After spending three months with family in the Arizona desert at Eagle View RV Resort in Fort McDowell, the time came for us to head to south Texas for my first workamping job at Llano Grande Resort and Country Club in Mercedes, Texas. More on that later.
Before leaving the beautiful desert, we saw on the news that snow had fallen in Payson, a little over an hour from the park. So we traveled north out of the 70-degree, cactus-covered desert into the 35-degree, snow-covered forest. It turned out to be a wonderful day trip with fabulous photo opportunities. We both love the look of snow, as long as we don’t live in it and have no reason to own a snow shovel.
What a difference a couple of weeks makes. Now we’re in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, the most southern part of the Lone Star State. The beautiful cactuses have now been replaced by magnificent palm trees. Behind us is a former channel of the Rio Grande known as a resaca. We get an almost daily view of pelicans and other birds much different from those we saw in the desert or where we lived in the Texas Hill Country in our stick and brick. Fortunately, the sunrises have been just as majestic as those we’ve seen in many places we’ve traveled over the past nine months. 
The valley or RGV is known for its amazing birding. Our park is adjacent to Estero Grande State Park and we’ve made the first of many visits to discover what types of birds are here. 
We’ve also driven to the community of McAllen, Texas, and visited Quinta Mazatlán World Birding Center, another well-known birding location with a rich history and home to a 1935 Spanish style mansion and a collection of beautiful furnishings and art. We haven’t been disappointed.
Of course, no time in the valley would be complete without a trip to South Padre Island to put our toes in the Gulf of Mexico. This time, we took the dogs, Hannah and Sadie with us. They both seemed fascinated with the waves but chose not to do anything other than put their feet in the water. No doubt, we’ll be back since we’re in the area for three months. 
For now, we’ll settle with having shared our name with other beach goers. We’ve also written our Eccentric Nomads’ name in the snow in Payson and spray-painted it on a Cadillac at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo. All have now disappeared but we will always know we were there and we have the photos to prove it. Safe travels!
If you are interested in the RV lifestyle or what it is like to RV full time without the commitment of an RV purchase, try an RV Rental.
Eccentric Nomads 
[…] and I spent a few months in the valley of Texas when we RV’d for a year. The area is so different from anything I’d experienced in Texas, since I’d never […]
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