Still unable to upload photos. Expect no photos for the next month, until we leave here.
Sunday ; McAllen and La Joya
Sunny, warm, normal humidity, a very pleasant "June 18" type day.
Late this morning we headed west on Hwy. 83 ( a.k.a. Interstate 2 ) to McAllen where we found our way to this weekend's Mexican Expo. It wasn't at all what I expected.
I thought it was going to be an exhibition of Mexican "art" and I wasn't really interested.
I was wrong, it was an "arts and craft" show and sale, with many vendors, almost all from Mexico, most unable to speak any English. Santa bought me a beautiful, 100% cotton hand made Mexican shirt. I LOOOOOVE hand made shirts. I've only had a few in my life. Not cheap, but usually worth the price. The shirt on display was a size "L".
I asked the vendor, who was from the Guadalajara region of Mexico, if he had that shirt in "dos equis por grande gringo" ( size 2X for a large white man ) ? He did ... and then we chatted ... in English ... about the time he spent living in British Columbia, Canada. HA HA HA! Before leaving the Mexican Expo I also bought a couple of hand made dulce de leche confections. Before leaving McAllen we had lunch at Whataburger. I had ( almost ) forgotten how much I like Whataburger !
We continued westbound on Hwy. 83 to La Joya, about 80 km. / 50 miles from La Feria. La Joya is in the "Upper Valley" and La Feria is in the "Lower Valley". The La Joya High School was the "host" of a three school Grupo Folklorico and Mariachi concert. It was SUPERB ! Each of the three schools presented their Grupo Folkorico ( traditional Mexican folk dancing and music ) and Mariachi ( bands ). This school division has an astounding Fine Arts program. What talented and skilled teenagers ! We look forward to attending a couple more of their presentations over the next couple of weekends.
On the way back to La Feria, driving eastbound on Hwy. 83 in congested traffic, all of a sudden there was a large bag bouncing on the freeway in front of me. There was nowhere for me to go. Slam on the brakes, or hit the bag ! Even if I slammed on the brakes, I was still probably going to hit it. It was obvious from the way the bag bounced that it was soft. I hit it ! At 65 MPH ! ! !
KA-BOOM ! ! !
It was a huge cloth bag filled with ... pillows ! It went underneath our truck and then ... a large cloud of some kind of fiber fill came flying out from underneath the back of our truck. Vehicles behind me swerved all over the place, not knowing what the white cloud was coming out from underneath Lanoire. I had to pull over onto the shoulder and crawl underneath the truck to untangle stuff wrapped around the driveshaft and muffler. HA HA HA ... some poor Mexican family is going to be in their new home tonight ... sleeping without pillows !
At Joanne's request, I poached eggs in Crema Mexicana tonight for supper. MMMMM ... next week maybe I'll buy some Crema Salvadoreña. HA HA HA !
Monday ; Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Partially sunny, warm.
Over the last few days I have developed a lower back ache, a rarity for me. I think it's related to a stumble I took a few days ago over a fuel pump hose while I was refilling the truck with diesel. Today after wandering around Nuevo Progreso for a few hours, it became severe.
Right after an early lunch we headed for Mexico, a few miles west on Hwy. 83, then a few miles south on FM 1015. We parked, walked across the long bridge over the Rio Grande River, and we were in Nuevo Progreso. Nice to be back. It's been eight years !
Within minutes Joanne was seated in an estetica, having a pedicure. HA HA HA ... to each his own, I guess. I wandered the streets of the vibrant little city, browsing for methocarbamol ( back pain medication ) for me and HeartGard for Bo. I bought both, then wandered around for an hour until Joanne's pedicure was finally done. She was very satisfied with the result, and $12 seems like a very reasonable price for an hour long service. Although ... I did notice other esteticas advertising pedicures for as low as $10. We both wandered around town for awhile longer. And wouldn't you know it ? Joanne found Nugs Crujiente, her favourite Mexican chocolate bars ! Bought two boxes full. HA HA HA !
When my back pain became severe we decided it was time to return home. On the way back home we stopped to check opening hours and special menu items at Fat Daddy's, a barbecue restaurant I am eager to visit ... again. After returning home I took drugs for my back pain and went to nap for the rest of the afternoon.
