Big Bend National Park

Several times on this trip, Bob and I have been told to visit Big Bend National Park. It really wasn’t on our radar screen since it’s in the bottom SW corner of Texas, very far from anywhere, but we thought after all the comments, we should come.

Big Bend is over 800,000 acres of diversity. It includes 118 miles of the Rio Grande and a shared border with Mexico. We took a trail down to the river and were surprised to see that it was so low that we could easily walk across to Mexico. The rest of the park is Chihuahuan desert and the Chisos Mountains, ranging from 2000 – 8000 feet in elevation. Even though it is a huge park, not a lot of people visit and it remains a true wilderness.

Last year, Bob and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about and identifying desert plants. As we headed into this area, we were excited to see many old friends – cactus, ocotillo, yucca, sotol, agave, creosote bush and honey mesquite, but things are very dry this year and the desert bloom has yet to happen. Even some cacti are starting to dry up and a ranger told us that the fire danger right now is extreme. Everywhere we went, we wished we had water to offer to the plants. On one little hike, we spotted a lizard on a rock. We stopped to say HI and on our way back, noticed he was still there. I quietly explained that I was going to leave him some water, and slowly poured some into a depression in the rock he was sunning on. As soon as we stepped back, he entered the newly formed pool and drank. Finally we were able to help a little guy in need.

Big Bend is a remote wilderness and while it is dry and hot, there are still some big predators here. Black bears and cougars had been seen several times this week, but we weren’t one of the lucky observers. We didn’t see any fox or javelinas either, but got several coyote serenades during the night. This area is also home to hundreds of bird species throughout the year and we spotted three roadrunners.

After our winter in Florida with beach walks at sea level, I was anxious to get out and hike in the mountains. I knew it would be a challenge, but we made an 1100-foot climb ending with a fantastic view at over 6500 feet on the Lost Mine Trail. It was a little cooler at that elevation and there were also pinion pines along the trail for shade.

It has been very hot during our two days in Big Bend with temps near 100 during the day and dropping only to 65 at night. We actually ran our air conditioner in the RV for about 6 hours one day, something we rarely do. It has also been very dry and dusty. Hard to believe when we watch the weather channel and hear about snowstorms still hitting the NE and West Coast mountains.

There are so few visitors in the park that we kept running into the same people. We chatted with one nice couple from Napa on the mountain trail and had seen another couple from WA in the same parking lot. The next day we ran into both groups again!

Last year we were so happy to get to the desert after enduring the cold wet winter in Washington and Northern California. This year, coming from wintering over in Florida the desert seems a little too dry. After a couple more stops we will be in Sedona again. It will be interesting to see how Sedona feels this time around.

Alpine – Ft Davis Texas

Mary and I stopped in Alpine, Texas for a couple of days to visit Ft. Davis and the Davis Mountains. This area is known to me as the home of the McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas. I know this because the NPR Star Date programs originate from there. If you listen to National Public Radio I know you would recognize the voice of Sandy Wood. Her daily program is just a few minutes of astronomy facts usually centered on what’s currently happening in the night sky.

McDonald Observatory was created in the 1930’s. The site is very remote and therefore has very dark skies. The main telescope was instrumental in preparing for the moon landings. As part of the moon missions a small reflector was left on the moon. Scientists can shoot a laser beam to the reflector to get a precise measurement of distance and have been able to conclude that the moon is moving further away from earth.

The newest telescope uses a series of mirrors that are shaped like mosaic tiles and put together to form the light gathering surface, rather than a single optic mirror like most traditional telescopes. The old days of looking through eyepieces are gone. The information is now fed directly to computer screens.

It is still unbelievable to me how they can determine mass, distance and composition of distant celestial objects just from analyzing light.

Speaking of unbelievable things, Alpine is just up the road from Marfa, Texas, home to the famous “Marfa Lights”. The Marfa Lights are UFO’s that occur quite regularly (several times per year), and at the same location. The highway department has even erected a very nice concrete and stone viewing platform complete with restrooms and red lights to preserve your night vision. We did see some of the Marfa lights…off to the southwest a winding highway runs through the hills and car lights seem to move mysteriously and go on and off as the cars go around curves. But the real Marfa Lights are oddly moving balls of lights to the south and east. While we were there, a researcher and author was set up with his recording cameras and he said the real lights are not cars or anything else easily explained or faked. People have observed them since the 1930s. Even though we didn’t see them, we still believe, and look for UFO’s every chance we get. Because of the exceptionally clear skies here, we were able to catch great views of the recent super moon, and some very starry skies in the days following before moonrise.

