Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas 2018

Headed off to the Island, (South Padre Island) for a few days to relax, eat, drink, walk, bird and just enjoy our surroundings.  We first went to Boca Chica to find the Black Scoter

We found him!

Also found this Jelly Fish

On the way to Boca Chica they are building the new Space X site:

Then off to the island, we had OK (not great) grilled Oysters at Padre Rita's then went walking on the beach where we ran into Cindy and Clay, volunteers at our refuge!  After checking in we went across the street to the convention center to walk their boardwalk where we did not find the Black headed Grosbeak.  oh well...  Dinner at South Padre Brewing Co was a wonderful Gulf Ceviche with shrimp, tomatoes, onions and spices.

This is our 4th Christmas at this hotel.  We have stayed on different floors with different views each time.  Our room is on the ground floor with a balcony looking over the pool area.  Very comfortable and spacious.

Kites on the beach, small and large, we especially liked this one.

Christmas Eve we spent the morning at the Birding Center, lunch at Blackbeards then pool time.  The sun was out, very little breeze and in the low 70's.  perfect day to lounge around and relax.  Eric did go in the pool and the bay, I did not.

A perfect late afternoon for walking the beach and people watching.

Christmas day began sunny and warm.  By noon the clouds came in and so did the wind.  We were able to get a good walk in before the clouds showed up.

There are so many sand sculptures on the Island

We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the Gulf, pool and our room.  We decided not to drive for dinner so we had a great meal right in our hotel.  Meet some people from Mn and was happy to see that our entertainers (Mixed Bag, Jack and Carla) were still performing.

We lucked out this week with the weather and are thankful we were able to enjoy another Christmas on SPI.  Back to the refuge on Wednesday.  We are still in shutdown mode. We will have to find something to do this week... I have a few ideas if the weather holds.

Work and Play

Our work week was pretty good, the temps were cool and we did have wind on one day.  We are still learning what our responsibilities are but we are learning every day.

on our days off we went looking for the Fork tailed Flycatcher, no luck...  but we did find a nice park and restaurant for lunch in Los Fresnos!  The park had an exercise route.  Eric had to try them all...

We headed west to find the Hook Billed Kite and after two days of looking we found it!  This bird left the Valley after the flood of 2010 and returned last spring.  Its main food is tree snails, and with the flooding the snails were all washed away.  Took 8 years for them to return.

We did go to our old stomping grounds in Santa Ana WLR.  We ran into old friends that are volunteering there.  We also ran into newer friends while birding in the area.  We are lucky that so many people are so friendly and want to talk and show us a bird they found. We find that we run into the same people at each spot we bird. In fact a couple we met at one park last weekend, seen us looking for the Fork Tailed FC, (they were looking for it too), then we met them looking for the Hook Billed Kite!

Unfortunately someone gave me a cold!  not sure who contaminated me, but it hit hard.  So on Wednesday we planned on heading to the Island for some beach time and natural Vitamin C!  BUT Eric took the truck in for a 30 minute Oil Change that took 4 hours!  He was able to pick up the new fridge as it finally came in on Tues night.  As it turns out the cold got the best of me and it was better that I just hung out at home and rested.

Thurs was very windy so that means not too much work for us.  The fishermen are not out, can't pick up trash or fix fences etc..  So we did some more exploring on the refuge.  This crazy grasshopper decided to hitch a ride.  He jumped on the side window that was partially down. It quickly went up!  I used the book to keep the glare to a minimum.  and NO I don't have a cricket in my mouth!!

   

Friday we worked with one of the rangers to install signs

then we worked on getting more fencing added to an area that is protected.  But first we had to remove a dead fish!  what the heck!!

its hard to see but we added barb wire between the two posts and added a  sign in Spanish

We got back home early as we had to clean out the vehicle etc..  as we were expecting a Gov shutdown and thus we would not be working.  Well after we got it all cleaned and put all of our "stuff" away etc we ran into the Boss.  He said "oh, you can work tomorrow".  Oh well..  we just have to reload the vehicle tomorrow...

