We spent the morning at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a 115,324-acre protected area on the Gulf Coast. It was established in 1937 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.
One of my favorite parts of the refuge was this tree top observation boardwalk that zigzags to a 40-foot-tall observation tower.
It is a design masterpiece, taking us from the understory, through the midstory, and above the top story. Educational material is found along the way.
Southern Texas is supposed to be one of the country's best places to birdwatch, and I think that is one of the primary reasons Bob wanted to go there. During the Covid pandemic, he has developed a pretty intense birding hobby, which has included upgrading his camera. I can understand that he wants to use his new toy!
In a two-day period in Southern Texas, we visited four wildlife areas, and I'm going to include all four in one post, partly because they have a lot of similarities. We did visit more wildlife areas later in the trip, but they were in a different region and have a different look.
Our first stop, Cattail Marsh Wetlands, was just outside Beaumont, The City of Surprises.
There is a large viewing station that looks over 900 acres of marshes.
A lot of strategically placed information boards help visitors identify what they are seeing.
I've always connected alligators with Louisiana and not so much with Texas, but they are everywhere (and Beaumont isn't actually that far from Louisiana anyway).
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge lies a few miles northwest of Roswell. The Pecos River flows through the refuge and the Roswell aquifer lies under it. Together, they have created several deep lakes. The refuge hosts as many as 350 species of migratory birds and is also known for being the home to over 90 species of dragonflies and damselflies, which are at their peak in July and August. Being on the front end of that, we definitely saw some, but I didn't get pictures of any--except the one on the entrance sign.
As mentioned in my previous post, it had been raining all morning, as well as some of the day before, but the heavens parted and the sun began to emerge while we were in the wildlife refuge.
The puddles in the road acted like reflecting pools.
I'm glad we could stay in the car for the scenic drive. Walking would have been messy.
As we continued on our slow trek north, we saw signs for the town Truth or Consequences and decided to take a look. T or C, as it is informally known, has a population of about 6,500.
Originally named Hot Springs because of curative natural hot springs in the area, it changed its name in 1950 when Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the 10th anniversary program from the first town that renamed itself after his show. For 50 years Mr. Edwards returned to T or C during the first weekend in May for a fiesta that included a parade, a stage show, and a beauty show. (Note: The radio show Truth or Consequences eventually became a syndicated television show.) That May Fiesta continues to this day.
Our next destination was a national wildlife refuge called Bosque del Apache, or Woods of the Apache. "Bosques" in the Southwest are the dense shrubbery and tree growth that occur alongside the Rio Grande River and in its floodplain.
We entered the reserve close to 5:30 PM, and it was still 99°, so we didn't have any desire to get out and go for a walk. We were happy to drive the 12-mile loop.
The refuge includes areas of floodplain, irrigated farms, wetlands, arid grasslands, and mountain foothills.
The dominant tree is definitely the cottonwood.
The trees were full of ping pong ball-sized clumps of "cotton."
There are cultivated fields in the reserve--a cooperative agreement between farmers and the government for the benefit of the birds and other wildlife. It was beautiful scenery, and SO GREEN for such a hot time of year.
We saw deer in at least three different places during our drive.
We also saw plenty of wild turkeys.
Turkeys are so ugly--much uglier than vultures, if you ask me. I'm so glad Ben Franklin didn't get his way. He wanted turkeys to be our national bird.
I thought the way the sun shone through the turkeys' wattles was interesting.
Bob has many more photos of birds than I do, but I did get this photo of what looks like a headless kingbird. My bird photography skills leave much to be desired.
I have developed a fondness for the Virgin of Guadalupe and liked seeing her adorning this clay oven/fireplace. The grill beneath her feet has a silhouette of a church.
I have no idea who this is, but he looks very "New Mexico-ish."
Each table in the restaurant has a different hand-laid tile picture top.
Stars twinkle above.
The live entertainment was unlike any mariachi band I have ever heard. The harpist was fantastic, and so was the guitar player. Bob commented that these two men might be his favorite musical entertainment ever in a restaurant and even tipped them twice.
The food was as good as the atmosphere. Bob had a vegetarian sandwich and his second batch of fries with chile cheese sauce of the day. It was good . . .
. . . but not as good as my chile rellenos. Drool.
It was evening by the time we finished. The restaurant is located in Albuquerque's Old Town, so we decided to try to walk off some of what we had eaten.
In one direction, we found this statue of Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes, who founded Albuquerque in 1706. He rides his proud steed at the entrance to Old Town, which appears to be a popular gathering place. (We even saw one woman taking photos of her chihuahua carefully posed between the horse's legs.)
In the other direction lies the Old Town Square (or zocolo, as it is known in Spanish) and the church. This part of Albuquerque feels like old, traditional Mexico.
Every zocolo needs a bandstand in the center. This one is especially charming. It looks like a movie set.
Facing the zocolo is the San Felipe de Neri Church, which was built in 1793. The oldest church in the city, San Felipe has been in continuous operation since the first church was built on this spot in 1706. The 1793 version was remodeled in the 1850s-1860s to give it a more European appearance, but it has retained a Colonial-era feel.
Unfortunately, it was locked up for the night, and when when we returned the next day, they were preparing for some big event and we still couldn't go inside, but here are a few photos from our daylight visit:
There she is again, Our Lady of Guadalupe:
I saw her all over the gift shop as well, including this depiction of a tender embrace with Pope John Paul II and a representation of Juan Diego, the Mexican peasant who was visited by her.
I have to include two shots of "The Old Town Loo," which was next to where we parked our car. I was very impressed by how clean and efficient it is!
Anyway, by the time we finally got to our hotel at the end of the frist day, I could barely make it into my PJs. We had been going all day on just an hour or two of sleep, if that, and were grateful to finally climb into bed.
