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1 to 15 February 2012 16 to 29 February 2012
Sunny day, but still very windy and cool. We treat ourselves to a Whataburger burger, and it is good!
After this very good burger, we are off to the movies to see "Safe House" with Denzel Washington.
We really liked this movie and it is cheap in the afternoon.
Of course, we had to play bingo tonight! So far, this season, we are not doing very well...
I wonder if I can claim my loss on my income taxes?
Pretty easy day. We meet somebody, who retires earlier than we did, they retired at 48!
Grey sky and fog. We still went fore a walk because we have to move some, get the blood going!
Every now and then they have to "move" the sand around the beach because of the wind.
A kite and a building coming out of the fog.
What am I doing on my knee? Can you see the beast?
No bigger than a one dollar coin, but full of attitude, he wants a piece of me!
The water is nice and warm.
Rain and very windy this morning, even the palm trees are having a bad hair day.
Why not spend the day in Brownsville shopping and go to a movie? The closer we get to Brownsville the nicer the weather became. The sun is out! Off to the Flea Market. With all the rain the parking lot is a sea of mud.
Most of the vendors are Mexicans and they sell everything and anything.
From the scorpion to little birds...
And food, some kind of chips on a stick and fruits in a cup...
Mexicans are very serious in their faith.
Lots of colours, colourful dresses for the girls to jeans for $1.00.
They also love toys and candies.
They must use a lot of those piñata.
Got to love the sign! You see signs like this one often.
We have seen cactus for sale in a grocery store, but never bought any so when I saw this bag for only $1.00 I bought it. I asked the lady if you can eat this just like that? She said yes. Back at the motorhome I tried it and... not very good!
After the Flea Market, we stopped at a few stores, including a thrift store. Michèle could not resist and bought stuff for the little one coming soon. On average the PJ cost about $1.00 each. In the flea market she bought 5 camisoles for $1.00.
We saw all those birds on our way back. I wonder what attract them here?
Tonight, we are having dinner at a local restaurant, but first a nice sunset.
A "All-You-Can-Eat" buffet including crab legs for only $18.00 per person. Can't ask for better them that.
One of those day, started with rain and finished with a nice sunset!
As I mentioned before, we play bingo at campgrounds. So far, this trip we have not been lucky with winning, but they have attendance prices at every game and we won twice! The first one is two breakfast at the local Whataburger. A Whataburger is like a Macdonald. Good breakfast.
The other price we got is a free ticket for a Sea-Life Safari cruise on the Laguna Madre. It is worth $18.00.
Some photos before we start our cruise.
Lots of brown pelicans here in South Padre Island.
Cute am I not?
The ship can hold about 60 peoples, but we are only 15 for this cruise. The first part of the cruise was on the Laguna Madre. They dropped a net to the bottom as we were cruising around. Here is the catch.
A shrimp and a crab with big arms...
A big porcupinefish.
Some of the places we have been and of course, the dolphins. And a boat going very fast...
One of the dolphin playing around with some kind of jellyfish.
Seagulls hiding their faces and then showing their faces...
Here I am cooking bacon before it turns bad...
The cruise was worth the money and having one free ticket made it even better.
Cloudy again, time to do laundry. We noticed all the flags on the side of the boulevard. It is President day in the USA.
Our favorite laundromat.
On our way back, a short stop at the souvenir store.
Back at the campground, we went for a bike ride.
We saw some fishermen cleaning their catch and the pelicans waiting for a hand out.
Off we go!
Monday night is bingo time. Spent more than we won!
Pretty laid back day...
What is going on? Sunny and very little wind!
Quick to the beach. The water is very nice.
One of the ship coming from Brownsville and going to the Gulf of Mexico. The little white dots you see on the side of the ship are fishermen on the jetty.
A day like we like them.
I spent a lot of time on the web page today. We also checked out the roads we will be taking to Tucson.
