THIS AND THAT

Well, my time in the Rio Grand Valley is coming to an end.  So, I thought I would post a couple of things together because none of them deserve a whole blog by themselves. :)

Just about every single little town around here has a "market days" or "craft days" on a certain day each month.  I was staying closest to Harlingen, TX so I went to their market days.  It happens the first Saturday of each month.  It ended up being a bigger thing than I thought it would be.  It took place downtown on Jackson Street.  They had closed the street for 4 blocks and vendors were set up on both sides of the street, in the street.  The shops on these 4 blocks were also open and doing a lot of business too.  Not only were there vendors, but every block had its own band and in the 2nd and 4th block were food vendors.  Those 2 blocks smelled great!  Mr. W bought a flat bread from one of the food vendors that was filled with pineapple.  I had a bite and it was Y-U-M-M-Y. 

The street was blocked off on this end and went for 4 blocks.

There was a very good turn out and the weather was great.

One of the bands that was playing

Mr. W eating his flat bread filled with pineapple.

One of the things that stands out in this area of big stretches of empty land are the wind farms.  You know, those gigantic wind turbines that produce electricity in a "green" way. There is just something about seeing those "windmills"  standing tall in the landscape and turning with the wind.  At night, you can see the blinking red lights that sit on top of each one.  They blink in sequence and it is a mesmerizing show of lights in the dark night sky.  Duke Energy and the North American Development Bank are the developers of the wind farms and CPS Energy of San Antonio and Austin Energy are buying the electricity produced. 

Mr. W and I took a drive out to one of the farms and it is truly amazing how big these things are.

Notice the cranes and 18-wheeler and how little they look.

This past week I went to Los Ebanos, TX to see the last hand drawn ferry that crosses the Rio Grand on the US/Mexico border. There are ropes run through a cable and 5 guys pull on the rope to propel the ferry across the river.  The ferry can hold 3 cars and 12 pedestrians at one time.  Although the crossing has been in operation since the 1950s, the current ferry has been operating since 1979. It was recognized with a state historical marker in 1975. 

It does cost to cross on the ferry.  You can see the cost below.

I did not want to cross on the ferry but I did want to take pictures of the ferry.  You still have to pay even to just take pictures.  The young man taking the money told us that we needed to take identification with us because we would have to walk back through the customs building when we finished taking pictures.  The US government has built a very nice customs station at this crossing and a DPS officer and a Border Patrol officer parked in the parking lot at the time the ferry would arrive so they could observe who was coming across.  I asked the young man who owned the ferry.  He did not know the man's name but he knew the guy lives in Dallas. 

I got there right at noon and the young guy told me that the 5 guys who pull the ferry go to the lunch at noon so the ferry would not be running until 12:20.  Sure enough, I walked down to take pictures at 12:20 and as if right on cue, the ferry started loading on the Mexico side and then made its way to the US side.

Loading of the ferry

"Docking" on the US side

Here are the steps that you have to climb once you get off the ferry.

The US Customs center

CIRCLE "L"

One thing about the Rio Grand Valley and winter Texans that I have learned is they love to dance.  Well, guess what? So do I! I grew up as a Baptist deacon's daughter and my sisters and I were not allowed to dance, not even ballet.  Ask me how much I hated that and thought it was ridiculous. Well, a lot of Baptist have loosened up and there are a lot of us dancing these days. As a matter of fact, ever since I reached adulthood, I have been dancing as often as I can.  Mr. W and I even rented VCR tapes back in the day to teach us the correct steps to certain dances.  Occasionally we would go out somewhere to practice our dancing but we also would clear the furniture in the living area and dance around the house.  Daughter once told me that some of her favorite memories as a child were of us dancing around the house.

Our friends that are here invited us to go to another RV park, Circle L, the first Friday night we were here.  They have a band that plays and a dance floor and food.  Who could ask for more, right?  The owner of Circle L plays the steel guitar.  There is a lady that plays the bass guitar and sings and 2 guys who both play guitar and sing and a drummer.  That same Friday night they had a guest singer from Canada.  He spends his winters down here for the weather and he performs at a lot of other parks and centers.  He just happened to have that Friday night open so he treated us to his singing and playing and it really was good.  The band's usual music is old country with a few new songs thrown in.  Perfect for some 2-stepping with an occasional waltz or polka thrown in there.  There is also a group of ladies who line dance to almost every song too.  The band plays for about an hour and a half and then they break for food.  Each person that comes brings a dish of some sort and each person is asked to donate $3.  The park uses those donations to provide popcorn, tea, water, coffee, paper plates, napkins, and utensils.  You can bring your own drinks, either adult beverages or not, or you can buy bottled water or soft drinks for 50 cents.  After snack time is over (about 30 minutes), the band plays again for about an hour.  At the end of the evening, the band plays America the Beautiful and the crowd joins in to sing.  The evening starts at 6:30 and you are out by 9:30.  Nothing goes on too late around here.

