How Fast Can I Run?

              Palo Alto ~ one more time

As Joe never finished reading about the US/Mexican war, at Palo Alto, we returned to the Center. He continued where he left off and I headed out to the trails. The trails, made for people to walk through the battlefields, were inviting to me, to view the birds and small animals.



Canons set on the grounds, from both sides; flags marking out the areas where the Mexicans and US were posted, are the main features, on the trails.

Signs, with reenactment pictures of the war are also sprinkled here and there. The blue canon is for real, it's one of the vibrant color Mexicans so love.

My excitement of the day came as soon as I walked a short ways down the trail.



There in front of me was an animal!

Sharing the same path, I continued walking taking pictures as I followed this animal, as big as a large dog. I figured it was either an ocelot, bobcat, or mountain lion. Remembering ocelots are only in Laguna Atascosa, that left two choices. When it stopped, I stopped, continuing with the pictures. It finally turned around and looked at me. I thought, "How fast can I run?" Deciding not fast enough, I turned around, catching a glimpse behind me now and then, headed back to the center. The rangers looked at my pictures and identified it, as a bobcat. They knew they were out there, seeing their scat, but no one had ever sighted one before! I was very excited, waiting to tell Joe--he was in watching a video about the war. After I settled down we returned to the trails, for him to read, and for me to scan the acres and acres for more animals. I did see three Nilgai (imported here from India, for exotic hunting, size of an antelope), but not close enough for a picture. 

Enjoy this treasured picture of "My Bobcat"!

Crossing the River and Watching One Develop

It looked like rain, but we decided to venture into Progreso, Mexico. Came to the border bridge; weather was holding out. Greeting us was this sign. A nice welcome into Mexico.
Really want our business, huh?


Continuing across the bridge you can stand with one foot in the USA and one foot in Mexico. Second sign indicates the boundaries.

      Below-----the Rio Grande.             

The bridge is, of course, built over the Rio Grande.
Yes, you could walk through the water, thus, the Border Fence and constant border patrol. 
The fence is in the background. If 
you double click on the picture it 
will enlarge so you can see it. Just
click back arrow to return. Or in some
cases the picture enlarges in a 
separate window, then just click out
of it.

The weather turned. It started to rain--hard. We saw this street dog, above, running around, scrounging for food. The raining came pounding down, we found shelter under the roof of an empty street vendor's cart. The dog found shelter under the bus. After awhile he just laid down and waited out the rain. We stood close to the food cart, trying to stay dry. They are redoing the street, where we were, and it soon faded from being a street to being an ankle deep, muddy river.

When it let up enough we made our way over to the local casino. Waiting out the rain we played their one cent machines. We played all afternoon on ten dollars! We were dry, having fun playing penny machines, that gave bonus after bonus; contributing to the Mexican economy!

A rainy day that turned out lucky. What more could you ask for?