Mexican Dancers

Yesterday evening a group from the park went to Garcia's in Nuevo Progreso.  We went to see the Mexican dancers.  You pay $5.50 and that includes all your drinks, a dance to live entertainment and the show.  I had seen these dancers on my last Texas trip, but they are worth seeing many times over.

 

When they completed their routine they chose people from the audience to dance with.  They then passed a hat around for tips.

I had told Brenda how good they were, but you have to see them to believe it.  She was impressed.  Last time I was there the place was packed.  This time there were quite a few empty tables.

My friends said it was expensive to eat there.  I ordered filet mignon.  It came with a salad, vegetables, stuffed baked potato and dessert.  It cost $8.45 and I thought that was very reasonable.  The others ate lonches after we left Garcia's.

It was another enjoyable evening!

Final Arriba's

Yesterday we went to Arriba's as a park.  It was the last time we will all be together for the season.
After dinner and dancing we all spread out to do our shopping.

This man made beautiful beaded jewelry and animals, but his items were quite expensive.  A lot of work went into the beading.  I love his costume.

The fellow he is visiting with does paintings on saw blades, bottles, light switches, etc.  He just uses spray paint and a piece of cardboard to paint with.  His paintings are very good.  So much talent in Mexico. 

Yesterday was very windy.  There was dust blowing down the streets.  The merchants attempt to keep their street clean.  I passed a couple of people washing down their sidewalk. 

They set their stalls up every morning and take them down every evening.  By 5 or 6 p.m. a lot of them are closed for the day.  Tourists only stay until dusk.


After shopping we all met at the Rose Garden.  Well, the men were there already as they are not shoppers.  I tried to get a photo of this little girl several times and finally got a good shot.  I gave her a hand full of coins.

Perhaps 3 years old

 

 

 

 

 

She is so cute.  These children wonder in and out as long as there are customers there.  I don't know if their parent(s) are close by or not.  The women end up with bracelets half way down their arms as they can't refuse the children.

Shy

This shy little fellow was selling gum.  I bought that gum once.  The colours in the gum make your lips and tongue the colour of the gum.  I give them a quarter and let them keep the gum. 

The flower lady was there so perhaps he is her little boy.  Often you see children with their working mothers.  Here at the park the chambermaids for the motel often have little ones with them.  The children help. 

My friend, Amy, and I were discussing how we would prefer that to having our children sitting in front of their computers and video games all day. 

I have never heard any of these children crying or raising a fuss.  Often you see a child looking after littler siblings.  They carry them around and kiss and hug them and make them laugh.  They take care of each other.

We had a great time at the Rose Garden.  Of course there was music and dancing. 

Patty and a Mexican

There wasn't much room to dance, but the aisle was full of dancers.  There was a musician playing the keyboard at the entrance of the Rose Garden.  He brought his tip jar around.  He had quite a nice voice, I thought. 

The man dancing with Patty has 10 children.  His adult daughter and teenage granddaughter are often at the Rose Garden.  I don't know if they work there or own it or what. 

His granddaughter is very friendly.  She was combing Bills hair and giving the women shoulder massages.  Many around our table gave her a dollar.  She was so excited.  She put the money in her wallet and said that tomorrow at school she would be able to afford tacos for lunch.  A street vendor goes around to the school at noon.  I don't know if the children have to buy their lunches, take their own or what.  This evening a group of us are going back to Mexico to watch the dancers.  I saw them on my last trip and they were wonderful.

Spring....make your way to Alberta!

Rio Grande Valley Cook-off

Today we went to the cook-off.  We arrived about 9:45 a.m. and decided we would be judges in the first entry, which was fajitas.  We sat 5 people to a table.  There was a cache of forks and knives on each table.  There were also crackers, pickles and water.  Our instructions were:  we were each given a sheet of paper with the rules to judging on it.  There was a column of numbers from 1-20.  A man passed a numbered box of sliced beef down the table.  We were to rate the beef according to colour, aroma, and taste.  After we tried one piece we were to rate the beef from 1-10, 10 being the best overall.  We were to eat a cracker or pickle to cleanse our palate of the beef, take a clean fork and then rate box number 2.  We were not to discuss the taste with each other or we would be disqualified.  We had to rate beef from 19 boxes.  Of course, I kept my slices as small as possible as 19 pieces is a lot of beef. 

There were several different judged items.  There were beans, chicken and pork ribs.  Each product was cooked by a team that was sponsored by a business.  It was interesting to walk around the grounds and see the various set-ups.  They were required  to cook with a  wood fire.
 

