We've been to Livingston a few times but only for a few days each time as we are always on on way to someplace else. This time we'll be here a week or so before we move on, and, of course, this time we got to meet Dizzy and Dusty, and tomorrow we've plans to meet a genealogist who probably has some of my family records.
The last time we were here was 2008 and we remembered driving to Lake Livingston dam and checking out some neat water birds, so today we decided to see if we could find that place again. We drove the route we thought we were supposed to... got to the Livingston State Park... neither of us had remembered to bring along our Texas Bluebonnet card (it's like the Federal Golden Age Card only for Texas senior residents... yeah, we qualify). It doesn't get us in free, but I think only a $5.00 fee. Since it didn't look like the place we were looking for, we turned around at the fee booth and headed down the road. Got to another entry... looked right, except it had a high chain link fence... gate locked... nobody at the kiosk. On down the road we went.
We passed a couple of private campgrounds, but both said to buy a permit at the convenience store up the road before entering. Up the road.... stopped at the store and asked about the place we remembered. The clerk was familiar with it... said that was a water management area and that the gazebo had been removed as that department needed to expand their maintenance area. That explained the high fence under lock and key.
We really weren't interested in paying $11.00 to drive through the private campgrounds, but the clerk told us we could have a temporary pass for free if we just wanted to look around. (most folks are there to fish, put their boats in at the ramp and leave their truck and trailer parked for the day.)
This worked fine for us and we headed back to the campground...
Here we are on the bridge looking over at the dam. Look at the middle left side of the photo... see that area of white at the water's edge?
Mostly White Pelicans....
Some gulls and terns... some cormorants flying around...
I have no idea how many hundreds of pelicans are sitting around on those rocks...
I don't know if they stay here year-round or are on their way somewhere else. But there sure were a lot of them.
We didn't overstay our temporary visit... it didn't look like a big variety of birds anyway, so we moved on.
We drove all the way around the lake stopping for a picnic lunch at one of those Texas monuments that seem to be everywhere. Of course I had to see if a geocache was close by...
And there was...
Close to the Governor Wood monument at the Robinson Cemetery. I love old cemeteries and this one was another one with beautiful old headstones and lovely landscaping.
I asked Bill if he knew what all those mounds of dirt were all over the ground. Yep... he knew... kicked the top off one...
Fire Ants!
If you look closely you'll see hundreds of those little monsters here.
It was warm enough today to wear sandals and you better believe I was real careful not to get too close!
Not only sandals, but I wore capri pants (are they still called that? you know.. not shorts, not long, but somewhere between the knee and ankle).... Everywhere we looked we saw trees budding out... and in bloom!
The Redbud is just beautiful!
Looks like ornamental pears are blooming... wild plum, magnolia and I don't know what all.
But it sure is nice that spring really is about here!
That's All For Today!
You sure do find good places to take great pictures. Makes me want to come to Texas. . . Hey, wait a minute, I live in Texas (grin). My wife and walked down to our son's house and then up the driveway looking at all the flowers and blooming trees and shrubs. It sure is a beautiful time of the year around here and you know how to make it look good in the photos that you take.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, do you remember when capri pants were called pedal pushers? That's what we called them when I was growing up in Iowa.
ReplyDeleteThose blossoms are so hopeful. I do believe they're still called capris.
ReplyDeleteYes, now they are capris, but when I was a kid, they were called pedal pushers. If you wore them riding a bike, they wouldn't get caught up in the spokes because they were short enough. The Pelicans are beautiful. I've only seen brown pelicans.
ReplyDeleteThose pelicans nest in the far north, so are just visitors. As for the pedal pushers, I wore them as a kid to avoid getting my pant legs caught in the chain of my bicycle (not the spokes). Now they're called capris, but with my short legs when I try a pair on they come just above my ankles and look dorky. Like I'm waiting for a flood or something...
ReplyDeleteLove the area around lake Livingston and all the Pelicans.
ReplyDeleteSpring time flowers, wonderful soon be time here as well.
Yuck, fire ants--they hate me! Never been to Livingston, TX but I haven't gotten out of capri pants for the last month or so! :))
ReplyDeleteI like your Header! You posted good photos as always. I thought about spring this morning until I looked outside (it was snowing). lol. I want to see some Meadowlarks!
ReplyDeleteI thought they were also called clamdiggers, but I didn't know if that was just Canadian so I Googled it. I'll put the link here - hopefully that works in a comment box. Greg gets the name mixed up anyway, and instead of clamdiggers calls them crab grabbers! I still call them capris! For an extensive explanation, check out this blog: http://dorkusamericanus.blogspot.com/2012/05/difference-between-capri-pants-crop.html
ReplyDeleteCapris are tight fitting; clam diggers are loose, pedal pushers can be either. I just call them all 'high water pants' and let it go at that.
ReplyDeleteFire ants are truly vicious. They're the only ants that actually left blisters when they bit me. As for the pelicans, an amazing number of them spend the summer in small lakes in the Nebraska sand hills.