When does Texas end?

16 February 10 - 22 February 10

Tuesday was a moving day – it was a short trip. It was a good thing it was short as we had a dead battery and it took an extra hour plus to get going. Miriam was told on Sunday after she said, “We are just passing thru” “This is the end of the road, there is no passing thru.” We are staying in an RV park, Port O'Connor RV Park, that is nearly new and looks like it is a well kept secret. They do have a number of people in the summer to go fishing and January during duck season is busy. Brady and Donna keep the place spotless and are more than able hosts. We are even going to stay an extra week so we can go to Matagorda Island. They used to have a ferry out to the island, but it does not run any longer. Donna gave us a telephone number of a Naturalist, we found out he is also the person in charge of gathering Sea Turtle eggs on the island, who will take us over and show us some of the more interesting parts as well as take us down thru the flyway to see Whooping Cranes. Even the price of this trip was not out of our budget.

On the way here we went past a place all of you people in the north are looking for. Bay front property – lots start at $150k, but if you want to park your boat on the property they are $200k then you build the house. Who said there was a housing problem. We saw an ad in the local paper, provided by the park, for a 2 room house that they wanted $75 a day or $400 for a week to rent. It did sleep 4 but that was about all. It did look right out on the bay though. It is kind of eery when you drive aroung town and all the houses are on stilts. Some of them even have decks on the second or third floor.

Texans always talk about how everything is bigger in Texas - how about the road system - they have SR(State Road), CR(County Road), FR(farm road), FM(farm to market road), and RM(ranch to market road). We have been on roads with numbers like FM1289 when we go to Port Lavaca or SR35 when we went to Aransas NWR. We have been on many other roads too, but those were the ones that came to mind. A lot of the roads are almost four lanes wide with a speed limit of 70. People not in a hurry will pull on the paved shoulder and let those in a hurry pass. This is also a great place to have lunch when there are not any rest areas or to take pictures without getting anyone killed.

Our timing is good again. They are in the middle of shrimp and oyster season right now. We have not had any fresh of either, but we will have shrimp this week. Miriam does not like oysters so I will have to forgo them. We figure we will have to do the shelling but we did that with the crab in December so it should not be too bad.

We have been to a number of Wildlife Refuges and Parks that are part of the Great Texas Wildlife Trails. They have a system of areas to see wildlife and birds up the East coast of the state. It is broken into Lower, Central, and Northern parts with maps and directions to locate each area. They all have more than ten different trips you can drive in each part. This has been a real help in planning things we want to see and places to go.

In case I misled anyone last week – Havalina is not a pig. Did you know alligators can go 30 miles an hour? Why are Flamingos and Roseate Spoonbills pink? There is something in the shrimp they eat. If they have not been getting many shrimp the Spoonbills will be white – I do not know about the Flamingos. When do the Buzzards go back to Hinckley, Ohio? Never, they really are Vultures, just called Buzzards by those not in the know. I know I am duplicating from last week, but our granddaughters liked the picture last week so I thought this one is bigger. Probably 12 – 15 feet long.

Pictures:
Big Alligator
Seven Banded Armadillo
Snow Geese - gleaning the rice fields getting ready to move
Did you know they grow rice in TX?
Sandhill Cranes – ditto
Brown Pelican – not too many years ago was Endangered

Stay this side of the wall....

9 February 10 - 15 February 10

Praise God for small town Baptist churches. After last weeks debacle we found a church just like we left in Ohio. About 50 people, the pastor does two services in different towns, and the message was right down the line from scripture.

We had our share of fun days along with a little rain. Yes, yes, I know it snowed up your way. We visited two different National Wildlife Refuges(NWR), thank you Uncle Sam for the foresight, and saw many different animals and birds. There is always the story of the one that got away - we even have that this week, of sorts. We went to Atascosa to see more inland birds and the other wildlife there. They are known in the south of Texas as having the only non-captive Ocelots in the US. This is a Central and South American cat that also makes its home in South Texas. Atascosa has a population of about 100 which can make them fairly hard to see as they are spread over 90,000 acres. They do everything big in Texas. We had walked a couple of short trails and watched a number of different birds before we left on the 17 mile drive around part of the bay. This is across the bay from South Padre Island. We started out rather slow and were overtaken by three or four vehicles which I just pulled off and let pass. After they were almost out of sight we started up again going slow. About 100 yards ahead we saw an ocelot come out of the brush and walk up the road. To far for pictures, but Miriam had the glasses on it and could tell it was the real thing. It had a tail and the only other cat in the reserve is a bobcat. As we made it to the place the Ocelot left the road we could see some deer in the brush. One of the Rangers the next day said it was probably hunting.

