Travel Report – Page 15 – The Hermits' Rest

Where I Live and Where I Am

What do you love about where you live?

I’ve come to love so much about the Hermits’ Rest ranch, nearby Cameron, and all of Milam County Texas.

I love the new rock we got on our driveway today (photo by Lee).

To name a few additional things:

We are nowhere near a subdivision or HOA.
I have water nearby, at least most of the time—the ponds/tanks, Walker’s Creek, and the secret springs.
There is woodlands, to shelter wildlife.
There is land managed as prairie, for flowers and pollinators.
I can go swimming after working outside in a nice pool.
Three of the seasons are great for being outdoors.
We could afford enough land to have horses (it used to be pretty inexpensive).
My family members are here. It’s a compound!
Nobody bothers us.

Now, I am not home, land of all those positive things. I’m back for a second visit to Breckenridge, Colorado, finally, after I had to cancel last year. Oh my gosh the weather is nice. Clouds, scattered rain, and really pleasant temperatures. In the 60s!

It was a long day, as plane travel days are these days. Both my flights were late, which I guess worked out, but there was still plenty of time to catch the shuttle to the condos. I got lots of exercise, thanks to changed gates, too.

The trip was just fine, though. I met a woman who is studying Cherokee, which led to a fun conversation. And I got to sit next to a beautiful and sweet baby on the long leg of the trip. Her mom did a great job dealing with two young children all by herself. I guess it helped that they were good natured!

She looked kind of like this, only more Asian features.

I’m happy to be back at the same condos as last time. I got a much nicer unit, on the top floor with two bedrooms. There’s a desk to work at and a fireplace. No air conditioning. They don’t need it!

I only went in a short walk after I ate. You have to build up to deal with the altitude, you know. But there were lots of birds and a few wildflowers left blooming. I’ll do more tomorrow, but until then I’ll love wherever I am.

What a Sap

What positive emotion do you feel most often?

Yeah, it’s sappy, and awe came in a close second, but I am positive that the positive emotion I feel most often is love. I’m always feeling love for something or someone. Not romantic hormonal love, but more the enduring emotional attachment kind of love.

Apache feels great love for his food dish, most days.

Today was farrier day, so I spent a long time with the horses again. I feel so much love for each of them (and Fifi), and it’s different for each, like a mother’s love for her children. Tarrin said she liked how I speak kindly to my horses…and I do get sorta blubbery around them. They may not understand my words, but they can discern my feelings.

Fiona wants you to know I laughed at her for stepping in her food bucket. She’d been picking it up and banging it against the gate like a prisoner asking out of jail.

Mabel got lots of love today, because she was the calmest she’s ever been getting her feet done, and she was able to stretch her legs out and put them on the stand, which means she looked pretty darned good for her by the time he was finished!

Of course, I don’t spend all my love on horses. I get all gooey over my favorite plants and birds, and of course, the dogs. They each hear how much I love them ALL the time. It just comes out. I even love Alfred at his most shedding time, which is now.

Clouded Skipper on a clump of Alfred hair that wafted across the lawn.

There’s just so much joy that the dogs bring! And they love us back, too.

And of course, I feel love for so many people, most of whom may not realize it. I feel all warm and fuzzy at friends’ Facebook posts and Instagrams. I just beam inside when listening to friends talk. They are all so special to me! What a sap.

Then there’s my spouse, who loves to take photos of me chewing. I love him anyway.

I know Lee loves me, because he drove me to the Austin airport today and dealt with the dreaded “Austin traffic.” But we got a cool upgraded room with a couch in it, so he’s happy (he sleeps better in couches or recliners than beds). The Hilton at the airport used to be the HQ building at Bergstrom Air Force Base, and is circular. I always enjoy staying here.

Bonus: I felt more love when I looked over at the bar after dinner and saw my former Austin hairdresser and his husband! That was such a happy moment. We got all caught up on each other’s lives and travels. It makes me feel like a native when I run into people like that!

Off to sleep so I can zip back to another time zone tomorrow! I’ll make sure to check for typos in the post title before publishing, unlike yesterday.

The Freedom to Flee

If you won two free plane tickets, where would you go?

Honestly, I have no idea where I’d go if I won two free plane tickets. I’d probably be pragmatic and use it to fly to Hilton Head in November, first class.

This is what you get when you ask AI to make a picture of plane tickets to Hilton Head. That gave me a laugh.

Also, honestly, today I got so frustrated with my moods, my isolation (sometimes a hermit doesn’t feel so hermit-like and needs someone), and my lack of options that I seriously considered booking a hotel room in Austin and hiding there all weekend watching the Olympics.

