South Padre Island

Dan and I didn’t really know what to expect when we got here – having never been to this part of the country, and coming here only on the recommendation of other travelers who find the winter weather here very pleasant. And, the weather has been wonderful, as promised. Warm for the most part, a couple of cool days every once in a while, but usually warms right back up. No rain since we’ve been here, and most days are shorts and T-shirt weather. What we have discovered is the “Winter Texan” community. Most of the people at this and other RV parks in the area (and there are a LOT of RV parks around here) come for the winter, usually arriving in December or January and staying through March or April. Many folks are here from the mid-west and Canada. Once here, they form their own temporary community, and some people meet up here every year. Most people have a fixed residence they go back to, unlike Dan and me. There are some full-timers, though.

On December 28th, we took a drive to South Padre Island, the true southern-most tip of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico, to celebrate our “real” retirement date. South Padres is a very small beach community, mostly geared towards the tourist. The day we went happened to be cool and breezy (wouldn’t you know), but it felt like a real ocean climate. We walked on the beach, did a little window shopping, looked at the boats, had a nice dinner out, then came home. I attached some pictures from that visit.

There are lots of activities sponsored by our RV park; we get a monthly activity calendar with many different things to choose from, including outings (movies, lunch, trips to Mexico, shopping), crafts, game nights (Pokeno, Poker, Bingo), line dance lessons, potlucks. You could be busy every single day if you wanted to. Dan and I have participated in a few things – I made cookies for the Christmas cookie exchange; we came to the Christmas dinner potluck; and we attended the New Year’s Eve party. And, as shocking as it was to me, Dan and I sang a karaoke tune together at the New Year’s Eve party!! And, it was my idea!! And, even more unbelievable, this morning Dan and I came up to the club house for line dance lessons. We learned a few basic steps and danced to “Electric Glide” and “Achy Breaky” heart. Six months ago, you could not have told me I would be doing this, I would never have believed you! But it was fun, and great exercise!! Well, like they say, “When in Rome…”. We will be leaving this area in a couple of weeks. Who knows what we will find ourselves doing at our next stop!

Next Stop: Back to Albuquerque, NM, for a brief ski trip in Taos.

Mission, Texas: First Two Weeks

We arrived in Mission, Texas on December 2nd. Neither one of us have been here before, but while we were in Livingston we learned from other folks that the Rio Grande Valley is a popular place for RVer’s to spend the winter, having a climate very similar to that of the Florida Keys. The Rio Grande Valley is an area located in the southernmost tip of Texas. It lies along the northern bank of the Rio Grande, which separates Mexico from the United States. Our RV Park is probably about three miles from the Mexican border, but there is no direct entry at that point. The border crossings are numerous in this area, however, and we did make one trip into Nuevo Progreso in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas a couple of days ago. If you’ve ever been to the border towns in Mexico, it is much like you would expect. Very much set up for tourist traffic, including many, many dentists, pharmacies, and plastic surgery clinics. I attached a couple of pictures from that visit, including one of Dan enjoying some shopping! The river shot is of the Rio Grande, the natural border along Texas and Mexico.


The Rio Grande Valley region is made up of four counties:
Starr County, Hidalgo County, Willacy County, and Cameron County with a total population of 1,139,581. The largest city is Brownsville (Cameron County), followed by McAllen (Hidalgo County). We are in Hidalgo County; Brownsville is about 60 miles east of Mission. McAllen is a fairly large city and where we conduct most of our business. The weather has been very warm since we arrived, mostly having high’s in the mid to high 80’s, and lows around 70. There have been a couple of “cold” snaps where the highs only got to 65 and the lows near 40. The average this time of year is about 75.

Our RV Park sits in the middle of a citrus grove. We have access to ruby red grapefruit, lemons, oranges, and tangerines. The grapefruit is the most abundant, and it is so sweet and delicious. Dan and I bought ourselves a juicer as an early Christmas present and have been regularly juicing the grapefruit. I have included a picture of a bowl of cut up grapefruit ready to be juiced. We have been buying 18 pound bags of juicing oranges at a nearby produce stand and making fresh orange juice as well.

We are situated about two miles from Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park which is considered the crown jewel of Rio Grande Valley parks. The Park is known as the headquarters of the World Birding Center. Birders across the nation know “Bentsen” as a treasure trove of “Valley specialties” – those birds found nowhere else in the United States but deepest South Texas – and “Mexican vagrants” – rare visitors from across the Rio Grande. Some of these birds make their way to our RV Park, and so far we have seen many red cardinals and one green jay. We plan to make a day visit to the actual park soon to see all the bird visitors.


Our original plans were to stay here through December, but we may end up staying a week or two into January – the citrus fruit, the sunshine, the birds, and the over all welcome to the “Winter Texans” in this area is very pleasant! We’ll see what January brings when the time comes!!