Thursday, February 2, 2012

Kayaking and Other Things

 

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It’s been a busy week so far, with two mornings spent at Cinderella Pet Rescue. Monday is my normal day to go, then yesterday Jim and I both went and helped treat the cats for ear mites. There were 7 volunteers and we managed to clean out ears and treat 26 cats. Unfortunately we were unable to get 4 of them due to bad behavior on the cat’s part. It wasn’t for lack of trying on our part, though, and some of the volunteers including Jim came home with lots of scratches, even though they wore gloves. We also cleaned and disinfected both cat rooms and all their scratching posts and toys, and replaced the old bedding, rugs, towels and blankets with clean ones.

This is the newest rescue, a feisty little kitten found alongside a busy road by one of the volunteers. He’s getting along well with the older cats.

 Geoffrey licking chops

We take a long bike ride or walk just about every day, and managed to see the bobcat for a second time around the same place, same time of day. He must have a route he travels so we’re hoping to spot him again.

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Being a mile or so from the Mexican border, the Border Patrol has a big presence here. They are always parked just outside the gate of the RV park or in the state park. In fact one day on one of the trails in the state park we had a border patrol officer jogging towards us carrying his huge automatic weapon. As he ran by he said “nice day for a jog, isn’t it?” After the fact, Jim wished he’d taken a picture but at the time we were a bit startled and didn’t think of it. A couple days ago driving back from the grocery store we saw our first illegal apprehension just down the road. They apparently caught someone in the sugar cane fields near the Rio Grande. Looks like a good place to hide but they are always on the lookout. At night we frequently hear the helicopters searching around the area. It’s a different world here.

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There is a state veteran’s cemetery we ride through along one of our bike routes. I just liked the look of all the headstones.

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Yesterday Don and Dorothy surprised us by arriving almost a week early and joined us for Margarita hour at the clubhouse. Sounds like they’ve had a great trip so far since leaving Montgomery last month. Tonight we had happy hour at Ray and Sue’s in honor of his and their neighbor’s birthdays. Always lots of laughter.

We started off the day with kayaking on the resaca in the state park. Bentsen Palm Village has 6 kayaks that can be used by park guests. On Monday mornings, Steve, the kayak guide, takes groups to the Rio Grande River. On Thursdays he takes a group to the resaca in Bentsen State Park. The resaca is a horseshoe shaped body of water that used to be part of the Rio Grande, but no longer connects to the river. It was a warm but cloudy morning and we enjoyed paddling along looking at birds. We saw lots of cormorants, egrets, kingfishers and a hawk. We learned it’s very difficult to stop and look at birds through binoculars or try to take any pictures from the kayak since you don’t stay still when you’re stopped in the water.

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This is the peninsula in the middle of the horseshoe. It’s privately owned land but it can be rented out for picnics and events.

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We went back to the state park this afternoon looking for the bobcat but we were a bit too early. We did see lots of colorful altamira orioles, though.

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If the weather holds out we’re planning a trip to South Padre Island for the Kite Festival on Saturday. We’ll also be making another trip to Mexico next week since Jim has finally decided to start the tooth implant process. After two months here we still aren’t bored, which is pretty unusual for us. Guess it’s because we’ve been fulltiming now for over three years and although there are still lots of places we want to visit, we don’t feel quite the urgency to move on like we used to.

5 comments:

  1. Kayaking is sure a lot of fun. I really like all you pics of the birds as well.

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  2. You two have been busy. We hope to get back to the park and look for that bobcat. You got a great picture.
    We heard about the Kite Festival. Sounds wonderful. Have a great time!

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  3. Love kayaking, thanks for taking me along.

    That bobcat sure looks skinny and long legged compared to the one I saw. Wonder if they differ in different parts of the country?

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  4. Sounds like you guys are continuing to have a good time. The pics are incredible. If I saw a bobcat, I'd be going in the opposite direction...lol! Take care!

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  5. These pictures, and the stories, are amazing. Thanks for sharing. Felt like I was reading about a different country. Wow.

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