You people in the East have your Bluejays, but what do you think of the picture of the Green Jay.

I haven't done all the looking yet to be sure of what the bird is holding a crab, but I watched it sneak up on the crab for 3-4 minutes. It would take one step veeerrry slowly then hold a pose and whoosh it was having lunch. No, there are no retakes of those.

The gator never had lunch while we were there, but he doesn't look like he has missed too many meals. Was like that for hours just waiting for something edible to swim by. The ducks in the area gave it wide berth.

Friday and Saturday were spent at Santa Ana NWR west from our home and right on the river. There was a warning about one of the trails – when you arrived at the river turn left or you would trigger the alarm for the Border Patrol. Friday was uneventful, but Saturday started with a bang – metaphorically speaking. As we walked from the parking lot there were four Spanish – Mexican looking younger people coming toward us from the trail area. As I went in and checked in Miriam stayed outside and saw the action as I was hearing one side of a conversation with the Border Patrol. They were illegals, as they are called, who we did NOT see get caught – if they were. As we started walking out one of the trails we see this dark flash go across and I have the camera up and ready, but not quick enough. I was lucky because there were three – Havalinas – wild pigs. I have the picture of it, even if the cat was too far away.

Next week is move week again. We will be going north from where we are, but only a couple of hundred miles. We will still be south of Houston.

Pictures:
Green Jay
unknown bird with crab - is it really lunch time?
American Alligator
Havalina - it didn't smell like a pig
Wall – your tax dollars at work? If it is ever finished.

Texas - again

1 February 10 - 8 February 10

Thanks, Gary - I did.

To all who were not at our house during the moving out phase:

We moved our belongings to Oregon because that is where we intend to live after our adventure is over. We are looking very strongly at Gold Beach, OR, it is in an area known as the 'Banana Belt' extending south to Crescent City, CA. Look at the weather there compared to Grants Pass, OR on any given day. We had intended to move back to Grants Pass before we spent a week there in 35 degree fog, plus the town has grown into a Grey haired mecca since we left there thirty years ago. The only problem is there was NO planning as it has a river running east-west through the south end of town with only one bridge in the town(city now) portion. It is a real nightmare if you are going anywhere in the area on the other side of the bridge.

We sold everything – NO toys left – including the house knowing we would leave the area. We bought a 39' motor home, gas, fully self-contained. If you are claustrophobic this is not the way to live. It is 360 square feet of living area with the sides extended. There is a lot of storage space, Now which door is that in?, with considerable cabinet space on the inside. One thing we did, and we are happy about it, was opt for a double door refrigerator with freezer above in place of the smaller refer and a pantry. We can still buy food at Sam's and make smaller packages and freeze them. We were talked into gas and I'm not sure it was a bad idea. Service is considerably cheaper when it is time. Fuel costs are less while that is offset by the difference in mileage. We are averaging around 7.5 mpg so far over the 4500 miles we have traveled to date. We also tow our car on a dolly. They do not make a tow bar that would work for our car, but I see more 'four on the ground' vehicles behind Rvs than dollies.

For anyone wanting to contact us:
email ray – dot - chambers -at- ymail – dot - com or miriamgrbac -at- ymail – dot - com
snail mail 4712 Smith Stewart Rd
Vienna, OH 44473

Spent our last day in San Antonio looking a God's wonderful creation. Drove and walked in an Audubon Nature Preserve. What a sight to see birds never seen in the Northeast or Northwest. Drizzled the whole day – the weather called for 10% rain and that was what I would call it.

