Nature Adventures and RV Life in the City

This past week here in the Rio Grande Valley has been a time of relaxation, reading, visiting with our Niverville neighbors and the opportunity to practice and enjoy our birding hobby.

Sunday morning we listened to SMC's audio service from a previous Sunday. Then after our lunch we headed to Bentson Rio Grande Valley State Park. It was a hot sunny 31 C. to do our hike here.

Monday was a low key day as they were predicting another warm day of about 32 C, so we decided to make it our laundry day.

Tuesday started out warm and we dressed for it and headed to Old Hidalgo Pumphouse and Museum & World Birding Center. Then the weather turned on us and it got misty and cold. But we watched the half hour video and did the self-guiding tour of the pumphouse and grounds.

The visit to this museum was informational in how this region was developed by a farmers co-op to pump water from the Rio Grande River to their fields. The pumphouse was built next to the river with two five foot diameter intake pipes drawing the water and lifting it to flow via canals to their fields. Originally the two pumps were powered by a wood fired steam engine. An engineering marvel of its day! After about 80 years of use it was abandoned in 1983.

 The "Border Wall" cuts through part of the museum grounds.

Since I needed a haircut we stopped at "Great Clips" to see if I could get an appointment and sure enough I got on immediately. Showed her a picture of what I wanted. She did a good job even though her English was limited. Not bad for $11. Not knowing what you'll get is a little bit of a gamble.

A pair of Northern Cardinals and two Green Jays attracted to a feeding station.

Wednesday, another forecast cold day, but we dressed warm and in layers and headed to Edinburgh Scenic Wetlands and World Birding Center. Here we saw new sightings as well as many we had seen before. We really liked this place.

Thursday we packed a lunch and headed to Estero Llano Grande SP for the day. Here we had a few new sightings like the Couches Kingbird and the Tennessee Warbler. 

The visitor center has a deck overlooking a pond.

Jim likes the way they built this bird blind with sections that can be opened for viewing.

Enjoyed the picnic lunch and the hiking. Got my 10,000 steps that day!

Friday another slow day with visiting, cleaning the RV and making a batch of soup and of course working on our blog.

Our grocery shopping is usually done at an HEB store and this week we marveled at the abundant Valentine merchandise ranging from cookies, chocolates, and flowers on display at the checkout area. Seems like it was well supported by the Hispanic people of the area.

On that note it was the anniversary of our engagement too!