Sunday, February 28, 2010

The RGV Is A Wrap!

Wow, I can’t believe we have been here for two months.  I am not sure where the time has gone.  We have endured some cold days, some rainy days, and some really beautiful days.  But, when you are having fun the sun always shines.

We started this adventure off having fun and we certainly finished laughing and having fun!

On Friday, we decided to devote the day to just the girls.  And all girls know….

Winter at Retama 018

It is Mandatory to look fabulous and

Winter at Retama 009

fabulous we looked.  We gathered at the

Winter at Retama 002

Vintage Tea Room for

Winter at Retama 016

lunch.  Our lunch fare was chicken salad, tea, and lemon pie.  While several of us chose iced peach tea, a few chose hot tea.  Kathy

Winter at Retama 015

instructed on the proper way to enjoy a cup of tea.

We all had a good laugh as we tried on

Winter at Retama 006

hat after hat!

From the tea room, we headed to do a little shopping.  We found a discount clothing store that had only new merchandise from Macy’s.  Most of us found some great buys and were happy with our finds.  Then, we wanted to experience a true Ropa store.  These are found in large

Winter at Retama 030

warehouses.  This one was closing as we arrived, but

Winter at Retama 032

the one next door was open.

Now, this is not your normal department store.  Here the clothes are all used and are found in giant bundles.  You find what you are looking for by

Winter at Retama 036

getting right in middle of them.  When you find what you want,

Winter at Retama 038

bundle it up, pay for it by the pound, home you go!

Now, Arlene, just posed for this picture…let me assure you, she found NOTHING here she wanted to take home!  Not even

Winter at Retama 034

this bag from this high end department store.  Ashley, I almost picked this up for you!

We laughed all the way home!  What a great day with a great group of girls!

Yesterday, we stayed at Retama.  We did a few things here around the motor home to start our preparations for leaving the RGV.  However, in the afternoon, we put the chores aside and headed out with Niles and Sue, our next door neighbors, to enjoy an open house around our park.

For those that are not familiar with Retama.  This is an ownership park.  The RV sites all have these cute

Winter at Retama 003 little coach houses.  Yesterday, the owners had a tour of homes.  So, we headed out to enjoy the beautiful day and see just what each coach house had to offer.

Some were finished

Winter at Retama 008  very simple and usable.  This one was a great crafters room!  Some

Winter at Retama 006

had beach themes, while some were very

Winter at Retama 005

warm and homey feeling.  A great place to just relax.  Others had

Winter at Retama 016

full kitchens and

Winter at Retama 014

fold down beds.

But, no matter how they were furnished, it amazed me what the owners envisioned and how they finished a 12x20 building!

We enjoyed hot dogs, popcorn, and cold drinks by the pool before retiring back to our own RV’s for the evening.

Again, a great day with friends.

Today, we spent the day finishing those chores we put aside yesterday.  Now, with all of those behind us, tomorrow will take us from the RGV to our next destination…..The Last Resort in Rockport, TX.

  For now, we say good-bye to the RGV and to the ones that we are leaving behind.  Safe travels to you as you continue on with your plans and travels and we hope to see you all again real soon.

For all that are going with us to Rockport, I am sure that the fun will continue, just as soon as all are settled in.  We look forward to another month of….who knows….so come along with us!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Rancho El Charco

After a miserably wet and cold day yesterday, it was so nice to wake up this morning to the sunshine and the warming temps which was just right for today’s adventure.

Retama offered a tour to the Rancho El Charco and we signed up.  So, around 2:30, we picked up Niles and Sue, our next door neighbors and headed to the clubhouse.  Once everyone was gathered, we caravanned to our destination which was only a few miles west of Mission in the town of La Joya.

We arrived at

Winter at Retama 003

Rancho El Charco, which is a privately owned section of land that has been kept in it’s natural state.  Once we were all gathered, we

Winter at Retama 011

loaded up our tour wagons and headed out!  We traveled down the old west

Winter at Retama 027

trails enjoying some of the

Winter at Retama 015

wildlife along the trail.  This is a female Black Buck which resembles an antelope.

Soon, we stopped for

Winter at Retama 023

a history lesson.  We learned that this land was part of the original Spanish Land Grant.  We also learned that you can eat many parts of the

Winter at Retama 024

cactus.  We sampled the fruit of the cactus, the prickly pear, which was served today

Winter at Retama 025

as jelly on a jalapeno potato chip.  Yummy!

From here we went on a short walk to check out some

Winter at Retama 026

old bison bones.

