Iwo Jima memorial.

Memorial based on famous photo taken during spring 1945 during the second world war. 
 

Iwo Jima memorial

The figures are very realistic. 
 

Iwo Jima Memorial, Harlingen, Texas

Another week has sped right on by. We went to Mexico for lunch on Tuesday. On Thursday, Bob had a doctor's appointment to get his ingrown toenails trimmed. On Friday we drove about 1/2 hour to the Iwo Jima memorial. This is the orignal memorial that was used to cast the one for Arlington cemetary in Washington, D.C. We were very impressed with the size and details of the statue.

Some statistics about the memorial - the figures are 32 feet high and are shown erecting a 78 foot steel flagpole. They occupy the same positions as in Rosenthal's historic photograph.

Over 6,000 Americans lost their lives in the taking of Iwo Jima. The original projection is that it would take 3 days to take the island, but it actually took 36 days. It was the last stopping off place before Japan and is 660 miles south of Tokyo. It's a very small island, but the 23,000 Japanese defending the island were underground in tunnels and catacombs. The island used to have salt mines underground. Only about 1,000 Japanese survived the battle. Three of the 6 men depicted in the monument died on Iwo Jima.

Saturday morning to we go breakfast with the other Washingtonions here.

Mexico Party!!

 
 

Ouch! ..... how DOES he do that??? Paws going in BOTH directions!!

 
 

Us in Mexico

 
 

Mexico happy hour

Our friends in restaurant in Mexico 
 

Weslaco, Texas

We've arrived at our new home in Texas. We're at an RV park down near the Mexico border. Just about as far south as you can go in Texas. The weather has been warm, but it's more breezy than we like.

We're here at a park with square dance friends from Washington state. The park is pretty nice - has a pool and hot tub - although we haven't tried it out yet. We went to the flea market/swap meet on Wednesday.

Thursday we went to Progresso, Mexico. First, we checked out the bakery. Then our friends bought some prescriptions at the pharmacy. Three of us also had pedicures - $9.00. We then went to a Mariachi show. It was good entertainment. We also had dinner at the same place that did the show. We looked through the stores, but didn't buy much except some liquor.

We'll be here until about the 7th of February. There are other things to do in the area, plus we're planning to do some square dancing. More on our adventures in the next blog.

Mexico glass painter

Using spray paint this sidewalk vendor created a beautiful bottle 
 

Whooping Cranes

These are the cranes that flew over our campground in Crystal River 
 

McDonald's

Not many hamburgers being served from this McDonalds. 
 

Biloxi, Mississippi Casino

This evidently was a casino and was about 1/2 mile further east. 
 

Departed Crystal River, Florida

I have just realized that I haven't posted anything for almost two weeks. I guess we've been pretty busy during that time. On January 3rd we drove to Ormond Beach (near Daytona) to see Bob's new granddaughter. On Saturday, January 7th, we drove to Tampa to the Museum of Science and Industry. They had an exhibit called 'Bodies' which is an exhibit displaying 20 cadavers. It was pretty interesting. Our friends Sue and Richard went with us. Sue did a great job of explaining this exhibit - so if you're interest in more information check her blog at http://rvodyssey.blogspot.com

On Monday, Bob's sister, Lynn arrived from New York. On Tuesday, we went on an airboat ride on the river new Homasassa Springs out to the Gulf of Mexico. It goes through a wildlife refuge. We saw lots of birds. That evening we had dinner with our neighbors at the RV park. It was fun - we had sort of an Italian themed meal with soup, salad, bread, and my famous chocolate chip cookies.

On Wednesday morning, the whooping cranes (following the ultralights) flew over our campground. It was pretty exciting -we could hear them whooping. These were the same cranes we had viewed about a month previously when they did the flyover when they came into Citrus County from Wisconsin.

On Thursday, January 12th, our 21st anniversary we left Crystal River, Florida and headed west. We're headed to Texas. Our first stop was Pensacola Naval air station. We stocked up at the commissary and BX and Bob was able to get his prescriptions refilled.

Today, January 13th, we're now in Biloxi, Missippi. We drove south from I-10 to the water and along the highway that goes right alongside the water. We were able to view a log of the devastation from Katrina. Evidently, most of the damage was from high water.

Buddy strikes again!!

Buddy, our cat has this affinity for boxes of any kind. Here he climbed in a small storage container I bought for our RV. 
 

White Pelicans

White Pelicans as viewed from airboat ride. 
 

Airboat ride

Bob's sister, Lynn, Sue and Richard, Bob and Connie on airboat ride in Florida. 
 

I guess these Pelicans can't read that the dock is closed. 
 

Grandpa and new granddaughter - Zoe

Bob's daughter, Amy, had a daughter on January 2nd at 1:30am - weight 6 pounds 6 ounces 
 

Happy New Year

Here we are to 1/1/2006. We wish everyone who is following our blog a very Happy New Year. We had a quiet week as Bob was installing shelves in the fifth wheel and Connie had a cold. We did drive to Tampa beaches on Saturday (12/31) - a beautiful day about 70 degees and mainly sunny. Maybe next week we will have more exciting items to write about on our blog.