Our Riverside Dreamer Cruise in Mission

January 16, 2017w2bergen 1 Comment

Last year we rode this boat with Larry and Cici. They offer an hour ride and a 2 hour ride. I wanted to try this as a group activity but I was worried because it is almost an hour away. We always have to car pool. So I booked a cruise for afternoon from 1pm to 3pm. Hoping to get 25 so we could still go, I hung up the sign up sheet…..Would you believe, I filled the boat for 45 people. Put up another sign up sheet for standby. Over 50 signed up the 2nd time. Amazing. Never believed they would be all that excited. The cruise was $19. They have a nice restaurant with seating indoors or patio areas outside amongst the tropical settings of plants and patio areas. So last Tuesday we all met at the parking lot and made the drive to Mission to the Riverside Club on the Rio Grande River. It was a beautiful day. We all took our time and enjoyed ordering from the menu. Some ate inside and others outside.

Many of us ordered their good ole Midwestern tenderloin. It was only $8.99. Not a bad price. You can’t hardly find one done here so this was a real treat. It was huge, the size of the plate. Rich made a face on his. …..Ketchup and Mayo face…..

Finally we were all done. I paid for the tickets and handed out 45 boarding passes for our very own private cruise. We all went outside and wandered the grounds and lined up. The boat came in from its 1 hour cruise. Everyone debarked and we all boarded.

Usually the boat goes down river for the 1 hour cruise to the Anzalduas Dam and then back. The 2 hour cruise goes up river as far as it can go before turning around. Since this was our own cruise we were given the option to go down to the dam and then up river as far as we could go. So that is what we decided. We hadn’t been to the dam before. It was a nice ride.

We cruised up near the dam so we could see over. On the other side the captain said occasionally the water gets shallow enough that one can walk over to the other side.

The flood gates were huge. You can see how far up the gates can go to keep the water from flowing down river and flooding the low lands. Their was a lot of flooding and damage along the river back in 2010 when Hurricane Alex came inland. Also note the American and Mexican flag flying overhead. We turned around and went back past the Riverside Club up stream.

We passed Chimney Park boat ramp. You can see the police lookout up in the area. These are all over on the boarder areas, even at shopping malls and busy areas in the city’s. They have a great visual to watch for migrants or crime. You can also see all the border patrol trucks parked.

Right past the ramp is the actual Chimney Park Rv Resort and the Chimney of the original lift station that was started in 1907. The brick was made by hand in the small town of Madero not to far away. They chimney is 106 ft tall, and 6 ft in diameter. The boilers were started in 1907, and the lift station started pumping water for irrigation. The station was used for irrigation until 1952-53 droughts. After that Falcon and Anzalduas Dams were constructed and the pump wasn’t needed anymore. In the 1960’s it opened as a fishing area and eventually became the Chimney Park Resort.

We passed one area on the Mexican side which was a resort. They had sheep grazing on the grounds.

On down the river was beautiful home with an Infinity Pool out front. Just Beautiful. All this area right now is deserted as its off season. I would love to see these areas in the summer. On the Mexican side we passed several resorts. Some were classy with boat docks and beautiful buildings with large ground areas. One was damaged in Hurricane Alex in 2010, and has never really been rebuilt. On the American side it, other than Chimney Rock, it was mainly Sugar Cane fields. Bentsen State Park also boarders on the Rio Grande as well as The Butterfly Gardens by Mission Tx. .

We also seen the Border Patrol speed by…..and then another one….Along the river, we also seen the Border Conservation Police tied up on the American side. Eventually after an absolutely beautiful day, we turned back. The Captain told us many facts on his PA system as we rode. Also mentioned that a wall would take 40 years to build partly because of land that would have to be take by imminent domain. Its true. There is so many homes and business all over the banks of the Rio Grande River. Also the sugar cane fields go all the way the the Rio……

So I guess Time Will Tell……What Will Trump Do…….

So back to the dock and we all headed home after a gorgeous day on the river. While I was their I booked a 3rd trip. We’ll see how this goes. I’m collecting money right now for our next one on Feb 9th. Already have 20 paid. Will stop at 40 and start collecting for the 3rd trip on Feb 23. Who would have ever thought. I was only hoping for at least 25 so we could send out the boat…..

