The first four months of 2008 found me in Texas where I was in the Fulton/Rockport area until mid-March. I was interested in checking out southern TX during a winter and found that the Gulf Coast area north of Corpus Christi was cloudier, wetter, and colder
than I anticipated it would be. However, I enjoyed camping there and seeing the area with the 3 other “Winter Texan Winnies” (see our blog describing our trip across Texas and December doings at http://wintertexanwinnies.blogspot.com/). We all drive Winnebago motorhomes and enjoy seeing the country in them. Our experiences during the course of the winter were special and made for more than a few laughs. Other special times during the Fulton/Rockport stay included having my Mother, Betty, along from late December until mid-March. Her cat, Molly, came along for company for Zia; however, I’m not sure how much they really appreciate each other’s company. Driftwood RV Haven Friends
Birding is big along the Gulf Coast and we weren’t disappointed as we watched large numbers of waterfowl daily. We enjoyed watching the pelicans dive into water for their food—actually they looked more like they were crashing into the water! Egrets, herons, ducks (many kinds), cormorants, roseate spoonbills—all were readily available to watch. However, the highlight for me was each time we went on the boat trip to watch the whooping cranes. They are such large, stately, beautiful birds with 7 ½ foot wingspans! Their winter range is just a few miles northeast of Fulton in the Aransas Nat’l Wildlife Refuge and the flock is increasing in size nicely after almost becoming extinct.
THOSE MAGNIFICENT WHOOPING CRANES!
Several short trips were taken from Fulton including one back to Goliad State Park, a drive to Port Lavaca, a day at the King Ranch and Kingsville, an overnight trip to South Padre Island and a drive inland along the Rio Grande cities in south Texas (does that country ever show signs of development!), trips to Padre Island National Seashore, a craft fair at Robstown where I met up with friends seen earlier at the fair in Fredricksburg during our November stop, trips to Aransas Nat’l Wildlife Refuge, and several trips down to Corpus Christi.
Roseatte Spoonbills (Left)Rookery with many types of birds (right)
.............................GREAT BLUE HERONS.............................
...................BROWN & WHITE PELICANS....................
I headed to Pharr, TX, the 3rd week of March where I was able to visit with Jim and Judy Peitz for a few days before they headed north to their “stick” home. We had a nice visit and they showed me the “lay of the land” in that part of the Valley. I thoroughly enjoyed the warmer temperatures and blue skies—in spite of some windy days. The Valley has really been promoting birding and there are incredible opportunities to see birds there that are seen no where else in the U.S. I definitely would like to return there for at least part of another winter to spend more time exploring the various bird refuges that have been established and which have wonderful guided tours.
GREEN JAYS
LEFT: HOODED ORIOLE
RIGHT: MOCKINGBIRD
.......GREAT EGRET & CRESTED CARACARA ......
From Pharr I headed north to Choke Canyon State Park near
Three Rivers, TX, about 85 miles southeast of San Antonio where I stayed a couple of weeks. This is a wonderful park with neat views, good fishing in the reservoir, and very good birding. Oh, yes, they also have alligators there! This is the farthest inland point the ‘gators come to in Texas—and I can vouch that they are 
there. Zia met her first armadillo while here--one came around our camp during several evenings. Clancey Maloney from NM was able to join me for a short visit here. All too soon, it was time to leave Choke Canyon (I hope to go back there!) and head for San Antonio where I was scheduled to host WIT (Winnebago-Itasca Travelers) Tours’ rally during that city’s Fiesta week. We had a wonderful rally—it was really a fun group to be with. The Fiesta celebrates the various cultures in Texas and highlights the remembrance of
the heroes who fought in the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto which led to Texas’ independence from Mexico. Rally attendees participate in Fiesta activities in addition to seeing various interesting venues in the San Antonio area as well as having a day-trip to the “Hill Country” in the Fredricksburg area. While in San Antonio, I agreed to lead a caravan for WIT Tours to Alaska this summer. This was a last-minute change in plans for me as there were only a few weeks to wrap up the rally, finish a project for WIT Tours, get the coach serviced, and prepare for the trip. It would prove to be a very busy 6 weeks!
