I have been teaching NJROTC up in Amarillo TX for several years but the Amarillo ISD has had declining enrollment for the last several years which makes it difficult to maintain an NJROTC unit. I really like the Amarillo area since it is close to my native CO but I need 3 more years of teaching to retire and am not certain that I will get those 3 years in Amarillo. I have a line on a school down in Los Fresno but know nothing about the area. I am a meat hunter and like to take a couple of does each year and do a little hunting for birds.

Does anyone have any input on this area?

Los Fresnos is The Valley. The area is majority Democrat and Hispanic. If you have a problem with either one then it might not be a good fit. That being said the weather is going to be much nicer than Amarillo. The Valley has turned into pretty much an urban area from Brownsville all the way past Rio Grande City and going north from the river for probably 10 miles or so. The beach will be close. Hunting leases are around, but I have no idea what the price is except it's probably fairly expensive. You might have other educators there though who have family that might let you access a doe or two I lived in the Valley for over 20 years, it is doable for an Angelo without being a strain.

Public ducks on the bay will be a good option.

If my choice was Amarillo or RGV, I would try as hard as humanely possible to finish out my tenure in Amarillo.

There is no public hunting save for the Laguna which is draw only. It's possible to luck into a fajita lease but its like anywhere else...hard to find a lease. May could find some doe hunts cheap to get some deer in the freezer on bigger MLD ranches.

Fishing is close by and as mentioned before, ducks on the bay. Its brutally hot and humid in the summer time. I grew up spending a lot of time in South Texas and still do today, the people by and large are fine, but its the natural environment that I object to.

We used to have some citrus orchards between Los Fresnos and Bayview and I spent alot of time down there. Be ready for some culture shock. Pretty sure it was cartel money that bought our farms based on the hacienda that was built after we sold.

IF you can habla, it'll be fine. South Texas just hits different.

Do you speak spanish? If not I probably wouldn't go. I have worked in that area and spanish is spoken more frequently than english. I distinctly remember pulling up to the mcdonalds drive thru and them asking me what I wanted in Spanish. I sent one of my guys to a parts store to get some things we needed and no one in the entire store spoke english. He had to come get me so we could get the parts we needed. Personally I love the valley but I speak a decent amount of spanish. I would not say I am fluent, but I spent two months working in central mexico in a non tourist area and did just fine.

If it pays well, it would be worth your while to investigate it further. Don't let the Spanish thing chase you off. The vast majority of folks down there are bilingual. You can get by, without a hassel speaking only English. San Benitio is close and is a nice town and you aren't that far away from McAllen/Edinburg. The Valley is not far from being a megalopolis.

Stay in Amarillo if you can. Period