Monday Oct 18: We had a beautiful day for a 140 mile trip to Lakeville MN. Our trash was picked up at 11:45, we were gone by 12:00! 66 deg and sunny. last year we left at 16 deg. Oh what a difference. We made a few stops for lunch and birding before we landed at the hotel at 4:30 where the temp was 80 deg.. Gas price in Rice Lake was $3.29, assuming it will go down once we get further south. Our hotel is a Hampton Inn, we stayed here before. Right across the street is Harry's restaurant, good food, outside dining (temp at 77) and good drink. We are hoping to get 6 new year birds before arriving in Texas.. Its a big expectation but we have high hopes.
Tuesday Oct 19: We left the hotel at 7:15, 53 deg, we did not go too far for our morning walk. 230 miles to West Des Moines Hilton Garden Inn, room 220.
Our first stop was at Casperson park, right near our hotel. We were here in the spring too. great park around Lake Marion.
We found this cute Albino Squirrel up in the tree eating crab apples
and lots of Muskrats enjoying a fun time together! Muskrat Love??
Our 2nd stop we found this place near Fairbou MN. Great paved walking path next to the Straight River. about a 1/2 mile from I 35.
Our 3rd stop was at Ada Hayden Heritage Park in Ames. We have been here before, another great park to walk around and get a bit of exercise.
We arrived at our hotel at 4:15, 135 miles, 77 deg and sunny. Hilton Garden Inn in West Des Moines has a 2 room suite, we like 2 rooms when we stay for more than one night and we are here for 2 nights
Grumpy Goat for dinner. The best pork tenderloin I have had in years! It was close enough to walk to, outdoor dining and great service.
We decided to have breakfast in our room instead of the hotel's restaurant. We picked up milk and juice yesterday to go with our cereal, banana and donut. We went to a few parks today, all of them had great walking paths, lots of trees and water. We began at Des Moines Waterworks park where there was lots of water but few ducks. Across the street, or through the tunnel we walked to Gray's Lake.
A two mile path with beautiful bridges around the lake. Lots of people walking their dogs on this side. Next we headed north to Sayorlake area where we were looking for a couple of sparrows. The Nelson's and LeContes. Well it was pretty windy and they were good at hiding from us. We still have a few places to go looking for them on our way to Texas. It's been a few days since we had a nap! today is the day. we headed back to our hotel and got a good nap in before going to Raccoon Recreation Park for a short walk. The wind was a bit strong and the temp had dropped to about 59 deg. We did find some ducks and another great walking path. Our final stop was at Fox Brewing, where we had a great beer before heading back to our hotel for dinner.
stickers from products all made in Iowa!
We would never mess with the Beer Gods!
Left over Pork Tenderloin from yesterday. I had only eaten the meat that was outside of the bun. the left overs was enough for the two of us!
Thurs Oct 21: Today we head to Nevada MO. Our longest leg of this journey, 275 miles. We left the hotel at 7:30, 43 deg, windy and cloudy. Our coldest so far. Our 1st stop was about 20 minutes from the hotel, Jensen Marsh. We were there last April. Not too many birds but some hunters. After we heard shooting we turned around and got out of there. It was a bit windy and the birds were not cooperating, we were there about an hour. 2nd stop was at another favorite place, Wallace State Park in Cameron MO. The sun came out, 51 deg, getting better. Lots and Lots of RedHeaded Woodpeckers, great walking paths and pretty isolated.
We ran into a bit of construction traffic near Kansas City on I35 that put us about 15 minutes behind but no problem. Our 3rd stop was at Jerry Smith Park in Grandview. We went looking for the sparrows. No luck again.. they are shy little birds.
We arrived at our hotel, Country Inn, 2 room suite, at 4:15, 71 deg. After checking in we found a small park with a path around the lake. It was a bit windy and slightly cool. The park is in the fairgrounds.
We ordered dinner from Buzz's BBQ, which is right nest door to our hotel. Ribs and smoked chicken. Oh so good! the Ribs were perfect and so was the chicken. of course we have enough for tomorrow night! I was hoping to get some catfish but too much leftovers..
