Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Miscellaneous Stuff!

A quick list of recently seen and heard birds during our last days of the forest:

Indigo bunting has been back.  And a thrill was to see a rose-breasted grosbeak!

On a hike to a pretty little creek called Clear Creek, we had some nice birds: scarlet tanager, yellow-billed cuckoo, eastern bluebirds, great-crested flycatcher, yellow warbler, eastern wood peewee, wood thrush, and a bird whose song we hear all the time, and we cannot ID it!  Frustrating!

Right at our campsite, Michael found blackberries and we enjoyed their sweet and sour taste!


There were some pretty warm days here and often in the mid-eighties.  The ambient temp itself wasn't  so bad, but in the sun, it was pretty toasty.  Sitting in the surrounding forest kept us cool and comfy in the shade!



Michael decided to build a stool out of pine wood he found and sawed to size.  He drafts plans on paper first, accounting for the smallest details.  Here it is as a work in progress.


It is hard to believe that we have been here in Sam Houston National Forest for close to two months!  It has been a very relaxing change from all of the driving, but it is time to move on.  Our plan is to move on to the Escapees RV campground.  We arrived on Monday, May 2.   Hallejulah...there are showers here!  Plus we can do laundry, and at an electric site we can better charge the trailer.  Solar has kept our volt meter reading around 12.4, but the refrigerator won't go on.  This voltage reading is typically adequate for the 'fridge to run, so we don't know if there is a bigger issue at hand.  The operations manual does suggest that the refrigerator won't run if the ambient temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit.  Even though thermometer readings are in the mid- to high eighties, in the galley it feels warmer.

Beautiful new flowers are blooming around us.



A dragonfly hitched a ride on the car.  A big beauty, but the details are a bit fuzzy:


The reason for hanging around the Livingston area for so long was due to that episode with my chest pains back in March.  Since then I underwent a stress test and heart cathaterization and thankfully all is well and my heart is healthy.  The doctor feels it may be my esophagus so he recommends I visit a gastroenterologist.  The medical carousel goes round and round.  So my appointment is June 14.  Our plan is to stay in Texas, but to tour and camp around the state.

It has been frustrating at times to be so stationary, but these medical or other issues will come up as we haven't totally escaped from real life.  Our plan is to leave Escapees tomorrow for another local campsite called Stubblefield as I have a wrap up appointment with the cardiologist on the 17th.  We will then head south to High Island and Galveston, and maybe South Padre Island.











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