Harlingen, Texas Encore Parks (Jan. 8 - 22nd), 2012

Outside Mural Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan

Butterfly Garden / Pump House in Background

World's Largest Killer Bee

Harlingen Mural

Harlingen Mural

We decided to test out our sister membership parks in Harlingen, Texas.  There were several parks in the area so we wanted see how they were and plus the fact that they offered great winter weekly deals. So we stayed at each park for a week; they were named  Fun N Sun, Paradise and Tropic Winds.  Weather was great (70-80's) everyday with no rain.  The parks had many amenities like heated pools, jacuzzi's, excercise rooms, and lots of activities.  The only drawback was that we felt much younger then all the residents there.  Most were there for the winter months and then return north for the summer. If we could of put all the good things together in one park; the park would be fantastic.  All we really looked for are clean restrooms, quietness and a good dog area for Buddy.  The greatest thing that came from our stay down here in southern Texas was that Jason found a job on South Padre Island.  He was ready to move out from us; and we were happy for him to become independent.  However, we would miss him!!!  We took a side trip to the Town of Hidalgo, Texas which housed the World's Largest Killer Bee and the Historic Agriculture Pump House which is now a museum with it's surrounding Butterfly Garden.  After seeing all the Christmas Light Displays throughout the town, we will have to revisit this town during the holidays when they are all lit up.  So we spent a lot of time at camp, relaxing, catching up on our blogs, tax gathering, doing some chores, and seeing the Murals around the Town of Harlingen.  We also headed to Mission to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church which was an old mission church.  As we headed there we stopped at the Basilica of our Lady of San Juan Del Voille National Shrine and we walked the Stations of the Cross which were lifelike and spread along  the grounds over about 10 acres.    Just outside the church you could fill water jugs with holy water from their many spigots.  We would do this next time passing by.  That ended our time in Harlingen.  On our way back from South Padre Island (where we visited the Sea Turtle Rescue Center) we drove around Port Isabel and found a nice RV park on an Island with a golf course called Long Island Village.  We were so impressed  we decided we were done with the Encore parks and that we were heading to Long Island Village on our next stay, plus the fact we would be closer to Jason for a little while. At least Mike would have his golf buddy/partner to play with.  It was time to move on!!!!

Mustang Island State Park, Port Aransas, TX (Jan 1 - 8), 2012

Mustang Island Beach Walk

Iwo Jima Monument

BoBz World

River Otter

Texas State Aquarium

Roseate Spoonbill at Aquarium

BoBz  World

BoBz  World

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  The New Year came in cool (60's), overcast and windy.  Made for a great football/ lifetime day at camp.  The next day we headed off South Padre Island towards Mustang Island, Texas where we were to camp at Mustang Island State Park on the Gulf of Mexico (near Corpus Christi).  Along the way we just had to stop in Bobz World.  What a very unique place which made you feel like you were in an aquarium tank or in some Jurassic Park, but we were just in their Parking Lot. Mustang Island was named after hundreds of mustang horses who at one time roamed the grassy island, but we chose this park because it was close to the Corpus Christi Airport in which Kelsey was departing from.  On our journey north, we stopped at the Iwo Jima Monument in Harlingen, Tx. which was magnificent to see in reality.  This was the original sculpture of the World War II soldiers who planted an American flag on the Japanese island where a heavy battle was fought and won by the Americans, but many lives were lost.  Mustang Island State Park has more than five miles of Gulf Coast beaches to utilize.  However, from the camp sites, you can not see the gulf water -- only hear it's waves crashing on the beach. Buddy was happy again to be swimming and jump through the waves.  Shortly though we started hearing an alarm/beeping sound which became very annoying every 15-20 seconds 24/7.  It disrupted our sleep and our peaceful stay.  We learned it was an oil rig sounding an alarm to alert the tug boats about the channel.  We were told we would have to get used to it as the park staff has. With Kelsey still with us, we visited the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi and enjoyed our day with on-going shows,  see and touching the various sea life.  Even though we were sad to see Kelsey off, we are also sorry to say we will not be back to Mustang Island State Park Beach with that annoying beeping.

Christmas in Southern Texas (Dec. 24 - Dec. 31st), 2011

At The World Birding Center

Great Egret

Hanging Out at Pirates Landing

Pirates Arrive in Laguna Madre

Christ of The Fisherman Statue

Port Isabel Lighthouse

Pier 19

Enjoying a Walk on the Beach!!

Christmas Eve was nice doing our  last minute shopping in Harlingen, Tx. and even discovering their new Bass Pro Outdoor World Store. We then attended Christmas Eve Mass at St. Theresa  an unique little chapel in San Benito, Tx.  with Christmas Day enjoying an quiet  restful day at camp.  The following week was  filled with exploring South Padre Island's {SPI.} many Wonders, Touring the Town of Brownsville, Climbing Port Isabel Lighthouse, Hitting the Movies, and even took time to soak up the sunshine by the pool.  On the 30th, we moved our home/ RV from Harlingen to South Padre Island to Isla Blanca Park which was one of Cameron County Parks.  While the park was located on the Southern end of SPI. and Gulf of Mexico/ Laguna Madre, This park has an poorly managed office with outdated restrooms throughout.  However, the weather was good and Kelsey and Mike tried their hand at fishing by the jetties with Jason venturing out to find employment on the Island. We really enjoyed the end of 2011 on a b.y.o.b. cruise boat that ended up out in front of the very popular Louie's Backyard watching fireworks!!! We hope All our Readers have a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!!!

Post Christmas Tree Lot (Dec. 19 -23rd, 2011)

Look-Out at Kings Ranch

Familiar Face at Kings Ranch

Flight Deck of USS Lexington

"USS Lexington"

Says "Hello" at Kings Ranch

Our Christmas Tree sales were going all to well, we had a last minute delivery of 33 more trees on Friday Dec 16 since we only had 10 beautiful trees left and plenty of time to sell more. By Tuesday Dec. 20th, the day our daughter Kelsey arrived here, we had sold everything and it was time to take everything down and store it.  We had sold a total of 704 trees.  On our first free day (22nd) we ventured to Corpus Christi beach to take the self-guided tours of the aircraft carrier, " USS Lexington" Museum on the bay.  There were several historical warplanes and jet fighters displayed on the flight deck as well. This particular ship was called "The Blue Ghost" in it's war days not only because of its blue/grey color but because it always surprised the Japanese when it showed up for battle, after hearing it had sunk time after time. The USS Lexington was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 31, 2003.  After the tour, we had lunch at nearby Blackbeard's restaurant, also visited the LaPalmera Mall to witness the vast number of mad shoppers and drove through the Christmas Candy Lane subdivision which was decked out with lights and decorations.  If that did not put us in the Christmas mood, we were ready for Christmas.  On the 23rd we headed for our ever southern most destination of San Benito, Texas to one of our fellow membership parks (Encore) called "Fun N Sun".  On our half day journey, we stopped through the town of Kingsville,Tx. and toured the largest ranch in the world called "Kings Ranch". They took us on a bus tour through the ranch where we experienced its vastness as well as the cattle, horses, deer, javelinas and even a couple of coyotes.  This too is a National Historic landmark as well as the birthplace for the American Ranching industry.  This ranch sprawled along 825,000 acres of land (larger then the State of Rhode Island).  Today it  is the home of 50,000 cattle, 350 quarter horses and a variety of native wildlife of South Texas. There are also historic, nature tours and a Kings Ranch museum.  After that interesting tour, we proceeded on to reach our camping destination where we would celebrate Christmas and be thankful and happy we were in warm weather and Together.