"Today is a Good Day to Drive!" .....Van-Go

March 30, 2007 Happy Birthday Will We awoke to the crow of the Luckenbach roosters. There was a peek of sunshine and then the sky grew dark, clouds covered the sun. it was time to leave. We headed east trying to out run the rain, but we didn’t make it very far. The dark clouds opened on us and dumped raindrops, lots of raindrops all around. We drove past LBJ; bye Beverly, Zee, Bob&Dolly and Sally&Merrill. Then with drops a dripping we drove through Johnson City and into Pedernales Fall State Park. The rain was now just a constant drizzle, good for sinking into the ground. We could see the bright sky around, the front was still moving. We found a place to park down near the falls and enjoyed a game of Boggle with the rain pouring down. We donned our rain gear and braved the rains; we walked down to the falls. The Perernales River was flowing full, muddy and foamy. Back inside we got some hot tea and some dinner. It was a dinner show sort of day so we watched Departed with Matt D

March 29, 2007 Met up briefly with Sally and Merrill; sat in their truck and chatted a bit. Did some internetting, went to the rest area and made some dinner and then drove down to Luckenbach. (New Luckenbach pictures in the Photo Gallery.) Sometimes it is like magic here; this was one of those nights. Tonight’s guest and host was Thomas Michael Riley, singer and songwriter. Our favorite is Redneck Riviera about camping out on South Padre Island, but he has many great songs. And who else and with such talent could write a song about golf; it is so good and fun that you don’t even care that it is about golf. Besides being talented songwriter and singer, Riley is a gifted entertainer. We enjoyed listening, singing along and watching the performance. After two long sets Thomas Michael invited other pickers to join him. Levi, the girl from CA that we heard last night and several others we had not heard before moved into the playing circle. Thomas Michael put his hand on Kathy's should

March 28, 2007 We woke to the call of roosters. Vehicles were pulling in to the legendary town of Luckenbach since seven this morning. Candace Kunz (She has a CD out and does graphic design for many other artists; she is known as the “Sweetheart of Luckenbach”.) and Danny were at the Luckenbach bar sipping coffee when we walked in. We had a nice chat catching up a bit on family and careers. Candace and T-Roy are going on the road with their music lining up gigs all over the state. Danny’s grandson has only two valves in his heart instead of three and may need an operation. His two year old great grandnephew has lukema-please keep these two young boys in your prayers. We hung our Van Go cap on the light in an effort to stay at Luckenbach forever and drove off to Fredericksburg. Ladybird Johnson Park is just west of town. The nature walk is a work in progress but we saw lots of critters-turtles, raccoon prints, butterflies, hummingbird, chickadee, chased off two cats in the birding area,

March 27, 2007 We drove to Inks Lake State Park. This park has lots of sites for campers and plenty of hiking trails to keep visitors happy. We stopped in the headquarters’ building and there was Ranger Brandy at the desk; she had been our contact at LBJ last season and has a new position here at Inks. We chatted a bit then found ourselves a little spot to hang for a while. We were right next to the lake with ducks coming right up to the Roadtrek for a snack. Will worked on recaulking the back windows and Kathy did some internetting then together they washed the Roadtrek. We sat under a tree and enjoyed some lunch then headed out. The Hill Country is beautiful country with rolling hills, windy roads, and little towns scattered about. We past the Buchanan Dam, and drove through Llano where we turned onto route16. Past lots of open land and we drove into Fredericksburg where we filled up on gas. The price is going up for gas; most places it was $2.43, but we got it for $.2.35. Then it wa

March 26, 2007 It was a dark and stormy day. We spent the day inside for the most part. Will spent his day playing Fate; Kathy spent her day working on craft projects. We interspersed meals and as the darkness of night overtook the darkness of the stormy day we made dinner, chicken and stuffing with a crisp salad, and watched Sister Act and Fools Money. Sister Act with Whoopie Goldberg is entertaining; Fools Money with Sandra Bullock is about a guy with a lot of money who starts his own religion which teaches one that it is okay to be selfish- a strange movie.

March 25, 2007 Shopping took up the morning. Breakfast, then laundry and the afternoon arrived. We drove the back roads, way back roads with cows grazing along and wildflowers blooming everywhere. The Hill Country is really a natural wonder. Longhorn Cavern State Park was created in 1932. The work was done by the CCC and is just incredible. The cavern , created by water on the limestone bedrock, has some really neat things. There is a layer of chit, like a flint, that the Cherokee Indians came and collected. Part of the cave has a marble look where the fast flowing waters smoothed the limestone. There is a history to the caverns too: prehistoric caveman lived here, confederates used the bat guano to make gunpowder, it was a speakeasy filled with bars and dancing, church services were held here and it is still used as a wedding chapel. Just up the road was a picnic area overlooking the valley; we pulled in. Some scrabble, a walk and some sit time brought us to the lights peeking out far

