Travel Report – The Hermits' Rest

Convening in Corpus

The first day of my first political convention is complete. Today started extra bright and early. But I managed to make it to the center in time for the Texas Rural Caucus. Too bad the check-in security line delayed me. It’s okay. I’m just there for the experience. I ran into my old political friend Jimmy Flannigan, which was fun. He and Jeannette, our county chair, got elected to some party position.

I went to another rural session then sat outdoors in the blasting wind and looked at the water.

We watched a crane lift a flag on the USS Lexington. It went up, flapped weirdly, then went down and back up, more successfully.

More exciting were the exhibits, where there were so many causes, petitions, and swag that your mind boggled. I met interesting folks, though. The convention is brimming with interesting people!

I enjoyed the decor of the exhibit about stopping the border wall in Big Bend.

Eventually the general session started. It felt weird to be one of those people you see on TV holding signs and saying Yay a lot. I enjoyed learning about the candidates, who all impressed me with their commitment to serve the people of Texas. There were so many stories and impressive folks to see. Even Corey Booker! And a 96-year old activist who was really sharp.

Clayton Tucker, Ag Commissioner candidate and goat farmer, with me and Pamela.

We left before the biggest speech, but I will watch it on YouTube. Pamela is struggling to walk and I didn’t want her trying to navigate stairs in a huge crowd. A nice volunteer gave us a golf cart ride to the car, which helped lots.

Corpus waterfront is really pretty. We even enjoyed the gulls and grackles. I’m easily amused.

One more day. Hope it’s fun.

Driving to the Coast with Pamela

My friend Pamela and I traveled to Corpus Christi today to go to a convention, because somehow we got elected delegates. It was such a pleasant drive! We went the back way, which was really pretty after all the recent rains. We stopped for lunch in LaGrange, where there was a new restaurant we happened upon.

Look at that spinach soufflé and squash! oh and some meat stuff.

The meal was delicious! I’m so glad I could find a local spot. We happened to meet some woman from there at the convention, and they said the place was brand new.

I was very happy to find our hotel, which is right on the beach but has a weird very steep driveway. Yet another construction site hotel. But where we are seems new and beautiful.

And you can see the Gulf of Mexico from our room, kind of.

We got a ride to the convention site, wandered around, and ended up meeting fascinating people who live part-time in our county! And they were with a musician I’d known from my past in the Austin area. We had a great conversation and ended up knowing many people in common. How random!

Next, a guy walked up to greet them. It was my former singing partner, Austin. Dang. He didn’t recognize me. I look different, especially with my crazy hair and weird glasses.

It was great to see Austin and his wife Connie again after a good number of years. They were kind enough to give Pamela a ride to and from a “fun” event that ended up way too crowded for our taste.

Pamela was pretty zonked after that excitement so we ordered Thai food delivered to our room. It was excellent! We were pleasantly surprised. Tomorrow’s an early day of caucuses and I don’t know what. I hope I have time to look at some birds and water.

Ooh. I almost forgot. We got new gutters today, in preparation for hooking up our rainwater collection system. The guys worked 14 hours! Lee was impressed.

Getting started. Last photo with nice red gutters.

There are no finished photos because they finished after dark.

Friend reunion, much delayed

My friend Kathy and I have lived about an hour away from each other for a good number of years. She drives by Cameron, I drive by Waco, and we never manage to coordinate visits. She was one of the La Leche League administrators when I moved to the Austin area and she lived in Longview, but we saw each other often at conferences and such until that connection went away.

Kathy at her very cute house. She has a beautiful back yard.

I sent her a Facebook message yesterday asking to get together today, but she missed it. She asked why I hadn’t called when she saw I was in Waco. I said I messaged her! Then we finally got on track and got together! Lee and I had a nice visit with Kathy and her husband, Matt. It’s weird meeting people you’ve heard about for 30+ years. But we all had a good conversation.

Kathy gave me a book written by a former member of the Homestead Heritage group I talked about yesterday. It’s one of those books sharing all the secrets. Kathy even met the author at her book club meeting. I’m all intrigued and may have to stop my current book to read that one.

We are a colorful duo! We both haven’t changed except hair color.

