Category Archives for "Places"

Our Stay in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas

Green Jay.

We spent five weeks in the Rio Grande Valley, known by locals as the RGV. The weather was crazy – beautifully warm for a few days, then very cold, windy and rainy, then back to warm, maybe even hot. Throughout our stay, the wind blew hard, many days and nights with sustained winds of 20+ mph, gusting to 30+ mph. That kind of wind keeps the motorhome rockin’ and rollin’ and makes styling hair a waste of time.

Springtime in Texas

Spring at Bay Landing Thousand Trails, Texas.

Bay Landing Thousand Trails, TX.It’s springtime in Texas, and the weather is beautiful. A few bushes are in bloom; others are leafing out. Tiny wildflowers are in bloom across grassy areas.

We enjoy watching the birds wherever we go. A week or so ago, we watched huge flocks of noisy Sandhill Cranes fly overhead as they made their way north. Red Winged Blackbirds stopped here briefly last week and the air was full of their unique sound. For a short while everywhere we looked there were Cedar Waxwings. We’ve always looked forward to the arrival of these birds in Wisconsin as heralds of spring.

Exploring Charleston, SC

We arrived at Lake Aire RV Park near Charleston, South Carolina on Monday evening after a beautiful drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Then, after a full day of work at our computers on Tuesday, we were ready to get out and begin exploring Charleston SC. Our challenge was to explore the area without spending much money. You see, we’ll be joining our son and his family in Orlando later this month, and the theme parks aren’t cheap. So what can you do in Charleston for free?

For starters, there’s Folly Beach County Park. There’s no admission fee in November/December. We packed a lunch, which we ate in the car before hitting the beach. I think we had a high of 74° and it was partly sunny, but it was windy so a sweater was called for. The sand was warm though, so our shoes came off and we walked barefoot at the water’s edge. Waves crashed over a sandbar a ways out from the shore – huge waves. From one angle it looked like the sea was boiling. The tide was going out and shore birds hunted the ebbing tide streams for small fish. Between the sound of the waves, the wind, and the shorebirds, it was downright noisy, but also peaceful and romantic. This was a perfect afternoon and our only cost was the fuel to get there.

Today, we explored Charleston SC on foot. We started at Battery Park where Jerry snapped photos of a Coastguard C-130, a Coastguard Cutter, sailboats and ships, and an artist capturing everything on canvas, before we set off down the sea wall. On one side was the ocean, on the other southern mansion after southern mansion. I love the architecture and the colors. With a two-hour time limit where we had parked and not having noted the time we pulled in, we cut our walk short to move our car to a proper parking garage near Waterfront Park, then walked the nearby streets – again snapping photos until we were tired and ready to call it a day.

We’ll venture out once more while we’re in the area, maybe to Edisto Beach or possibly to James Island for the Holiday Festival of Lights. Beyond that, we need to get more client work done and catch up on some of the less exciting household tasks … laundry, etc. We’re here until Monday morning, November 11, then will be heading for an overnight in Jacksonville, a few days in Titusville, Florida, and about two weeks near Orlando.

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