This past Friday, they had a guest steel guitar player who has been playing the steel for 17 years.  Man, could he play the steel guitar.  His playing added a lot of depth to the band and every band member stepped up their "game" that evening.  I've always said that you set a high standard and people will do what they can to reach it and the band proved it.

Most all of the parks in the valley have dances.  They are usually open to anyone who wants to come.  Mr. W and I could probably spend most of our day every day going to dances.  There is even one park in Weslaco that has a "Happy Hour Dance" everyday from 3:00-5:00.  You really could get your fill of dancing there.  I will say that there are some couples here that I could sit and watch dance all day long because they are so good and just glide across the dance floor.  Mr. W and I don't glide.  We have fun, but we don't glide.  Then there are some couples that are pretty old and they move pretty slow across the dance floor, but I think it is great that they are still out there doing something they obviously enjoy doing.  I just hope that when I am their age, I am still out there scooting around. Also, most of the parks offer line dancing lessons as part of their exercise program and you can certainly find plenty of people at each dance that will join you in practicing those skills on the dance floor.

So, I pretty much look forward to our Friday night date at the Circle L for dancing.  It has been a lot of fun.  Did I mention that I've been breaking in my new cowboy boots too?  Nothing like a little boot scooting boogie to get those things broken in! If you love to dance and can't find a place that isn't very crowded, that has people close to your age, and has good food and fun, you can head on down to the Rio Grand Valley where you can find all of that.

The building where the dance is.

The band getting set up.

They have tables set up around the dance floor.

Some of the people out dancing.

This whole bar will be filled with food/snacks when they get everything set out.

Line dancers

Guest steel guitar player

This is at the end when everyone sings America the Beautiful - Sorry it is blurry!

THE BIGGEST LITTLE RODEO IN TEXAS

It is rodeo time in Texas.  This past weekend was the rodeo in Los Fresnos, TX.  It is a PRCA rodeo and this year marked the 26th anniversary of the rodeo.  Back in 1989, a group of citizens got together and decided that they needed to do something to help the economy in their town.  So, with the help of prominent businessmen and many volunteers, the Los Fresnos PRCA rodeo was born.  The rodeo is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  There is a parade that happens Saturday morning.  There is a carnival with many rides. There is entertainment at each performance.  One of Texas' own, Josh Abbott Band, was going to be there to perform Saturday night after the rodeo, so I decided I wanted to go. 

Now, I am use to the rodeo that happens every year in H-town.  It is almost 3 weeks long and is held in NRG stadium which is the stadium where the Texans play football.  They have "big" name performers who draw crowds of 60,000 people each night.  The livestock show has its own huge building.  There are hundreds of vendors who pay big bucks to have a booth to sell their wares. The carnival is big enough to entertain a family all by itself. They raise enough money each year to give away hundreds of scholarships to students in the Houston area.  They have around 20 contestants in each event each night.  It is a HUGE thing.

So, going to a rodeo on a smaller scale was something I was looking forward to.  The rodeo started at 5:00, so we decided to get there around 4:00 so we could walk around a little before it started.

There were 2 tents like the one below and that is where the vendors were located.

This was one of the attractions right before you entered the carnival.  You could ride an African watusi and get your picture made. I'm guessing this is as close to a longhorn as they could get?

Here's a picture of where you buy tickets.  They had 2 windows open. The arena had bleachers for seats.  There were numbers on the bleachers so you were given a reserved seat when you bought a ticket.

Every rodeo starts with all the sponsors and committee members parading through the arena.  This rodeo had 2 girls who alternately rode through the arena with the flag of each sponsor.

After the recognition of the sponsors, there was an invocation and then singing of the national anthem with the presentation of the flag.

Let the events start!  First out of the chutes - Bronc Riding

Next - Steer Wrestling (There were 3 contestants in this event.  Yes, I said 3.)

Next, came Calf Roping.  For those of you who don't know how this works, the calf is let out and 2 cowboys ride out after it and one ropes it around the front and one ropes it around the back legs. There were 5 entries for this event and I think they were all local.

There was a break in the action so the girls who rode with the sponsor flags at the beginning of the rodeo came out and did some trick riding.

There was also mutton busting done during this break.  The announcer said this was actually redneck child abuse.  You can't spank your kid in public without getting in trouble but you can sign your kid up for this and display it in an arena with the whole town looking on! I think there might be some truth in his words! The kids were so cute holding on to these sheep for dear life. They ranged in age from 4 to 7.

Once the action started up again, the Barrel Racing took center arena.

Then, for the final event, Bull Riding.

Every rodeo ends with fireworks and this was no different.