At Joanne's request I poached salmon in Crema Mexicana for supper tonight.
attach pics 1593 + 1596
Tuesday ; La Feria
Today was mostly sunny, very warm.
I spent most of the day in bed, reading, trying to rest my extremely sore back. It didn't really help. Late in the afternoon I took large doses of Ibuprofen and Methocarbamol. That helped somewhat. At dusk we went to the swimming pool where I did some back exercises while floating in the pool suspended by noodles, then spent time in the hot tub. That helped even more. Then we took Bo for a long walk. That made things worse. Okay ... use drugs, exercise in the pool, don't walk much.
Joanne did all of today's chores. She did a lot of laundry, including our sleeping bags and bedding linen. She went shopping and banking in the village of La Feria. She refilled our water jug. She bought pan dulce at the second panaderia in town. I should alter my earlier statement. I spent most of the day in bed, reading, trying to rest my extremely sore back, and ... stuffing my face with pan dulce. HA HA HA !
Wednesday ; Remembrance Day ( Canada ) / Veteran's Day ( U.S.A. )
LEST WE FORGET !
This morning shortly before 11 AM we wandered over to the front of the RV park to attend the Veteran's Day Flag Raising Ceremony at 11 AM. It was a bit late getting started so I wandered away for a private minute of silence at precisely 11 AM. I recited the poem In Flanders Field ... out loud ... to myself ... then returned to the flag raising ceremony which was just beginning. Some veterans raised the flag, led the group in reciting the Pledge Of Allegiance, then an American veteran's poem was read. An American Veteran's Day ceremony is quite a bit different than a Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony, but ... the underlying sentiment is the same.
As we were finishing our lunch our Connecticut friends Bill and Lynne ... and their Pomeranian Windsor ... arrived, after three hard days of driving from Colorado. We spent the rest of the day visiting with them. We spent time in the pool and hot tub in the afternoon. The we snacked on Joanne's wonderful, freshly made guacamole with tortilla scoop chips. Joanne also cooked Chicken Chile Verde for all of us for supper tonight.
We look forward to spending the next three weeks with Bill and Lynne.
Thursday ; Pharr and Weslaco
Today was cloudy and warm.
We spent the entire day with our friends Bill and Lynne. We left late this morning in their ( towed ) car and headed west on Hwy. 83 to Pharr where Joanne wanted to attend the weekly Pharrmer's Market. Once again, it was more of a flea market than a farmer's market. Joanne bought a large bag of fresh assorted lettuce greens. Shortly after driving away from the Pharrmer's Market we noticed a Shipley's Donuts. We had multiple coupons for a free coffee and donut, so we stopped and had a coffee and donut break. In the same mall was a Carniceria ( meat market / butcher shop ) so we went in to browse for interesting Mexican cuts of meat. Turned out to be more than just a butcher shop, it was a medium sized grocery store. So ... Lynne bought some produce, Joanne and I bought some pan dulce. Was there any doubt ? HA HA HA ! Bill took their car across the street to a small independent auto service shop and had it "safety inspected". Like many Escapees, their "legal" residence is in Texas, and their Texas license plated vehicles ( motorhome and towed car ) require periodic state safety inspections. That coffee and donut stop turned out to be very productive.
We drove south to Military Highway, the southernmost road that runs east / west following the Rio Grande River. We stopped at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge briefly, to check out opening hours and admission fees in anticipation of a visit there soon. We drove east along Military Highway until we could head north into the city of Weslaco where we stopped for a very late lunch at Whataburger.
We arrived home at Kenwood RV Resort just in time for the first of this winter season's weekly Meet & Greet, known in most RV parks as Social Hour or Happy Hour. Since it was the first of the season, the park's management team appeared and introduced themselves. Two local vendors made short presentations, the local recycling business and the manager of the local Walgreens Pharmacy. Both their presentations were impressive. And the RV park's management team member's presentations were impressive.
We chatted for awhile amongst ourselves, and with some other residents / occupants of the RV park before heading over to the pool building for a couple of hours of floating in the pool ( me ) and soaking in the hot tub ( all of us ), mostly motivated by my ongoing sore back. I have discovered that floating exercises in the pool and soaking in the hot tub help my sore back a lot. My sore back has improved a lot in the last few days and I'm hopeful that it will soon be over.
