Travel Report – Page 3 – The Hermits' Rest

Looking for Beauty and Kindness

I declared that today would be spent looking for beauty and kindness wherever I went. That started out early, since we wanted to leave for a camping weekend (at last) as early as possible.

I hit the ground running, trying to get to Tractor Supply right after they opened. Ha. The traffic gods had other plans and I got to wait a lot, which was okay—more time listening to NPR. And I did encounter kindness when the sweet worker who checked me out also loaded all my 50-pound horse and chicken food bags and the deceptively heavy salt. She said she was stronger than most of the men there.

There was much running around, sweating, and chore performance before we could leave, and Lee hurt his back hitching the Jeep to the motorhome. Yet, we survived and drove northeast for a long time, during which Lee was kind to a trucker who needed the lane we were in at a run-down gas station. The guy had a cool big rig—he was taking it to a truck show!

We managed to make it to Lake Bob Sandlin State Park before the office closed, which felt miraculous considering the amount of slow-moving vehicles and construction delays we hit. You know a car is slow if we pass it!

We changed to a more level site, so we lost our lake view, but the piney woods are also lovely, and there are plenty of birds to enjoy.

Helping Lee because his back hurt made me end up sore from crawling in the ground and floor, but that’s what good spouses do for each other!

I found lots more beauty as I walked around the camping area after we were set up. There’s even a lot of beautyberry here, which speeds up one’s search for beauty!

I did find the lake and many woodland plants, so I believe I did what I set out to.

By focusing on good stuff, small annoyances like the bedroom slide and the leveling system not working seem insignificant. I’m just gonna go look at plants and listen to birds tomorrow. Yes.

Yep, Everyone Is Interesting

It’s true, and the interesting stranger at the Portland Airport agrees. I had things to write about yesterday and plans to work on a blog on my way home. That didn’t happen, and it’s not a bad thing, because I was talking to interesting people, as I did the whole time I was in suburban Portland.

Look, kids, it’s Mount Hood! I did my sightseeing from the plane.

As many wise folks have pointed out before me, everyone has a story to tell. They also say it’s hard to feel animosity towards people when you can see what you have in common and know what they’ve been through. For example, one of my Uber drivers was forced to flee Peru, but he’s made a good life here. All the Uber drivers I had on my trip were interesting and taught me things, so I’m glad I had the chance to ride so often. I had some really fun times explaining that Texas isn’t all bad. One guy was shocked I managed to live in a small town and not be a Christian Fascist (or whatever they’re called these days).

This mountain had a smoke ring! My friend Alice thinks it’s Mount Jefferson.

The people I talked to at my workplace were also a fun bunch. Portland seems to be crawling with musicians! And many people had horses or once did. It was fun hanging out with young parents and learning how they do things today. Lots of creativity and/or multi-generational households to handle child care.

I had an oddly frank and open conversation about life with a random punk rocker disguised as a businessman in the airport, as I mentioned above. He was a bit scattered, in a good way, and we found we had much in common. That’s what brought me back to everyone being interesting if you talk to them. So I just continued being friendly and talked to a fellow worried about his large dog traveling in the cargo hold, and I made the flight attendant so happy by asking her about her beautiful silver bracelet she was wearing, which happened to be made by a Hawaiian artist. The flight attendant was beaming as she told me how much she loved it.

Sweet stories from random people keep me hoping we can pull our society back together. Humans are not all mean and hateful like the media so often says they are.

Enough of that. I did want to share that I got to see some Oregon plants and hear some birds yesterday by taking a lunch walk. I found an area where there’s a big effort being made to restore native plants, on property the company I consult for seems to own. The plants were surrounded by two things. One was the ever-present wild blackberries. I ate a lot, since there weren’t right on the roadside and covered with automotive residues.

