Category Archives: Texas state parks

Heading Westward

Last year, we stayed here at Falcon State Park for some time and then, because of issues with trailer lights, decided to forego going out to Big Bend National Park. This year, figuring we are this far and may not get here again, we are pressing onward in a few days. We’ll go to Amisted National Wildlife Area (Del Rio), stay a couple of days at Seminole Canyon, and then hit Big Bend.

The stay at Falcon has been great. The weather has finally warmed into the 70’s and we have enjoyed the birding and the campers. This is quite unique – many folks come here for a month or more – and have done so for years. There is a very active recreation center with many social and education activities. Neither Mary nor I am big on sitting around talking about whatever, but we have gotten to know some of the regulars. We went to a Valentine’s ice cream social/ Yankee swap (they had some other name for it), and actually danced a little. The kids think we’re losing it.

A highlight of this stay is the puma I saw the other morning while walking the dog – the big cat was just sauntering across the road. I had binoculars but no camera with me.

The night sky here is amazing. There is no air traffic at all – which is too remindfull of the post-9/11 days. We get nothing but Mexican TV and radio but keep current with our iPhones. The campground is very quiet – all I can hear as I write is a coyote. Sounds like a young one trying out his voice. Penny gives a little growl just to let us know she’s on top of things.

So we’ve got some laundry and camper stuff (propane, parts, etc) to do before launching Wednesday morning. Got a couple of birds I’m looking for as well so Penny and I will be out looking for the Say’s Phoebe that’s supposedly here. Weather up ahead looks great so Wagon’s Ho!

What’s That White Stuff?

They say that the last time this area had snow was five years ago on Christmas Eve. Somehow, we didn’t find the snow/ice mix covering the roads and ground this morning that exciting. It was 85 degrees a few days ago — WTF?

We’re already dealing with frozen water pipes back home in Vermont when the furnace was off during the -25 degrees spell. Now we have to worry about the lines in the Airstream freezing — and keep a little water dripping.

Of course, there’s no sand or salt trucks in the County so it’s a good thing that the winter sun was strong and melted the coating by about 10 AM. The wind was strong last night and our trailer temperature, in spite of the heater, was 50 degrees this morning. We do have an auxiliary propane heater we lit off to raise the temperature this morning and all in all, have been very comfortable. Just whining.

I know how much other parts of Texas and the country got whacked with this system. We know that in a day, temperatures will be back in the 60’s — that we wait a couple of days instead of a couple of months, for shirtsleeve weather.

Of course, after we hit about Mississippi, we put the parkas and warm mittens in plastic bags and tossed them way up front in the the truck cap, along with the snow scraper. They would have come in handy.

We had Cabot Cheese for supper tonight — would you like a little whine with that? Our neighbors here are from Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. We are all taking heat from family and friends for whining — and look forward to the weekend and normal Texas temperatures.

Nature Encounters at Falcon


The first afternoon at Falcon State Park, I was reading in the shade (it was 85 degrees) with Penny lying next to me. Suddenly, she exploded into barking and lunging on her leash, startling me. I looked at across the road and a mama wild pig and six piglets were trotting through the underbrush, driving our Vizsla nuts.

We’ve seen feral pigs down here before and seen the amazing damage they cause with their rooting and trampling. They are a major nuisance in much of Texas and some, with their nasty tusks, are pretty mean-looking critters.

The first night here, the coyotes started yowling just after dark — that eerie sound that make you glad you’re not sleeping out in the open.

This park is looped with nature trails that provide a wide variety of flora and fauna. You never quite know what you are going to meet around the corner. We’ve seen a number of rabbits that drive her crazy — forcing me to put a harness on her instead of just a collar.

Yesterday, after spotting several deer, we came upon a roadrunner who, in “beep-beep” fashion, kept running up ahead to where the trail turned, waiting and running again. Penny was going nuts and I was trying to hold her, and the camera — this going on for a bit. I dropped the leash and stepped on it while taking the photo, but must have missed it for Penny was off like a flash, as was the roadrunner. I’m sure it flew for she came back shortly, panting, and we continued our walk.

