Beach at Boca Chica

The following photos were taken at Boca Chica, which is the southern most beach in Texas. It is also where the Rio Grande runs into the Gulf of Mexico. Donnie and I had seen Boca Chica on one of our previous winter trips to the valley, but were unable to drive out on the beach as we have only two wheel drive. Bob and Karmen asked us to join them for a trip down there in their 4X4 pickup so we actually got to explore the entire six miles of beach. When we first arrived the sky was a little overcast but then cleared up and we had a beautiful day for shelling and exploring.


Karmen and I just had to pose in our beachcombing attire. Check out those boots! Bob, thanks for loaning me your "waders"! We girls had a great time collecting shells while the guys watched the dredger in the ship canal.



A tug boat in the Brownsville ship canal. The canal runs between South Padre Island to the north and Boca Chica to the south. You can see the SPI high rise condos in the background.



A dredger at work clearing sand from the shipping lane. You can see a dolphin to the right of the dredger. Donnie said he and Bob watched several dolphins swimming in the canal.



A Mexican fishing boat in the Gulf.



At this point, center left of photo, the Rio Grande flows into the Gulf. You can see Mexican fishermen on the other shore. This is as close as you can get to Mexico without a passport!!



It was really interesting to watch these men casting nets into the river, each time bringing in several large fish.

February 2011 >>>> November 2010

Hello All!!! This update includes the last four months of the old fossils' travels... We are in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley) of S. Texas at our RV park in Rio Hondo. We spent a great couple of weeks around Thanksgiving with Casey, Angie and the boys in Artesia. Arrived here December 1st and plan to head up the coast in a few weeks. We have had great weather with sunshine and temps in the 80s. The exception was last week when the arctic front hit us with lows in the 20s along with sleet and freezing rain.



This past Sunday we attended the Kite Fest on South Padre Island with Karmen and Bob. When we first arrived there was very little wind, which is not so good for flying kites! After about a half hour the wind picked up and there were several individuals and groups who demonstrated the "art". They were all amazing, especially a group of six from the Portland, Oregon area. Their performance, set to music, was impressive - six kites in the air and no tangled strings!! Wow!! The blue skies, warm weather and good company made for a perfect day.



Okay, Dallas Cowboys fans, hands over your hearts for this one...A few weeks ago while driving through the city of Mission (about 40 miles to the west), we noticed the above street sign and had to stop for a photo. While walking around we discovered the mural painted on the side of a downtown building. Tom Landry was born in Mission where he played on the undefeated (his senior year) high school football team.


Shelby soaking up the sun on the South Padre Island beach.


A fishing boat passing through the ship channel near Isla Blanca County Park. The park, on the south end of SPI, is a good place to watch the boats, dolphins and pelicans. The sun streaming through the clouds made for a nice photo op.




The four of us (Bob, Karmen, Donnie and I) took a day trip to visit the King Ranch Museum in Kingsville, 100 miles to the north. We saw a film on the founding of the ranch, as well as lots of displays and impressive black and white photos of ranch life in the 1940s. The King Ranch, founded in 1853, is one of the world's largest covering 825,000 acres. After checking out the museum, we headed to the King Ranch Saddle Shop, filled with leather goods (smelled wonderful), clothing, and home furnishings. An interesting place to browse but I made sure to keep my wallet in my pocket...$$$$$$$$!! We finished off the day with lunch at Whataburger. Can't get any better than that!!


Below are just a few of the birds we've seen here in the valley. This place is definitely a birder's paradise. The first photo was taken at one of the birding centers, the rest were spotted along various county roads around here.

Tropical Parula


Vermillion Flycatcher


Osprey eating his/her catch


These alligators were in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge just east of Rio Hondo where we are staying. The Refuge, on the western shore of the lower Laguna Madre, is home to lots of birds and wildlife. In addition to one of the largest (in excess of 15 feet) alligators we have ever seen, we also spotted two gigantic diamondback rattlesnakes. The largest of the two was over six feet. I'd post a photo but he was moving too fast for me to snap a good one. Glad we were in the Tracker when we saw him and not on foot!





Our first outing with our friends here at the RV park, Karmen and Bob, to the Festival of Lights in Hidalgo. We boarded a trolley that toured the town, complete with narration about the area and history. It was one of the best displays of Christmas lights we have ever seen, and we plan to make it an annual holiday tradition.


Below are pics of our grandsons taken during our fall visit to Artesia


Parker on his Preschool playground. Love that grin!



Rylee at the soccer field. Go Ry!



A little brotherly love...Aren't they the cutest??

Idaho, Utah and New Mexico

We are now in Artesia spending the week with Casey, Angie and the boys. It seems like Rylee and Parker have grown a couple of inches since we saw them last. Three months is a long time to go without a Grandma and PaPa fix!