Ft Davis National Historical Site is a very well preserved frontier fort along the Butterfield Overland route between San Antonio and El Paso. The fort was active during the Civil War, and after protected the locals and travelers from Indian Raids from out of the North. Following the Civil War, regiments of black cavalrymen, known as Buffalo Soldiers were stationed here from 1867 to 1885. The first black graduate of West Point, Henry O. Flipper, was one of the soldiers. In other places on the trip we have seen references to the Buffalo Soldiers, but not a lot details. Here, they had many photos, artifacts and explanations of the black soldiers’ way of life. They often endured racism from white officers and townspeople, but they served with distinction.

The Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Garden is just outside Ft Davis. It was very windy the day we visited, so that limited our enthusiasm for hiking, but we had a great walk along their nature trail to the cactus greenhouse. The nature trail was fantastic because almost every bush and tree was labeled. I can’t tell you how many “botanical gardens” we have been to that don’t even label most of the plants! The cactus green house was a particular delight with several cacti in bloom. They had over 200 varieties of cacti in the greenhouse. As you know by now, Mary and I have grown quite fond of cacti and other desert plants.

The weather is warming up we are getting a lot of sun with temperatures in the mid 80’s+. We are liking the heat, but the wind and dust is not a lot of fun.

South Padre Island & San Antonio

My mom’s sister spends her winters in Port Isabel, just across the bridge from South Padre Island on the southernmost Texas gulf coast. I had visited her many years ago and wanted to take Bob down there while we were in the area, so we left the 5^th wheel in Austin and drove the six hours south. We were happy to see wild flowers blooming along the freeway and the yuccas are in bloom! We fell in love with these gigantic flowers in the desert last year.

Bob and I had a great time relaxing, eating pie, fabulous fish and shrimp and touring the area. We visited the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge where we saw several new birds, but were unable to spot an ocelot or jaguarundi. This is one of the few places these endangered cats still survive in the USA. We also loved a little local church with a seaside motif.

South Padre is a barrier island in the Padre Island National Seashore that runs from Corpus Christi to Port Isabel. Only the southern 5 miles has a road and beyond that are pristine dunes and sandy beaches. Spring break was in full swing on South Padre Island when we spent an afternoon at the beach and had lunch in a local waterfront pub. There were thousands of college kids everywhere. Bob enjoyed the bikini scenery and aunt Terry and I sampled some exotic drinks.

On our way back to Austin, we stopped in San Antonio. Bob had visited there once in the 1980’s and thought it would be a good place for lunch. The “river walk” area is a great winding maze of restaurants and shops. It is a little like Disneyland with boat tours running down the river, but when you consider its age, it is a fine testament to its designer. A local architect had the vision of lining the San Antonio river with stone walls, trees and walkways in the 1930’s. The River Walk was completed in 1941. The river channeling system also serves some flood control purposes. San Antonio is home to a lot of Texas History including the Alamo and some very well preserved churches and cathedrals from the 1700’s. We only spent a couple of hours there and barely scratched the surface, but it seemed like a very livable city.

Austin, TX

Austin is the capital of Texas. It is a great mix of major college town (University of Texas 50,000 students), political city, high tech metropolis and old time western honky tonk town. Music venues seem to be everywhere, even more so than Nashville, and encompassing a broader array of styles. Our stop here just happened to coincide with South by Southwest, Austin’s annual music and film festival, so the town was hopping!

Downtown is an eclectic mix of new high rises, expansive parks along the river, bars and barbeque joints and funky college oriented shops. Restaurants run from upscale hip, to funky new wave to food trailers scattered throughout the city including Hey Cupcake Airstream Trailers. Austin is definitely a good town for foodies, with almost anything you could ask for.

People seem very friendly for the most part, and Austin has a pretty comfortable atmosphere for a large city (800,000 population). The residential neighborhoods right near downtown still have single-family homes. You can find older bungalows right next door to trendy remodels and architecturally dramatic new homes. The suburbs are more typical of what you may find anywhere, but the heart of the city seems truly unique.

Mary’s close friend Shoshana moved to Austin last year. She is still settling in, but seems to really enjoy the variety and unique aspects of the city. She showed us around and gave us a good feel for the place. Mary and Shoshana taught an animal communication workshop one weekend.

We went to a live show called Esther’s Follies - a very fast-paced collection of skits, songs and magic acts. The material changes regularly, but the show has been running continuously since 1984. The stage backdrop is a window that opens right onto the street and passers by are often caught up in the action. Some of the cast even goes out on to the sidewalk with props and signs as part of the show. The show was very funny, intelligent and clever and the magic stunts were fantastic. We had a great time.

Congress Street Bridge is a rather long span across the Colorado River that winds through downtown, but it is not THE Colorado River. In a renovation project in the 1980’s, several inch or so wide slits were cut longitudinally into the underside of the bridge decking. These small crevices turned out to be great roosting spaces for bats. Hundreds of thousands of bats now roost and raise their young from mid-March until fall. The nightly spectacle of up to 1.5 million bats flying out from under the bridge draws quite a crowd of locals and tourists. Mary and I watched them the night before the full moon.