Dinner at Jake's. Today's special is spaghettis and meat loaf.
After a long wait, the waiter informed us that the cook had forgotten about us, but our meal is being rushed!
Michèle's spaghettis is very good, but my meat loaf is cold!
Not impressed!
If you like our trip, don't forget to check out my trip to the North-West Territories in 2006.
Another day with high wind!
Off we go to San Benito and Harlingen to have a look.
We take highway 510 to get there. This will take us through villages on the back roads.
I never taught that Texas was a producer of oranges and citrus. I cannot believe they are cheaper here then Florida!
Since we got in Texas, we noticed a lot of horses are by the road. Off course, they are tied with a rope so they don't get on the road. We must have seen half a dozen today.
We finally got to see some real Texas Longhorns! The horns can measure up to 2 meters from one end to the other. WOW!
Regardless, they are very docile cattle.
Some of the palm trees have flowers on the top. I will have to look that up.
On our way back we stopped at "Bobz World". Pretty neat stuff outside the store!
What a nice display!
Like any good tourist store, got to have a shark!
Easy day today. Tonight is our last bingo game at this campground. Honestly, we will not miss this one. It was overly complicated and the caller was not giving any warning that he was starting a game. He just started calling the numbers. We will "mark" this one as an "experience".
Another "Blah Day"! High wind and cold for Texas.
Today we are going to change our TV from a 24 inches to a 32 inches.
Off to Brownsville to do some serious shopping.
BTW, the Banana Splits are only a buck fifty here in South Padre Island.
We did purchase a 32 inch TV in Brownsville, but before we get home, we have to take a spin around the campground to check out the stormy water on the Gulf of Mexico.
Our new TV!
Yes, I am reading instruction now!
Good thing we kept our telescoping arm from the old TV because it fits our new TV"
After such hard work, a well earn rest... What a mix...
We are pretty happy with our new TV.
Cloud cove, very windy and cool again today. Time for a laundromat trip. On our way back, we went to check out the north end of South Padre Island for a last time. The wind was making the sand behave like blowing snow on the road.
Some of the purchase for our "grand child to come".
Did some last preparations before we leave tomorrow.
Leaving South Padre Island, Texas to Tucson, Arizona some 1850 km away. In how many days? Not sure yet.
A very nice blue sky greeted us on our way out of SPI. Lucky us, very light winds...
Michèle took this photo without noticing the tire wrap around the palm tree. What a lucky shot!
Our first encounter with the "border Patrol". They are just like a custom crossing. They are looking for illegals aliens (read Mexicans) and drugs. They did ask for our passport and a dog went around the motorhome and the car. 45 seconds later we were back on the road.
I probably mentioned this before, but Texas roads are filthy, here the locals put their garbage in the back of the pickup truck and drive. After a while, the garbage is no longer in the back of the pickup truck!!!
Lots and lots of cactus in the area.
A short stop at a rest area/information center.
550 km later we stop at Walmart in Eagle Pass, Texas.
We had a tail wind all day, great for millage...
A nice view from our site at Walmart. Many Walmart's in Texas have gas station with them and if you purchase gas with a gift card you save $0.03 per gallon, or a little less than $0.01 per liter... I fill up the motorhome and save $1.16.
I keep track of my fuel consumption for the motorhome. I notice that I got a very nice 21L/100Km or 13 MPG. Very good!
On our path, we cross the International Amistad reservoir. As you can see the water level is pretty low.
All those rock formation and stratification are very interesting to look at.
A quick stop at the Pecos river crossing.
A few photos at the river. Very nice place, it is worth the stop.
On the right photo, I am on the bridge throwing rocks in the water below!
When we left Eagle Pass this morning, we hit some rain and dirty roads. Here is the result...
One of the places, I wanted to visit for a long time is Judge Roy Bean Saloon and Court House.
This is the saloon and court house of the Judge.
