Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park

Long name for this park, but it is a good state park. There are a few small lakes in the park along with creeks and hiking trails.

One section of a hiking trail was called Fern Loop, for a good reason.

Like all of Florida, Spanish moss is everywhere.

We thought these were ant hills, but it turns out they are formed by pocket gophers. I’ve never seen so many hills in one place. Lots and lots of them!!!

Paw-paw plant and bloom.

There is a love / hate relationship between the forests and fire. Many times controlled burns are used to keep down the undergrowth, maintain certain species like long leaf pine, and allow certain plants to grow that only sprout after a fire. Right now, though, there are lots of wild fires in Florida. There is one that is a bit north of us so we keep listening to the news.

St. Andrews State Park - Again

We always try to stay here when in the area. The problem is that it is difficult to get a campsite. Many times you have to change sites to stay for any time. This time we got lucky when 5 days opened up. Even better, it was a site on the water.

The water sites are great. There are plenty of birds (like these pelicans) to watch along with boat tours passing (including a pirate ship tour!).

Lots of deer.

I’ve attended a class here on edible plants before. I did the class again since it’s very difficult to remember all the details. The class is around one hour long with lots of samples to nibble with details on parts of the plants to eat, time of the year, and benefits of the food. Maybe a few more times and I’ll remember more of the class. This time I also went to an edible bug class which was fascinating. Again, we were able to eat samples. Some were quite tasty.

 

I was biking back from class and saw quite a few cars stopped in the road. Turns out they were waiting for this turtle to cross the road. 

My morning walk took me along the point of the island.  Every morning there were a group of fishermen (sometimes 20) out there at sunrise.

Other pictures…

Easter Bunnies

Near Milton we stopped at a park with a nice bike trail nearby on this old brick road.

We stayed at an RV park (Hitchin Post Corral and Campground) over the Easter weekend. The funny part is that they have white rabbits that roam the campground. They would go under our car and our RV and then move to the other sites or in the yard. Seemed so appropriate for the weekend.

Plus they have a pond for fishing that was nicely misty in the morning.

Mississippi River

We did a short stop in Baton Rouge in Louisiana. My morning walk was along the levee. I’m always wondering what life is like on the river. The barges seem to park along the Mississippi at night. Some of the bigger ones park in the middle of the river.

I’ve read what life is like back in Mark Twain’s time but what is it like with GPS, satellites, sonar, and modern technology. Is all this used or are many ships and boats still using older technology? The loading along the river is still basic cranes, conveyors, and manual operators, so…who knows?

Village Creek State Park

Our last stop in Texas is at a small park near Beaumont. It has a lot of hiking trails, but after a very heavy rain, many of them were difficult to navigate.  BTW, slough is pronounced “slew”. It is not a river or creek. The ranger defined it as a place where the water could run either direction depending on the water level as the water leaves or returns to a stream or lake.

Early on I went on a ranger-led trail and saw Christmas wreath lichen.

Morning at the creek.

Brazos Bend State Park

This is our first visit to this park. The claim to fame is the alligators and birding. The Everglades National Park is better, but this park is pretty amazing and a complete surprise. The alligators we saw were anywhere from 3 feet to roughly 8 feet.

Lots of alligators along the paths. The funny part is we all see fake animals set up for a photo op so when you see an alligator laying along the path with its mouth open and not moving, you tend to think it’s not real. Several people mentioned this happened to them plus we saw people jump as they realized a real live alligator was only a few feet away.

Bullfrogs in the morning.

Turtle – maybe digging a nest?

Snowy egret

Ibis with a crab in its beak.

Spring Flowers

I’m still enjoying spring flowers.

Texas Lantana

Yellow flowers (sunflower? hey, I don’t know what it is)

  

 Palo Verde

Snail on a prickly pear.

Red Salvia or Scarlet Sage

Evening Primrose

I was stalked by a bobcat!

I love the variety of animals at Choke Canyon. Last time we had a bobcat walk through our campsite. I was in the RV and not worried. This time I was worried.

I was walking by myself on my morning walk. I backed tracked a bit on the trail to grab a stick to break through cobwebs on the trail when I saw a fairly large animal jumping back off the trail. I didn’t see what it was so wasn’t worried. However, after I went a few feet down the trail I turned around and saw a bobcat on the trail following me. I kept moving away, and it followed me! At one point I stopped and waved my arms (with a stick in each hand by this point!). The bobcat just sat down and watched me. As soon as I turned to walk away, it followed me. This went on for about a minute. I turned a corner and soon heard a noise in the bush where it sounded like the bobcat was trying to cut me off. Now I’m moving pretty quickly, not running but a very fast walk. I continued the walk checking behind me on the trail along with peering into the bush on both sides of trail. I didn’t see it again, though I kept looking. 