So 3M has a facility here in Nevada. Our hotel is pretty close and in walking distance. Eric has been here in the past and said the town has grown considerably. I do have my Golden Pass, I wonder if they will give me a tour!!
Friday Oct 22: our second day in Nevada MO. The weather began very chilly, 37 deg. We headed out to look for the sparrows. We lucked out! found one LeConte's Sparrow!!! No we did not see any Prairie Chickens!
Our second stop was at:
Our 3rd stop was at:
We ended the day at the park we went to yesterday. Leftover ribs and chicken for dinner. The temp rose to 71 and very sunny today. What a great day to explore Nevada MO.
Saturday Oct 23: our trip today is about 220 miles to Sallisaw OK. Oh it was a rainy start to our journey today. 2 hours of pouring down rain. Luckily not too much traffic and no RV behind us! We left the hotel at 7:30, it was dark, wet and 58 deg. We had a few stops planned but the rain was heavy and relentless. We took a small detour in Lemar
It was not open, but we did not expect to go in anyway.
We broke thru the rain at about 9:15 and seen the sun by 9:30. What a relief not hearing the rain pounding the roof of the car. Our first official stop was at Charlie Craig Fish Hatchery in Centerton Arkansaw. Sometimes we are not allowed to walk inside the hatchery but this one was open to the public. We spent a bit of time walking around and enjoying the 80 deg weather.
Our 2nd stop was at Fayetteville Lake park in Fayetteville AR. Nice park around the lake, the path was 5.5 miles around, we did not go all the way around. Lots of people on Saturday morning getting their exercise. We did find Waldo!
Our 3rd stop was at Alma AR. it turned out to be not so good for walking as it was pretty much a Disc Golf course and these people take it very seriously. there is a 3.5 mile path around the lake but it look to be very uneven. We don't need to return to this place.
We landed in Sallisaw at 3:45. Unpacked and went looking for dinner. I really wanted catfish as I had been deprived of it on Friday. We found
the parking lot was full by 4:20 and they don't open until 4:30. We took a ride to Kerr Reservoir but again could not find any hiking. So we went back to the restaurant, Eric went in to order carry out as I could not get service to call in an order. No outside dining in this area of OK. It took about 20 minutes to get our order of Catfish, fried Shrimp, fries, baked potato, Cole slaw, pickled tomatoes, hushpuppies and a large cup of beans! Again way too much food. We went back to our hotel to eat our wonderful dinner. It was all good, well what we ate was good. Leftovers for Sunday's dinner...
Sunday Oct 24: They are forecasting strong storms this afternoon. After breakfast we headed to:
The temp was 71, sunny with light winds when we arrived. The walking paths are under construction, or at least part of them are under construction. It is Sunday and no workers around so we kept on going. Nice paths, water and trees. As we walked the temp began to rise and so did the wind.
Snake!!
We left there at noon, by then the wind had really picked up, temp at 82. We were able to watch the Green Bay Packer game in our room while eating some of last nights leftovers.. Go Pack.. time to go sight seeing in this little town.
Trail of Tears mural
buildings that had been moved and renovated
14 flags that flew over Oklahoma
the old train depot
Next stop cemetery in Akins
"Pretty Boy Floyd" is buried here.
Charles Arthur Floyd, nicknamed Pretty Boy Floyd, was an American bank robber. He operated in the West and Central states, and his criminal exploits gained widespread press coverage in the 1930s.
and finally we went to
The museum was closed for the day but beautiful grounds.
Monday Oct 25: today we head to Sulpher Springs TX via Broken Bow OK.... It was a bit foggy in some spots while driving. it as a bit of white knuckle driving but we made it to Beaver's Bend State Park in Broken Bow.
We did make a quick stop at Three Sticks, not sure exactly what they represent but maybe: Earth, Wind and Fire?
our goal of this detour was to find a Peter Toth Whispering Giant. (this is our 14th out of 66)
the one in Texarkana is MIA so we will not take the side trip there.
The statue is at
the Forest Heritage Center is a museum about forestry history in the area. The museum is fabulous. so big, so well set up and no one but us inside!
