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We were a little sad to leave Llano Grande this morning, but we are keen to get moving towards California. So we were off – first stop: Bandera Texas, a small town on the way. We were curious about how many cowboys we were going to see there.

Bandera got its name from when it was a staging area for the last cattle drives of the 1800s. We stayed at Bandera Pioneer RV Resort which was right in town. The town is right out of a movie, and you could almost imagine horses getting hitched in front of any one of the buildings on Main Street. We were also told the “old timer cowboys” pretend to rob the banks and liquor stores. We didn’t see this, but we suspect it is during the summer tourist season.

Many bloody battles between Apache and Comanche Indians and the Spanish Conquistadors took place in Bandera Pass, which is just north of the town. Legend has it that for years afterwards, a red “bandera” (Spanish for banner or flag) was flown at the site to define the boundary between Spanish and Indian hunting grounds.

The cypress trees that outline the course of the Medina River brought the first permanent settlers to Bandera. A mill that sawed cypress shingles was established in 1853. In 1855 sixteen Polish families immigrated to Bandera to work at the mill. The Polish heritage is evident in much of the town’s architecture. Today’s population is 839. Hard to believe when you think of the number of stores, restaurants, and especially the number of bars. Clearly a tourist town.

It is such a great place to visit, and the stores are really interesting. There was an excellent leather store, metal art work store, and our favourite, the Spirits of Texas. Yes this does mean alcohol…..of which we found an EXCELLENT dessert tequila.

The Spirits of Texas was where we met Nice Nancy. We walked in and were welcomed by this lady of 81 who had moved across state to work here at the request of her friend. She was in fact so nice, we wanted to take her home. Well not really, but we did invite her out for a drink. Nice Nancy is apparently one of two Nancys who work at the store and the other one isn’t as nice…….so there you go. They sold a lot of Texas alcohol. Nice Nancy was in charge of the “tasting bar”, which was right in the middle of the store. We tried a few things, but fell in love with a coffee tequila. It is smooth, and unbelievably good. Of course we bought a bottle! Here are a couple of photos of our experience there.

Our next stop was the O.S.T. restaurant. This restaurant is over 100 years old, opening in 1921, and is packed every night with locals and tourists. O.S.T. stands for Old Spanish Trail, a famous route that ran through Bandera. It was started by missionaries and used by Spanish explorers and settlers. The building was originally the old Davenport Grocery Store and where the John Wayne room is now, was once the old horse corral. During the 30s and 40s the O.S.T. was also a dance hall where many popular singers and bands played.

Our next stop: the 11th Street Cowboy Bar!!! What a surprise!!! By that we mean the size of the place!! Keep in mind that the TOTAL population is 839 people. The 11th Street Cowboy Bar is a word-famous destination for all brand of folks, from cowboys to cowgirls, bikers to businesswomen. People come for the good brews, the top-tier live Country Western and Country Swing and Dance music, and of course, the good times that only the Biggest Little Bar in Texas can provide. This bar has been featured in Life Magazine, The Oprah Show, Texas Highways, Texas Monthly, and the list goes on. In 2008, the bar was the host to Live on CNN during the Texas Presidential Primary and Texas Elections. The bar is an old, wood-framed building with a porch out front prime for shooting the bull. Inside, we were surprised to see bras of all sizes hanging from the ceiling; we weren’t asked to leave ours. Not sure why………

We ordered a couple of glasses of wine, which wasn’t very good. Then a cowboy came into the bar and started talking to us, and offered to buy us a drink. We were not really interested in entertaining this idea, and it turns out not only was he staying in our RV park, but he was the cowboy we took a picture of earlier and is seen above!

Here are some pics!

What a gem of a place! We would love to come back through here and explore some more. Maybe during the annual 3-day Cowboy Mardi Gras festival every February that apparently draws thousands.

I have been to many zoos in my lifetime, and this is the first one where there were no bars, anywhere. The walls or barriers were all made to look like the animals’ natural habitat. The monkeys were on their own islands with water as the only separation from other islands. This trip was a “behind the scenes” look at the zoo, and if you ever get a chance to do this kind of tour, I would highly recommend it.

The zoo is in the middle of Brownsville Texas. It was developed by Gladys Porter and is a zoological and botanical park. It opened on Sept 3, 1971. There are 1,600 animals in an area of 31 acres, of which 27 are pubic. There are 47 endangered species in the zoo and over 250 tropical and neo-tropical species and subspecies. Gladys Porter is the daughter of Earl C. Sams, who is a former president of JC Penney. Porter, a wildlife enthusiast, helped plan and stock the zoo, which was entirely funded by the Earl C. Sams Foundation. The zoo, after it opened, was given to the city of Brownsville.

