Daytripping to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge…

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is only about a 40 drive from the park we stayed at in South Padre Island, Tx However, the drive over to it is not all that scenic. It is on the Coastal Prairies ecosystem of Texas and as such is very flat with rich soils. Nowadays instead of prairie grasses, plowed fields and agriculture are as far as the eye can see.

Once inside the park we used our seniors annual pass to gain entrance into the refuge. Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a 115,324-acre protected area situated on the Blackjack Peninsula along the Gulf Coast of Texas. It is most well known as the the winter home of one of the rarest birds in North America, the whooping crane.

 

Today’s population of whooping cranes are all descendants of the last 15 birds found wintering in Texas in 1941 as the bird was nearing extinction. We did see a few Whooping Cranes but too far away for a worthy photo. They have made a nice comeback from those original 15 birds as the whooping crane population assessed last winter cited 506 whooping cranes, including 39 juveniles and 192 adult pairs. This marks the 3rd year in a row that the population has topped the 500 mark.

The refuge is also home to many other species of creatures as it is comprised of wetlands and barrier dunes. The shoreline is interspersed with islands that together making this a great refuge where animal life can thrive.

There are several hiking trails within the park as well. One of our favorites is the Heron Flats Trail. Along the trail remain the remnants grasses such as bushy bluestem which adorn the perimeter. Along the Heron Flats trail there were several large alligators out soaking up the sunshine prevalent that day. We even came across one on the other side of a small impoundment that was as big a gator as I have ever seen.

After enjoying Heron Flats Trail, we drove down to the observation towers and boardwalk further south along the shore of Blackjack Peninsula.  We walked up the observation towers and were able to see a few Whooping Cranes but again but they were way out in the distance as can be attested by the only photo I could get..We also walked onto the adjacent boardwalk which took us out to the beach through a rich and diverse wetland:

Lastly we took the driving loop around the interior of the park which takes up much of the Blackjack Peninsula. We really didn’t see a lot of wildlife on this particular day but we did see a few deer, some feral hogs and a few javalina.

The down side of the day was there were a lot of the trails and areas around the park that were closed.  As a result we were not able to go on many of the trails we wanted to hike. However, all in all it was a nice day at the refuge…

NOTE:  While Sharon is in North Carolina I am currently at Angler’s Retreat in Rockport Texas until at least mid May…

Hiking/Birding Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, TX

Looking for an outing away from the beach because it was foggy we decided to drive over to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is 3.3 square miles of protected forest. It’s southern boundary is the Rio Grande river and it is surrounded by agricultural fields.

This particular type of vegetation found in south Texas has been decimated by conversion into agricultural use. They say 95 percent of this habitat is gone and  Santa Ana remains a small piece of what's left. Over 400 species of birds have been sighted inside and at least 450 species of plants grow here which are in kind  pollinated by half of all of North America’s butterfly species. Other rarities found only in this type of habitat include the endangered ocelots and, jaguarundis.

As we pulled into the parking lot we found a map of the trails in the park. With Covid the park was open but unmanned   We found the trailhead and set out into the fields of honey mesquite and acacia tangles. The park has several resacas ((remnants of pieces of the Rio Grande river that were cut off) Near the resacas are Rio Grande elm, live oaks and ash with the larger trees adorned in Spanish moss.

Texas Rose-bellied Lizards were abundant and we saw them skitter off the trail ahead as we walked.. We could hear the endemic Kiskadee Flycatchers and Green Jays. The resacas had a few pull outs for visitors to see birds along with a few bird blinds strategically placed.

Our hike took us to the Hawkwatch Tower first where we were hoping to see a Hook-billed Kite but didn’t. Next we wandered onto the Willow Lakes Trail and took the 1.6 mile loop around it. This trail featured a lot of open water as well as marshy wetlands and an open old growth oak forest.

We were fortunate to spot some interesting birds along the trail. We saw several Least Grebes and lots of different duck species. The highlight in the open water was seeing a pair of Cinnamon Teal moving quickly back into the Bulrushes to hide out of sight. I was able to snap one photo before they did so.

We lingered at the large bird blind on Willow Lake and spotted lots of Pintail Ducks, Mottled Ducks, American Coots and a pair of Ring-necked Ducks bathing in the waters. What a great little hike we found in this wildlife refuge. Sharon took one photo on the trail that looked as if it were a painting. We were certainly glad we made the trip especially since Delia’s Tamales was nearby where we dashed in to purchase some freshly made spicy pork tamales for dinner back at home. We chalked up another great day in South Texas, which has turned out to be a great winter stay.

NOTE:  We are currently in South Padre Island in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas until March 1st…   

Having Some Fun In San Diego, CA…

I still have a bit of catching up to do on the blog. After the first 10 or so days of nice weather we fell into a pattern of chilly days with wet and rainy weekends. It’s okay with us when it rains on the weekends as we rarely venture out on weekends leaving them for the working folks to enjoy. It is the weekdays we get out and about…

One of our favorite sights to visit in the greater San Diego area is La Jolla. The shoreline in La Jolla is a scenic beauty. The craggy cliffs hide coves where seals and sea lions lay out on the large black boulders sunning their bodies to get warm.

The water temperature was in the low sixties and with daytime temperatures not much higher we didn’t don our wetsuit shorties and flippers to go snorkeling with the seals this year. Nevertheless simply strolling along the shoreline in La Jolla is still one of our favorite California pastimes.

One of the benefits of staying at Mission Bay RV park is the close proximity of places to bike and walk. There are great walks along the water adjacent to the park at Mission Bay Park. When it isn’t raining we will usually make our way out to the park for a mile or so walk each morning.

