February 16, 2019. Today we visited Quinta Mazatlan, one of the largest remaining adobe homes built in the state of Texas. The mansion was built in 1935 by Jason and Marcia Matthews. The estate consists of the Cottage, Hootch, and MainHouse. They were all built of adobe bricks, formed and dried (cured) near the McAllen airport. Most of the construction was done by Mexican brick layers and Mr. Mathews. The Cottage and Hootch were built first and contained 3,325 sq.ft of living area. The Hootch was Mr. Matthews’ hide-away. When he needed solitude, he would shimmy up a rope ladder and pull the ladder up with him 😄. The Main House which has 6,739 sq.ft. of living area was built last. The Mathews lived there for 30 years.
There are several legends associated with the house. One is that aluminum zinc sulfate paint was added inside and outside to prevent radar waves from penetrating the walls (weird!). Also, the back corridor of the house is called Cedar Hall.  Legend has it that the beams are made of Lebanese cedar. These beams were supposedly a gift from the King of  Lebanon to Mr. Matthews who fought alongside of Lawrence of Arabia in the War of Independence from the Turks.
Another interesting feature of the estate was the 1,450 sq.ft. Greenhouse. This was the headquarters for many of Mr. Matthews’ agricultural research and experiments, including the study of hydroponics. The U.S. Army used his highly effective hydroponic mixture to grow produce for the soldiers during WWII!  He was way ahead of his time!  I really love all the historical legends and facts of these old houses!
After the Matthews passed away, the estate was purchased for $24,000 by socialite and citrus mogul, Frank and Marilyn Schultz, in 1965. In 1985 the State of Texas awarded Quinta Mazatlan a Historical Marker for being a designated place of heritage. The Schultzes spent a year restoring the estate and lived there until Mrs. Schultz death in 1991. Mr. Schultz then put the property up for public auction. The city of  McAllen purchased the estate for $1.4 million.
Quinta Mazatlan is now a McAllen wing  of the World Birding Center, with nature trails, and a new children’ Discovery Center, birds, tropical and native trees, flowers, and plants. It is considered an urban sanctuary whose mission is to “connect people  to the history, beauty, and wonder of our natural world.

February 16, 2019. Beach Day!  It was such a beautiful day, sunny and 94 degrees, that we decided to drive over to South Padre Island. Jax loves the beach as well. He loves to chase the seagulls and jump in the waves. We had lunch at Clayton’s Beach Bar and Grill. They allow dogs on their deck so he was able to join us. Then we drove down to Beach Access Road #5 where we could drive onto the beach. We parked there, kicked off our shoes and hit the sand. I love walking on the beach and this was a perfect day for it.

February 14, 2019. Today we went alligator hunting at Alligator Lake. We found one basking in the sun across the pond from us. He was a monster!

But the best creatures we saw were the beautiful water birds called Yellow-Crowned Night Herons. There were some cute little sanderlings, too. Yes we have recently become amateur “birders”.  Key word here is amateurs. How could we not when we are living in the middle of the World Birding Center?

We hiked for awhile in the morning and then had lunch at a cute little Mexican place called Nana’s.

Then, because the day was so beautiful, we went back and hiked for another hour. On the way back to our park we stopped in Weslaco and visited some friends from Girard, Dick and Betty Peak. We had a nice time chatting with them.  We planned to get together with them again soon. Nice days in South Texas!

February 9, 2019. South Texas has such crazy weather!  Last Thursday it was 90 degrees and sunny. Friday it was 49 degrees and rainy. Back in the mid 70s today. I call it yo-yo weather. In spite of the crazy weather we still have fun. Thursday evening we attended another musical performance at the clubhouse. This time the performer was a local guy, DJ, who performs all over the Valley. He played for 2 hours straight! He played songs from the Eagles, Neil Diamond. Eddie Rabbit, George Strait, etc.  He had a great voice and it was an enjoyable evening.

On Friday we attended the annual Pet Parade fundraiser for the local animal rescue facility. They had an auction and bake sale as well as the parade of dogs. We entered Jax and called him Senor Jax with a Mexican serape and sombrero. He was very cute, but he didn’t win the contest. In spite of the cloudy cold weather, it was fun and we raised $5000 for the shelter.

