Winter Texans shedding the stereotype of being technologically challenged. :-)

Loris Petersen pays most of her bills, gets driving

directions and checks the weather online.

The 56-year-old Winter Texan is 100 percent-technology capable, using wireless Internet every day from her RV at Alamo Palms Mobile Home and RV Park.

She also chats with her children, sends e-mail and uses the computer to track most of her expenses.

“We bought a laptop for the motor home specifically,” said Petersen, who is from Rochester, Minn. “A lot of people are using it.”

Petersen, along with most Winter Texans in the Rio Grande Valley, are defying the stereotype of technology-feeble retirees who are a few generations behind the Internet revolution.

As the number of Wi-Fi, or wireless Internet, hotspots in the Valley grows, Winter Texans are taking advantage of the trend to stay in touch with family at home, browse for the latest hotspots and get restaurant reviews at the touch of their fingers.

The number of homes with high-speed Internet in the United States grew 27 percent in 2006, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Now, nearly 50 percent of all homes are wired for broadband or some other form of high-speed Internet.

But in the Rio Grande Valley, park directors and residents say more than 75 percent of Winter Texans have high-speed Internet access in their mobile home or RV. Park directors say wireless Internet is becoming as much a must-have amenity as electricity and running water.

Even other types of local businesses are jumping on the technology bandwagon, including restaurants such as Jason’s Deli, Burger King and McDonald’s, which all offer free Wi-Fi access to their customers.

According to a 2005 survey from the University of Texas - Pan American’s Valley Markets and Tourism Research Center, 62.5 percent of Winter Texans own a computer and three-fifths use the Internet.

Those statistics, the latest that are available, are two years old, and were published before lower prices made broadband and wireless Internet more widely available.

“I can tell you that increasingly, more of them are using computers,” said associate marketing professor Penny Simpson, director of the tourism research center.

Simpson said the Tourism Center will include computer use as a part of this year’s survey, which will be released in summer.

Most RVers and other Winter Texans get wireless Internet access through services at RV and trailer parks. Many offer Wi-Fi access built into their rent, or make it available through pay services.

“We started doing because it was going to be the coming trend,” said Pauline Morrow, manager of the Alamo Palms RV Resort. “Some of the RVers look for a place where wireless Internet is available.”

At Winter Ranch in Alamo, retirees must still rely on a computer room with Internet access to browse the Web and check e-mail.

“We don’t have (Wi-Fi) at our park and I wish that we did,” said Cathy Chapin, manager at Winter Ranch in Alamo. “We are asked about it a lot. And I think the new retirees are going to inquire about it a lot more.”

Back in Mission, at Trade Winds RV Resort, Frank Crosswell is considered one of the park’s resident computer whizzes.

The 70-year-old Ontario retiree teaches three classes a week, leads the computer club and helps other residents tune their computer skills. He also helps maintain the park’s Wi-Fi network.

The former Ford Motor Company plant safety inspector said people come to him for advice on computer use, as well as tips on buying a new desktop or laptop.

“We have people here that are close to 90 that are surfing,” he said.

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Kyle Arnold covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4410.

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This is a corrected version of the story. The RV parks where Loris Petersen and Frank Crosswell live were incorrect in a previously posted version.