Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sam Houston Jones State Park - Apr 5
We've finally made it as far as Louisiana -- Sam Houston Jones State Park, located near Lake Charles. Don't ask who S.H.Jones is (was?) -- a local politico is our guess. The park is very nice -- designed around a cyprus pond (swamp) that we probably would not think as highly of if the weather were not as cool -- it got down to the 40s last 2 nights, and high yesterday was only in the 60s. Today was warmer, and it's supposed to be just a little warmer tomorrow. There has quite literally not been a cloud in the sky all day, just beautiful blue. The only downside so far is the cell phone reception in the park is horrible, which means we can't get our email very easily. We've had to drive to town to check our snail mail (which hasn't been there), so we've been checking our email (which is). We're a little worried about the snail mail, since we have to leave Friday -- the park is full this weekend and so are a lot of the other state parks, so we have reservations at a private park 140 miles away. One of the hassles of full-timing.
We drove the Creole Nature Trail today, which is a 100+ mile long loop in Southern La. The loop starts in Sulfur, LA (named for the mineral formerly mined there), and goes from farm country to bayous and swamps to the seashore, then back out again, winding up at Lake Charles. The birdwatching was wonderful, even if we weren't in Texas. The first stop was the Sabine NWR, where we saw many of our old friends (herons and egrets, etc) plus a green-backed heron, and a clapper rail. Also, the conditions this spring must have been right for alligators, since we saw over a score of little (3 to 4 ft) gators, plus one mother with no fewer than eight (8) tiny babies on her back. We continued on, taking the western spur from Holly Beach, which was disappointing -- the beaches were small and not very scenic, although I suspect it was high tide. We backtracked to continue through Cameron, where we took a ferry across the Calcasieu ship channel -- here again, LA ferries don't compare with Texas -- but the mindset here is different. If you have to wait 30 minutes for a single ferry, so be it. We drove to Rutherford Beach, which was lovely -- a shellers paradise. In the few minutes we walked along the beach, we found a dozen flawless spiral-thingy shells (whatever they are). We also spotted a loggerhead shrike.
The northern leg took us through the Cameron Prairie Refuge, where we saw more old friends, plus a purple gallinule. The HQ was closed by the time we reached it (the flyer said allow 4 to 6 hrs, we spent 8), but we had a 2nd lunch there, and straggled back home, much to the delight of our cats, who despaired of our never coming back. And speaking of cats, our dear, sweet, 21-year old Molly is sick -- she is not traveling with us, she's being cared for by our good friend Penny. Molly's weight has dropped to less than 4 lbs. So we're all thinking positive thoughts, and hopefully Molly will see her 22nd birthday later this year.
A couple of final notes on Galveston. We REALLY liked the place -- both camping on the beach and the interesting touristy things to do in the town. You may have heard of the rather tumultuous weather in that part of Texas for the last few days we were there. Well, we were fortunate enough to miss the worst of it and only had to put up with some fierce winds and some rain the last night we were there.
On Friday, March 31, the census person came to our trailer while we were camped on the beach near Galveston. Although the short form was so much easier, we opted for the long form. For some perverse reason, we wanted to make sure the fact that we were actually living in our trailer was counted, so they would get a better count of folks who are full-timing and consider them "important". When actually, they may just figure out how to rip us off more!
We drove the Creole Nature Trail today, which is a 100+ mile long loop in Southern La. The loop starts in Sulfur, LA (named for the mineral formerly mined there), and goes from farm country to bayous and swamps to the seashore, then back out again, winding up at Lake Charles. The birdwatching was wonderful, even if we weren't in Texas. The first stop was the Sabine NWR, where we saw many of our old friends (herons and egrets, etc) plus a green-backed heron, and a clapper rail. Also, the conditions this spring must have been right for alligators, since we saw over a score of little (3 to 4 ft) gators, plus one mother with no fewer than eight (8) tiny babies on her back. We continued on, taking the western spur from Holly Beach, which was disappointing -- the beaches were small and not very scenic, although I suspect it was high tide. We backtracked to continue through Cameron, where we took a ferry across the Calcasieu ship channel -- here again, LA ferries don't compare with Texas -- but the mindset here is different. If you have to wait 30 minutes for a single ferry, so be it. We drove to Rutherford Beach, which was lovely -- a shellers paradise. In the few minutes we walked along the beach, we found a dozen flawless spiral-thingy shells (whatever they are). We also spotted a loggerhead shrike.