February 5, 2019. This morning we went to the clubhouse for breakfast and to listen to a Border Patrol agent share the latest information about the Border situation. It was a fascinating and informative presentation. This agent is from the McAllen station. It is one of eight stations in this sector. One of the most startling facts that he shared was the number of apprehensions from just this station. It averages 500-800 apprehensions every 24 hours.  The last 24 hr. period yielded 660!  There are so many that the Border Patrol has had to contract with a transportation company to transfer the captured illegals to the ICE stations.  When asked about the Wall he said that he could not voice his opinion. However, he told us that the three things that Border Patrol wants are, more infrastructure (a barrier), more technology, and more personnel. They are spread too thin.  When asked if things were better where there are barriers in place, he said yes, for two reasons.  One is that it slowed up the smuggling traffic and gave the BP more time to respond.  Two, the illegals usually moved on to someplace where there wasn’t a barrier. He said that a Wall, by itself, will not stop 100% of the trafficking, but, along with more technology and more personnel, it will certainly slow it down.  Another interesting misconception he wanted to straighten out is that the military (meaning National Guard) is here to help with protection and apprehensions.  That is not true. They are not allowed, by law, to do that.  What they are here for is to help clear land near the border, repair vehicles and machinery, watch the cameras and monitors,etc. This frees up the BP agents to have more time to work on protection and apprehensions. He said not to believe anything the media tells you.  They make it sound like the National Guard comes charging in here, armed and ready for action, capturing illegals and criminals.  Just not true. Another misconception is about the National Butterfly Center being destroyed by the Wall. Again, not true.  The NBC is divided into two parts separated by a stream. The front part is the developed part where the actual Center is.  The back part, on the other side of the stream, is undeveloped and not used by the NBC, even though they own it.  That is where the Wall will go.  It will not destroy the Butterfly Center as the media reports.  And guess what ? Butterflies can fly over a Wall and so can birds. It will not prevent migration. Well, there was more, but that covers most of what the agent shared with us. As I said, it was very interesting.
       
                                   This picture was take out the back window of our camper.

February 4, 2019. Today was a good day for a hike. It was 85 degrees, partly sunny, and a nice breeze. We left Jax at the groomers and drove to Estero Llano Grande State Park. This park is a 230 acre wetlands area that is perfect for attracting many species of birds.  It consists of a shallow lake,  woodlands, and thorn forest. There is a wildlife viewing deck, boardwalks, an observation deck, and over 5 miles of trails.  Since the weather has stayed so warm, many flowers have continued to bloom. The ones we saw today were beautiful. We also saw a variety of water birds and listened to a wildlife expert share facts about them. The only downside of the day was the mosquito population. The wet, warm weather has brought them out again.  Otherwise it was a great day.

February 1, 2019. Well, we had a little excitement in the park yesterday.  Thirteen illegals came into the park chased by Border Patrol. The illegals were trying to hide under Rvs and in the laundry rooms, etc.  but the Border Patrol had horses, motorcycles, and dogs.  They eventually rounded them all up and took them away.  Such a sad situation. Next Tuesday we are going to another meeting with the Border Patrol. They come into the park periodically to update us on the situation here since we are within a mile of the border.
On the upside, we attended the Friday night entertainment again.  This time it was PianoMan. He was a really cute young man from Springfield, Mo. and he recognized Pop’s Pitt State hat.  He played all kinds of music from Kenny Chesney to Elton John, Elvis Presley, The Eagles, Michael Buble, James Taylor, Ed Sheeran, and many more. Really fun evening!

January 2019. Not much going on for the last few days. We hiked in the park on Monday. It was sunny and hot, temps in the 80s. Then we went for a long bike ride with friends later in the afternoon.    Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy and cooler, in the 60 s. Such yo-yo weather. But we did go to Margarita Wednesday Social Hour at the clubhouse. I got my free margarita 😄!  We chatted with friends and then headed back. We got our tickets for Friday evening entertainment, Piano man, comedy and music. We are looking forward to it.

