This wasn't a good hair day due to some wind, especially after noon, but
with 83 degree temperatures and sun, no one complained.
We had a busy day! Our first of three major stops was at Los Ebanos, a
tiny community on the Rio Grande, home of the only government licensed
hand-pulled ferry on any U.S. boundary. We paid our 50 cent fare to ride
across to the Mexican shore, stayed on while foot passengers boarded and
up to three vehicles drove on, paid another 50 cents and rode back again.
Some of the people helped pull the rope that brought us back to U.S. soil.
Our second stop was in Edinburgh at the Museum of South Texas History.
Exhibits included everything from a 25,000 year old mammoth tusk found in
the area to the old Edinburg jail with its hanging tower. An exhibit
which just opened in November gives the story of the changes that took
place in the Valley during the 1900s. After irrigation was developed,
farming replaced ranching, and the effects were not always positive.
Changes are still continuing as housing developments are pushing
agriculture farther and farther from water sources. We heard more about
this at our final stop of the day, a packing shed. Wearing lovely white
net hair coverings (one man asked if he could get one with hair), we were
able to watch the washing and packing of everything from cilantro to
habanero peppers. There were pallets of onions, yellow beets, kohlrabi,
arugula, parsnips, small (personal) seedless watermelon, peppers of every
size and color and limes. We also saw maroon carrots which were made into
a packaged snack food called Beta Bites. The carrots are dark maroon
color on the outside but normal carrot color on the inside. The color
difference doesn't really affect the taste but makes them much more
nutritious. Our guide said that only about two groups each year are able
to tour the packing shed. The next time we go to the grocery store, we
will look at the produce department and remember the machinery, the ice,
the water, and all the workers standing for hours to make the wealth of
choices possible. - Laurel Johnson - Tour Director
with 83 degree temperatures and sun, no one complained.
We had a busy day! Our first of three major stops was at Los Ebanos, a
tiny community on the Rio Grande, home of the only government licensed
hand-pulled ferry on any U.S. boundary. We paid our 50 cent fare to ride
across to the Mexican shore, stayed on while foot passengers boarded and
up to three vehicles drove on, paid another 50 cents and rode back again.
Some of the people helped pull the rope that brought us back to U.S. soil.
Our second stop was in Edinburgh at the Museum of South Texas History.
Exhibits included everything from a 25,000 year old mammoth tusk found in
the area to the old Edinburg jail with its hanging tower. An exhibit
which just opened in November gives the story of the changes that took
place in the Valley during the 1900s. After irrigation was developed,
farming replaced ranching, and the effects were not always positive.
Changes are still continuing as housing developments are pushing
agriculture farther and farther from water sources. We heard more about
this at our final stop of the day, a packing shed. Wearing lovely white
net hair coverings (one man asked if he could get one with hair), we were
able to watch the washing and packing of everything from cilantro to
habanero peppers. There were pallets of onions, yellow beets, kohlrabi,
arugula, parsnips, small (personal) seedless watermelon, peppers of every
size and color and limes. We also saw maroon carrots which were made into
a packaged snack food called Beta Bites. The carrots are dark maroon
color on the outside but normal carrot color on the inside. The color
difference doesn't really affect the taste but makes them much more
nutritious. Our guide said that only about two groups each year are able
to tour the packing shed. The next time we go to the grocery store, we
will look at the produce department and remember the machinery, the ice,
the water, and all the workers standing for hours to make the wealth of
choices possible. - Laurel Johnson - Tour Director
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