Merritts Visit

Saturday another cold front came thru. They were predicting severe storms north of us. Luckily all we had was strong winds. We celebrated Carol's b’day with Bob and Milissa, and a nice dinner at the Texas Lone Star near Harlingen. On Sunday we went to South Padre Island with Bob and Milissa and we revisited the beaches and the turtle recovery. The day was picture perfect and we ended the day with a great "all you can eat" shrimp dinner.
Time sure flies. We still have a lot of places we want to see, mainly west of us. We enjoy having our home base and getting a good look at the area we have chosen. We have enjoyed this area for the most part. Some of the fronts that come thru can be aggravating but still beats freezing weather at home. We enjoy getting outside and especially enjoy the sunshine which is also lacking back home.
We had another front push through Tuesday. It rained at night, cloudy most of the day with temps still in the 70’s. Progesso, Mexico was very busy. Bob and I enjoyed a C---- cigar while the girls shopped. We stopped for a margarita, and a snack of ponchos at Garcia’s. The border crossing goes pretty smooth with a passport. Wednesday we spent part of our day at the local flea market. Bob and Milissa, found some treasures as did we. We then came back to the motor home for some relaxation before going out to dinner. We had an excellent meal at Cortina’s Italian restaurant. On Thursday we decided to head west. We picked up Bob and Milissa at 10 a.m. and drove about 75 miles that took us west past Roma, Texas. It started to get hilly which is very different than it is here in the Valley. We stopped at Falcon reservoir which is huge! The lake is very large. It is fed by the upper Rio Grande and is operated by both the U.S. and Mexico. The water supplies most of the irrigation used by farmers in the area, and electricity, two different plants one for Mexico, and one for Texas. Without that, it would be nothing but dry, barren land with lots of cactus and mesquite trees. Then on to Falcon State Park. We saw several different kinds of birds. Took lots of pictures of roadrunners. All the trails were preceded with signs that said “Watch for snakes”! No thank you! We made a stop in Roma which was established in 1765 and has lots of history. The movie “Viva Zapata” with Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando was made there and those old buildings are still mostly standing. On the way home, we stopped at La Mexicana restaurant and had a great Mexican meal—way too much food!! Another perfect day sunny, a little breeze temp was 92.
Bob and Milissa’s final day in the RGV. They thought they would like to spend the day in Progreso, Mexico. The day was sunny and warm. We had lunch on an outside patio in Progreso. We hit the shops once again. Amigo Bob decided to check out the cowboy boots. We went into the store wearing dockers with no socks. We asked if they had some socks so we could try on some boots. Well------ she came out with one sock, that looked slightly used. While leaving the store there was this Mexican fellow behind the counter. Sure wanted to pull up his pant leg cause I’ll bet he was missing a sock! I guess you had to be there! It was funny! Anyway, Bob did get a new pair of Mexican made cowboy boots. We had dinner here at Victoria Palms Restaurant and said our good-bys. It was a very enjoyable week!
Today was house and car cleaning day, as well as doing lots of laundry. We were finished before noon. It was getting pretty warm, up to 88 degrees and lots of sun.