So tomorrow I have Segway in Bentsen State Park. This will be an awesome ride. I’ve never been their before. Again this is a park event. Wednesday nite, Us, Cici and Larry, Alice and Tom are all going to see the Oak Ridge Boys. Now that will be a fun evening. Busy days ahead. Oh gees, that means we eat out AGAIN…..lol

Happy New Year! Where Did Dec. Go

January 4, 2017January 4, 2017w2bergen 2 Comments

December is almost over, in fact it might be after I get this posted….lol…We’ve done so much in the park already. The park is almost full. Some have driven or flew home for the holidays, including Canadians. They are starting to return now. After January 1st, they will all be back. The ones who don’t come till after the holidays will probably all come by next week. We’ve been ……BUSY BUSY BUSY…..We scheduled a Downtown Historical Jackson Street walk.

It was a beautiful day. Harlingen offers this tour every Saturday to the public free of charge. Over 20 murals to see, and so much history. We did this as an Eastgate tour. Its so nice for everyone to be together. Lunch after of course.

Racheal from SegValley Tours came for Coffee and Donuts and brought one Segway. After her demonstration, she invited everyone to try it out in the parking lot.

Margene who is 84 and her daughter Kathlynn, and Rachael, owner of SegValley Tours

So much fun was had by all. This was their chance to fulfill their bucket list. Next we had our Annual Golf Cart Christmas Parade and after was Ice Cream and Singing Carols.

The carts were all decked out in Christmas lights and decorations. A group of ladys walked ahead of the carts dressed as the Reindeer and sang Christmas Carols. They traveled all over the park ending at the hall for the rest of the party. Of Course Santa was their too….

We had our Christmas Dinner, with platters of ham and everyone bringing a dish or two to serve at their table. Also the table decorating contest.

They all out did themselves this year. The tables were beautiful, from fun and festive, to beautiful and elegant. This was the first place winner. Great group of people who put so much effort into their Gingerbread Truck and Camper. The hill was also lite up with lights. Awesome Job.

Rich’s brother John came down from Illinois to be with his daughter and family from New Braunfels Tx. Its about 5 or 6 hours away. They met down on South Padre Island for Christmas. We went down the following day and spent the nite. Misty, Mark and the kids had a great time on the beach.

They enjoyed fishing on the jetty. The fog was pretty thick that morning.

You could see it just come in and blow through the island. It was hanging pretty low. This was an awesome picture of the fog covering the lower part of the hotel. The top part just appeared out of the fog like a ghost.

Also the Pirate Ship cruise went by. It was rather spooky too with the fog that was present. They offer games and pirates fighting. A very authentic feeling of a pirate ship. After Mistys family went back home, John and Glenda came by and spent 2 nites. We took them to Progresso Mexico for their first time every.

They had a great time. It is quite an experience for anyone. We sat down at the Red Panty Bar on the tables on the street.

Ordered a few drinks and Glenda took it all in. Street musicians playing drums and trumpet as well as a man playing guitar behind us.

Now this is what every women loves including me of course…lol…..Shopping for jewelry from the street vendors.

Now this was in a store for sale. Beautiful isn’t it. The price on it is $250. I love it. Now if I had a house, …..lol….and a little extra money, I would certainly remodel my bathroom around this toilet. They also have sinks…..lol.. The following day we went to the 77 Flea Mkt. It is so big you can’t see it all in one day.

Rich did find a new pal. This is for Scott and Brandy at the bar. Were not sure if its a “Sally or Sam”….lol….Scott already has “Bones and Trixie”, so this will be a nice addition to the family. We spent New Years Eve with a group of friends.

We spent the nite with a fire pit and Tom smoked a brisket…..At midnite the fireworks in town were huge. They went off in all directions. The next day we heard a lot of people woke up because of all the noise. Happy 2017

Some of the lights of our park. This is 2 Mesquite Trees. The owners have them decorated so beautifully. They are near the entrance and give the park a great impression when you pull in…..

This camper is in the RV section. It is beautiful and complete with music as you drive by.

“Happy New Year 2017”

……May it be everything You Want it to Be…..

Randy Reindeer Came to Eastgate

December 29, 2016December 31, 2016w2bergen 1 Comment

Santa sent Randy to Eastgate as a back up for Christmas Eve if any of the reindeer got tired……Or the Story goes…..lol

The very end of November Alice and Tom came to me with this really cool idea. “Lets have a Scavenger Hunt. They had this cute little reindeer that we named Randy and we decided on this story.

