Last work week of 2011

Monday:  started out a bit cool, but when working on the trails we like the cool weather. 

replaced a trail sign..

the sun came out at about 1:00 and it started to get warm...  we run into downed trees that are beyond our pay grade...  so we take pictures and send them to our supervisor!

we really love it here..  the job is what we wanted, the area is great and wonderful people to work with, what more could we ask for??

the neighbors dog got out of the gate this afternoon, everyone was out looking for it.  Eric and I spotted it on the other side of the fence and talked it into coming in the side gate.  everyone was happy!
 gave us a chance to talk to everyone..
Tuesday: when we got to the visitor center this morning there was a dead bobcat on the garbage!

they put it in a box and asked us to dispose of it in the woods..

we started to clear the trail when we heard (what we think were) coyotes.  they seemed to be a bit further away then our dead bobcat but..  we assumed they found it and was feasting on it.  lots of howls and noises in the woods.  at one point a (again we assume) wild dog was barking at Eric, he did not get a visual on it but it was pretty close and in the woods.  I got my trusty knife out just in case he needed help.  the dog left on its own.  on our way back for lunch we were walking and found some fresh entails on the path.  we (again) assumed it was from our dead bobcat.  it was not there when we walked up the path, so when we got to the place where we placed the dead bobcat, Eric looked to see what had happened.  well nothing had touched it!  so our new theory is the dog had something and was protecting it?  always something happening in the woods!

 this tree was laying in the path..but Eric took care of it!

went to a BBQ place with some other volunteers.  great food, pulled pork, beef brisket and smoked sausage and lots of sides.. 

Wednesday  (last work day of 2011):   on our way to work this morning the sky had a big hole in it!

obviously we have a few theories..  Eric seemed to think he was being called to heaven!  NOT..  I suspect the Mother Ship made a hole in the clouds and has landed somewhere on the refuge.  maybe to pick up our dead bob cat?? 

the rest of the day was the usual trail stuff..  we still have not finished all of the trails.  maybe next week. we try to keep the ones that are used the most in really good shape. the others are hike-able but need a bit more pruning and one is not passable yet.. we are getting close.  the Winter Texans should be out in full force next week.

armidillo getting a drink of water..

we did see a couple of road runners but they are too fast to get a pic!

heading to Houston tomorrow to spend the weekend with brother Ray.

Happy New Year.. be safe..

Christmas Holiday weekend

cold and rainy again this weekend.  made pork and sweet potatoes in the crock pot for dinner on Friday. Saturday: started the day with eggs and chizo and Wis potatoes.  it was pretty good..   we went to a movie, "Money Ball" with Brad Pitt.  it was a cheap movie and refill on popcorn!!  the movie was good, a bit too long although I do enjoy looking at Brad..    Saturday night is Honky Tonk and bluegrass..  good night to cuddle on the couch.

Sunday Christmas Day:  lazy day here at the compound.  the sun actually came out for a while.  high winds are drying out the muddy roads.   we were able to go for a walk and not get muddy. We went out to a Chinese Buffet for dinner with the other volunteers.  the food was good but you know how buffets are... too much food and I personally need to try everything...  I did not manage to eat everything but made a big dent.. 

got to work tomorrow..

hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. we do miss the snow for how beautiful it makes everything.

Donuts, Museums and BBQ etc...

Eric made a wonderful breakfast of French Toast and turkey bacon, but once on the road we seen

Shipley Do Nuts...

had two great donuts..  Shipley's has delicious do-nuts and kolaches, with over 250 stores in what we affectionately describe as "the do-nut belt": Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. 

Off to visit the Museum of South Texas History.  It's exhibits show the rich heritage and blended culture found in the Rio Grande Valley between South Texas and Northeastern Mexico.  There was also an exhibit on the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema and history of the county jail..

not too happy cowboy..

a mastodon:

how about this for the basement stairs?  always looking for ideas..

