Getting Started

Always the hardest..I have no excuses today because I am suffering from either allergies or a cold. It is 90 degrees and dead still outside so I gave up my intentions to work in the yard and start my blog. The inspiration for creating a blog comes from my nephew, Andy, and his friend, Madeline. I have been following their adventures through life over the past year, including the desert, ghost and mining towns and last, but not least, travelling through India.
Given my nature of procrastination and seeming inability to keep in touch with friends and family, I decided to give the blog a try.
Guess I'll start with my move to Texas ten years ago, as that is when I tore myself up from my California roots. As it turned out it seemed to have been ordained, and most likely orchestrated by Hallie. I won't go into all of the details, but suffice it to say, this area of the country suits me. It is a hard area to explain. It is affectionately called The Valley or the Rio Grande Valley, though the highest points are the highway overpasses. It is also called Northern Mexico and Deep South Texas, as you can't go any further in the US. The River is our border. The culture is an incredible blend of Hispanic-Americans, Mexicans and Anglos, covering an area of 100+ miles running along the Rio Grande River, with a population close to 1 million. There really is no hustle and bustle. We travel the back roads as much as possible. We live close to the coast, in a town called Bayview, which has few commercial enterprises, the most prominent one being a local bar called Harley's which caters to bikers, old hippies, cowboy hats, locals and Winter Texans. There is a live band weekends with a free barbecue. It is a really classic. The closest town is 10 miles away and Port Isabel, South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico are 30 minutes away.