Day 47-Sat, 14 Feb 09-Del Rio, TX to Falfurrias, TX

Photos: (1) Crested Caracara (2) Border Guard and his 'sniffer' looking for drugs at one of the inspection stations along the US/Mexico border. (3) Flea market shoppers

Happy Valentines Day to all the people I love so much...and you all know who you are!

We zigged and zagged our way across the southern tip of Texas, through tiny little deserted towns and finally ended up here...in Falfurrias! The bad part is that it's almost in the middle of nowhere; the good news is that we're in a Holiday Inn Express for the night. We'll be on the beach in South Padre Island tomorrow and it's none too soon for me!

There's no such expression as, "I wonder where that road goes?" in Texas because if you look 20 miles down the road, you'll see where you're going! It's just flat, straight land for the most part but we always seem to find something interesting along the way.

I always thought Georgia was the pecan (nut) capital of the world but Texas must be a very, close second. There are huge orchards everywhere and one lady told us that in the event of hail, the orchard owners fire off bursts of low sonic 'booms' to break up the hail so that it doesn't damage the trees. The trees are really big but I guess enough hail would knock the nuts off the trees. Anyway, we've indulged a few times and I'm telling you, the pecans we get at home are about 1/2 as good as what we've eaten here.

We stopped at a flea market in Eagle Pass. It turned out to be a very Mexican flea market...that is, the attendees were, without exception, all Mexican, buying and selling junk and pawing through mounds of second hand clothes. Whitey & Blondie (Wayne & I) looked like two Rabbi at a pork rib dinner...ie, we stood out like a sore thumb. There wasn't too much you couldn't buy--everything from kid's toys to cowboy boots, tools to freezers--and it has all been WELL used! We did one tour around the circuit and then left.

After a quick lunch stop we reached Freer and one of the few businesses that was still operating was a Dairy Queen so we helped the local economy and each had a sundae.

Throughout the day as we were driving, we both saw some fairy large birds along fence posts and Wayne spotted a couple sitting side-by-side on a telephone wire. While I grabbed the big camera lens, he backed up and I got a couple of good shots. Out then came the bird book and the bird turns out to be a Crested Caracara, part of the falcon family. The wing span is 4 feet so they aren't hard to spot gliding overhead, looking for roadkill or anything else as they will eat anything.

We are settled in to the hotel, lovely huge room and in the process of doing a wash in case we end up staying at the state park which doesn't have too many facilities--other than being right on the beach!

Big kudos to Carmel who is half way through her chemo...send good thoughts her way. Take care everyone and spread a little love on Valentine's Day. Until next time, our love to you. xx