Great Blue Heron Visit

We were favored buy an up-close view of a Great Blue Heron fishing both banks of our little lake. Lynne was astounded by all the different colors on this bird.

Lake Texana State Park

Morty does his “Southbound Ho!” thing and 80 miles later we are in Edna, Texas and the Lake Texana State Park. We pass through a magical zone, and the temperature magically rises 10 degrees to the upper 70s. Here the winter bare trees are in the minority because most of the Live Oak have their leaves as do the mesquite and other desert plants. This park is suprisingly flat compared to most of the others on this trip, making it perfect for the leisurely bicycle ride.



Some neighbors say they spotted an alligator nursery, and we go hiking on our own to try and find it ourselves. We come to a likely spot and I think there is an alligator eye and eyebrow poking thruough the surface of the water. We step a little closer and a twelve footer starts thrashing and clawing its way to deeper water and plant cover. Maybe tomorrow. Turkey Vultures are in major over-supply and they are surprisingly skittish. More than a slight movement from a couple of hundred feet away and they leap to the air as long as their wings are warm enough. There are really so many of them in each pack, that individuals ought to be more secure like schools of fish. Maybe they need some remedial training. We do see a massive herd of yearling deer running along the pipeline clearing, and in and out of the campground. Later that night we hear some massive owl hooting moving through the trees just behind Morty.

Both the phone service and internet are just about useless here, so I bike across the highway to the Brackenridge convention center and campground. No internet but a little better phone reception. I try to download an audio book, and though slow it does work. I explore the adjacent campground and discover that they have a minimal laundry which might fit our need to process three weeks of dirt. Lynne nixes the idea because she needs at least four pairs of machines to handle this load. So we contact Victoria's Lazy R Ranch RV Park and make a reservation for the next three nights.

Later on Wednesday we again try to find the baby alligators, and sure enough, right next to the spot where we startled and were startled, there are about two dozen foot-long gators resting quietly around a partially submerged tree trunk. A few turn tail and plunge. But about half pose quietly for their close-ups. Success at last!

Periwinkle RV, Sanibel Island, FL

Morty helped me finally experience Sanibel Island today. We are in a park that is so dominant that it can refuse dogs and credit cards and still charge $45 per night. That includes good WiFi and adequate restroom facilities. The sites are a little compact, but most are separated by mature trees. The park also includes a bird refuge for mostly ex-pets that never learned to fly. It is a little sad to see these magnificent birds get around with only their beaks and legs -- feathers and wings are just ornaments.



We explored the beach for a couple of miles, and found a some pretty shells that might be keepers. Also saw some huge blue craB shells, and some very strange plants that look like snakes on the beach.Thanks to Tootie for the comment that these are probably tube worm casings.

Bradenton, Florida

Morty spent a relaxing weekend in the Manatee Encore RV Resort in Bradenton. When we were faced with a certain move to just a potential site for Saturday in Fort De Soto, we voted with our wheels and found a great park that is a part of a national chain. With the AAA discount we paid $27 a night.  The drill starts with a golf cart ride through the park to pick out your space -- very nice touch. Nice pool for laps, WiFi, and complete restroom facilities were among the high points.

We were initially doubtful that the park lake would support much wildlife since there were so many permanent RVs right around its full perimeter, but that didn't jibe with the local herons and egrets -- that were practically being hand fed by a couple near the pool.

Rain and thunder are in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, that means a little longer travel day. We will aim for about 120 miles to Sanibel Island.

Pinellas County, Florida

We have spent four days here relaxing and recharging. We ventured out to nearby parks a couple of times. One park has an agricultural extension service, and a historical venue named Heritage Village. It also has a defunct art museum with magnificent buildings and classrooms which closed its doors permanently in January, 2009. A very depressing sight -- the building complex was worth over $5 million at the time it was abandoned to the county.



Heritage Village is a much happier place, although its attendance seems too low to maintain its viability. We had a personal tour by Deborah the Docent. The pictures are mostly self-explanatory. We saw a Common Moorehen come swimmin' by.