The other thing I saw were rows of gnarled old trees, which look like they’d been cut down to stumps but we’re trying to come back, fighting through ivy and berries. I couldn’t tell what they were, but I figured they were something that was once harvested. When I finally got to upload photos to iNaturalist, it turned out they were hazelnut trees! Before Tualatin got industrialized, it must have grown nuts. Cool.

There was also a small forest remnant next to the offices, with a short path running through it. I enjoyed seeing the ferns, evergreens, and native maples (among others).

After seeing a California Jay, another new one on my list, I felt satisfied that I’d seen at least a little nature. Then my ride to the airport, a really nice man very much like me, took us through downtown to save time, so I got a bonus tour. Yay for avoiding the crowded interstate!

There, I’m caught up, back with my animals and humans, and ready for what’s next. After some sleep!

Are There Birds in Oregon?

I’m sure there are birds in this state, but I have not been able to put myself into places where birds are. Still, by wandering around the hotel this morning and searching for a neighborhood after work, I found a few, plus a new one, Vaux’s Swift.

Mostly I heard Lesser Goldfinches, Black-capped Chickadees, House Finches, and Crows. Not the plethora I’d hoped for, but I haven’t made it to any nature sights in Oregon and probably won’t since I leave tomorrow and it will be rainy. Oh well! I did see some plants!

This apple tree was bending down from its beautiful crop.

There are wild blackberries everywhere. I guess I’d never go hungry this time of year.

I did enjoy looking around at big trees and colorful flowers, though I’m in a noisy area both at work and where I’m staying. Good thing this wasn’t a sight/seeing trip!

The work part of the day was great, and there was a fun lunch with the people from the company I contract for. They gave us all nice, soft sweatshirts, too. The people part of this visit has been just great. It’s so empowering to work with people who feel like they’re working as a team to make interesting cutting-edge things.

I do need to go home and tell Drew to treat Vicki better, so I’m looking forward to getting on that plane tomorrow afternoon!

Citizens of Beaverton loved my shirt. I hesitate to wear it at home. Well, everyone has their opinions.

Investigating Near and Sorta Far

Today was hot, but otherwise a fine Sunday. I started the day by listening to birds, as usual. I felt like getting some exercise, so I took the long walk to the cemetery. It looked very spiffy, and the birds were happy with how nice things looked, both there and at the old school/church property.

I found out later that whoever the Walker’s Creek people are will be holding a picnic there next week! Maybe it’s people with plots in the cemetery—they do that at other cemeteries in the area. what a nice tradition.

While I was there I noticed many Black Vultures gathering in two of the grand dead oaks adjacent to the old “town center.”

I also heard lots of dogs barking and a familiar voice telling them to stop. Were they barking at me or the birds? I went around the corner to Vicki’s house to find out. The answer is that her dogs really don’t like those birds, or they DO and are enjoying themselves. Since I was already there, I paid a visit (so un-hermit-like) and checked out an Australian saddle she’d bought to try to use with Drew.

And, since I was there, I got to go inside and see extremely cute Sheltie puppies. They are very fluffy and bounce around most charmingly. They are destined for great things, given their lineage.

They are very wiggly and hard to photograph.

I had so much fun being a new stimulus for them. Much tummy rubbing and fur ruffling occurred. I also got to see the brand-new puppy whose mother is a national reserve champion herding dog. There was a lot of dog beauty and skill in that house!

The little black girl was too fast to photograph

I dragged my self back home for a shower and some rest. I don’t know why I showered, since I was soaked with sweat after working with Apache and dealing with the water trough Spice had managed to overturn. She, Drew, and Mabel seemed mighty pleased to have done that. At least Apache was good. He’s really getting used to the paths in the front field. He likes the Johnson grass and goldenrod and I like the shady areas.

No horse photos today, so here’s a tired Spicebush Swallowtail.

But, I’m out of sequence. Before horse time, Lee and I took one of our random drives, since he hadn’t been exploring all weekend like I had. We saw lots of crops, which we have in this area because we are east of Interstate 35. The soil is completely different on the west side, because the road follows a fault. Fertile farmland to the east, and alkaline karst formations to the west. Anyway, we saw feed corn being harvested, cotton in bloom, and to my surprise, a rice field. It was irrigated by the Brazos River.