The Judge had a passion for an actor by the name of Jersey Lilly, her real name was Lillie Langtry. Roy Bean named the village after her. The Langtry village.
Good thing it is free because with only two building to visit... They also have a cactus garden on the site. Let's go!
Here is a "Spanish Dagger".
What can I say!
The Agave Americana, it is a plant that only gives a flower after 10 years and only lives between 10 and 30 years.
Nice garden, only stop if you drive by. It is free after all!
As we came out of the Judge's place, we notice some goats across the street. We also noticed a small baby goat and after getting a closer look, we saw, it was a baby just borned a few minutes earlier. WOW!
Back on the road towards the north-west. More photos of the Texas landscape.
A Javelina, and a dry river bed.
We found a nice, small campground just outside Marfa, some 465 Km from our starting point. Lots of cross wind today.
Only $22 per night with full service. This is good.
Really quiet place. We even have a nice sunset...
With the wind we had today, I probably burned a lot of fuel...
We are up at 6:45 am and we are greeted with this beautiful sunrise!
We are also going from central time to mountain time today, so we gain an hour today.
And to the west...
WOW! Mother nature gave us a very good show.
Why not take a photo from the center line?
Here is downtown Valentine. Population 217. We did not see a soul!
Some more nice landscape.
A nice rest area.
Pretty strong winds today, and coming sideways on top of that. Not easy to drive the motorhome...
The wind is picking up some more and we can see a dust storm in the distance!
A radio station warned us that today the winds were/are to be 40 to 65 Km/H with gusting up to 80 Km/H and some sand and dust mixed with that!
Here we come to El Paso. I did not like going through El Paso with the strong wind and flying sand...
New Mexico, here we come! Can you see the mountains in the back?
384 km from our stating point this morning, and we could not wait to stop. It was hard driving today with all the wind. We will be here in Las Cruces for two nights because we want to visit the White Sands National Monument. The campground we found is a member of the Passport America and with this membership, we pay only half the price. So for $18, we got full hook ups. We treat ourselves with a dinner at Golden Corral. Here is what we saw before the car gets to the car wash.
Our site for $18, we cannot complain. The wind is still blowing pretty hard and we do not take the slide out, too hard on the awning.
I mentioned that yesterday we did 21L/100Km or 13 MPG, well today with that strong wind, we got a mediocre 35L/100Km or 8 MPG. Some days are like that!
A busy day today!
First, we are off to visit White Sands National Monument and it is about 85 km from our campground towards the north-west.
Once at the monument, we start to see white sand. We are supposed to see pure white sand dunes, not with vegetation in them!
Looks like winter doesn't it?
Michèle making an angel!
Finally we got to the place where all the dunes are white and they are big. Really beautiful scenery!
The dunes are constantly moving, some at the rate of 11 meters a year. On tree buried, but maybe next year it will be clear!
The sand comes from the evaporation of the water in lake Lucero and the gypsum left behind is very fragile and the wind breaks it down and carries it here while making it finer and finer sand.
Some of the dunes are very high.
Can you see the motorhome? It is not ours, but the same size.
If you want to see more photos of White Sands, click here.
After White Sands and before the sunset, we had a look at this place.
For only $2.50 to get in, it is worth it. We had to take this small trail to get to the top of the hill.
All those petroglyphs were done by pre-Indian tribes over 600 years ago. They created over 20,000 on this hill.
A very special place.
After looking at the Petroglyphs, we got back to White Sands for the sunset.
New-Mexico offers a lot to see, more than just those two places. I am sure we will come back for a longer period later on.
I forgot, we lost one hour when we cross from Texas to New Mexico. We are now in Mountain time.
Until next time.
Life is good...
January February March April May June July August September October November December
1 to 15 February 2012 16 to 29 February 2012
Thursday February 16, 2012
Sunny day, but still very windy and cool. We treat ourselves to a Whataburger burger, and it is good!
After this very good burger, we are off to the movies to see "Safe House" with Denzel Washington.
