2013 February

2/1/13  We spent the afternoon at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge which is on the Laguna Madre.  We hiked one of the trails, the alligator pond was dry so no alligators in sight.  We then took the 15 mile scenic drive through the wildlife refuge spotting lots of bird life.  Most of the Laguna Madre is only 3 feet deep. 

 

 

 

2/2/13 We went to our first rodeo, the Los Fresnos Rodeo and Cameron County Livestock Show.  We walked through the show barns and FFA displays.  The rodeo was lots of fun, and included a concert with Kevin Fowler afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2/8/13 We drove to the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, they have a 1 mile boardwalk through wetlands that border the Laguna Madre.  Lots of birdlife, waterfowl and 1 alligator spotted.  After the long walk we enjoyed a fish and shrimp dinner at the Pirate’s Cove.  The shrimp here is wonderful, we hope to get some to take with us on the road. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 2/9/13 We visited the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge that borders the Rio Grande River.  We took the 1 ½ hour tram ride through the refuge seeing the changing landscape, many hiking trails, and we will definitely be back there someday.

 

 

 

 

 

2/12/13  The weather has been great, we spent much of the last 2 weeks with Belinda working and enjoying the warm weather, pool and hot tub in the afternoon.  The weather down here has been perfect, low 80’s and sunny everyday.  We had a sun shade made to add to the awning that helps provide afternoon shade, it works great. 

 

 

 





 

2-15-13 We left our happy home at the Fig Tree RV Resort in Harlingen, Texas.  This was the friendliest campground we have been in.  The people are great and there was always something to do.  We headed out on our 3 day journey to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We had a little mechanical excitement on our way, the fuel filter clogged up and we couldn’t go over 55mph.  Fortunately Jerry had an extra fuel filter so we spent some time at a Rest Area changing out the filter and we were on our way.  Thank goodness for backup spare parts!!  We spent the night at the Walmart in Hondo, Texas, southwest of San Antonio.

 

 2-16-13 We traveled across I-10 through the western part of Texas, the terrain changed to more of a desert look.  The elevation went up to around 4,500 feet even though it looked like flat land to us.  Today we ended up with a small stone chip in the windshield after a semi passed us, hopefully it won’t grow and it is not in Jerry’s line of sight.  Another night in a Walmart parking lot at Fort Stockton, Texas.  Thank you Walmart!!
 

2-17-13 We drove through El Paso on our way to Las Cruces.  El Paso is a very large city and we were so glad we went through on a Sunday.  The weather is definitely colder than Harlingen.  Temperatures have been down to 28 at night.   

2-18 to 2-22-13 Belinda worked all week.  We had 50-60 mile an hour winds with lots of blowing sand, it was our first sand storm experience.  The Double Eagle and LaPosta deMesilla in Historic Old Mesilla were very historic restaurants with excellent food and amazing interiors.

 

 

2-23-13 We spent 2 hours walking through the Las Cruces Farmer’s Market which was voted one of the top 10 Farmer’s Markets in the country.  They had the best Kettle Corn.  We spent the afternoon at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. 

 

2-24-23 We drove out to the White Sands National Monument.  The winds were 30-50 miles an hour so it looked like a blizzard instead of a sand storm.  We took the 3 hour tour back into Lake Lucero, where the sand begins to form from the gypsum breakdown over the years.  We were able to drive through the White Sands Small Missile Base to get back to Lake Lucero. 

 

 

 

 

2-25-13 We spent 2 days traveling to Scottsdale with one night in a Flying J’s Truck Stop.

2/26/13 Arrived in Scottsdale, weather is awesome in the high 70’s / low 80’s.  We surprised our nephew, Dale at the restaurant he is a manager at when we arrived for dinner.  He wasn’t expecting us until the weekend.  It was a nice surprise.

 

 

 2/28/13 Went to the Native Trails Performance in old town Scottsdale.  Native Trails brings together traditional instruments, colorful dances, and customary attire to share the stories of Southwestern tribes, including the Hopi, Diné (Navajo), Akimel Au-Authm and San Carlos Apache. The performances included the Southwest Horse Dance, inter-tribal pow wow dancing, and world championship level hoop dancing.  Walked through Old Town Scottsdale, there are a few very historical buildings, art studios and lots of restaurants.