I got over myself and decided not to waste my Hilton Honors points on that. Better to stay where I am and deal with things. And I did. So there. I’m still a little short-tempered, which is how I get when the anxiety attacks attack.

These are not the kind of mushrooms that help with PTSD, but we have a lot of them after all the rain.

And thanks to making good decisions, I got to experience the relief of getting a new ($$$) swimming pool pump. Yes, the original one in our pool has already kicked the bucket. It was making so much noise that it was no fun sitting outside in the nice weather and I couldn’t hear birds very well.

Lee and I got to sit by the pool and enjoy the silence this evening. That was healing silence. Maybe knowing I am free to flee if I need to makes me happy to just stay where I am.

Bee happy! Finally I got a GOOD bumblebee in a morning glory!

Tomorrow, gotta move some hay I didn’t move quickly enough. Then I’ll need to dry it out before storing it! Horses will enjoy this delicious hay grown right next door!

Enjoy the Present but Plan for the Future

What are your future travel plans?

Oh yes. I’m traveling in the future. It’s what I promised myself to do while I still can.

Here I am, traveling down the county road in the rain. Does that count?

But first I need to enjoy the present. Indeed, I enjoyed today very much. Who doesn’t enjoy a July day in Texas when it rains and doesn’t get above 90°? I admit to sitting on the porch and watching the rain after work. That felt great.

Other than muddy horses I have no complaints at all. They are pretty happy with the grass not being so straw-like, too.

And the dogs had fun outside. Carlton decided grass runners I’d pulled up were toys and tossed them around gleefully. Unfortunately Alfred decided the extra-dead armadillo was a toy and rolled in it. Oh that smells bad. The armadillo carcass is now unavailable to dogs.

Enjoy a happy live armadillo who lives nowhere near me. Source: free WordPress photo library

As for travel, we have camping trips, two condo stays, and a cabin rental coming up, in addition to the Master Naturalist conference. I’ll share more information as the trips take place.

And I’ll have to cancel some if we don’t have caretakers for the ranch. That (and security) is why I don’t share travel plans here. Things tend to change with no warning around here with so many folks in fragile health and such!

All is well. I’m just going to enjoy each day as much as I can without counting on any future plans coming to fruition until it’s time to go! That’s being flexible and embracing change, all right. Right?

Memories Do Help

Describe your most memorable vacation.

Oh blog prompt people, get creative! But, descriptions of my most memorable vacation can be found from June 5-23 in this here blog. I think the one to Arizona wins because it was both fun and mostly stress free. I’ve had great vacations in the past but they either featured wrangling small children, arguing with family members, etc.

We kept our cool 98% of the time, and I got to see this slot canyon. Win!

I’m glad to have memories of all the sights and sounds of our recent trip, because it’s pretty uninteresting here at the ranch right now (no more dead animals).

We are by ourselves again due to the latest family issue, and I’m not working hard enough to drum up people to do things with. The only person I asked was Anita, and she’s working all day every day again. At least we have dogs, horses, and the swimming pool (now at bath water temperature).

It did cool off this evening after some big winds heralded a cool front. That’s rare in July! And we’re waiting to see if Hurricane Beryl will bring any rain. I hope so.

Other than that, we’re planning for the future of this place, which is always a little scary, but must be done. I’m not going anywhere, though, as far as I know! We just have to get things organized with our partners and such.

Must plan for the four-legged and two-legged children’s sake.

Self Care Begins at Home

How do you practice self-care?

Oh, there’s so much I do to maintain my tranquility. Daily meditation, yoga/stretches, my antidepressant, hanging out with horses, sleeping enough, and plenty of exercise, outdoors. With nature.

Happily, we made it home today, so I can get back to my usual routine. I did plenty of self care when we were traveling, though, including connecting with friends. We got to see my friend Steve again before we left, so I could get a picture.

I also needed to pick up two bags of plarn, yarn made from plastic bags. I sure hope I can make his cousin proud by making something for a charity out of it. I happen to know the stuff is hard to knit and crochet with. Maybe I’ll weave it? We will see.

It was great to get back to central Texas. It’s so green here (thanks to rain), and it’s nice to see creeks and ponds with water in them. I used to make fun of one of my professors who said he was moved emotionally when he first saw corn upon returning to Illinois. Well, I was moved to see my first corn growing in Texas. I should apologize to Jerry, ha ha.

It was good to pet all the the dogs and hug the heck out of Apache. Even Buttercup the chicken was glad to see me.

I was too busy hugging or petting the rest of the animals to get photos.

I’m remembering that my self care is mostly internal, but the little physical things you do for yourself matter a lot. Hmm. It may be time to take a dip in the pool, one of the best self-care things I do.

Where Do Crows Nest in Treeless Deserts?

