OUR TEXAS BIRDING TRIP
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Now, to the story about our vacation:
Mrs. Snave and I like to take a birding vacation every few years. The last one was in June of 07 to SE Arizona. A few years prior to that, we found a way to worm some birding and exploring into a family vacation to Florida. This time it was a trip to south Texas!
THURSDAY MARCH 20
We left La Grande on Thursday. We drove to Portland that evening and stayed at a Red Lion Inn. It was a nice place, but we had to get up about 4:00 a.m. to catch our plane to Dallas at 6:00 a.m. on Friday the 21st.
FRIDAY MARCH 21
At Dallas we took a connecting flight to San Antonio. We were there just long enough to get our rental car from Hertz (a Ford Escape) and drove west into the Texas Hill Country. We took Highway 16 and then some backroads.
Our dinner stop was at the Lost Maples Cafe in Utopia. We had a lot of good meals on our trip, but we agreed this was the best. That was some of the best catfish and coleslaw I have eaten!
"Downtown" Utopia.
Here are a couple of pictures of the spring taken on Saturday morning.
From San Antonio we drove east to Beeville (we saw our first Crested Caracara on the outskirts of town) and Refugio (saw our first Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher near there) and on to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge:
Here are three shots of the downstairs at the Inn.
We stayed in the Green Jay Room. Here are a few pictures of it:
WEDNESDAY MARCH 25
We spent the morning at Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, a very nice place created from land donated by the parents of Lloyd Bentsen. From what I understand, it used to be a crowded kind of place with campers/RVs/etc. but has now been toned down to a quiet place without those things and with lots of hiking and bike paths.
17 Comments:
I guess it wasn't an April Fool's joke. I thought for sure coming from you on April 1st it would have to be an April Fool's joke. Hahahaha
I will read this in more detail tomorrow since it is 2AM here now.
You should have called, you bum! Hahaha That's ok, I forgive you.
Hope you had a fantastic time!!!
Great post, Snave! I spent seven years working in Corpus Christi between 1996 and 2003, so everything was very familiar. I was pleased to see the caracara picture. I’d seen those things flying around every so often and never knew what they were. Odd lookers for sure!
Our paths very nearly passed on 3/22. While you were tooling around Lost Maples and Utopia, Shelley and I were tooling around Garner State Park (and valley), and Concan, having driven out there via US 90 via Castroville, Hondo, Sabinal and Knippa. Small world, eh?!
PS
I don’t think those ants were fire ants. Fire ants have black abdomens and build mounds, not holes. Of course, they could be a tropical South Texas variety.
Sounds and looks like you had an excellent adventure in Texas. All the way down to Brownsville. I have a brother and sister living down that way. Some really great pictures. A great post to finish what certainly looks like a good time.
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Thanks, Sheryl and Mac!
Carlos, on the morning of the 21st Mrs. Snave and I were also at Garner Park, mostly looking around along the road that follows the east side of the river. We got to a concrete spillway/crossing, but Mrs. Snave didn't want to drive across it despite our manly Ford Escape. I'm not sure I recall where we had lunch that day.
That is all a very cool area! I would like to go back to the Hill Country some time and explore it some more. My brother-in-law who is from Texas says Enchanted Rock is a really fun place to go.
Great post and excellent shots, especially those sunrises.
Great shots -- and sounds like a great trip! You're lucky to share that hobby, by the way -- excellent way to get out into the world w/ your wife...
Excellent pictures. Sounds like you had a great time. I've been across Texas a few times, but I've never gotten off the interstates. You guys had a much better more close-up view of everything.
Sorry about Zeke. That's a shame.
Great pictures. I'd really like to get down there..though I have to say it really wasn't what I thought Utopia would look like!!
Oh well, maybe the folks who live there like it a lot...
The Hill country is fantastic in the spring and fall. There's so much to do and see. Wimberly, Gruene, Enchanged Rock, Fredericksburg, Marble Falls, Inks Lake, etc.
What an excellent adventure. Thanks for sharing with a fine post and terrific photos.
Beautiful pictures - you saw some interesting birds and it looked as if it was a wonderful trip.
And am so sorry about Zeke. I commented below as well, sending my sympathies.
I reakky thought you and Sheryl might have touched base.
Don't worry Sheryl if I ever get back home to San Antone you can bet Paul will call.
Sorry to here about Zeke, I had to have my dear sweet Chipper sent to her final rest a bit over a week before (3 weeks yesterday).
They are hard to let go.
Oh btw I hadn't thought of the flycatchers in years thanks for the memory jog.
btw That's not a fire ant nest, those are just plain old red ants
FWIW, this trip was sort of planned as a second honeymoon thing for me and Mrs. Snave. We agreed ahead of time that we wouldn't be visiting with people we knew or relatives along the trip route.
If other opportunities present themselves, I will definitely (and gladly) be looking up fellow bloggers and friends who might be where I'm heading! In the case of SA, that means Sheryl, Carlos, and you too 1138 if you are there!
I'm not a birder but enjoyed the pics of the pretty birds and other scenery. Looks like you two had a great trip.
This is in my top 10 favorite blog posts. I have the birding adventure with you! It kind of sucks for me though because you set the standard for blogging and birding a little high :D
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