Last night, we took a walk late on the roads and it was black. I had a small flashlight but remembered, about half way around the loop, of the pictures of puma-like cat that has been spotted around here recently. I thought, if I see two glowing eyes up ahead, I’m out of here. The walk turned out to be uneventful although the night sky was spectacular.

Today, we rounded a bend on the trail and came upon an armadillo. Penny saw one in Louisiana last year but this one was right in front of her, waddling away. She lunged as I shot the picture but never got loose.
Tonight, she is “hunting” inside the Airstream — fixated at an opening under the stove where I suspect a mouse is residing. It may have ridden from Vermont or joined up here in Texas. If it reads the forecast for the weather ahead (nothing like the north or northeast but still below freezing), it is looking for a warm abode.

The other “nature” factor here is the small thorns that are everywhere you walk. I usually ride the bike so that Penny can run on the greenery beside the road. I noticed that she stopped running and was limping and checked her pads, finding many of the little thorns. They hurt just brushing them off. I’ve been wearing sandals and they wedge into the space beneath my feet, and smart. It’s just part of the exercising in the Southwest.

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Farewell to Goose Island

We leave in the morning for Falcon State Park after eight days here at Goose Island. It’s finally shorts and T-shirt weather and we’ve enjoyed getting out to walk, bike, and run. Penny has become pretty well-known with her running alongside the bike. Lots of little yappy dogs here which tend to drive her (and me) a bit nuts.

The first morning we were here, the roar of airboats awoke us about 4:30 A.M. It was the last day of duck season and all the good old boys were out. It calmed down considerably after that although guides take out anglers about every morning — with the resulting racket.

The birding has been wonderful — and we’ve met several interesting folks. Last night we went on an owl prowl — which turned out to be a walk along an oyster shell filled trail through the puckerbrush with Mary and fifteen others — but no owls. The night sky through the trees was quite something — these Texas nights can be quite spectacular.

This morning, after coffee, scones, and wifi downtown, we went to say goodbye to the whooping cranes. Three flew over as we approached and later, as we watched, a male from the group of three that reside there drove the newcomers off.

We met a guy today with a Bates sweatshirt so we had to query him — and learned that he and his wife moved down here from New England about five years ago. He’s a photographer — shooting birds and and scenery — and loving living in Texas. I’ve seen the temperatures for this area in the summer. Mary and I, while enjoying the area a lot, have too much Yankee blood in our veins to move south. However, getting down here for part (or most) of the winter is enticing.

Falcon Lake got some bad press six months ago when the guy was killed by “pirates” on the Mexican side of the lake. That story always has had a phony ring to it — no debris, no body — so it will be interesting to hear the local version of the story. We hope to erect and launch the kayak but will be staying close to the U.S. shore for many reasons. I think it’s likely safer than it was when we were there last year.

Temperatures down there are forecast in the low 80’s just as the rest of the country is getting ready for another big storm. One side of me feels guilty — but I suspect as soon as I see a Green Jay and three types of orioles, I’ll get over it.

Seriously, we will be thinking of our friends/family dealing with this tough winter.

Take a look at my latest post on the birds of Goose Island.

Settled In at Goose Island

The trip down on Saturday was uneventful and traversing Houston on a Saturday morning was relatively easy – although the Houston drivers must have trained in Boston. We did go by hundreds of school kids working along one of the Interstate exits and Mary remarked, “They are planting stuff.” Sure enough, sort of a Green Up day in January in Texas.

Once we got south of Victoria, the traffic was very light and the road Texas straight. The trip by Aransas refuge to Goose Island was familiar and it was good to have an easy 270 mile trip done.

Goose Island is very busy so we were smart to have reservations. Texas parks don’t reserve specific sites — just a slot — so it is take what you find when you get there. We were bummed that our favorite site from last year was taken but we found a spot nestled under some trees on Bayberry that will do fine. We have other campers a little too close with too many dogs but it is quiet — I can hear Cardinals singing loudly as I type — and we’ve already seen some nice birds.
Yesterday was laundry morning so Mary logged some time feeding quarters and I went looking for birds and coffee. We have a couple of little repairs to the Airstream for which I got some bolts and parts. We are settling in for some good birding — there’s a raptor expert here this week. Penny has had some good runs with the bike setup and yesterday we saw three Whooping Cranes a few miles from here. Since we’ll be here for a week or so, I’ll likely be mostly blogging about birds I see. I’m including a Brown Pelican shot that I took yesterday as a teaser. Visit vtbirder.

