Inks Lake

We've been enjoying Inks Lake, doing some nice hikes through fields of wildflowers and along the lake. Also kayaking a couple of days.
We met another couple from Glen Arbor through the Hollenbecks and we went to see them at the cottage they rent here. It's on the Texas Colorado River and we had breakfast with them and then a fish fry at the campground.
Today we are of on another exploration and I will have news of it in the next couple of days.
MSU is moving on in the March Madness madness, but we lost UofM. Oh well.

Bluebonnets in bloom everywhere. This was along one of our hikes on Wednesday

A view of Inks Lake toward the dam. The lake is a reservoir on the Colorado River. This is not the Colorado River that is the border of Arizona and California.

More wildflowers on a hike yesterday.

Inks Lake State Park

We're back in the Texas hill country just west of Austin. We've been with the Hollenbeck's from Wheeler Road up north. We enjoy meeting up with our neighbors and have been busy with them for the past few days. Yesterday we went to historic Fredericksburg and toured the town for the day. This is the hometown of Admiral Chester Nimitz who was the commander of the Pacific Fleet during World War 2. We toured the naval museum there and then had lunch and toured the shops. A very enjoyable day.

At Inks Lake with our neighbors.

One of our fighters from a WW2 Aircraft carrier

Lunch at the Rathskeller in Fredericksburg

This assortment of cowboy boots in one of the shops was amazing. Most were in the $300 dollar range. All sorts of exotic hides.

A portrait of presidents at one of the shops.

Can you read these? Halarious.

Downtown Fredericksburg

Beach Days, Finally

We're finally getting the weather we were hoping for. Sunny warm calm days perfect for kayaking, biking and beaching. It's been in the seventies and less wind than we've had in weeks.
Just hanging out at the park and watching the days fly by. We can't believe it's almost April already. Where has the winter gone?
Becky and Dave and their family and some friends are up north at the house this weekend and they tell us the snow is still pretty deep, but frozen from the melts and freezes they have been getting there. Becky said they can walk on the crust of ice on the snow so that snow depths aren't a problem. We hope they have a wonderful weekend.
We're rooting for Tom Izzo and the boys to beat the Golden Gophers today. The game is scheduled for 6:45 this evening. We'll be glued to the screen.

We tried some surf fishing the other day. No luck again. The fish seem to be avoiding me this year. I know, what else is new?

I love seeing these guys. Bad hair day!

Looking down the beach toward Galveston.

We saw this guy flying along the beach yesterday. He has a huge gas operated fan strapped to his back. I'd like to try that!

All is well on Galveston Island

The warm weather and sunshine returned again and things are looking up. We got the kayaks in the water and I've done some fishing although no success. The winds calmed down so that we can kayak around the marshes without getting swamped or blown away.
Nancy has gotten some beach time and we've been doing some biking. Saturday we walked to Jamaica Beach and looked around at the market they had set up that day. Quite a few vendors with crafts and food items. Lots of artwork and signs and such. All we walked away with were some home made cinnamon pecans which we are using in our salads.
We are here through Sunday and moving Monday morning. The next stop is Inks Lake west of Austin. We're heading back a bit west to meet up with our neighbors from Wheeler Road.
Here are a few pictures from the last few days...

Pleasure Pier is an amusement park on the breakwall on Galveston Island. 

Beach buggy rentals and other great fun!

A view at the development north of the park. Lots of summer homes on the island.

This is the same spot looking in the opposite direction. The state park owns all of this land.

One of the  more spectacular beach homes next to the park.

We surprised this Roseate Spoonbill at one of the kayak launches. It made for a great Kodak moment.

A snake crossing the road. Is it a water moccasin?

Looking across the marsh on the bay toward Jamaica Beach

We had this sunset one evening while the ITC Chemical storage facility was burning. Who knows what kind of chemicals were in the air at this point. The fire burned for four days spewing tons of soot and smoke into the atmosphere. The cloud drifted all the way past San Antonio. The EPA insisted that toxin levels were not a threat!