Since it is Friday Fish Fry we went into Port Isabel (16 miles) to Los Tortugos restaurant for dinner.  Its a small place up stairs of the fish market.  The food was phenomenal my grilled fish (we are assuming its the Balsa) and grilled shrimp were perfect.  Eric had the Caldo de Mariscos (seafood soup) that was also so very good that he said it would get it again.  This place might break our rules of not eating at the same place or getting the same food, and it is so close!!

well my fish and shrimp are under the fries!  but believe me there was a lot of both and they were sooo good.  The fries and cole slaw was good too but I focused on eating the fish and veggies.

Saturday, the government shut down but we are still operating as normal until Monday then we are on wait and see.  Today we did some exploring, trash pick up, securing some new signs and taking to the fishermen.  Great day to be outside.

Tomorrow (Sunday Dec 23) we head to SPI for the Holiday.  Merry Christmas

Exploring our new area

We are still exploring our new area.  Looking for golf courses, grocery stores, hiking, biking and canoeing.

Sunday we met up with Fred and Kim Galan at South Padre Island (SPI).  We began at the convention center at the Sand Castle Village. There are people that are so creative and artistic.  We really appreciate their work.

then off for lunch at Padre Rita's.  Food and drink were all good and pretty inexpensive!  Fun afternoon catching up with Fred and Kim.  Evidently it was a bit cold out as I have my flannel lined jeans, two long sleeve shirts, scarf and jean jacket on!  It was 59 sunny but very windy from the north, so it felt like high 40's.

Monday we found a golf course in Brownsville that just might work.  Also found the Best HEB grocery store.  We now know of three HEB's, the closest one is just ok, the one in Harlingen is good and the one in Brownsville is great!  so now depending on what we need or which town we want to explore we can get groceries!!

Refrigerator issues are causing stress in the RV.  Ever since we got back from Vegas we have had problems with the fridge not keeping cold.  We have had the same issues every year but this year seems to be more often (or maybe we are just getting older and have less patience).  We want to look at a "house" refrigerator as we Never go off the grid and have to use propane. But we need to figure out how long we will keep this unit, in the mean time we will purchase Another mini-fridge.  We really don't keep a lot of stuff in the fridge or freezer, in fact the freezer is filled with water bottles and ice, and very little food.

Wednesday  We went to Home Depot to order a mini fridge then birding at the State Park and then to Mexico for lunch.  Currently it cost 50 cents to cross into Mexico (US toll) next month the toll will go to $1.  it is still 25 cents to get out of Mexico, they have not raised their rates since we have been going over.

Lunch was at Elsa's, a nice clean restaurant with great service and good food. I had broiled fish that was delightful.  Not sure what kind of fish, it was white, flaky and very tasty.  The only thing we bought was a bottle of Brandy. Its about 55 miles from our place to the border town. A little far to go for lunch but we have a few birding places that we like to go to on the way.  Brandy prices went up by about $4.  Looks like some of the other alcohol prices have risen too.  Oh well it was good while it lasted.

Thursday night we had our "Holiday" party at SPI Golf Course.  The Friends Of Laguna Atascosa hosted the event.  They provided the Turkey, plates etc. we brought Creamed Corn in the Crock Pot.  Dinner was great, too much food, and we met a lot of the other volunteers that live off site and many of the "Friends".  It was a fun evening.

First week of work, Dec 6-8

In 2000, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge acquired the 21,700 acre Bahia Grande Unit located between the towns of Laguna Vista and Brownsville, Texas. Almost half of the unit is wetlands, including the 6,500 acre Bahia Grande basin for which the tract of land was named. 

Our objective for the day was to become acquainted with the area. We did see a lot of wild life on our drive around the unit and picked up some trash.

Red Tailed Hawk

Nilgai Bull, these animals are not native to North America but brought here by hunters.  they have taken over the refuge.

Our uniform... including Snake Gardz on our legs.