We ended up in Calvert, Texas, which is fairly close to Cameron. Lee saw that some of the antique stores there were open, so we stopped by one, which is in the tallest building in the town. The building was erected by the first Black millionaire in this area as headquarters of a benevolent organization. This is probably inaccurate and no doubt a local person can set me straight.

Picture of a woman teaching a little girl to knit.

The shop had lots and lots in it. Luckily there wasn’t much of what I want, but I wished I had a space for this embroidered screen. It’s very cool. I’d love to restore it.

The screen is tall but I just took pictures of the embroidery.

I did end up getting a planter with pansies on it. I’ll show you once I get it set up. I didn’t get these. They had two similar pairs.

The Queen of England and her spouse as bedroom slippers. Classy.

Enough blather about my day. But I investigated many things, ranging from cute to weird!

Traipsing Around

I’m missing RV travel, I can tell. Anytime I get an offer to go do something, I try to figure out a way to tack on a nature trip. I did that today!

Nature. She is good. Maximillian Sunflower.

I stayed in College Station last night after the dinner with my friends, which provided me with the chance to visit some parks there. After a hotel breakfast with many food labels in Spanish (see, Texas IS bilingual), I walked around behind all the hotels and restaurants to find a nice, older neighborhood that was chock full of Blue Jays. They love urban spaces! I found some wild areas, so my iNaturalist needs were sated.

I checked out and went to the next place, which I could probably have walked to. It was a small nature preserve in the middle of the nice neighborhood.

I noted it had a Texas Master Naturalist sign. The park has seen better days, maintenance-wise, but the paths are still there, and there are good places to sit and look at wildlife. And if you like ragweed, it’s a great time to visit.

Still, I found some interesting plants and saw lots of birds, including this Greater Roadrunner with its catch.

I decided next to go check out Lick Creek Park, where lots of the outings at the Texas Master Naturalist meeting in October will be hosted. I’m glad I went, since I couldn’t register for the Annual Meeting until today, one day after registration opened, so all the field trips were full.

Anyway, it was already hot by the time I got to the huge park, so I just did a short loop trail. There was much to see and photograph, plus quite a few summer birds. A Summer Tanager taunted me for at least ten minutes hopping from tree to tree, but hiding. I certainly knew it was there!

I made my way home full of nature and happiness, only to spend the rest of the day enjoying nature at home. Beautiful clouds came in bearing very welcome rain, which was pleasant to observe from the shelter of the porch. Lee and I read, looked at birds, and relaxed for quite a while!

This all constituted a fine day in which I had no complaints. Well, I didn’t get to ride horses. Maybe tomorrow!

Lee got these pictures of the Mockingbird babies in our small tree. They look great!

More Spontaneous Spontaneity

This morning, Lee and I awoke in Brownwood, Texas, which was not in yesterday’s non-plan. After a reasonable hotel breakfast we went less than .1 mile to the Tractor Supply in the same parking lot as us. Odd, huh.

Proof I made it home: Indian Jute from the ranch.

I got all the horse food I needed and the cashier informed me there was a bunch of chicken stuff on sale, so I got some herbal yummies to go with the grit Connie has been hinting for. How efficient!

I had been wanting to go back to the state park nearby, so Lee looked up Lake Brownwood State Park. He was directed a half mile down the road the hotel and TSC. That was not where I remembered the park to be, either unit. I kept saying we weren’t going to the right place.

The weird shape is our hotel. The nature trail starts where the road ends. Also on the map is my favorite restaurant, which we didn’t get to go to, Katana.

It wasn’t where I thought we were going, that’s true. But we were in Riverside Park, which may be the nicest city park I’ve ever been to. I ended up thanking Lee.

