Oct 17: left at 10:40, 32 deg, cloudy, windy... good time to leave. After a few stops including a quick visit with Eric's sister Jenny we arrived at the Hampton Inn, Lakeville, MN at 4:30. Its the same room we stayed in last October! Although last year we were able to go to Harry's for dinner, this year its too cold to eat outside..
Oct 18 off to Ankeny Iowa, about 210 miles to the Homewood Suites for 2 nights. The day began at 22 deg! A bit too cold to walk near our hotel. We drove about an hour, stopped for a hike at a temp of 20 deg.. it was pretty cold but no wind so not too bad. After a few stops we arrived at Homewood Suites in Ankeny. Checked in then off to Hy-Vee for dinner.. Our room is a 2 room suite with a kitchen.
Oct 19, today began again at 22 deg... dropping to 20 by the time we got out for our sparrow hunt. It was a bit windy and very cold. We did not find our sparrows at our first stop. Unlike yesterday my feet was freezing. We did get a Snow Bunting! We looked in Wisconsin and Minnesota for the little guy. We had no exceptions of getting one once we left Wisconsin but lo and behold we found three in Iowa!
We also found 2 sparrows, bringing our year bird list up 3 birds to 405!
Sparrow Hunting, its warmed up a bit, I was able to shed one coat
Our hotel had a Managers reception with a Taco Bar, Beer and Wine. the food was actually pretty good, the beer was Budweiser.
Oct 20: Much warmer today, began the day at 35. heading to Lawrence KS. One of our favorite places to hang out. It's about a 245 mile trip which is a bit long for us but... We left the hotel at 7:30, temp at 35. A number of stops, some new and some of our favorites. We were able to change into shorts by noon. I35 was pretty empty until we got to KC, then a bit of traffic. we arrived at our hotel, Comfort Suites University at about 4:00 and 75 deg!
Dinner in downtown Lawrence at 715. the best Penne Ragu I have had since Italy, Eric had the Wiener Schnitzel that was fabulous!
Oct 21: We have been here many times on our travels from and to home. So of course we have our favorite places to hike/bird. Beautiful day for a walk, it did get a bit windy but 85 and wind is ok.
Dinner at Johnny's Tavern (the original). the service was great, the food better. Pizza slice and wedge salad for me, both very good, Cheeseburger for Eric, very very good. Nice patio out back.
Oct 22: still in Lawrence KS. Another beautiful day, a bit windy. We went to our usual places and found a few more to hike and bird. Dinner at 23rd St Brewery, we lucked out the past two days and found some great food but decided to go back to one of our fav's. We have been here a number of times, the food is good, the service is good, the outdoor patio is good and good Happy hour prices.. Can't go wrong. High today was 82.
Oct 23: on our way to Ponca City OK. A very very windy day, luckily we don't have the RV behind us..
The wind was really bad by the time we crossed over into Oklahoma. We did manage to get out a few times and walk around, the temp was 82 for most of the day. We left Lawrence about 7:30 arriving in Ponca City at 4:00. Hampton Inn, first floor room. Way too windy to eat out, Freddy's for dinner in our room. We did get one new year bird! 406
Oct 24: off to Gainesville Texas. Oh what a horrible drive south. 250 miles on I35 with rain, very heavy at times. We did manage to stop a few times at Walmart to walk around. We also stopped at WinStar Casino in Thackerville OK. I walked in with $20, walked out with $132!! I was walking out with $15 on my last bet when... I hit a small jackpot! We left the hotel at 7:30, arrived at the Fairfield Inn at 3:30. By the time we arrived in Gainesville the rain had pretty much stopped. After checking in we found a local park to walk around to stretch out.
Oct 25: today the ABA (American Birding Association) did their annual Bird update. They sometimes split birds into two and sometimes lump two birds together. This year we got 4 new life birds, usually after much research etc. they find that what they thought was the same bird is actually 2 different ancestors/DNA etc.. other times they learn that there is not enough differences between two birds to have separate names. we have been on both sides of the aisle.. It makes keeping records a bit complicated, at least for me. So right now we are at 409 for the year, with 4 new year birds since we left home.
We began our day at Hagerman NWR about 25 miles from our hotel. It was a bit cold and windy. We met up with our friend Roxanne B in Sherman for lunch. She volunteers at the local hospital so we only had lunch to visit. It was fun and always great to see her.
Since we had a big lunch we went to the local brewery for appetizers and beer. It was good, it was close to our hotel and good service. Back to the hotel for laundry night!
Wednesday Oct 26: still in Gainesville, The weather was greatly improved over the last two days. We headed back to Hagerman NWR for the day. Great place to walk around. Dinner at the Rib Crib right near our hotel.
Thurs Oct 27; we head to Round Rock TX, just north of Austin. We left the hotel by 7:30, beautiful day for a drive.
Birds in Flight sculpture
We stopped a few times to walk and to look for the Brown Booby near our destination. So we did not get to our hotel until 5:00 pm. Long day... Embassy Suites has an evening social with 2 free drinks and some snacks. Afterwards we went to Santiagos for a wonderful taco dinner. Our hotel is in the Outlet mall area. Lots of choices for dining.. We are here for 3 nights.
Friday Oct 28: Rain all morning until about 11:30. We did manage to get a walk in while it was still drizzling. Found one new year bird the Black-Crested Titmouse! #410.. We went looking for the Brown Booby and found it! #411 for the year! this bird is usually found in the ocean or salt water. He has been here since spring.. must be finding food
Saturday Oct 29: No rain today but a bit cool and windy. We went looking for a few "grass field" birds. Found 2 to increase our year number to #413. After a bit of a nap we walked to the outlet mall. Good deals at Columbia for both of us. Carry out dinner in our room while watching the World Series.
Sunday Oct 30: Off to Corpus Christi for 2 nights. Left the hotel at 7:30, arrived at Embassy Suites in Corpus Christi at 3:30. We stopped a few times getting 3 new year birds. After checking in we went to the Gulf and got 5 new year birds! our number is up to 421. Since we had a big lunch on the road, we went to the social happy hour with snacks and drinks at our hotel.
Monday Happy Halloween! Beautiful day in Corpus Christi. We went to a few of our favorite places and a few new ones. We ended up at #431 for the year on our Bird count. We had a wonderful lunch on the Gulf at Doc's Seafood. Delicious flounder and shrimp. Its been a fun 2 weeks but now time to settle down in one place for awhile.
Tomorrow we head to the Rio Grande Valley for the next 5 months.
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