We also made a couple of excursions into the Texas Hill Country, west of Austin. Lake Travis is a suburban area of new commercial and residential development. The lake is also a center for recreational boating, but the water level is currently pretty low. We visited a couple of very nice small towns. Wimberley is a small artist community, and Fredericksburg is a German heritage town. Both were very nice with some good restaurants and interesting architecture. This area is also where Lyndon B Johnson grew up and had his ranch.

The geography and vegetation reminded me of the area of Southern California where I grew up, Thousand Oaks. Oak trees, dry grasses and brush dominate, only in Southern California the brush is Chaparral, and in the Hill Country it is Juniper Bushes/Trees or Cedars as they call them here. The topography is rolling hills as you might expect, but there is one magnificent feature that is quite unexpected. Enchanted Rock State Park encompasses a couple of very large monolithic pink granite boulders that rise up 425 feet from the surrounding landscape, almost like Ayers Rock in the outback of Australia. To Mary and I, the rocks seem to be the remains of a magma core from a very large caldera. When on the rock you can see a surrounding rim on the horizon that would make the caldera tens of miles wide. It is quite easy to hike the ¾ mile trail to the summit…you just walk right up the side. The rock surface is so grippy that you can literally walk up (and down) vast areas of the rock. It is also easy to experience the profound energy of the place as you lie on your back and close your eyes or gaze into the sky. While the rock is mostly bare, erosion pockets in the surface catch water and dirt and support a surprising variety of plant life. If you are in the area, Enchanted Rock is definitely a must see.

The weather has been fantastic during our two weeks here, mid 80’s during the day and low 60’s at night. Next we’ll be heading toward Big Bend and west Texas.

Starting to Head Home

We left south Florida on March 1^st along with a lot of other RV’ers The regular snowbirds are heading back to Ohio, Indiana, etc, but this year I bet it feels a little early given the national weather scene. The south Florida weather was just getting the way Mary likes it - warm both day and night. We really liked the west coast of Florida from Clearwater to Naples, especially the Sarasota area. The downtown is very nice and the beaches on the islands of Longboat Key, Lido Key, Siesta Key and Anna Maria Island are fantastic.

Our first stop northwestward was at Carrabelle Beach at the beginning of the Florida panhandle. The weather was definitely cooler. We figured out that Spring Break seems to be the beginning of the high season for north Florida, and the end of the high season for south Florida. The sand was still nice (top photo), and the water in this area was clear, but ‘tea’ colored. We took a nice long walk along the beach that was just across the street from our RV park and encountered several dolphins in the shallow waters right along the shoreline. They were chasing fish, and sometimes made quite a splash just few feet from the beach. Every time we see them they warm our hearts, and bring smiles to our faces.

Next day, we drove along the shore from Carrabelle to Pensacola. The bay and Gulf waters around Destin Beach were beautiful, very clear and blue/green similar to south Florida. We also drove through Biloxi Mississippi to our overnight stop at the Hollywood Casino RV Park in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. This area was hard hit by the Hurricanes of 2005. The result is a lot of vacant properties and a few remnants of damage, but there are also some very nice new buildings and infrastructure. There has really been an effort to rebuild the downtowns and many of the areas have some great new schools and public buildings to go with the new commercial buildings. The residential areas are an odd mix of vacant lots, fantastic new homes, some old “survivors” and only a very few derelict houses.

We visited New Orleans for a day to check-out the Mardi Gras action. Getting around New Orleans during Mardi Gras week is tough, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We drove through a very crowded French Quarter, ate lunch in the Garden District, and then made it back to the French Quarter where we even managed to get a decent parking spot. Walking around the French Quarter was very interesting with lots of people and stores made up in Mardi Gras regalia. People were friendly and having fun. The city actually reminded me a bit of Seattle. There is a public market down by the waterfront (Mississippi River), some of the architecture is reminiscent of Pioneer Square, but the beautiful iron work and balcony’s of the French Quarter are truly unique. As you drive into the city on I-10 from the east you can really see large areas of Katrina damage. A lot of large vacant lots, a few new commercial buildings and a lot of damaged residential areas. The French Quarter was not hit hard by Katrina.

Driving west through Louisiana, Mary and I ran into a strong cold front and waited out a few tornado warnings in a truck stop. We later found out that tornados struck about 50 miles west of us. We made it through fine, but have certainly gained a healthy respect for severe weather especially considering we are towing a 35ft long, 13ft tall trailer behind us.

