Bo Rivers

Greetings from Donna, Tx.,

This evening we had live entertainment at our park. The artist is Bo Rivers and he was fantastic. You can find him on the Internet. He sang some Willy Nelson and songs from the 50's and 60's. There is a lot of talent here in Southern Texas.

My daughter, Gabrielle, is coming for a visit on Feb. 1st, and I am very excited about seeing her. I haven't seen my children live since September and I miss them lots. We do talk on Skype and MSN and web cam each other, but it is nice to be able to give them a hug and get one in return.

Tomorrow I go back to Progreso, Mex. for my final dental work. So glad that will be over with.

Hope you all are keeping well and happy, and warm.

Pepe's

Buenos dias,

I had company from Alberta for 3 days. My friend, Doug, from Red Deer was passing this way and stopped to visit. It is always nice to see someone from home. Of course, one wants them to see as much as possible while they are here so one day we went to South Padre Island and then to Progeso, Mex. We also got together with friends and had a great time.

Yesterday we went to Pepe's in Mission, Tx. That is Pepe's in the photo. It is on the Rio Grande River....the river that separates the U.S. from Mexico. They have live music there on the week-ends, so we ate and danced and visited. At one point some folks there were attempting to hit golf balls from the U.S. side of the Rio Grande to the Mexican side.

A couple from Quebec was part of our group. In many places in Mex. you cannot put toilet paper in the toilet as their sewer system cannot handle it. So he said that he just puts his in his cowboy hat and raised his hat to show us all the paper. Of course, he was just kidding around, but it was pretty funny.

I know I will find it difficult when it is time to leave in March, as I have made such good friends here and the people in my RV park are so kind and friendly. At least it is easy to keep in contact with email.

A cold front has moved in so for a couple of days the temperatures will be cooler here. It is only 22C in my MH with all the windows open. Guess I will have to trade my sandals in for socks and sneakers today.

Bus Tour

Today we went on a one day bus tour. We visited 3 Mexican cities: Metamoros, Progreso, and Reynosa. We had a really good tour guide and he explained various things to us as we traveled. For instance, Mexico produces 3 kinds of alcohol. There is tequila, mezcal and pulque. All 3 of these spirits are made from the agave plant. Mezcal is often bottled with a worm (larvae) in it. The purpose of the worm is to add flavor to the drink. The maguey worm is found on the agave plant and is considered a delicacy in Mexico and is often found on restaurant menus throughout Mexico. Pulque is a white liquid that apparently tastes a lot like beer. It is purported to be an aphrodisiac, but loses its potency within 24 hours. Our tour guide said he took a group out and gave them each a small glass of pulque. They were supposed to go to see the pyramids after that, but they all wanted to skip the pyramids and go to their hotel rooms.

As we were traveling through the Mexican countryside, he pointed out several rows of small white houses. There were 3 sizes: the pigeon, the chicken and the turkey. These small white houses are built by the Mexican government for low income people. The only requirement is that you have to be employed. They range from $20,000 to $35,000 depending on the size. This includes the lot. This house becomes the property of the purchaser and they have to pay it off in 12-14 years. They are free to sell their house if they wish.

All Mexicans who complete high school, after passing an entrance exam, are allowed to attend a Mexican university for free. They have both public and private universities.

They have only one gas station in Mexico called Pemex. The price of gas is not posted at the station as everyone knows it is $2/gal.

The painting on the bottom is a 3 dimensional painting that was in a cantina in Metamoros where some of us stopped for a margarita. The photo on the top was taken in a church in Reynosa. The church was build in the 16oo's.

All in all I had a great day and learned many things.

Ropa Usada

Buenos dias mis amigos,

Yesterday a group of us ladies went to the ropa usada outlets. As near as I can figure, that means used clothing. There was a string of such stores. The clothing arrives in those huge bails that you see in the photo. The bails are opened and dumped in big piles on the floor. When the piles spread too far, the forklift comes and scoops them back into a pile again. Some of the items are used and some still have the tags on them. You sort through the clothes and as you can see you often climb to the top of the pile to search. You buy items by the pound. One store had a 30 cent a pound pile and a 60 cent a pound pile. At another store it was 20 cents a pound.

Some of the customers must have been there for awhile as they were leaning against piles, fast asleep.

John Wayne and Paula Cravens

Greetings from a Winter Texan,

This evening in our rec hall we had John Wayne and his wife Paula Cravens. John is an author and has written books about The Duke and has also authored other western books. His real name is Ermal Williamson. He is also an actor. He impersonates John Wayne in a Coors commercial and has been on the Golden Girls and done some movies. You can find him on the internet.

Last evening my friends Carol and Bill and myself went out to La Escondida, which is loosely translated, the hide-away. Here they differentiate between liquor and beer. Apparently a liquor license is very expensive, so some bars only serve beer. However, you can bring your own liquor to the bar and ask for a set-up. A set-up is a bucket of ice, a glass, pop, lemon and perhaps salt. When Carol whipped out her container of liquor I said, "you can't bring that in here!" but you can. Different isn't it?

McAllen, Texas

Hello,

Yesterday a group of us went to McAllen, pop. 130,000. We wanted to see the International Museum of Art and Science. One room was called "Icons" and had 10 large scale stained glass windows. They were from a private collection that had once been in St. Paul's Episcopal church in Albany, New York in 1914. They were absolutely beautiful.

Another room had this huge globe that you see in the photo. The narrator explained various weather phenomena and while he did so the globe would change to reflect the topic. It was a really neat affect.

They had a room of torture instruments, but it was closed yesterday. There were also art displays of paintings, carvings and sculptures. All in all it was worth seeing.

We had lunch at a smorg restaurant and there was a large variety of foods and it was all good.

Donna

Hola mis amigos
This is pretty much what it looks like at my park. Today is a bit cooler, in the 50's, but tomorrow it is to be back up in the 70's. Temperatures here can vary quite a bit day to day. All last week we were in the high 80's.

Today we had a jam at our park. One of my guitar strings was broken I discovered once I got to the rec hall, but they put my name on the list to sing. I was extremely nervous, but sang anyway. There were 2 banjo players, a bass guitarist, 4 guitarists and multiple singers. Add to that those who came to listen and there were quite a few of us. It was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow I am going to McAllen with a couple from the park. We are going to the museum so later this week I will share photos.

Keep warm, especially those of you in the frozen north.