Sun March 16

Hi  everybody.  well its not the best of days today--rainy,windy and on the cooler side of 60.  A couple of thundershowers went through  earlier this morning  and clouded over again  now.  I am sitting in front of a beachy store in downtown Palacios. It is only open on the weekends and full of lots of good things . Ron and I were on a walk through town and came across it.

Another restaurant we came across--it was  a Monday and also closed. We had eaten here at the Lumber Yard Grill on our last trip here and the food was delish. Will have to try it again before  we leave.

The north winds were 40mph on the day of our walk and so it had blown a lot of water OUT to sea and along with low tide ,many of the oyster shells were exposed along the boardwalk.

Its obvious why there aren't many people wading in the salt water around here.

We were talking with the museum curator and she mentioned that the round dance pavilion that was once attached to the pier  blew down in a storm back in 2012. It is in the works to replace and relocate it by the pavilion committee some time in the near future. It was one of their historical landmarks .

Well bye for now..Its almost time for us to start heading back home after our time in  sunny south Texas. Will keep you posted on our departing date...take care all...Ron and Dee

Palacios 2014

Hi everyone.  Its been a few days since I've written  and we are now in Palacios Tx. We arrived here last Saturday and the internet is even worse than down south. The weather turned nasty on Sunday and Monday.(Happy belated birthday to my sister Ruth)We have taken a couple of walks on the 3 mile boardwalk along the water's  edge when it turned a bit  nicer. This flock of sandhill cranes were feasting on the insects in a field  around the corner. Getting ready to head north no doubt!!

This boat named Maverick was a practice torpedo retriever of WWII. It now tied up to the dock in dry rot.   USN TRB36

Tin Top Bar is still here out in the middle of nowhere.We thought it would of blown away by the winds by now.

A shrimp trawler off the shore of Matagorda. We spent the day there and didn't find  many shells.

Hope y'all are doing great  and keeping warm. We heard the weather is about to get a bit warmer for our relatives and friends at home. Talk to you soon  Dee and Ron

Metal Locating

Hi every body, Yesterday we travelled to South Padre Island and  had a great day. We went to Market days at the convention center and all these kites were in the air. It was amazing.We didn't buy anything  but there were lots of vendors and lots of people looking at the wares.  It was a sunny cool day and not as windy as Wednesday and Thursday (35 mph winds).  It took our internet out again for both days!!

Looking down the beach southward the ocean spray  was also amazing. 

There were not many shells on the beach  with all the waves crashing in .Maybe there would be more today once it calms down a bit. 

We did some metal locating  with Ron finding an encrusted  penny......me nothing. Tom however found about 75 cents. The beach was very clean  with all the handy garbage cans around.  No driving on this section  which was closer to downtown and lots of condos.

Tonight is our 2nd fish fry since we've been here and I'm sure it will be delicious again. I heard someone is making a chocolate cake with caramel drizzled  over it. We all love to eat here!!Well bye for now...take care and stay warm   Dee and Ron

More from Estero State park

Hi everybody,  here are a few more pictures from our birding trip the other day.  A herd of  turtles. There were lots of them .

 Mary and I in front of a blooming bougainvillea. Flowers are just  starting to bloom down here,but I'm sure with the warm weather of the last couple of days   the flowers will  finally show their colors. This  is a wild bush on the property.

Now today  the temperature was 76 and a nice breeze made it a perfect day. Ron and I went back to the home of the great horned owl   and it was there just keeping an eye on all the road traffic beside its home. It never left the top of the old dead palm tree as it did the last time. We did get some great pics of it again today.  It is a huge bird but you would never guess that from our close-ups.

Tonight we went to the Valentine steak dinner up at the hall and it was delish. Steak or chicken breast,baked potato, salad, roll, ice cream cranberry punch or sweet iced tea(made from  the sun) to drink and raspberry cheesecake for dessert.Yum yum.It was all made by the new owner, his family and staff. They are all trying to make the park even better since they purchased it in Jan. Dance to follow... Saturday mornings is fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee at 8 am sharp.
Well bye for now, hope the weather improves for all our family, friends and  followers soon.  It sure has been a rough winter to the north of us. Take care all and safe travels .
Dee and Ron

Estero Llano Grande St. Pk

Hi everyone.