March 24, 2007 We woke to a cloudy day with a soft breeze, made some coffee and had breakfast under the live oak tree. Ricky stopped by with a hello and told us that Kite Day would get underway sometime around 12:30-1:00. Not what we had expected to hear, but we used the free time to walk over to the tennis court and hit a few balls around. Came back and had some lunch, and were playing scrabble when Ricky and Bob drove up with a truckload of tables. We helped them set up and before we had everything ready the first kite makers arrived. Ranger Patrick had already put up a few of his kites giving the place a little atmosphere. Children came with parents and grandparents ready for a day of making their own kites and flying them. Ricky and the staff had prepared the frames and cut the paper to the correct size so it was just a matter of decorating and assembling. Will helped with getting the kites into the air and Kathy helped with the assembling. Vicky, Karen, Ricky, Bob, Patrick and Bev

Sitting at Luckenbach listening to good tunes. Kathy with ScooterPearce of Gypsy Cowgirls.

March 22, 2007 We got up today before the sun. It got light, but we have not seen the sun. Instead dark clouds are moving in. We sipped a little coffee and woke up. Then we walked along the fence line admiring the wildflowers. We ate a little breakfast and checked the map before heading north on US83. In Uvaldi we picked up gas fro $2.359 down from the $2.45 we had been seeing. Oh, here are the name for our hotel restaurant: Katarina’s Catarina Cantina or Bradley’s Bend Bristo…we have to win the lottery first. We made our way to Garner State Park and drove in and found the river where we parked for the day. Kathy napped, Will played his computer game, Fate and the cloudy day grew a little cooler. By evening we made some soup for dinner and watched some West Wing before we left the park. We found a wide spot in the road to park for the night.

March 20, 2007 Zoom, zoom, zoom. That is what we woke up to. We hit the McDonald’s in Rio Grande City for coffee and drove on to Roma. Traffic was heavy; this is the only road along that runs east/west this far south. The good news: it is a four-lane road with a turn lane in the center. Town to town is connected with homes and small family businesses. Roma is a developing town with a historic district that is being reconstructed. Hollywood has even used this historic town for movies. Marlen Brando as Emiliaro Zapata stood on the balcony and said, “be quiet, I am on my honeymoon.” in the movie Zapata. We looked over the bluff and saw the Great Kisskadee in a tree, ducks in the Rio Grande and a crested caracara flying. We walked to the World Birding Center visitor center, newly opened in December. This is one of nine World Birding Center locations and Roma is number one and is the gateway to this wildlife viewing opportunity. Out of the back room of the visitor center came Jan Mondel, a

March 19, 2007 Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is six miles from Harley’s on the backside of Bayview. Ranger Rudy is in the maintenance department. We miss him; he was our supervisor when we volunteered there a few years back. We had given him our little peckie bird back to fix for us; he would slide down his pole without pecking or worse, just stop. Rudy had him for a week or so and fixed him right up; now he pecks right down his metal pole. Rudy named him Felipe. We got Felipe back with some sand paper in instruction. The rest of the morning we spent driving around the auto loop. An indigo snake slithered across the road, an alligator sunned on the side of Pelican Lake and old coots swam about. We spotted birds: caracara, black vulture, shrike, osprey, heron, grackle, black and white gulls with red beaks, a black and white duck, cormorants, an oriel, a flock of red-wing blackbirds, a whisting duck, two osprey were in osprey field down near moronco blanco trailhead, kiskadee,

March 18, 2007 It was time for us to leave “The Valley” so we did all the things we love down here one more time. We played trivia with Bob, Mary, Connie and Evelyn (What wonderful people!) in Harlingen then headed to Brownsville, home of Gladys Porter Zoo. The zoo is only about an eighth of a mile walk, but the enclosures are all close by and you can see several at one time. For example while standing at the giraffe enclosure watching the seven giraffe move about, you look beyond to see the lions sleeping, the wild dogs running and the long horned deer grazing. First enclosure you come to is the gorilla’s. There are eleven of them counting the baby. We have grown to adore them all: Mosha is the dad of all of them and Silverback for the group. Penny, Martha and Mary are the three sisters. Herubie and N-Zinga are brothers. Osha and Pella are the young girls. Bangor and Megan are the two little ones and there is a new baby that has no name of yet. The newest enclosure is the aviary fille

Thinking green! Staying at the Waldorf in Harlingen we have our own little island of bark chips and a tree. Mockingbirds make music mimicing many musical combinations. A Whistling duck sat up on the sign across the way tooting at us. Grackles sit in our tree telling us tales we wish we understood. We are heading to Boca Chica Beach to wiggle our toes in the sand, soak in some sun, feed the seagulls and fly a kite. Sunday afternoon we will head over to Harley's to listen to John Harley and the Bayview Bushriders one last time before leaving the valley.

March 16, 2007 We managed one more trivia date with good friends at BWWs. The group made #12 on the NATIONAL board for one of our Countdown games!! There is a new baby camel at the Gladys Porter Zoo. When was it born? .... February 15, 2007

We renewed our zoo pass. To see more pictures, and they are really worth seeing, go to the Van Go Gallery.

