Winter 2024

The new year started with our children coming to visit to celebrate the holidays with us. We have a wonderful tradition where our kids come to meet us wherever we are in early January. It is so nice to have our coach house next to our RV for them to stay. Mike took them to several new birding locations; Salineno Wildlife Preserve, Falcon Lake State Park and the Roma World Birding Center. They have become very interested in birding, and were excited to see several new birds for the first time: Northern Bob White, Black Phoebe, and a Pyrrhuloxia. The best part was just visiting, eating great food and playing games. Later in January, we celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary.

February was a busy month. My sister Mary came to visit in early February. We spent quite a bit of time in South Padre, and enjoyed walking and reading on the beach. I think her favorite activity was the boat dolphin watching tour. We definitely saw a lot of dolphins!. After the beach we headed to the Sabal Palm Sanctuary near Brownsville, Texas. It has many great trails, river outlook and the Rabb Plantation House. Since she is an artist, I also took her to the International Museum of Art and Science (IMAS) in McAllen, which is a Smithsonian Affiliate. Not as cool as the museums in D.C., but still worth the visit. Mike’s sister, Mary Jo came later in the month. Mike took her on a different birding adventure every day for a week, all over the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

In March, we took the RV on a trip to Brownsville, TX. Our favorite activity was biking & birding through the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. We also took a drive to see the updates at SpaceX since our last visit about five years ago. There have been a lot of added buildings, housing and interesting structures. Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy day, so there were no good photos. There are some good birding spots in Brownsville. Mike was able to get several good pictures of different kinds of parrots, and I spent some more time at the beach in South Padre Island

In April, we finally visited the Basilica Of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle – National Shrine in San Juan, Texas. It is very interesting and has beautiful outdoor stations of the cross. Julie also took a trip to visit her mom and siblings in Kansas City and Mike took the RV in for some standard maintenance. Her mom is doing great and enjoying her new apartment and community. Julie stopped in Dallas to visit Erica and Shane on the way to and from KC, which was so much fun. Especially seeing the Blue Bonnets, biking and walking dogs around White Rock Lake. Mike was in Mission to see the Eclipse, unfortunately, it was a cloudy day. He also saw a cool new bird, the Southern Lapwing, the first time it was seen in Texas.

Throughout the winter we enjoyed many activities; especially birding, biking, running and the parks next to our resort. We got to know a lot more neighbors, and made new friends. We especially enjoyed learning and playing a new game; Euchre. Mike completed many projects on the RV and our property. We updated our garden, added a portico and some interesting stone work. Julie really enjoyed volunteering at “Cinderella Pet Rescue” and walking dogs waiting to be adopted several days a week.

Next, we are heading off to the beach in Port Aransas and to visit family in San Antonio, before we head on our westward journey this summer.