We arrived in Brownsville Texas in time to share in the Charro Days festivities for the final two days. Charro Days has been celebrated for 63 years in Brownsville. The four days of festivities included parades, carnivals, musical entertainment, a charreado rodeo, colonial-era Mexican costumes, grand pageants, Sombrero Festival, foods, children's activities, folklorico dancers, and the Mr. Amigo Celebration downtown.

Charro Days Fiesta is traditionally opened with a "Grito", the Mexican cousin to the Rebel yell, then upbeat "Mariachi" music takes over (we missed that!). This is a signal for days of fun, pleasure, and a myriad of activities for both visitors and townspeople alike. The American Bus Association has designated Charro Days as one of the "Top 100 Events in North America" for the Year 2000.

An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people from throughout the Rio Grande Valley and across the United States and Mexico watched each of the three Charro Days parades. Charro Days Grand International Parade took place in downtown Brownsville and we were there. Mariachi music filled the air and float after float, school after school, and group after group marched down Elizabeth Street in the Grand International Parade - the accent mark to Charro Days Fiesta 2000. The colorful parade, the last of three held during Charro days, boasted 137 entries and lasted three hours.

Drove to the FleaMarket, north of Brownsville, wandered the huge flea market and took in "Acordeones del Valle Festival" featuring Tejano-roots music by Rio Grande Valley Conjuntos. Conjunto translates to ensemble. It is the combination of instruments that compliment each other: accordian, bajo sexto (a 12-string Mexican guitar), and tambora de rancho (ranch drum). Conjunto music has deep South Texas roots. The musical traditions of South Texas and Northern Mexico have been influenced not only by Mexico, but also by Anglo-American, Czechs, Bohemians, Moravians, Germans, and Italians. Germany had a particularly strong influence as they aggressively marketed accordions in the late 1800s in Mexico. Narciso Martinez, considered the father of modern Conjunto, learned many songs from German and Czech brass bands. He'd then translate the music to his accordion. Martinez soon developed a style, which was radically different from the Germanic style, in which he neglected almost entirely the left-hand, bass-chord elements on the accordion, concentrating on the treble, melodic buttons, leaving the basing to the bajo sexto. It was an appropriate closing to Charro Days Fiesta–the best of authentic South Texas entertainment for the biggest party of the year either side of the border. And yes, we stocked up on fresh fruit and veggies at the flea market. Large bags of sweet and juicy Rio Red grapefruit and oranges for only $2 a bag!

Brownsville is home to the Gladys Porter Zoo, one of North America's finest zoos. We spent several hours wandering the 31-acre preserve with more than 1,700 mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, and fish, including 47 endangered species. The Gladys Porter Zoo opened to the public in 1971. Flocks of bright pink flamingos competed for our attention with the bright blossoms everywhere at this world-renowned zoo, known for its unique collection of rare and endangered species. Many of the animals are among the rarest on earth. The zoo is world-famous for its breeding programs and naturalistic habitats featuring palms, lush bamboo, and pristine waterfalls. The displays are as close to native habitat as it is possible to create in this botanical garden, home to both predator and prey, all in an open atmosphere.

For birders and nature-lovers, no visit to South Texas is complete without a stop at Sabal Palm Audubon Center and Sanctuary. This 527-acre sanctuary, owned and operated by the National Audubon Society, preserves the largest remaining stand of Texas Sabal Palm forest in the United States. From downtown Brownsville, we drove seven miles southeast to reach the sanctuary. Located on the north bank of the Rio Grande, the ecosystem preserve is as far south as one can go in Texas and mainland USA, just 160 miles north of the Tropic of Cancer (Brownsville is further south than Miami, Florida). Sabal once grew profusely along the edge of the Rio Grande in small stands or groves extending about 80 miles upstream from the Gulf of Mexico. (The Audubon Center says the Sabal is the only palm native to Texas, but we later find out that is not really true.) Orange and grapefruit groves, fields of sugar cane, and other agricultural crops have crowded out this once-abundant tree. The sanctuary is home to many native species of plants and animals which reach the northernmost limit of their Mexican range here and do not occur elsewhere in the United States. Species of birds we saw here included Hooded Oriole, White-tipped Dove, Couch's Kingbird, Green Jay, Plain Chachalaca, Olive Sparrow, Long-billed Thrasher, and Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Least Grebe, Common Pauraque, Great Kiskadee, Yellow-throated Warbler, Long-billed Thrasher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Oven Bird, Northern Cardinal, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cattle Egret, and Titmouse.

In addition to the sabal palm, the plant community includes Texas ebony, potato tree, Brazil tree, Rio Grande ash, coral bean plant, huisache, fiddle wood, anaque, honey mesquite tree, retama, tepeguaje, turks cap, and pigeon berry.

We take two forays into Mexico. At Progreso, a few miles south of Weslaco, Texas, we simply walked the short distance across the international bridge over the Rio Grande to Nuevo Progreso. All the best shops are within a few blocks of the bridge. We're impressed at how upscale and clean Nuevo Progresso is for a border town. Rows of shops offer arts and crafts of all kinds as well as cheap medications and eye glasses. Store fronts are freshly painted, sidewalks are even, and clean. Progreso has been growing in popularity with visitors to the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas.

Another day we walk across the toll bridge at Brownsville to Matamoros, take a local bus to the shopping area, and wander the new market (Mercado Juarez). A totally different experience. The city is the commercial center for the surrounding cotton-producing and cattle-raising region, and also serves as a crafts and housewares emporium for border-hopping tourists.

The average Brownsville high temperature for February was 70.3°, just shy of the 70.5° set in 1962. The La Nina weather phenomenon is responsible for bringing warmer and drier temperatures across the Southern states. This was 9° above normal. The average January high was 11° above normal.

