1000 year old tree

It is a Live Oak with a trunk circumference of 35 feet 1 1/2 inches (10.71 meters). The crown spreads 89 (27.1 meters) feet and it s 44 feet high (13.4 meters). It is in excess of 1000 years old, which makes you feel very humble, small and insignificant when you see it.

The Fulton Mansion

The construction of this house began in 1874. The style is French Second Empire. What is the most amazing about this house is the way it was built. The walls and floors were constructed by stacking and spiking pine planks!

Also unusual, is the fact that only half the house had running hot water, so if you were unlucky enough to have a room on the other side, you had to wash with cold water…

Before the State bought the house and restored it, it had been turned into a sea food restaurant, and then the land around it was turned into a trailer park! People would go in and write their names on the walls! It withstood the test of time, built solid as a rock thanks to the genius of George Fulton, who didn’t have any engineering training, but had a real talent for construction.

USS Lexington

We had the privilege of going to visit the USS Lexington, affectionately known as the Lady Lex. This aircraft carrier first sailed in 1942, fought its first battle during World War II in Tarawa and was the first carrier to enter the bay of Tokyo after Japan’s surrender.

Frankly we haven’t figured out how they didn’t break their legs moving around in this ship, the stairs were steep ladders and sometimes ceilings were low, everything was tight and crowded with equipment. It was really not built for comfort, except maybe for the captain’s suite. We loved our visit though, it was an amazing look into the past.

Interesting facts:

USS Lexington steamed more miles and served longer than any other carrier in the world:
1943 – 1947, 1955 – 1991 (40 years)

It was the first carrier to conduct flight operations in the area Cape Horn

It was the first ship in U.S. Naval history to have women stationed aboard as crew members (August 18, 1980)

It is as tall as a 19 story building and as long as three New York city blocks.

It carries enough gasoline to drive your car around the world 132 times.

The flight deck is equal to more than two acres of land on which you could grow a crop of 100 bushels of corn.

It was the first carrier to establish a seagoing high school (21 sept 1967)

USS Lexington carries enough fuel to sail non-stop a distance of 30, 000 miles.

It has sailed a total of 209, 000 miles, equivalent to 8 times around the world.

It was the first foreign carrier to enter Tokyo Bay.

It has crossed the equator 13 times and the international date line 6 times.

It has more sleeping space than the largest hotel in the world.

It was the first carrier to deploy air-to-surface missiles aboard a carrier.

It can produce enough electric power to supply a city of 150, 000.

You could park more than 1, 000 automobiles on its flight deck.

It has more telephones than a city of 5, 000.

Brownsville and Mexico

We stayed in Harlingen, next to Brownsville and visited with Bear’s cousin, sweet Jamie and her husband Tito. We found out they are great cooks! They also love animals, they own a parrot named Pancho, 2 dogs, Luke (Great Dane) and Ginger (Catahoula), and T-Rex the Iguana. Doug is an only child, and his cousins are the closest thing to sisters he has, so he was really happy to see Jamie again, it had been such a long time.

Mexico

Doug wanted this Canadian to cross the boder! So, we did! We crossed in Progresso, simply walking across a bridge (25 cents toll to go to Mexico and 30 cents to come back)

A lot of retired Americans and Canadians spend their winters in this area, so they can go buy their prescription medicines and have their dental work done in Mexico, where the prices are really lower. I had a crown made for $175.00, compared to $800.00 to have it done in the USA, that was quite a bargain. Dentistry is a big industry in Nuevo Progreso, there must 500 dentist in a half a mile stretch of road, most people we talked to are very happy with the service they get from their Mexican dentists, so am I. The main street is also a giant market place, a party town for Gringos.

We ate wonderful Mexican food at “Country Boy” restaurant. We had a few drinks in a “Happy Hour all day” dancing bar. We came back with a bottle of Scotch and a few new teeth! LOL LOL

Langtry TX

On our way to meet our friends in Fort Davis, we stopped by Langtry Texas, the home of Judge Roy Beam and Justice west of the Pecos, famous for his no-nonsense judgments. He has a reputation as a “hanging” judge, but in reality, he never condemned anybody to hang. When he would impose a fine, he would pocket the money himself, and he was not above interrupting a trial in order to serve a client in his bar, because you see, he was not only a judge, he was also the owner of the town’s bar. He was a very colorful character…

Everybody knows that Doug is afraid of bridges, here is the bridge over the Pecos River we had to cross with the motorhome on our way to Fort Davis.

And last but not least, seen in a Cacti garden….

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