Friday morning we scouted a new area then about noon the rains began.  We were able to do a bit more scouting when the rain stopped but for most of the afternoon it rain.  Friday night Fish Fry!  We were excited to see that the local restaurants have a fish fry on Friday.  We went with the other volunteers and interns for dinner.  Our dinners were pretty good, shrimp and a white fish.  

Our truck got loaded with mud on our way back home. The last 2.5 miles to the refuge is a dirt road that is under construction.  Needless to say when it rains everything gets so muddy.  The mud built up on our tires so bad we were fish tailing down the road at 10 miles per hour! Eric tried to clean off the tires and truck after we got home.  Needless to say he only got about 20% off.  

Saturday: Rain all day made for a long work day.  We did get out to pick up some trash but no walking for us today.  We found a sign post that had rusted so bad it fell apart.  Great project for a rainy day!  

Laguna Atascosa National WLR

We arrived on the Refuge on Saturday Dec 1 at about noon.  It's great to be back in the Valley again.

We were able to set up on site 11 without any issues.  Met some of the volunteers and took a few walks around the area.   We do have a "outpost" building that has two washers and dryers and 2 bathrooms with showers.  Refrigerators, freezers, lg TV, sitting area, ice machine and much more.

We did get to Port Isabel for a delightful shrimp and flounder lunch.  We are about 16 miles from Port Isabel, a bit closer than we are to Rice Lake where we shop when at home.

Monday we went to the weekly safety/information meeting where we finally met the Refuge Manager and the interns.

Tuesday Dec 4th we went to Frontera Audubon Nature Center in Weslaco to get our 613th bird!  A Golden Crowned Warbler.  We have been looking for this bird for a few years!  Then off to Estero Llano Grande State Park for a great walk and lots of "Valley" birds.

Wednesday we headed to South Padre Island to the Birding Center.  Great start to our stay here!

Thanksgiving 2018

Wow its been a year since we were here with our friends.  This is our year to host the weekend. We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club behind the Flamingo.  We really like the location and we wanted to have dinner in our unit vs a restaurant this year, We wanted to spend more quality time with friends talking and relaxing and just enjoying our time together.

We came in a few days early to pick up our dinner from Albertsons Grocery store.  Kathy and John Castro came by on Wednesday night for a wonderful dinner from Cardena's Mexican grocery store and relaxing and visiting without the noise of the slots and waiters etc interrupting our conversations.


Thurs Happy Thanksgiving

Dinner was so good and relaxing, something we don't get to do at a restaurant.

Saturday night we went to Tuscany Gardens for a show and dinner.  The dinner was pretty good and the show was the Rat Pack is Back. The show lasted just about an hour and was pretty good.

Eric and I got a lot of birding, eating and hiking in while in Vegas.  We really enjoyed our condo with the full kitchen and separate bedroom. We will probably go back there next year, as we like the location and the space. (Its bigger than our RV!!)

Pics from our flight home...

We got back to Sam Houston National Forest on Monday, relaxed and recuperated until Wednesday when we drove over 200 miles to Goliad State Park for two nights. It is the site of an old mission built in 1782 and renovated in 1914-33

We went to Aransas WLR on Thurs.  seen lots of birds and ....   we know we are in Texas  These alligators were enjoying the warm weather too!

On Friday we headed to Kingsville for the night.

We spent the night at Nature's Own RV Resort.  It is right on Hwy 77, lots of traffic noise but its only for one night.  We were able to walk to a very large park with a lake and dam.  For dinner we headed to Baffin Bay for a delightful dinner.  The Black Drum was outstanding as was the grilled shrimp and fried oysters.  the sides were just ok.  would definitely go back if we are in the area.

Yes they have goats!

On Saturday Dec 1 we  finally head on to Laguna Atascosa for the next 4 months! Looking forward to meeting the other volunteers and getting settled in for the winter. Not sure what our availability to phone, tv or internet will be...

Bird count for Nov  Life birds is up one to 612, we found the Varied Thrush!  the Year came up 14 new birds to 417 and we ended the month at 184.