The northern leg took us through the Cameron Prairie Refuge, where we saw more old friends, plus a purple gallinule. The HQ was closed by the time we reached it (the flyer said allow 4 to 6 hrs, we spent 8), but we had a 2nd lunch there, and straggled back home, much to the delight of our cats, who despaired of our never coming back. And speaking of cats, our dear, sweet, 21-year old Molly is sick -- she is not traveling with us, she's being cared for by our good friend Penny. Molly's weight has dropped to less than 4 lbs. So we're all thinking positive thoughts, and hopefully Molly will see her 22nd birthday later this year.
A couple of final notes on Galveston. We REALLY liked the place -- both camping on the beach and the interesting touristy things to do in the town. You may have heard of the rather tumultuous weather in that part of Texas for the last few days we were there. Well, we were fortunate enough to miss the worst of it and only had to put up with some fierce winds and some rain the last night we were there.
On Friday, March 31, the census person came to our trailer while we were camped on the beach near Galveston. Although the short form was so much easier, we opted for the long form. For some perverse reason, we wanted to make sure the fact that we were actually living in our trailer was counted, so they would get a better count of folks who are full-timing and consider them "important". When actually, they may just figure out how to rip us off more!
Ridiculous to Sublime - Mar 30
A short note from the beach. We have traveled a whole 200 miles this week, so thought we should give an update. Monday & Tuesday nights we spent in Bay City, TX. We were at the strangest RV park -- we were just sort of squeezed into a strange little overflow spot on some gravel,surrounded by semi-permanent trailers. The whole place was full of re-employed nuclear plant workers who had nowhere else to live. They were reluctant full-timers!! We wanted to stay in Bay City so we could visit a nearby NWR and picked it because it was halfway between Goose Island SP and Galveston Island SP. The San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge was quite nice, and definitely worth a stop. Unfortunately the mosquitos were so bad we couldn't get out of the car to do any hiking. We have since bought some 100% DEET stuff, so we'll see if it works. We tried one trail -- saw two alligators about 10 feet long -- and then the wind stopped and the mosquitos circled in for the kill. So we ran back to the truck! The other interesting fact about Bay City was the trains. Our RV Park ("Travelers Paradise" -- HAW!) was along the train tracks right near an intersection. There were at least 3 major train lines joining in this town. They blew two long, one short and one very long every time they passed through the intersection. One night it seemed like there were over 20 trains -- or one train 20 times. The cats had very round eyes and alert ears!
So after that fiasco, we headed for the beach on Wednesday, having no idea what to expect without a reservation. We arrived at Galveston Island State Park and found the most beautiful camping spot we have ever stayed at. It's almost on the beach -- just over the dunes. When we wake up in the morning and lift up our heads we can see the surf rolling in. We do not have sewer hookups, just water & electric, so we will probably leave on Monday. It is so beautiful, we just wish we could stretch out a long row of campers and have all of you here to share it with us. We spend a lot of time checking out the progress of the tide. The only downer is that Doug has caught a bad cold. However, he can still enjoy it here. We had lots of plans for various outings, but it is so beautiful here in our camp site that we may never get anywhere. The cats find the roar of the surf and the screeching of the seagulls & grackles quite startling. It brings out a little of the wild in them.
We got a mail drop today, and it was a little amusing. It was in the downtown Galveston PO. We just tromped in wearing our beach bum clothes and picked up our mail. Then we asked if there was a restroom and the clerk said, "Up the elevator on the second floor." Well, this was also the Federal Center with lots of FBI and court stuff around. So we had to go through metal detectors to use the restroom. They said if they hadn't liked the looks of us, we wouldn't have been allowed to!
Goose Island State Park - Mar 26
We left Fulton Oaks RV Park and moved about 8 miles north to Goose Island State Park, in Lamar, TX. It is the park where we have done so much birdwatching. It is a beautiful park with campsites both in the wooded Live Oak area and on the bay front. We chose a lovely, secluded wooded site, but it was a tough choice. The bay front is quite windy and the sites are pretty close together. We have been here since Tuesday, March 21, and will be leaving to head further north tomorrow.
Early last week we had about 8 inches of rain in one day, which flooded a lot and really filled in the wetlands. We had a 4-inch deep puddle (small lake!) all around our campsite and were marooned for a day. After that, an amazing quantity and variety of frogs appeared. You can't see many of them, but they sing in large choruses at night. I have never heard anything like it. They are still singing away here at the campground. It's almost loud enough to keep you awake at times.
Since we wrote last, we have eaten lots of fresh shrimp and also some freshly caught red snapper. It was all delicious! The shrimp we just boil & eat -- nothing fancy, just wonderful.