I would use different tiles, maybe a green or rust color..

the jail had a few items of interest..  ball and chain

they actually hung a person here..

they had a few statues out side..  this guy does not look as sad as Eric..

we then went to the Tejano Walk of Fame.. not too much to see..

the donuts were wearing off time for lunch..

I know that we are in Texas but no Pork!!  the brisket was good and so was the sausage.



this place will be a repeat hope they have pork next time.

next stop was the Basilica of Our lady of San Juan de Valle National Shrine..

For centuries Christians have made pilgrimages with a spiritual purpose to holy places. Here in the Rio Grande Valley, hundreds are drawn to the Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, and the number of pilgrims continues to grow. Averaging more than one million visitors a year (20,000 a weekend), it is one of the most visited shrines in the United States.

The original shrine was dedicated in 1954 in honor of La Virgen de San Juan de los Lagos in Mexico, then rededicated in 1980 after an apparent intentional plane crash (in 1970) reduced the building to ashes.

The image of La Virgin was rescued unharmed, as were pilgrims and parishioners gathered inside the Shrine at the time of the incident. Only the pilot perished.

Today, the Shrine features full-scale outdoor Stations of the Cross and one of the world's largest mosaics.

They have a hotel, cafe, gift store and beautiful grounds.

we headed back to Hidalgo to see the lights and the ice rink..

snow in RGV!! 

the other side of the building has a swimming pool!

the kids were have so much fun..

nothing like christmas palm trees..

this house belongs to one of the Conjunto artists.  Ramon Alyala



work week

Not too much different on Monday than the last two weeks. it had been windy and wet so we had trees and branches down on the trails that had to be removed.  temp was about 80 with very high humidity.  lots of mosquito's!

Tues was a different day..  Last year the refuge flooded from the Rio Grande river.  Alligator Gar stayed behind in the ponds.  they eat everything and there are way too many of them so they are trying to dry out the areas and get rid of the gars.  The Texas Fish and Wildlife people wanted about 50 gars for their ponds and research. 

We were able to meet a few and enjoyed talking with them about their research etc..  Local TV crew here to interview and shoot a story.. 

believe it or not but this little pond has about 100 alligator gar in it!

they ended up taking about 60 of them, putting them in this truck. 
Eric was on the 6pm news.  as he was taking this picture the TV crew was taking the same picture from the other side! 

they took another 40 or so out and put them back into the Rio Grande..

we then had to learn how to control the water levels in the ponds.

it was a fun day, we learned a lot got to talk to some really nice people and it was not too hot!

Wednesday: another cool day.  we went to a trail that we have not been to before. it was thick with overgrowth..  took us all day to get about 1/3 of it cleaned.. 

we found another skull..  a Javalina...

I am sure Eric will try to bring it home.. it will be housed in the pole barn!!!

No that is not Jenny, Eric's sister it is our refuge manager Jennifer!  its so weird, everytime I see her I do a double take..

went to a great Mexican place for dinner.. it deserves a repeat! 

off for the next four days...

another wet weekend...

Saturday:   Eric made the most wonderful pancakes for breakfast. It was the mix we had purchased at Lake of the Ozarks College.  The grains (Wheat flour, corn meal, rye flour and wheat germ!) were grown and milled there on site. along with our homemade syrup they were delicious! 

We went for a quick walk in the am. just as we got beyond our compound we got stopped by the border patrol! our first stop! we just talked about where we were staying and where we come from and of course the Badgers and the Packers! I guess we passed the test so we said goodbye and went on our muddy walk.

we signed up for a bicycle ride on Feb 18 in Harlingen.  its called the Jalapeno 100.  Eric signed up for 62.5 miles (100 K) and I am taking the 50 mile ride..  we shall see if we can get in shape by then!

