Trinity River NWR

Since Bill & I have volunteered at several National Wildlife Refuges we're always interested in visiting any that are close to our travels.  We've visited quite a few refuges in Texas, but had never visited Trinity River NWR, which is located less than 50 miles from the Escapees RV Park where we're currently located.

Today we packed a lunch, our binoculars, cameras and maps and headed south.  

Just before the town of Liberty, we turned off the main road and found the refuge headquarters.

That's our handy refuge guidebook in Bill's hand.  To commemorate the Refuge System's 100th anniversary in 2003, the book America's National Wildlife Refuges, a complete guide, by Russell D. Butcher was published.  Refuges have a rubber stamp available and most folks use the refuge passport book to collect those stamps.  We've used that anniversary book for our stamps, so refuges we visited before 2003 aren't recorded in our book.

The office was pretty quiet when we arrived, but a "brown shirt" (employee) quickly appeared on the scene....  Stuart Marcus, the refuge manager.  He'd been in the back pursuing his passion...

Photographing and classifying moths...

This is his set-up...  a halogen light next to white sheets.  

He asked us how many moths we'd guess he's IDed so far...

I'm embarrassed to say how low my guess was...  but Stuart told us he's seen and classified over 600 species so far.

He took us into his office and showed us his photo collection on his computer.

Really clear, sharp photos....   very impressive!

We started talking about the refuge and what it offers...  right now everything is closed because all the roads and trails are under water.  Bill & I had seen a lot of standing water alongside the road as we drove down there, but had no idea that the Trinity River was so high.  

About this time I got a phone call I had to take, so Bill continued talking with Stuart about volunteers, refuges and all the things we like to talk about.

While we didn't get to hike any of the trails, nor do any birding, we did see the area and...

We got our book stamped on the proper page....

Last count I had there were over 550 National Wildlife Refuges in the USA and territories...

We've only visited about 200 of them...  guess we have a few more to see....

That's All For Today!

Doing Some Sightseeing....

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!

Meetin' Up With Friends...

We had the opportunity today to meet fellow blogger, Dizzy and his wife Dusty.

I title this "Meetin' Up With Friends" because even though we'd never met them in person before, I've read Dizzy's blogs for a long time.  He's the guy who's always wondering about stuff...  often mathematics or astronomy or the such.  (often way over my head but they always get my interest).

Anyway, Bill & I left Glen Rose, TX on Thursday and headed to Livingston...  that's where the Escapees RV Park is (one of several, but the headquarters where the post office and care center are located) and arrived in dreary, rainy weather.  We thought maybe we'd brought it with us but the lady at the PO said they'd had that kind of weather for quite a while, so I quit feeling guilty.

Yesterday was another cold, wet day but today was clear and YES! Sunshine!  I think it got up to nearly 80 degrees!  It was a perfect day for meeting up with friends, sit outside,  and get to know them a bit.

I forgot to ask permission, so I hope Dizzy and Dusty don't mind if I post this photo...

I think they're a lovely couple...  and they've been married over 50 years!

We took a couple of "group" photos, but they didn't come out very good.   That's okay... we sure had a good time together.

We'll be in Livingston a few more days then start heading east...  at a VERY slow pace.

That's All For Today!

Cedar Waxwings....

A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from fellow blogger, Dizzy....  asking me if I knew what kind of a bird had a yellow stripe on the end of his tail...  like it had been dipped it in a can of yellow paint.

I came up with possibly a green jay (he does live in Texas), or maybe a goldfinch that was molting...  ran through all the warblers in my head...  nope...  

I don't know why I didn't think of the Cedar Waxwing.  Dizzy came up with the answer before I did.

Kind of a grainy picture...  these guys were quite a way off...

But...  if you've got really good eyes, you can kind of see the yellow stripe.  Especially the one farthest right with his back to the camera.

Cedar Waxwings often fly in groups...  and they like berries and the such.  A huge group flew over yesterday, stopping at the top of a big oak that is several hundred feet west of our motorhome.  They stopped for a while...  maybe eating the juniper berries still on the trees?  Or could the sap possibly be running and they're taking a sip?

I can count about 30 birds here, and this was just in one part of the tree.  I heard a rumor that it's almost Spring...  they could very well be migrating to their summer range.

There's another bird quite similar...  the Bohemian Waxwing.  It's about an inch bigger and slightly different color pattern as well as living in a different area.  I've never seen one of those guys.  Both species have red "waxy-like" tips on their secondary wing feathers, giving them their name.

The Cedar Waxwing lives all over the USA...  they used to descend on our mulberry tree on our farm when the berries were ripe.  When we live in Maine, I often see flocks of them high up in the treetops.

If we don't get back into "birding territory" soon, I swear, I'm gonna need retrained in identifying my little feathered friends.

Speaking of which...  we didn't head to Livingston today...  Bill is still working on the gate at our daughter's place and we think we'll be ready to hit the road tomorrow.

Good thing our plans are so flexible!

That's All For Today!

Movin' On.....

The sandhill cranes in my header are heading north.  We hear them way overhead before we see them.  