Sanlan RV Park, Lakeland, FL

This is an exceptional RV park with golf course and lakes -- large and very well run. We are still in the high season, but the rates are especially reasonable -- $26 with full hookups, and WiFi. The restrooms are clean, and stocked with soap and the showers work well. There is even an olympic-size swimming pool, with an extensive solar heating arrangement.



But what most impressed us was the appearance of a pair of Sandhill Cranes on Saturday evening. We were feeling like we missed seeing them in Texas, but boom they practically came walking up to us to see what was going on. These birds are about a foot shorter than the Whooping Cranes, but still a large and very impressive first encounter. We were especially taken by their calls, which were a duet. Really an exceptional experience.

Choke Canyon Great Day for Camera Duel Nikon D90 vs Canon s90

Friday we just enjoyed the weather and the wildlife of Choke Canyon. Did a little bike-photography with both the Canon S90 and the Nikon D90 70-300. The S90 is great to always have with you for the unexpected or the wide-angle scene, except when it is wildlife, then there is no substitute for the power of the big telephoto on the D90. This is proven on today's shots of the turkeys and buck deer -- both are on the D90 and are far superior to previous efforts on the S90.

Strange Birds at Choke Canyon, TX

I revisited the little woodpecker that watched us so closely yesterday. He was just as attentive today, following me from tree to tree, even sitting on the handlebars of my bike. Little Golden Fronted Woodpecker, you are a piece of work!

I was informed by a birder from Austin, that the Yellow Warbler, is really a Yellow Rumped Warbler.

The large yellow-black bird seems to be an Audubon's Oriole -- seen only in the Rio Grande valley.



The turkeys are cute, especially when the male is strutting his stuff.

Birding at Choke Canyon

Our second day at Choke Canyon dawned clear and bright, without a care in the world -- other than some cool temperatures. I put some birdseed out on the bar-b-que and the cardinals, red-wings, and assorted others including the rare Green Jay were unanimous in their approval.



We hiked about three miles to 75 Acre Lake and back on the bird trails. At one point we were closely watched by a Golden Fronted Woodpecker, who must have been on guard duty. We had a late lunch and sat in the recliners, and watched another batch of hungry birds devour our contributions.

Birding Choke Canyon St Pk, TX

We were snowed upon while breakfasting this morning -- just three miles North of the Rio Grande. Tucson is slated for 30 degrees tonight. This was all the incentive we needed to have Morty roll another couple of hundred miles East and South. We are now back in Choke Canyon where the birds flock in abundance.



The little bird sanctuary in the park has been made more isolated with additional fencing, but the cold seems to have stemmed the flow of most birds. Still am able to get a couple of decent shots -- these the first with the D90 and 70-300mm lens in a long while. It looks like the birds are Yellow Warbler, Redwing Blackbirds, and Northern Mockingbird. Weather wise, we can see the clearing in the West and we are hoping this bodes well for tomorrow. Traveling the farm roads of South Texas again coated poor Morty in a thick layer of red mud, but we were able to wash most of it off upon arrival. Now we must stay warm until tomorrow when hopefully, the Sun will warm us all up again.

Palm Canyon Trail Hike

We are still at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, since all our next options are full for the weekend. This morning we hiked the Palm Canyon Trail in search of the elusive Big Horn Sheep -- we and a couple of hundred other week-end Rvers. The Big Horn were alegedly spotted on the trail at the exact time we were also on the trail -- but it must have been a different part, but the trail is only a mile and a half long, but a lot of it up. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.



I was surprised at how dehydrated I was when we got back. I figured the warnings for a gallon of water a person were a little over the top for the winter, so went in with just a drink at the entrance and exit. Heed the warnings!

We checked a couple of triple-A campgrounds heading east, but they were full for the weekend. So we will hold over here another night. This is only $23 per night, but we have to run the generator to cook or surf beyond the MacBook internal battery capability. The twenty-five cent showers work fine, especially when you shower with a friend.

Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona

As we read about today's destination with its glove-and-cable aids for hiking ascents, we wondered if it would be a bit too much after the last two days of climbing and hiking. We almost passed it by for a commercial park in Goodyear where we might be able to watch the Cleveland Indians in training. But we were again rewarded with a most memorable camping experience. The first thing you notice at Picacho are the Saguaro [say saw-WAH-ro if you are adhering to proper Spanish] Cacti -- especially for me, my first time seeing them in their natural setting. As to the hiking, we opted for the half-mile nature walk, at the park entrance, a mile and a half from our site. Even this abbreviated adventure had plenty of hills and steps to keep the heart pumping.

One of the memorable sights between Tucson and Phoenix was an airliner storage facility / graveyard. I couldn't identify any specific planes or carriers because of the distance, but it was sad to see so many once-proud birds sitting in the desert with their colorful tails still tall in the sky. This morning before leaving we were lolling in the sun and watching pairs of A-10 Warthog Tank Killers climbing to altitude heading East right over us -- another pretty amazing sight.



The forecasts for here indicate about an inch of rain tonight and Wednesday, but it really doesn't  look like the sky can cash those checks that the forecasters are writing -- at least that's our hope. The gathering clouds did help provide another spectacular sunset.

The facilities here are a perfect score: great modern plumbing, huge showers, great sites with magnificent views, good roads, great trails, friendly people, since it is all desert there are no water hook-ups. Rates are $15 or $20 for electricity. No TV. Above average cell phone tethering. You can hear the trains running along I-10 and their whistles. Budgeteers will close this park in June -- what a shame!

Choke Canyon State Park, Texas

Before leaving Goose Island, we went on a shore bird walk - at least for me until I was killing three mosquitoes with one swat in the marsh area. Another unique feature, as we were packing up for the road, a ranger stopped by around 9 and asked if we wanted to extend another day. We already had reservations at Choke so declined. When we left at 11 there was another RV waiting for our space. Seems like really efficient operations.

Choke Canyon maybe used to be a canyon, but now it is a reservoir. There are two state parks here - both are named Choke Canyon but only the Callihan Unit has camping. Camping should be a little simpler, but since Ms. Garmina knew what we wanted all is fine. She even managed to direct us to a fine H E B store at about the mid point -- so the pantry is stocked again -- everything except the boxed wine which was out of stock.


We are about 30 miles south of San Antonio. Half of the trip from Goose was over very flat farm land. The second half was hill country cattle land. The feeling is isolated, but there is plenty of TV and adequate cell coverage. Once again, there is plenty of space for each RV and the park seems just about full at mid-week. The restrooms are a little dated, but entirely adequate.

We walked over to the Bird Sanctuary and waited quietly for a flock of about six cardinal pairs and other stunning birds to come in and get a bite to eat. The green-yellow-blue specimen is a Green Jay visiting from Mexico or South America. The little red fellow with the dark wings and eye socket is probably a Vermillion Flycatcher. We also roamed over to the reservoir and spotted a few more bird photo ops. Shot all these with the Nikon D90.

Goose Island, TX

Day three at Goose Island was devoted to photography. Some Buzzards waiting for the sun to send some thermals rising, Roseate Spoonbills chowing down breakfast, and territorial Whooping Cranes taking center stage. The sunrise wasn’t too shabby either.



The Whooping Cranes were out in force -- three pair. One was in the pasture where they seemed pretty groggy. Another pair was in St. Charles Bay stirring up food. The third pair was just south of the Big Tree and were making their way down to the bay. When they got to the bay, after a few bites, the second pair sent over the enforcer to shoo them away and they took flight for the pasture. Pretty exciting morning.

Goose Island Wildlife

Some photos of: the back bay during morning feeding, turtles sunning, the Whooping Crane pair a little further off, and the Big Tree -- over 1000 years old.



Some other features of this park: near perfection in rest rooms and showers, great biking, sunsets. We have extended our stay through Tuesday.

Goose Island State Park,Texas

Morty headed North to Goose from Mustang this morning around 9 am. The wait for the ferry was only a couple of minutes. This time Morty got a front row seat, two actually, because of his being horizontally challenged.

More helpful and smiley State Park Rangers here. I should have mentioned that at Mustang, the gate guard wanted to know if she could write down our license tag for us to take into the desk ranger. I mean how much more helpful could they possibly be?