We are in San Benito, TX – home to the 'legendary' Freddy Fender – for two weeks. We have spent two days on South Padre Island sightseeing and bird watching. I will not say the temperature is in the 70s while you are getting hit with snow. We had that storm as rain, 2+ inches, Wed and Thurs. We are supposed to have rain again this week Wed and Thur. I haven't found much in the way of historical sights here, but the bird watching places are a dime a dozen. The East coast of TX has hundreds of sanctuaries and wildlife refuges including hundreds of miles of trails.

It takes some getting used to listening to people talk, but then most of the people here in the park originate in the north. You hear more Spanish than English when you are in a store, though.

It gets harder and harder to find a church that has an English service the farther south we go. It is also a little distracting when you attend a Southern Baptist church and every third word is 'Amen'. I have nothing against 'Amen' as such but there is a limit. Pastor, you have spoiled us. I had the first experience in my life where I have walked out of a church service -Pentecostal- today. I am not proud of the fact I left, but I came to hear God's word. We had been there an hour – about 45 minutes in and I wrote for Miriam “Where's God?” as they had not talked about God – only the results of the sales drive they just had and the one they going to start along with music that was WAY to LOUD. I can tell you who was first, second, and third in the youth and adult divisions and what their prizes were. We will make a better choice for Wed and Sun this next week.

Pictures:
Long Billed Curlew - you said what about my beak?
Great Blue Heron – I have my lunch – want a bite?
Multi-colored Heron – I can have a bad hair day!
Roseate Spoonbills - fishing
Colors in the sand – What can be done by wind and water

More of God's great world.

25 January 10 - 1 February 10

Ally, sorry we missed you while we were in Mesa.

It seems my 'Buffalo Soldiers' question has been misinterpreted. So let me clear up all the controversy I have started - 'Buffalo Soldiers were black – were given the named by the Indians ---NO not the Cleveland Indians. The question is WHY were they called 'Buffalo Soldiers'?

Ruth Ann, I will answer your questions here next week – I need a little more time to work out all the details. They are something more than just you will want to know. I assumed the only people reading this would be from our little area of Ohio who knew what was happening and had seen our mode of travel.

With two moving days in the week there will not be as much to talk about. We went from Benson, AZ to Vado, NM and spent two nights there. While there we went into El Paso, TX and did some sightseeing although I didn't take any pictures as it drizzled the whole time. I did get Miriam down next to the Rio Grande and Mexico – within six or eight blocks, but she didn't want to get out of the car. I thought it would be the best place to have Mexican food for lunch, but it was not to be. We did have a Mexican lunch, though. As we traveled through West Texas – to quote Miriam – all we saw was “miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles. Over the last week though I have been asked: “Are you a citizen?” twice at Border Patrol check points. The first time was after Obama's speech and I thought Texas might have staged a coup and I was in a foreign land. They let us continue so I guess four years and six months in the Air Force counts for something.

We arrived in San Antonio Friday afternoon. In our planning of what we could see we knew it would have to be close and not real expanded. The first thing that comes to mind in San Antonio if you were ever in the Air Force would be Lackland AFB, but I'm too old for that any more. So we did the next best thing – went to the Alamo. We figured Saturday shouldn't be to crowded – little did we know they had a parade of some kind in the area in the morning. The first half-hour wasn't too crowded , but after that it was wall to wall people. You will see what you can get for pictures even if you wait. With only half the day gone we went to the other four missions started about the same time as the Alamo which was also a mission. The other four are still functioning Catholic churches. The tour guide in one of them said they had six services every weekend to accommodate all of the parish. So much for the separation of Church and State – each of the four is maintained by the US National Park Service – our tax dollars, but the Archdiocese of San Antonio is responsible for the service. You can see in one picture the renovation taking place. There were painters working in the building and they let us in and told a little bit about what was happening. The colors are as close to the original colors used in 1869 – they found the date in one part of the colors around the dome. I guess we sometimes get lucky – last week the Railroad Business Car and this week the Mission Sanctuary.

Next week south Texas.

Pictures:
Old Paintings in the Chapel – Mission Concepcion
Front of Mission Concepcion
Newly painted dome of Mission Concepcion
The Alamo
West Texas – scrub and mountains for hours