Days 98 & 99 - Thursday & Friday, March 6 & 7 - Trail Riders

 I didn't do anything all day Thursday. The only time I left the coach was to carry back in a couple of quarts of strawberries a neighbor dropped off for us. Kathy was busy in the clubhouse kitchen most of the day. She cooked up 37# of pork for sandwiches. In the afternoon the ladies sold 80 sandwiches to raise money for the Christmas Fund. 

Friday morning she was back over to the kitchen for a good part of the day, cooking soup for the soup lunch fund raiser and to feed the trail riders who stopped here for lunch during their 50 mile ride from Port Isabel to the Mercedes Stock Show. They added $1,000 to the Christmas Fund.

Below is the text from an article on the ride, and photos I took.

"HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) – It has been a long week of riding horses for members of the Tip-O-Texas Trailriders Association who are making their way to Mercedes.

Dozens of riders left Port Isabel on Tuesday morning so they could arrive at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show in time for the fun.

The trail ride made overnight stops in Los Fresnos, San Benito, and Harlingen where they rested their horses, enjoyed a hot meal and got some rest. 

Chairman Alfonzo Garcia says the group started in 1960 with just three cowboys who wanted to ride to the stock show.

The ride is an annual tradition that helps raise scholarship money for the youth who raise animals.

He said they’ve got third generation riders whose relatives started on the trail ride 65 years ago.

“The families that are here and the relationships and the friendships that we make, it seems that every year. It’s a big family reunion because we don’t see some of these people the whole year,” Garcia said.

He says the Tip-O-Tex Trailriders Association is the oldest riding group in the Valley. Garcia says there are now more than a dozen similar groups across South Texas.

The riders will spend the night at the Mercedes Boot Company and then take part in the livestock show parade on Saturday."

One of the Harlingen Police vehicles that escorted the trail riders.

The ladies made at least 20 different types of soup that were on the table cafeteria style.

On her way from the serving line back to the kitchen.

In the evening I did get in 40 minutes on the clubhouse treadmill and a 2.5 mile bike ride around the campground.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.