Terlingua Ghost Town

 18 April 2024

Breakfast at Espresso y Poco Mas, super cool outside dining

Shopping at the Trading Post

Paid respects at the Terlingua cemetery (hello small lizard)

Stopped at Desert Sports for Gary to book a Sunday mountain bike ride, and to sign waivers for our Rio Grande canoe trip tomorrow. Hello, Solis!

• Back to the place for lunch
• Nap time for me
• Pair of scaled quails came scooting by again
• Female pyrrhuloxia came to drink 
• RABBIT! A nice cottontail
• Serenaded by the curve-billed thrasher
• Dinner is a mishmash of leftovers, all good

Terlingua!

14 April 2024 // Sunday

• Gary the Invincible does the 7.5 hr drive from San Antonio to Terlingua!
• Grocery store of incredible proportions
• Driving through Big Bend National Park
• The Caravan and the Casita
• Slept outside under the stars. Warm, then cool, magical in all cases. 

15 April 2024 // Monday

• Awake at 5am in awe at the stars and Milky Way. Woke Gary at 530am to see. He too marveled.
• Good morning! The sun is out, the air is soft and warm.
• Birds!
• Pair of Pyrroluxia bathing in the bird bath. Stunning birds. Cardinals, but with grey.
• Curve-billed thrasher searching for bugs around the car, jumping up to catch them out of the air.
• White winged doves calling constantly.
• A late afternoon / evening trek 2.38 miles at Chisos Mountain. Enjoyed the sun setting as we hiked, then seeing our moonshadows during the last quarter of the hike.
• Gary and Gail spotted a grey fox and a jackrabbit along the way. Also a common poorwill. Neat!
• Home around 930pm. Dinner outside.
• Slept outside. Cue “heart eyes emoji” “starry eyes emoji” :D

16 April 2024 // Tuesday

• Awake at 530am for Milky Way. Woke Gary, and then Gail, to enjoy. Not quite as clear as the previous night, but still incredibly beautiful.
• Gary even hung out in the outside bed to enjoy the sunrise.
• Gary and Gail enjoyed eggs for breakfast and made pizza. So good.
• ADVENTURE DAY! Set out for Big Bend NP around 1pm.
• Sam Nail Ranch trail, looking for birds. Not the hot spot we expected.
• Tuff Canyon trail. New lizard friend! Very cool sculpted canyon from prehistoric volcanic vent action, lava spewing, ash settling, rock throwing, now exposed through millennia of water flow. Very dry for most of the year.
• Ranger station and visitor’s center at Castolon, where we found a heat warning with an underlined directive — avoid hiking in the afternoon.
• We chatted with friendly bikers and later friendly campers who told us about… (drumroll)…..
• Castolon campground - BIRDS! Scarlet tanager, vermillion flycatcher, verdin, olive sided flycatcher, gray hawk, and more! Bonus: some sort of gopher like thing digging serious holes through the group camp site.

• On the way home, multiple mice dashing across the road
• A jackrabbit along the road as well. Those ears!
• Back at the caravan around 1010pm. What a day! After showering in the bath house, it felt great to climb into bed. I slept indoors for a change.

17 April 2024 // Wednesday 

• Excellent sleep had by all.
• Gary sets out *early* for mountain biking at Lajitas. Rented from Desert Sports, great folks.
• ROAD RUNNER visitor at the bird bath!
• We repeat, for its second visit, ROAD RUNNER at the bird bath, now with adequate water!
• Supper at El Gordo. Delicious. Gary had brisket torta with avocado, tomato and cabbage. Surprise cheese appearance. Gail had tacos al pastor. Burger for me.
• Another successful grocery run at Cottonwood.
• Gorgeous sunset.
• Desert willow in bloom.

San Antonio, King William Historic District walkabout

 FLOP! Walking is hard. 

Riding a bike is hard.

Gary pedaled down the trail and Gail and I went exploring in the arts district. Many cool vintage and original artist creations.

Absolutely delicious breakfast of strawberry sweet cream waffles made from fresh ground flour - perfection.

Also, a giant pink pig:

Leaving Sisterdale > Cave Without A Name > San Antonio

 Fun things:

Lucy and her friend came to the porch this morning, but were not in a socializing frame of mind. Lucy later came meowing up a storm from somewhere around the car, leading me behind the house and then doing several rounds of flopping down for head scratches and more meowing.

We completed the guesthouse checkout list and hit the road bound for the Cave Without A Name.

Finally saw a wild turkey alongside the road. She was minding her own business and focused on foraging. Fields here include cattle, goats, sheep, more cattle, and rocks. Also abundant wildflowers, cacti, and Texas Live Oak. The latter provides shelter and sustenance for an astonishing number of Buck Moth caterpillars and other species too.

Enchanted Rock, Texas

*words later*

Sisterdale / turtle rescue! / Kerrville (TOTAL ECLIPSE!) Texas

Eclipse day arrived!! 

As weather folks all over predicted, our little spot of Texas was almost entirely clouded over for the four days surrounding the total eclipse. We raced westward to try to reach clearer skies. 

On the way, we found a turtle attempting to cross the two-lane highway, with regular traffic just ripping by. Gary made a quick pullover and after waiting for several speeding vehicles to pass, we worked in tandem to a) watch for traffic and b) snatch up and safely escort our intrepid traveler across the road in its desired direction. A very satisfying endeavor for us, and hopefully a boon for the turtle.

Our search for clearer skies was to no avail. With about fifteen minutes to go before the eclipse began, we finally stopped in the town of Kerrville. We caught glimpses of the sun and moon just before and just after the eclipse, when the clouds thinned ever so briefly.

Panorama: it grew so dark while I took this picture, the automatic lights came on at the Kerr County youth development camp building. Dogs began barking like mad. Otherwise, silence — no traffic at all as everyone stopped to watch.

Kerrville featured on PBS - and then we noticed the NASA logo and thought… 🧐 

Five or six minutes after the first panorama photo and about three minutes after totality, the (sun)lights were back on in Kerrville.

Another glimpse as the eclipse begins its denouement.

Amazing, wild, wonderful, even though we did not get to see the corona. Naturally, thoughts arise of chasing next year’s total eclipse in South America. Possibilities….

After seeing the NASA logo associated with Kerrville, we ventured into the town proper and then found NASA’s extensive eclipse viewing setup. No idea what we missed, but no doubt it was extremely cool.

We found Waldo!!

A neat set of mosaics representing classic children’s stories outside the county library.

Mother Lucy tending to her three kittens, which she hid inside a tree trunk several feet off the ground. Very very smart and attentive mama.