 

Chicken

Roast Pig

We met our friends, Carol and Bob.

Bob and Carol

We were supposed to go to S. Padre Island and spend the rest of the week end with them, but we decided against it as it is supposed to be chilly on the island tomorrow.  One really likes a hot day to go to the island.

We were up at 6 a.m. as we thought we would have to do some ironing and packing.  It was chilly here in Donna this morning so we emailed Carol and suggested another day there.  As it was it turned into a hot day in Donna with a high of 26C.  But it is supposed to rain on the island tomorrow according to this morning's forecast.

I had my photo taken with Miss Cover Girl, 2013.

We match!

She was gorgeous and very nice.  We had home made ice cream made with this machine.

Ice Cream Maker

And we listened to live music for a bit.  We met friends there from other parks.  It is always good to run into friends.  When we felt we had seen it all, and smelled like B-B-Q meat we made our exit.

Good-bye

Mexico Again

Today a group of us went to Mexico.  I had some shopping to do.  I hate shopping, but what are you going to do?  I want to bring special things home for my children.  The little ones come by.  They are so small and yet they are selling on the street.

Muy Benita

This little girl was selling bracelets for $1 each.  I don't know how old she was.  She loved having her picture taken.  They wander in where they see the "gringos" and hope to make a sale.

This little fellow was selling flowers.  Hard to imagine our children doing this, isn't it?  These children come from families of 8+.  Their mothers are also on the street selling whatever.

This woman was selling flowers.  They are beautiful flowers and I bought quite a few for my mother.  My friend across the table attempted to get them for cheap, but I always pay the price and often give extra.  I know they are hungry in Mexico.  I always feel that if I can afford a drink and a meal, then I can afford to help someone else.

While we were at the Rose Garden one fellow said it was his friend's birthday.  He told us "cumpleanos" and having a scattering of Spanish I understood "birthday".  In Mexico, if you have a birthday, people pin money onto your shirt or dress.  I just happened (as always) to have a few different origami dollar bills and I gave him a heart and wished him "Feliz Cumpleanos".  He was so excited.  He gave me a big hug and had me watch him put it in his wallet.  He thanked me and said he would save it.

Birthday Boy

It is good to have folded money in your purse.  There are always special times.

He gave me a dollar and asked me to fold another heart.  I showed him the ring and he wanted one of those instead, so I made him one.  Then his friend gave me a dollar and wanted a ring and I made him one as well. 

Our group went for supper.  When we had eaten all we could eat a woman came by and asked for our left-overs.  I really should have bought supper for her and her family. Next time.  I  could really do without a meal or two, or four or five, or six........

Don-Wes Flea Market

Yesterday Brenda and I went to the flea market to shop.  It was very, very busy.  They have some good deals there, but we couldn't find anything we really wanted there for the price we were willing to pay.

Flea Market

Across the street is a smaller market, but we couldn't find anything we wanted there either.  Brenda bought a flexible cutting board for the motor home.  She was tired of using my small one, and she does the cooking around these here parts.

We were invited to a block party at Snow to Sun.....a different RV park.  It is quite a bit bigger than our park and has a lot of facilities, such as a pool.  It is also more costly to stay there.  There are quite a few rigs for sale there and one could get a good deal, but then you would have to know that you are coming back year after year.  The cheapest route is to leave your RV there all year long and just drive down every year.  I have a big family so hate to make that kind of decision as you never know what could transpire.  Also, I don't plan to come to Texas every winter.  There are other places in the world I would like to travel to.  I would love to go to Greece and perhaps I will make it there sometime.

We had a small two piece band to play for us last evening, and had karaoke.  Brenda and I attempted

Block Party

to sing a Hank Williams song together but the key was wrong for us.  It was just too low.  A woman from Nfld. sang quite a few songs and did very well. 

It was extremely windy yesterday so the party wasn't as well attended as they thought it would be.  It was the windiest day we have had so far and the noise kept me awake most of the night.  I woke up tired, which is rare for me.

A couple from our park left yesterday and I was concerned for them as it is no fun driving your RV in the wind.  I hope they did not have any trouble. 

A group of us are going out this evening.  We will be doing a lot of dancing.

Keep warm.  Spring is not too far down the road!

Leslie

Last evening a group from the Dolphin went to Alamo Palms to hear Leslie perform.  Supper was included.  Alamo Palms is a beautiful RV park.  I don't know how many sites they have but it is big.