Hundreds of them...

Sometimes they kind of stop and regroup..

Sometimes it looks like they're circling higher and higher to catch a thermal.

Sometimes they just fly over and keep heading north...

But they talk...  constant chatter back and forth.  That's what we hear that catches our attention.  It's a sound that you'll never forget after hearing them the first time.  To me, it's definitely the "Call of the Wild".

The weather has continued to be crummy.  Bill's birthday was over a month ago and I still haven't been able to "deliver" his birthday present.  I'd made arrangements through one of the local airports for a sightseeing trip of the area.  There is a pipeline going through that has held our interest for months.  And just to see the layout of the land and to see our daughter's place from the air would be neat.  Yeah, we've checked it out on Google Maps, but being up there and seeing it for yourself is so much better.  We've had to cancel twice because of nasty weather.  We were trying again for today...  but...  nope... not going to happen.  It's not raining today, but is cloudy, gloomy and just not conducive to sightseeing.  Bummer!

Yesterday we headed into Ft Worth...  had to make a final trip to Trader Joe's and to Barnes & Noble before we head out of here.  And of course, lunch at In N Out was mandatory.  On the way back to Glen Rose we stopped at the HEB in Granbury.  I've written several times in the past how much I love these stores.  Often they'll have a theme...  maybe roasting green chilies in the fall and having "Hatch (NM) Days", and of course a few weeks ago the Super Bowl dominated the displays...  you could buy any kind of snack, foods to grill or whatever.    Well, this week at HEB is "Texas Days".  I'll admit I don't know much about the sports teams, mascots and the like, but there were bins of stuffed Long Horn cows (children's toys) and even a stuffed armadillo.  

But...  look at this...

That's a Long Horn Bull...  but open it up and it houses a grill.

(currently holding some local beers)

Grilling out is a big thing here.  George Y. would be right at home here with his Q Weber.  But he might have a hard time carting this big guy around in his motorhome to Canada and back.

Here's the other side of that bull....

They do have them for sale...  you, too, could have one in your backyard for only $500.00.  

I think he's pretty neat, but I guess we'll pass....

Of course everything in Texas is "Texas Size"...

Wine glasses are no exception...

Okay, this is really made to hold chips or snacks, but it sure caught my eye... I keep wondering how many bottles of wine it can hold....  even I wouldn't attempt to guzzle that!

By the way...  check out Bill's rain gear.  It rained ALL day...  that plastic cover on his hat works great to keep it dry.

I wrote that the store had stuffed armadillos...  hey... they have nothing on us...

When Bill & I were in the Valley a month or so ago, we found this little guy...

A metal armadillo...  

Our daughter has a walking path that winds through the woods and along the creek behind her house.  We thought it was the perfect home for him.  And he won't dig holes and destroy plants.

We were planning to head out tomorrow...  and since our flight got cancelled we'll just have to try it another time.  It's time to make like the sandhill cranes and...

migrate....

Only we're not heading north.  We'll head over to Livingston, TX to the Escapees RV park for a week or so.  Maybe find some warmer weather?

After that we're thinking of heading for the Louisiana coast....  I'm kinda hankerin' for some Cajun food.  We'll see....

That's All For Today!

Old Hat?

I see from the photos in the blogs I read that this won't be anything a lot of you don't already know.  All about cowboy hats....

Bill has 2 hats...  a straw summer hat and a felt winter one.  The summer ones get a lot of use...  and he wears those out a lot faster... but even at that his straw hats can last several years.

It's the winter hat that I like so much.  Not only is the color just right, but he has a turquoise hatband that makes it look just perfect.  The felt hat doesn't get worn for "work" ...  while we really don't "dress up", even a trip to Wal-Mart warrants wearing this one.

Just in case you've never bought a cowboy hat, below is the way they are sold:

What Does The “X” Mean On A Felt Or Straw Cowboy Hat?

The “X” markings in a  felt cowboy hats indicates how much fur content is included in the fur blend used to make the cowboy hat. The more wild fur included in the fur blend used to make the cowboy hat, the higher the “X” marking for that cowboy hat.

A  2X hat has the lowest content of fur felt for a cowboy hat - a 100X cowboy hat has a much higher content of fur felt. Fur felt cowboy hats are also available in 200X and up.

The price of the hat is also reflected in the “X” content of the felt cowboy hat. The differnce can also be "felt" in the feel and look of the cowboy hat.

A 2X felt will have a rough and stiffer feel and look vs a 100X which will have a soft silky feel and look.

Wild fur in a cowboy hat consists of a blend of wild hare, wild rabbit, beaver fur as well as wool blends.

Now some our  cowboy hat  manufacturers are including the “X” marking on their  straw cowboy hats. The higher the “X” marking the better quality of the straw cowboy hat.

All natural straw materials are from plants that are grown and cultivated at the proper time. The straws need to be prepared properly before the weaving process begins. Some process include stripping, washing, cooking, dyeing, and drying.

Different woven straws include shantung panama  straw cowboy hats, palm leaf straw cowboy hat, bangora straw cowboy hat, Guatemalan palm straw cowboy hat and treated Mexican palm straw cowboy hats.