We really liked this movie and it is cheap in the afternoon.
Of course, we had to play bingo tonight! So far, this season, we are not doing very well...
I wonder if I can claim my loss on my income taxes?
Pretty easy day. We meet somebody, who retires earlier than we did, they retired at 48!
Friday February 17, 2012
Grey sky and fog. We still went fore a walk because we have to move some, get the blood going!
Every now and then they have to "move" the sand around the beach because of the wind.
A kite and a building coming out of the fog.
What am I doing on my knee? Can you see the beast?
No bigger than a one dollar coin, but full of attitude, he wants a piece of me!
The water is nice and warm.
Saturday February 18, 2012
Rain and very windy this morning, even the palm trees are having a bad hair day.
Why not spend the day in Brownsville shopping and go to a movie? The closer we get to Brownsville the nicer the weather became. The sun is out! Off to the Flea Market. With all the rain the parking lot is a sea of mud.
Most of the vendors are Mexicans and they sell everything and anything.
From the scorpion to little birds...
And food, some kind of chips on a stick and fruits in a cup...
Mexicans are very serious in their faith.
Lots of colours, colourful dresses for the girls to jeans for $1.00.
They also love toys and candies.
They must use a lot of those piñata.
Got to love the sign! You see signs like this one often.
We have seen cactus for sale in a grocery store, but never bought any so when I saw this bag for only $1.00 I bought it. I asked the lady if you can eat this just like that? She said yes. Back at the motorhome I tried it and... not very good!
After the Flea Market, we stopped at a few stores, including a thrift store. Michèle could not resist and bought stuff for the little one coming soon. On average the PJ cost about $1.00 each. In the flea market she bought 5 camisoles for $1.00.
We saw all those birds on our way back. I wonder what attract them here?
Tonight, we are having dinner at a local restaurant, but first a nice sunset.
A "All-You-Can-Eat" buffet including crab legs for only $18.00 per person. Can't ask for better them that.
One of those day, started with rain and finished with a nice sunset!
Sunday February 19, 2012
As I mentioned before, we play bingo at campgrounds. So far, this trip we have not been lucky with winning, but they have attendance prices at every game and we won twice! The first one is two breakfast at the local Whataburger. A Whataburger is like a Macdonald. Good breakfast.
The other price we got is a free ticket for a Sea-Life Safari cruise on the Laguna Madre. It is worth $18.00.
Some photos before we start our cruise.
Lots of brown pelicans here in South Padre Island.
Cute am I not?
The ship can hold about 60 peoples, but we are only 15 for this cruise. The first part of the cruise was on the Laguna Madre. They dropped a net to the bottom as we were cruising around. Here is the catch.
A shrimp and a crab with big arms...
A big porcupinefish.
Some of the places we have been and of course, the dolphins. And a boat going very fast...
One of the dolphin playing around with some kind of jellyfish.
Seagulls hiding their faces and then showing their faces...
Here I am cooking bacon before it turns bad...
The cruise was worth the money and having one free ticket made it even better.
Monday February 20, 2012
Cloudy again, time to do laundry. We noticed all the flags on the side of the boulevard. It is President day in the USA.
Our favorite laundromat.
On our way back, a short stop at the souvenir store.
Back at the campground, we went for a bike ride.
We saw some fishermen cleaning their catch and the pelicans waiting for a hand out.
Off we go!
Monday night is bingo time. Spent more than we won!
Pretty laid back day...
Tuesday February 21, 2012
What is going on? Sunny and very little wind!
Quick to the beach. The water is very nice.
One of the ship coming from Brownsville and going to the Gulf of Mexico. The little white dots you see on the side of the ship are fishermen on the jetty.
A day like we like them.
Wednesday February 22, 2012
I spent a lot of time on the web page today. We also checked out the roads we will be taking to Tucson.
Dinner at Jake's. Today's special is spaghettis and meat loaf.