Happy St Patrick's Day

Green beer for everyone today! March 17th already. Time flies when you're having fun.
We went into Galveston on Friday and found the courthouse. I appealed my parking ticket and after whining for about ten minutes the hearing officer finally saw reason and waived it. He probably was tired of hearing me cry.
From there we drove to the old historic area of downtown and walked around and through some of the gift shops. Lots of folks were walking the streets and going through the gift shops since it was to cool and windy for the beach. It seems to be doing a lot of that here this winter and every time we think it's finally warming up the temperature plummets and we take a week to get back to the seventies.
We walked the area called "the Strand" where the original downtown has been preserved and restored. This is the touristy part of town and where everyone hangs out. The buildings here go back to the late 1800's and some of the surrounding neighborhoods have grand old summer homes that were built by the rich and famous before the turn of last century. Lots of history here.

The Strand. The main drag. 

Lots of boutiques, gift shops and cafes along this stretch in downtown.

The old buildings are very ornate. A trolley giving tours of the city.

The Moody Mansion, completed in 1894 was built by the wife of a cotton broker.

We were behind this boat being towed on the road. Four 350 horsepower outboards totaling 1400 horsepower! It must be fast, but can you troll with it?

My beach bunny waiting for the sun to come back.

All lined up in a row.

Cool Morning

We've been enjoying Galveston Island, biking and yesterday I did some kayak fishing and caught a flounder.
The cool front came through over night and we are at about 55 degrees this morning. Sunny and windy, but cool.
We went to lunch at Jimmy's on the Pier on Wednesday and when we came back to the truck I had a parking violation on the windshield. Now that's a fine way to treat your tourists! I have to go to the courthouse now and try to get it waived. We didn't see the signs saying you had to buy a parking permit to park on the side of the road! (No parking meters).
All is well with us and we are getting a lot of R&R while here. Lot's of loafing time and beach walking.
Laura and Sean and the kids are up north on Wheeler Road this weekend with their friends. They had warm temperatures yesterday, but it's supposed to snow while they are there. We're hoping they get the kids out skiing while they are there.

Not much else to report, here are some pictures of the local flora and fauna....

These guys are following us everywhere

A plover on the beach

Getting ready to rob a sand bank

And of course a great egret wandering around

The hawks soar over the wetlands here trying to make a living

A flight of pelicans cruising the shoreline

Flowers along the park road

And along the beach

We're just east of Jamaica Beach, a small resort town full of summer houses

This sign gets covered up at happy hour.

Back at Galveston Island State Park for Two Weeks

Yesterday we moved to Galveston Island once again for a two week hitch. We arrived to sunny skies and seventy eight degree temperatures. This morning its foggy again and a cold front comes in tomorrow with rain forecast. After that we should have sunshine for a while although a bit cooler.
We were at Galveston Island before we went to Cabo but now it's much busier. Spring break has brought the crowds and there's much more congestion on the roads and more people on the beaches.
We're looking forward to fresh fish while we're here, either from the market or from the sea if the fishing pans out.

Enjoying Brazo's Bend

We've been doing plenty of hiking and biking here at the park. They have miles of hard pack trails for biking that go all along the lakes and through the woods and wetlands. This whole area was flooded last fall and is still drying out. There are high water marks visible on the trees and they are several feet above the trails we are riding around on.
We've also been seeing lots of alligators along the trail by the lakes. Several were eight feet long and yesterday I saw one that was at least ten feet. It's a great park and gets pretty crowded on the weekend.

The gators are everywhere!

One of the bigger ones

Blue winged teal on one of the ponds

Snowy egret

Looking down from the observation tower over the ponds

The trails went all over and around the wetlands and ponds

High water marks from the past years

Not sure what kind of turtles they have here, but they have red cheeks.

We saw these ducks at South Padre Island and now here at the park. Black bellied whistling ducks.

Small young gators still wearing the stripes they have when they first hatch

Vultures getting ready for a long night's roost.

Last night we had a free concert at the park