Anyway, as nice as it is to keep up online, in-person hugs are better. Way better.

Before heading off to the perfectly manicured golf course suburb where Kathy now lives (for good reasons), I dragged Lee to another Waco park. Brazos Park East is on a long stretch of the river across from some pretty limestone cliffs. It’s only semi manicured (I explored another disc golf course there, unless it’s part of the same course at Cameron Park, which I saw last year). The river is beautiful away from the city, though.

It looks wild, just a mile from the city.

I enjoyed some pretty lagoons full of turtles and, from all the shells I found, crawfish. I know what the beautiful Yellow-crowned Night Heron I saw was chowing down on!

I heard over 20 bird species over the traffic noise, which isn’t bad. A Red-eyed Vireo was the star of today’s birdsong show. I enjoyed it and all its friends. There were many dragonflies out, too.

A turtle that didn’t jump off as soon as I aimed the phone at it!

After the nature and human friend time, we headed home to the familiar animals and people.

Blue-fronted dancer, at my birding station

The break was really good for me, and I think I’ll have a much more centered approach to work next week!

I discovered a Connie egg is perfect for displaying new nails.

What else is in Waco?

We’ve been to Waco a number of times before, about once a year. It’s one of the closest cities to us and is in a pretty setting. We also go to Bryan/College Station sometimes and Temple, but Temple has no very interesting spots to visit, while the other two, having large universities, feature museums and a lot of Texas-y stuff. We avoid most of the yee-haw places and still find plenty to do.

You know you’re in Waco when you see this. Like they always show the Eiffel Tower in France, the Alico building symbolizes Waco. I don’t know much about it other than it survived a hurricane.

Before you delve into your travel advice, we know all about Dr Pepper, the Texas Rangers. those down-home Gaines people, and such. We didn’t go to any Baylor museums, since I figure I’ll go there at the October Master Naturalist annual meeting. It’s right here at this hotel.

Where did we go? First we went to the Lake Waco Wetlands, since I’d really enjoyed it there on a field trip a few years ago. Back then it was lush and green and filled with aquatic plants, insects, and birds. The lake was full.

My Master Naturalist group—this was my first field trip.

This year, it looked very different.

There was no boardwalk, the lake was dry, and typical prairie plants were growing everywhere. All the systems that used to filter the water were broken. I didn’t have the heart to photograph those. So, the visit was different. Nonetheless, we enjoyed walking around. I got many plant and bird observations, including an Indigo Bunting duet.

I pondered and hypothesized about what had happened to this place. I knew it was probably in the news. Yes, back at the hotel I read that flooding two years ago took out most of the infrastructure of this fascinating natural water filtering system. Please read this excellent report from last March about the plans to rebuild it so the equipment is less vulnerable. The article also gives the history of the wetland. Worth taking a break to read.

The second place we went also has an interesting story and is a ways outside of Waco. It’s Homestead Heritage, an intentional community that has been going for 50 years. Being near Waco, one’s first thought might be, “Run! It’s a cult!” And there are spiritual aspects and they do wear simple clothing. But really it’s a community where they create and teach old ways of doing things.

Each building is a renovated old one of a different style.

There is a cafe selling farm-to-table food, a cheese place, glass blowing, pottery, a forge (real!), leather work and so on. You can even take quick classes in most of the trades. (They also have longer classes.) I met a lovely birder/water colorist who’s doing a series on Texas birds. And I loved the handmade brooms. But my favorite part was the mill.

This mill is hundreds of years old and was moved to this location.

I could have watched it slowly create flour for hours, with all its wheels, belts, and pulleys. They grow the corn and wheat in the community. I got some grits after we enjoyed some delightful lemonade. Mine was watermelon mint, and I got to watch the young woman make it by hand. Lots of watermelon squishing. The lemonade concentrate was pre-made, by them.

The woodworking area was so organized and perfect. The woodwright was sharpening a set of chisels to give his apprentice so he’d stop using his. Ha! They have some really intense woodworking classes. I know my coworker would enjoy that part of the shop area. The hand tools were fascinating.

Of course I saved the best for last and had lots of fun at the knitting, spinning, and weaving shop. There were so many huge looms making complicated patterns of cloth. A spinner patiently showed a little girl how plying worked, much to the girl’s delight. I wish I had photos of the place, but I was too busy looking.

