Another great day in South Texas with the temps reaching 90 F and the winds blowing hard enogh to keep the wind chill in the 70's. Got to Bentsen State Park and the World Bording Center at the same place by the Rio Grande RiverMore on that later.
Yesterday evening we had an electricity failure and could not figure it out. The bane of campers that need electricity. The local park guy came over and declared the "box" was hot and had electricity, so it must have been in the trailer somehwere. We got through the night as I have 2 X 12 volt batteries that supply back up power and can be used for general lighting, but nothing beyond that. They can keep the inside trailer lights going. So in the morning we called a man nearby who specializes in campground, trailer, RV, and motorhome problems. He was really buusy but stated that he would stop by after his runs late in the afternoon. To be continued...
So we did get out to Bentsen State Park (driving on I-2 through the commercial district all the way) and found it had a tram that we could make a 20 minute run through the park to see when the possible locations for birding might be. Our driver "Rudy" was very helpful. He pointed out a couple of places we might be interested. So, we walked round the huge grounds surrounding the center and watched especially the humingbirds (Black Chinned and Buff Bellied)
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| The Buff Bellied Hummingbird |
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Black chinned Hummingbird (Female)
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| Texas Lizards or salamanders? |
Then at 11:30 we board the tram and rode to what is called 'Kingfisher Overlook' . No kingfishers but a fine Scissor Tailed Flycatcher. They are quite common along the Valley. I had taken the lunch out of the cooler and put in a smalll shoulder bag so it was easier to carry, and we ate lunch in the picnic area there (The only benches in that area). This overlooks the 'La Parida Blanco' which is an old oxbow of the Rio Grand River. The river keeps changing its course and you may remember in recent history ('50's?) that the USA and Mexico had great dificulty surveying the boundaries as the river keep changing course. They agreed that that would happen and the boundaries would change too. One of the first surveyors was drowned in the 1800's on the first survey.
We finished the afternoon by driving three miles to the World Butterfly Center just up the road . Here we concentrated mainly on the birds even though there were some butterflies and many butterflies plants and flowers that attract them This will be a great center, although they are making progress slowly. We did see some great birds there including the Black Tufted Titmouse, Green Jay, Altima Oriole, Savannah Sparrow, Cardinal, and a White Tipped Dove.
So how did we do back at the trailer you want to know? Well as Brad stated when he told us it would be 'late afternoon' he was right on the money and we were just finishing our turkey sandwiches with tomotoes and onions, he showed up. He went right to the task and step by step traced the problem from the intake line (box) to the trailer, through the fuse box to the connection of the outdoor line to the trailer and BINGO! There was a fused connection. This man knows his stuff! In 10 minutes he had it repaired, everything back in place ( I didn't know how to get the cover for access to the connections of the outside line in the trailer. They are really hidden) and we had electricity again. Thanks for al the "Prayer Travel Warriors" who have been helping along the way You think all the possibilities and the worst I guess would be having to hook up the trailer and move it to a repair shop for a coule of days. while you sit in a motel someplace. But, we were blessed to have a competent guy do the job right. Thank's Brad!
Tomorrow is laundry day and probably a trip to the DQ and the grocery store. There are 13 DQ's within a 20 mile radius of this Park. Thanks for "tuning in" as they used to say on radio. Stay tuned.
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| White tipped Dove |
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| Black Crested Titmouse |
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| Three (siblings?) Scssor Tailed Flycatchers. |
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