Biking at Santa Ana NWR

Last Sunday was a beautiful day, so after we got home from church and the grocery store, we decided to load up the bikes and take a drive over to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.  I had read that their park road is open to bicycle traffic Thursday – Sunday, and we could get in a good 7 mile ride in the afternoon.

We stopped in the Visitor Center to get our bicycle permit and wrist bands (no charge for either, but required to keep bicyclists in the park), and started out on the wildlife loop.

First stop was the Observation Towers.

We had a nice view of the refuge, but didn’t see any wildlife – not eagles or hawks, or any other birds for that matter.

The second tower had a swinging bridge between the tower and the steps,

that was fun!

We continued on, until we came to an old cemetery.

We walked along the trail, until we reached the cemetery.

Most of the grave markers are simple crosses, but there are a few headstones, too.

This historic marker was at the grave of Thomas Walter Jones.  He was the one of the surveying team who marked the US-Mexico border along the Rio Grande River, following the Mexican War.  While working on the survey, he drowned in the river.

Leaving the cemetery and getting back on the bikes, we reached a trail that goes down to the Rio Grande River.

We followed the trail, on the lookout for interesting birds, but only saw a bunch of airplants in the trees.

We reached the river,

where we could see a beautiful cattle ranch across the river in Mexico,

and plenty of evidence of trails coming up the bank from the river on the US side.  We couldn’t help but wonder how many illegals try to make their way through the park.  There’s a permanent Border Patrol station inside the park, so I guess they keep a pretty close eye on the situation.

This wildlife refuge is one of the areas that is designated to get a section of border wall, and some people are upset that it will cut through the refuge property.  If they have a gate where the wildlife drive goes through the wall, though, it really shouldn’t make any difference to access for the public.

Photo Op at the Rio Grande!

We finished the ride around the park, stopping at one more trail that sounded like it might take us to a lake (Cattail Lake Trail), but apparently it’s a dry lake, since we never did find any water!  The last section of trail was along the levee wall back to the visitor center.

It was a really nice ride, and a beautiful day to enjoy it!

McAllen Car Fest

We weren’t sure what Car Fest was going to be like, but it sounded fun, and Tom is always up for a car show.  This one is indoors, reminding us of the Detroit Auto-Rama at Cobo Hall, but definitely on a smaller scale.

The show started Friday evening, and then went all day Saturday and Sunday.  There was also a free Drive-In movie on Friday night in the parking lot of the Convention Center (not really part of the Car Fest, but they were showing “Gone in 60 Seconds”, so related . . .), so we decided to head over to McAllen on Friday afternoon, do some shopping and get some dinner, and then go to the Car Show and the movie afterwards.

Sounded like a great plan for a nice evening – date night!

One benefit of going to the show on Friday afternoon was that there weren’t as many people there.  I saw pictures from Saturday, and it was really busy – there was no crowd at all on Friday!

There were about 300 cars in the show, small in comparison to a Detroit car show, but not bad for south Texas.

There were some very unique vehicles,

like this super cool Super Duty truck!  Lots of awards for that one!

There were several Classic Car Clubs sponsoring the show --

the Mopar Club had the best display in my opinion,

but they didn’t have as many cars there as the Corvette Club,

OLD

and NEW

or the Mustang Club.

A few other classics that we always see,

including Nicolas’ favorites!

Speaking of Nicolas, this was something we’ve never seen before.  This Rat Rod was dedicated to active duty military members and veterans.  There was a sign asking people to add their own or family member’s names if they have served or are currently serving.

It was hard to find an open spot!  But we found one, and added Nicolas’ name.

PRETTY COOL!

Another Rat Rod,

and some nice looking Broncos, too.

There were some really cool old classics – check out those trunks --

and those huge back bumpers!  Love all that chrome!

Then there’s the “only in Texas” sights that we saw!

El Jefe,

and Lowrider Row.

There were a few “celebrity” cars, too.  The Batmobile was there, but not doing any performances that night,

but as we were leaving, we saw Bumblebee put on a show.

It was a nice show, not really big, but big enough to keep us busy for a couple hours.  We went out to the Jeep, and drove around the parking lot for a little bit before we found where they had an big inflatable screen set up.  We pulled into the field, and parked in the 2nd row directly in front of the screen to wait for the movie to start.  There was a guy walking around selling popcorn and snacks, but we had brought our own.

They told us the radio station to tune to for the movie, and it was a station out of Reynosas, Mexico . . . uh oh, is the movie going to be in Spanish, too!?!?  Eventually, the movie started, and it was in English!  Whew!  We’ve seen it before, but it was still a fun evening!

Successful date night!