After adding three more states to our map (Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana) we crossed over into Texas. We are now stopping over in Beaumont. This area is where oil was first discovered in Texas. The greater Beaumont, TX/Lake Charles, LA area has a very large concentration of oil refineries and related industries. We made a short day-trip down to a wildlife area along the Gulf near Port Arthur. It was a bit odd to drive through heavy industrial areas and refineries on our way to a wildlife refuge. The Gulf shoreline in this area is miles and miles of marsh with brown sand (bottom photo) and very shallow near shore areas with off-shore oil drilling platforms on the horizon. We did see some shorebirds, but all in all the area has a very industrial feel to it.

We are looking forward to exploring Austin for a couple of weeks. We’ll be visiting with Shoshana, one of Mary’s closest friends. We were sad to say goodbye to the ‘summer’ weather of south Florida, but we are hopeful for a good spring in the southwest.

Fort Myers & Sarasota

Bob and I moved up to Fort Myers for a few days. The downtown is modern and new, thanks to Hurricane Charlie in 2004. Fort Myers is called the Palm City, and the streets are all lined with gorgeous royal palms. It has a wonderful tropical look.

We especially enjoyed exploring the three barrier islands in the Gulf off Fort Myers. The island of Fort Myers Beach is a typical beach town much like you would find in the northeast with ice cream and t-shirt shops everywhere. It is now the start of college spring breaks, and also winter breaks for other schools, so the crowds are increasing and the traffic here was intense.

Sanibel and Captiva Islands are the jewels of this area. They both have limited development with no high rises. This is a relief after the waterfront developments on Marco Island near Naples. Captiva’s beaches are white with delicate pink shells everywhere and long stretches of natural areas. Sanibel had more homes and businesses but the beaches were the same. Bob and I watched three dolphins fishing in the shallows along the shore on Sanibel for more than an hour. We were tempted to walk out into the water, but didn’t want to disturb them or scare the fish away. It was quite a show.

We had a wonderful time at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. This world famous refuge is home to a wide variety of water birds. We got close to Roseate Spoonbills and many egrets. It is a birders paradise.

After Fort Myers we headed up to Sarasota for a few days. This area also has beautiful barrier islands and we checked out all the beaches on Siesta Key, Lido Key, Longboat Island and Anna Maria Island. The county has done a great job of providing many public beaches with ample parking. It’s really interesting how the sand varies just a little on each beach. Some are powdery, others more coarse, some have shells, but they are all white and pristine. There is no visual evidence of the Gulf oil spill in southern Florida. I am so glad to see this.

Downtown Sarasota is really nice with lots of great restaurants. The people are friendly and the attitude is mellow. I would also love to get involved and volunteer at the nearby Mote Marine Lab with dolphin and turtle rehab.

The weather has been fabulous for the past three weeks – highs in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 60s. This is exactly what I am looking for in a new home. Bob also appreciates the great warm clear water for swimming and boating. Could this be the place?

Naples, FL

Bob and I spent the last 11 days in Naples, FL and it is finally WARM!!! I love it – low 80s during the day and 60s at night. I know a lot of you have been struggling and suffering with snow and below freezing temperatures, but here on the Suncoast of Florida it is glorious.

Naples is a very beautiful town, with no high rises, a very chic and upscale downtown area, and gigantic homes along the canals. We tried several outstanding restaurants and celebrated Valentines Day and Bob’s birthday in style. We also sampled the powdery white beaches of Naples and Marco Island. I loved the delicate shells, long flat stretches to walk and all the wonderful seabirds. I finally got to see a few flocks of black skimmers hanging out with royal terns. I have been looking for these birds for two months.

Inland from Naples are many wonderful wildlife areas that we explored. In Big Cypress National Preserve we saw more alligators than we could count, manatees and tons of birds. I really enjoy seeing all the egrets, storks, herons, ibis, and woodland birds, but I am getting tired of the thousands of osprey. They nest on every available pole, tree or fence. Bob and I took a short hike in the Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge and saw a black racer snake, a deer that didn’t want to step off the trail, and a pile of black bear scat, but no panthers. This is the last habitat for these highly endangered cats and the nearby freeway has very tall fences to keep them from getting hit by cars.

Bob has been waiting all year to attend the Miami Boat Show, so we drove across the state (2 hours) and spent the day at the show. We saw lots of sailing catamarans and a few power cats too, but we didn’t buy anything. Bob is still hoping that we will do that some day. While we were in Miami, we had a fun dinner with my friend Shoshana who was there with family.

My friends Cheshta and Sudas were sick of the snowy cold weather in Cape Cod and drove down to spend five days with us in sunny Naples. We had a great time together walking on the beaches and birding. We spent a lovely day at the Audubon Corkscrew Sanctuary, a popular birding spot. Chesh picked up quite a few new birds for his lifetime list and so did I. We also rented a boat one afternoon and cruised around the mangrove lined waterways, had a picnic on a lovely sandy beach, followed some dolphins around and toured the mansion lined canals. Bob and I saw quite a few houses we wouldn’t mind living in.