Friday, February 26, 2010

Bird Watching Trip To South Texas

It's been really nice taking 3 weeks or so from blogging. I needed a break. Thank you all for your patience. I pray these words find everyone well and enjoying life? I miss my blogging buddies. :)

During this hiatus Hubby and I traveled to south Texas, Harlingen specifically, to visit with new friends who have become very dear to us: Pappy & Bebe, Carey & Donna. These folks are just down to earth nice. If you're not following their blogs, I highly recommend them. After visiting with such warmhearted people it makes me feel really sad to think how my family is. It punctuated how disfunctional ... well, anyway, I won't go there. Do ya think they'll adopt me? [giggle] Nah. I'd rather be friends. I've had enough 'family' in name only to last a lifetime. Our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ makes us all Brothers and Sisters anyway. I'm just thankful they like us and prefer our company. I felt like we were visiting Royalty during the brief visit, their generosity was so overwhelming.

While with our friends, one of the members had a birthday party. Pappy sang (he has a gorgeous voice y'all!) and played his guitar. Not only is Pappy an accomplished poet, but he's a scholar, a Patriot but also a musician. A multi-talented individual. And so is his wife, Bebe. She cooked her marvelous meals in their lovely home and helped show us around Harlingen. She was the perfect Hostess. We had such a wonderful time that leaving for home left us feeling a bit sad. I wish we all lived closer to one another. [sigh]

Enroute to south Texas it was necessary for us to travel the coast. I have to tell you, I'm not enamoured by coastal Texas. It's not near as pretty as Florida coasts, but one town in particular stood out head and shoulders above all the rest: Rockport. It was mostly retirees and very clean. The people were friendly and the homes well kept. We had a nice stay there before heading further south. Rockport was like a beautiful Oasis in a dry, dusty mexican sea.

We also traveled to Harlingen to enjoy migratory bird watching. Hubby added something like more than 21 new bird species to his life list. One of which is a pair of nesting Whooping Cranes! This was in Port Aransas. Even though the pair were too far to get a clear photo, I could tell they are very pretty. The Welcome Center had a stuffed pair on display.

Whooping Cranes

I witnessed more deer on this trip at Port Aransas than I've seen at home in one hunting season and we live in the country.

South Padre Island (near Harlingen) was enjoyable. They built as really nice walkway out over the marshes for birdwatching.

Traveling back home, we ventured briefly into the Texas Hill Country. Winter is not it's best side, so, we didn't stay long. I didn't get to buy my favorite wine this trip. The best part on the return was stopping in Boerne for one night, and then on to Waco to visit with more friends. We couldn't stay but just a few hours as a terrible winter storm was working it's way West to East across Texas. The wind howled like Gang Busters the whole time! The winter storm followed us home through Lousyanna, Mississippi, and Alabama. Thankfully, it didn't hit here until we were home for a few hours. That was quite a drive that last day. We drove from Monroe, LA to home in one day (500+ miles), dragged in at 10:30 PM. We were so exhausted. But it was worth the marathon drive as I was able to pick up the dogs from the kennel before the storm hit the next day. This 'global warming' is a killer ain't it folks?! [lol]

By the way, I haven't labeled all the photos yet. Hubby (the bird expert) is out-of-state visiting his father this week. The Old Man's not sick, just elderly and needed something-or-other done to the house. I think it's just an excuse to have his son visit and that's OK. I won't squawk I did give up a day trip to Daytona tomorrow to take in some motorcycle Demo rides (one of which is the Triumph Bonneville I'm yearning for) so Hubby could visit with his father. I'm not a martyr or anything. I just believe that family comes first. I can ride anytime.

PS: The motorcycle photos at the link below were taken at a friends of Pappy's. The gentleman inherited these old bikes, I think, from an Uncle who collected them. Do you know how much I wanted to bring the Triumph Bonneville home with me as a project bike ..... ???!! Oh yeah baby!! :)

Photos

9 comments:

  1. What a sweet post. Glad you had a good time and that you saw a lot of birds to add to the list! Even though the trip was long and exhausitng at the end, it sounds like all in all it was restful, peaceful.

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  2. Well I was wondering where you ran off too! Sounds like a lot of fun. As I read your post, I was wondering all along if you encountered the terrible weather.

    It is nice to get away & nice to get back! And what a blessing to have friends that make you feel like family!

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  3. How wonderful to visit with friends and see new and interesting scenery. So glad you two had fun and made it home safely. Hope you have a restful weekend.

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  4. Welcome back Sparky! Such a lovely time you had on your vacation and visiting with bloggy friends too! Looking forward to your posts again when your hiatus is over... again! ha ha

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  5. We sured enjoyed our visit with y'all. It was nice meeting such nice people from the blogging community. Thanks for your kind words. It's nice to meet true patriots who are in the struggle with us and it gives me hope that we can prevail.

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  6. Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments! We did have a grand time in Texas. Can't wait to go back and see all our new friends again. :)

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  7. Well worth the time off by the looks of it!
    Now do you really need a project bike? ;)

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  8. Hey, glad to hear from you Life With Dogs! Too late on the project bikes. We just brought home 2 used Honda dirt bikes and, of course, they need work. I know, I'm a sucker. [giggle]
    Take care. :)

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  9. G'eve sweet friend ~ Glad you are enjoying the moment ... nothing beats a good ride on a motorcycle on a beautiful day ... glad trip was enjoyed.

    Hugs, Marydon

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⭐ A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. ~ Walter Winchell