I really enjoyed this place. It reminded me of Silver Dollar City in Branson, but with just the craft parts. it wasn’t crowded, so you could really talk to the community members. They were friendly but not in a scary way. You get a good feeling from them. I later read they are pacifists. That kind of old-fashioned Christians. Hmm. Read more about Homestead Heritage for yourself on their site. I’m glad Kathleen mentioned finding this place.

After a nap, we ate a lot of sushi at a little restaurant across the street from the hotel. I enjoyed a boba tea, too.

I went for a walk by the river and observed many unhoused people enjoying the river view. There were also plenty of invasive plant species, bits of garbage, and endless loud motorcycles and farting tiny sporty cars. I’ll stop complaining about loud pickup trucks at home. This is worse. Still, the Brazos is beautiful. I also enjoyed walking around the convention center area.

All in all, we had a fine day in the Waco area! There’s lots to do beyond the obvious.

Escape (mine)

Lee decided I had had a rough week from work and such, so we should go somewhere. We splurged and drove to Waco and got a room at the Hilton on the top floor. I love looking out at the river and all the Baptists. We have no agenda, but will see if a friend is available to say hi to, go to the wetlands, and maybe visit the craft village.

I’m very glad we went, because I got so much stuff done today that it made my head spin. I hope I did it all well! And not to vague-blog, but I practiced being authentic and saying how I really feel, nicely, to a scary audience, and I felt heard and encouraged. Thanks, Gabor Maté.

I’m sharing views from the hotel room because I haven’t left it. The hotel is being renovated, so we couldn’t eat at the restaurant we’d enjoyed last time we were here, so we had room service. I could enjoy my fancy meal in peace. Well worth it.

Annoying. Our room is freshly renovated but the mirror is really crooked. Levels exist for a reason.

I actually read another book today (small one) but I’ll save it for tomorrow. Instead, enjoy some caladium leaves. Lee has been buying them lately for the porch.

Yes, I’ve Been Camping! Yes, I Feel Yucky. Not Related.

Have you ever been camping?

Yes. I’ve been camping. I’m not sure if all this RV camping we’ve been doing the past decade or more counts as “camping” to some folks. I don’t blame them. We have heat and air conditioning, plus real mattresses on the bed. Still, if camping is about nature, fresh air, and learning, then, indeed, I’ve been camping!

I love quiet times and hiking. I love birds, flowers, trees, and insects. And I love the interesting people I meet. I’m not fond of screaming and loud music, or of messing with the parks. But, people interact differently with nature and enjoy different camping activities. I’m fine with that. At least they’re getting out.

So I answered the question. I’m about done. Today I was pretty damned miserable with throat, ear, and neck pain. It’s so hard to swallow!

I did go see my health care provider like a good girl. I got a free ear wax cleaning so she could see my inflamed ears. TMI, no doubt. But it worked, and indeed I’m all inflamed and my throat looks extra bad. Strep test was negative, but when I told her I haven’t had my usual energy and have suddenly put on ten pounds, we agreed that my thyroid is acting up again.

I didn’t even get to see Fiona and all the new grass sprouting up where hay bales were.

So after three tries, the technician finally got enough blood out to test my thyroid numbers. I hope to hear back soon. In the meantime, I’m hoping the antibiotics have done their work by morning. I’m weary of this.

I love all these ball moss flowers in black and white.

Kathleen made a delicious dinner that was soft enough to swallow, which was a relief, because I was really hungry! And wow, I’m tired, thanks to waking myself up all night making wheezing and gagging noises. The curse of being a light sleeper is your snoring wakes YOU up.

No doubt things will be better soon. My friend circle has a lot of harder challenges. Aging isn’t for sissies, but we keep plugging along!

Happy Scenic Travels

We have returned from a very long travel day. We had to go from Garner State Park to Sisterville, or someplace like that, to drop the RV off to get fixed. The road there was as beautiful as only a Texas Hill. Country drive in spring can be. Believe me, if someone offers you a trip to this part of the world in April, go! So many flowers, hills, scenic rivers, and grand ranches to see!

