Take Five

It's hard to believe that I put up another Christmas Tree yesterday. That made the fifth Christmas Tree this year!



We volunteered to help decorate the clubhouse here at El Viaje. Considering most of the decorations are casts-offs, the clubhouse looks pretty good.

Anybody else chilly?

Yesterday morning we had 25 degrees and a lot of frost. Mark was kind enough to start the car and clear the windshield for me so I could get to the grocery store.



The bison were up early!



This is the frosty field in front of our RV.



Hope everyone is warm!

Another project crossed off the list.

When we bought our place in Medina there was a ‘very’ small dishwasher that had been added to the end of the kitchen cabinet.



The removal of the dishwasher went on our project list and is now completed.





Mark had been thinking about what he needed to do to replace the shelf in the cabinet since the previous owners had cut half of it off in order to insert the dishwasher. I suggested he leave the shelf out because it would be a great place to put the kitchen trash can and the recycle can.



Mark did a wonderful job on the cabinet.

Dainty Sulphur

(Nathalis iole)

We found this beautiful Dainty Sulphur at Pedernales Nature Park in Johnson City. They are common in the south where they can be found most of the year fluttering along close to the ground.

Note the black spots and orange flush on the forewing near the base. It's larval foodplant is Dogweed, marigold, and other asters.

Out and About - Part 2 - Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery

We have visited the fish hatchery several times and always find good birds. This day it was pretty windy and a little cool but we still saw some great birds.


Wood Duck - Male


Wood Duck - Male and Female


Savannah Sparrow


Ring-billed Gull


Red-tailed Hawk


Greater Roadrunner


Eastern Phoebe

The Inks Dam facility helps restore paddlefish populations in the Mississippi River basin, and raises largemouth bass and channel catfish for sport fishing.

Out and About

Quiz: Any guess as to what this is a picture of?



We drove out to Pedernales Nature Park in Johnson City, Longhorn Cavern State Park and Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery.

Pedernales Nature Park is a very small LCRA Park that used to be an RV park. The roads and RV pads are still there. The Pedernales River runs along the back of the park and is a good place for ducks and other birds.



American Kestral


This might look like a leaf but is actually an American Snout!


Canvasback


Mute Swan

Our next stop was Longhorn Cavern State Park.

There is a pretty nice 1 mile loop trail that we walked. The drought is very obvious along the path.


Ash Juniper (commonly called Cedar)


Live Oak

There are some wonderful CCC buildings in the Park.









Remember the quiz question? It was taken here at the Observation Tower:


Spiral Staircase - from the top looking down!




Almost to the top!


View from the top.



After Longhorn Cavern State Park we drove 6 miles down the road to Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery.

Stay tuned for Inks Dam pictures.

Pedernales Falls State Park - Part 3

Blotched Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster transversa)
This snake has been able to hang on in many areas where major sources of surface water have been eliminated.

This non-poisonous water snake can reach up to 58 inches long. This one was probably about 36 inches long. While Mark was sitting on the river bank this snake started swimming straight toward him.







I hope you enjoyed our trip to Pedernales Falls State Park!