Even though I still had the wrong shoes on, I was able to happily walk the sidewalks that went along a pretty bayou (Pecan Bayou) and an adjacent woods. The park has a nice disc golf course, a beautiful playground and a cool meeting pavilion. It looks quite new, but is full of old trees, mostly pecan.

I enjoyed walking the paths, other than when disc golf players yelled at me. The other interesting sight was a family who brought a confused but patient palomino horse to the park and posed their children with it. Everyone had cowboy attire, the fancy kind.

Horse photos. I assume they scooped any poop.

I found many plants, including a new one for me. There were 24 bird species in total that Merlin heard, including a loud Mississippi Kite and many Lesser Goldfinches. Here are a few plants and an insect in the park (not bad for such a well mowed area).

As I finished the walk by the bayou I saw a nature trail sign. It said it was only .7 miles, so I let Lee know I was going down it.

What a gorgeous trail it was, winding along the water. While enjoying the birds, I realized my two favorite vines were everywhere, Pitcher’s leather flower and pearl milkweed. I was excited.

There was so much more to see. And the trail itself made you feel totally alone in nature. Just perfect.

I saw too many fascinating plants to share, but here are some highlights. This is probably mostly for me so I can go back and enjoy them, though I did put them all up in iNaturalist!

We headed home after this, and just enjoyed the countryside. I also enjoyed a mango-pineapple Icee. What a spontaneous indulgence.

We had a brief but intense storm with lightning while I was feeding horses, which produced thunder loud enough to scare both humans and equines. It did lead to a beautiful sunset, so I’ll share those!

Oh yes. Card of the day was 5 of Wands, which deals with conflict. I chuckled because I drew it after thinking for a few minutes about an interpersonal conflict I need to resolve. Thanks, cards.

Don’t Complain, Spontane!

I didn’t write yesterday, even though it was a good day, all in all. I felt useful at work and had a good time doing horse stuff with Vicki (other than getting stepped on by Apache when he was in a “spooky” part of his path). Walking on the paths was a great way for Vicki to practice leadership with Drew, so I’m glad we did it, even though Drew wasn’t thrilled.

Laughing because we were trying to get Drew to look cheerful.

Today I had no plans, Lee had a sore toe, and we were just blah. So, he said, “Let’s just go!” And we spontaneously went somewhere. Spontaining has a lot going for it! We drove around Texas to see what we could find.

One thing we found: free-range cattle. That’s Texas.

First we drove to Buc-ees because I really wanted one of their sandwiches for lunch. I also got over-priced watermelon but it was so good! I got a new large water holder to replace the previous one whose straw disappeared then the lid shattered in one of my more-frequent “accidents.” I’m pleased.

Then we meandered our way through the dangerous roads between Temple and Copperas Cove, Texas. You are inevitably passed on all sides by small, audibly-enhanced sporty vehicles driven by young people with very neat haircuts. Those would be folks starting their military careers at Fort Cavazos who have purchased their dream vehicles and want to go zoom zoom. We survived and made it to our random destination, a “metaphysical shop.” There are actually TWO in the area, down from three.

My souvenir was a cutting of a fascinating pothos plant with curly leaves. The shop owner has a jungle in the back of the store.

This store has all kinds of fascinating stuff in it, like dead things in jars, homemade spell candles, and what I think were some homemade oils. This was not one of those goofy crystal stores. They are serious and have some interesting classes one could take. I liked their tarot candles, so I got one for me and a Hermit for Lee. Lee gave me a VERY nice Bridget goddess statue to go with my collection. This makes me sound very woo woo. I assure you, I’m just out here sending Lovingkindness.

After chatting about dogs, horses, and plants with the proprietor, we headed for our next destination, which we picked at random. Mostly we enjoyed the drive through rolling hills and (recently flooded) river valleys. We ended up in Lampassas. We tried to go to a nature park, but it was closed. That was a theme for the day, thanks to the floods on July 4.