We went to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge again last week. What a difference a lot of rain made! The alligators were no longer lying around in sluggish piles; they were quite frisky. Gave us a good scare a couple of times. We saw some large bullfrogs -- trying out for the Budweiser ads by singing something very like the theme from Jaws. Very disconcerting when you're always looking around for alligators anyhow. We saw a couple more Whooping Cranes very far away, a beautiful Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher and a Sora (a type of Rail -- conveniently on the Rail Trail!). Incidentally, Aransas NWR is near Refugio, TX, which I bet no one pronounced correctly -- it's reh-fur-ee-oh. Don't ask us what happened to the G.
Yesterday (Saturday) a group of three Whoopers flew into the State Park. It was a family group -- Mom, Dad & Junior. Whooping Cranes form family groups and the young crane will stay with them for a year. Then they are kicked out and hang out with other adolescent Whoopers until they are old enough to find a mate. These three landed quite close to the viewing area. We were able to see them well with our binoculars and also through other birders' spotting scopes.
We have met some really nice people here and hope to keep in touch with them via email. We are all speculating what will happen on Census Day, when we are supposed to be counted. If all goes according to plan, we will be in a state park in Louisiana by then. We'll let you know what really happens.
Early last week we had about 8 inches of rain in one day, which flooded a lot and really filled in the wetlands. We had a 4-inch deep puddle (small lake!) all around our campsite and were marooned for a day. After that, an amazing quantity and variety of frogs appeared. You can't see many of them, but they sing in large choruses at night. I have never heard anything like it. They are still singing away here at the campground. It's almost loud enough to keep you awake at times.
Since we wrote last, we have eaten lots of fresh shrimp and also some freshly caught red snapper. It was all delicious! The shrimp we just boil & eat -- nothing fancy, just wonderful.
We went to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge again last week. What a difference a lot of rain made! The alligators were no longer lying around in sluggish piles; they were quite frisky. Gave us a good scare a couple of times. We saw some large bullfrogs -- trying out for the Budweiser ads by singing something very like the theme from Jaws. Very disconcerting when you're always looking around for alligators anyhow. We saw a couple more Whooping Cranes very far away, a beautiful Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher and a Sora (a type of Rail -- conveniently on the Rail Trail!). Incidentally, Aransas NWR is near Refugio, TX, which I bet no one pronounced correctly -- it's reh-fur-ee-oh. Don't ask us what happened to the G.
Yesterday (Saturday) a group of three Whoopers flew into the State Park. It was a family group -- Mom, Dad & Junior. Whooping Cranes form family groups and the young crane will stay with them for a year. Then they are kicked out and hang out with other adolescent Whoopers until they are old enough to find a mate. These three landed quite close to the viewing area. We were able to see them well with our binoculars and also through other birders' spotting scopes.
We have met some really nice people here and hope to keep in touch with them via email. We are all speculating what will happen on Census Day, when we are supposed to be counted. If all goes according to plan, we will be in a state park in Louisiana by then. We'll let you know what really happens.
Texas Gulf Coast - Mar 12
We are still in Fulton, TX, enjoying the sunshine, warmth (sometimes too warm), and, to a lesser extent, the humidity. The cats seem to have finally gotten used to the heat -- they aren't barfing up hairballs anymore, but that could be a result of the Hairball Diet food that we are mixing in with their Dental Diet and regular diet, which, of course, depends on whether they are picky (and slim), or not picky (and round). They seem to think we live here now -- won't they be surprised when we pack them up to move again on 3/21!
We have been keeping ourselves busy in a variety of ways, mostly birdwatching, but also sightseeing, reading, trailer maintenance, etc. We drove to Aransas Natl Wildlife Refuge, which is most famous for being home to the large (180, up from 14 in 1937 when the refuge was founded) whooping crane colony. Numerous attempts to found a second colony have, thus far, proven unsuccessful, which is a major cause for concern, since one storm or plague could conceivably wipe out the existing group completely. We saw two different pairs on that particular day, both at least 1/2 mile away. With the scope that they had at the platform we could see them pretty well -- I have to say that that was the best public scope I've ever seen.
We have also visited Padre Island Natl Seashore, a 60-mile long barrier island that acts as a natural deposit for just about everything in the Gulf of Mexico, including seaweed, dolphin carcasses, toxic/medical waste, etc. etc. The Visitors' Center has a display showing the variety of stuff that gets washed up, and warning you what not to touch (storage drums, mainly). It also warns you that if you choose to go driving on the beach (which is legal) and get stuck, you're on your own. We opted not to drive on the beach!