Leslie won the Rio Grande Valley Female Singer of the Year Award a few days ago.  Not only can she sing, but she has a great sense of humour.  She is a real performer.

Leslie

She had us all in stitches several times during the show.  At one point, she sat on a piano bench and braided one side of her hair.  She then held her nose and sang like Willie Nelson.  (Seven Spanish Angels).  Then she put dark glasses on and sang like Ray Charles.  She alternated back and forth between Willie and Ray.  We laughed until the tears rolled down our cheeks.

She has been singing on South Padre Island for 18 years and anytime we are on the island we make sure we go to her gig. 

When you go to one of the bigger RV parks they usually have a board dedicated to soldiers.  Most American men of a certain age have been in one war or another.  I don`t know if the photos on this

Servicemen

board are photos of residents of the park in uniform or of other men, but I think it is good that they acknowledge their servicemen.  Most of the men in our park are veterans.  

When I went for my walk this morning, a few people stopped to ask me to tell Brenda ``thank you``.  Brenda arranged the tickets for the show, which meant running from RV to RV to ask who wanted to go and then phoning in the ticket requests.  Although we had heard Leslie several times, many from the park had not even heard of her.

Brenda could be Leslie`s PR woman!

We are attempting to organize a group to go to South Padre Island for a night.  We would like to return to the island at least once more before our time is up in Texas.  We will see how it goes.

I see it is a bit colder in Alberta again.  Spring is slow to come to the prairies.  Have to keep telling myself it is only February! 

Bar-B-Que

Today was our end of the season bar-b-que.  It is put on by the owners of the park, Connie and Alex.  It began as a chilly morning, but the sun came out and it became down-right hot.  The owners and

The Cooks

their groundsmen did the cooking.  The chicken was cooked over a wood fire and tasted delicious.  There was bean soup, coleslaw, sausage, rice and pico de gallo.  Pico de gallo is a salad made from chopped tomato, onion and chili peppers.  Sometimes it is made with jalapeno peppers. Various other ingredients can be added.  Ours had cilantro in it.  It was quite hot, but not as hot as some I have tasted in the past.  Pico de gallo means "beak of the rooster".  I don't know why it is called that.

Pico de Gallo

It is a very nutritious dish, but takes some getting used to.  One could use it as a salsa substitute.  You can buy it at the H.E.B. grocery store already made up.

After the main meal we had our choice of either chocolate cake with strawberries between the layers or white cake with pudding between the layers.  Of course, I had chocolate.

There was live entertainment on the patio just outside the rec. hall.

Husband and Wife Team

And where you have live entertainment you have dancing.  One just goes with the other here in Southern Texas.  The musicians played some line dances and I think Brenda danced to each one.  Our lessons are paying off!

Sadly people will be pulling out this week.  I made many new friends and some were old acquaintances that I became even firmer friends with.  But, fortunately, with today's technology we can all keep in touch.

Line dancers

Brenda and I will be planning our route home soon.  We will be scouting out free parking places for the way home.  We have another month here and even then, will be keeping an eye on the Canadian spring.  We have been invited to stop in Gun Barrel City (a good Texan name) on our way home and also in Tennessee.  We will have to make some decisions on that soon.

It was a good day....like so many of the days at the Dolphin Motel and RV Park.

Nuevo Progeso

Today a group of us went to Mexico to shop.  I bought a few things for my girls.  We ladies had lonches for lunch.  They are a small bun that is rolled in hot oil and then stuffed with lettuce, ground beef, avocado, etc.  They are very good and only cost 60 cents each.  We then met up with the men at a small bar called the Rose Garden.  It is not rosy.  While we sat there people came around to sell their wares.

This fellow drew caricatures.  He was pretty good.  As you can see the Rose Garden is very narrow.
There is a business in every little spot.

Artist

The musicians you see in the background play for tips.  The fellow with his arm up is the singer and he gave it everything he had!

Musicians

El Bano

These are the bathrooms.  You access them from outside.  Mexican bathrooms have a lot to be desired although most are better than these.  You cannot put toilet paper in the toilets as their sewer system cannot handle paper.  There was no hot water from the taps and just a drip of cold water, so bring moist towelettes to wash your hands with.  Oh, and bring your own toilet paper!  Also, don't put your butt on the toilet, just hover.  Some restaurant/bars have fairly nice bathrooms and keep them clean.

