Goose Island State Park (03-10-11)

Paul and I are not the only ones enjoying the fact that we have a waterfront campsite.  Dozer definitely got as close to the water as he could without actually getting his toes wet.  There are a lot of birds in this area as well, so he runs from window to window trying to keep them in sight. We discovered that if we have him outside with us while we eat our snacks, the pesky sea gulls tend to stay away.  Without him, we can't walk away from  our plate, or our food will be gone.  Fishing is the past time of choice in this park and everywhere you look, people have rods in the water.  The park actually lends out fishing tackle, so we could fish if we want to, and Paul says he willing to try as long as I am willing to clean the fish.  We won't be fishing. I used to fish with my dad a lot, but I haven't done it in a long time.
      We've been taking in the sights over the last couple of days, and doing some more planning.  I know it seems like we are doing a lot of planning, but usually what happens is we pull out the maps and calendar, start making plans, and then get distracted and completely off track.  Then the next day we realize that although we discussed our options, we never actually planned anything.  We repeat this process often.  This time however, we did follow through, and made reservations for New Orleans.  We have friends meeting us there so we needed concrete decisions (very difficult for us).
   We planned our trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge two days in advance, and then invited Marilyn and Brad, fellow travelers we met in AZ, to join us.  Originally they were going to, but then decided it didn't fit with their plans.  That happens often  along the way.  Its almost like having neighbors that you casually spend time with, if you both happen to be home at the same time.  Its great when it works out, but if it doesn't, you always figure you'll see them some other time.   Since they are headed in the same direction as us, we'll try to catch up with them later.   Making plans with "non-travelers" is more difficult because it usually means whoever they are will have to fly to meet up with us, and that can't usually be done at the spur of the moment.  I've been trying to get my brother and his wife to meet up with us for a while now, but it's not as easy as it seems.


Fulton House

     Our neighbors are familiar with this area of TX and made a couple of recommendations for things to do.  One was to go see the Fulton House.  It was built by George Fulton in the 1870s, made mostly of wood, (enough to build a small subdivision of houses) which all had to be imported.  What made the house unique is the design and use of materials. Apparently it was quite clever but it pretty much went over my head.  Paul enjoyed it and asked a bunch of questions.  Down the street was the local oddity- a tree with the top of a windmill stuck in it.  A hurricane blew the windmill top into the tree and the tree grew around it.





"Windmill tree"

  Our trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was uneventful. This area has some of the best birding in the country.  Most people we see walking around have binoculars around their neck. This refuge is home to the endangered Whooping Crane, of  which there are only about 550 in the world. I'm glad we brought the bikes, for two reasons.  Our truck is too wide for the scenic road, and at least we got some exercise, since the wildlife seemed to be busy elsewhere, and weren't visible to visitors.  We did see an alligator from a distance, and several birds.  To be fair, we were there at the wrong time of day.  We should have been there either early or late, not mid-day.  We knew that, but didn't want to wait till that late in the day to drive over there.
Tomorrow we leave here and head towards Galveston for a few days before heading to Louisiana.  I better find some hiking, because I'm pretty sure we'll be doing some serious eating in Louisiana!