I didn’t take scenery photos, but hey! Here’s a real live jackrabbit!

I didn’t take pictures for two reasons. One is that I had meetings all morning and was working. Two is that I woke up with the horrible sore throat I had recently, and my ears were also sore. I cannot swallow without bad pain. Yes, I will try to get in to the doctor tomorrow.

Squirrels having fun at the campsite. I hope the wrens find a new nest spot.

It was an adventure getting the RV and Jeep to the repair place, which is well off the main road. But Lee did it masterfully! While he talked to the repair folks, I met the neighbors.

We left a long list of repairs to be done, like making the bedroom slide, propane, and kitchen sink work again. We bid Seneca a fond farewell, and hope to see him fairly soon (realistically, the repairs will take a while).

We enjoyed more scenery until we got closer to I35. But even there, the wildflowers have been planted. I found these at a rest stop.

I’m now going to try to sleep with my dear dogs and a hefty dose of throat spray. My sore finger will thank me, too.

Bird Stories

Warning: I have some pain in my index finger, probably from writing on my phone. Yes. I use my index finger. So the fun stories I was going to share must wait.

I should have spent more time sitting on a rock watching the river flow. But no, much keyboarding occurred.

It was misty again most of today but I went for a couple of walks anyway. The park was nice and empty, which made it easier to hear and see birds. One group of birds I enjoyed was the swallows. In the tent camping area next to ours, I saw many Cliff Swallows swirling around. I realized they probably live under the nearby bridge.

You can sorta see the bridge behind the outcropping of rocks and shrubs.

I was proud to ID them by sight and sound before checking Merlin. Square tails were the helpful feature.

Back on our camping loop I saw a group of barn swallows pecking near the mud puddle that kids played in over the weekend. I thought that was strange since they have plenty of clean water in the Frío River.

I later saw Cliff Swallows there, but by the time I got my camera out, all that was left was a White-winged Dove. Darn.

Anyway, when I got back to our site, I looked to see what Merlin had picked up. I saw the app had put one of its bird trivia videos up, which I usually delete. But this one was on Cliff Swallows, so I read it.

Well. Now I know what those birds were up to, collecting nest material! I should have known that. it’s always good to learn something new.

Another quick bird story. I saw the Park Host taking a rag out from under his car. I asked him why he stored rags there, and he laughingly told me it was to keep wrens from nesting in there. He can’t get them to stop trying (thankfully, he’s heading to another park tomorrow.) Wrens are quite persistent. I thought it was a fun story to share with Lee.

Then I came back and worked a bit. Lee went outside to escape my meetings. Soon, he returned with news. We have our own pair of Bewick Wrens building in the Jeep’s back bumper. Sigh. They’re so sweet but on a futile mission.

A pair of Bewick’s Wrens were busy all afternoon working on their project. They mostly chose the flower stalks off ball moss to take up to the Jeep.

Searching for sticks (both are in this photo)

I had fun watching them, Black-crested Titmice, Lark Sparrows, flycatchers, Cardinals, and Eastern Bluebirds for a long time in late afternoon, when the mist finally dissipated. I could just sit in my rocking chair and watch the bird show. Ahh.

I’ll share plants and more river stuff tomorrow. My hand is tired.

Lost among the Maples

The weather here at Garner State Park and surrounding areas was strange today. It started off misty and stayed misty/foggy all day. That’s not typical Texas Hill Country weather.

It made the hills look mysterious. This was mid afternoon, when fog has usually been burned off for a long time.

After a pleasant morning of coffee and birding, Lee took me to Lost Maples Natural Area, a place he’d been many times when he was younger, but I had never been. You may know of Lost Pines, which we’ve visited many times. Both places have remnants of the forest that was in Texas the last time it was much cooler.

The trees in this preserve are still around because they’re surrounded by hills and have a river in the middle, which creates a perfect microclimate for bigtooth maples. The area is extremely popular in the fall when the trees turn colors, so coming in spring is a much better idea for us hermits. The mist also helped keep away crowds, but didn’t distract from the spectacular scenery.

The Sabinal River was fun to cross repeatedly.

We did a mile walk, which was a bit challenging for Lee with the rocks and water crossings, but I’m glad he could join me, because this is such a special place.