You need a lot of patience when you go to Mexico because you are constantly bombarded by people trying to make a sale.  If you stop to look at their wares they will often say, "Which one you want?".  Usually you don't want any.  But, we feel sorry for them as they are so, so poor.  One woman in the park has been coming here for years and every time she goes to Mexico she comes back with bracelets.  She told me she probably has a couple of hundred of them.  She said she just cannot refuse to buy from the children.

Tomorrow is our end of the season barbeque.  People are beginning to leave the park for the season.  Those who live in warm states like Tennessee say it is warm enough to go home.  And we all miss our families.

Hasta manana~

Flea Market

Yesterday I walked to the Don-Wes Flea Market.  It is only open on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.  I went early as it gets pretty crowded by afternoon.  They sell just about anything you could image.  I listened to the live music for a bit and then wondered about.  I did buy myself a cap.  It is called a military cap and is a version of the ball cap.  I like to buy a hat or cap from hot places I travel to.

On the way home I took some photos.

 I passed a couple of these set ups.
People rent a small spot about the size of a single car garage and have garage sales in them every week.  That way they can leave the items there and just lock the door when they leave.  You see a lot of people selling clothes.  I don't know where they get all these items but yard sales are a big item here. 

 I also pass many homes like the one in the photo.  They look partly boarded up and I wondered if anyone lived in this particular house.  I did see a woman working in the back yard so I am guessing that she lived there.

I read in the local paper that the municipality is going to tear down the abandoned shops.  There are many of those along business 83 hwy. We cannot always tell if a business is open or closed for good. 

Motel

These buildings are motels.  Most everything is built of brick or cement here in the valley.   This motel advertises its rooms for $30 a night or $150 a week.  It also has RV parking. 

Today was very, very hot.  It hit a high of 35C.  When it gets hot like this we spend some time in the rec. hall as it is just too hot to be outside.  One can just feel their skin burning.  There is always a jig-saw puzzle on the go in the rec. hall, and they are always very difficult puzzles.


Tomorrow is line dance class, Tuesday is computer class, Wednesday I am teaching an origami class, Thursday we are going to some kind of rodeo and the list just goes on.

I began cold symptoms today, so time will tell how many of these things I will actually partake in.  Many people in our park had the flu that involved lots of coughing so hope I am spared that malady.

I see the weather has improved in Alberta......happy for y'all.

Gladys Porter Zoo

Today our park went to the zoo in Brownsville, Texas.  It was Winter Texan Day, so we got in for 1/2 price.  We had to show them out of state identification to get the lower price.

It was a beautiful day weather wise.  When we got up this morning we had a good rain, so were undecided on how to dress, but we were dressed perfectly for the day.  The temperature today was 31C.  The only thing I forgot was a hat.


We saw your usual zoo animals.  There was a new baby gorilla.  Her mother rejected her so the zoo staff were bottle feeding and diapering.   Of course, we all wanted to see her.

Baby Gorilla

There were many snakes and lizards.  I rather feel sorry for them as their cages are small and I doubt they can get proper exercise.  There was also an abundance of birds.

I think I was as impressed with the bronze animals as I was with the live ones.

I was quite impressed with the Texan Tarantula.  I wouldn't want this
guy crawling anywhere near me.  This photo was taken through glass

of course.

All in all it was a good day.  We stopped in San Benito for supper.  I was starving.  I had only had a granola bar for lunch as the zoo only sold sandwiches and junk food.  I didn't want either.

We were up at 6 a.m. to get ready for the trip, so will be hitting the hay early this evening.  We haven't been up that early for months.  Me thinks we are getting a bit spoiled!

Snowbird Extravaganza

Our neighbour told us about the Snowbird Extravaganza in McAllen, Texas.  He and his wife went yesterday and said it was excellent.  Brenda and I went today.  It was very excellent.  I haven't laughed so hard in years.  The entertainment was all from Canada.  We missed the first act which was Tom Leadbeater.  We came in through part of the second act who was Sean Emery.  He did stunts and told jokes and was quite funny.

The third act was Pavlo.  His website is www.pavlo.net.  There were 3 musicians on strings and a drummer.  They were wonderful.  They played Greek/Mediterranean music.  I could have listened to them all day.

Pavlo

 These musicians were one with their instruments.  I envy people like that.  I've been plugging away on my guitar for years and still sound lousy.  Actually, I've only played it a couple of times since my last Texas trip.  I need to add that to my "to do list".  Practice makes perfect; or in my case better.

Michelle Wright

After intermission we had a Newfoundland comedian.  He was pretty funny and had us all laughing in our seats.  His name is Jimmy Flynn.

