Heading North

Left Bentsen Palm Village at 8:30 am. This is early for us when it is the first day out after sitting in one place for 4 months. We got less than a mile from the park when a buzzer came on......never a good thing. Turned out it was a low level in the coolant reservoir. The reservoir is opaque plus the opening is on the side at a weird angle so it is hard to check. However, we topped it up and that took care of the buzzer. We made good time and got to San Antonio about 2pm so missed the rush hour traffic. We got to Johnson City on hwy 281 about 3:30 and decided it was time to quit for the day. Today I got up at 6:30am which is way early for me who doesn't get up until 8:30. Between that and the stress of a first day trip I had had enough. We ate at a good Mexican restaurant across the street and now are enjoying life. It is cooler [68] and less humid up here which of course suits me. I even changed my tank top to a T shirt. I will enjoy sleeping in this cool air. We get to Oklahoma tomorrow but won't have internet at Dan's cousin so not sure when we will be on line again.

Park Creatures

I have been spending quite a lot of time riding in the state park and looking for birds. Several times I have seen bobcats but today, while waiting in our favorite spot for warblers, Dan and I saw a real treat. A bobcat came out from the brush on the right, came to the middle of the road [used only by bicycles and pedestrians], sat in the road, looked back and made a sound, continued to the other side of the road, sat down again and soon a half grown kitten ran across the road and into the brush. Mom then disappeared with the kitten into the trees. We had been sitting quietly looking for birds and although she saw us, she apparently did not think we were a threat. One of my favorite things to do while birding is just sit still in a likely spot and wait to see what shows up. Very many times I have been really pleased with the results.

Bobcat crossing the road

Bobcat talking to kitten

Bobcat with kitten going into the brush

Clay colored thrush. Once very rare but now numerous in this park.

Rufous backed robin. A rare visitor to Bentsen and the butterfly park next door.

Ruby throated hummingbird. We are getting migrating males at our feeder. They are going to miss the free lunch when we leave tomorrow.

More Park Excitement

After my encounter with the drug runner in at the state park exit, I thought that was our excitement for the rest of our stay here. Wrong again. The other night there were 20 illegal aliens in our park [13 in this park and 7 in the same-owner park next door] and the Border Patrol were everywhere. Our front and back gates are locked from 5pm to 8am every night. There is a walk through gate that leads to the state park that has a lock but it is not double checked each night. That is where the illegals entered after swimming the river and coming through the state park. They were heading north and some had gotten into Retama next door, when someone noticed the activity and called the Border Patrol who were all over the area, eventually catching everyone. This happened at the north end of our park and we are in the middle, plus it was the middle of the night, so us ever vigilant people slept through the whole thing!

It is time for us to leave S Texas. When it gets to be hot, humid and the wind blows like hell this place loses its appeal for me. I am still going into the state park every day where there are lots of trees and protection from the wind. I will really miss that as it is so nice to ride my bike through all those areas and see great birds. Our bikes will be in the car until we get home as they are not easy to load and unload but since we have a bike trail at home that is 25 miles long and just a mile from our house, we can look forward to riding on that this summer.