Texas - Day 133 - South Padre Island, up the Rio Grande, to Falcon Heights

Falcon State Park, Falcon Heights

Tuesday, 16 March 2021

The South Padre Island KOA was enormous, with 202 campsites and a number of cabins.  The sites were all very small, so as to pack as many people into this place as possible.  I saw quite a few RVs that were barely a foot from the one behind them.  The campground was nearly full - I don't think there were more than a dozen empty spaces - because even though it wasn't a weekend, it was Spring Break.  In one area, I saw 8 Jeeps at 8 campsites, all next to each other, which can't be a coincidence.

Even early in the morning it was still very warm and humid.  I saw on the TV weather report that the area of Texas north of Rio Grande City (northwest of here) is in "exceptional" drought status, and this area isn't much better off.  So the moisture in the air isn't translating into moisture in the soil.

The campground was full of palm trees and oleanders.  And grackles.  Very loud grackles.  Lots of them.

today's route

After leaving the campground, I drove around a bit on the island to see if I could find any beach access.  I have a vague memory of coming here with my mom - it must have been at least 45 years ago - and sleeping in my VW Super Beetle on the beach because we weren't really prepared for camping.  And having to wake up suddenly during the night because the tide was coming in and about to engulf us.

I suppose it's only to be expected (though I guess I didn't) but that whole area that was just sand all those years ago has been paved over.  Large hotels and resort-catering businesses are everywhere here.  I couldn't find any beach access at all, except through the hotel lobbies.

I found a large grassy area and walked the dogs a bit and watched some fishermen, who looked like professionals, getting ready for a day of work on their boats.

Laughing Gulls
(off the internet)

I saw a Brown Pelican and a flock of at least 50 black-headed gulls, that my best guess is were Laughing Gulls, based on where they're supposed to be and their black heads and black wing tips.  The thing is, though, that the bird book says that's their breeding plumage and, in fact, no birds have black heads in the winter.  So birds think it's springtime, I guess. 

I went back across the Queen Isabella Bridge and Causeway - which, by the way, was 2.5 miles long, so I'm pretty proud of myself for making it okay twice - and stopped for gas.  I was once again astonished to find that everyone in the convenience store was wearing a mask and asked the clerk about it, and she said there's a city ordinance requiring masks.  I guess it's okay with the governor when the city of Port Isabel has more stringent COVID requirements than his; it's just the city of Austin that can't do it.  For some reason I've never quite understood, state officials can't stand anything Austin does, and I don't think it's as simple as state Republicans vs. local Democrats.

I saw a billboard saying: "Help Fight Plastic Pollution," sponsored by NurdlePatrol.org.  I had to look that one up and learned that a nurdle is a plastic pellet used to manufacture plastic products.  This organization is asking people to respond to their survey if they find some of these nurdles washed up on the shores of our various bodies of water.

The drive down to Brownsville on TX Hwy 48 had water on both sides: South Bay (off the Gulf of Mexico) on the left and Bahia Grande on the right.

I passed a boat harbor full of shrimping boats.  I remember when I was in the fishing industry in Alaska we heard that lots of those shrimping in the Gulf were Vietnamese refugees.  Apparently that situation has changed, primarily due to foreign shrimp farming, which undercuts the prices for wild shrimp.  Same for farmed salmon vs wild salmon, by the way.  I found this interesting article about the current Gulf shrimp fishing industry.   https://www.caller.com/south-texas-shrimpers-cling-culture-industry-shifts 

I passed a huge facility labeled Keppel AmFELS, which says it does all kinds of work on mobile oil drilling rigs and platforms.

The sign proclaiming "Welcome to Brownsville" called the town "On the Border By the Sea."

I passed the Port of Brownsville, the appropriately-named Chemical Road off to the left, and then came to the highway sign for Brownsville, pop. 175,023.  Brownsville is the 3rd largest of Texas's border cities, after El Paso and Laredo.

Coming into town I drove through a distinctly non-tourist area: industrial and automotive businesses, eateries, then a section of nice houses, followed by more industrial and automotive businesses.