Rainy day again..  we headed East for the day toward Harlingen and San Benito.  Our first stop was to pick up mail at the visitor center, received a lot of nice Christmas Cards and letters. We headed to San Benito to the

there are three museums in one building, cost $3 per person!  the first rooms were the San Benito History Museum.  Interesting information and well put together. 

the next set of rooms was the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  The music is a blend of Mexican with German influence.  the accordion and a 12 string guitar are necessary.  it is also know as musica nortena.   http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/border/arhoolie2/songs/corina.au

this is sung by     Baldeman Huerta: aka "Eddie" and "Freddie Fender'

they put a record on for us to listen to as we walked around.  Ron (the docent and owner) gave us a lot us history about the music and people.

the next rooms were dedicated to Freddy Fender, San Benito's best known son.  There was a video of Freddy singing White Christmas in Spanish at South Padre Island beach!  it was a fun video recorded in 1994.  Since we were the only ones in the museum we got a personal tour and history of Freddy from Joe..

as we were watching the video, Joe would interject a comment or a story.  There was a shot of the house Freddy was born in, Joe said that he was born in that house too!  how weird is that?  well not so weird as Joe is Freddy's younger brother!!  Eric thought he looked a lot like Freddy and thought they might be related..   He talked to us for about 30 minutes, telling us stories of Freddy's adventures and home life.  it was very interesting and we would have stayed a bit longer but our tummies were calling.. 


we went to a local Mexican place, the food was good and cheap $10 for the two lunch plates!  then off to the cemetery to see the memorial to Freddy.  he is actually buried here.  (our dead singer tour continues)..

After lunch we went to the water tower dedicated to Freddy:

 it took us awhile to find the water tower but we tracked it down!
Pro Bass shop before heading into Downtown Harlingen.  not too much going on there..

before getting home we stopped at Church's Chicken.  never had it before and it was on our list of foods to eat..  pretty good chicken and really good biscuits!

Saturday night is Blue Grass and Honky Tonk on WOJB from Reserve WI...

Sunday:  heavy mist and rain again today.  we went to a Mexican Artisian Gala at a local mall.  nice stuff but we don't need more stuff.  lots of candy and sweets but again we do not need more so we walked away empty handed. Lubys for lunch then grocery shopping then home for nap... 

tomorrow we work again.

Christmas party etc..

we went to the Christmas party at the visitor center in Santa Ana on Thursday.  too much food...

everything was fabulous..  they had a "White Elephant" gift exchange.  about 20 people participated.  it was pretty fun.  we brought maple syrup and blackberry jam..  a very big hit..  it got traded multiple times.  we ended up with a $10 gift card for dairy queen!  we were happy, did not want anything that was not consumable.. 

went to a local shopping center for a walk.  it was huge!  one of the biggest we have been in since MOA.  We took an escalator.  it has been a long time since we have been on one.. we are thinking more than a year!  it was pretty weird.. 

hot and humid so we had to put the a/c on to sleep.

woke up on Friday to a cold front..  high 50's, cloudy and a little mist.  Headed out to see Sherlock Holmes in Mission.  on the way we stopped at Cavenders to look at cowboy boots.  seen some that might work and actually tried on a few pair.  so many decisions, pointy toe, semi square, square or round toe??  I am looking at semi square right now.  then the height short, mid or long?  I am looking at mid but need to confirm that mid will not chaff my calf!  Of course the most important (besides comfort and fit) color and decoration...  brown, black, blue, green, red etc...on the shoe part then the color of the top part has more options..  might take a bit before I find a pair.  Not sure if I have jeans that will fit over the boots so.....  new jeans might be on the list too.

We thought Sherlock Holmes was good.  Eric liked it better than the first one. We went to a Carmike theater.  this one does not give refills on large popcorn! I like my popcorn and I like to take a bucket home...  although the popcorn was very good (all the way to the bottom) we will try a differnt theater next time.  need to find free refills!

this is our business card...

      La Casita En El Camino (Little House on the Road)

Eric and Kathy  Birchwood Wisconsin

Jerickathy@aol.com

we have only given out a few of them so far.. the pic is from last year.  I did not put our cell phone or home address like most do...