Hidalgo Pumping Station

We visited the Hidalgo Pumping Station which served to pump water from the Rio Grande river, lift the water nearly 25 feet and discharge the water into irrigation canals serving Hidalgo county which includes McAllen, Mission, Edinburg and Pharr. 

The confluence of farmers from the Midwest, land developers, steam engines and many Mexican nationals fleeing the 1910 Mexican revolution evolved into a plan to irrigate the entire Rio Grande valley.  This pumping station, along with others, was built to move water to fertile fields for agricultural products sent north.

Water was pulled from the Rio Grande river by these large intake pipes.  

Mesquite wood was harvested for fuel for these boilers to create 150 psi steam to power engines.

Steam engines, including a Corliss engine, were replaced in time by engines powered by oil and then natural gas.

This is one of the pumps used to move great quantities of water.

Output water was sent through these gates into the canal system.

A photo, courtesy of Google Maps, of the area around Pharr, TX, showing the canals and grids of agricultural land.  These canals extended all the way to Brownsville, said to be the largest irrigation system of its type in the world.

Lisa was our tour guide around the site.  Exterior landscaping and bird sanctuary areas have been added by donations and grants.

Ruth says goodbye

We visited Harlingen, Texas, where the airport is located.

We stopped by the RV park where Al's parents spent the years from 1970 to 1992. During World War II, the airport at Harlingen was a base where gunners for B-17 and B-24 crews were trained.  Legend has it that the park took its name from the East Gate of that facility.

Al's folks would recognize this office and recreation center which is virtually unchanged.  Mom worked in the office in those years for the lot rental on their mobile home.  It has long since been replaced with a bigger unit by the buyers of their home.

Right next to the airport is the Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum.

Now these "southern belles" were cold in that 30 MPH wind with a temperature of 75 F. The quilts were made by professional quilters and were described as magnificent.  No pictures as photography was not allowed.

Just after Al left them off, he was stopped by Officer Sanchez.  It seems that while a roundabout in Minnesota has yield signs for traffic entering, here they use stop signs.  Al watched the traffic and sailed right through the stop sign to the notice of the policeman.  Al got off with a warning ticket.  He cannot remember when he was last stopped for traffic laws.

Then we dropped Ruth off at the airport.  Sadly, there was no band to see her off.

Quilting Day

We went to the Mission Historical Museum to view quilts.  Entrance was free but Sue left a small donation.  

The building above is a former post office serving Mission, TX.

One of the quilts Sue thought was cute.  These photos were taken with her iPad.

This quilt has a theme about the ways that chicken can prepared for the table.  The upper left  square is of a "stewed chicken".  Can you guess the types of chicken dishes represented in the other squares?  Let Sue know what you think!

This is Linda, posing with Ruth, who works at the museum after 35 years working at a bank across the street.  She has collected dresses painted with themes of different areas of Mexico.  The picture is of coal mining typical of one town in Mexico.

Did I enjoy the quilting?  No, I spent my time in the Mission library.

Linda recommended "El Patio" as a place for us to eat lunch.  Very good!   Tomorrow Ruth leaves us after a wonderful week with her.

La Iglesia Biblica

We attended a Spanish language school for six months in 2000 named Kings Way.  It was several blocks from this church and we walked to Sunday services most weekends.  It was both unique and helpful to us in that the pastor preached by describing a thought in Spanish followed immediately by the same in English.  We found it helpful because we could "follow" the meaning of the service.  Also, it helped us learn Spanish vocabulary.

We found this church to be as welcoming now as it was in 2000.

Ruth is modeling another of my necklace creations.

Bibleville Conference Grounds

We went to the Bibleville Conference Grounds. Tom, Lolly, Don and Arlette live in the Rio Grande Valley during the winter and are our friends in Fergus Falls. 

They have a digital sign that we want to share with our friends in Minnesota.  Isn't that shameless?  We have heard digs about temperatures in MN for many years.

 We visited Don and Arlette’s home inside the Bibleville Conference Grounds.

We felt we were walking through the Holy Land by noting the street signs on our way to the auditorium where a concert is held every Saturday afternoon during the winter.

Oranges in the backyards

Don, Tom, Lolly, Arlette, Ruth and Sue at the auditorium.

The Saturday afternoon concert featured the Durocher family from Cohasset, MN.  They tour 10 months of the year giving concerts in churches, jails, military bases and here at Bibleville.  

The fiddler is a Minnesota state champion and the rest of the family are also accomplished musicians. The youngest of seven joined sisters aged 10 and 12 to perform.

Our dining choice for this evening.

Final note:  Since I am taking most of the pictures, Sue thought that she should share what I look like when I am working on this blog.  She took this with her iPad which can forward photos to me.  We have become totally computerized.

My cousin Mary Sue

Our home for now.

We reserved space at this motel and may change locations later

This is the home of Mary Sue and her new husband, Dick.  Both lost their spouses and met last year in this RV park.  Mary Sue was married to my first cousin, GA.  No, not Georgia, but an abbreviation for Gustav Adolph.

Mary Sue modeling the necklace that I gave her.  She shows it off well with her happy attitude.

Later we tried this Buffet which is similar to but better, in our opinion, than the Old Country Buffets located in Minneapolis and St Paul.

Ruth Arriving

Here Ruth is welcomed by Mariachi band at the Harlingen airport.  Quite a welcome.

Okay, the band was not ordered specially for Ruth.  They were were welcoming members of the Texas Legislature to the Valley for obvious reasons.

From Fergus Falls to Minneapolis

Our trip started with by riding a bus from Fergus Falls to Minneapolis   The bus was on-time and very comfortable.  We had a few minutes for a potty break at Alexandria where the temperature was about -5 degrees Fahrenheit.  The forcasts predict even colder with -40 degrees a possibility.  A pretty good time to head for Texas.

We arrived in Minneapolis four hours later right on time.  We exited the bus and transferred to one, headed for Milwaukee via LaCrosse, Wisconsin, with service to the Mall of America.  

As we got off, our friend, Jim Lewis, was there to meet us.  We picked up his wife Sue, and we went to Matt’s Bar on  35^th and Cedar in Minneapolis.

Their specialty is the “Juicy Lucy” which is a hamburger with cheese packed inside.  One must be careful biting into this as the cheese tends to squirt out.   The sign in this photo says, “The best hamburger on earth coincidentally has a molten core.”
   

Some of us were chicken and we had a regular hamburger which was excellent with raw onion and fries on the side.  A good experience when in Minneapolis.