I am going to share three things with you today. The first is the most precious to us. Last year we met a group of women who travel together from Oklahoma and Iowa. We learned that the are couples (or had been part of a couple when one passed away). We met eleven women who included one newlyweds, one who had been together almost fifty years, and several who have been together for several years to two to three decades. We fit in there somewhere! Before we left Texas, they adopted us and we are now part of the Traveling Sisters!

We go to Mexico and love all  that we share with them. Two nights ago we went on our first dinner cruise, imagine! What fun we had, and this Sunday we will have our own Super Bowl Party! We love them!

Another thing I want to share with you is to give you some idea of the places we go to find wildlife and birds, in particular.  We go to state parks and national wildlife refuges. We also go to South Padre Island Birding Center and the Convention Center Boardwalk. 

For the final sharing, I want to show you some of the birds we are seeing.

Bald Eagle

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Clapper Rail

Great Horned Owl Pair

Roseate. Spoonbills and others

Tropical Kingbird

The Sandhills have arrived.

Reddish Egret

Green Jay

This is the final entry for today. I am trying to get this off so we can see how we are doing! I am holding my breath!

Here is my second attempt to try to create a blog post with pictures and a few thoughts!

We have been hiking on many trails this winter. We had the idea that it was a “snake” year.
At the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site, we had seen a rattlesnake that had eaten a
Rabbit. We shivered when we saw it, pointed out by a ranger.

A few days later, we went to Laguna Atascosa NWR and decided on another hike - out to Alligator Pond which had no water and no gator. The trail continued to Scum Pond and eventually to the place we parked the van.

As we walked along, Latona said, “ There is a snake”. Expecting a small wiggler, I was shocked to see a large rattler taken a nap!

Well, this showed us what our hikes may be this year! More to follow!

We Are Back!

It has been great to have several friends ask “where is the blog about your travels!”  We have just gotten a new IPad, and after a year hiatus, we think we can tackle another attempt at posting some of our photos and experiences. Let us know what you think!

We are back in our site at Twin Palms RV park in Rio Hondo, Texas. We have reconnected with the Travelling Sisters and our friends from Maine, Don and Pam and their dog Pepe! So much to share.


Our days are usually filled with walks/hikes in various, birding centers, state parks and national wildlife refuges. Plus, we get to have get together with the Sisters at the end of each day.

Green parakeets

The Joys of Travel

Spring Migration. For the past week, we have been enjoying chasing the new species that are arriving daily.  We have been happy to see the Orchard and the Bullocks Oriole, the Summer Tanager, the Northern Parula and the Hooded Warbler, and the wonderful Painted Buntings and Indigo Bunting to name several we have seen so far. Pictures of some of the sightings.

The Orchard Oriole

The Sora

Eastern Screech Owl

Bullocks Oriole

Hooded Warbler (male)

The Least Bittern

The shy Painted Bunting in the grass

Great-tailed Grackle (one of Latona's favorites)

We watch the weather daily, and listen to the experts and head to South Padre Island on what might be a good day. We wait with the many bird watchers and photographers and anticipate the treasures that may appear.  Tomorrow is another birding day ...yippee!

Beach Clean-up We went to,the Turtle Inc presentation the other day and heard about a volunteer chance to help clean the beach.  We joined into the activity and had a good experience. Each time I picked up something, I rejoiced for the turtle trying to build her nest in the area, and the little babies that would emerge in about two months.

Beach Cleaning in Anticipation of Turtle Nesting Season

Birds migrating over our heads.

Some of the other "cleaners"

We were some of the older folks in the group.😄

Texas Onion Festival In March we had another opportunity to visit a Texas festival...the Texas Onion Festival!

Mariachi musicians - this group was made up woman who are also teachers. Very good!

Andalusian Horse that was part of the horse show at the Onion Fest.

Easter Celebration in Texas

The blooming of all the flowers has been part of our celebration. Prickly pear bouquet!

Prickly Pear flower

Wild,or,Mexican Olive

Lantana

Retama

Coral Bean

Pink/red Prickly pear

Orange Prickly Pear

GratitudeLatona and I are very grateful for all the beauty and joy of our lives. Perhaps the gifts we cherish the most are the wonderful friends who share our journey.  These sweet friends came for a visit this winter, and we want to celebrate them and the times we shared.

Tracy and Cindy

Cathryn, Patti and Latona

Soon, we too will be heading north.  We are looking forward to so many things as we "migrate"

back to family and friends.  Most of all, we look  forward to being with YOU!

Times Up - Back to Blogging

Back to Texas

The drawing for the winter was to make a return trip to Texas!  We decided to leave in November and made our way to Pennsylvania to see Mom and my siblings.  We had seen our children and grandchildren, said a "goodbye" to each one, trusting we would seen them again in the spring. On the road again!

I took a pause posting on the blog but I can honestly say that I missed this opportunity to share a few thoughts and some of our pictures. So we are back!

Women's History Month

On the road, we always find interesting things to see and learn.  This cabin, called the Pucketts Cabin, was along the Blue Ridge Parkway and reading about this woman's life has stayed with me since then.  Orleans Hawks Puckett married at 16 years of age, and until the age of 50 she herself had 24 children none of whom lived more than a few days.

After that age, she decided on her "practice" and became the midwife of the mountains. It is believed she delivered over 1000 babies, and never lost a baby or a mother. She charged one dollar for her service and delivered the last baby when she was 102 years old, the same year she died.

There is now a Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute in Ashville, North Carolina that continues her legacy to care for children and their mothers.  She is one of the league of women who helped build the history of this country and we honour her!

Rodeo Experience

                       

One of the true experience of Texas is a small town rodeo.  Los Fresnos provided us this chance.  We wandered around and saw the animals and listened to some of the music. I had a most delicious brisket sandwich and we enjoyed a lemonade and French fries. By 3 o'clock we were packed into the stands and had a wonderful first hand sight that included bull riding, calf roping, and bronc busting.

We made a collage of those events in picture one. But perhaps the most enjoyable event was the mutton busting shown in picture two.  Children ride on a sheep, and see how long they can stay on the critter. It was histerical! 

Turtle Release

We had some cold nights and days which meant many of the Green Turtles in the shallow, sea grass filled Laguna Madre were stunned and rescued by Turtle, Inc. After the rescue, the turtles were warmed up and as soon as the weather cooperated, they released about 65 from the beach on South Padre Island. It was a thrilling first for us! 

       

Birds Abound

                     

One of the reasons we come to the Rio Grande Valley is the varied bird life.  I kept thinking to call this collage we made "Birds of Color".  It makes me realize that nature tries to show us how to live our lives. These diverse birds live together.  They have "learned" how to share the same space and how to get along. 

First Day of Spring - the Cacti are Bloomimg

                            

We have been thrilled with all the wildflower blooming and the other day on our hike we saw the beginning of bloom on the Prickly Pear and the Horse Hobbler Cactus.

It makes us realize that soon we will be migrating back north.  We will stay here until early May so we don't miss the Spring Migation and then it will be On the Road Again!  We are happy and grateful!

Love to you from L and L. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️