the area well preserved. Quite interesting.
Other than the outlet mall in Laredo we really haven't found anything else very exciting. We had a great lunch at one of the Mexican restaurants in town, but that's about it.

We've been seeing white pelicans and ospreys on the lake.

Lots of prickly pear cactus here. 

A yucca ready to bloom.

Here's a look at the campground and lake from Osprey Hill.

San Ygnacio's Spanish Square.

The pier at the campground. Lake Casa Blanca.

Same

Indian paintbrush in bloom

Eighty Degrees for two days!!

We have had some great weather for the past two days, but now winter has returned to Texas. Highs in the forties for two days then a warm up begins.
We are heading to down town Laredo today for lunch and to see the sights. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post.
We checked St Petersburg weather and they are sunny in the seventies all week. Bev and Gary might wish they stayed home!

Laredo

The past two mornings at Garvin State Park were foggy and misty. We did drove to Bandera to see why they are the cowboy capital of the world. We found that the Bandera pass was a thoroughfare for driving cattle from southwest Texas to the markets in the north. It is estimated that up to ten million head of cattle were moved through here over the decades. The town has quite a bit of history and the shops and boutiques are dedicated to cowboy and Indian culture.
We are now at Lake Casa Blanca at Laredo and the weather looks much more promising. We are in the eighties for highs and are looking for some cooling on Friday. Bev and Gary joined up with us last night. They drove their new motorhome from Florida and are spending at least eight nights with us. We are looking forward to doing some exploring together.

It seems we were very close to the very best place in the world.

Bandera, Texas, the cowboy capital of the world!

The beautiful courthouse was built in 1890-91

The history of Bandera and the surrounding countryside. (if you can zoom in to read it)

This is a lifesize Remington bronze of the old west cowboy in the park here at Bandera

The beautiful ranches in the hill country of Texas raise these imported antelope. Some of the ranches had elaborate entrances and you could see the drives going back but the houses were so far back they were out of view from the highway. One can only imagine how many acres they covered.

A west Texas sunset at Lake Casa Blanca