Winter is about to yield to Spring and Louise and I are planning our return to Oklahoma. For the past several years (we think about eleven) we have spent the winter in the Rio Grande Valley trying to escape bad weather.
As far as weather goes, this winter was not great but tolerable. We did have a couple of days which saw low temperatures in the high 20's. And, in the past few days, we've had a couple which exceeded 90 degrees. The weather was not as good as last winter but much better than in Oklahoma.
I seem to do my best genealogy down here. In early February, I wrote about a breakthrough in my work, finding the background on my great grandfather, Harry Nash. While there is still a lot of work to do, I now know what direction to head in.
Louise and the dogs had a good winter as well. She, like I, is getting somewhat homesick, however, and we are anxious to get back to Mannford. We will travel to Georgetown, Texas, for a couple of days; Louise wants to go to the IKEA store there. By the way, a bad joke I've heard is that IKEA is Swedish for particleboard.
When we leave Georgetown, we will go to Sanger, Texas, and spend the evening with our good friends Don and Lynn, then head home.
I don't know how full-time RVer's do it; I'm ready to get home.
Showing posts with label Rio Grande Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rio Grande Valley. Show all posts
Friday, March 16, 2018
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Black Bean Salad
One of Louise's and my favorite places to eat in the Rio Grande Valley is The Blue Onion in Weslaco, Texas. They serve a black bean salad which I dearly love.
I didn't ask them but decided to try to replicate their recipe. Most black bean salad recipes also call for corn but I didn't want to, for some reason. Here is my recipe which serves 4-6:
2 16oz. cans black beans, well drained
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup pimentos, finely chopped
2 medium jalapenos, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbl. olive oil
I didn't ask them but decided to try to replicate their recipe. Most black bean salad recipes also call for corn but I didn't want to, for some reason. Here is my recipe which serves 4-6:
2 16oz. cans black beans, well drained
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup pimentos, finely chopped
2 medium jalapenos, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbl. olive oil
4 tbl. white vinegar
2 tbl. lime juice
2 tbl. sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
Mix all the ingredients together and, if you can, let them set in the fridge overnight
to meld the flavors. It does taste pretty good without that rest, however.
Addendum: When you drain the beans, go ahead and rinse them too to get the
"gunk" off them. Also, instead of pimentos, use 1/2 cup of finely chopped red bell
peppers.
Edd Alexander March 27, 2018
to meld the flavors. It does taste pretty good without that rest, however.
Addendum: When you drain the beans, go ahead and rinse them too to get the
"gunk" off them. Also, instead of pimentos, use 1/2 cup of finely chopped red bell
peppers.
Edd Alexander March 27, 2018
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Winter in South Texas
Louise and I are finishing up our winter in South Texas and it has been a wonderful time here. We continue our weight loss program - I've lost 102 pounds to date and she is at about 75 pounds down. The closer we get to our goals, the harder it is to lose weight.
This is about our 10th (or 11th) winter in the Valley and every year gets better as we make more friends and meet up with old ones. Our neighbors are wonderful! Cecil and Brenda just left to go back to Kansas and we will surely miss them. Ray and Jane are our next door neighbors and they will leave on Monday. They are entertainers and spend their summers doing a show on the Celebration Belle, a riverboat which sails out of Moline, Illinois. In fact, we plan to time our summer trip this year to go on one of their day cruises and see their show.
Bill and Rita live in Wichita, Kansas and they will be leaving in a couple of weeks as will Jim and Judy from Wisconsin. Judy is Louise's shopping partner and I think they've made shopping into a contact sport! We did miss Norm and Charlene this year; they live in Vermont and are building a new home so they had to skip the winter trip. Larry and his wife, Joann, are from Missouri and we've sure enjoyed our time with them too.
I've played more golf this year than I ever have. South Texas is about the only place I play - when I get back home, I'll hang up the clubs and not touch them again until next winter. I must tell you that my game never improves - it seems to get worse as the winter goes along. In spite of that, I look forward to playing golf in the winter.
Staying in an RV Park is just like living in a small town. Everyone knows everyone else and knows what they are doing! We stay at La Feria RV Park in La Feria, Texas and I wouldn't consider staying anywhere else. We had a park "happy hour" yesterday and had a large turnout.
This is about our 10th (or 11th) winter in the Valley and every year gets better as we make more friends and meet up with old ones. Our neighbors are wonderful! Cecil and Brenda just left to go back to Kansas and we will surely miss them. Ray and Jane are our next door neighbors and they will leave on Monday. They are entertainers and spend their summers doing a show on the Celebration Belle, a riverboat which sails out of Moline, Illinois. In fact, we plan to time our summer trip this year to go on one of their day cruises and see their show.
Bill and Rita live in Wichita, Kansas and they will be leaving in a couple of weeks as will Jim and Judy from Wisconsin. Judy is Louise's shopping partner and I think they've made shopping into a contact sport! We did miss Norm and Charlene this year; they live in Vermont and are building a new home so they had to skip the winter trip. Larry and his wife, Joann, are from Missouri and we've sure enjoyed our time with them too.
