We drove over to South Padre Island today. It was a beautiful day, not too much wind, lots of blue sky, and temperatures in the low 80’s. SPI is a huge Spring Break destination, but this time of year it’s just full of Winter Texans and locals enjoying some great fishing and beach time. We drove to the end of the road and then took a nice walk along the beach. Then we drove about 5 miles back to a beach access road, and actually drove up the beach for about 15 miles. It was pretty cool! When we couldn’t see any cars ahead of us, we decided it was time to turn around. First, though, we stopped and enjoyed a snack on our tail-gate. What fun! We had a great seafood dinner (broiled not fried!), and enjoyed a peaceful drive home. It was a beautiful time.
Here are some shots from the day……
This is the bridge to the island. I wonder if those are killer pelicans…..

Here’s our little tailgate party…..

This could be us (eventually!). This guy was camped on the side of the road – with all of his STUFF – solar panels, wind generator, two motorcycles (on the truck bed), bicycles (on front of truck), and an internet satellite dish! My oh My!

And here are just some other beach shots….
Looking South…..

And just plain looking…..

As many of you know, one of the reasons that we headed to southern Texas for this winter was for Gary to get some dental work done in Mexico. Yes, we had heard that many folks go to Mexico for their dental work, and in fact we got a recommendation for a dentist that would only charge us for lab work since we were working at The Way of the Cross (our January project). Since we are talking about several extractions, crowns and bridges, this is a HUGE savings for us. So off we went to the Dentista to begin the process – just a simple extraction. Turns out that there are some pretty long roots in Gary’s mouth – and it took three hours, three dentists (the first one just wore out!), and 5 shots of Novocain before that single tooth was out. It was a VERY LONG day. But much to our amazement, there was very little pain the next day, and he seems to be fine today. His jaw is a little tight just from having to stay open for so long, but otherwise he’s ready for the next visit….this Wednesday. And the adventure continues…….

Tomorrow is our last day working at this project. It’s been a good three weeks – the guys have been very busy at their motel property where numerous staff members live. Their job list never seemed to get any shorter!!Our curtain projects were completed by the end of last week and this week we worked on preparing notebooks for their big Nicaraguan Crusade scheduled for later this year. We had a lot of “chat” time while we were working on the 600 notebooks! Tonight we joined together for Gary’s cesear salad and whatever you want to grill dinner. It was lots of fun! Tomorrow we wrap-it-up and then we begin to pack it up and head on our way. We’ll actually be hanging around through the weekend – we head into Mexico again on Friday for the Dental work to begin (with a couple of extractions! ouch!), and I think on Sunday we’ll head to South Padre Island (weather permitting) for a little beach time. It will be nice to kick back for a bit!

Our next project is just down the road about 30 miles (Hildago), so we’re not it much of a hurry this time!

We have this great little tree by the RV’s – I think it’s a Mesquite Tree. We used it for our group photo –

and then Gary and I did a little posing on our own……

And the same tree with another beautiful Texas Sunset.

Yes, being a Winter Texan is a fine thing!

This weekend we saw two of the many faces of Mexico. Friday we headed south in an old school bus. Along with 30 other folks, we rode to Matamoros (not Aldamo as I had previously said) with cans of beans under our seats and bags of clothing on any empty seats. Our first stop (after we prayed our way through customs) was in a “colonia” (village) located outside of the city. I find it hard to even put into words the life realities of these villages – this may help….

Our stop was at a local mission home – where the folks repair and give away bicycles, distribute clothes, show movies to the children and have Bible studies for the moms. The colonia went on and on and on. The poverty was overwhelming. Our other stops were likewise sobering. We were blessed by the beautiful people we saw who were doing their best in the worst of circumstances. And along with the beans and clothes and candy bars, I hope they also felt the love of Jesus.


It was a day we will never forget.

Saturday was an entirely different view of Mexico. This time we went as tourists – plain and simple!
We crossed the Rio Grande on foot ….

into the city of Nuevo Progresso – land of pharmacies, dentists and street vendors. It was such a different side of Mexico, I am still having a little trouble putting the two together. Here I am with fellow Sower Carol modeling some Mexican hats (which we did NOT buy!).

Gary got to see a dentist that was recommended by our hosts, and it looks like we’ll be traveling to Nuevo Progresso for the next several Fridays as he gets his dental work done (and at a great price!).
It was truly a memorable weekend – on so many levels!

We’re in the second week of our January Project – and thoroughly enjoying our time in the Rio Grande Valley (along with thousands of other Winter Texans, most of whom are from Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, the Dakotas…..). The weather has been lovely – though the wind continues to blow. Gary & I have been walking in the morning, and some mornings it feels like we’re doing it in a wind tunnel! This is a very agricultural area and there are irrigation canals/ditches running between all the fields. Mostly we’re walkin’ in the dark along those canals, but on Friday we got to go a little later and enjoyed the early morning moon!

The fields around us are pretty empty right now, though I understand they will be planted with cotton soon. They seem like mega-wale corduroy to me…….

So what have we been doing? The men have been busy doing building repair and Gary has been busy doing his A/C thing. We girls have been sewing curtains and painting. We’ve enjoyed a couple of game nights, a pot-luck dinner with other Sower’s here in the Valley (about 20 couples), and an RV show (no, we’re not shopping, but it’s always fun to look!). We haven’t made it to Mexico yet, but we have plans to for this weekend. On Friday we’re headed across the border with this ministry to take food and clothing and the Gospel to their Aldama base camp. Then on Saturday we’re doing the tourist thing and will be crossing over (on foot) into Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. Both will be eye-opening experiences in more ways than one I am sure!

I’m still having a hard time believing I’m this far from home. South Texas, can you believe it???
God continues to bless us with beautiful sunsets –

…the wind just changed direction – and it’s gusting up to about 40 mph. Should be an interesting night! =)