After a long wait, the waiter informed us that the cook had forgotten about us, but our meal is being rushed!
Michèle's spaghettis is very good, but my meat loaf is cold!
Not impressed!
If you like our trip, don't forget to check out my trip to the North-West Territories in 2006.
Thursday February 23, 2012
Another day with high wind!
Off we go to San Benito and Harlingen to have a look.
We take highway 510 to get there. This will take us through villages on the back roads.
I never taught that Texas was a producer of oranges and citrus. I cannot believe they are cheaper here then Florida!
Since we got in Texas, we noticed a lot of horses are by the road. Off course, they are tied with a rope so they don't get on the road. We must have seen half a dozen today.
We finally got to see some real Texas Longhorns! The horns can measure up to 2 meters from one end to the other. WOW!
Regardless, they are very docile cattle.
Some of the palm trees have flowers on the top. I will have to look that up.
On our way back we stopped at "Bobz World". Pretty neat stuff outside the store!
What a nice display!
Like any good tourist store, got to have a shark!
Easy day today. Tonight is our last bingo game at this campground. Honestly, we will not miss this one. It was overly complicated and the caller was not giving any warning that he was starting a game. He just started calling the numbers. We will "mark" this one as an "experience".
Friday February 24, 2012
Another "Blah Day"! High wind and cold for Texas.
Today we are going to change our TV from a 24 inches to a 32 inches.
Off to Brownsville to do some serious shopping.
BTW, the Banana Splits are only a buck fifty here in South Padre Island.
We did purchase a 32 inch TV in Brownsville, but before we get home, we have to take a spin around the campground to check out the stormy water on the Gulf of Mexico.
Our new TV!
Yes, I am reading instruction now!
Good thing we kept our telescoping arm from the old TV because it fits our new TV"
After such hard work, a well earn rest... What a mix...
We are pretty happy with our new TV.
Saturday February 25, 2012
Cloud cove, very windy and cool again today. Time for a laundromat trip. On our way back, we went to check out the north end of South Padre Island for a last time. The wind was making the sand behave like blowing snow on the road.
Some of the purchase for our "grand child to come".
Did some last preparations before we leave tomorrow.
Sunday February 26, 2012
Leaving South Padre Island, Texas to Tucson, Arizona some 1850 km away. In how many days? Not sure yet.
A very nice blue sky greeted us on our way out of SPI. Lucky us, very light winds...
Michèle took this photo without noticing the tire wrap around the palm tree. What a lucky shot!
Our first encounter with the "border Patrol". They are just like a custom crossing. They are looking for illegals aliens (read Mexicans) and drugs. They did ask for our passport and a dog went around the motorhome and the car. 45 seconds later we were back on the road.
I probably mentioned this before, but Texas roads are filthy, here the locals put their garbage in the back of the pickup truck and drive. After a while, the garbage is no longer in the back of the pickup truck!!!
Lots and lots of cactus in the area.
A short stop at a rest area/information center.
550 km later we stop at Walmart in Eagle Pass, Texas.
We had a tail wind all day, great for millage...
Monday February 27, 2012
A nice view from our site at Walmart. Many Walmart's in Texas have gas station with them and if you purchase gas with a gift card you save $0.03 per gallon, or a little less than $0.01 per liter... I fill up the motorhome and save $1.16.
I keep track of my fuel consumption for the motorhome. I notice that I got a very nice 21L/100Km or 13 MPG. Very good!
On our path, we cross the International Amistad reservoir. As you can see the water level is pretty low.
All those rock formation and stratification are very interesting to look at.
A quick stop at the Pecos river crossing.
A few photos at the river. Very nice place, it is worth the stop.
On the right photo, I am on the bridge throwing rocks in the water below!
When we left Eagle Pass this morning, we hit some rain and dirty roads. Here is the result...
One of the places, I wanted to visit for a long time is Judge Roy Bean Saloon and Court House.