March 15, 2007 Santa Anna is a Fish & Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Valley. It is part of the World Birding Center, a group of sites know for birding. The trails are wide and clear and FULL of mosquitoes. We put on our extra strength Deet spray and still they came at us, but at least now they were not biting. We climbed the new 40-foot tower and looked out over the treetops in a 360-degree view of the area. We spotted a few birds; the Great Kiskadees chattered “pick me…pick me” and Golden fronted woodpeckers pecked their way up old dead trunks. We discovered our camera would not work; it would not focus so we have no pictures til we get this figured out. Will had wanted to talk with Joe or Ken about his mowing certificate which he earned in 2005 and has yet to receive, but they were not available so we met Ranger Mike and told him our story. He promised to pass along our concern and request for the certificate. We drove to Nueve Progresso,Mexico. Well, actually we parked in Pro

March 13, 2007 After doing laundry we discovered that the back of the van was drenched; the back window must not have been closed tight in the downpour. We had not really checked the back under the bed since we picked it up. We found black mildew- yuk. We drove over to John Kennedy Park in San Benito and took the mattress out to air in the sun along with the rug and boards. Then came the job of scrubbing and cleaning. While we had the mattress out we sorted boxes finding things we forgot we even carried along! It was a long job, but now we know that under the bed is a clean as the top. We drove to the Waldorf and got a chicken for dinner; Walmart makes the best roasted chicken and the price is right. We also picked up a new mattress cover and pad. We relaxed watching West Wing. We are going through season 6.

March 12, 2007 It was a cloudy morning as we sat across the street from Harley’s. The sky was filling with dark storm clouds and by noon it was a down pour. It rained and rained. We said hello to Rudy through cracked window as to not let too much rain blow in. We waited until the most had fallen then headed for somewhere drier. We drove past flooded fields and across flooded roads. This is the most rain we have seen here in the Valley.When it rains here in south Texas where everything is so flat everywhere floods creating large lakes everywhere. The fields looked like shallow lakes. As we drove down the road filled with water on the sides like canals we came to a place were the entire road was a flood zone. We moved slowly through the water splashing out water on each side of the Roadtrek. We played some trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings, did some internetting and drove to the Waldorf where we relaxed and watched episodes of West Wing.

March 10, 2007 If you took out the gasoline explosions from the ground, the 4-team kites and the dirtbike jumping, there was not much to the air show. And we have seen better formations at Boca Chica watching the pelicans. That said, the Commenorative Air Force annual air show was an airshow and it was neat seeing the military planes of old and new. That big cargo B-25, like the ones Kathy saw restored in Kissame, FL, in the air just defies gravity! Seeing the F-15 is one thing, but hearing it thunder by is another. Seven fast colorful planes in the sky flying wingtip to wingtip and changing formations high above was a thrill; it could have been great if it were done a little closer to spectators. The stunt flights of the bi-plane reminded us of friends Pat and Barbara who fly their bi-plane in Florida. We recalled flying in a bi-plane over Key West with JMe! Other planes in the show included a Bearcat, C-47, AT-6 and some Japanese planes. We arrived at the airport after sitting in tra

March 9, 2007 We met friends, Mary and Bob, at the race track. Their friends Lavern (We even know her "real" name!) and Cliff were along too. We followed the receptionist to our front row table. Just though the glass the dirt track was being cleaned. Somewhere the greyhounds were getting ready. Dinner was yummy. We had salad, and grilled talapia on a bed of wild rice served with a green beans and bacon mix. Cliff's sandwich wrap and Mary's chicken basket looked good too. As we finished dinner the dogs came out. There are seven or eight in each race. Handlers all dressed in dark slacks and blue polo shirts, walk them to the center where a guy checks their stance and number vest. Then the handlers walk the dogs to the gate. Once in the gate the handlers run down the track to wait for thier dogs. Moments later the announcer yells out, "Here comes Harley". That means the rabbits on a stick move around the track and when they pass the gate the dogs are released.

March 11, 2007 We woke to the sun loosing to the clouds. Pelicans soaring over, waves crashing against piles of seaweed and a soft cool breeze. We decided to walk up to the jetty; people had told us that it was about a mile and a half. We walked three miles and still the jetty was in the distant fog. We could make out a tall building on South Padre Island. Kathy had made an error; she had worn flipflops. She had to finally take them off to prevent blisters. We decided to turn around. We walked six miles this morning! Jen, we thought of you and that 6K race you and Jill are training for. It was hard enough walking and strolling along for six miles; can't imagine running it. We just kept telling ourselves to put one foot in front of the other. Lines of pelicans came and went along the dunes and the water. These were brown pelicans. They are the ones that dive into the water to feed; white pelicans scoop up their little fishes and usually feed in groups. Laughing gulls entertained us.