The entertainment started after the fireworks and they opened the arena gates so everyone sitting in the stands could go onto the arena floor and stand in front of the stage.  They had an opening group that started the entertainment.  This wasn't publicized and they played and played and played.  I finally left without hearing the Josh Abbott Band which was the reason I went on that night in the first place.  Oh well.

It was fun watching the rodeo and it was nice to see how the crowd and the town got so into the festivities.  The rodeo has grown enough in the past 26 years that they raise enough money to offer a scholarship to a couple of students each year.  Good for them.  The rodeo happens this time every year.  So, if you happen to be this way this time next year, come on by and enjoy the rodeo.

TEXAS CITRUS FIESTA

The Citrus Fiesta is a two-week festival held annually in Mission to publicize the citrus industry of the region and to attract visitors.  It was started by John H. Shary in the late 1920s. A royal court chosen from prominent valley families includes King Citrus, Queen Citrianna, the Princess of Orange Blossom, the Princess of Grapefruit Blossom, a lady-in-waiting, Princess Anna (who must be six years old), and her attendants, the Princess of Lime Blossom and the Princess of Lemon Blossom. The king's and queen's attendants include the royal crown bearer and four train bearers for the queen's train, which can be up to twenty feet long. Twenty-two duchesses are selected from valley communities. Crowns are designed for each new king, queen, and fiesta theme. The queen's gown was originally made of by-products from citrus plants.

The first annual fiesta was held in 1932 with the theme "Coronation and Pageant of Citrus." The one-day celebration included a coronation ceremony with Shary as King Citrus I and citrus exhibits, fruit-packing contests, a flying circus, a football game, and a parade. By 1934 the fiesta was expanded to two days with the addition of the Fiesta Style Show and the Fruit, Vegetable, and Flower Style Show, which features costumes made from local agricultural products. By 1939 the celebration included an air show and a one-day school holiday so that Mission children could participate in the first day of the festival. In 1941 Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., was crowned king and the theme was "The Rio Grande Valley Serves America;" that year the tourist parade was introduced. Floats in the parade typically use citrus rinds or slices in their decorations.

 

From 1942 to 1946 the fiesta was cancelled due to World War II. The fiesta continued to become more elaborate through the 1950s. 

C. B. Curtis carved a new queen's scepter out of an orange branch in 1963, and it became the first year that the Queen's gown was required to be all white and no longer had to be citrus products. By 1970 the Texas Citrus Fiesta had become a week-long celebration with a multitude of events, including skeet-shooting tournaments and the international motorcycle races.

By 1982 the Fruit, Vegetable, and Flower Style Show had been renamed the Product Costume Show to allow the use of other natural products as cover on costumes. The devastating freeze of 1983 that killed half the producing trees in the valley led to changes in the fiesta. The Parade of Oranges floats were allowed to be covered by natural products other than citrus, and the Products Style Show allowed the use of ashes and sawdust from destroyed trees. By 1989 the fiesta had been expanded to two weeks.  The fiesta now consists of a golf tournament, a fun run, a carnival, a vaquero cook-off, a host of vendors, bands/entertainment, and various other activities. 

The parade happens the last Saturday in January and is the finale to the 2 week long fiesta.  So, yesterday, I went to see the parade and participate in the fiesta.  This year the theme of the fiesta was old time rock and roll.  It is definitely an event.

The city of Mission closes down streets for the parade and hundreds of people line the streets to witness the parade.  If you wanted to take a chair and have a seat to watch the parade, you would have to get there early and stake out your spot.  I got there about 30 minutes before the parade started and I lucked out in finding a place to stand that was only about 4 rows deep in front of me.

They had quite a few vendors selling their wares.  There were a lot of food vendors which made it worth it just to smell all those wonderful aromas.  The teams participating in the cook-off were in a different area so just about anywhere you went, you were smelling some good stuff!

I've been to a couple of small town parades before. They are fun and remind me of a simpler time in life.  This was no exception.  It is nice to see all the towns in the area getting behind this celebration and participating in it.  The weather was cloudy but nice.  It was a fun afternoon.

You can see some of the vendors' tents as you enter

The train that took kiddos around for a ride

One of the bands

The area where the cook-off teams were located.

The crowd lining the streets on one end.

One of the antique fire trucks

The queen's court float - The little girls on the front are the Princess for lemon, lime, orange and ruby red grapefruit.  Each in their corresponding color dress.

This is a Latino actor seen a lot on one of the Mexican TV stations.  The women went wild when he went by.

No parade would be complete without at least one marching band.

The Lemon Duchess

Her dress came out pink in the pic but she is the Orange Duchess and her dress was really a orange coral color.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Duchess (Did you know that the Ruby Red Grapefruit is the state fruit of Texas?)

One of the Winter Texan RV parks even got into the celebration and crowned their own king and queen.

Another RV park getting in on the action

and another...... I guess the age of most of the Winter Texans fits right along with the theme of old time rock and roll.