You may already know this, but I didn’t. So I’ll share. Driving in absolute NOWHERE New Mexico (US 380 heading to Tatum), I was looking at the scrubby vegetation. I noticed many crows. Then I noticed them on telephone and electric wires. Then I looked a little more closely.

Many of the pikes had little pieces of wood jutting out. Each of them contained a crow’s nest! With mama crows in them! There were dozens and dozens of them. crows generally nest high in trees, you know like a crow’s nest on a ship. There are no trees here!

I wonder if some of the poles have the wood platform kind of deals on there for some reason, or if people put them there for the birds? I thought it was pretty cool to see a rookery stretched out along the highway.

That bird fun made up for my disappointment when we went to Bosque Del Apache, one of the country’s best bird-watching sites, only to realize they drain the wetlands in June to plant new native plants, etc. and that of course no migratory birds were there. Duh. It’s June.

I did see this new bird: a Black-headed Grosbeak. I thought it was an oriole at first.

I managed to see or hear 20 birds, though, including tiny baby quail and a ring-necked pheasant that ran in front of us. The other new one was a Virginia Rail. I’d seen it and a pheasant before I started Merlin, but they are new to my current list. Mostly I took pictures of Black-chinned Hummingbirds, the ones we have at home but I never get this close to.

There was a bit of other fun. We briefly stopped at the River of Fire park to see the lava flows again (I love the Malpais/Badlands).

Just as we passed the very weird hamlet of Lincoln (very touristy), we came upon flashing lights. It was more law enforcement than I’ve ever seen in one place. We realized there was a big black pickup truck off the road with its door open. Officers were looking out into the distance. Our guess was someone had fled!

Eventually we made it to Hobbs, New Mexico, which is in the middle of many oil fields. Why? Because my dear friend Steve now lives there. We helped him escape from his house for the first time since knee surgery. He was really excited. First I visited with his cousin, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of decades. We both share an interest in crafts. I told her I’d take a lot of “plarn” (yarn made from plastic bags) off her hands. Long story. But I can make something useful with it.

Off we went, with Steve and his walker, which a homeless person had conveniently left at his church. We ate Mexican food and talked a lot. Then we went to see the church where he’s the pastor (liberal Lutheran). He does a lot of work with the homeless, thus the walker.

I enjoyed being with Steve so much that I forgot to take photos. When someone has been your dear friend for 44 years, you jump right back into things and catch up. We will breakfast with him tomorrow so I’ll get a photo!

The World! There’s So Much in It!

Wow, there is a lot to see between Sedona, Arizona and Socorro, New Mexico, especially on the less crowded roads. I think I got overloaded by the variety of terrain, weather, and human interest today. I’m smiling big time!

The day started out with one last neighborhood walk in Sedona. The birds and beasts all showed up to say goodbye, except those rude javelina. I even got to see the coyote, but it ran off quickly.

Even the ash-throated flycatcher showed up.

The drive down through Arizona and New Mexico was spectacular, because the scenery would change every few miles depending on elevation or proximity to water. Plus it was cloudy and we got to see rain falling around us. Don’t let people tell you the desert is boring, because I found this high desert drive to be awe-inspiring as we went from nearly bare flats to juniper-studded hills to mountain forests of huge trees.

On the way, we did stop in Winslow, Arizona, mainly for a train. It has enough Route 66 kitsch and Take It Easy references to please any pop culture junky.

We also stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park. There is really a mind boggling amount of petrified wood just laying there, like fallen logs. It’s big business in the area, too. I also found the Painted Desert worth the trip. Its chocolate and vanilla hills are subtle compared to the red rock area, but the formations mesmerized me. If it wasn’t so dang hot we’d have stayed longer.

As we were driving near the pretty town of Magdalena, I saw something that looked like those white “marshmallows” of hay we have at home, but they seemed to be all lined up. Then I said to Lee that they looked like radio telescopes, like some kind of array. Then I got all excited. That’s what it WAS! The Very Large Array! We drove right by it!

I’d read about the VLA and all this things it found for years. I have always enjoyed learning about astronomy, so to see this piece of radio telescope history really was a great experience. Too bad the visitor center was just closed when we drove by.

I did eventually calm down, but wow, it was big.

After we arrived in Socorro, we needed to eat, so I got adventurous and led us to a local bar that was supposed to have good pizza. It was mostly a bar, but really old and funky. Everyone knew each other there.

Soon we also knew someone, because yet another of my old online/real life friends happens to live in Socorro, so she joined us. I’m sure Lee thinks I know someone everywhere, just like my dad did.

My friend Jay shows her excellent photography skills.

