Last two weeks in Mission, TX

The last few weeks have been spent playing pickleball, swimming in the pools (outdoor and indoor), visiting the restaurants that friends have recommended, making some new friends, and saying goodbye to many who had to leave already.  We'll be leaving on April 5 and heading to the Texas hill country for a week before coming home. We've been watching the weather up north and decided that it's best to stay away a while longer so we don't have to winterize the RV when we get home!
We made one more trip to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico so Bill could get his dental work done. We park on the US side and walk over the Rio Grande River bridge. Painless process and much safer than driving over! We only have about 4 blocks of shops to visit on both sides of the main street. We've been told that this town is the only one that is safe to visit in the area.   They do have armed guards patrolling the streets and we feel safe during the day.

Rio Grande River from the Int'l Bridge

We went to lunch one day at Bill and Deb's favorite fish taco restaurant Mariscos de 7 Mares (Seafood of the 7 Seas).  No English spoken there (maybe just a little) but we got by and really enjoyed the food. For $7.99 we got four tacos, chips and salsas, soup, lettuce salad and rice.

We went on a Segway tour of the nearby Bentsen Rio Grande state park with four other couples from the park. It was a hot day but we made our own breeze and had a great time. This is a world birding park and even though it was afternoon we did see some green jays from one of the blinds.

On Deb's birthday we all went to 492 BBQ for the best BBQ around. This was our 102 degree day so it was a good day to eat out.  Everyone had the ribs except me, I had brisket and pulled pork.  Deb got a free piece of pecan pie and a Mexican serenade of Happy Birthday from the staff!

The park activities are pretty much done now- they hosted a free "last" dance with an old rock and roll band.  Good music and fun, lots of people attended and most danced! We sat with our new Canadian friends.

On Saturday we all went to the McAllen Chamber's BBQ Cookoff. They had 35 competitors! For $15 each we got way too much to eat along with free Buds and sodas. Most of the booths gave us chicken, pulled pork, brisket and ribs!  We stayed all afternoon and listened to the music, a Tejano band and a C/W band. Kirk was called on stage by Sergio, the lead singer in the one band who had been visiting with us earlier in the beer tent. He got a free autographed hat.  Apparently the band is big here- there were a ton of people watching them. We are wearing cloth bags we got for "bibs". Dorky but it worked!

On Sunday we finally got to The Riverside Club which is on the Rio Grande- a huge dance hall, outdoor and indoor dining, and a tour boat that wasn't running.  We had a great lunch outdoors and then went in to watch all the old people dancing.  It was quite entertaining to see the outfits they were wearing and the styles of Texas two step.  I guess this is THE place to be on Sunday afternoons!  Monday we will pack and Tuesday we leave Mission.  It's been a fun two months here and we can't wait to get home and play pickleball in Tomahawk (when my back gets better, that is!)