We attended the local Oysterfest, which is a pretty big thing for little Fulton -- over 70 entries in the parade (including the obligatory Shriners). The Arts & Crafts tent was quite large and popular, as well as the Food tent ("food" including beer, the most popular stand of all). We walked the midway and watched the rides -- there were a surprising number of kids rides, and all the people running the rides were very good and patient with kids, and VERY safety-conscious, rechecking the safety belts, etc. In my day we didn't even have safety belts, and if anyone got hurt, they were growled at and sent away feeling like they were lucky to have gotten off so easy. The downer of the day was seeing that they gave away live animals (rabbits and iguanas) as prizes. We complained to the local Humane Society, but they told us that unless there was actual physical abuse involved, there wasn't much that they could do. I shudder to think how few (if any) of these unfortunate creatures survive the travels from one stop to the next, or even worse, how easily they're replaced, with a quick phone call to the supplier.
Back to more cheerful topics. We have found a yoga class at a local health center, three times a week. We will probably go twice a week, even though it's quite different than the yoga we're used to in Boulder. Of course, everything doesn't have to be done the Boulder way; it's just that we're used to certain poses (and their Sanskrit names!); this is more of a stretching class with relaxation interspersed. And we went on a whooping crane boat tour (Captain Ted's) -- we saw 34 whoopers. The first two were only about 100 yards from the boat.
On an impulse (that hopefully we aren't going to regret), we made reservations to come back to Port A next year -- for three months, starting 12/20/00. This came about because of a birdwatching tour we took in a van -- a van that broke down, stranding us in an RV park within walking distance of the beach -- in fact, just across the dunes from the beach. Naturally, we both immediately fell in love with the park, and found that it was not any more than the other RV parks we had been looking into. So hopefully you know where we're going to be next winter and can make plans to visit us. We have always wished for an extended stay by the ocean, so we'll see how it really is.
We went to several "Mini-Birdwatching Seminars" held at Goose Island State Park, a lovely coastal park about 6 miles north of Fulton, in Lamar. The seminars are held four days a week, but we could only go to two of them last week. They were wonderful, and just being in that state park was a wonderful experience. Dennis, the leader of the seminars, is a volunteer who is an avid birder. He is quite good at sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm with others. He also tends to draw together interesting people, so meeting others was an added bonus to the gatherings. On Friday, after the seminar, we went outside the park and looked around at the lovely town of Lamar. While we were there, we saw three Whooping Cranes go flying by. What a beautiful sight!
We couldn't go the the seminar on Saturday, but did go over later in the day and spent some companionable hours visiting people we had met earlier in the week and watching birds on our own. At the end of the day, we saw an amazing sight. Just at dusk, at a nearby pond right outside the park, huge numbers of herons and egrets come in to roost for the night. The trees are full of birds, and more just keep flying in. Then, just when things start to settle down, out come flying 30 or 40 night herons, setting out for a night of fishing after a day of sleeping. Boy, no rest for those poor fish! This was certainly a special day.
Interesting or unusual birds we have seen include Fulvous Whistling Duck, Crested Caracara, Common Loon, Eared Grebe, Catbird, and of course the many wonderful Whooping Cranes.
We have been keeping ourselves busy in a variety of ways, mostly birdwatching, but also sightseeing, reading, trailer maintenance, etc. We drove to Aransas Natl Wildlife Refuge, which is most famous for being home to the large (180, up from 14 in 1937 when the refuge was founded) whooping crane colony. Numerous attempts to found a second colony have, thus far, proven unsuccessful, which is a major cause for concern, since one storm or plague could conceivably wipe out the existing group completely. We saw two different pairs on that particular day, both at least 1/2 mile away. With the scope that they had at the platform we could see them pretty well -- I have to say that that was the best public scope I've ever seen.
We have also visited Padre Island Natl Seashore, a 60-mile long barrier island that acts as a natural deposit for just about everything in the Gulf of Mexico, including seaweed, dolphin carcasses, toxic/medical waste, etc. etc. The Visitors' Center has a display showing the variety of stuff that gets washed up, and warning you what not to touch (storage drums, mainly). It also warns you that if you choose to go driving on the beach (which is legal) and get stuck, you're on your own. We opted not to drive on the beach!
