Further south to Harlingen and the RGV

Friday, February 1
We made our way over to Hwy 77 and headed south toward the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). We have a site booked at Tropic Winds RV Resort in Harlingen for the full month of February.

You may have heard that it's windy in Texas. Yep, it's true! There are lots of wind generators in the area. Here's one being moved down the highway. Three blades on each generator.

One of the blades. These things are huge!

A nice drive down Hwy 77 south toward the Rio Grande Valley. We drove along numerous ranches and farm fields.

The entrance to our home for the next month. Clouds, wind and high humidity were to be the norm this month.

Our site. Lots of spacing between units and a concrete drive and patio area. Nice!

A mix of park models and RV's in this park. Well kept and not too old.

Lots of green space here too. The cactus are starting to bloom.

Some new park models are being moved in. All strapped down to the concrete base.

A shed being built in the back of the sheltered carport. Nice place to spend the winter!

Lots of amenities at the park including this RC track. This is a popular sport around here. Several RV parks have tracks and they hold regular races. Short track trucks are the most popular. They had a hobby shop bring some of there demo trucks over so you could test before you bought. They were lots of fun, but at about $500 USD to get into it I declined......for now!

They also had the usual shuffleboard and pickle ball courts.

Nice pool area too.

Gated entrance.

Lots to do, nice place and great people made our stay here very nice. Of course it's a bit pricey! 

We have a few things planned for our stay in the RGV. This area is world famous for the vast number of birds that either pass through the area on their migration or that make this area home for the winter. We hope to visit a number of these viewing sites.

There is the beach, of course. South Padre Island is less than an hour away. Famous for its beaches and perhaps infamous as a Spring Break haven we need to make a visit or two.....preferably before spring break starts near the end of February.

We also have some chores to do around the trailer. In fact I had a bunch of Amazon boxes on the way! The fresh water tank is filling on its own. I'm believe it is the check valve in the water pump that is leaking and allowing city water to fill the tank through the pump. (update: I changed the pump and so far the fresh water tank isn't filling on its own. I also rebuilt the old pump with a new check valve kit. I'll keep it as a spare. Bonus....the new pump is significantly quieter than the old one!)

I also changed some LED lights that were failing. The LED's themselves I think were fine but the diodes that control them seem to fail meaning the LED flickers or won't light. The new ones are a bit larger diameter and cool white instead of warm white. So far we like them.

The RGV is a very popular wintering area for snowbirds (the people kind) so there is lots of traffic and everyone is lost (just like me!) so you have to drive carefully!!

On February 6 we went to a Snowbird Extravaganza put on by the Canadian Snowbirds Association that we are members of. They hold these free entertainment days in Arizona, Texas and Florida every year. This one was held in Pharr Texas about thirty minutes from us. Top notch entertainment and it was FREE! We saw John McDermott, Sean Emery, Jimmy Flynn, John Wing, George Canyon, and Valdy! A very fun day!

I'll post some of our birding and beach adventures soon.

....and that was Our View From Here!