We stopped at Red Slough WMA and as usual there is always some kind of scary sign
We did not see any alligators nor too many birds. this was our last stop in Oklahoma.
We arrived at our Hampton inn in Sulpher Springs (east of Dallas) at about 4:00. Sunny and 87 deg
A wonderful dinner tonight. Eric had the best hamburger Ever! My grilled catfish melted in my mouth and was sooo good. Wow is all we can say. And yes outdoor dining and most people wearing masks here in North Texas!
Ya know you are in Texas
great little town
oh so good!!!
A great park with good walking paths and no people! We purchased our Texas State Park pass for the year. Great walking with few birds and a snake!!
We ended up eating lunch in the park, canned ham and crackers!
Nice park in Sulpher Springs about 1.5 miles around a lake.
After a little nap we went to
Pretty good libations near downtown
We went to Arturo's for dinner, good salad and pizza, not good service.
Of course we had to check out the
from the inside...
Not sure why but why not?
Oct 27: we head out today for Nacadoches TX about 130 miles from here. This mornings storms made for a late start out of the hotel. We left at 9:30 for our 140 mile trip. might be a bit longer as we took a few detours.. We stopped at Mineola Nature Preserve for a wonderful walk, the rain was pretty light when we began our walk and the sun was out by the time we were done. there is always a sign..
Our next stop was Tyler State Park. 2.1 miles around the lake, the weather was 68 and sunny. great afternoon.
We arrived at our hotel Hampton Inn in Nacogdoches TX at 4:10. 77 deg. We were a little pooped so we just hung around the pool area until the sun disappeared.
Thurs Oct 28: 125 miles to Beaumont TX for 3 nights.. Our 125 mile drive today took 8.5 hours. We made 4 stops on this very windy sunny day. We left at 7:30 and went about 3 miles for our first stop.
Lalana Creek Trail in Pecan Park. Very nice walk along the creek, although a bit rough. We seen 2 bucks runing down the creek.
2nd stop: Stephen F Austin Trail in the Experimental Forest. We took the short walk, about 1.5 miles. there was a tree that had been hit by lighting the other day, They cut it down but the flames flared up! We tried calling the office several times, had to leave an email... hope they got it!
Next stop: Ellen Trout Park and Zoo in Lufkin. Very nice trail but by then the winds started to howl. It was a bit too windy to find any birds and way too windy to walk safely through the woods.
Last stop of the day was at Big Thicket National Park
We found the Kirby trail, walked about 2.5 miles but again way too windy...
We arrived at Home2 Suites in Beaumont at 3:30. 77 deg sunny and very very windy. We went to our first HEB since arriving in Texas. HEB is a local grocery store, some are better than others but we like them all. Great selection and great food... Dinner in our suite.
the area has lots and lots of refineries
Oct 29: We headed out at 7:00 for Sabine Woods, about 40 miles from our hotel on the coast. What a great place to roam. It was windy, not as hard as yesterday but still pretty windy. We spent about an hour walking around before we headed down the road to Sea Rim State Park. This park is right on the water and it was very very windy and 62 deg. It was hard to hold the binoculars still to identify the little shore birds. So a Belted Kingfisher flew overhead as we were looking at the shore birds. He was having a tough time flying as the wind was really strong. He was about 30 up and about 15 feet from us when he pooped while flying! We stood there watching the poop come our way and Blop we got hit! He got both of us, or I should say the wind carried his waste right to us and we got hit! We have heard it is good luck to get hit with bird poop. No casino for us so we won't find out!
Next stop was McFadden National Wildlife Refuge. It was a very long (we only drove 8 miles) road through the refuge. Again way to windy to see too much but we did get 2 year birds!
We finally stopped at Tyrell Park about 2 miles from our hotel. The wind had died down a little but was still windy. We walked the Cattail Marsh for about 3 miles getting 2 new year birds! total for the day 5!! we are now at 490 for the year.