Then I got lost trying to follow Google's directions to the county courthouse.  I made 2 wrong turns, going several miles on each before figuring out they were the wrong ways.  But in doing so, I found the community of Boca Chica, which was very residential and attractive.  That was the 1st wrong turn - to very nice housing.  The 2nd wrong turn took me to mediumly nice housing.  And the right turn took me through a distinctly lower class area.  

I passed Texas Southmost College (that's the actual name), a junior college with 7,000+ students.  And I passed a border crossing - almost got sucked across the border but found a legal turn at the last minute.

Even once I finally got to the courthouse, I couldn't get to it.  The street in front of it's blocked off and I finally ended up in the parking lot across the street to get a photo.

Cameron County Courthouse
in Brownsville

None of the labels on the building confirmed it was the courthouse and it wasn't until I finally gave up and was leaving that I found this view on the side.

That's the end of the building. 
Don't know why they were trying so hard to hide the name on the front.

Back on the road, this time on US 281, I passed one of several sections of the World Birding Center.  This one was Resaca de la Palma State Park, claiming its 1,200 acres are the largest tract of native habitat in the World Birding Center's system.  They also boast that birdwatchers here can see as many as 284 species (if they wait long enough).

As I drove north along the route of the Rio Grande, I suddenly realized I was passing sections of the famous Trump Border Wall.

There doesn't seem to be just one design for the Wall, as I'd expected; these 2 photos were taken within a few miles of each other.  Note also that the Wall comes quite close to some of the homes in its path (see left photo above).

Then I came to sections where there were some real gaps, and apparently deliberate ones.

(Sorry these are so dark, but you can see the day was quite overcast, and if I lightened the photos too much, you couldn't see the Wall.)

I noticed at a number of the crop fields there were rough roads through the fields, to and through a gap in the Wall the width of the road, and on to the other side.  The Wall divided someone's agricultural property and the farmer's gotten permission from somewhere to un-divide it?

I saw only 4 Trump signs/flags today, including one flying on a pole from the back of a pickup truck as if the election were next week.  Although this area of Texas is always a pretty solid Democratic vote, in general these are conservative folks and I'd've thought there might be more Trump support here than these few signs/flags indicate.  Or maybe it's just that they support him but are realistic about the election.

There are bridges for border crossings at intervals all along this part of the state.  At Los Indios, pop. 1,083, for instance, there's one called Free Trade International Bridge.

I passed large plowed fields, some already planted.  I saw small towns dotted here and there, with houses and businesses in between them and the fields.

I came to towns named Calaboz, La Paloma, Bluetown, Santa Maria, Relampago ("lightning" in Spanish).

I saw many more grackles and flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds.

The farther north I went, the more intermittent the Border Wall was.  It wasn't just that I couldn't see it from the road; I'm talking about places where I could see the Wall and see the gaps in it.  I've heard there've been some fierce battles over the eminent domain that the government was claiming vs. property rights, so maybe some of the gaps I've seen are coming from gaps in legal access.

I passed fields with some kind of veggie that I couldn't quite figure out - I saw both green and purple broad-leafed plants and they seemed to be growing on a stalk, maybe 1½' tall.  I think I saw large fields of green onions - I mean I think that's what was growing in those fields I definitely saw.  I saw cabbage being harvested in yet another field, and more growing elsewhere, along with maybe cauliflower in other fields.

I passed the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1943 to protect migratory birds.  Birds are a big deal in this whole area.

We stopped in Pharr (no highway sign but a pop. of 70,400) to take a much needed break.  I found something they call Hub City, which is an area for food trucks, but there were only a few there and none of them was open.  In fact, I didn't see an operating food truck the entire time I was in the Valley.  COVID concerns, I guess.  But I was seriously disappointed because I was hoping for some street tacos.

I took a slight detour to Edinburg, pop. 77,100, because it's a county seat.  As far as I can tell, though, they're building a brand new county courthouse, and it's considerably more attractive than the old one.

new Hidalgo County Courthouse (70% complete)

current Hidalgo County Courthouse
in Edinburg

The current courthouse was built in 1954 in what they called the Moderne style.  During construction, traffic is being rerouted all around several city blocks and was a real nuisance, especially since I was there for lunch-hour traffic.

