another cold front!

Yesterday (Christmas) we began the day in our bathing suits at the beach and pool.  today (Dec 26) I wore long johns under my jeans and coveralls, scarf, 2 winter hat, 2 pair of gloves and double socks  to work on the refuge.  What the heck... 

Cactus blooming:

we found a dead bobcat (will not post pictures), looks to us (not that we know anything, but like to make stories fit our observations) like a pack of dogs attacked it.  we have not seen any dogs but that is our theory..

today was a bit warmer so no long johns or winter hats..  today was our wildlife day..  we seen javalina's, a live bobcat and a coyote mom and two pups.  we looked for the dead bobcat it was gone..

Friday is finally here!  temps are OK for working.  a few down trees and branches from the high winds we had the other day. 

I take pictures of Butterflies:

Eric takes them of snake skins!

we will be off for Sat and Sun and back to work on Monday..  short weekend for us..  will need to rest a lot this weekend.

Christmas Eve and Day 2012

Warm and cloudy was the weather for these two days..  not complaining, just saying..

Lazy start on Monday, walked the beach for an hour or so then sat by the pool hoping the sun would come out..  finally we gave up and went to the Birding Center for a few hours before heading to lunch.

Fish, shrimp and oysters for me, all very good (they can keep the fries),  Eric had a wonderful grilled chicken sandwich and great charro beans..

since we were at South Padre Brewing Company, Eric got a growler filled with a wonderful red beer.

headed to the south end of the island to the county park.  lots of fisherman there, some even catching fish..

Jesus for the Fisherman..

we seen a couple of dolphins too, but they did not pose for a picture!  another wonderful evening on the balcony.  love this place!

Christmas morning..  the clouds went elsewhere.

 

Eric went for a swim in the Gulf...

 



 

I prefer the Hot Tub...

 

time to go back to reality! 

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

 

Kathy and Eric

South Padre Island for the Christmas Weekend

We arrived at about noon, in time for lunch!  We were a bit early so sat at the bar at Louie's on the Bay for about 20 minutes before we could order:  Fried shrimp and shrimp on the barbie.. both were very good. 

checked into our hotel..  did not like the room view..  up graded to a jr. suite.  love the views...  pool and ocean out of one window, dunes, ocean and birding center out the other window..

our room is the right middle ..

Of course Eric has to go swimming..

walked the beach for awhile, then dinner at Sea Ranch.. 

more fried shrimp but this time jumbo gulf and oysters.  total shrimp for the day 24, 12 oysters.  the shrimp this evening were very very big and some of the best we had.  the oysters were OK, would not recommend or get them again.

spent the evening on our deck, listening to the ocean waves and enjoying the warm evening.

Sunday morning sunrise from our room!

we went out for breakfast before going for a horse back ride on the beach..

Eric's horse is a German Warm Blood called Maximus:  big guy, his hair looked more like a brown bears!

Mine was a quarter horse named Whisky.  Whisky did not like the water so every time a wave would come up he would move away..  we made a perfect pair!

we would recommend this adventure and might even do it again before we leave!

we need to rest after riding...  (and the sun was out)

I should have had a whisky but opted for a Margarita:

we took advantage of the sun so did not see the Packer game..  55-7!  had to call Fred from Hobo's Hideout in Sarona Wi to find out if he ran out of shot glassses!

took a walk before dinner, found a neat playground..

I decided to swing...

dinner at: (we went here last year but liked it so much we thought we should repeat)

botana with really good gucamole, salsa and chili con queso:

did not need to order dinner but...

shrimp quesedilla:

Eric had the famous shrimp diablo:

we spent the evening on our patio listening to Christmas music and enjoying the kids in the pool.

End of the World?

even if the world was ending I needed to do laundry!  did not want to have any dirty clothes around. so that was done first thing.

we spent a few hours at Estero Llano Grande State park, birding..  seen a few ones..

Vermilion Flycatcher:

Fulvous Whistling Duck:

after a few hours of having fun at the park we stopped at Fat Daddy's for take out. 

we got the 3 meat combo (ribs, brisket and pork), beans and cole slaw.  we stopped at a street vendor for roasted corn, they mix mayo, butter and cheese in the cup.  (I did not get the chili sauce)

for $14 that is enough meat for 3 meals!  the food was fabulous, smoked perfectly, with the sauce on the side, white bread, onions and pickles..  who could as for anything more for a last meal!! 

hope we are around to finish off the left overs.

heading to the island tomorrow:

SATURDAYMostly Cloudy74°67°Precip 10%

SUNDAYPartly Cloudy79°70°Precip 20%

MONDAYPartly Cloudy78°72°Precip 20%

TUESDAYCloudy78°52°Precip 10%

the week before Christmas

We had another cool front come into the valley.
 can you see the cool front?  it is the line between the clouds and the clear sky.

 last week after the front I had to dress in layers, including my cute pink head band under my hat and two pairs of gloves.  Today after the front the only difference was the lack of humidity.  the temp got to about 84!  the weather here is really odd.

Seen two bobcats today, (Eric thinks he seen another one but it was too far away to confirm.

did not get a picture of the first one, he ran in front of us across the road.

the second one is about 30 feet from us..

burning sugar cane fields today..

had to go back to Verizon as my Wi Fi is still acting up.. 

cool enough at night to turn off the AC and open up the windows!

Tuesday: very cool morning.. started out at 55 degs.  warmed up to      beautiful sunny day to work on the trails, although it got a bit hot at 85.  tomorrow is suppose to be 90.

Last year we seen 2 bobcats in 4 months. in the last two days we seen 4! 

Wednesday: we joined a group to go to Palmito Battle ground and Boca Chica state park. One of our volunteers gave the history of the battle.  He did a very good job, made it interesting and fun. it was pretty windy so we did not see too many birds.

Portuguese Man of War...

Since we took Wed off we worked on Thurs.  which was a good thing.  Wednesday was about 90 deg and Thursday was about 65..  better day to work the trails.  still very windy...

Seen another Bob Cat today.  this one had a collar on it..  We went out for lunch today as we won't have time for dinner.  We are participating in the Weslaco parade tonight.  When we got back to the refuge it was in lock down so we could not go out onto the refuge.  We picked up trash in the ware yard..  there is always something to do around there.

Parade:

The Bear:

the kids with music..

one of the volunteers and friend.

Refuge mascots, Ocelot and Blue Goose:

with the Chick-fa-le cow:

The kids really enjoyed the parade but so did the big kids.  everyone was in a very festive mood.

We are heading to South Padre Island for the weekend.  Saturday through Tuesday.  the weather looks to be pretty nice.  Of course plenty of sea food will be on the menu for this weekend.

Merry Christmas to everyone
if you are traveling be safe