All I have is a blurry picture taken at the beginning when I thought it was kind of cute seeing a bobcat. After that I didn’t slow down enough to take a picture. This walk was a very good cardiovascular exercise given my heart rate!!

BTW, another camper saw three bobcats (a mother and two kids) not too far away. Maybe the bobcat was protecting her young? Later I was told I should have yelled more. They also tell you to back away and don’t run. The problem with that is you can only walk backwards so far. And, like I said earlier, I didn’t run but I walked very fast!

Animals at Choke Canyon

We visited Choke Canyon last year and were amazed at the animals we saw so we are revisiting. Most parks have an animal or two that makes it stand out. This one seems to have everything. Things we’ve seen on this trip or our last trip: deer (lots), rabbits (lots), turkeys (lots), squirrels, javelina, bobcats, coyotes, turtles, bats, turkey vultures, black vultures, crows, crested caracara, killdeer, grackles, cardinal, green jays, egrets, doves, road runners, red-headed woodpeckers, ducks, coots, herons, swans, swallows, snails, dragonflies and butterflies. 

The coyotes are particularly noisy at night. I think there are coyotes puppies near our campsite.

On one hike there were ~16 turkeys on the path ahead of me. I kept walking toward them but the toms were spreading their tails out in a fan and gobbling aggressively at me. I may be bigger than a turkey, but not 16 of them. I gave up and turned around. When I looked behind me, they had left the trail so I was able to continue on the path. Did you know they seem to poop a lot when they are upset? Something I’ve learned given that section of the path.

There are lots of birds here. I only listed the ones I know. The grackles are loud and make strange sounds. I’ve heard them in what sounds like a person whistling a tune and making a mechanical sound. I heard this hammering / rattling noise and found out a woodpecker was pecking a sheet of metal. Lots of vultures like this turkey vulture.

This one is hilarious. I am assuming this is a dung beetle but I know this is a piece of dung. The beetle is holding onto the dung with its back legs and using its front legs to roll it across the road. Going pretty fast too! 

We actually had bats in our belfry. The problem was this was in the picnic shelter and the bats kept sh_tting on our picnic table.

BTW, the variety seems to extend to cell phone and TV service. Sometimes we get 4G service and a minute later we have nothing. At times we have 4 TV channels and at times we have 40 channels. However, the channels keep moving so we have to rescan to find channels. Having no service seemed easier than variable service!

Don’t Build the Wall!

Seminole Canyon is located along the Rio Grande. I was hiking along the river with the absolutely gorgeous views and realized this is another of those places that Trump wants to make ugly. A crude 30’ wall will not make things safer. The walls of the canyon are already steep enough that you can’t simply climb down from Mexico, cross the river, and then climb up the canyon walls. We heard that the park does have more modern sensors to detect anyone who travels up the canyon.

There would be no benefit to a wall. Instead, it would destroy the view. The construction would damage the ecology. Do you think Trump has ever hiked along a river?

Talking to rangers, they don’t want money spent on a wall but they wouldn’t mind having money spent on more modern items like more infrared sensors and drones. Technology from this century, not a wall from the past.

We’ve visited other parks along the border and an old-fashioned and crude wall would ruin the experience. Big Bend National Park has a tremendous view along the border. How would a wall help, especially since border crossings really aren’t a problem here? 

Also in Big Bend, there is a hot spring along the Rio Grande. It is full of history as the remains of a resort. The area has swallows nesting in the cliffs along with pictographs along the cliff wall. When you get too hot in the water, you can climb into the Rio Grande to cool off and perhaps walk to Mexico for a minute and come back. How can you build a wall here? Through the hot springs? Through the river? On this side so the hot springs is off-limits to the thousands of hikers who currently enjoy it? Do you think Trump would care if he is damaging history and the environment?

Theodore Roosevelt will be known for years as the president who started the national park system and is listed as one of top U.S. presidents. He worked to preserve parts of our country for future generations. Other presidents over the years have added more national parks, monuments, forests, and protected areas. It looks like this president will be known as the short-sighted one who allowed drilling and mining in our national lands, built an ugly wall cutting off our views, and cut finances to the national park service and to the environmental protection agency for short-term profit. What a legacy.