We attended the local Oysterfest, which is a pretty big thing for little Fulton -- over 70 entries in the parade (including the obligatory Shriners). The Arts & Crafts tent was quite large and popular, as well as the Food tent ("food" including beer, the most popular stand of all). We walked the midway and watched the rides -- there were a surprising number of kids rides, and all the people running the rides were very good and patient with kids, and VERY safety-conscious, rechecking the safety belts, etc. In my day we didn't even have safety belts, and if anyone got hurt, they were growled at and sent away feeling like they were lucky to have gotten off so easy. The downer of the day was seeing that they gave away live animals (rabbits and iguanas) as prizes. We complained to the local Humane Society, but they told us that unless there was actual physical abuse involved, there wasn't much that they could do. I shudder to think how few (if any) of these unfortunate creatures survive the travels from one stop to the next, or even worse, how easily they're replaced, with a quick phone call to the supplier.
Back to more cheerful topics. We have found a yoga class at a local health center, three times a week. We will probably go twice a week, even though it's quite different than the yoga we're used to in Boulder. Of course, everything doesn't have to be done the Boulder way; it's just that we're used to certain poses (and their Sanskrit names!); this is more of a stretching class with relaxation interspersed. And we went on a whooping crane boat tour (Captain Ted's) -- we saw 34 whoopers. The first two were only about 100 yards from the boat.
On an impulse (that hopefully we aren't going to regret), we made reservations to come back to Port A next year -- for three months, starting 12/20/00. This came about because of a birdwatching tour we took in a van -- a van that broke down, stranding us in an RV park within walking distance of the beach -- in fact, just across the dunes from the beach. Naturally, we both immediately fell in love with the park, and found that it was not any more than the other RV parks we had been looking into. So hopefully you know where we're going to be next winter and can make plans to visit us. We have always wished for an extended stay by the ocean, so we'll see how it really is.
We went to several "Mini-Birdwatching Seminars" held at Goose Island State Park, a lovely coastal park about 6 miles north of Fulton, in Lamar. The seminars are held four days a week, but we could only go to two of them last week. They were wonderful, and just being in that state park was a wonderful experience. Dennis, the leader of the seminars, is a volunteer who is an avid birder. He is quite good at sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm with others. He also tends to draw together interesting people, so meeting others was an added bonus to the gatherings. On Friday, after the seminar, we went outside the park and looked around at the lovely town of Lamar. While we were there, we saw three Whooping Cranes go flying by. What a beautiful sight!
We couldn't go the the seminar on Saturday, but did go over later in the day and spent some companionable hours visiting people we had met earlier in the week and watching birds on our own. At the end of the day, we saw an amazing sight. Just at dusk, at a nearby pond right outside the park, huge numbers of herons and egrets come in to roost for the night. The trees are full of birds, and more just keep flying in. Then, just when things start to settle down, out come flying 30 or 40 night herons, setting out for a night of fishing after a day of sleeping. Boy, no rest for those poor fish! This was certainly a special day.
Interesting or unusual birds we have seen include Fulvous Whistling Duck, Crested Caracara, Common Loon, Eared Grebe, Catbird, and of course the many wonderful Whooping Cranes.
Texas Gulf Coast - Feb 26
We are enjoying a nice long visit to the Texas Gulf Coast. We are in the small coastal town of Fulton, which adjoins the town of Rockport. These two towns are noted for their art galleries and windswept Live Oak trees. Live Oaks are a species of tree that is a type of evergreen (or at least it's green all year long) that has leaves like a deciduous tree. They are a lovely, spreading tree. The winds that blow constantly away from the ocean makes all the trees slant in one direction. This effect is much like the "banner trees" at tree line in the Colorado mountains. There are many of these trees in our campground. We are planning to stay here for 3-4 weeks, and that is a welcome break from so much moving about.
We have met our friends from 8 months of emailing here and are enjoying spending time with them. They have full-timed for 3 1/2 years and we are able to learn some "tips" from them. They will be leaving on March 6, so we will be on our own after that. There is a lot to do here, and most of it is worth doing over & over, so we will not be lacking for entertainment.
It has been quite hot & humid since we got here, with highs in the mid-80s and lows about 70. Our bodies have had trouble adapting to this and so, I might add, have the cats. Today it has gotten a lot cooler and much less humid, so we are all hoping to sleep well tonight.
We have been busy the last few days with activities surrounding the Crane Festival. This is a festival held in a nearby island town (Port Aransas) which has lectures and activities about birdwatching. We have gone to several lectures and some "guided" birdwatching. It has been quite interesting. We will go tomorrow for the final day. Since we have saved money by paying for a month of trailer space, Willie has decided to spend all that we saved by purchasing a much better pair of binoculars for birdwatching. Even though these are light years better than any of our current binoculars, they are quite modest in the world of birdwatching. We are getting a demo pair from the Bushnell/Bausch & Lomb dealer at the festival.