I've played more golf this year than I ever have. South Texas is about the only place I play - when I get back home, I'll hang up the clubs and not touch them again until next winter. I must tell you that my game never improves - it seems to get worse as the winter goes along. In spite of that, I look forward to playing golf in the winter.
Staying in an RV Park is just like living in a small town. Everyone knows everyone else and knows what they are doing! We stay at La Feria RV Park in La Feria, Texas and I wouldn't consider staying anywhere else. We had a park "happy hour" yesterday and had a large turnout.
When we leave the valley this year, we are going to go to Houston for a few days to see Aunt Pat, an old school mate, Frances, and some other friends. After that, we are going to Frederickburg, Texas (in the heart of the Texas Hill Country). We'll spend a few days there with Don and Lynn from Sanger, Texas, then we will head home.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
The Evolution of Our Camping
Having just spent three months in South Texas in our motor home, I began to think back on our camping and RV experiences.
As a child, I don't remember our family ever "going camping". We went on quite a few vacations but we always stayed in a motel or rented a cabin. After I grew up and left home, Dad and Mom did get a travel trailer and spent a great deal of time traveling.
When I married Louise, our first vacation together was a camping trip. We had moved to the Detroit area because of my job and decided to go camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We rented a tent, bought a lantern and portable cook stove, and took off. It was one of the most memorable trips of our life!
Later, after we had returned to the Tulsa area and started having children, we did quite a bit of camping, starting with tents and camping with our friends, Richie and Leann and Grover and Barbara. We soon graduated to an old Ford van which we used for a while, then an overhead camper in the pickup truck.
Eventually, we acquired an old 22' bumper pull travel trailer and pulled it all over the United States, including a trip to Virginia to see our old friends, Jerry and Marlene. In 1986, we were part of the group which purchased Tulsa Winch and sold the travel trailer for two reasons: first, we needed the money, and second, we weren't going to have any time to go camping.
At this point, I was reasonably sure that our camping or RVing days were over. In fact, my standard comment on camping and RV's was that I would do all my future camping at a Holiday Inn. After my retirement in 1998, however, that changed.
Some friends who were RV'ers said something about us going on some trips with them. I thought it might be wise to rent an RV to see what it was all about. After I checked some prices for rentals, however, I decided I didn't want to do that. We wound up buying a used Sprinter fifth wheel trailer from a couple who were giving it up.
The Sprinter was a good trailer but you couldn't stand up in the bedroom. To exit the bed, the person closest to the front of the trailer had to crawl over the other person. We also decided that we needed more room. This was about the time we started going to South Texas in the winter and, when you spend three months in an RV, you appreciated all the space you can get. We traded the Sprinter for a brand new Everest fifth wheel.
We pulled the Everest all over the U.S. for several years and had a great time in it. I was towing it with a 1999 International and it was a good looking combination. Eventually, the International grew tired and I was faced with the prospect of replacing it.
In about 2010, Louise and I decided to try a motorhome instead of a trailer. We traded the fifth wheel off on a used Holiday Rambler bus and used it for about five years. Last year, we traded the Holiday Rambler off on a Tiffin Open Road with four slides. It has more room than any RV we've ever had and we are really enjoying it. In fact, we just returned from Roaring River in Missouri where we spend a week.
I don't know how long we'll be able to continue to RV but, for now, we are gonna go every chance we get!
As a child, I don't remember our family ever "going camping". We went on quite a few vacations but we always stayed in a motel or rented a cabin. After I grew up and left home, Dad and Mom did get a travel trailer and spent a great deal of time traveling.
When I married Louise, our first vacation together was a camping trip. We had moved to the Detroit area because of my job and decided to go camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We rented a tent, bought a lantern and portable cook stove, and took off. It was one of the most memorable trips of our life!
Later, after we had returned to the Tulsa area and started having children, we did quite a bit of camping, starting with tents and camping with our friends, Richie and Leann and Grover and Barbara. We soon graduated to an old Ford van which we used for a while, then an overhead camper in the pickup truck.
Eventually, we acquired an old 22' bumper pull travel trailer and pulled it all over the United States, including a trip to Virginia to see our old friends, Jerry and Marlene. In 1986, we were part of the group which purchased Tulsa Winch and sold the travel trailer for two reasons: first, we needed the money, and second, we weren't going to have any time to go camping.
At this point, I was reasonably sure that our camping or RVing days were over. In fact, my standard comment on camping and RV's was that I would do all my future camping at a Holiday Inn. After my retirement in 1998, however, that changed.
Some friends who were RV'ers said something about us going on some trips with them. I thought it might be wise to rent an RV to see what it was all about. After I checked some prices for rentals, however, I decided I didn't want to do that. We wound up buying a used Sprinter fifth wheel trailer from a couple who were giving it up.
The Sprinter was a good trailer but you couldn't stand up in the bedroom. To exit the bed, the person closest to the front of the trailer had to crawl over the other person. We also decided that we needed more room. This was about the time we started going to South Texas in the winter and, when you spend three months in an RV, you appreciated all the space you can get. We traded the Sprinter for a brand new Everest fifth wheel.