Oct 30th: 2 more nights on the road before we settle down for 2 months. Not as windy today. Today we are focusing on sparrows. We want to get two, the Seaside and Nelson's sparrows. We headed back to Sabine Pass and went to the "Sparrow Fields". After searching for about 15 minutes we found the Seaside! We think we heard a King Rail but not sure so we will not count it. We drove down a ways and after a bit we found the Nelsons! (Pics) Oh yes we are at 492!
We went to the Sabine Pass Battleground Historical Site, it cost $5 to enter the area. There was a fishing contest going on. This lady caught a 35 inch Red fish! it was fun to watch her bring it in!
a number of watercraft was navigating the water ways
We went back to the Sabine Forest for a few minutes to see if anything showed up by the Welcoming Tree before heading back to the Cattail Marsh to look for the Purple Gallinule. No luck on that one! but a nice walk.
We decide to try to eat out as there are two restaurants that have outdoor dining near us, Pappadeaux did not have any servers for the outside, Lupe Tortilla only had two tables and they were full. So we went to a little local place for carry out. Oh well... It was a nice evening to eat out but what can we do? The parking lot had Trunk or Treat! Lots of kids enjoying getting their treats!
Happy Halloween! Our final night on the road. I am ready to get back to a routine and naps. We go about 205 miles to Victoria today but detours make it more like 250.
We can not remember the last time we had a donut! Don't think we had one since before we left home. On our drive through a small town we found AM Donuts! Oh boy did we luck out. We split a warmed cherry kolache and a glazed donut. it hit the spot! just what we needed to carry on...
We begin on the northeast side of Houston heading to the south west corner. That means going through Houston! It is Sunday so hopefully not too much traffic.
Our first stop was at Sheldon Lake State Park. What a wonderful place, it is more of an educational and learning center with 20 different ponds, marsh area, trees etc.
Lots of graffiti in Houston proper, this one make us laugh out loud and began talking about lunch
Our second place was the Houston Arboretum, good place to walk around on a weekday but pretty busy on Sunday.
We made an unexpected stop at Attwater NWLR, our GPS took us right past it so we had to stop to look for the elusive Great Prairie Chicken. No luck but we seen a new year bird the White tailed hawk! 493.
final stop was at Cuero municipal park to look at the Egyptian Goose, #494...
Hampton Inn in Victoria for the night. Dinner at Dockside Boiling Pot. We did not go boil, we had fried catfish and shrimp. The shrimp was fabulous, the catfish was very good.
Monday November 1: we head to Llano Grande Lake Resort for a 2 month stay. Looking forward to being in one place for awhile. Our drive today is about 220 miles. We left the hotel at 7:30, 57 deg and clear skies. Our first stop was Patriot Park in Victoria. What a great park, lots of water to walk around. We did not find any paths but the road was fine as no one was there but us. Stop #2 was at Hazel Bazemore park. We have been here before, its a great park with water and trees. During Oct/Nov they have a Hawk Watch happening. We hung with them for a bit before walking around. got a few new year birds! 498!! Can we make 500 before getting to the valley?? Next stop was Polywog Bird Sanctuary, again a repeat for us. The temp was rising up to 80 and getting a bit warm. We found two new year birds
Oh boy we did not really expect to get 500 by the time we hit the valley. We were originally hoping for 490. so we wanteded 6 and got 16!
We made a quick stop at the rest area on Hwy 77 to get one more bird, the Brewers Blackbird. The restrooms were closed for repair but we got the bird, a new one for Texas. After a quick stop at HEB grocery store we arrived at our destination at 3:10, 87 deg. sunny. The person checking us in knows Eric's cousin Greg and Tonya in Amery Wi! what a small world.
Our little house for the next two months
Its pretty small but roomy. after we unpacked the car we walked the hood. Not too many people are here yet. We did find the pool, laundry and met a few neighbors. And we are right next door to our favorite birding spot in the valley. Estero Llano Grande State Park. We are able to walk about 500 steps and we are in the park. But we will most likely drive for the most part. we will see..
Sunset
So our 1660 mile trip was actually 2600 miles. used about 100 gallons of fuel. We had pretty good driving weather, able to enjoy some new places but its time to settle in for a bit. 2 weeks was just long enough to travel without an RV.
