Pet Parade

Today they held their Pet Parade at the park.  We weren’t going to bother entering Jackson because I really didn’t have anything to dress him up in.  Then Ken suggested we put one of his Hawaiian shirts on him with a baseball cap and sunglasses.  So we did put a shirt on him and sort of got the baseball cap on him but we figured the sunglasses must might get damaged so we didn’t bother with that.  The proceeds go to the local no kill dog shelter.  That is always a  bonus in my book.  The shelter even brought in several adoptable dogs.  Oh so cute and I sure hope they find their forever homes soon.  I don’t know if anyone here adopted one.  Last year they said 3 were adopted here.  There was one wee pup there that I had my eye one.  But we’re not ready to adopt another dog at this time.  It’s a good thing Ken is there to give me ‘the eye’ when I say, Look at this one!.

I believe there will be several rigs pulling out at the end of the month.  Some head home, some head to another campground.  They say it gets very hot here in the month of March.  We have decided, depending on the weather, if it’s too hot we are going to head up to San Antonio.  The weather up there is a little cooler and we have heard such great things at that area.  For us to head home at the end of the month wouldn’t be a good idea.  It is basically still winter back home and we could run into snow either at home or on the way home.

This little bird comes to our suet feeder everyday.  Also his mate..does anyone know what it is?

We took a trip over to the Mexican side, Progreso a few days ago.  You park you car on the US side and walk over.  Oh my, dentists, dentists, and more dentists.  And Pharmacies, load of them.  I had 2 things I had to get.  This cream that everyone raves about Gelmicin, that can only be purchased in Mexico.  You can get it in Canada, but only by prescription and it’s expensive.  I got a tube for $2.50.  Check it out online.  Jackson had a sore on his tail that he had aggravated by biting it.  I put it on in the evening and next day it was gone.  And a bottle of single malt, 20 year old scotch that my son said he wanted.  But as you can buy anything there in a pharmacy without a prescription I picked up some Nexium, dirt cheap.  Even though I have a plan at home, they only cover so much for this product.  There is absolutely nothing you can’t get there. 

We make our own wine at home, have done for 22 years now.  Personally, I think we make some pretty darn good stuff.  Anyhow, this year we brought 4 cases (48 bottles) with us.  No issues at the border, and we told them.  It’s hanging on pretty good, and it will ‘almost’ see us to the end.  We will probably have to pick up a few bottles, but not a lot.  So glad because we really do prefer our own wine to store bought.

Well that’s it…until later..take care.

Window Screens

When we had our Class A I had window screens for the outside of the big front window and the 2 side windows made.  I could not believe the difference they made on hot, sunny days.  Of course they went with the rig when we sold it as they were custom made.  We have a ton of windows in our 5th wheel and sometimes when it’s very hot and sunny we have to close the blinds on that side so the A/C won’t work so hard.  I really hate my blinds closed during the day.  A few weeks ago while out riding my bike in the park I came across a fellow who has making customs snap on screens for a 5th wheel.  I stopped and talked to him and asked him to come over and give me a quote.  I had investigated purchasing the roll down sunscreens that you can buy at Camping World and for our biggest window it was around $200 for one.  And I wanted 5 of them!!!  This gentleman was in business for himself and he made them in his utility trailer right on site.  He quoted me $345.  for all 5.  And they are big windows.  He does a really good job and I like that I don’t have to worry about them becoming unfurled like the other kind, while driving down the road.  I just unsnap them, roll them up and put away.  If anyone is in the Rio Grande Valley area and is interested, I would recommend him.  He not only does 5th wheel windows but the big front windshield windows on Class A’s.  Just remember during the day you can see out but people can’t see in.  Not so at night, so close those blinds at night!!!!

This is what it looks like inside.  It does make the side with the existing window screen look really weird though. 

Outside

The other side of the rig

This is his business card..

That’s all I have for now..so until later..take care.

Aren’t you going the wrong way???

Today we went for a pontoon ride on the Rio Grande River.  There were 4 couples aboard and the ‘captain’.

For the most part the scenery wasn’t all that spectacular.  Kind of boring really, but I always enjoy a boat ride of any sort.  There is just muddy banks on both sides really.  We did see some cars that they dump on the sides in the bushes.  Not cars anymore really, just rusted out hulks.  We were told they were put there to hold up the bank of the river so it doesn’t erode anymore.  Saw no alligators but was told there’s a big guy near the boat launch.

Rusted cars used to stop erosion

There was several buildings on the Mexican side but were all totally deserted.  In 2010 hurricane Alex (according to Bing) came through and the river rose about 15 feet.  We saw on some properties the water line mark.  Amazing.  The ‘captain’ doesn’t know for sure but thinks those buildings on the Mexican are still under repair from that hurricane.  Apparently our RV park here was under 3-4 feet of water from the river.

We saw several deflated, abandoned rafts on the US side.  These were used to escape from Mexico to the US.  The border patrol is very much in evidence, either by racing speedboat, foot patrol or helicopter.  And we saw something very, very interesting.  From the Mexican side this fellow sets off in a inflated raft with 1 paddle racing for the US side.  We’re thinking oh yeah he’s making a run for it.  Our captain called border patrol.  But…..he gets to the US side and picks up at least 6 people and transports them back to Mexico.  What the heck??? Hey buddy, aren’t you going the wrong way???  We find out later he is picking up people who have been transported to the US to distribute drugs and he’s picking them up so they can get more drugs and go back across again.  I think you call them ‘mules’.????  They had so many in that tiny raft I’m surprised the raft wasn’t swamped.  A few minutes after the phone call to the border patrol we saw them racing off in that direction.  Man have those boats got power.  I’m sure the border patrol does a good job, but that’s a might long river and I have to wonder how it is possible to patrol that especially at night.  The widest section we saw was about 1/4 mile wide, with most sections being about 500 across, an easy swim, or whatever they use.  We saw a discarded life jacket that the captain said was NOT there yesterday.  There are a couple Mexican communities close to the river which will give sanctuary to those that make it across the river.  It was interesting to see first hand the stuff you hear about on the news.
 

We are still planning a trip across into Progresso on the Mexican side before we leave.  We will leave our truck parked on the US side and walk across the border.  See what they have in the way of some good, cheap hooch!!!!.

So until later…take care.