IT'S OCTOBER ALREADY — where does the time go? — and we’ve been back in the USA for so long I almost forget that we ever left. RV-living apparently agrees with us and we with it. Some of you have noticed the absence of journal entries and some (two or three) of you have indicated that you missed them. Me, too. Not only do I miss writing them, I miss going back and reading them, typos and misspellings and all. So I am going to summarize (summerize?) the last half year and solemnly promise to make regular entries, even if they aren’t very exciting.
I’ve never been a fan of Texas. So you might wonder why we spent all of March, April and half of May in the Lone Star State. So do I. When the RV repairs were finally finished we settled into a campground in Beaumont for a week, which became two, then three and finally a month. It was convenient to stores and good birding and was near enough to Louisiana so we could visit Ashleigh and Brett (remember them from Germany?) Only this time we visited them separately; their marriage another casualty of war.
Cane River Creole National Park
Most days were spent “just living” — pretty much the way most of you spend your time — and staying dry. Spring was very wet in S. Texas and LA, with rainfall measured in feet, not inches. But we continued to add to our list of National Parks sites: LBJ Ranch, Cane River Creole National Historical Park, Oakland Plantation.
Texas Bluebells
By mid-April we had moved westward to Ft. Hood. Military retirees like Connie can use the “FamCamps” at Army, Navy and Air Force bases and we take advantage of them whenever we can. They are among the best places we have stayed, usually costing cost around $20 and it’s pleasant to be among those who served their country. Ft. Hood was no exception and the reservation is home to some of the rarer birds, like the golden-cheeked warbler, on Connie’s hit list.
Sebstian, Claire, us and Adrian
By the end of April it was finally time to head north to Colorado. On the way, we stopped off in Lubbock to visit my brother Ray’s youngest chick. Claire came to Texas from Pennsylvania for her master’s degree — and stayed. It must be a family character flaw; my brother Mike has been a Lone Star transplant and honorary Aggie for nearly 40 years. And of course there is a guy involved.