The behind the scenes tour included feeding camels, turtles, giraffes, and bats. We went into the sloth enclosure and were able to pet it. Who doesn’t love a sloth! We were also served a light breakfast and a fantastic lunch!

The most interesting part of this tour was the kitchen area. All the fruits and vegetables are restaurant quality and get delivered 3 times a week. All the meat comes from a company in Nebraska, called Nebraska, which prepares zoo quality food and is delivered 1-2 times a year and is kept frozen for the animals. The food is prepared daily and is weighed, measured, and is specific to each animal in the zoo. Pre-pandemic, the annual food cost for the zoo was around $250k. Post-pandemic it is closer to $500k per year.

After the tour and lunch we wandered the front of the zoo. Here are some of my favourite photos of the day.

What a day! Again, if you ever have a chance to do this type of tour, highly recommend it!!!

Leaving Lori and the RV in Llano Grande was a little different from last year, yet knowing how great the RV park amenities are and how much fun Lori was already having made it much easier. I was also, of course, very excited to be going home for the holidays to be with Jim and family and experience Lilah’s first Christmas. I was able to reserve a lift to the Mercedes airport with an CIA agent. How cool is that!

The backstory is that one day Lori and I ordered an Uber from the RV park to the local shopping centre. The lady that picked us up was very nice. Lori noticed that she had an ID badge that said CIA. Lori elbowed me and pointed to it. So of course I had to ask. She went on talking about her work and how she was currently stationed at the U.S.-Mexican border. How the work was very tough given the conditions. She went on to let us know she was with the Chaplains International Agency and her role was to work with the border agents and help them through their emotions given the trauma they were seeing. While we were somewhat disappointed she didn’t work for the CIA (you know the one we mean), we were very interested in what she had to say about what was really happening at the border. The stories were heartbreaking about families being ripped apart, beatings, and other horrors.

Okay, back to the lift to the airport. So this lady worked part time for Uber on her days off. We liked her so much I asked her if I could reserve her for my rides to and from the airport and she was more than willing. This was very helpful as it was a 45-minute drive and I really didn’t want to drive with a stranger – nor risk being late. I flew through Houston which was quite the experience. What a large airport with so many terminals.

Finally home. What a great feeling! I was home in time to go shopping with Jim for a Christmas tree, decorate, wrap gifts (many which I had ordered and shipped home earlier), so it was actually a very relaxing and fun time.

Having a little one around for Christmas brightened up the entire experience for all of us. The kids bought us Raptors tickets for Jan 1st which we were very excited about. This was going to be their first game with the new additions of RJ Barrett and Emmanuel Quickley. We went into Toronto early by train and went out for dinner and then had a great time at the game. So much fun. What a great gift!

We landed in Mercedes at the Llano Grande Resort on Dec 12th for one month. It is by far the largest park we’ve been to, with so many amenities. Three pools (all heated), 12 pickleball courts, 4 tennis courts, 4 horseshoe pits, 15 shuffleboards (outdoors), event centre with bar/restaurant, wood-working shop, rock shop, Tai Chi, water aerobics, tons of craft and game events, along with tons of music/dances. Plus a golf course just next door with a restaurant. And a weekly produce market where local farmers come on site. How fabulous that we don’t need a car!

Some beautiful flowering plants and cactus around the grounds.

Weather is great and we are biking/swimming and getting to know the area, but we have to talk about the Christmas golf cart parade the other night. While many homes and RVs are decorated for Christmas, it is amazing how you can take an old golf cart and turn it into a Santa Claus float of sorts.

Couple of other interesting facts about this place. We are very close to the Mexican border. In fact we pass a sign on the way to the golf course (no we don’t golf, but do bike ride to the restaurant for their chicken wings) that mentions an international boundary at a water commission that is not just fenced in but has barbed wire around the top. What do they think is going to happen to the water? We have no idea, it is strange. The other interesting item we saw is a U.S./Canada flag. Not two separate flags, but one flag. Don’t know about you, but we had never seen this before either.

I can’t not mention the local food/veggie truck that comes every Tuesday morning. I went for the first time this week just after Barb left for home. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but wow was I surprised! They had everything beyond what you see below. I don’t believe I will have to go to the grocery store at all while Barb is away. The papaya and pineapple are very fresh and tasty. In addition to what you see below they had potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions of all sorts, lettuce, oranges, apples, pears, etc. Incredible really.

While Barb is away (Dec. 18th to Jan 11th), I will occupy my time with everything available to me and on Boxing Day I will take a behind the scenes tour of the local zoo. THAT should be interesting, and after that I will tour the zoo from the front. Can’t wait.