Jay, Lee, and I talked until the live band started, then we enjoyed the unexpected pleasant temperature and sat in the town square for more chatting. We were all (not just me) distracted by a small hawk that kept flying around. She seemed to have a mission involving the building next to the bar.

We thought for sure she was a Cooper’s Hawk, but I had a suspicion she was too small. sure enough, both iNat and Merlin identified her as a Sharp-shinned Hawk. They look very similar. Who knows for sure, though? Not me.

Tomorrow I hope to see more birds AND another long-time friend.

A Last Day of Fun

I didn’t blog yesterday, because I was wiped out from all the day’s fun and adventures. Of course, then I couldn’t get to sleep. I’ll be glad to get back home where my Thursday early meeting is only at 7 am, not 5 am. Glad my next trip is only one time zone away!

I’ll miss my morning walks in this neighborhood.

The fun part of the day was that my friend Patty, who I last saw when she visited for the eclipse in April, drove up from the Phoenix area to hang out. I’d really wanted to go back to the fishery area to see if it could find some more birds. So I dragged my poor friend off to good old Page Springs and took her on two walks at different parts of the Important Birding Area, as the signs said.

The first place we went was near the hatchery and included a nice part of the trail along the beautiful creek. It was pleasant but warm.

I did hear a new bird, and even better, I later saw it. The Abert’s Towhee is all brown but has a cute black eye mask. I would have a photo but when I saw it my phone had overheated.

We left that part of the trail to go find where I’d walked earlier. The birds were extra friendly and just sat around looking at us.

Patty developed a blister and wasn’t good with the heat, so she went back to the car to sit in the air conditioning while I went “a little farther.” Sigh.

I got past where I’d been earlier and saw that the trail was turning back. I thought how nice it would be to circle back. It was indeed a beautiful walk past an interesting wetland area with cattails and such.

But it didn’t head right back to the parking lot. Oops. I’m glad I have a good sense of direction and remember landmarks, because I found my way back. I even heard a new gnatcatcher. I felt bad for making Patty sit there for so long, tough.

So I took Patty to eat at the restaurant on Airport Mesa. It was quite scenic and the food was very fun. It’s run by the same people who run Creekside, where we ate earlier. Patty had a salad that was immense. The part she took home was definitely enough for another meal. I had trout with spinach and green chile grits with spinach and a jicama garnish. The best part was the fish skin “chicharrón” on top. I like that way better than pork skin. Mmm.

We also enjoyed prickly pear lemonade, and had an appetizer of, get this, eggplant meatballs. There was no meat. They did have “Swedish cheese” in them. We were glad we tried it, because they were very flavorful. Who knew?

After Patty left we packed up, worked, and took it easy. We enjoyed a cute PBS detective drama about a glamping site with weird murders (of course). I loved the little village where it was filmed. Can I remember the name? No.

Stay tuned to see where we stop as we meander homeward.

Beep Beep Time

I’m into alliteration in my blog post titles. But yup, I finally saw a roadrunner in Arizona. Beep beep! It literally ran across the road in front of us, as roadrunners do. I’m sure fond of these cuckoos.

Okay, so you can barely see it. But, yay.

Today was hard, so the roadrunner and its pals were a great reward. After work we had to do our penance for a nice visit by attending yet another condo sales presentation. They just take so long, and we simply don’t want anything. We escaped, though! And off we went to the Sedona Wetlands Preserve.

This place was so cool. They take waste water and turn it into habitat for native birds. That’s so encouraging, because we need more wetlands everywhere.

We heard lots and lots of birds, mostly Great-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. I was extra charmed to see a family of American Coots swimming around and honking away.

We enjoyed seeing the facility, where lots of ducks also congregated, plus a bonus bunny. We had a good time!

By the way, I ALSO saw that roadrunner’s nemesis, the coyote, earlier today on my walk. A beautiful one, too. We looked at each other for a while and went on our separate ways. It pleases me to see them thriving. They are important pieces of the ecosystem! Crows may disagree, though. Later in the walk I heard a crow ruckus and realized at least three crows were yelling at a young coyote and sending it out of their territory. Drama!

It’s bigger than it looks (the one the crows chased)

I got a great couple of pictures of a Scrub Jay intent on catching a bug, and a sort of recognizable Gila Woodpecker. They make a great noise!

After all the sales pitching, beep beeping, and yip yipping, we were hungry. I finally got to watch Lee enjoy a meal. It was at an out-of-the-way restaurant, bar, and local grocery called Brewha in Cornville. The food was so fresh, and everything was made there, even the pickles. I also had an Old Fashioned made properly with simple but high-quality ingredients. Heaven.

Our visit to the Sedona area is winding down, but there’s still more fun to come. Stay tuned.

Looks like June is heating up back home.