The Big Tree

We got up on Wednesday morning and went for a short walk after breakfast. We wanted to see the whooping cranes who winter in this small area on the coast. We were talking to a couple from Charlevoix, Mi who told us where they were located but told us we would have to drive there (is that a challenge?!) So, we decided to walk instead to "The Big Tree".  It is a 1000 year old coastal live oak which is 36 feet in diameter. Well, it was a little farther than we thought, but we made it. And, the bonus was we walked by the whooping cranes on the way back! But, next time we head out for a short walk after breakfast, we WILL take water, as it ended up being a little over 5 miles!

Male and female whooping cranes

We left our beautiful gulf coast spot on Wednesday,

View out the front of our condo on wheels. Yes, our campsite was right on the gulf!

stopping at Aransas Wildlife Refuge on the way. Our senior federal park passes are sure paying off! Next stop, Brazos Bend State Park.  In one word, gorgeous, one of our favorite parks yet! Now if they would just stop putting those signs up everywhere that say " Alligators exist in this park" and Venomous snakes live in this park", it would be even better. The park has six small lakes, miles of trails, and uncountable water birds. We have been busy snapping pictures of them and then trying to identify them using our bird book when we get back to the RV. So far, we have seen about 20-30 alligators. They tell you to stay 30 feet away. There has only been one time when we had to turn back because there was no way to continue down the path AND give them 30 feet. There were 2 big ones lying alongside the trail and we decided they could have it ! We may try to finish that trail today and hope they have moved elsewhere!

American Bittern

The alligators that stopped our walk.

These buzzards were roosting in the trees outside our campsite for the last two nights. Hope they don't know something that we don't know!

I won't bore you with our thousands of bird and wildlife pictures but does anyone know who this duck like bird, with a beak that looks like a piece of candy corn, is? Not the clearest picture, click to enlarge.

I know I have forgotten to give the blog address to some people, so those of you who have it, can give it to anyone we know who might wonder where we are or what we are up to.