Barb & I wish ALL our family and friends a wonderful Christmas holiday filled with love and laughter, and a Happy New Year everyone!!

Let’s start with where we were staying which was the KOA. Great spot, with a free bus that picked us up right at the end of the driveway of the campground. We were also a walk to the beach and the famous statue of Jesus. The KOA had a great heated pool and hot tub, along with fabulous sunsets. We also had some pretty cool neighbours.

After our visit to Sea Turtle, Inc. we wanted to visit the beach and were told the best place to do so is Clayton’s. Clayton’s is a HUGE beach bar/restaurant where we had awesome hot wings and fries and of course a Margarita for Lori and a Painkiller for Barb. We ate at the bar overlooking the beach and ocean. It was glorious.

Our neighbours, who spent the winters here, worked on the property, one in the office and the other in security. They were super friendly and took us along for dinner one night to the Tequila Sunset Bar & Grill on the beach. We shared mahi-mahi tacos and an ahi tuna salad which were both good. We then walked over to a sandcastle display, which was awesome.

On February 14, 2021, there was a Valentine’s Day winter storm in Texas that created a ‘cold-stun’ event which led to the largest sea turtle rescue in history. Sea turtles are cold-blooded creatures, and an endangered species that depends on water temperatures to regulate their body temperature. When the water falls below 50F degrees, they become catatonic, they can’t swim and eventually float to the surface. This event caused water temperatures in the 20s.

We spoke to John at Sea Turtle, Inc., who was there that day and helped rescue thousands of sea turtles. John and the rest of the volunteers from all over the area headed out into the frigid waters of the Gulf Coast to save the turtles who were at risk of dying.

The volunteers included not just the employees of Sea Turtle, Inc., but fishermen, townsfolk, scientists, veterinarians (top Sea Turtle vet saw was what coming and drove from Florida to head up the rescue), SpaceX, and oil spill recovery companies. During the storm 12,155 cold-stunned turtles were recorded on the lower Texas coast. Of those, 5,300 were rescued by Sea Turtle, Inc. and this army of volunteers.

What ended up happening is that word of mouth spread throughout the community and hundreds of volunteers brought their boats into the water, walked the beaches, and came to help at Sea Turtle, Inc. There were so many turtles that the city opened the convention centre next door, which had no power like the rest of the area. Soon its floor space was packed with turtles in blue plastic kiddie pools, turtles in hastily-built wooden corrals, and turtles laid out on black plastic in rows flipper-to-flipper. SpaceX donated a generator to help warm up the facility. They also rented vans to help transport the turtles from shore to the centre.

You can imagine as the turtles warmed up and started moving around and pooping (cause that is what they do when they warm up) it became a bit chaotic and ‘messy’. Once the turtles were well enough to go back out to sea, fishing boats and oil recovery ships were used to release them back into their natural habitat.

The Sea Turtle, Inc. sanctuary is a wonderful place that is not only educational, but also the hospital for these native turtles.

There are videos of the rescue and eventual release on YouTube.

We are staying in a lovely KOA Holiday on South Padre Island. For those that don’t know, in the U.S. there are three types of KOAs: Journey, Holiday, and Resort which is the top end. This little oasis is right on the ocean and in a beautiful spot. In fact Elon is just across the water. SpaceX launch pad is out in the water not far from us, as is one of the many SpaceX office buildings located around the world. We also have two employees staying here at the KOA. How do we know? Well they have their own X vehicles that are part jeep/part golf cart. They also have their own X dock where they park their hovercraft. They use the hovercraft to get to work and back. Shooting across the water to the “office” – what a life! We met an employee yesterday who drove up, parked in the X designated spot and was hopping onto the hover taxi. It was all I could do to keep my mouth closed and not let the drool pour out. Was quite embarrassing really, but when you have someone that good looking, working for SpaceX, AND with a dreamy accent……….need we say more. Barb couldn’t get a picture snapped in time, dammit.

We also seem to have a Fat Albert here. If you look it up you will see many articles on the one they had in Florida. The one here is manned by the Feds for monitoring illegal immigrants. These 250,000 cubic-foot blimps were the first such aerostats used by the Air Force U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard. They are used for counter-drug-trafficking operations as well as guns and human trafficking. As we were traveling through Brownsville on our way to South Padre, we saw many vehicles pulled over by numerous police and being searched underneath and inside. One patch of road must have had at least 7 vehicles pulled over being searched. I guess Fat Albert works. In fact we’ve been told that these blimps cannot only see what is inside vehicles, but homes, and trailers…….we have started wearing tin foil on our heads…..no shit.