Back on our

Winter at Retama 031

wagons, we once again hit the

Winter at Retama 034

trail.  This time our wagon master took us past the

Winter at Retama 032

old windmill to the

Winter at Retama 036

Palapa where we stopped for a group picture.  This area of the property has been constructed for the purpose of parties and weddings.  There is a

Winter at Retama 040

beautiful alter that has been build under the palapa.  And, the palapa sits beside

Winter at Retama 038

this beautiful oasis.  This is man-made….not a natural to the area.  But, beautiful to enjoy.  We

Winter at Retama 044

walked across the wooded swinging bridge and

Winter at Retama 048

under the water fall and back around the small lake to where

Winter at Retama 050

our friends were waiting to continue our journey.

Next stop allowed us to meet a few of the locals…we met

Winter at Retama 060

this big tortoise.  Mark

Winter at Retama 063

wanted to keep him.

We also saw

Winter at Retama 071

a beautiful Peacock and

Winter at Retama 069

a rabbit who wasn’t willing to share dinner with his other friends.  And, then there was

Winter at Retama 076

the raccoon and the fox who were hanging out with a watchful eye high above our heads.  Next stop was to meet

Winter at Retama 079

the newest member of the neighborhood.  This baby javalina is just less than a day old.

It was now time to wind down the tour portion of the trip, but not before seeing what else, but a true

Winter at Retama 088

Texas icon.

As we reached our next stop,

Winter at Retama 093

the dinner bell was ringing.  And, tonight’s fare was what else, but…

Winter at Retama 097

Texas sized ribs, sausage cooked with peppers and onions, potato salad, and green salad.  And, yes….I saved my WW points for this!

During dinner, we were serenaded with

Winter at Retama 095

some great old time country and western music.  A few of us

Winter at Retama 104

stayed after dinner to listen while some of the others chose to take another walk down by the water.  But, by this time the Texas size mosquitoes were out and that left me inside.

But, as it was said by Willie Nelson,  it was soon time to Turn Out The Lights…The Party is Over.  And, all that was left of today’s adventure was

Winter at Retama 115

this beautiful sunset!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Our Three Hour Tour

Today, we were up by 6:30 as we needed to meet everyone by 8:30 at Mac and Lynette’s.  Today’s adventure would take us to South Padre Island’s

Winter at Retama 003

Pier 19.  Here

scan0002

we boarded our

Winter at Retama 006

tour boat.  We headed out past the

Winter at Retama 028

Island KOA and the

Winter at Retama 032

Coast Guard Station.  As we continued out in the bay, we saw

Winter at Retama 046

shrimpers coming in.  We left

Winter at Retama 035

the island behind us and started looking for what we came to see….the

Winter at Retama 065

Bottlenose Dolphins.  They were having

Winter at Retama 077

fun playing in and around the boat.  We traveled on out past the

Winter at Retama 087

camping area at the State Park until we finally reached the mouth of the bay and the

Winter at Retama 089

gulf.  Here we turned around and headed back into the bay.  Soon, we spotted yet another

Winter at Retama 103

dolphin friend.  I think he was talking to

Winter at Retama 117

Mr. Pelican, who was flying right overhead.

On the way back we passed by the

Winter at Retama 141

Long Island Village.  All of these homes are built

Winter at Retama 142

with access to the water.  There are row after row of these sites.  Soon we were at the

Winter at Retama 158

Swing Bridge and the bridge operator

Winter at Retama 162

swung the gate open wide for us to go through.

Our next treat came when one of  deck hands

Winter at Retama 167

dropped this net out into the water.  A little while later, he hauled in

Winter at Retama 184

our catch.  We had

Winter at Retama 191

bait fish and

Winter at Retama 193

squid, and

Winter at Retama 197

I missed what this little guy was…because I was too interested in getting to

Winter at Retama 199

hold the Puffer.  And, I am not sure he liked being held because when we put in back in the tank he

Winter at Retama 201

decided to get really “puffy”!

All too soon, we found ourselves back dockside.  Now, included with the purchase of our tour tickets

Winter at Retama 203

was lunch.  The choice was

Winter at Retama 204

fish or

Winter at Retama 205

shrimp!  Both were delicious.

After lunch and needing to do a little walking, we decided to do a little shopping while on the island.  We also stopped back in Port Isabel to do a little more shopping.  When we were shopped out, we headed back the 90 miles to Mission.

It was a great 3 hour tour that turned out to be an all day adventure and one that won’t soon be forgotten.  As I close this entry…

Winter at Retama 207

my friend and I would like to say, we too hope you enjoyed our three hour tour and…

Winter at Retama 206