After Jimmy was Michelle Wright.  That girl can really belt it out.  After she performed she gave me her autograph.  Her brother lives in Red Deer, AB.  She played guitar and sang, without back-up.  Many people said they had come especially to hear her sing.  She received a standing ovation and it was well deserved.

The last act was a musical/comedic duo.  They are called Bowser and Blue.  Oh man.....they were so, so funny.  I laughed until I cried.   Bowser imitated Jean Cretien.  I always enjoy when someone does Mr. Cretien.  You will find them on Youtube.

The entertainment was totally free.  You can't beat that.  We would have been sorry to have missed these first class entertainers.  When we left the McAllen Convention Centre it was 32C outside.  Now to enjoy a cold beer. It's a hard life!

Winter Fest

We just returned from two days on South Padre Island where Winter Fest was held.  The first day was the day seven different bands, duets or solos sang for us.  It was held in the Schlitterbaun Pavilion which is a covered facility with open walls.  It has a thatched roof.  The wind was blowing and we were pretty cold that day.  The temp. was 23C but the air off the ocean was cold.  We had jackets on, but the wind seemed to go right through them.  A staff member moved some picnic tables into the sun and Brenda, I and friends sat there rather than under the roof.  It was much better. 

Mariachi Band

South Padre sunset

I really liked the Mariachi Band.  It was a youth band and the lead singer was the man holding the guitar.  They were very good.  We did not stay until the end of the concert as we all felt we had enough wind to last us a long while.  Back to our hotel we went.  We stayed at the Schlitterbaun as they were having a Winter Texan special.

Brenda was shaking a bad cough so she stayed in while the rest of us went out for supper.  I met some new people and we all had a good visit.  I spent a good deal of time making dollar bill rings as they were fascinated with them.  What a beautiful evening it was.  Here is a  photo taken from the restaurant.  The sunsets there are beautiful.  There are restaurants all along the ocean strip.  Of course, their specialty is seafood.  I am not a seafood fan.  I know......so many of you are and people rave about the seafood on the island.  For one thing, it is fresh.  You can catch your own fish and most restaurants there will cook it for you.  I like fish from the sea, but could bypass the rest.  The others did enjoy their shrimp.

Leslie was singing there at Palm Street Pier.  She has a large following and people like to dance to her music.

Leslie

I didn't eat at this restaurant as I knew we were going to another place for 10 cent wings.  Leslie's show was finished at 7 pm so off we went.  I ordered 40 wings as I wanted to take some back for Brenda.  Well....that is only $4.  We all ordered and shared different flavors.

It was Karaoke night.  I asked the host to sing El Paso.  He asked me to come onto the stage and see if he had the correct version.  Before I knew it he had put a mike in my hand and he and I sang El Paso together.  Wow!  That is a fast song with many, many verses.  It was great fun!

El Paso

The next day was beautiful.  We began our day with a swim in the hot pool.  The sun was shining and the wind had died down.  The hotel staff puts these floatation devises on the pool at night to retain the heat.

Mark, Brenda and I swam in the warm water for awhile and then decided to go down to the beach. 

The hotel provided lounge chairs so we decided we would suntan for awhile.  Brenda stayed in the sun much longer than I did.  Even though I was not visibly turning red I knew I had enough sun.  Later that day parts of my skin turned a bright pink.
 

Brenda burning

Later that evening Bob, Carol, Mark, Brenda and I went out for supper once again.  We began at one restaurant that offered free appetizers and then went to Palm Street Pier again for supper.  I had a delicious fish dish.  Jerry and Karen joined us there.

Leslie was playing at Padre Bar so off we went to hear her once again.  The place was packed.  When we returned to our rooms,  Brenda and Bob played crib.  Some real competition going on there!  I went to help Jerry and Karen with some computer problems they were having.  I wasn't very successful.  I had not encountered that problem before.

The next morning we went to Pier 19 for breakfast.  It was another glorious morning.

Arrrrr!

We watched the fisherman standing in hip waders.  The water from Port Isabel to South Padre is very shallow.  It is an average of 2 and a half feet deep and is a very popular fishing spot.  The pelicans were out and resting.

Pelicans

We had a few chores to do and then headed back to Donna, Texas.  We had a great two days. There is always lots to do and many interesting people to meet on the island.  We both wished we could have stayed for a week, but had used up our budget.  We will go back before heading home.  Perhaps we will go back more than once!