While visiting the Laguna Atascosa National Refuge in Cameron County last year, Stella Mull and her family were made aware of the Rio Grande Valley Adventure Summer Challenge.
“‘Let’s do this guys; this is awesome,’” Mull said she told her four grandchildren after hearing about the challenge. “Even the other day, I asked them do they want to do it again. They said, ‘grandma, let’s do it again.’ Then we started talking about the different places that were special to each of us.”
The Mull family of San Benito speaks highly of 21 nature sites in deep South Texas. The sites are all a part of a summer-long program that began in 2014 as a way to encourage families to spend time outdoors. Families with children 18 and under are tasked with completing at least 10 of 12 challenges from at least four different local nature sites by Aug. 26. The participants are asked to chronicle the challenges through a journal. At the end of the summer, prizes are awarded.
The free nature challenges are a way to get her grandchildren out of the house during the summer, Mull said. Along with her husband Raleigh Mull and her grandchildren Ryan Hite, Dylan Hite, McKenzie Mull and M.J. Mull, they make up a team they call the Ocelots (You get to pick your own team name).
“Today’s generation lives on the iPad and the Xbox,” the 59-year-old Mull said. “These challenges were a way to get us out to do stuff as a family. When we got into the car, no devices were allowed. You couldn’t be on your phone. The whole time it was loving nature and enjoying what we have around us.”
That was the concept when the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands & World Birding Center began offering the challenges three summers ago. In 2014, only five families participated and only the center offered the challenges.
The following year, the center reached out to other nature sites in the Valley to open their doors to the challenges. Twenty families completed the challenges in 2015. Last year, the number of participants ballooned to 500 from 120 families.
The challenges are modest. One asks participants to identify and draw four birds. Another requires you to take part in a water-based activity such as swimming, kayaking, fishing, etc.
Marisa Oliva, who manages the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands & World Birding Center, said many locals don’t realize they have options for outdoor activities in the Rio Grande Valley.
“We have these incredible and fun family things to do,” Oliva said. “It is a great place to bring out your kids. It is a great place to exercise. It is a great place to get away from the stresses of life. It is good for us physically, mentally and emotionally (to be outdoors). A lot of people are starting to make those connections. And every year, more and more families are discovering us and incorporating nature into their daily lives. There are still families that haven’t.”
The Mulls was one of the families that discovered the program last year and embraced nature.
“It is a different experience being out with nature and actually caring about it,” Mull said. “Now we see turtles and my grandkids will say, ‘grandma, grandma stop. Make sure the traffic is OK and help the turtle get across the street.’ And we would never think about stuff like that before.”
Kickoff events for the program will be held Saturday at eight of the nature sites. For more information or to register for the challenges, call (956) 381-9992 or visit naturechallenge.tamu.edu or edinburgWBC.org. You can download the journal (one per family) online or have it mailed to you.
Peter Rasmussen (Team Peter Parker) will take part in the Rio Grande Valley Summer Adventure Challenge. Follow along as he attempts to complete the 12 challenges. Rasmussen will provide updates on his progress in The Monitor, through a video blog on the newspaper’s YouTube channel, monitornews and through the newspapers various social media accounts.
NATURE CENTERS & SITE
Roma Bluffs World Birding Center
(956) 849-4930
610 N. Portscheller St., Roma
Bluffs open daily, sunrise to sunset. Park opens 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday
National Butterfly Center
(956) 583-5400
3333 Butterfly Park Road, Mission.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
McAllen Nature Center
(956) 681-3333
4101 W. U.S. Highway 83, McAllen.
Open 8 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to sunset daily
Quinta Mazatlán & World Birding Center
(956) 681-3370
600 Sunset Dr., McAllen
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and until dark Thursdays
Edinburg Scenic Wetlands & World Birding Center
(956) 381-9922
714 Raul Longoria Road Edinburg
Open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and until 8 p.m. Thursdays. Visitor Center open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Museum & World Birding Center
(956) 843-8686
902 S. Second St., Hidalgo
Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Frontera Audubon
(956) 968-3275
1101 S. Texas Blvd., Weslaco
Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday
Valley Nature Center
(956) 969-2475
301 S. Border Ave., Weslaco
Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday
Hugh Ramsey Nature Park and World Birding Center
(956) 216-5951
1001 S. Loop 499, Harlingen Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
STATE PARKS
Falcon State Park
(956) 848-5327
46 Park Road, Falcon Heights
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and until 7 p.m. on weekends.
Bentsen-RGV State Park & World Birding Center
(956) 584-9156
2800 S. Bentsen Palm Dr., Mission
Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily Visitor Center open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday to Sunday
Estero Llano Grande State Park & World Birding Center
(956) 565-3919.
154A Lakeview Dr., Mercedes
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Visitor Center open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday
Resaca de la Palma State Park & World Birding Center
(956) 350-2920.
1000 New Carmen Blvd., Brownsville
Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Visitor Center open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday
NATIONAL REFUGES & PARKS
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge & Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge
(956) 784-7500
3325 Green Jay Rd., Alamo
Open sunrise to sunset daily. Visitor Center open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge
(956) 748-3607
22688 Buena Vista Road, Los Fresnos
Open sunrise to sunset daily Visitor Center open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday to Monday
Palo Alto National Historical Park
(956) 541-2785.
7200 Paredes Line Road, Brownsville
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
NATURE CENTERS & SITES
South Padre Island Sealife Center
(956) 299-1957
110 N. Garcia St., Port Isabel
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
Coastal Studies Lab
(956) 761-2644.
100 Marine Lab Dr., South Padre Island
Visitor Center open 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday
South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center and World Birding Center
(956)761-6801
6801 Padre Blvd., South Padre Island
Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday
Sea Turtle Inc.
(956) 761-4511
6617 Padre Blvd, South Padre Island
Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Sabal Palm Sanctuary
(956) 541-8034
8435 Sabal Palm Rd.,Brownsville
Open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