My big discovery in Lampassas was a huge factory that makes Ajinomoto. That’s MSG. I always thought it came from Japan. I stayed clear due to my sensitivity.

We saw a sign for Colorado Bend State Park, so we decided to go there and check it off our list. It’s a good thing, since it turns out our RV would have no place to go there.

Flood-damaged bridge to get to the park. Had to drive very slowly.

Much of the park was closed, but I did get to go on a little trail walk in a meadow with Ashe Juniper trees and lots of silver bluestem. I was hampered by my footwear choice of shiny sandals, but remember, I didn’t know where I was going earlier today.

The weird thing about my walk was the eerie lack of birds. For most of the time there was one persistent Field Sparrow, who sang very well, it all alone. At the end I finally heard a Bobwhite Quail, a Cardinal, and a Red-winged Blackbird.

We then drove to the camping area, which was the only riverside area you could get to, and there were normal birds there in usual numbers. Whew. I’ve never been so relieved to hear wrens, titmice, and buntings.

We left the park and for no good reason drove to San Saba, another typical town of the region. I enjoy the town squares and small shops you find. The big business here is pecans. Some of the pecan businesses have beautiful buildings. Of course, a pecan plantation is also lovely. Wish I had a photo.

The nearest place we could find to get a free hotel on our Hilton points was in Brownwood, so off we went through more scenic byways until we suddenly were there, not the way we came here last time when camping. The best thing about this Home2 Suites is that it’s next door to a Tractor Supply store, where I need to go to replenish horse food.

It’s almost like we planned the day!

A good day needs no plan when you can spontane.

Tomorrow we get those supplies then see if this is the town with the amazing Japanese restaurant that used to be Pizza Hut. If so, that will be lunch before hitting a different bunch of Texas cow-towns on the way home.

Crude map of trip. We live due east of Temple 40 miles or so.

Tarot card of the day

Yesterday I drew the 6 of swords, which is about having a supportive community. I drew it right after chatting with my supportive Friday morning friends. I forgot to take a picture.

I didn’t draw a card today, but was impressed to see that the woman in the metaphysical shop was doing a good business with readings. Interesting!

Zoo Pictures

As I promised yesterday, Lee and I went to a zoo today. First we spent the night last night in a blissfully dark and quiet Home2 Suite in Waco. The hotel was a little odd in that their breakfast oatmeal was in reality gravy for biscuits. I’m sure glad I didn’t spoon it out and sprinkle brown sugar on it!

Still, I enjoyed a morning walk in the working class neighborhood, where I managed to hear some birds and met some dogs that didn’t particularly want me there. But, hey, I found some weeds to photograph, too. That let Lee have his morning alone time!

We eventually went to the Cameron Park Zoo, which is in a beautiful riverside location near downtown. It’s worth a visit. I’m sort of glad we didn’t go when we’d originally planned, because now we were able to see the new exhibit of African penguins. They were cute, though many were shy.

I had two exhibits I really liked. One was a lot of fish native to Texas, including paddlefish, gars, and extra cute rays. There was too much glare and too many kids running around to get photos. Those big fish were mighty majestic, though.

The other exhibit I enjoyed was the Texas shore birds. It was great to get close-up views of the birds I usually see at a distance. They’d just been fed, so many were eating fish. A couple others were carrying around sticks. Perhaps they were building nests. Forgive all the Roseate spoonbill pictures. They were so pretty.

There were many other birds to see. I was surprised how many I knew from watching nature shows. Some were spectacular, like the bustard. All were fun to watch.

Of course, there were other animals at this zoo. It’s a fairly good sized one. Here are a few that I enjoyed.

I also enjoyed the people, especially kids. We watched one boy, around 3, dragging his grandmother from exhibit to exhibit saying he wanted to see more animals. He was thrilled at each one and knew what they all were without being told. I just wanted to hug him.

Bald Eagle habitat, surrounded by vultures. .

