Land of Milk and Honey???

so what is it Really like here in South Texas??  we really love it here and are enjoying our time and hope to return next year but...

the Weather:  it is really crazy, this past Saturday we had the A/C on in the morning and the heat on in the late afternoon!  we have had some wonderful weather but some cold, rainy and hot humid days too.  the wind is constant..  its really hard to get a good bike ride in because of the wind.  but it does keep us cool on the hot and humid days.  Yes Steve G..  it is not always 75 deg here, it seems to be only when we talk to you.  so plan on a phone call every day!

the Dust:  when it is not raining it is very very dry, and of course windy so lots and lots of dust.  We could dust the RV every day and still not get it all..  plus they are working on the levee so big trucks come up and down the unpaved road making more dust!

the Bugs: yes we got chiggers!!  they itch like hell.  mosquitoes too!  and of course the ticks.  all here in south Texas.  Eric's legs are really bit up!  there are other bugs too.   since we are clearing the trails we tend to get more "bugs" than everyone else.   so we like the cool days for working.

the Snakes:  we have seen two different kinds of snakes.  the Texas indigo and another one.  really hate snakes..

the Critters:  mice, armadillos, javalinas, wild dogs, bobcats, rabbits, coyotes and squirrels.   we have not been bothered by any of them except for the mouse when we first got here in Dec. 

lots of beautiful birds stay here for the winter and we expect more to come through in Feb and March when they migrate north.

flora and fauna:  the spring flowers are beginning to bloom but there are lots and lots of thorny growth.  we do get scraped up and poked cutting down the brush.
the Food:  all good!  no complaints on the food choices.  well only one comment, no seafood!  Brownsville is about 50 miles from here but we can not get fresh shrimp! 

the Shopping:  again all good!  no complaints on the shopping choices.

the Roadways:  the roads are in pretty good shape, the drivers are a bit quirky.  they drive real fast or real slow.  they try to make a 4 lane highway out of 2 lanes.

Living so close to the border:  this is not as scary as it may sound.  Border Patrol is driving around or staking out the levee and road 24/7.  we have not seen anything first hand.  there has been times when the helicopter hovers overhead looking for UDA's (Un Document Aliens).  we think we seen one the other night walking down our road! it seems there was a drug bust that same night (we were out at a volunteer pot luck and missed the action) right behind our compound!

all in all we love it down here.  there is more good than bad stuff and we really love the work we get to do.  yesterday we planted a butterfly garden!