Winter 2021-2022

This is our 13th winter volunteering for the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. We arrived back in the Rio Grande Valley November 1st, ready to begin another year of checking properties, repairing/replacing fence, posting signs, trash cleanup and whatever else needs doing on the LRGV properties. We have also inherited the job of maintaining the campground. After cleaning up the Marinoff campground, we loaded our work truck and headed out.

One of our first accomplishments was replacing a 500-foot section of four wire barbed fence that was accidentally destroyed by a tractor/brush hog on the Los Olmos Tract.

Our favorite lunch spot is out at the Boca Chica Beach.

Moving signs back from the highway medium onto our property after an electrical pole upgrade to support the Space X facility. Glad we took our Muck boots that day.

The Boca Chica Area is being transformed by Space X.

What a great surprise when Virginia's high school friend, Rosetta and husband, visited South Padre Island for a week. 

Another one of our jobs is to keep the visitor parking lots clear at the few LRGV properties that have public access.

Constructing a fence at Teniente property.

Spring has sprung in the desert. A little late this year.

After two years of exceptional summer rains, the grass has grown up into the trees.

Being a desert climate, things are returning to normal, leaving the grass to die and cause exceptional fire danger.

Very low humidity combined with strong winds is fueling fires all around the Rio Grande Valley. The La Grulla area had such a hot fire, many of the trees were destroyed. Even our boundary fences burned, leaving the refuge signs laying on the ground in a pile of ash.

These round hay bales, which now resemble large Brillo pads, were transformed to ash.

Border Patrol piles confiscated homemade ladders, used to scale the "Wall", on the Marinoff burn pile.

Four feral cats have taken up residence in the volunteer campground.

They did a great job of rodent control.

FAMILY REUNION IN WEST VIRGINIA

Over Easter weekend we flew to West Virginia to join our children and grandchildren along with Virginia's sister and her husband for a four-day reunion. The rental house, located near Davis, WV, had six bedrooms and another two above the separate garage. 

An outing to the Blackwater Falls State Park

Hannah and Julia coloring Easter Eggs

Twins in the hot tub

Sisters