We pulled the Everest all over the U.S. for several years and had a great time in it. I was towing it with a 1999 International and it was a good looking combination. Eventually, the International grew tired and I was faced with the prospect of replacing it.
In about 2010, Louise and I decided to try a motorhome instead of a trailer. We traded the fifth wheel off on a used Holiday Rambler bus and used it for about five years. Last year, we traded the Holiday Rambler off on a Tiffin Open Road with four slides. It has more room than any RV we've ever had and we are really enjoying it. In fact, we just returned from Roaring River in Missouri where we spend a week.
I don't know how long we'll be able to continue to RV but, for now, we are gonna go every chance we get!
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
The Rio Grande Valley
Louise and I have just wrapped up our 10th winter in the Rio Grande Valley (simply called "The Valley" by most of the people here).
The Valley starts at Rio Grande City in the West and runs to Brownsville in the East. Total population of the area is about 1.3 million people. The population swells by about 710,000 people in the winter as "Winter Texans" descend on the area to avoid winter in their home state.
If you drive through a shopping center parking lot, you will see more out of state and out of country license plates than Texas plates. Ontario and Quebec plates are very common, along with those from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Winter Texans from Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota are everywhere during the winter.
The Rio Grande Valley is roughly divided into three areas with the upper Valley starting at Rio Grande City and including Mission, McAllen, Edinburg, and Pharr. The mid Valley runs from Alamo in the west to Harlingen in the east and includes Weslaco, Mercedes and La Feria. The lower Valley is dominated by Brownsville and includes Port Isabel and South Padre Island.
The Hispanic influence is everywhere and the Spanish language is as common as English. The Valley is separated from sister cities in Mexico by the Rio Grande River. Reynosa is just across the river from McAllen, Nuevo Progreso is a sister city to Weslaco, and Matamoros lies just across the river from Brownsville.
Winter Texans have traditionally crossed the border in droves to shop in Mexican towns. Their spending has focused primarily on pharmaceuticals, liquor, dental services, and of course, souvenirs. Because of the drug wars which have become common in Mexico, many Winter Texans today are hesitant to cross the border. Louise and I used to regularly cross the border but quit doing that about five years ago.
Interestingly, the number of Winter Texans is declining rapidly. Five years ago, it was estimated that about 800,000 people came to the Valley for the winter. That number today, as stated earlier, is around 710,000. It seems that many of our generation and the one following are not attracted to the RV lifestyle and to spending their winters in warmer climes.
Louise and I do really enjoy our winters here. It seems that every year, about October, we begin to really look forward to going south. The park where we stay, VIP La Feria, is in La Feria, about seven miles west of Harlingen. We've been there long enough that we have a lot of friends in the park and spend a lot of time visiting back and forth in each others' sites. We see these friends on a daily basis, unlike at home so we really are closer to them than to our friends at home.
The Valley starts at Rio Grande City in the West and runs to Brownsville in the East. Total population of the area is about 1.3 million people. The population swells by about 710,000 people in the winter as "Winter Texans" descend on the area to avoid winter in their home state.
If you drive through a shopping center parking lot, you will see more out of state and out of country license plates than Texas plates. Ontario and Quebec plates are very common, along with those from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Winter Texans from Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota are everywhere during the winter.
The Rio Grande Valley is roughly divided into three areas with the upper Valley starting at Rio Grande City and including Mission, McAllen, Edinburg, and Pharr. The mid Valley runs from Alamo in the west to Harlingen in the east and includes Weslaco, Mercedes and La Feria. The lower Valley is dominated by Brownsville and includes Port Isabel and South Padre Island.
The Hispanic influence is everywhere and the Spanish language is as common as English. The Valley is separated from sister cities in Mexico by the Rio Grande River. Reynosa is just across the river from McAllen, Nuevo Progreso is a sister city to Weslaco, and Matamoros lies just across the river from Brownsville.
Winter Texans have traditionally crossed the border in droves to shop in Mexican towns. Their spending has focused primarily on pharmaceuticals, liquor, dental services, and of course, souvenirs. Because of the drug wars which have become common in Mexico, many Winter Texans today are hesitant to cross the border. Louise and I used to regularly cross the border but quit doing that about five years ago.
Interestingly, the number of Winter Texans is declining rapidly. Five years ago, it was estimated that about 800,000 people came to the Valley for the winter. That number today, as stated earlier, is around 710,000. It seems that many of our generation and the one following are not attracted to the RV lifestyle and to spending their winters in warmer climes.
Louise and I do really enjoy our winters here. It seems that every year, about October, we begin to really look forward to going south. The park where we stay, VIP La Feria, is in La Feria, about seven miles west of Harlingen. We've been there long enough that we have a lot of friends in the park and spend a lot of time visiting back and forth in each others' sites. We see these friends on a daily basis, unlike at home so we really are closer to them than to our friends at home.
I think we will continue to come to the Valley as long as we can. We sure don't miss the Oklahoma winters!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)