Home again, Home again

Sorry our posting has been so sporatic. We were busy sightseeing. We travelled the Natchez Trace Parkway and were without internet connections for the entire trip. Seems Mississippi does not have Verizon coverage. The Trace was beautiful, an explosion of Spring. Then we visited relatives and had the unfortunate experience of visiting one critically ill relative and attending his funeral. Sad times! We are now home and very busy getting unpacked and resettled. No plans for another trip anytime soon but we will be 'on the road again" in the future.

MEAT EATING PLANTS!

The plants are a sundew and a pitcher plant. BC found them yesterday on a trail in the Big Thicket National Preserve here is East Texas. These guys use their flowers and scent to lure in insects and then when the bug gets stuck they digest it for the nutrients. Fortunately they don't eat people.

We are staying at Martin Dies Jr State Park near Jasper , TX and visiting the Big Thicket area. This is a lovely, peaceful spot. We are surrounded by hugh pine trees and magnolias. The lake in front of our campsite has herons, egrets, fishermen, etc. This area is very different from the other parts of Texas we have visited.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Preserve

Today we visited the Wildflower Preserve and saw the Texas Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush-separately and together. The Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly even got into the act. It was a day filled with many new and beautiful native Texas plants. Yep, seems everything is bigger in Texas.

We will remember the Alamo!

We visited the Alamo (above) several times and also the Riverwalk and the Missions in San Antonio. The city is really interesting. We spent some time watching a male pigeon ruffle his feathers and strut his stuff for all the ladies in Alamo Square. And as usual Bill took a few pictures.
Today we moved north to Austin. We are camped under an enormous live oak tree in McKinney Falls State Park. We plan to seek out some Texas Bluebonnets and anything else that catches our interest. Maybe we'll get a good photo-time will tell.

San Antonio Botanical Gardens

Yesterday we toured the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. The above photos show you some of the fun things we did there. Actually when we weren't taking funny photos BC was taking many many photos of all the beautiful flowers, trees, etc in the gardens. We walked miles! When we got back to the RV we were beat. Today we've done household chores and recouped from all that effort. We plan more sightseeing in San Antonio soon. Maybe we'll show a photo of the city instead of the visitors having fun.

Texas Hospitality

The Couch's Kingbird above was not too hospitable to this poor butterfly. In a very short time that butterfly was history and the bird had a smirk on his face. (He does have to eat to survive, I suppose)

While photographing in the area where this bird was, Bill met a man named Gene who lives nearby. Gene has a beautiful home on Lake Casa Blanca. We are staying at Lake Casa Blanca State Park here in Laredo. Gene was having a BBQ last night and invited us to join them. Ribs, chicken, sausages and all the trimmings. Even better than the food was the welcome and conversation with Gene and his friends. Gene's Texas hospitality is certainly the highlight of our time in Laredo.

Today we travel to San Antonio for a 10 day stay. we've been told that San Anton is about 10 degrees cooler than Laredo. That is fine with us-these temps near 90 are a bit warm.

As Bill walks down. . . . .

the streets of Laredo! Yep that is Bill on the street in the heart of Laredo, TX. Today we toured downtown Laredo. The street where he is standing and many streets in this part of town are of brick construction. The heart of Laredo is not like the center of most large cities. It is virbrant with lots of people, many stores and much activity. We did some shopping in the area and just walked around being a part of the activity.

Goodbye Roma and Chloe

Saturday was our last day to volunteer at Roma. The photo above is of Rachel and her friend Chloe. They have had a wonderful winter playing at the Roma Bluffs visitor center. Rachel's favorite days were work days.
Tomorrow we depart from Falcon State Park which has been our home since early December. We have seen lots of wildlife and met many great folks here in Falcon.
We plan to spend from now until late April making our way north to home. Tomorrow we go to Laredo for several days. Bill plans to walk the 'streets of Laredo' and I will be taking his photo-stay tuned.

Rain and Spring

Last week we heard a new sound on our roof. The pitter patter of RAIN drops! That is a sound that we had not heard in the 2+ months we have been in TX. In the course of 2 days this area received 3/4 in of rain. As soon as the earth had absorbed this moisture and the sun began to shine again Spring arrived with a burst. Everything is blooming! Trees, wildflowers, grasses, etc. We have spent a lot of time in the last several days walking around the park and finding the new flower blooms. It is beautiful.
We have been busy with our work days at the Birding Center and our leisure days enjoying the bloom of nature.
Our time at the Birding Center is soon coming to a close. We are planning several stops during our 6 week trip home. Stay tuned for some photos.

Wild Parrots

This photo was taken on Tenth Street in McAllen, Tx. This is a high use area with stores, restaurants and businesses. The birds gather each evening at dusk. I don't think anyone knows whether the parrots have always lived here or if they are descended from some parrots that have escaped their cages. The parrots like to congregate in groups and make lots of noise. They are beautiful! When we went to see them there were thousands of blackbirds on the power lines. After awhile as more and more birds landed on the lines we began to see parrots as well as black birds.

Roadrunner for John

Last night our friend John Z asked for a roadrunner photo. Bill said he'd not gotten a good photo yet. BUT, today this guy posed for a series of great photos. He was just travelling thru the park, stopped for a bit of sun, posed for a few photos and then went on his way being a roadrunner. . . . The spread feathers of the first photo are a way of gathering warmth from the sun according to a lady who observed the bird during the photos. So, John, this one's for you!!!!

Campsite visitors

The osprey above regularly has his lunch on this power pole next to our campsite. His usual fare is fish, of course. Seems he thinks the pole makes an excellent table.

The next guy is an orange crowned warbler. Usually an insect eater, he started sampling this orange about 20 minutes after Bill placed it in the nearby shrub.

Bird watching and feeding are popular pasttimes in this part of Texas. Many varieties of birds love oranges and since they are plentiful around here the birds feast often.

It is true. . . . .

Most everything is bigger in Texas-at least the food servings. Everywhere we ate during our trip we usually left as much food as we ate. The servings are hugh. My 1.25 order of french fries at Fat Daddy's in Weslaco the other night overflowed from one of the plastic oval baskets resturants use. Bill's potato salad fed both of us and he still left some. Fat Daddy's meat was fabulous. A standard hamburger anywhere appears to be at least 1/2 pound. The bun is the size that Burger King uses on the whopper and the burger hangs over the side. At most places that burger is frozen in the shape of Texas when it is put on the grill.

We had a good time on our 4 day, 3 night adventure. S. Padre Island was nice and very low key for a beach resort. On Wednesday we visited the Don-Wes Flea Market in Donna. That was a treat.

Today we saw a bobcat here in the park, crossing the road. Quite a rare sighting. Tomorrow we are back on duty at the Birding Center. Temp is to be 82 and partly sunny. Not so bad for Jan 2.