So in shopping for a new felt or straw cowboy hat, remember to look at the”X” content in the hat.

You will notice the difference in the felt or straw cowboy hat!  (Shepler's Website)

The band inside Bill's hat has been replaced, but it's a Stetson, and we think it is a 10X. When hats are new they have no real shape to the crown... just a rounded top. This gives a guy (or gal) the opportunity to select a style that suits them. You've all seen hats in the movies... everything from the Tom Mix style to the Roy Rogers shape to the way Hoss Cartwright wore his hat. Ever wonder how they get that way?

Well, Bill bought this particular hat at the Man's Hat Shop in Albuquerque, NM in 2006. Over the years it's kinda lost it's shape. We found a western store in Granbury today that sells hats...

And, even more important... 

They shape them to your specifications.

Here's the owner of the shop... he's looking at the brim to see what needs to be done..

That silver cylinder on the counter is the steamer...

The steam adds just enough warm moisture to be able to curl, crease or otherwise shape that felt.

With a few puffs of steam and some expert shaping, Bill's hat is back to way he likes it.

The man told us that straw hats can be re-shaped but are much harder to do because of that "lacquer-like" coating most of them have.

Bill doesn't like the brim to curl up high...  and he doesn't want it to be flat...  and here, it is just right!

As we were driving home I got to thinking about hats and hat shops.  My Dad wore a fedora... always.  About once a year he'd take it uptown to the hat shop (which was also the shoe repair shop) and have it cleaned and blocked.  (more often if the dog got a hold of it).  He'd wear the same hat for years.  I have a feeling that in the east hat shops that clean and block are history.  But here in the west, you can not only find the hat you want, but you can have it shaped exactly to your taste.

And they can make an old hat look good as new!

That's All For Today!

Reading Material....

I'm getting kinda tired of this weather. ...  rain, snow, dreary sunless days.  Of course we have the option of turning the key in the switch and going somewhere else, but we had things that really needed to be done here.  The rig of course...  that major overhaul.  Very necessary if we wanted to keep living in this rig.  And then there was the mammogram, ultrasound and the colonoscopy.  Also necessary if we wanted to keep living .... period.

We're here at our daughter's place once, sometimes twice a year and sometimes for long periods of time.  It's become a very familiar area and we can zip into Ft Worth to a Trader Joe's or Cabela's...  or down to Stevenville to a great Ace Hardware...  or into the H.E.B. in Granbury...  It's kind of funny, but the church I go to in Glen Rose is almost next door to the bank we use...  which is right next door to the US Postoffice.  I mean, how convenient is that? 

The library in Glen Rose is just a few blocks away....  which brings me to the subject of today's blog.

I know there had to be a time when I couldn't read.  In fact, I remember spreading out the Sunday comics on the floor and pretending I could read the captions.  I could tell you about Dick Tracy and his sidekick, Sam Ketchum.....  and of course B O Plenty, Gravel Gertie and later on, Sparkle Plenty.  I knew who The Phantom was...  as well as Brenda Starr...  and of course Dagwood and Blondie as well as Little Nancy, Alley Oop and Joe Palooka.

I started school when I was 5, no kindergarten back then.  The school I went to was a small country school and the first and second grades were in the same room.  The teacher divided her time between the classes so it's not surprising that the first graders caught on fast to what the second graders were doing.   

Like many others I learned to read about Dick and Jane, Sally, Puff and Spot.  I can remember Zeke, the handyman who raked leaves and burned them in the fall.  We were fortunate in that the Bookmobile came to our little town every week or two.  That was a magical place for a kid just learning to read.  Heck, it was a magical place for anyone who loved to read.  If you were old enough to know what you wanted the librarian would even bring you your chosen books the next time through.

When we moved to the city (I use this term kind of loosely...  but it had a university AND two libraries), it wasn't long before my siblings and I were introduced to Miss Lineburge and the university library.  The Children's Room was another magical place.  It was huge, and Miss Lineburge always decorated it in whatever season it was.  One very special display was her Ukranian Easter Eggs...  I'd never seen such a thing!

It's funny how our tastes develop....  I moved right along into the Bobbsey Twins and into Nancy Drew.  Mysteries have always been my favorites.  I know that we're "supposed" to read certain books at a certain age, but I kinda skipped ahead of Little Women and the such and went right into stuff like "The Life of Bridey Murphy" (reincarnation), and the Loeb and Leopold murder trial.  Got me in all kind of trouble in junior high school when I'd do my book reports.

Now I enjoy a variety of subjects...  mostly travel essays, mysteries and historical novels.  I almost always finish a book once I start it, but recently I bought what I thought was a travel essay, (Carsick by John Waters).  Heck, I'd never heard of him...  what did I know?  It just wasn't my kind of book...  sent it off to my son, who has a warped sense of humor.  He loves it.

So...  this yukky weather?  I knit a while...  I read other folks blogs...  but most of all, I read.  And with 500+ books loaded on my Kindle, I guess I won't run out of reading material until the sun shines again.

That's All For Today!