Edinburg boasts the museum of South Texas History, and I drove by a large campus labeled UT RGV.  It took me a bit to figure out that's the Rio Grande Valley campus for the University of Texas.

South of Edinburg on the border I came to McAllen, which also didn't have a highway sign, but I can say the population in 2019 was estimated as 143,268, which seems to me to be enough folks to deserve a highway sign.

Between McAllen and next-door Mission, pop. 77058, I was stopped at every traffic light on Business Route US 83.  I could tell the stop lights were to allow east-bound traffic to have green lights instead, because those cars were getting stopped at every light just like those of us west-bound.  Apparently it was just really lousy traffic control, thinking they could substitute constant red lights for some other speed control measures.

I saw a mural that I think said "Mission Eagles 1941" and then "Eleven Brothers Are Hard to Beat."  And I'm pretty sure at least one portrait was of Tom Landry, legendary coach of the Dallas Cowboys.  Turns out he was born and raised in Mission and played football for the Mission High School Eagles.  But I couldn't figure out what the 11 brothers were about or the 1941 bit either, because I kept getting references to the Philadelphia Eagles and other useless football items.

Everywhere I went, everyone I saw was wearing a mask, both indoors and out.  I'd heard the virus rate in the Valley's been one of the highest in the country, and apparently that risk factor has sunk in to the local folks.  Considering the casualness I've seen elsewhere in the state, it was stunning to see almost 100% compliance, even after the governor lifted the mandatory restriction.  I have to say I started to feel safer down here than almost anywhere else I've been recently.

I saw signs directing people to the International Ferry.  Not something I'd heard of, and it turns out to be a one-of-a-kind: a hand-pulled ferry.  Here's some information about it.   https://chimneyparkresort.com  I don't know if it's still in operation, given current immigration concerns, but it may well be because ICE is certainly on top of it.

I started to see an extraordinary number of State Trooper cars - 6 within a 1-mile stretch of road.  And then another one a mile later.  I started to wonder if it were some kind of speed trap, because the speed limit was posted at 55 mph, slower than anybody but me usually goes.

I saw another half dozen or more troopers in Rio Grande City, pop. 13,834.  Rio Grande City claims the record for highest temperature for the month of March in the entire country: 108° back in 1954.  It got warm today but fell shy of that record by about 30°.  Passing through town I saw an amazing dome on one of the municipal buildings, and this is what I found online.

All this finery seemed a little out of place in this dusty border town, but it sure is an eye-catcher.

Also in town is Historic Fort Ringgold.  Off and on for nearly 100 years, this fort guarded the city and the Rio Grande from smugglers, rustlers and insurrectionists (!) as well as performing other services to the area.  I can't figure out what insurrection they were defending against 0 I found the word on this page for the Texas State Handbook.   https://www.tshaonline.org/fort-ringgold

I passed a billboard that said, "You're Still Young."  I have no idea what it was about, but I spent some time debating the proposition with myself.

Rio Grande City is also the county seat, and the address I got online sent me a couple miles out of the main part of town.

Starr County Courthouse
in Rio Grande City

The sign by the road at this building says it's the county courthouse annex, which made me think I got sent to the wrong place.  But apparently this is where the county's business is transacted and records are kept.  The much older building in town is where judges preside over courtrooms.  Interestingly, it was built in 1939 as a WPA project, and there's more information and photos at this link.   http://www.courthouses.co/starr-county

We parked in the parking lot at the building above so the dogs could stretch their legs a bit.  A state trooper was parked not far away and I asked him about the overwhelming law enforcement presence I'd been seeing.  He told me the governor was claiming the Biden administration wasn't doing anything about border security so he wanted to "flood" the area with law enforcement.  Their ostensible (my word) purpose was to stop drugs and human trafficking, but the trooper said most immigrants were turning themselves in to claim asylum, and all the bad guys were avoiding the cops because they were all out in "marked units" (his words) and so very visible.  He said he guessed it's all "kind of political."  I got the impression this particular trooper isn't one of the governor's fans.  But at least I found out what all the cop cars were about.

