International Birding Center, Mission, Tx

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

One of the great things about staying at Bentsen Palms Village is you have free access to the International Birding Center. Plus, you also can use the bicycles from the rv park of which there are at least 30 or more available.

We took off yesterday morning for a ride about 8:30 in the morning. Well, this is the middle of April and things are heating up. So as you can imagine, the mosquitos are beginning to appear and started to have quite a snack on us as we posed for the picture below. I was actually dancing waiting for the camera to go off.

As we rode around the park we were amazed at the difference a few years can make. Mother Nature has begun reclaiming all the man-made materials including the asphalt and cement. It is in a slow deterioration and will continue for years to come. We have fond memories of rving in the park and being the only people in the park for days at a time. Nightime walks back then would produce starry nights and sounds of the woods including the javelinas that walk the park. I remember our little dog, Gum, one night out for a potty break and all of a sudden appeared those beady red eyes in the light from the flashlight. We grabbed him up and threw him into the trailer. Those guys can be vicious although they shy away from people during the daytime.

The park is filled with wildflowers many of which are now in the rv park and Retama Village. It is really a sight to see especially at daybreak when the birds first begin their singing.

Last night, we got together with some old friends, Tom and Jan. We met these guys back in 2001 on an rv trip to City of Rocks, New Mexico with my sister and her husband. We ended up at an rv park in Silver City and really hit it off. At that time, Tom and Jan had a mobile home in a 55 plus park, Winter Green in Mission, a very nice park. Now they have purchased a home around the corner. They gutted the home located in another 55 plus park and redid the interior and the patio. A real retreat. Great people. We went out for dinner at Logan's Run in McAllen and talked about our latest adventures.