So Alice and Tom would hid him in the evening and text me the clue. In the morning I would post the clue in both halls and on FaceBook. Someone would find Randy and bring him to me and get an entry into the drawing on Christmas Day. Everyone started getting a kick out of Randy. He would hide in flower carts, peek out tree branches all through the park. Several weeks back Randy was taken to Port Mansfield which is over an hour away. They have lots of deer that are very tame. They come right up to your car.

The group that took him said that Randy wanted to meet his family. Then they all went bar hopping. The funny thing was, Alice and Tom were part of the group. Nobody knew they were hiding him. lol. They played the game well.

So Randy started to drink. He made new friends and I think sucked down beer, Margaritas, and who knows what all. He was a Very Bad Reindeer. I didn’t know where he was until the group was posting these pictures on Eastgate FB site.

I knew Randy was going to come home with a BAD BAD Hangover. Finally he came home. He rested up a bit and later he was dressed up in a new Hat. He decided to get out his inner tube and throw it in the hot tub. He wanted to rest up and wake up in the morning floating in the sunshine. The Clue for the morning was …….

Fun in the Sun before the busy week ahead…..

But poor Randy, he didn’t realize a bad storm came up about 4 in the morning. It rained and the wind blew hard. In the morning, I had went up to post the clue and I got a mysterious text. …… Randy was found in the water, his tube had capsized overnite……. But he was safe, just water logged. lol. I had to towel dry him and use the blow dryer on him. I feed him soup and tucked him in bed for the rest of the day. So Randy hid again that nite…….Clue….”Randy has to check out a line for messages. He will be sending out Daily Messages to Santa this week”….lol…So where do you suppose he was this time? He was by a Direct Tv Satellite. After several days, Randy decided he wanted to go to Mexico.

He hid on the window of our neighbors, Glen and Kathy. So this time Randy dressed up in his Santa hat, a red coat with fur and a snowflake on the front. He also had a glass in his hand…..He had a sign….’Help!!! I need a Margarita”…..Now I think he’s turning into an Alcoholic. So he went to Mexico with Kathy and Glen, Dawn and Rob, their son and girlfriend, who just came and Rich. Now Rich was designated driver for Kathy and Glen, and Randy also.

He had his passport and climbed in their back pack.

He went through the turnstiles and entered Mexico.

It all went down hill from then. He found the hard liqueur.

And the worst part was all of his chaperones didn’t stop him. He even sang with Mexican band and they did a Hat Dance with him in the center of the floor in the hat.

He was such a mess. When I didn’t hear from him by late afternoon, I knew he was …..”WASTED”…..They finally got him home around 8:30 that nite. Rich was fine…But then their was ….”Glenn”….He had a good time. But he probably doesn’t remember. So Randy took the nite off cause of a hangover. He stayed in bed most of the next day. The last days Randy was good and hid every nite, entertaining all of us. Christmas morning Pastor Squire even invited him to church. Pastor gave him a front row seat and announced they had a visitor for the services. We all hoped he would listen to the sermon and see the error of his ways. Later that day was our Christmas Dinner. He sat proudly in front on the stage and helped us pick our ……Winner of the contest……..

…..Ursula Randall…..She was presented with a Gift Certificate at a local Mexican Restaurant and Reindeer Ears. lol….We then announced our wonderful Owners of Randy and who had been hiding him all this time. No one ever suspected Alice and Tom. Every nite they would ride around waiting for people to go to bed so they could hid him. Kudos to them for doing this for almost 24 days. They only took several days off when they got sick with the Texas Crud….lol…The Park had so much fun. Some were waiting everyday to see the clue. Some enjoyed just reading about him and laughing and trying to figure where he could be. Never the less, Randy made a HUGE difference in the park this year. Now will Randy come back next December?

It all depends on what Santa decides. He never used him for Christmas Eve. So was it because he couldn’t trust him, or did he just not need him. We’ll never know. I did hear he was thinking of sending him to AA meetings. He might go to Rehab for the Summer. Randy had promised to stay in the Park, so he broke many rules. So for now Randy is sitting in the Activity Office in the Park. Just waiting for Santa’s decision…..

……………Poor Randy………..

Turkeys, Turkeys, Pipeline Nearing Done……….

