The sun finally put in an appearance over the past 3 days and the temp even got into the 70's! The wind has dropped to nothing so it was great to et out for a ride in really nice weather. It was great to get outside and do a few things around the rig and get it aired out as well.

The weather change caught us off guard as to lining up local attractions to see so we were scrambling to get compile a list. This area is known as one of the best birding areas on the continent with more species of both birds and butterflies passing through here than anywhere else. However, it's that wrong time of year for this as most have migrated south for the winter. Our tract record of being in the right place at the wrong time continues.

The number 1 attraction on the area tourist website is the McAllen library! (I'm not making that up!). Sam called to see when they were open but the recording said the book was out right and wasn't due back until the 18th so we scrapped that idea. She did end up finding a nearby attraction in McAllen which was an old mansion estate called Quinta Mazatlan. They had a guided tour on Friday morning so we headed out for that.

The estate was built by Jason and Marcia Matthews on a 5 acre plot of land in 1935. These people had family money and were known to be a bit eccentric. (If they didn't have money they'd be called crazy!). At any rate over a few years they built the estate with a 6700 square foot main house, a "hooch" which was a sort of treehouse that Mr. Matthews spent time in via a rope ladder, a 3300 square foot cottage and a 25 x 65' swimming pool that was 12' deep! There was no filtration system so the pool water had to be drained and refilled frequently.

The most note-worthy acheivement of Mr. Matthews was his development of hydroponic gardening. His technique enabled hi plants to yield 300-400 percent of produce vs. Conventional growing methods. The US government was so impressed it used his methods to grow food in the South Pacific for US troops fighting there in WW2.

The Matthews split their time between travelling the world and bringing back furniture pieces from their travels to decorate their estate. They were early day survivalists who's were petrified of Communist invasions and spent a great deal of time and effort on publications and radio talk shows against communism. Eventually they had to give up the estate which was found to be crammed full of "stuff" as they were discovered to be hoarders. The estate changed hands 2 times and is now owned and operated by the city.

Aside from that, I hit the Harbor Freight for the weekly sale as they had 1 item I couldn't afford to pass up. And, they have coupons you can download on line for free stuff when you buy something so there's always something you can justify getting for a few bucks in order to get the freebee. Along the way I dropped Sam off at the Ross store, a clothing store she's had great luck with in Florida and Arizona, but she ended up with nothing! Like the wind, even the shopping here blows.