There was also a little girl who bravely fed the giraffe, to her parents’ surprise. The best part was on her way out, she grabbed some of the romaine lettuce for herself. If it’s good enough for the giraffe…

Chinaberry tree. Lots of nonnative plants were around.

One thing I liked about the design of the Cameron Park Zoo was that it was quite shady, either additional shade canopies where needed. And it seemed like each area had an indoor air conditioned exhibit to cool down in. That was good planning. And wow, it was clean. It didn’t smell like poop, which many zoos do.

If you live around Waco or visit, be sure to go visit this zoo and maybe hit the mammoth dig site, too.

Three Weeks of Retirement Left

I’ll try to get as much horse riding and swimming pool lounging in as I can for the rest of the month, because I accepted the offer on the job I was debating and it starts June 30.

The Pacific Time hours will be a bit of a challenge, because I’ve never worked in a time zone later than mine, but since it’s relatively cooler in the mornings in the hot months here, I may find doing horse stuff and other ranch chores more pleasant. I can adjust!

I’ll still have time to look for birds at my birding station, which was sited today.

Theoretically, I’ll retire again in 6 months or so. I did like the main interviewer a lot, so I think I’ll enjoy making a few more handouts and answering a lot more questions about project and portfolio management software. I’m sure glad I didn’t entirely flush that knowledge from my brain in March.

Looks like plenty of space for rainwater capture here.

In the meantime, Lee and I are taking a short drive around our area, first to close on a property sale in no-longer-scenic Cedar Park, then spending the night in Waco and going to the zoo we didn’t get to go to when storms came after Lee’s canceled jury duty. Just some couple time.

I may be a little slower, but I get there.

It’s a nice reward for making it through all the interviews and paperwork. I’d suspected they’d choose someone young and energetic. Well, my friends keep telling me I’m energetic, so I’m passing as the elder statesman energy bunny.

Exploring the Unknown, Nearby

I’ve got to tell you how much fun I had this morning! My friend Ann and I went to see the property of our fellow Master Naturalist, to help her improve her skills and see what plants and birds were there.

Our friend lives far enough east of the Hermits’ Rest that the soil is very different, quite sandy compared to my soil. That means different plants will grow. I’d already noticed that along the road to my horse lessons, where the Gaillardia are solid red, and standing cypress lines the road this time of year, with its red plumes. So pretty.

Maroon blanketflower (*Gaillardia amblyodon)*

The birding where we visited was pretty good, and I learned the sounds of a Swainson’s Warbler very well when the ubiquitous White-eyed Vireos rested momentarily. It gave good opportunity for Merlin Bird ID lessons.

The plants were what had me all in a tizzy, though. There were expanses of meadows bordered by nice thick woods, plus excellent trails the homeowners maintain. So much to explore!

I found interesting insects, too. I wish I could have gotten photos of all the different bees and wasps buzzing around all the flowers, but I did capture a few as well as butterflies. The pale pipevine swallowtail was so lovely I will share multiple photos.

There were some impressive wildflower areas, and in one of them I found many species I’d never seen, even some Ann had never seen, and she doesn’t live too far away. A couple of these, like the prairie clover, are pretty rare, so no wonder I wasn’t familiar with them.

The flowers were in a place is where someone built a new tall wildlife fence about ten feet back from the original barbed wire. The area where cattle or other ruminants can’t reach was a blaze of flowers. It’s a secret botanical treasure we discovered!

It wasn’t just flowers that were new. There were plenty of fungus and moss samples to investigate, too. I’d never seen a moss inflorescence so spectacular as the one we found on a trail, and after the recent rains, mushrooms were everywhere.

I don’t mean to go on and on, but this unknown wonderland brought a lot of joy, as did hanging out with my fellow nature lovers. It’s hard to believe I found so much that was new to me, so close to home.

I’ve spared you most of the species I saw, but this location has gone from nothing on iNaturalist to dozens, including the rare ones. I hope this makes a scientist happy someday!