Feb 5, 2012 Pleasant Valley

We arrived here at Pleasant Valley on Wednesday afternoon about 2 pm, and then it was off to the races...no, not real races, but what we do when we are trying to pack in 8 months of visiting with our friends, Ron and Kathy Bernard, and sightseeing and eating in a week!!!  Whew :)

First night - RV park put on a feed - burgers or hot dogs (2), chips, drink & dessert for $3.50 each - followed by some pretty fair Karaoke!  Followed by several hours of chatting...

Thursday morning we got up and headed to Harlingen and the Tropic Winds RV park where Ron & Kathy spent the last two years - and Kathy's hometown.  We picked up yet another friend, Doris Padilla and went to lunch at LaPlaya.  This was undoubtly the best mexican food I've had in a long, long time.  You know I always try different things, and this was no different - their 'speciality' is a fried avacado, so let me start by saying I am not a big avacado, but this has made a believer out of me! They skin and take the seed out, then put in fajita meat with seasoned cheese, dip in batter and deep fry...pure heaven!  You do not need any kind of salsa on it or anything - it was so yummy!  Everyone was happy with their meals!

After that we visited with Doris a bit at her house, then we went to visit the Marine Museum and ORIGINAL Iwo Jima Sculpture.  http://harlingenedc.com/QualityOfLife/Recreation/Museums is where you can read about it!  The 30 minute documentary is SO worth  the time!  We learned a lot about Iwo Jima that we didn't know.    We finished off the day by having popcorn for dinner because we were still so full from lunch!

Friday Kathy had to work, so Ron, David and I took off to a bakery/restaurant that I found that had good reviews - they were not kidding - it was fantastic and on 1st Street downtown Mission.  I ordered something completely different, and it was so good I couldn't believe it - and David got huevos ranchero and said they were the best he's ever had...Ron had biscuits and gravy and they were also excellent!  Mine was shredded chicken inside whole wheat tortilla's, with a bean sauce, cheese and chorizo on top...the pictures don't do it justice, it was so very good!  Then, because it IS a bakery, I got blueberry cream cheese empanada's for dessert for dinner.  Since Kathy worked, I made dinner - Taco soup and it was very good :) 

Saturday morning we got up and drove to South Padre Island for the Kite Festival.  The kites were amazing, but we were not impressed with SPI - far too commercial for our taste, and if there was public beach access, we couldn't find it!  We did go for a very late lunch (2ish) to Dirty Al's Pelican Station, where 3 of us indulged our seafood cravings...Shrimp bisque was good but not great, but the shrimp platter with fries and cole slaw was wonderful!  We did not get dessert although it looked fabulous, since we planned to stop at the Hygeal Dairy in Harlingen for ice cream - and that is what we did!!! 

This morning we got up and drove to the Don-Wes Flea Market in Donna TX - it was cold (54 degrees) and rainy when we started out - but the good thing was that many people did not show up, so it was good shopping!  I got 5# of vidalia onions for $2, and  a really neat foldable straw hat for $5...and a mah jong game for $35!  We found some clips that we needed for our curtains for .50 each, and I got a few things for our brown bag auction at LSC when we get back...

Kathy is making a pork tenderloin for dinner and a salad, I'm making baked sweet potatoes and a lemon pie...and we plan on eating about 5 - followed by the Super Bowl and snacks...don't know OR care who wins, it will be fun to watch the commercials!

That brings us up to date...