WOMEN WHO HAVE INSPIRED ME ALONG THE WAY #1

Now that we have been on the road for six months it is fun to go back and look at some of the more interesting persons I have met along the way.  I especially enjoy meeting women that I believe have done outstanding things and/or have had an impactful influence on others in their lifetimes.
One of my very favorites on this trip is Marina Cheatham,, my Spanish teacher.  Marina is an amazing person, having had numerous professions during her lifetime.
Marina was born here the the Valley and her ancestors here date back to the time that land grants were given to settlers by Spain in the 1600s so that Texas would be colonized.  Her recent family reunion included 1700 persons and was assisted in part by Coca Cola due to the size of her existing family.  Except to go to college, she has remained here in the Valley for the most part and has taught most of her life.  She is FULL of life and not only a fun person to be around, but has teaching in her DNA.  Her Spanish students here at the park just love her and I can only imagine what her younger students thought of her over the years.  We have learned SO much in our Spanish class, and not just the language.  She has taught us customs, given us Tex Mex cooking tips and has shared many funny stories with us.  She is also the Tour Director here at Victoria Palms and has done this for many years.  She has led many trips through Texas and Mexico and is able to share so much history during the tour.  AND, she is a VERY talented singer and plays the piano at her local church. 

Mi Professora Marina

I cannot help but think of how many people have been impacted by her life and how many people she has helped to educate in so many ways.  I am really going to miss her a lot.

Te echare de menos!

 

During lunch in Mexico, Marina meets up with a man that she used to sing with and she got up and sang with him.  She has a great version of "La Bamba'!

Oh, and by the way (I hope she doesn't mind me telling you this), she's 80!

 

WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU?????

As the workampers prepare to leave, there are many sad goodbyes and "hope we see you agains" being passed around.  It seems like we are leaving really good friends as we all go our separate ways.
One of the first couples to leave was our next door neighbors, Bill and Shelley from Colorado.  Bill is retired military and they have a two pound Yorkie named Tigger.....he is just adorable.
I mentioned in one of my early posts right after we arrived here that I was amused as a REALLY long motor coach with a REALLY long trailer had just pulled in.  I have never seen anyone haul such a load.
Well, today I got pictures of them departing   I have to show you the pics so that you can appreciate what I am describing.  How they navigate this through heavy traffic I will never know...I do know that Bill has to have a special permit to dive it.  Total length is 72 feet + the hitch.

Tigger

Shelley and Tigger

 The gorgeous coach

for all the rest of the stuff! 

 Hooked up and ready to go

 Gotta fit the car in!

And the bikes

 

Being a retired military veteran I wish Bill and his darling wife a long and wonderful retirement..they have certainly earned it!

 

See ya next time!



 

IT JUST CAN'T BE SIX MONTHS!

I just can't believe that it was six months ago, (September 15) that we pulled out from the Charleston Air Force Base on our journey to South Texas.  The time has gone by unbelievably fast and it is almost time to leave.  We will be pulling out from this park in two weeks, on April 2nd.  We are now starting to prepare the car, truck and camper for the trip.  The weather here is really beginning to warm up (supposed to be 97 tomorrow), which will give us an incentive to move to cooler temps.
It will be hard to say goodbye to our workamper friends, in fact we had a little party last night since some will be leaving next week. It is a really great group of people and we have had much fun together.  Among the funniest is Libby (I have included her pic below), a Louisiana gal who is one of the funniest and friendliest people I have ever met.  She is a riot.  We from all over the country and all different walks of life, but have so much in common when we are together. 

 

One of the things that I had committed to do while I was here was to learn as much about Texas history as I could.  I have been to a number of historical locations here (believe me, Texas has a LOT of history) and have taken a number of tours around the area.  Shortly after I got here I purchased a used copy of James Michener's book "Texas" and committed to read it while I was here.  Anyone who has ever read a JM book knows what a committment that is!!!  This one is over 1300 pages long, and is packed with Texas history from the time that the first Spanish explorers came until the 1960s...it is chock full of history and really keeps you interested  I have been reading it in between other books and am down to about 100 pages.  It is a great book that will remain on my bookshelf for a very long time. 

Today we went to visit the Los Ebanos Ferry.  This is a real piece of history.  It is the only remaining hand drawn ferry in the U.S.  It is like going back in time to see the Rio Grande with a ferry crossing the river that is pulled across on a wire cable pulled by men.  And the ferry carries not just people, but also vehicles.  It is really something to see.  I have heard that it will probably not be in operation much longer, so we made sure we got to see it.  You can ride it across but better make sure that you have your passport to get back!  We did not go across this time.

 

BY THE WAY......HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!!!!

 

Please stay tuned to this blog as I am going to share with you three women that I have met that have

been such an inspiration to me since I have been here. 

See you next time!!!