With the rally a wrap, I headed north to Wichita where I parked for a couple of weeks. The main reason for the stop, in addition to seeing my brother, Dick, and his family was to attend niece Rachel’s graduation from high school. Queena and her girls came down early from SD, and Heather was over early from Kansas City. Mom, Jan, and Nicki also came down from SD for the graduation. Although it was a smaller than planned family gathering because my SD brothers were busy planting corn in between rain storms, a good time was had by all. The time here gave me valuable time to wrap up rally reports and work on other “stuff” to prepare for the upcoming Alaska trip. 
I departed Wichita in mid-May with Mom and her cat, Molly, on board the motorhome. We headed to Des Moines, IA, where I had an appointment at the Freightliner dealer for an inspection of the chassis. One day’s work turned into 2 days and at 9:00 p.m. the second night we departed for Forest City, IA, where I had an appointment for service with Winnebago. We did manage to tour the IA capitol building while in Des Moines—it is an impressive building with 29 types of marble used in it’s construction—and watched a couple of horse races at the race park adjoining Adventureland where we camped. What I thought might be 3 days work at Winnebago turned into a longer stay that was interrupted by the long Memorial Day weekend. I worked with folks at the WIT Tours office on a project during part of this time and Mom and I traveled to Mason City one evening to see her brother, Bill, and his wife Phyllis. This was a bittersweet visit as Bill was in very poor health and passed away a couple of weeks later. Mom and I took the car and went to Hurley the Saturday before Memorial Day so we could decorate graves, etc. They had been having a lot of rain in SD, and that, coupled with cool weather, resulted in few flowers available for the decorations. I returned to IA on Memorial Day afternoon as work on the coach was to continue through the week. It was finally finished on May 30th and I drove back to Hurley on the 31st.
there. Zia met her first armadillo while here--one came around our camp during several evenings. Clancey Maloney from NM was able to join me for a short visit here. All too soon, it was time to leave Choke Canyon (I hope to go back there!) and head for San Antonio where I was scheduled to host WIT (Winnebago-Itasca Travelers) Tours’ rally during that city’s Fiesta week. We had a wonderful rally—it was really a fun group to be with. The Fiesta celebrates the various cultures in Texas and highlights the remembrance of
the heroes who fought in the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto which led to Texas’ independence from Mexico. Rally attendees participate in Fiesta activities in addition to seeing various interesting venues in the San Antonio area as well as having a day-trip to the “Hill Country” in the Fredricksburg area. While in San Antonio, I agreed to lead a caravan for WIT Tours to Alaska this summer. This was a last-minute change in plans for me as there were only a few weeks to wrap up the rally, finish a project for WIT Tours, get the coach serviced, and prepare for the trip. It would prove to be a very busy 6 weeks!With the rally a wrap, I headed north to Wichita where I parked for a couple of weeks. The main reason for the stop, in addition to seeing my brother, Dick, and his family was to attend niece Rachel’s graduation from high school. Queena and her girls came down early from SD, and Heather was over early from Kansas City. Mom, Jan, and Nicki also came down from SD for the graduation. Although it was a smaller than planned family gathering because my SD brothers were busy planting corn in between rain storms, a good time was had by all. The time here gave me valuable time to wrap up rally reports and work on other “stuff” to prepare for the upcoming Alaska trip. I departed Wichita in mid-May with Mom and her cat, Molly, on board the motorhome. We headed to Des Moines, IA, where I had an appointment at the Freightliner dealer for an inspection of the chassis. One day’s work turned into 2 days and at 9:00 p.m. the second night we departed for Forest City, IA, where I had an appointment for service with Winnebago. We did manage to tour the IA capitol building while in Des Moines—it is an impressive building with 29 types of marble used in it’s construction—and watched a couple of horse races at the race park adjoining Adventureland where we camped. What I thought might be 3 days work at Winnebago turned into a longer stay that was interrupted by the long Memorial Day weekend. I worked with folks at the WIT Tours office on a project during part of this time and Mom and I traveled to Mason City one evening to see her brother, Bill, and his wife Phyllis. This was a bittersweet visit as Bill was in very poor health and passed away a couple of weeks later. Mom and I took the car and went to Hurley the Saturday before Memorial Day so we could decorate graves, etc. They had been having a lot of rain in SD, and that, coupled with cool weather, resulted in few flowers available for the decorations. I returned to IA on Memorial Day afternoon as work on the coach was to continue through the week. It was finally finished on May 30th and I drove back to Hurley on the 31st.
