San Juan Del Valle Basilica

During our Stay in Texas, we attended Sunday services a the San Juan Del Valle Basilica. This is a magnificent church. They have a mariachi band performing at every service. View some of our pictures.

For centuries Christians have made pilgrimages with a spiritual purpose to holy places. Here in the Rio Grande Valley, hundreds are drawn to the Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, and the number of pilgrims continues to grow. Averaging more than one million visitors a year (20,000 a weekend), it is one of the most visited shrines in the United States. The history of this Marian Shrine begins in 1920, when the Reverend Alfonso Jalbert, O.M.I., built a small wooden chapel in San Juan, Texas as a mission church of St. Margaret Mary Church in Pharr, Texas. The origins of the devotion to Our Lady of San Juan del Valle are found in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico, a town founded near Guadalajara after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Spanish missionaries placed a small image of the Immaculate Conception in the church of San Juan de los Lagos. In 1623, an acrobat traveling with his wife and children stopped in San Juan de los Lagos to give a performance. While practicing their act, the youngest daughter lost her balance and was killed. An Indian woman, who was the caretaker of the church, begged the parents to place the image of the Virgin Mary over their daughter's body and prayed for the Virgin's intercession. The child was then brought back to life. As word spread of the miracle, the devotion to Our Lady, under the title of “La Virgen de San Juan”, started to grow throughout Jalisco. Today, she is recognized by many people throughout Mexico as well as the United States. In 1949, Rev. Jose Maria Azpiazu, O.M.I., became pastor of the parish of St. John the Baptist in San Juan, Texas. He was convinced that fostering a devotion to Our Lady of San Juan would benefit the people and help draw the community together. After receiving permission from the bishop to foster the devotion, he commissioned an artist in Guadalajara, Mexico to make a reproduction of the statue venerated at San Juan de Los Lagos and this reproduction was first placed in the San Juan chapel. Bishop Mariano S. Garriaga approved the construction of a new church and the Shrine was built five years later in 1954, and dedicated to the Virgen de San Juan. At the time San Juan was a part of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Sixteen years after its construction, a tragic event on October 23, 1970 destroyed the entire Shrine. While 50 priests were concelebrating Mass with another 50 people in attendance, and 100 school children in an adjacent cafeteria, the pilot of a small low-flying airplane crashed into the roof of the shrine and exploded into flames. While the overall loss was estimated at $1.5 million, many claim it was a miracle that no one was hurt or died in the tragedy. The pilot of the plane, Francis B. Alexander, was the only fatality. Our Lady of San Juan was protecting her children at that moment. Also, Father Patricio Dominguez, O.M.I., a missionary priest, along with the help of Pedro Rodriguez, a sacristan, rescued the statue of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, and Ron Anderson, then a Diocesan Priest, saved the Blessed Sacrament before the altar was engulfed in flames. After the Shrine was destroyed, the Shrine’s dining room temporarily housed the statue of Our Lady of San Juan. In 1972, Bishop John J. Fitzpatrick separated the administration of the Shrine from the parish. He made plans to build a parish church on the site of the destroyed Shrine and build a bigger church to serve as the Shrine on the grounds north of the former Shrine. The ground breaking for the new Shrine took place on November 27, 1976. The new Shrine was dedicated on April 19, 1980. Cardinal Medeiros joined Bishop Fitzpatrick at the dedication along with an estimated 50,000 people. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops designated Our Lady of San Juan del Valle a national Shrine on March 24, 1998, and the following year on June 12, 1999 Pope John Paul II designated it as a minor Basilica.

Mission Texas

During our stay in Texas, we rented a park model at the Sleepy Valley Resort in Mission

. You can view photos from our stay. They had a golf cart Christmas parade. We played golf, darts, and pool. We took advantage of our stay to take conversational Spanish lessons. The City of Mission is a great place to live and do business! With a mixture of old and new, there’s something for everybody in Mission, Texas. Located along the U.S./Mexico border, Mission is part of one of the fastest growing MSAs in the country. It has experienced tremendous growth in population, business development and its economy in recent years. The City of Mission is also widely known for ecotourism and is the premiere spot for birding in South Texas. Birders and nature enthusiasts flock to Mission for the World Birding Center headquarters at Bentsen State Park and the Texas Butterfly Festival. Come enjoy the warm weather and rapid growth that Mission, Texas has to offer. It’s the perfect place to do business or raise a family.

I also got to try out a Segway. It was awsome.

Nuevo Progresso Mexico

We decided to try one Winter in Texas. One of the advantages of South Texas, is the proximity to the Mexican Border. Most of the border towns in Mexico today are unsafe. One of the last crossings that is relatively safe is the small Town of Nuevo Progresso. You can park your vehicle in a border parking lot in the US, for 2$. You simply walk across the Rio Grande Bridge. There are a few good restaurants, but overwhelmingly, there are the dentists and pharmacies. There are literally hundreds of each. The town is rampant with street vendors. It's also extremely poor. However you can get quality dental work done for 20% of the cost of the same work done at home. So we took full advantage during our stay. The best place to cross in South Texas. Nuevo Progreso has become the crossing point of choice for tourists and locals who come back again and again. There's a new bridge with wide, covered pedestrian walkways both going and coming. Even better, when you get across that bridge you're right in the heart of the busiest, happiest, and most fun shopping place anywhere on the entire border. Despite the recent drug-related violence in much of North Mexico, there has been no US citizen involvement in Nuevo Progreso!

One incident occured in December of 2009 between Mexican military and some drug-gangsters. No US citizen was involved and no one has been criminally endangered in any way over the past nine years that this website has been online! Nuevo Progreso is the safest place to cross on the US-Mexico border. 2/6/09 Why not click on the buttons to the left and see what it's all about? Great weather during most of winter makes it a must do for the 130,000+ Winter Texans who visit each year. There's shopping for all kinds of things: boots, booze, furniture, curios, cheap cigarettes, leather, pottery, clothes, and whatever your heart desires and you simply must have. Drug stores offer pharmaceuticals at great prices. Many dentists offer their expertise for keeping the teeth and dentures in great shape. Bite into a steak or seafood or fantastic Mexican food prepared by real Mexicans in fine restaurants. Enjoy music and ballet folkloric dance while you eat and dance. Hear street musicians entertain. Get your shoes shined, hair cut, and sun film on your windows. Stroll the streets while you sip an icy margarita or Corona for prices you won't believe. Come and let the friendliest folks on the border show you a good time! Bienvenidos a Nuevo Progreso, mis amigos!

Florida 2013

Apart from all the festivals we attended, we took part in various fish fries, picnics, and activity days with our friends Ken and Rita. We took part in the Meadowlark Shores activity day. Also the Grandma Groves' picnic, and Lakeport fish fries. Here are a few pictures: We also took in a bit of beach and Spring Training baseball between the Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twinns.

Florida Wildlife

After spending 8 winters in Florida, we've seen our share of wildlife. This year has been particularly active We encountered a multitude of gators, one who's found a permanent home under our dock. We encountered a bobcat while taking a morning walk on the Okeechobee levies. We have a bald headed american eagle outside our home on a daily basis. We've encountered wild pigs, snakes, armadillos, deer, turtles, and a host of florida fowl, most of witch, right on our property. We don't always carry our camera, but, Here are a few pictures: .