Friday ; Weslaco
This morning we ( just Joanne and I ... and Bo ) headed out to Weslaco to run some shopping errands. First stop was PETCO. They didn't have what we were looking for, but Bo enjoyed shopping. Next stop was Wal-Mart for a few items, and I refilled Lanoire with diesel at Murphy's USA Fuel Bar. Final planned stop was H-E-B for a few grocery items.
As we left the fuel bar we tried to "intercept" a stray, scared looking dog. All we succeeded in doing was forcing it to run out into traffic to escape from us ! Then as we crossed the H-E-B parking lot, there was another stray, a female dog, very mangy, obviously nursing. She was trying to salvage some nutrition from some discarded fast food packaging. I was angry. This is the United States ! Not Mexico ! I expect dogs to be better cared for than that here ! Even in the Mexican neighbourhoods ! ! ! As we approached the door of the H-E-B there was a dishevelled old homeless white man with all his worldly possessions in a grocery cart. And on top of his grocery cart full of stuff were two puppies, both clean and healthy looking. The old homeless guy was feeding them a bowl of milk. Well ! ! ! If the homeless are the only ones in this neighbourhood that are going to properly care for their pets ... count me in ! We picked up the grocery items we were looking for, and I added a pint of milk. For the homeless guy and his puppies !
We paid for our purchases, stepped outside and ... the homeless man was gone ! DARN ! We drove around the neighbourhood for awhile looking for him, to give him the milk, but ... we couldn't find him ! DAMN ! How far can a homeless guy with a grocery cart full of possessions and two puppies get in ten minutes or so ? ! ?
Once back at Kenwood RV Resort we chatted with some neighbours walking their dog. They were from Quesnel, B.C. I chatted with some visitors to the park who were from London, Ontario. We joined Bill and Lynne for a couple of hours of floating around the swimming pool and soaking in the hot tub. While we were all floating around the pool ... a young cat seemed to drop out of the ceiling. HUH ? ? ? It quickly scrambled right up the stucco wall of the pool building to the ceiling again, where it scrunched itself into a corner of the rafters and eyed us warily ? HUH ? ? ? Why is that cat up there ? Why is it here in the pool building ?
When we left the pool building we left a door open, providing the cat with a means to escape, if that's what it wanted. When we checked back in the pool building late in the evening, it seemed to be gone. Good luck, little kitty !
Bill and Lynne prepared supper for us all. We had supper in their motorhome, then spent the rest of the evening chatting.
Saturday ; Donna and Weslaco
Cloudy and warm.
After an early lunch we set off, in our truck, with Bill and Lynne, to spend an afternoon shopping in two local flea markets. We headed west on Business 83, the "old" Hwy. 83, to the DonWes flea market, sometimes known as the WesDon flea market, in between the towns of Donna and Weslaco. On the way there we stopped at a produce stand and bought some fresh fruits and vegetables ; Rio Red grapefruit ( only available locally ), locally grown Mandarin oranges ( I think they might actually have been Satsumas ), avocadoes, tomatoes.
We had been to the WesDon flea market before, many years ago. Today we wandered around, browsing. I bought a small item for our minivan back home in Keremeos. Joanne bought a jicama ( pronounced "heekama" ) at a produce stand within the flea market. It's a root vegetable, something like a turnip, I suppose, but softer, moister, and sweeter. We have only been able to find jicamas in Mexico and here in the Rio Grande Valley. They don't seem to be available in the Yuma, Arizona area. Bill and Lynne had never had jicama before, so Joanne was eager to share it with them. From there we drove into Weslaco and found the Weslaco Indoor Flea Market. It was very Mexican and ... very "female". No guy stuff ! Lots of fashion stuff. Lots and lots of "bling", popular with Mexican women.
When we arrived back home at Kenwood RV Resort about 4:30 PM we all went to the pool building to float around the swimming pool and soak in the hot tub until 6 PM. Then we had a communal dinner, each contributing something, me cooking it all on our barbecue. Joanne's "amuse-bouche" contribution was jicama sticks, with Ranch dressing to dip them in. Well done ! Very tasty ! Bill barbecued fresh pineapple for dessert, first time Joanne and I have eaten barbecued pineapple. We again spent the evening chatting.
DSK
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