There is no beach to speak of here on Aransas Bay. Our bay front site is on a seawall but we have an absolutely magnificent view of the bay on one side and the marshes with tons of seabirds on the other. On my first stroll down the site loop, I'm pretty sure I got a picture of another Roseate Spoonbill. Now I'm hoping for a Whooping Crane. Actually got a pair and a pair of brown-headed pintail ducks.

Brazos Bend State Park, Texas

Before we left Louisiana this morning, I gave the park WiFi one more chance. It caused warnings that its security certificates were not acceptable, but I forged ahead determined not to do anything sensitive. This time I got a familiar page that I had seen before in gathering park information so I nearly ignored it as useless, but then I saw that there was a little new area with a blurb and button to accept the parks access conditions which I clicked. The speed and access was amazing -- too bad that their security certificates aren’t current or up to regular Internet standards. So there is another [at least partial] plus to our top ratings for Louisiana State Parks.

Brazos Bend State Park is about 20 miles southwest of Houston and about 185 miles southwest of Lake Charles. So Morty did a great job getting us here through a few showers and lots of road grime – he was covered in it. My first order of business was giving him a thorough scrubbing so he is looking a lot better now. I tried to use a plastic nozzle that I had used a couple of times before, but today, it seemed all stretched out and unable to stay on with moderate water pressure. There’s $2 and change down the drain. I’d return it to Meijer except that I’ll probably have forgotten about it before we get back into their Midwest market.



We somehow lost our drainpipe cap. So that will have to go on our list for the next Wal-Mart stop. On yesterday’s stop we picked up a 9 x 12 foot patio carpet for those sandy sites to help keep the interior a little cleaner. It is supposed to be available in a variety of colors besides only the tan and white that we have been able to find. We finally discovered how much we do like the tan and white combination. We also have an annoying rattle in the roof area that is coincident with speed. Looked at the TV antenna wiring and the surrounding area on top of Morty, but could not find any likely suspects.

In looking at the web site to plan this stop, we noticed that Brazos Bend is on Texas route FM something or other. When we got here we finally figured out from the road signs the FM stands for FarM Road. That may be a little misleading to those of us from smaller states because here it means a wide smooth concrete paved highway that just happens to be in farm country. In taking Route 8 around Houston, we encountered 3 tollbooths needing a total of $5 -- just sayin’. Texas parks have a $3 daily charge per person [over 65] or a $65 annual pass on top of the $20 camping fee. That makes the break-even point 11 nights of camping. That seems like a lot for our current schedule, so we will defer getting the pass for now. Other Brazos/Texas details: only about 5% full, excellent back-in sites – many triple-wide, 30 amp power, water, very friendly rangers, large rambling park grounds, camping sites are relatively few for such a large park, no-license required for park fishing more than 25 TV channels in English and probably more than 15 in Spanish.

We are getting warm scattered rain showers here at Brazos, so we left the bikes in the garage and walked to the park’s Nature Center -- very nice display of the park’s wild life. Afternoon temperature today was 69. We learned that alligators don’t hibernate in the winter. They just move to the bottom of the lake and surface for a breath only once in as much as 10 or 12 hours. Their summer breathing when submerged is more like once every 5 or 6 minutes. If I had web access right now, I would verify those numbers for you.

Small observation: in Ohio big car dealers and such who want to stand out fly huge American Flags. They do in Texas too, just that it’s the Lone Star flag. It seems like we have seen about 20 times more Texas flags today than American – just sayin’.

Louisiana Rental

Tickfaw State Park in Louisiana is 174 miles down the road from Spanish Fort -- the perfect distance for Morty's new travel plan except for not camping in Mississippi even though we completely crossed over it [albeit the short way]. That's okay, Morty, we'll get back to do some Camping there before not too long.

