We are 10 days into a six week stay at an RV Resort in the Brownsville, TX area. It is definitely a change of pace to be in a large RV/Mobile home community vs. staying in state parks. The lower cost of staying in a park for a month or more with minimal fuel costs is definitely an advantage, and helps us stay on budget for the year. There are activities in the resort, a pool, hot tub, etc., which makes it nice on days we just want to relax.
We have definitely been enjoying warmer weather and fantastic parks in the area. The Rio Grande Valley is an amazing birding area. There are three World Birding Centers within 30 minutes of where we are staying and so many places to view species we had never seen before. Mike has always been a birding enthusiast and has gotten me interested in the hobby. We have purchased new binoculars and Mike is definitely becoming a true “Bird Nerd”.
Resaca De La Palma State Park & World Birding Center was the first park we visited. We rode our bikes to the center from the RV park to attend a “Bike and Bird” tour. The tour guide was a full-time RV’er that was “work camping”, living on site, which was cool as we are thinking about doing this in a few years. We also hiked around the park a couple of times and saw lots of birds. One of our favorite was the Altamira Oriole. Mike saw his first Javelina. (I saw my first one in New Mexico a couple months ago.)
We took a tram tour of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge to explore this huge park. We learned a lot on the tour and saw our first Aplomado Falcon, an endangered species, that some birders actually fly to the area just to add to their life birding list. We have come back to the park several times to bike the trails on our own. We saw alligators and blue bulls or Nilgai during our ride.
Our 31st wedding anniversary was this month and we are thrilled to be retired and on such a wonderful journey together. We celebrated with dinner in South Padre Island, and taking a guided tour at the South Padre Island Birding Center.
Bike and Bird at the Reseca De La Palma
Altamira Oriole
Armadillo in the Park
Refuge
Aplomado Falcon
View from bike ride in Laguna Acosta
Black Necked Stilt from South Padre Island
Green Heron from SPI
Green Heron from SPI
Hanging out at the RV on our 31st anniversary
First Camping trip after we were married in Virginia
Sunset in the Rio Grande Valley