There won’t be a lot of hiking for us (more biking) as my knee has been a bit painful so much so that when we were in College Station Texas I had a steroid injection into it for pain relief. The down side of steroid injections is that they recommend you don’t get more than four per year. That would be great except each injection doesn’t offer four months of pain relief.

While in San Diego I recently had my second injection and I will admit these injections offer wonderful pain relief for by bone-on-bone knee pain! There is little doubt that a knee replacement is in my near future. That and the fact I will turn 65 next summer and have to go on Medicare means I need to decide soon if I want to get it done before or after I go on Medicare.

One fun encounter I should mention is that we finally met up with Jeff and Fran, who both are from San Diego. Jeff pens a blog called Ruffin it with Rufus. His blog is a great resource for those who like to hike in San Diego as he writes about the trails and some of the history of the area. We met Jeff and Fran in Old Town at a quaint little Mexican eatery, Casa De Maria, where we shared stories. It was great to finally visit with them after missing out on previous meet up opportunities over the years. Thanks for lunch Jeff and Fran! It was great fun!

NOTE: We are currently in San Diego CA until Dec. 28th before spending the rest of the winter in Arizona…

A Drive Through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

With our time running out here at Wickham Park, we had one more place we wanted to revisit. The weather had changed making it windy and chilly with temperatures in the low sixties. I won’t apologize for calling low sixties chilly because for these two people who follow spring north and fall south it is certainly chilly to us. Anyhow we figured the drive over to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge would be perfect considering the weather…

After about a 50 minute drive we entered the loop drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. This is in our opinion definitely one of the top three loop drives in a wildlife refuge in the entire USA. The other two favorites are the loop drive at Aransas Wildlife Refuge in Texas and the loop drive at the JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

Below are some of the birds and sights we enjoyed…

Heading back we decided to stop in for a little happy hour at a World of Beer in Melbourne and luckily for us we stumbled into something fun, Thirsty Thursday at West Village Melbourne. We were sitting at the World of Beer bar enjoying a beer when we noticed a band setting up outside amongst some tents which appeared to be vendors.. My curiosity got the best of me and I chatted with one of the vendors only to learn about Thirsty Thursday, a free once a month event on the third Thursday of the month. Live music, free food and drink… Score!

Another evening we made a date with John (Sharon’s cousin) and his bride Penny. We chose Squid Lips a waterfront bar and restaurant as a place to meet them since its location is about halfway between where we were and where they live, in Vero Beach, Florida. It was great to see them again and as always time rapidly melted away. Although it had been a year since we last saw them it was like we had never left. Good food, friendship,and great water view from our table made this a great way for us to spend our belated anniversary dinner!

With our time up it was finally time to head a bit further south to Vero Beach, Florida where we wall spend some quality time with John and Penny…

NOTE: We are now near Stuart, Florida…

Hike to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mt. National Park CO…

Since our camp is so close to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) near Estes Colorado we had to make our way up to the mountains. Even better was we waited for a day where the highs in Longmont were supposed to exceed 100 degrees.The estimated temperature in the park was expected to be up to 30 degrees cooler so we agreed….. Let’s go…

It was about an hour drive into the mountains but a pleasant drive even though the traffic was slow moving. Once into Estes Park it was pretty congested but eventually we continued on to RMNP. We had free entry by using our senior pass saving $25 and proceeded over to the Bear Lake trailhead. Parking was scarce at best but we found a place to park about 1/8 mile from the trailhead.

The hike around the lake is very popular as it is a very short hike so the “car hikers” can park then walk about 5 minutes to take some beautiful photos to show their friends back home.  Our hike, however,  began the opposite way from Bear Lake (but we did sneak over to take a peek). Then we embarked upon our longer hike to two other lakes at just four miles roundtrip keeping in mind it would require a steady climb up the mountain.

We donned our boots and made the climb. It was like being on a Stairmaster with the setting at 6 as the climb was steady and relentless. We were sucking air along the way as we were now at nearly 9,000 feet in elevation. About midway we encountered Dream Lake which was a long and beautiful mountain lake filled with trout. The water was so clear  we could  see the beautiful rainbow and brown trout happily swimming in the waters.

After another mile or so we finally made it to Emerald Lake which was smaller than the lake we had just passed but it was still very scenic. It was a typical cirque lake in the high country and even though it was more crowded that we desired it was still spectacular and well worth the climb up to it. We paused for a good while enjoying the view before returning back the way we came.

Another hot day we decided to return to RMNP to drive the Old Fall Road which is a winding dirt road up to the Alpine lodge on Trail Ridge Scenic Drive. What a great road it was for an early afternoon drive. We only spotted a few people on the road since it had just opened for the season and I am sure most didn’t know about it yet.

We stopped to walk around Chasm Falls to take a few photos before slowly crawling up the one way road (up only) while taking in the the sights. As we neared the Alpine area we broke out above tree line where we stopped to look at the alpine flowers in bloom and to see if we could spot any birds in the high country.

Almost near the top we saw a large herd of Elk with quite a few people making their way over to  take pictures.  Some people really don’t respect the distance one should keep from the elk which was distracting but we enjoyed watching a while before driving onto the Trail Ridge Scenic Road. The Trail Ridge Road offers panoramic vistas from seemingly the top of the world as all the road is above tree line. Wonderful!

For more hikes in the area here is a great resource you should check out - Hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Next up is a move over to our Freightliner appointment at Transwest Truck and RV  in Frederick, Co. Fingers crossed our electrical issues will be resolved so we can quickly get back to having fun on our Road of Retirement….Wish us luck!

NOTE: We are now in the Transwest Truck and RV Courtesy Park in Frederick Colorado until the Freightliner Shop figures out our electrical issue…