This morning we boarded Big Blue (the Winter Ranch bus) at 8:30 AM. Then we headed for Mission, Texas and the Riverside Dreamer boat ride.
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| Donna and Charles Vandervort, new Winter Ranchers, on the bus |
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| Riverside Club |
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| Carolyn and Dave Kniker |
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| Teri Thurston, Lois Olson and Laverne Becking |
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| Trophy Gardens Person and Marv Olson |
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| Sandy Trimpe, Wilbur Jacobs, Lu Becking, Mary Hazlett and Donna Jacobs Waiting To Board the Riverside Dreamer |
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| The Riverside Dreamer |
We boarded the boat! We liked the nice padded seats. It was a beautiful day for a boat ride.
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| Jack Hulsey, Trophy Gardens Person, Teri and Dave Thurston, Carolyn and Dave Kniker |
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| Donna and Wilbur Jacobs, and Mickey Hazlett |
The owner of The Riverside Club drove the boat and pointed out various points of interest along the way and made the trip very interesting and informative.
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| A Mexican State Park Across From Riverside that was ruined in flooding in August, 2010 because of Hurricane Alex |
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| Jack Hulsey, Thelma Dick, Mary Hazlett and Chuck Trimpe |
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| Charles and Donna Vandervort |
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| Mary Benfield |
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| LaVerne and Lu Becking |
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| Marv Olson and Lois Weinzierl |
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| Pepe's On The River - the building was totally undermined because of the 2010 Flood |
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| This is what is left of the older Pepe's that was closed prior to the 2010 flood |
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| Mexican Park on the Rio Grande River |
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| Egret |
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| Anzalduas Dam on the Rio Grande River |
After we reached the Anzalduas Dam, the boat turned around and we went back past the Riverside Club and almost up to the Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. We were lucky enough to see some birds today. White pelicans were flying overhead as we floated along. We saw two ospreys, an egret and several circling vultures over fields while on the boat. Later on the bus home, we saw a little blue heron in a canal.
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| White Pelican |
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| Border Patrol Station |
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| Osprey |
The boat ride took about 1 1/2 hours and we were ready for lunch when we docked. Our table ordered seven tenderloins and one shrimp basket. The tenderloins were enormous. One could easily feed two people and they were really good!
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| The Vandervorts and the Knikers |
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| Terri and Dave Thurston |
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| Jack Hulsey, our Bus Driver Extraordinaire |
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| Wilbur Jacobs and Lee Benfield |
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| My tenderloin sandwich - that is a 5" bun - I ate what was around the bun and took the rest of the sandwich home |
Lee and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and we plan to have another one of these tenderloins before we leave the Valley.