Texas Birding Rocks!

Birding in Village Creek State Park, just north of Beaumont, was good although there were many birds that I could not identify – often because my bird dog was running wild.  I could let her go on the trails through the “Big Thicket” and she loved it – but it made birding a challenge.

However, seeing Eastern Bluebirds right beside the campsite each day was fun, as was watching a big flock of Cedar Waxwings work the berry trees nearby.  We did a lot of hiking and cycling in the two days there — and the tall pines yielded Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and a raft of warblers too high and fast to ID.

One morning, the woods were alive with hundreds of American Robins.  I even saw a Hermit Thrush posing nicely as I grabbed my camera and departing when Penny arrived.  Of course, the Northern Cardinals were plentiful to the “ho-hum” point.

I find it interesting that we get used to birds to seeing birds that in Vermont would be a big deal — Cardinals for example, even Red-Winged Blackbirds.  In the south, they are so common as to be taken for granted — although I try not to.

We are now at Goose Island State Park near Rockport, Texas.  It’s so rich with shorebirds that it’s a bit overwhelming.  We got here this afternoon and on a bike ride before dark, I saw White and Brown Pelicans, White Ibis, Long-billed Curlew, Northern Pintail and Redhead ducks, all sorts of gulls, and many sandpipers that will take a while to learn.

Gulls, American Oystercatchers, and Dowitcher(?)

We’ll be here for a week and bird walks often top 70 species so it will be intense.  I promise not to write long laundry lists of birds seen but will call out some more interesting ones and hopefully, get some good photos.  Good birding to you.

Village Creek State Park, TX (Days 6-7)

We launched from Louisiana mid-morning and soon joined the west-bound travelers on I-12 north of New Orleans. A major east-west thruway, Interstate 10 drops down to New Orleans and splits off 12 north of the lake. It’s a fast-moving collection of trailer trucks, pickup trucks, quite a few RV’s, and many autos. The speed limit most of the time is 70, and that’s the pace in the right lane. The left lane is moving from 70-85.

There’s a twelve-mile long bridge/causeway that we recalled from last year. Nothing but marsh and water as far as one can see, and pity the vehicle that has a breakdown. We cruised along at 70 when we could (there was quite a lot of construction) and approaching Texas, we saw ominous black cloud up ahead. After a quick stop for maps, we were back on the road in light rain but lots of wind. The spray from the trucks was tough for probably fifteen minutes and then we we out of it. We turned north at Beaumont and navigated up to Village Creek State Park outside Lumberton.

Village Creek is a small park with only about twenty sites with electricity and water. However, only two were occupied. We checked in, showed our Texas Pass*, and picked a site. The park has a wonderful network of hiking and biking trails so Penny and I were off before dark on a long jaunt. With no one around on the trails, I let her run freely.

The weather is cold for Texas. The temperature dropped after the cold front and was about 34 this morning. The electric heater kept us snug. It took a 5 mile walk with Penny this morning and it was chilly at first, warming as the sun broke out.
Today we got Mary’s bike going and she took her first ride since last time in Texas. With no traffic and smooth roads, it’s a perfect place to get comfortable again. Meanwhile, the dog and I took a long bike ride this afternoon down along the river. It’s challenging bike riding with the soft sand on parts of the trails and the dips and climbs through sloughs. I missed my mountain bike tires although the hybrid did pretty well. We went all the way to the end where there is a beach and Penny took a little wade and chased some shorebirds. She’s a tired pup tonight.In the morning, we hook up and head to one of our favorite spots, Goose Island State Park. The trip will go right through Houston but since it is Saturday, I’m hoping it won’t be too difficult. The weather looks to be cool for the next week but nothing like our friends and family in the Northeast are putting up with.