We haven't actually seen any Whooping Cranes yet. They are supposed to be at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, which is about 40 miles north of here. We plan to drive up there early next week and see what we can see. If that doesn't satisfy our needs, there is a 4-hour boat trip that we can take later in the week.
We have met our friends from 8 months of emailing here and are enjoying spending time with them. They have full-timed for 3 1/2 years and we are able to learn some "tips" from them. They will be leaving on March 6, so we will be on our own after that. There is a lot to do here, and most of it is worth doing over & over, so we will not be lacking for entertainment.
It has been quite hot & humid since we got here, with highs in the mid-80s and lows about 70. Our bodies have had trouble adapting to this and so, I might add, have the cats. Today it has gotten a lot cooler and much less humid, so we are all hoping to sleep well tonight.
We have been busy the last few days with activities surrounding the Crane Festival. This is a festival held in a nearby island town (Port Aransas) which has lectures and activities about birdwatching. We have gone to several lectures and some "guided" birdwatching. It has been quite interesting. We will go tomorrow for the final day. Since we have saved money by paying for a month of trailer space, Willie has decided to spend all that we saved by purchasing a much better pair of binoculars for birdwatching. Even though these are light years better than any of our current binoculars, they are quite modest in the world of birdwatching. We are getting a demo pair from the Bushnell/Bausch & Lomb dealer at the festival.
We haven't actually seen any Whooping Cranes yet. They are supposed to be at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, which is about 40 miles north of here. We plan to drive up there early next week and see what we can see. If that doesn't satisfy our needs, there is a 4-hour boat trip that we can take later in the week.
Seminole Canyon State Park - Feb 16-20
We have reached Hondo, TX, (about 30 miles west of San Antonio on US90) after a WONDERFUL stay (of four nights) at Seminole Canyon State Park (about 45 miles west of Del Rio, also on US90).Seminole Canyon State Park is home to some of oldest (and most numerous) pictographs (cave paintings) in North America. We went on a guided tour Thursday; it was pretty amazing to be within a couple of feet of paintings that were made as far back as 2100 BC (and possibly older). Most show shamen, although animals are also represented. The shamen are depicted in a hallucinogenic trance brought on by a local plant (that I did not get the name of) -- surrounded by dots and lines, which evidently are characteristic of the visions the shaman experiences.
An exhibit at the Visitors' Center explained that the style of painting changed over the centuries, from a fairly accurate depiction of a human (given the medium -- plant-based paints brushed on rock with cactus fibers), slowly evolving to a point where only the "essence" of the shaman remains, much like Western Art's movement to post-Impressionism. Unfortunately, an estimated 1/3 of the pictographs were submerged when the Amistad Nat'l Rec Area was created by damming the Rio Grande; after the water receded when they lowered the level of the reservoir (parts had silted over), no evidence of the paintings remained.
We visited a boat dock that was no longer anywhere near the reservoir. The engineers evidently under-estimated the evaporation rate -- now the area is fairly constantly humid (it's was around 75% when we got there, with temps in the 80s). The vegetation is still desert -- it's so strange to see cactus growing in such a humid environment.
Friday we took a 7-mile hike and viewed more pictographs from across an arm of the reservoir -- Panther Cave Overlook. The most obvious painting is an animal that has been "officially" termed a panther. Also depicted is a row of shamen, probably painted at different times. The combination of the (very easy) hike and the beauty of the pictographs gave me goosebumps. It was very special. On the walk out we met a couple from Vermont, full-timers since Nov, whose license plate read NOCLOX. They were quite nice and we visited them again in the evening. They were full-timing in a 20-foot Chinook, so you can see that it's whatever you want it to be.
On Saturday we went on the White Shaman Tour, led by the Rock Art Foundation, a local amateur archeology group. They first showed us a mock wikiup (sp?) which is where the tribe would live, and the guide, who had carved a large rock sculpture nearby for the RAF, explained fairly graphically what a hand-to-mouth existence these people led. The really amazing fact is that they lived in this area for 10,000 years in this fashion. Modern white Europeans will be lucky to repeat that feat! He then led us down a fairly tricky path to what had been a ceremonial cave, similar to Panther Cave. Only rather than viewing these across water through binocs, we were able to stand a couple of feet from awesome pictographs. The guide offered his interpretation, which he admitted was only one interpretation, and also changed occasionally, he also admitted. Some of these interpretations are based upon trance psychology work (done by Jungian psychologists -- in a Texas accent, we at first thought there were "union" psychologists here!) done by people in the Rock Art Foundation.