Throughout today's drive, I passed several locations of the World Birding Center, another being at Roma Bluffs, at the town of Roma, pop. 9,765.  Oddly, Roma is currently a sort of Ground Zero for illegal river crossings, and I found an article describing the situation.   https://www.msn.com/small-texas-town-center-of-border-crisis  But there are also legal crossings via the International Bridge, and I noticed a number of Casas de Cambio in town - as I have in all the border towns I've visited.  Makes sense - when I've gone to Mexico a casa de cambio (currency exchange) is one of the first places I've visited, so those crossing the border the other way would do the same.

I'm guessing Roma leans heavily on tourism, partly for its historic buildings but mostly for its access to birds.  Part of the town has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and this website for the National Park Service offers compelling reasons not only for the designation but also for why I should have visited while I was in the area.  Next time through for sure.   https://www.nps.gov/Roma-Historic-District  And this website for the World Birding Center  http://www.theworldbirdingcenter.com/Roma helps explain both the birding in Roma and also (click the tab for "Bird Information") at all the WBC locations - e.g. people have documented almost 500 species of birds at the WBC locations, most of them seen nowhere else in the US.  

Throughout this area, local elections are in progress - a conclusion based on the multiplicity of campaign signs I saw in every town along the river.  Almost all the candidates were running as a slate of offices - usually 3 candidates asking to be elected together to the city council.  That's not something I'm used to seeing almost anywhere else I've been.

I saw a sign telling me I was on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, which isn't a surprise given I'd been passing sites for the World Birding Center.  But the Texas Trail is the largest in the country with 308 birding sites and 450+ bird species.  The state government doesn't get the credit for that except as a matter of geography: it lies at the crossroads of the Central Flyway, the Mississippi Flyway and the Gulf Coast and, as I've seen myself, it has a very wide range of habitats - something to suit every bird, you might say.

I passed a sign saying "Warning: Tick Eradication Quarantine Line."  Not a program I'd heard about, but I can now report that a particular kind of tick can spread cattle fever, which was seriously toxic from Mexico to Virginia in the late 1800s.  It was eradicated in the US in the 1940s and the US Dept. of Agriculture established this quarantine line along the border.  But since Mexico isn't doing much to combat the ticks, they've been able to spread across the border - not least via wildlife, because deer, for instance, can carry these ticks.  I was especially intrigued to learn that the USDA's Tick Force patrols these areas on horseback.  I can't myself see how they'd be able to spot a tick from the back of a horse, but I'm assuming they know what they're doing.  Travel really broadens the mind.

I passed through Falcon Heights, with no highway sign so I looked it up.  It reported 53 residents at the 2010 census, which was a considerable drop from the 335 reported in 2000.  I can't imagine what happened.  It too has a border crossing via the Falcon Dam which created Falcon Lake from the waters of the Rio Grande.  The town reminded me a lot of the living conditions in Robert Redford's 1988 The Milagro Beanfield War.

It took me 8 hours of driving today to cover a distance Google said would take me about half that.  But of course I stopped for rest breaks and sightseeing and getting lost here and there.  Still, I was surprised to find, when I got to the park gate at 3:30 that I was 8th in line, and 2 more came in behind me.  I wouldn't have thought this place was particularly on anybody's must-see list, and this was a Tuesday, usually a light day in campgrounds.  

I think the interest was in the fishing, though even there it looked to me like they'd have to be dedicated.

the boat ramp

As I'd heard back in South Padre Island, this area is in exceptional drought status, and this photo pretty well sums it up.  That's not water way down at the end of this ramp.  That's ground - muddy, but still ground.  The floating walkway used to launch boats is wa-a-ay down at the bottom of the ramp.

That truck is heading down a road that now takes boaters down to the water level, which you can just barely see in the distance through those trees.  Like I said, dedicated fishermen.

At the top of the ramp I couldn't help but see these signs.

signs in Spanish (at left) and English

Until I saw these, it hadn't occurred to me that we'd be close enough to Mexico to cross over, but that was before I realized the road over the dam was an international crossing point.  

Another sign nearby informed boaters that it's state law for every boat operator born on or after Sept. 1, 1993, to take a boater education course.  A really good idea for sure, but I wonder if it's ever enforced.