It’s been a week on the road and it will be nice to settle down at one place for a while. We plan to be at Goose Island for over a week and visit one of our favorite coffee shops, The Daily Grind, in Rockport.

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* If you plan much camping at state parks in Texas, you need to buy a $60 annual pass. Otherwise, it is $5.00 per head each day you stay at a park. The pass also gives you some half-price coupons for the first day so it doesn’t take long to pay off. We bought one last year and it is good until the end of February.

On Turning 70

One of the reasons for this Southwest adventure was to celebrate the fact that we were both turning 70 this year — and sure enough, like clockwork, I did so on March 9th. (MRM has months & months to go.) It was a wonderful day — perhaps the best we’ve had climate-wise and relaxation-wise.

We’re at the Sam Houston National Forest, about 40 miles north of Houston, surrounded by tall pine trees. After the onslaught of kids last weekend at our last site, it’s nice to have peace and quiet and few campers. We leave tomorrow for a couple of state parks in Louisiana as we start the trek northeastward.

Frankly, I’m still a bit surprised to be seventy. I remember years ago in Syracuse, when I was doing a lot of road racing in my early forties, knowing some of the “ old farts” who plodded along toward the end of the pack. I admired them, wrote a couple of magazine articles about one of them — and now find that I’m one of them. It is a new age group — always one perk of turning a new decade for runners, skiers, paddlers, etc.

I got a nice early birthday present here: I added the red-cockaded woodpecker, an endangered bird, to my life list. This forest is one of a few in the south that supports this bird, which needs specially-managed pine habitats to survive. They nest in living pine trees and are rather rare. I knew they were around here, but scarce — and was advised that early morning and dusk were the best times to try to see them.

There’s a place with some known nests about a mile from here so I went up on Monday night to take a look. It was showery and I had the Vizsla with me — not exactly great birding conditions. After spending some time traipsing around and dodging showers, and seeing nothing, I decided to try a bird call from my iPhone. (I don’t like to do this because I’ve heard that it can confuse the birds but thought — this is probably the only time I’ll be here…) Well, no sooner had I played the call from the iBird app when two woodpeckers repeated it. I was astounded — and saw one fly by and then saw another one land on a pine tree not far away. I got a great look — the bird is sort of like a downy woodpecker without the white on the back. It matched the drawings I’d studied and of course, the call was also the same. I was psyched. I’d stepped on the dog’s leash and she was patient as I watched the woodpecker for 10 minutes or more.

My birthday started, as most of our days do, early. We had coffee and yogurt in our separate beds reading email, blogs, and news feeds on our iPhones. (I wonder how many 70-year-olds start their day that way — perhaps more than we think.)

I took Penny for a nice walk on the woods loop where she can run freely and then decided to take a birthday run. I wanted to do 7 miles for 70 but since I haven’t been running much this trip, opted for an hour. It wasn’t pretty but felt pretty good — and a nice start to the day.

Our daughter Jen, unbeknownst to me, had arranged an email blitz and I got many emails and Facebook greetings. Several cellphone calls and messages and a text message or two. It was great hearing from folks and it made me realize once again why the Post Office is losing money. One package (which was wonderful) and one note but the rest all electronic.

We had an easy day, enjoying the wonderful weather, and opted to cook out rather than drive 20 miles to a restaurant. (Mary took me for a birthday lunch — which was delightful — the next day.)

It’s wonderful to celebrate this milestone with Mary, my friend and partner … and Penny, who with her constant need for exercise and attention, keeps me moving.

On Turning 70

One of the reasons for this Southwest adventure was to celebrate the fact that we were both turning 70 this year — and sure enough, like clockwork, I did so on March 9th. (MRM has months & months to go.) It was a wonderful day — perhaps the best we’ve had climate-wise and relaxation-wise.

We’re at the Sam Houston National Forest, about 40 miles north of Houston, surrounded by tall pine trees. After the onslaught of kids last weekend at our last site, it’s nice to have peace and quiet and few campers. We leave tomorrow for a couple of state parks in Louisiana as we start the trek northeastward.