The following will bring ya'll up to date on our trip. We really enjoyed the last three months and are very grateful for the good weather (only a couple days of rain) and safe travels.



Chama, NM was our last stop before arriving at Artesia. The weather was great and the aspens were very impressive this year.



The maple and oak trees in northern Utah were really bright red.




We spent one night here at Bear Lake, ID after leaving Glenns Ferry. The lake is located on the border of Idaho and Utah.



Another view of the lake from a look off on the Utah side.



While at the state park we took a day trip north to Hailey, Sun Valley and Ketchum. The area is really beautiful, especially the Sun Valley ski area.
In Hailey we had great burgers and milk shakes at a neat diner called Shorty's, which was originally owned by Bruce Willis.



East of Glenns Ferry is an area near the Snake River called Thousand Falls. There are several spas and mineral baths there.



After we left Oregon we spent a couple of weeks at our favorite state park near Glenns Ferry, Idaho, Three Island Crossing. The weather was warmer than when we camped here in June, but we still enjoyed it.

More Oregon...

We spent two weeks in the Bay Area, which is made up of Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston. It is a beautiful area plus it is not as isolated as Port O. Lots of restaurants and places to shop (there's even a WalMart! Civilization! Yeah!!). Coos Bay and North Bend are so close the city limit signs are back to back. Coos Bay has quite a few historic buildings filled with antique stores, coffee shops, tea rooms and cafes. It reminds you of the downtown areas of the 1950s before shopping malls became the norm.



Here is Donnie on the boardwalk near downtown Coos Bay.


After Coos Bay we stayed a couple of nights at Cottage Grove, Oregon in a little private RV park. The town is really quaint with old buildings and a covered bridge walkway right in the center of town. While there we drove a 20 mile loop southeast of town to check out five more bridges.



This is the Dorena bridge built in 1949, one of only two you could actually drive through.



Currin bridge built in 1925. This one is my favorite, I guess because of the color.

Coos Bay, Oregon

We are now in Coos Bay, OR spending a couple of weeks at a small RV park. Coos Bay is an interesting town near the ocean, on a body of water that I would call a river but the folks up here call a slough. Below are just a few photos, with more to follow soon...



I couldn't resist posting this shot of the sun setting over the water.



We took a drive south of town and ended up near this overlook.



While watching for whales, we heard a lot of noise which turned out to be hundreds of seals and sea lions perched on the rocks below us.

Port Orford

While still camping near Port Orford, we received an e-mail from our friends, Mike and Marty Mills from Cloudcroft. They were in northern California and headed north to join us for a few days. We had a great visit and also toured the Port O. Lifeboat Station Museum and Cape Blanco Lighthouse.


The original Coastguard Crew Quarters is now the Lifeboat Station Museum. The station operated from 1934 to 1970, with the Coast Guard “surfmen” launching lifeboats on rescue missions from their boathouse 280 feet below the cliff.



One of the original 36 foot motor lifeboats.



Ocean view from the original site of the 37-foot-high lookout tower. The tower afforded a view of a 40 mile stretch of coastline.




Donnie, Mike and Marty



Mike, Marty and me after the tour of the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. It was too foggy to see much, which might have been a good thing (ya’ll know how I am about heights!). The lighthouse, perched on a cliff 245 feet above the ocean, is the oldest standing lighthouse on the Oregon coast.

Jet Boat Ride on the Rogue River

The following photos are of the jet boat trip we took a couple of weeks ago. We left the Gold Beach dock early one morning for a seven hour ride up the Rogue River. We took the longest tour, 104 miles round trip, but the company offers two other choices 80 mile and 64 mile.


I couldn’t resist posting this one. No, Shelby didn’t go with us. I had taken this photo of the “children” a few days earlier.



The first few hours of the trip were really cold and cloudy, but as we got farther away from the coast the sun came out. Yeah!



Another view of the Rogue. Smooth water, huh? All the better for 360 degree spins, and we did quite a few of those! Turns out our jet boat captain, Hugh, races boats during his time off in the winter.



Here’s a photo of our boat, The Osprey, and Hugh during our lunch break. He was very good at spotting all the birds and wildlife. We saw eagles (bald and golden), osprey, several different herons and cranes, otters, a mink and three black bears.



One of several bald eagles that nest on the Rogue.



The only mink that we saw was playing along the river’s edge.



The rapids were beautiful but talk about a wet and bumpy ride!



Can you tell by the goofy grins on our faces that we were having a blast?? We would definitely recommend this tour and plan to repeat the experience on our next trip to the Oregon coast.



Another of Jerry’s Rogue jet boats.