Our Trip to Southern Texas

We left the morning of January 7th heading to Texas and it was a warm 8 degrees at our house in Lugoff.  Seldom ever gets that cold in our area so we were really looking forward to the Rio Grande.

At least the sun was shining.

Going across a foggy bridge near Baton Rouge, LA.

What a cool view this is driving across the Atchafalaya Swamp. I never get tired of it.

Lots of amusing billboards along the way.

Arriving in Texas.  Hard to believe it will still be two more days of driving to get to the Rio Grande.  

I love the caption about driving friendly.  In Texas ???

We decided to take the loop around Houston.  Big mistake!!! There is no easy way to get around Houston.

We arrived at Bentsen Palm RV Resort on Sunday and were greeted by some unexpected cooler weather. In fact, the cool weather stayed around for most of January and into the first part of February.  The day before we got here I started feeling poorly and tried to fight off a cold that advanced into a sinus infection and bronchitis.  So, between the cold weather and not feeling well, the Captain got stuck with the dog duties while I recuperated.   

About a week after we got here there was a knock on our door and one of the RVers who works in the park was standing there with a big brown colored lab pup.  He knew we worked with Cinderella Pet Rescue so I guess we were considered the go-to place for lost and unwanted dogs.  

Meet Scottie. He is a year old, ginger colored, lab pup with a silverback haze to his fur.

He was rescued from a busy highway heading toward the interstate with his tail tucked between his legs and in total fear.  When we got him he was covered with ticks and fleas, had no collar, was not neutered, and was completely lost.  We checked with Cinderella Pet Rescue and they were over filled with dogs and did not have room for him.  There is another shelter in town but the euthanasia rate is high so we kept him.  Now the rules in the RV park have a limit of two dogs so that was our first problem.  Management said they would look the other way but I don't think they believed it would be this long.  I immediately gave him flea/tick preventative and also heartworm preventative although he hadn't been checked for heartworms yet.  We got him into a vet and he received all his shots and luckily he was heartworm negative.  They checked to see if he had been microchipped but was not.He has since been neutered and  had additional testing and they found he has a type of tick borne disease so he is on medication for that, too.

He's turned into a really good dog with a very laid back nature.  He loves going on walks along the canal with Desi and Lucy.

He's learning how to get into the water but still just stands in the mud most of the time.

Scottie is still a pup so he is also a chewer.  We've had a few casualties like my hat, a sock, and other unmentionable items.

But the worst damage was to our Garmin GPS that was sitting in an inconspicuous spot on the dashboard of the rig.  All the pups like to lay on the dashboard but our two behave themselves.  Scottie, alas, is still learning.  He nailed it while we were sitting and having a glass of wine with our friends, Ian and Annette, so I guess it's our fault........

Ian and Annette Patience came down in their rig from Houston to spend the month of January with us. Annette was born and raised in Canada and she does not like cold weather. This was probably the coldest ever January on record for the Rio Grande Valley (okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit) but she wasn't having a great time.  

We decided one day to take a boat trip on the Rio Grande because the sun was kinda shining and we felt it would be a good day.  

 

Weren't we silly..... I think we were all smiling because we were thinking about getting off the pontoon and having a drink to warm up. But we did get to see some of the natural habitat on the water.

Our RV park also had their annual Kentucky Derby Race and the Captain and I got seats in the grandstands to watch it.  Many of the women wore stylish hats for the event and mint juleps were served (along with hot dogs and chips) to keep us warm and nourished.  The ladies running around half-naked are from Canada! They thought the weather was great!

And then we were off to the races.  There was gambling, of course, because we each had our favorites.

It was a fast and furious race but finally there was a winner.  Well, actually, several winners because there were many more races so we could all enjoy the juleps.

February 9th was our annual Cinderella Pet Parade and Brett's sister, Debra, came down from Charlotte to help us again.  

Deb enjoying a snack in front of Scottie.  Do you think he's a food driven Lab?

We had many items to auction off including homemade gifts and contributions from local vendors in Mission and McAllen.  

Valentine Gifts Baskets

Two beautiful hand-woven pashmina scarves.

One of our fellow Rvers made her famous pecan pies and they brought in a good deal of money.

But the best part was the pups and the costumes they paraded in.  

And Cinderella brought in some of their pups that are up for adoption and looking for their forever home.

After last year's parade Cinderella bought a transport bus to carry their dogs around town and it was at the event.

The parade was a wonderful success and we were able bring in over $8,000 in contributions for Cinderella.  Everyone was very happy. 

And that's about all from here.  Our sweet pup, Scottie, has been adopted and leaves us on Wednesday, March 7th, heading to Victoria, British Columbia, with his new owners.  We will miss him but they are coming back here again next year so we will meet up again.  What more could one ask for! 

In the meantime, we are heading back towards home with a stop in San Antonio for some rig work and then spend a few days around the area having fun.  Fredericksburg has a wonderful St Patrick's Day festival where they serve green beer.  Can't miss that. 

While we are in the area we will see our friends, Ian and Annette again, which we are looking forward to.  And then it will be the long trek home.  The weather here is beautiful and in the 80's so we won't be rushing too quickly to get home.   Peace!