April 2, 2022     Slowly heading home

We left Florida on March 17 after 3 months and a week but we didn’t get too far as our next stop was Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores Alabama. It is a very nice state park of 6,150 acres and 28 miles of paved trails, most of which we rode on our bikes during the 4 days we were there. The park had very nice facilities: widely spaced campsites, great trails, lovely beaches, fishing pier, swimming pool and tennis courts. Thanks to the naturalist, we saw 2 bald eagle nests. We saw a parent sitting on one the one day and the next day an immature  eagle was sitting on the edge flapping its wings! We did have a huge rainstorm one morning and 3 inches of water surrounded our trailer. It was all gone in a couple of hours, but in the mean time, we drove around Gulf Shores - very touristy and had lunch at Lulu’s (jimmy Buffets sister) and enjoyed shrimp and grits (which we have been comparing  at many of our stops).

Flooded Campsite

Shrimp and Grits at Lulu's

Beautiful White Sand Gulf Beach

Raised bike trail

Gulf State Park Pier

Sailing remote control sailboat

We crossed the Mississippi River and continued west to Lafayette, Louisiana. We spent less than 12 hours there. We left at 5:45 am because a nasty band of storms was heading east and we hoped to avoid it as much as possible. These were the storms that spawned tornadoes in Texas  and New Orleans. When we hit Beaumont Texas, the sky got very black and we had torrential rain showers. At the next rest area, we pulled off and rested about 90 minutes and the  sky had cleared up! We continued south of Houston to Brazos Bend State Park. We picked this park because it was the right distance from where we came and it turned out to be a great choice. It was another park with lots of bike trails,  and marshes with beautiful birds and alligators!

Brazos Bend State Park

Alligator guarding nest mound

Brazos Bend State Park Observation Tower

The next day, March 23, we moved to Goose Island State Park a little north of Corpus Christie on the Gulf of Mexico. We have been there in spring 2020 and wanted to go back because the birding is wonderful. We set up camp and immediately set off to see if we could find endangered  whooping  cranes which winter in the area. We were very glad that we did, because we are here a little later this year and some of the whooping cranes have started to migrate north. We also took 2 guided birding walks in the park. Another day we took a 3 hour birding boat tour into Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and saw @40 different species. It was a beautiful day and the birds were amazing. Another day we drove to Port Aransas, another town we spent a lot of time in in 2020. Our first stop was the Leonabelle Turnbull where we saw lots of beautiful shorebirds. We also visited a favorite Mexican restaurant , the beach and a couple of other birding sites and parks that we remembered from our last trip. It was a fun day. 

Whooping Cranes

Mark on boating tour

Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center

Red Headed Woodpecker

Indigo Bunting 

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks

American Oyster Catcher

Whooping Crane Family

Avocet and Northern Shoveler

Black Necked Stilt

Our next stop in Texas, was 2 nights at South Llano River State Park, west of San Antonio on the edge of the Hill Country. It is another well known birding spot. We were not accustomed to the 90 degree heat, but enjoyed hiking around the park and visiting  the parks 4 bird blinds. I think that our favorite find was the bright red vermillion fly catcher. Also, being farther north and inland than any other park we have been to in a long time, it was a much dryer climate with different vegetation and lots of armadillos.

Hiking along South Llano River

Woodhouse Scrub Jay

Lark Sparrow

Lesser Gold Finches

Armadillo

The next day was a long one heading west on I-10 with 25 to 30 mph headwinds the entire way and part of the evening at the RV park at Van Horn. The next day we crossed into New Mexico and spent the night at Rockhound State Park It is situated on a hillside surrounded by even higher hills and we huffed and puffed a lot in the 4500 ft elevation. We took some short walks and found a few interesting rocks. The next day we crossed into Arizona, but that will be in the next blog.

Rockhound State Park

Prickly Pear Cactus

Rockhound State Park