March 19, Pharr to Harlingen TX, Day 19, Wednesday, at a Econ O Lodge

It is starting to get hard to find places because of spring break and Easter and the Mexican families come north.

The following was sent to me and I think it describes the Rose window in the church of San Juan in San Antonio: The term rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The name “rose window” was not used before the 17th century and in all likelihood stems from the Old French word roué, meaning wheel, not from the English flower name, rose. Not sure this description fits the window you saw. Love, Mary

Yesterday I forgot to include the restaurant stops. When we were having the Cad looked at, we had to eat as it was 2:30 pm. We stopped at a Danny’s Restaurant, a chain from Laredo, but this one in Alice has been open for four months. The chips and salsa were good, the chips were thicker than usual but well done. Shirleen’s BLT and fries was good, my Enchiladas Rojas special – Enchiladas de Picadillo, was great. The meat filling had small pieces of potato and carrots, rice had some carrots also, refried beans and salad. It is a restaurant I would go to at lunch again. The evening was at an Outback, we split the Blooming Onion and a glass of wine. The fun part of the meal was watching the Orientals across the way. They brought there own deep fried peanuts, placed there plates on their napkins as there was no table cloths. The napkins were triangle up and half the napkin was on the table the other over the edge. Fun to watch customs of others.

Today we started the car and headed to Mission, Shirleen wanted to look at the pictures on the wall of a store with the hand and footprints of Tom Landry the coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Before we left the room Shirleen called her cousin Rosemary and Jim who live in Donna TX. She gave us some really good ideas and we did most of them.

We took a couple pictures and off to Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, we appreciate the hard work these poor people put into what they believe in. This is the floor, like the geometry.

We went to another old church but it was being refurbished, but to our luck we found a place to eat. Pepe’s on the River (Rio Grande). It was an immense pole with thatched roof. We grabbed lunch, Shirleen a chopped pork sandwich with fries, I a half rack baby back ribs and BBQ polish sausage. There were eight tables of 4 to 10 people, retirees down south. We noticed the guys got there golfing irons out and hit golf balls across the Rio Grande into Mexico. A couple of them ended up over the river. Looked like a good crossing area to me.

We went further down the line to the Los Ebanos Ferry Crossing. The crossing was used by explorers and colonists in 1740’s. it was also a salt trail from Mexico. Used by Mexican war troops, 1846, by Texas Rangers chasing cattle rustlers in 1874 and smuggling in many eras. The crossing is named for the ebony trees here. This is known as the only Government Licensed, hand pulled ferry on any boundary of the US. The men that do the work are hard working, as it is a dirty job, no nice concrete or tar road; it is sand to the entry point. The men have to pound in five inch stakes and sandbag the entry points as the ferry hits the banks to stop. There are a small number of people and three cars at the most on it. It looked about three house widths at the crossing, 200 feet? The marker is an International Boundry between the United States and Mexico placed on the US side by the ebony tree and marker.

Next to San Jose to look at the ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto’. The Virgin Mary is seven foot high and purchased from a studio in Paris. Nice stop.

Then on to our next stop ‘Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle’ in San Juan. Absolutely beautiful it is hard to describe, but if you get close, stop in. They have an alter with carved figures in it and centered with the Virgin in a purple cape. When we walked around to the alter it turns out that there are hundreds of 2 X 6 inch lite candles, as more are put behind the alter where people sit and pray, Yes a room specifically made for the candles, hand carted in flats of 18, four or six flats pushed by a little old lady where they are put into a candle room to burn out. There is another room that has the clothing of individuals who have died, some with pictures on them some with names and dates. Really a different display

We then headed for the shed, we ate at the Marriot. Nice and quiet, split a rib eye with fresh fried mushrooms and veggies with fries. They gave us complimentary Margaritas, nice of them. Jerr