On Sunday it was sunny and warm so we decided to head for the Estero Llano bird center and check it out. Ron took 268 pictures and we've whittled it down to 6 for you. This screech owl  just ignored everyone as they took his picture.Of course there is always an alligator or 2 around..this huge one in the alligator pond.  also saw an anhinga in the water.

This shovelhead duck posed for lots of photos but this one seemed the best. There is a boardwalk throughout the whole park which once was also a campground but not now.  What remains are cement pads for all the volunteers  to park campers on  and paved roads to walk on  with fruit trees and beautiful flower bushes   and birds  everywhere.

Ring-necked duck ..

Altimira  oriole.....

Common Pauraque hidden amongst the leaves and debris under a tree (center of the picture).  The park naturalist pointed the bird out to us or we never would have seen it.  Birds are smart!!

Yesterday the temp was 80 and sunny here...today  cold ,raining and very windy , 42 deg. It dropped 40 deg- last night in about 1 1/2 hrs. Back home that would have spawned some really nasty weather with tornadoes etc.Wed is supposed to get better here, Bye for now---stay warm   Dee and Ron

This week's ice storm

 Hi everyone. Well we have 80 deg weather today with 35 mph winds ,but earlier this week we had an ice storm that left us without hydro for 8 hours. The rain started pelting in the night and by 5 am the branches of these Australian pine trees were down every where. The poor palms were covered in ice and drooping. They did recover when all the ice started melting by 2:00 in the afternoon. The next day the temo was up to 70. Its no wonder no one can climatize around here  with the temps up and down.

Thursday we headed over to South Padre Island for  a day out and lunch with Tom and Mary. Everyone had cabin fever and we were all glad to see some sun and enjoy the breezes coming up from the south. Lunch was at Dirty Al's this time and a good visit was had by all.

 

Island in the back ground ,bridge over the water way.   Pic from pier in Port Isabel.

This blue crab was caught down off our dock and it is over the 5 " legal limit and will end up in the pot soon. the fellow that caught it has had quite a few meals from the  river.
Hope the weather improves for all you guys. We have heard its pretty wintery up in the north. Stay warm, take care  Dee and Ron.
Hi to our pro snow-boarders  Trent and Logan-miss you guys!

Laguna Atascosa Natioal Wildlife Refuge

Hi everyone, Yesterday we travelled with Mary and Tom to the refuge near us. It was 98,000 acres big, and we just covered a very small portion of it. There were numerous yuccas in bloom throughout the park -some just starting out and lots more in full bloom. The park is on the coast of the Laguna(pronounced lagoona ) Madre  with South Padre Island to the east. Jaguar now extinct here in texas.

This beautiful bird is the green jay. Lots of them hanging around the feeders along with male and female  cardinals.

 

There were signs such as this all through the park. It would be rare to see one as there were only 30-50 in Texas and mostly in the park. Although  nocturnal they do roam in the daylight foraging for food.  

We did a 3 hour tram ride through the park and saw many interesting things. The lakes were almost dried up as the drought has taken over texas for 3 years.  Bye  for now .The temperature  has gone from 80 this morning to 60 as I write this.  Take care all Dee and Ron

Port Mansfield

Hi everyone, Today we did a short road trip to Port Mansfield , about 40 mins  north of here on the inter coastal waterway. Along the way there were thousands of wind turbines--along the road and far off into the distance as far as you could see. We got out to take pictures and shut off the engine and you could definitely hear the whoosh of the blades.  Of course there were no homes in any direction -its flat as a pancake in any direction and the noise would bother no one! Its all farm land around this area.