In addition to the plentiful maples, there were many fun plants to spot along the trail. The most spectacular sight was Scarlet Leatherflower (Clematis texensis) which attracted hummingbirds like crazy.

Best I could do. More flower photos later.

I also found out the identity of the yellow flowering plants growing out of all the rock faces along the road, Lindheimer’s rockdaisy (Laphamia lindheimeri). It only grows in this area, the Edwards Pkateau.

One more I’d like to highlight, because it was new to me, was the Texas Mock Orange (Philadelphus texensis), which is a pretty shrub with white flowers that do resemble citrus blossoms. I didn’t get close enough to sniff the flowers to see if they smell as good as orange flowers. It’s related to hydrangeas.

There were many more interesting plants, so I’ll do a photo dump. I do want to add that there were also interesting birds, including only my second ever observation of a Golden-cheeked Warbler and many striking Black-and-White Warblers. I got to see Yellow-breasted Chats, too, which I usually just hear. But since the only bird photos I got were of blurry hummingbirds, here’s another Vermilion Flycatcher that posed for me back at Garner.

Mostly, we gawked at the scenery, switching our focus from trail to hills to river. This is a special place, and there are much longer trails, so if you ever get to Vanderpool, Texas, do stop by. It’s the only thing in Vanderpool, Texas, but I like it because I had a teen crush on a curly-haired musician with that last name. Anyway, here’s some scenery.

I know, quote the photo dump. It’s just so pretty! And for my reference, here are more interesting plants. I’ll spare you oak trees and grasses. These are the most interesting to me.

All in all, it was a great day to be outdoors and geek out over plants and birds. And rivers and hills. We are here until Tuesday, so maybe I’ll see some more interesting stuff tomorrow!

It All Worked Out Today

Attitude really can make a difference. Today proved to exemplify the effect of a positive attitude very well. Let’s hope for more like this for us all!

Thankfully, we did not end up crashed on the side of the road like these poor folks.

The day started with me doing all my chores and packing, then diving into work with gusto. Why not? The folks I work with were happily surprised at how much I got done on our project. That was a good start to the day.

I found the first day flower on the ranch this year, too.

Rather than getting impatient with Lee about getting off to our distant campground on time, I decided it was his schedule and his trip, so he could leave when he was ready. Thus, no stress.

I got to walk around a bit and see pretty Texas Prairie Parsley, which attracts many pollinators. Yippee!

I ended up having to work three of the four hours of our drive, but I managed to see many gorgeous wildflowers on the roadside, as well as two Roadrunners and flocks of Cattle Egrets. Plus I managed to work quite well from the RV. It was pretty fun, for work.

When we finally arrived at Garner State Park, which is next to the Frío River and surrounded by hills, it was late. We were hoping it would not be too hard to find our campsite. But, we were delighted to discover the check-in was open late because it’s Friday. We had a great chat with the check-in lady, who had many park insights.

Then we went out to unhook the Jeep and I wandered to a trailhead near the parking lot. I was greeted by a loud chirp, and a bold little bird looking right at me. I thought that it was funny-looking for a White-eyed Vireo, because it didn’t have white eyes. Merlin identified it as a new lifer for me, Hutton’s Vireo, apparently fairly common here.

All happy about this, I led Lee to our site. I was cheerful, especially when a flick of Wild Turkeys walked across the road. But. Oops. The site I’d reserved had a short driveway with a large live oak tree right at the end, so we couldn’t hang over. And once he got to the space and tried to back in, he hit (gently) an overhead branch. It was not going to work. I got a bit flabbergasted, but managed to call the park and explain.

Not the original site, just showing the view.

A park ranger came and said they could trim the branch. Then he realized that couldn’t happen. The tree is big. So Plan B was to put us in an “emergency site.” It turned out to be more spacious with fewer neighbors. It worked out great!

We got set up, chatted with nice park hosts, then went to look for dinner. It was pretty late by the time we got to the nearest town, Leakey (pronounced lake-ee). There used to be a La Leche League administrator who lived nearby, on an exotic animal ranch. So, even though no restaurants were open except a super crowded one, we were fine just getting food at a gas station and admiring feral cats. I finally saw Leakey, and that’s what counts.