Old Guerro March 10 85 degrees

This was another early day for us. We had to catch the bus at the Best Western Hotel in the next city over. So we had to leave the park by 6 am. We crossed the border at Rio Grande City into Cuidad Camargo. This was our first greeting. There was no trouble at this time, I think it is a show of force.

This cemetery is in the city of Miguel Aleman . They say that from April 1st until November 1 they use nothing but artificial flowers on the graves. The rest of the year beginning with the Day of the Dead, they have live flowers. I am assuming the fresh flowers would wilt too fast in the summer heat.

This family plot cost around 30 thousand dollars. One dollar right now is 14.5 pesos in Mexico.

We continued to El Campanario, it is a restaurant owned by the tour company, Viva Mexico.

This is a boot-making factory where they make boots out of shark, eel, ostrich, kangaroo, alligator,snake and lots of other animal skins. You could custom order and they will ship or you can take them right then. Providing of course that they fit. This picture was upstairs where the do all of the sewing. They told us the temperature in this room in the summer time can be to 130 degrees.

This is the Mexican power plant on the Rio Grande river at Falcon dam. This picture is also out of order.

They said they have to be 18 to work here. We all felt he was no more than 15 or 16. He sews the pull tabs for boots.

Eel skin boots.

The front of the boot shop.

This is at Falcon dam. Harold's right foot is in the USA and his left foot is in Mexico.

This wall was in the town of New Guerrero. This wall was over a mile long and you wouldn't believe is made out of old battery cases.

More wall.

Delco battery cases. Now do you thinks we could gather old cases for something like this???

The old Guerrero was a town that was founded in 1750. It was a prosperous village on the Rio Grande rive when in 1953 Falcon dam was built.Officials warned the people in town that in about 10 years there would be enough water to flood and they would need to move. As luck would have it a Hurricane hit the area and filled the lake in 1954 The city remained underwater until recent years until it emerged again as a result of severe drought in Northern Mexico and south Texas.



These are arches as you enter the town.

Walk along this path to the lake.

This was the Hotel.

An armadillo that is stuck in the tree.

Another view of the hotel.

The church still remains in about 4 ft. of water.

A goat herd was running loose in town.

This is a building that was put together with rocks and stones and still standing after all this time.

One of the main streets.

A house in the town.

Look at the stone walls that are still standing

This was their old cemetery. There was another cemetery across the road that was for the wealthy with big rock walls around it. When the town flooded they were given the opportunity to move the graves. The problem was that was very expensive and not an option for some.

There were a lot of graves here.

More graves.

The iron works on some of the graves came from Canton Iron Works in Canton, Ohio. You know that had to be expensive in the late 1900's.

This grave belonged to a person who was a woodworking or skilled laborer as indicated by the marble slab on the tower.

This was the same type of headstone.

Our lunch consisted of sandwiches, fruit and Margaritas. It was served in this little shed and we stood around under the snake skin

We returned to the same restaurant for dinner, chicken fried steak, rice, potatoes and bread. Can you say carbohydrates??? And free Margaritas

We stopped at an organic farm. They had 26 acres of greenhouses.


This is the computer control room where they determined when to water, fertilize and how much.

This is a very un-flattering picture but you can tell I was exhausted. We got home at 9 pm. It was a very long day but well worth it. ZZZZZZZZ.

Tipo'Texas March 3.

While we were driving down the beach, these guys were fishing and this is just one of the fish they caught in the surf. It is a "Red" fish. If it is over 26 inches (and I think it is) they have to tag it and can have only 1 in their possession. They were kind enough to pose for us,

This is the tip'o'Texas!! It is the farthest point that you can drive. The Rio Grande river dumps into the Gulf of Mexico. The people in the first three pictures are on the Mexico side. They have driven their pickups down to the beach to fish and have a picnic.

These are pelicans in the water feeding on little fish.

Aren't we cute??? And yes, Crystal I am letting my hair grow because I lost my hairdresser!!

Our neighbors Dean and Carol. They are from Kansas. Dean's brother was with us that day also but for some reason we didn't get him is the picture.

After a walk on the beach it was to Dirty Al's for seafood dinner. MMMM then the drive home and the beautiful sunset.

March 3, 2009 80 degrees and clear

Here we are again at Santa Ana National Wildlife Reserve. It is only 8 am so you know how pleasant I am at this time of the day. Six of us from the park are going to try this canoe trip down the river. There were 2 other couples that were going but they changed their mind, They missed a good time.

The park loaded us all into a van and transported us to a spot upriver about 5 miles.

This was a leisurely float down the river. At least it was for me. Harold had to do most of the rowing. The right side of the pictures is Mexico and the left side is the USA.

We were on the water for about 3 and a half hours. Saw a lot of birds. This is a birder's paradise. Of course we don't know all of the birds but there were 2 Women (Mother and Daughter) that were birders and had their books with them and were identifing all the birds.

Harold supervising the loading process.

5

March 3, 2009 temp 75

This is Santa Ana National Wildlife reserve. It is about 5 mi South of Alamo, Tx. It is our intention to take the wildlife tram that takes visitors around the park for about 7 mi. This is our second attempt at this trip. On Sun Feb 21 we bought tickets for this tram and proceeded to the cemetery and the river view. Problem was that we got off the tram with 2 other couples and went to the right. Everyone else went to the left. After walking about a mile out and back we determined that we must have gone the wrong way. When we returned to the main road the tram had left. Mind you we are 3 miles from the visitor center, it was the last tram of the day and we had already walked 1 mile which was pretty good for 2 old couples and 1 young couple with a girl wearing at least 3 inch high heels. In a confused transmittal from the tram driver to the rangers he tried to convey that he had left passengers but the ranger thought they had seen illegals. After walking back a little over a mile the rangers finally found us and sent a van to pick us up. They did give us free tickets to ride the tram at another date. One important lesson learned here--follow the guide.


This is some of the forest in the reserve. Some of it is drying up other parts were very much the way it was 100 years ago.

This is a birding area where it is set up to attract some of the birds

One of the trails that are available to either bike or hike.

Beautiful Spanish moss that grows in the trees.

This is a bench placed near the cemetery for old people to rest.

Yucca plants here are in full bloom now and this our guide. She is a volunteer camper here and also THE ONE THAT LEFT US!

The entry to the cemeterium. If they are just graves it is a cemetery, but if the have a mausoleum they are cemeterio.

The Rio Grande river. The other side of the River is Mexico. They say that even tho the river begins in Colorado that by the time it runs through New Mexico and part of Texas, at El Paso it has no Colorado water let in it. It is all Mexican.

Trees looking down on the Rio Grande. All in all it was a pretty good trip and a way to spend an afternoon. When we do our river canoe trip we will be in this same area but get a different perspective from the river.