 

Along the way this Great Horned Owl was spotted. It flew out of a dead palm tree and landed on a nearby tree. Probably a female and was laying  on an egg in the tree.  It was approx.25 " high  and a sight to see.  It stayed up on this branch until after we left waiting to fly back to its home. We had spotted it on the way to the Port and it was still there on our return trip so we had to stop again for more pics.

 

These deer were everywhere in town and are being fed by feeders making them quite tame. Unfortunately  the coyotes also know where they are  roaming. The deer are in every ones yard just laying around  in the shade and the predators move in at night. You can hear coyotes here beside our park all night long also.. but we are fenced in  thank goodness.

 

  Today in south Texas was really enjoyable .we stopped for lunch at Pelican Bar and Grill ..ate some really delicious grilled black drum  and then headed for home. Bye for now. Hope you enjoy our owl pics.  take care Dee and Ron

Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

Hi everybody, well yesterday we travelled to the Santa Ana Wildlife refuge near Alamo with Mary and Tom. Well here are our friends standing beside Tom's infamous picture on the wall of the refuge from 5 years ago when they visited there.(different blue shirt.
Now he did ask if anyone wanted autographs but most people declined--their loss! The park is 2,000  acres of trails and  some dried up lakes because of the drought conditions here in Texas. Lots of wildlife and birds.

Mary and I on a suspension bridge through the tree tops. We were on a 7 mile tram ride tour through the park. It took us through a cemetery on the property that had been there since the 1800's.At one point on the tour we were only 1/3 of a mile from  the Rio Grande River with Mexico on the other side.

Last week a bobcat had run in front of the tram but nothing this trip. We had done a short walking trip to see birds on the Pintail Lake Trail  and then the tour ,then we stopped for picnic lunch.

 Golden fronted woodpecker near picnic tables.

Notice the humming bird in the lower left hand corner-bonus!

We had a great day with sunshine and temp of 78.

Ron took some great pics. Bye for now have a great day-stay warm,   Dee and Ron

Papayas

Hi everyone, here is one of a few papaya trees in a yard here in the park. These are quite tall but the fellow has a few smaller ones coming up from seed he scattered in his small garden. He also has lemons the size of grapefruits on one of his trees.
We travelled over to Harlingen  today and picked up Ron's spotting scope that he's been waiting to get since ordering it a couple of weeks ago.

A kiskadee  here in the park.

Were off to a wildlife area tomorrow so hope to have lots more pics soon. Have to try out the scope.  bye for now ..take care all  Dee and Ron

 

South Padre Island Jan 15

Hi everyone. Yesterday we travelled to South Padre Island with Mary and Tom. What a fun day we had. This bridge took us over the Laguna Madre Bay  which is part of the inter coastal waterway to the island. We toured an R V Park and then on to Joe's seafood restaurant. Yummy--huge shrimp!!

There were lots of

shore birds ,ducks ,many egrets ,pelicans, herons, and of coarse alligators(2) that we noticed.

 

From there we drove down the beach to do a bit of metal locating .Tom found a penny and Ron found a pull tab. whoo hoo..Internet is working much better now thanks goodness. Well bye for now, take care  Dee and Ron 

Hi everybody, Just one of our great sunrises here I  the morning. Sorry about no blogs for awhile--our internet here is really terrible. It was out of service all yesterday and last night again  besides most evenings. The service guys worked 2 days on it and it was worse than ever  so you'll have to bear with us on that.Many have complained because they can't keep in touch with family.
There are many wind turbines in the area surrounding our campground. Most every day it is quite windy here with lots of sun. 79 deg at the moment. We are also -7 feet below sea level.

Ron helped Tom with his awning and sunscreen  on their motor home. Sure makes a difference with some shade.  It also gives more private sitting area. I think we will try to do ours one day this week when its not windy..........

Our solar panels are working great for our 12 volt  systems .We had a couple of rainy days where we had to go back to electric but so far so good.

We want to wish our son Scott a Happy Birthday tomorrow-have a great day.

Also we want to wish our great-nephew Patrick a speedy recovery in the hospital.

Get well soon..Take care  to all Dee and Ron