Today, MLK's birthday celebration is just a little more joyous for us because we are also mindful of the Louisiana Purchase giving us this great land -- some government plans have proven wise and good. We however will just be renting a bit of the bayou for the day. Actually, Louisiana State Parks may be an RVer's Nirvana. Tickfaw is near perfection. Some highlights: paved sites, water and 50 amp power, free Wifi [not that I've gotten a good connection with it -- the cell phone tethering with Sprint is working fine], 50% senior discount with the National Parks Senior Pass card, plastic payments accepted, great boardwalks to the river and through the cypress forests, adequate and convenient trash collection, good bathouses, no weird regulations, and it is all available for $8 per night with a $3 transaction fee. Now that's some good campin'. Plus we have perfect weather: sky severe clear, temperatures in the mid 60s. We will probably want to angle in another stay in Louisiana tomorrow night regardless of the distance covered.



We drove for the morning, and set up camp just about noon. Lynne made some sandwiches and then we set out exploring on the bikes. We explored the roads of the park and hiked the boardwalks and stopped in the Nature Center. Lynne spotted our first armadillo, but then we saw a couple more, one meandering along the road foraging for food very nonchalantly. Must be a fairly common site in these parts. We were also impressed by the geckos and the cypress knees and trees. The park ranger told us we might see the turkey flock making its way back to the roosting area in the late afternoon, but no luck. We sat out on the recliners for our late afternoon sip of wine and watched the locals walking by in their winter wraps. We of course were in shorts, tees and sandals -- so glad to have left behind the snow and real cold. Skyward a flock of about 50 vultures circled lazily overhead drifting with the breeze slowly westward. Something we will be joining in tomorrow morning -- except for the lazily part.

Crooked River State Park, GA

We are at the very southern tip of Georgia on the coast. My cheapo card reader gave up the ghost a couple of days ago and Walmart has none to sell. This has made it difficult to upload photos, and that has slowed down my postings.

We have been biking up two storms in this park and there is a lot to see: alligators, gopher turtles, wild boar, turkey vultures. You'll just have to wait to see what has been captured in silicon and what has escaped.

Environment ideal: sky severe clear, temps 80 to 58, neighbors quiet and distant. I've been having so much trouble with Florida's park reservation system, that we will probably end up staying here another day.




Lynne's update:
Jim is planning to press onward to Florida to see what their state parks are like.  South Carolina has a no alcohol policy.  Georgia has a no alcohol in public areas, which means you aren't breaking any laws if you have wine with your dinner in your RV or tent.  Ohio makes us have our Golden Buckeye card to get their senior discount;  in GA they take our word for it and the discount is available here on weekends, unlike Ohio while in SC you had to be an SC resident.

Almost everyone left the park today, I guess to go back to school and work.  I was on a trail by myself and saw an alligator in its mud hole.  Later, there were five black baby wild boars coming down the trail toward me.  I froze, standing in the middle of the trail and they kept coming, I guess until they smelled me, and then the lead two turned to run back the way they had come and ran into the ones coming behind them.

Long Walk on the Beach in the Rain

Today is a rain day, thanks once again to our new friend Ida. The morning was devoted to working the stock and option markets, and watching a fair and comely blond pack up the biggest RV you can get. She had a pretty rare and expensive full-length slide-out, which was not retracting properly. As a result she was having to get out and man-handle it in the rain. After numerous tries, she finally wheeled on out flapping the reins haltingly. I guess Lynne didn't want to go out to help, so neither did I.

After lunch, I put on my Cabela's Gore-Tex rain jacked and walked for a couple of miles up the beach toward the creek outlet. I picked this jacket, and one like it for Lynne at the Wisconsin Cabela's in August on the way back from Oshkosh. Since this was the first full-rain test of this garment, I was curious as to how it would perform. The rain was steady and hard enough that I had it fully sealed up -- zipped all the way up, hood drawn tight, and sleeves extending down to mid-finger length. Well, it was pretty outstanding. No rain got in. All the body water vapor got out, along with any heat build-up. And, there was plenty of room for additional layers, if it were colder. All in all, I couldn't be happier ... in the jacket sphere.

Past the campground, the beach blends right into the salt marsh which is about a quarter mile wide before human habitation appears. In this area there were signs warning against human or dog interference with the nesting seabirds. While a few egrets were evident, the population seemed drastically reduced compared to the smaller marsh at Huntington Beach. Part of that is probably attributable to the fact that the reported rate of dog illiteracy in these parts is high compared to what you find further north.