Now with trafficking, so close to the Mexican border it makes sense that there would be a Fat Albert here. It also makes perfect sense that there is also a large contingent of Cartel. In fact they have a whole apartment complex, the biggest on the Island and right on the beach, how nice for them. We have made the conscious decision to stay somewhat clear of their buildings.

All in all we feel pretty safe here. Our neighbour, who is very nice, carries a handgun in his belt, so if anything untoward happens we will run in his direction.

We decided to stop at a well known fish place on the way to South Padre Island. Best shrimp ever apparently, so fresh you can’t believe the taste!!! And AGAIN, plenty of parking for a bus!!! Well, how could we not stop?

One comment said that this place was in an area that was a little sketch. We didn’t really think sketch as we were driving down a lonely road, more industrial…….however days later we found out the entire area has issues and most tourists don’t spend much time at all in Brownsville. That said, the seafood is worth the drive alone.

Well, the place was a little sketch once you got there. As for parking, let’s just say we had an inch on either side getting through the gate into the parking lot and frankly wouldn’t have been able to park there had it not been completely empty! We know that Texans think everything is “big”, but seriously these people need to get a grip on reality (in our opinion at least, as this is not the first time we called in advance telling someone we are ‘as big as a bus’ and they say, ‘oh yah lots of room’).

Well, all that aside, we purchased lots of shrimp and a few pounds of scallops. We grilled some shrimp for dinner the other night, and it was indeed fresh and tasty! So all that parking lot maneuvering was well worth it!

Barb found a great walking tour near our RV park which was free! The Oso Bay Wetlands is a learning centre and a 162 acre nature preserve with 2 miles of nature viewing trails. We were toured around by 2 Master Naturalists and another who had taken the course, but didn’t consider herself a master. They were all volunteers and wonderful guides.

During the walk we didn’t see many birds or other animals but we learned a lot about the area, as well as the trees and plants. In fact some were quite fascinating. The first cactus we came across had what looked like mold on it. In fact this was a certain type of bug that lived in this substance. When you carefully “plucked” a bug from this substance and squished it, your fingers would be covered in a red dye. This dye, back in the day, was shipped to Spain to colour the material for Spanish military uniforms. The colour is so vibrant, other than the fact that this would be super labour intensive, it’s a shame we don’t use it today.

Some interesting stops included a tree, a couple of cactus, a weed, and some moss, which all seems funny considering we were in a nature preserve….and we should be seeing all of these things.

The Huisache tree was frankly unassuming. However, the tree flowers in the spring and the flower gets harvested and sent to Europe for use in the making of the perfume Chanel. Who knew?! The next stop was a tree called the Lime Prickly Ash, which was edible! In fact we have put it into tonight’s salad! There was also a little cactus which tasted somewhat salty and it also ended up in our salad! The plant that looked like dandelions to us, was in fact a plant used in medicine, camphor. The moss on the tree? It apparently is a sign of good air quality. The other cactus was used for sewing in the “old days”. You have to wonder how that came about. Someone just looked at the plant and said yes, that looks like something we could use as a sewing apparatus. After today, a renewed interest in learning how to “forage” is up there on a to-do list for Lori.

Some general pics of the Preserve

What’s next on the docket? Brunch! We are starving. Off to Andy’s Country Kitchen which opened in 1978. It was packed with a line up of folks outside waiting to be seated. Decor was cool with a couple of trains running around the upper walls of the restaurant. We both had the same item, the breakfast enchilada. The two cheese enchiladas were covered with two eggs sunny side up, homemade Texas style chilli con carne, hash browns, and we chose sliced tomatoes to make it healthy, lol! It also came with complimentary blueberry muffins which were amazing; we ate one each and took two home for breakfast tomorrow. We didn’t eat again until 7:30pm, which was salad with our foraged greens.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but today alone makes our stay in Corpus Christi a lot more interesting.

We had both heard of the fun times in Corpus Christi and were very much looking forward to getting there to enjoy some great food and sights. Well we arrived at the Colonia Del Rey RV Park only to realize we had left luxury behind and we weren’t exactly overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Much to our dismay we were off the tourist track and seemed to be in a park with mainly seasonal campers. There was a pool, a rather small and unheated one. On-site laundry was about the most attractive feature of the park!

We did meet some neighbours from Quebec, who were also disappointed as they had booked a month there. They shared how they were keeping themselves busy bike riding and, given they had a truck, they went out driving around and eating out fairly frequently. So we decided we would walk. Walk to the grocery store, walk to the ocean, and walk anywhere we could walk to pass the time. This was probably the least enjoyable place we ever stayed. Sadly it left an impression that we never want to go back to Corpus Christi. Which is probably silly. We found a good grocery store and walked there, probably daily, just to have something to do. Fortunately we were only there for 4 days so the time did go fast and we found some great movies to pass the time.