THE MEXICO MOST OF US DON'T SEE

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, we frequently cross over the bridge about 10 miles from here to go to the town of Progreso, where tens of thousands of Winter Texans do their shopping, go to the dentist, buy from the pharmacies, and get a bite to eat.  Progreso is one of the few border towns that is relatively safe, with no incidents there for several years.  As I understand it, there is only one road into Progreso from the Mexico side and it is controlled by the Mexican army, who have a checkpoint there and carefully screen all who come in.  As a result, the town has been able to set up a nice little main street that attracts those from the US and is a fun place to visit.  Tom and I have gone there five or six times and really enjoy going.  The people could not be nicer and depend so much on the tourists to help them to eke out a living for the 5-6 months that tourism is good.
Our Spanish class recently got to take a tour of the area outside of Progresso, behind the scenes, so to speak.  Over the years the Winter Texans have contributed monies to fund a clinic there that was founded by an American woman named Mabel.  Having worked there once with the Red Cross after hurricane Buleah, she was struck by the poverty on the other side of the border and spent the rest of her life there trying to make things better for the people. I have included a picture of the gravesite of her and her sister.  She started a free clinic that since her death has been funded by Winter Texans.  There they do free dental clinics, medical clinics and eyeglass clinics.  There are local doctors that work there as well as having help from people here in the parks that provide assistance, such as nurses and construction workers, etc.  The winter Texans have helped in the schools and have even built quite a number of small homes for the people who have been living in homes with no doors, windows or floors.  The poverty is striking and reminded me a lot of some of the living conditions I saw on my trips to Sri Lanka.  And this is only a mile from the US border.  What a difference on the other side of the river.
So we loaded up the van with school supplies, fruit, toys and games and miscellaneous items for those that we would meet.  We went to the clinic, which is equipped with all that is needed to do what they do, although the equipment appears to be rather old, by our standards, but in good working condition.  We then went to visit a school with one row for each grade, 1-4.  The kids were so pleased to see us and recited their multiplication tables for us and read for us.  We took a tour of some of the "colonias" or small housing developments, where we saw the homes that the people live in, and were so saddened by the conditions.  It is not hard to imagine why many are willing to take the risk to cross the river in search of a better life.  Many will never see anything better than what they have now.  But as in Sri Lanka, the people were all smiling, waving and so nice to us.  And the kids were kids just like anywhere else, playing happily with the little that they have, not really realizing what they don't have.  I have included a picture of the basketbll hoop that is their playground.
There are people here in this park that spend countless house during their winter vacation serving and working in these neighborhoods trying to help where they can. 
I have included some pictures of our trip...I am so glad that we got to go.  And I am glad that there are people on this side of the border than care about those on the other side.  I know that their efforts are not in vain.

 Mabel's Clinic

 Students Grade 1-4

 Elementary teacher on left and Spanish teacher on right

 Student

 Ran across a man herding his goats

 Elementary school

 Basketball hoop

 Homes

 Main Street

 No matter where you go the children are beautiful

 Backyard

 Stopped at home of pinata maker

 Our Spanish teacher Marina is a wonderful singer

PS...we ended up having lunch in the town of Progreso where the contrast in conditions are so striking.

JEFF STONE'S EATING TOUR OF TEXAS

Last week Texas was host to the Jeff Stone (son #2) tour of eating places....you would think that he was here for the Food Network!  It was so good to have him here.  He had never been to Texas and wanted to check it out while we were here.  Knowing that Jeff is a connisseur of good food, I was a little nervous as to where to take him.  So we tried a little of everything.  Here in the Rio Grande Valley, we thought he would like Gonzales' Burgers.  Unfortunately so does everyone else. The Winter Texans will stand in line for however long it takes to get one of the amazing 3/4 pound burgers.  They are SO good.  The three of us waited for two hours for a burger.  They open at 12 and close when the meat is gone.  They actually grind it in the back and bring it straight to the grill.  The burgers are about the size of a small pizza.  I asked Jeff if it was worth the wait and he actually said yes...which really impressed me.  It MUST have been good.
We also stopped to eat the next day at the Longhorn Cattleman's BBQ and Steak House.  He liked it too....it had really good brisket and the best pinto bean soup anywhere.  The ambiance there was truly Texan.  The iced tea was served in pitchers!  We also got to eat at the El Dorado, a really good Mexican place here in Donna that he liked.
In San Antonio we had to do the Riverwalk where we ate at the Saltgrass Steakhouse.  Although Jeff liked the steak, it was not on the top of his list of best meals. 
Jeff's favorite meal was experienced west of Austin after an afternoon of checking out the music scene in Downtown Austin, which was really cool.  It is easy to understand why it is the Music City....Willie Nelson wannabes everywhere.  Willie still lives on his ranch just west of the city.
The Salt Lick BBQ is about a 20 minute drive outside of Austin in the country.  You come around a bend in scenic Hill Country and there it sits, and it is huge!  There were hundreds of cars in the lot and all you could smell was BBQ.  The place seats 1,000 and we waited about 45 minutes for a seat.  It was Jeff's favorite meal of all and was it ever good.  Everything is smoked to perfection.  No wonder so many people make the drive...it is well worth it and it is a Hill County experience that all should try.
We stayed in a timeshare just 2 miles from Canyon Lake and got to drive through some incredibly beautiful countryside.  It was so great to have Jeff here....I hope that he enjoyed the few days as much as I did.  Texas is a beautiful state and there is SO much to see. 
Below are some pics of Jeff at Padre Island, at the condo, at the Riverwalk in San Antonio, the Alamo, the state capital in Texas and finally at the Salt Lick BBQ.  Texas rocks!

 Smokin' da meat at the Smoke Lick BBQ

 Padre Island...34 degrees in Ocean City and 84 at Padre

 Tom and Jeff on the Rio Grande

 

 Our digs

 The Alamo

 Deciding what to eat on the Riverwalk

 I definitely had the goats' attention!

 The oldest dance hall in Texas

 Jeff in Austin

 Smokehouse at the Salt Lick BBQ

 State Capitol grounds