January 2019.   Our RV Park has an unusual design. It has 4 wheels, or circles, of pull-throughs and then back-ins around the perimeter. In the center of each circle is a palapa with picnic tables. The wheel design made it a perfect format for the Progressive Dinner activity that we had yesterday. We started with appetizers and wine in the first circle. When the horn blew we moved to the next circle for salads and wine.  Next was the entree, lasagna, provided by the park.  We finished with dessert and liqueurs at the last circle.  It was a great socializing activity. The weather was perfect, too, which made it even better. Fun times!

January 2019.  There are numerous tours available to us in this park and we have taken two of them,so far. First we took the 3 hour pontoon boat trip down the Rio Grande River.  We were promised spectacular bird sightings and interesting historical facts. Unfortunately it was cloudy and a little misty that day, so photos are not great. We did see numerous birds. And we had an experienced “birder” along so we could learn about the different species ( from a distance they all looked the same to me😎). The boat captain filled us in on the historical facts of things we saw, both on the Mexican side and the American side. He pointed out “spotters” on the Mexican side who monitor boat traffic for the smugglers. Two Boarder Patrol gunboats passed us while we were out there 😮. It was an interesting trip.

On Thursday we sent Jax to doggy jail and took the South Padre Island Tour. I never thought I would be one of those old gray-haired people,with name tags, being herded from place to place, but there we were!  They even blew a whistle to get us all rounded up 😂. We boarded the bus at 6:45 am and were given a breakfast sandwich to eat on the way. After crossing the 2 mile long Queen Isabelle Causeway, our first stop was the 3 hour dolphin-watch trip (no Gilligan in sight). We did see dolphins several times, but they are hard to catch on a picture.  The tour goes all the way down to the Port of Brownsville, which is the only deep water port on the US/Mexican border. Interestingly, we were told not to take pictures there. They dismantle some military ships there and they don’t want them photographed. There were oil rigs in varying states of repair there, as well. The boat captain shared a lot of interesting stories and facts. Then we headed back. After we docked, we had lunch at the Sea Ranch. Next we boarded the bus again and went to Sea Turtle Inc.  This organization rescues, rehabilitates, and releases sea turtles. There was one turtle there that had lost three of her flippers and so this place gave her a prosthetic device to help her swim. She has to be a permanent resident there, but it was incredible how they helped her.  After the turtles we went back to the dock for our sunset cruise and shrimp boil. It was a beautiful evening to be on the water. Again we saw dolphins. We sipped wine, ate shrimp, and cruised along the jetties, watching the sun set.  This is the life!  We got back to the RV Park around 9:00pm. tired but happy.

January 9, 2019.  The park is full now and things are in full swing.  Besides the Wednesday Social Hour, there is also Friday night entertainment. We really enjoyed Mario. He spent several years in Branson and now performs in Las Vegas. Every winter he does a few shows here in the Valley. There are other entertainers and activities going on that we enjoy. It is a good place to be.

We are still hiking.  Last week we heard about a wildlife refuge around a salt lake, La Sal Del Ray. It had great reviews for photography, birding, and hiking. The lake sits atop 4 million tons of salt! It is a favorite stopover for migratory birds, including the wintering Sandhills cranes. The lake has been an important source of salt for centuries. The Spanish conquistadors named the lake, Salt of the Kings, because all mineral rights were the property of the King of Spain. So we found the entrance and hiked about a mile (fighting off bugs all the way) until we found the lake. Unfortunately, because of the drought, the lake had mostly dried up. All we could photograph were the salt flats and dried up plants.  No wildlife in sight, except the bugs driving us nuts.  But the weather was nice and sunny and we got our hike for the day. I also enjoyed reading about the history of the lake.

After Christmas we decided to get a couple of bikes because this area has many bike trails and nice, flat places to ride.  Combined with the nice weather it’s a perfect exercise.  Michelle gave me one of her old bikes and Pops bought one.  We have begun riding around the park and getting used to these bikes.  Some friends we have met are avid bike riders and we plan to ride with them once we get a little more comfortable with the gears.