Roswell - Feb 11-15
It's us again, those crazy Coloradans with the four cats. Seriously, the cats seem to love it most of the time. The exception is when we are driving, but that isn't for much of the time. We spend a couple of days in Roswell, NM, and that was plenty of time to see what we needed to see. Our campground was quite nice with long pull-thru spaces. We could have probably been happy just relaxing there another couple of days without seeing any sights.
The first day we went to a zoo, which was a big mistake. We should know better than to go to a small-town zoo. This one just had captive animals of the types we had been seeing at the Wildlife Refuges during the previous days. Then, since the zoo was so small and unrewarding, we went on out to the Bitter Lakes Wildlife Refuge a little north of town. It was small, and we had forgotten our binoculars, but it was still quite interesting. We came across a Ranger with a spotting scope and were able to get a good look at some Ross' Geese, sort of a rarity. We then went back into town and visited the UFO Museum. The UFO story is interesting, but it got fairly repetitive. We bought & sent out the requisite souvenirs, bypassing the Alien Autopsy Game (motto "One wrong move and the scream will send you running") for our Mensa games night group.
The second day we went to Bottomless Lakes State Park and walked around looking at all the interesting "Blue Hole" type lakes. We spent the morning there and had a picnic lunch before leaving. In the afternoon we went to the Roswell Museum, which had art as well as a large Goddard museum. Both were interesting.
We arrived at our first Escapee park in Pecos, TX, on Valentine's Day, just in time for the Valentine's Day Dessert Pot Luck. Doug made one of his fabulous desserts. It was lots of fun to be with people that made us feel like family instantly. Pecos is a very small town with a really large Western feel to it. It sort of makes you want to say "Pardner" & "Yup". It makes lyrics of old western songs run through your mind. It's quite warm -- low 80's and we are just being lazy.
The first day we went to a zoo, which was a big mistake. We should know better than to go to a small-town zoo. This one just had captive animals of the types we had been seeing at the Wildlife Refuges during the previous days. Then, since the zoo was so small and unrewarding, we went on out to the Bitter Lakes Wildlife Refuge a little north of town. It was small, and we had forgotten our binoculars, but it was still quite interesting. We came across a Ranger with a spotting scope and were able to get a good look at some Ross' Geese, sort of a rarity. We then went back into town and visited the UFO Museum. The UFO story is interesting, but it got fairly repetitive. We bought & sent out the requisite souvenirs, bypassing the Alien Autopsy Game (motto "One wrong move and the scream will send you running") for our Mensa games night group.
The second day we went to Bottomless Lakes State Park and walked around looking at all the interesting "Blue Hole" type lakes. We spent the morning there and had a picnic lunch before leaving. In the afternoon we went to the Roswell Museum, which had art as well as a large Goddard museum. Both were interesting.
We arrived at our first Escapee park in Pecos, TX, on Valentine's Day, just in time for the Valentine's Day Dessert Pot Luck. Doug made one of his fabulous desserts. It was lots of fun to be with people that made us feel like family instantly. Pecos is a very small town with a really large Western feel to it. It sort of makes you want to say "Pardner" & "Yup". It makes lyrics of old western songs run through your mind. It's quite warm -- low 80's and we are just being lazy.
Bosque del Apache - Feb 8-10
Greetings from Bosque del Apache NWR -- "Woods of the Apache". This has been a beautiful, too short stay. We have viewed wildlife, mainly birds, for hours at a time and are not tired of it.There are 26,000 Snow Geese and 17,000 Sandhill Cranes which have both wintered here. The quantities are truly amazing. When the Snow Geese are flying around in groups, it looks like those glass balls with fake snow in them swirling around. And the sound of them all calling is wonderful. The Sandhill Cranes fly in much smaller groups, but they just keep coming -- and their sound, too, is amazing. They cry out while flying and when on the ground feeding make sort of a chuckling noise. We can hear them from our campground. We can also hear lots of coyotes.
The Bosque is an artificial re-creation of the way the Rio Grande used to be before man engineered it to his will. So in this one part they produce annual flooding and revegetation so that the migrating birds have a refuge in the dry desert. The birds that winter here usually go on to the refuge in Monte Vista, CO, in March.
Each morning, right after sunrise, the cranes and geese "fly out" to the cornfields that have been planted and cut down for them to feed on. Then each evening, right around sundown, they "fly in" to sleep in the lagoons, standing in or floating on the water so they aren't such easy prey for the coyotes. We have seen "fly in" for each of the three days we were here, and this morning we left at 6:40 and got to see "fly out". Both are truly spectacular.