Frankly, I’m still a bit surprised to be seventy. I remember years ago in Syracuse, when I was doing a lot of road racing in my early forties, knowing some of the “ old farts” who plodded along toward the end of the pack. I admired them, wrote a couple of magazine articles about one of them — and now find that I’m one of them. It is a new age group — always one perk of turning a new decade for runners, skiers, paddlers, etc.

I got a nice early birthday present here: I added the red-cockaded woodpecker, an endangered bird, to my life list. This forest is one of a few in the south that supports this bird, which needs specially-managed pine habitats to survive. They nest in living pine trees and are rather rare. I knew they were around here, but scarce — and was advised that early morning and dusk were the best times to try to see them.

There’s a place with some known nests about a mile from here so I went up on Monday night to take a look. It was showery and I had the Vizsla with me — not exactly great birding conditions. After spending some time traipsing around and dodging showers, and seeing nothing, I decided to try a bird call from my iPhone. (I don’t like to do this because I’ve heard that it can confuse the birds but thought — this is probably the only time I’ll be here…) Well, no sooner had I played the call from the iBird app when two woodpeckers repeated it. I was astounded — and saw one fly by and then saw another one land on a pine tree not far away. I got a great look — the bird is sort of like a downy woodpecker without the white on the back. It matched the drawings I’d studied and of course, the call was also the same. I was psyched. I’d stepped on the dog’s leash and she was patient as I watched the woodpecker for 10 minutes or more.

My birthday started, as most of our days do, early. We had coffee and yogurt in our separate beds reading email, blogs, and news feeds on our iPhones. (I wonder how many 70-year-olds start their day that way — perhaps more than we think.)

I took Penny for a nice walk on the woods loop where she can run freely and then decided to take a birthday run. I wanted to do 7 miles for 70 but since I haven’t been running much this trip, opted for an hour. It wasn’t pretty but felt pretty good — and a nice start to the day.

Our daughter Jen, unbeknownst to me, had arranged an email blitz and I got many emails and Facebook greetings. Several cellphone calls and messages and a text message or two. It was great hearing from folks and it made me realize once again why the Post Office is losing money. One package (which was wonderful) and one note but the rest all electronic.

We had an easy day, enjoying the wonderful weather, and opted to cook out rather than drive 20 miles to a restaurant. (Mary took me for a birthday lunch — which was delightful — the next day.)

It’s wonderful to celebrate this milestone with Mary, my friend and partner … and Penny, who with her constant need for exercise and attention, keeps me moving.

5 Pounds of Possum

Last night, when we were listening to a local bluegrass band playing at a chilly outdoor amphitheater at Brazos Bend State Park, they did a number titled “5 Pounds of Possum in my Headlights Tonight.” It’s a cute song about a working mom with no money, an empty refrigerator, and a supper opportunity — as the title says. I suspect PETA has not approved the song. It reminded me that we are in Texas .. a long way .. in many ways, from Vermont.

So,
you know you’re in Texas:

.. when a bluegrass band plays Five Pounds of Possum in my Headlights Tonight.

.. when empty plastic bottles rattle around the back of the pickup since no one recycles. We’ve only found one Texas State Park with containers and all there seems to be are out-of-the-way municipal sites .. not easy to reach when hauling an Airstream.

.. when 12-foot-long alligators snooze on the bike path bank. Now that gets a Vermonter’s attention. (There are 300 adult alligators in Brazos Bend State Park … but who’s counting?)

.. when you check out groceries and the register beeps and refuses to sell you beer — because it’s Sunday and you can’t buy beer until 1:00 P.M.

.. when all you can get on the truck radio is country/western music and religious broadcasting.

— when barbecue is not what you do, but what you eat

— when only the state flag is flying over the visitors center (we decided not to ask why)

We’ve enjoyed Texas: the weather, the people, the birds and the wildlife. The Texas State Park system is excellent with better facilities than Vermont parks. Yet the reports of early spring days back home are starting to tug at us and I can sense how the robins and redwing blackbirds might feel — it’s time to start making plans to head north.

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