This is the saloon and court house of the Judge.
The Judge had a passion for an actor by the name of Jersey Lilly, her real name was Lillie Langtry. Roy Bean named the village after her. The Langtry village.
Good thing it is free because with only two building to visit... They also have a cactus garden on the site. Let's go!
Here is a "Spanish Dagger".
What can I say!
The Agave Americana, it is a plant that only gives a flower after 10 years and only lives between 10 and 30 years.
Nice garden, only stop if you drive by. It is free after all!
As we came out of the Judge's place, we notice some goats across the street. We also noticed a small baby goat and after getting a closer look, we saw, it was a baby just borned a few minutes earlier. WOW!
Back on the road towards the north-west. More photos of the Texas landscape.
A Javelina, and a dry river bed.
We found a nice, small campground just outside Marfa, some 465 Km from our starting point. Lots of cross wind today.
Only $22 per night with full service. This is good.
Really quiet place. We even have a nice sunset...
With the wind we had today, I probably burned a lot of fuel...
Tuesday February 28, 2012
We are up at 6:45 am and we are greeted with this beautiful sunrise!
We are also going from central time to mountain time today, so we gain an hour today.
And to the west...
WOW! Mother nature gave us a very good show.
Why not take a photo from the center line?
Here is downtown Valentine. Population 217. We did not see a soul!
Some more nice landscape.
A nice rest area.
Pretty strong winds today, and coming sideways on top of that. Not easy to drive the motorhome...
The wind is picking up some more and we can see a dust storm in the distance!
A radio station warned us that today the winds were/are to be 40 to 65 Km/H with gusting up to 80 Km/H and some sand and dust mixed with that!
Here we come to El Paso. I did not like going through El Paso with the strong wind and flying sand...
New Mexico, here we come! Can you see the mountains in the back?
384 km from our stating point this morning, and we could not wait to stop. It was hard driving today with all the wind. We will be here in Las Cruces for two nights because we want to visit the White Sands National Monument. The campground we found is a member of the Passport America and with this membership, we pay only half the price. So for $18, we got full hook ups. We treat ourselves with a dinner at Golden Corral. Here is what we saw before the car gets to the car wash.
Our site for $18, we cannot complain. The wind is still blowing pretty hard and we do not take the slide out, too hard on the awning.
I mentioned that yesterday we did 21L/100Km or 13 MPG, well today with that strong wind, we got a mediocre 35L/100Km or 8 MPG. Some days are like that!
Wednesday February 29, 2012
A busy day today!
First, we are off to visit White Sands National Monument and it is about 85 km from our campground towards the north-west.
Once at the monument, we start to see white sand. We are supposed to see pure white sand dunes, not with vegetation in them!
Looks like winter doesn't it?
Michèle making an angel!
Finally we got to the place where all the dunes are white and they are big. Really beautiful scenery!
The dunes are constantly moving, some at the rate of 11 meters a year. On tree buried, but maybe next year it will be clear!
The sand comes from the evaporation of the water in lake Lucero and the gypsum left behind is very fragile and the wind breaks it down and carries it here while making it finer and finer sand.
Some of the dunes are very high.
Can you see the motorhome? It is not ours, but the same size.
If you want to see more photos of White Sands, click here.
After White Sands and before the sunset, we had a look at this place.
For only $2.50 to get in, it is worth it. We had to take this small trail to get to the top of the hill.
All those petroglyphs were done by pre-Indian tribes over 600 years ago. They created over 20,000 on this hill.
A very special place.
After looking at the Petroglyphs, we got back to White Sands for the sunset.
New-Mexico offers a lot to see, more than just those two places. I am sure we will come back for a longer period later on.
I forgot, we lost one hour when we cross from Texas to New Mexico. We are now in Mountain time.
Until next time.
Life is good...
If you think you have missed an update, just click on the "2012", "2011" or "2010" tab at the top of the page and pick the month you want to read.
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