Also, there are two whooping cranes here, and we managed to see them twice. They must know how rare they are, because they are always very far away and quite difficult to see.
We saw numerous varieties of ducks and hawks. We also walked on two nature trails. One of them went into an overgrown river's edge area. The dense foliage was still winter brown, but it was so tall it arched over our heads, and it was like when you were a child in a tunnel of tall grasses. It was warm enough today that we were glad of the shade. Our campground has been perfect. Small, uncrowded, with no extraneous lights, and very quiet.
First Day Out - Monday, Feb 7
This was the first day that it felt like we are really full-timers. We changed our itinerary (in true full-timer fashion) and came on down I25 to Las Vegas, NM, instead of stopping in Raton as originally planned. We decided that we did want to go to the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, about 200 miles further down I25, and Las Vegas seemed like the perfect stopping point. It had several sights worthy of viewing and a campground that was open all year.
The campground turned out to be the UGLIEST we have ever seen -- sort of a storage lot with hookups. We were pretty lonely the first night and sort of wondered what we were doing in this strange place. However, the morning dawned clear & sunny and we took off to see the sights. WOW!
First, we toured the nearby Storrie Lake State Park. We were invited to drive around and see what it was like without paying the day use fee by the ranger, who was VERY friendly. The campground was nice but just a little bit cheaper than our ugly one with no hookups. We would probably stay there next time or certainly at another private one. Right now, nothing else is open. It was a fairly small park, but quite attractive.
In the afternoon, we went to the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, only a few miles outside of town. It has a loop drive and a nature trail for which you need a special permit. It is located along the Central flyway for migrating birds, so we went to see what there was. We stopped and got the permit and heard how the birds were fewer than usual because of the unusually warm temps. So we started down the road and the first thing we saw was a huge Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. While we were watching it, an Osprey flew by over the water, looking for fish. We then went on the nature trail, a beautiful walk down into some small box canyons. We saw wrens & sparrows along the way. On our way back, we saw flocks of Sandhill Cranes, more Bald Eagles, lots of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, many species of ducks and a coyote. I guess this is what it's all about! We really had a wonderful day.
Other things of interest here in this small town. We were able to find some premium cat food of an interesting enough variety that our two picky eaters are satisfied (at least momentarily), and we were quite pleased by the caring responses we got from several veterinary clinics that helped us in our quest. We also were able to find a nice health food store and stocked up on a few tasty items. Of course, there is a nearby WalMart, and we also got some essentials there.
Also, there are a lot of beautiful houses here, some Victorian and some of the more Southwestern style. It is quite an interesting place all in all. And probably the kind of place we would not have stopped at if we weren't full-timers with all the time in the world.
The campground turned out to be the UGLIEST we have ever seen -- sort of a storage lot with hookups. We were pretty lonely the first night and sort of wondered what we were doing in this strange place. However, the morning dawned clear & sunny and we took off to see the sights. WOW!
First, we toured the nearby Storrie Lake State Park. We were invited to drive around and see what it was like without paying the day use fee by the ranger, who was VERY friendly. The campground was nice but just a little bit cheaper than our ugly one with no hookups. We would probably stay there next time or certainly at another private one. Right now, nothing else is open. It was a fairly small park, but quite attractive.
In the afternoon, we went to the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, only a few miles outside of town. It has a loop drive and a nature trail for which you need a special permit. It is located along the Central flyway for migrating birds, so we went to see what there was. We stopped and got the permit and heard how the birds were fewer than usual because of the unusually warm temps. So we started down the road and the first thing we saw was a huge Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. While we were watching it, an Osprey flew by over the water, looking for fish. We then went on the nature trail, a beautiful walk down into some small box canyons. We saw wrens & sparrows along the way. On our way back, we saw flocks of Sandhill Cranes, more Bald Eagles, lots of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, many species of ducks and a coyote. I guess this is what it's all about! We really had a wonderful day.
Other things of interest here in this small town. We were able to find some premium cat food of an interesting enough variety that our two picky eaters are satisfied (at least momentarily), and we were quite pleased by the caring responses we got from several veterinary clinics that helped us in our quest. We also were able to find a nice health food store and stocked up on a few tasty items. Of course, there is a nearby WalMart, and we also got some essentials there.
Also, there are a lot of beautiful houses here, some Victorian and some of the more Southwestern style. It is quite an interesting place all in all. And probably the kind of place we would not have stopped at if we weren't full-timers with all the time in the world.
