March came "in like a lion!"  On Thursday the first of March we drove east from Deming, New Mexico to Van Horn, Texas.  There was a strong wind behind us, pushing us on our way.  We checked in to one of the last spots vacant in the "El Campo RV Park" and ate dinner across the street at "Rosa's."  Around 2:30AM Friday morning we awoke to the sound of unexpected high winds and sleet pounding on the RV.  When we woke up again around 7:30, the ground was white, with drifts around all the vehicles in the RV park - and it was COLD!  After watching traffic creep past us on I-10 and talking with the park manager who confirmed that ice covered roads stretched for up to 35 miles in all directions, we decided to stay another night in Van Horn.  It took till about 2pm for the sun to thaw our water line and for the roads to clear.  We took advantage of the day to clean out a few cupboards, do some minor indoor repairs and catch up on paper work while curled up in front of the heaters.  We hadn't unhooked the car or opened the slide-out. 

On Saturday most of the 50 or so sites in the RV park were empty by the time we left at 9 or so.  Everybody was anxious to move on again.  We drove to Alpine, where we restocked on groceries, then on to Big Bend National Park.  The campgrounds in the park do not accommodate large RVs, so we camped in the commercial park just outside the gate in Study Butte/Terlingua.  It was sunny, but not much warmer here than in Van Horn.

Monday was a beautiful sunny day, starting out cold, but warming up to about 70*.  We headed first to the "ghost town" of Terlingua and found a few old adobe buildings where more current residents had incorporated the old walls into their present shacks, sheds and houses - a little disappointing.  On in to Big Bend National Park, we stopped at the scenic lookouts and historical markers and toured the remains of some of the old ranches and army posts.  Its really hard to imagine how people chose to live in the area and then survived it.....the area is all rock and cactus with very little water and MILES from anywhere.  But then, I guess they weren't concerned with being close to grocery stores and gas stations!  We hiked into the Santa Elena canyon along the Rio Grande River which has so little water in most places, we could have walked right across into Mexico....but the Mexican rock and cactus was just as appealing as the US side!

It didn't take long to get into the routine at Holiday Village.  There are activities scheduled every day and we can do as little or as much as we like.  Most evenings find us playing some sort of card game either at the clubhouse, with Mary's parents or at the home of friends here in the park.    Tom has enjoyed playing bridge twice a week in the afternoons.  We have been to the pool of course, but in the "spring" weather here in south Texas it didn't help much to cool us off. It has been around 90* (give or take 5) with humidity to match a good part of our time here.  Many of the "winter residents" have begun to head north, and we now have plenty of open space around our rig.  There are also a few less activities than during our visit last year in February.  Mary attended the Ladies Luncheon which had a great program that was somewhat of a satire on the women of the Bible.  On St. Patrick's Day there was a big corned beef and cabbage dinner. The citrus trees are sadly almost all bare of fruit but the blossoms are quite fragrant.  A walk through our park can be quite a "smelling sensation."

The weather this month has had its ups and downs...a few days in the low 60s and some close to 100.  And we certainly have learned wind is..it rocks us to sleep some nights.  By the end of the month the population of Holiday Village was considerably smaller.  Each day there were more deserted homes and people packing and boarding up windows.  Our Bounder was standing alone in the RV section of the park.  We had a few cooler days and you could tell we were the ones from the north...we were the ones without jackets and jeans!  But by Easter weekend we had 90*+ days with humidity to match and we enjoyed the pool and our air-conditioning!  We met Michigan friends Harold and Mary Morgan and Pat and Ralph North for a fun lunch at Willie's BBQ in Alamo, TX.  We had our last round of card and domino games.  Easter Sunday we attended sunrise services in the park and attended dinner in the clubhouse with about 100 people at noon.  At 4:00 ice cream and cake was served.  After that we headed for the pool again..a nice way to spend Easter and the last day of March.  For us, March "went out like a lamb."