In Brownsville we stayed at the beautiful River Bend Resort, located on a bend of the Rio Grande River. A beautifully landscaped resort with a championship 18-hole golf course and rows of stately palms, River Bend sells RV lots starting at $10,500. Given prices in Southern California and Arizona, these prices are almost unbelievable cheap. And with our Coast to Coast membership, we stay here for only $6 a day. This resort is fantastic for bird watching. We saw the Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Northern Mockingbird, White-tipped Dove, Common Moorhen (Common Gallinule), Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.

On March 3 we drove 200 miles up the coast to the Rockport-Fulton area where we spent another wonderful week. Surrounded by the sparkling waters of Copano and Aransas bays and bathed year-round by soothing Gulf breezes, nestled among picturesque ancient, windswept "tilted" oaks of the Live Oak Peninsula, and surrounded by over 20,000 acres of wild wetlands and secluded bays, Rockport-Fulton is quite literally in a class of its own. Here, just 30 minutes northeast of Corpus Christi, lies an enchanting village of fishing trawlers, art galleries, charter boats, quaint shops, seafood markets and restaurants, and birds. Lots and lots of birds. Birders from across North America flock here every winter to enjoy what is arguably the finest bird watching terrain in North America.

It's another great day in Rockport-Fulton. We are among the 40,000 visitors through the gates of the 21st annual Fulton Oysterfest. The town's salute to the oyster industry offered plenty of food, live entertainment, and arts and crafts booths. Following the Oysterfest parade we wandered the grounds, enjoyed live country and western music by the Backwoods Band, and of course, savor fried oysters. There is a raw oyster-eating contest but we both passed on that.

Rockport-Fulton rests in the heart of Texas' finest bay; fishing and anglers come here to enjoy it 12 months a year. Located only 11 miles south of Rockport, Aransas Pass is the hub of the State's best saltwater sports and commercial fishing grounds. Aransas Pass was named for the pass between Mustang and St. Joseph Islands, six miles off the coast of the town. The word "Aransas" originated from "Nuestra Señora de Aranazua" – Our Lady of Aranazua, a shrine in Spain.

Called the "Hub of the Coast and Gateway to the Gulf", Aransas Pass is a city of contrasts. Only seven miles from Mustang Island with its fabulous Gulf of Mexico beaches, Aransas Pass is the northern gateway to the Padre Island Northern Seashore area. The song, Shrimp Boats Are A-Coming could have been written about Aransas Pass. The city's Conn Brown Harbor is homeport for hundreds of shrimp trawlers which fish the Gulf of Mexico and have earned for Aransas Pass the title the "Shrimp Capital of Texas". This picturesque harbor setting is a favourite spot for photographers and is a preferred location to purchase fresh seafood–right off the boat–when the shrimp trawlers are in port. Our timing, however, has not been good. Huge shrimp trawlers heading down the Shrimper's Channel and out to the deep open waters of the Gulf of Mexico make quite a sight, with their intricate nets hoisted high in the air. Waiting for their return are numerous shrimp processing plants in Conn Brown Harbor, home to several hundred shrimp trawlers, the largest shrimp fleet on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Port Aransas (known locally as "Port A") is a quaint fishing village, with a resort attitude, on the northern tip of Mustang Island, one of the barrier islands along the Central Texas Coast, and across from Corpus Christi Bay. Mustang Island, which got its name from the wild horses that once roamed the island, is an 18-mile stretch of clean, sandy beach offering visitors birding, shelling, fishing, beach combing, surf fishing, or just plain relaxation. Port A is known as the "Fishing Capital of the Texas Coast". Catches include redfish, speckled and sand trout, sheepshead, flounder, croaker, skipjack, and drum. While visitors can get to Port A via Highway 361 from North Padre Island, the most scenic and enjoyable way is by ferry, which operates 24-hours-a-day. And in the State of Texas, all ferries are free. The gliding and diving of the pelicans and the seagulls provide entertainment during the ride. When the ferry docks, you've arrived in Port A.

Much of the Rockport area is a wildlife preserve. The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, 36 miles northeast of Rockport, is the winter home of the most famous birds in the world, the majestic whooping cranes. Adult whooping cranes are white with black wingtips and a red forehead. In flight, the bird's long neck is held straight forward and its long black legs extend beyond the tail. The adult's wingspan can be more than seven feet, and they may be as tall as five feet when standing. By mid-March, they depart in pairs or small family groups for a hazardous journey of 2,400 miles north to nesting grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories.

The 47,261-acre refuge is also the habitat of other migratory and native waterfowl, wading, and shore birds, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, javelina, other mammals, and magnificent specimens of the American alligator. We take the 19-mile auto tour, walk the trails, stop at the Wildlife Interpretative Center, walk up the Observation Tower, and wander along a boardwalk through a marsh. Often, you can see a family of whooping cranes from the 40' Observation Tower, but unfortunately not this day. However, we do see the Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, American Coot, Laughing Gull, Turkey Vulture, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, and six alligators, a raccoon, six Javelina including a young one, and a pair of feral hogs (wild boars). Hike the Heron Flats Trail along a series of ancient oyster shell ridges that border a salt marsh. Native plants along the trail include mesquite, netleaf hackberry trees, coast live oaks, black willow, dwarf palmetto (one of the two palms native to Texas), Spanish dagger, prickly pear, and a couple scrambling vines–pepper-vine and the prickly stems of dewberry.

While at Rockport-Fulton we also visit Corpus Christi and Padre Island National Seashore, but our experiences there will have to wait for another time. Must get this e-mail sent as we leave tomorrow for an RV park near Columbus, approximately 50 miles west of Houston.

See ya down the road!

. . . to be continued next issue