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015w2bergen 2 Comments

“This gas pipeline was suppose to have gas in it by Oct. 1, according to the contract. They are behind. This past week, they finally finished all the tests with the “Pigs” to clean out the pipes and reduce the moisture percentage. They called in the welders to weld the 2 sections of 15 miles of pipe at the valves. This is on my gate. When the welding was complete, they then had to run more pigs from plant to plant. That would be a total of around 32 miles of pipeline. They had to send a “smart pig” down to check humidity and cleanliness. Then they had to send another “smart pig” down to check for anomalies at the welds or any dents or anything out of the ordinary. This “pig” costs around $50,000. It has sensors all over and records the whole pipeline, sending print out as it goes. All of that is nearing completion, but Oct 1 is here. In the contracts, all the property owners had put in fines if the deadline was not met. On Richs’ side, the owners had a daily late fee…..We heard $20,000 a day…..Lot of money……On Wed., the 31st, the company gave the workers a deadline. ” You must have the stretch between Gate 16 and 20 closed off and released to the property owners by midnight”. So we had to stay on our gates till after dark. This stretch consisted of around 7 miles. Unlike Illinois, their is so many roots from the cactus and mesquite trees in the ground. After they cover the pipe with the dirt, they have to manually walk the pipeline and pick up all the roots.

This is one trailer of many, they hauled into my gate. Their were at least 3 trucks pulling trailers and cages driving rounds.

It is unbelievable the amount of roots that are collected. They hauled them to my side and dig big holes to bury them. Eventually the whole 32 miles will be walked and cleaned. So Wed. nite, they pulled every man off their job, even the heavy equipment operators to clean. By a little after 9 pm. they had hauled all the port a pottys from the other gates, and had picked up the roots, and all machinery was driven across to my gate. Finally they locked up the gate………Gates 15-20 now OFFICIALLY closed……So now, my gate is still open, and Rich and I will be taking turns with it. Now we get a day off every other day. ….. Good Deal. ….. We are sure ready for that.

When they first enter an area to dig, they have to clear the trees and cactus.

This is what typical property looks like before cleaning.

This is what the ground looks like after. These are roots that are still growing. The brush on top has been cut down, but see all the roots? When the ground is dug, all these will be in the dirt. Sure is different that Illinois dirt…..and I complain about weeds?….lol….

This is the section of pipeline now closed. The road on the right belongs to the rancher. On the left is the pipeline. The ground will eventually be taken over by nature and will be a great pasture area for the wildlife and cattle.

This is the property line of the rancher on my side. Most all of the ranchers mow a path against the fences and the rest is natural land for hunting. They use it as a path to get around to hunt with their vehicles or 4 wheelers, and it is also a great grazing area for cattle. This rancher has a high fence for the purpose of keeping his white tailed deer inside.

Their are lots of turkey here. We can watch them herd up and down the road a half a mile away. They never seem to come all the way up to us. I guess they know where home is….lol..

We had heard some guys say they roust on the telephone poles at nite…..Really….That’s a long way up for a big bird. They other morning at sunrise, one of the workers said they seen them 4 telephone poles away. Rich and I got in the truck and drove down. ….. Amazing……

They just sat their and then they were getting nervous, probably because we were watching them, and then flew away one by one….Amazing these big birds can lift their bodies and fly up that high.

Last nite as I was leaving and making my 3.5 mile drive up the gravel road at about 10 miles an hour, I drove past a ranchers gate, and the flock was running back and forth in front of the gate….It was so funny. I sat their in the truck and one by one they finally flew over the fence.

Looked like they were saying………..”Let us in…Let us in….”

Over by the edge inside of the fence was a Long horn Steer watching….Then up came a cow….Imagine what they were thinking…….”Stupid birds, You can fly”…..

Just found out, we will have the weekend off. They are closing our gate for the weekend for hunting. I think they are trying to keep the property owners happy….lol….Deer season is almost here and Quail season is here. As we sit every day, you can see the Quail walking in flocks across the road. You can hear the little peeps and then here they come….lol…so cute….It you scare them they take off flying. I tried to take a picture but haven’t succeeded yet.

It will be nice to have the weekend off. That means a trip to town, probably eating out several times. and a little exploring………….I sure hope that I’m not boring you with some of this info. Rich and I find it very interesting. Were always asking questions to understand what is happening. So interesting…..Were never to old to learn are we…..

………….''AND LET THE FUN BEGIN''……………..

Our Diaries of Daily Life and Travel

Texas

Our Riverside Dreamer Cruise in Mission

Happy New Year! Where Did Dec. Go

Randy Reindeer Came to Eastgate

Turkeys, Turkeys, Pipeline Nearing Done……….

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