The Final Touch

We finally came to a decision on what chairs we wanted.  Lazy Boy wall huggers in leather.  It was a tough decision as Carolyn really wanted a rocker but with all the movement while going down the road...that was nixed.  Now you know what it looks like inside.  We put the final touch into our Hitchhiker.

This Red-tailed Hawk kept circling giving Carolyn the opportunity to get a decent picture.

Our south Texas speciality bird.  The Green Kingfisher perched over Cattail Lake for this photo.

Work has been a little slow on the refuge so far this season.  Only a few of our lakes and marshes have water.  Willow 3 is teeming with waterfowl and a good variety.  We have had a Canvasback, Redheads, and a little Eared Grebe, all three are unusual here.

Settled at Santa Ana NWR

While we were gone over the summer, the folks here decided our request for a gate closer to the Military Highway was a good idea.  They installed one, and in the process went through our site to hook it up to a power outlet which helped make the area nicer (in my opinion).  As most of you know...I hate guinea grass and pull it every year we are back!!!  Kim and crew sprayed it last season, but it is hardy and keeps coming back.

As you can see, we have already been cleaning it up...raking, leveling, and removing debris.  Now I will have to sweet talk Bob into letting me plant some native plants.

One of the critters out our window is the Fox Squirrel.  It is not wanted here as it is non native.  We did enjoy watching it store ebony seeds by burying them in the ground.

We got a little rain since we've been here...enough to create some pools of water on our patio.  We were sitting at the dining room table and just happened to see this Texas Tortoise (a threatened species) getting a drink of some very fresh rain water.  Now, how many of you have seen that sight?  We felt very fortunate.

Now ain't she special????  I always thought they got their water from prickly pear cactus.  She stayed there drinking slowly (as they do everything slowly) for a good 5 minutes.  I might get involved in research of these wonderful creatures...do I really want to put myself out there with ticks and chiggers and rattlesnakes...OH MY????

I will leave you with this...The Great Kisskadee.  I guess I could have photoshopped it and taken the leaf out but I DON'T do those kind of things.

One Missing Picture

This is our front kitchen.

Photos of Our New Abode

Waiting for our chairs!!!  Our colors are New Mineral.

Our little love seat while we await our chairs.

We Have Arrived

As Wallace was trying to park here at the refuge, he pulled under a TREE!!  Our brand new rig has a bandaid now.  I was finally able to get him stopped.  Thank God, it could have been worse.  We were both sick about it.

Wallace has also been trying for 3 days to get our tv working.  It worked fine while we were in Kansas????  We are looking for a storage unit to store stuff that doesn't fit.  We deleted the two recliners to buy our own...thank goodness, because that is where our stuff was placed on our way here.  Now, we are looking for the recliners we want and that will fit!!  We are almost moved in.

Some of the boxes have already been moved.  This is just a sample of leftovers.  We now have a storage unit and now can get our chairs.  The tv is now working.

The afternoon when we arrived, I went to the school to pick up Lindsey.  She was so surprised and we were so happy to see each other!!  Joaquin warmed up to me real fast even though its been 7 months since we have seen each other.  Lindsey has lost her two bottm teeth.  Grandchildren are so special!!!

We went to our favorite Mexican food restaurant for lunch...Taco Ole in Mission.  The best Mexican food in the world.  We have been hitting all our favorite places since we got here.

Okay, here are the pictures you have requested.  Your virtual tour.

Come on back tomorrow for more of the tour as it is going so slow I don't have time to wait on it now.

I Always Wanted to Spend the Night in Paris....

Paris, Texas that is...our first night on the road driving south in our new rig was spent here in the Wal-Mart parking lot, 300 miles south of Chanute, Kansas.  We were serenaded by grackles during the evening...a sound we haven't heard in a while.

Even our red roads in Texas are better than most interstates in other states!!!  Tulsa, Ok....forget it, chuck hole city.  We were glad to be on our good Texas roads.

Red-tailed Hawks have kept us entertained while driving.  I don't remember seeing so many before.  Their numbers are not dwindling.  Every overpass has its own group of pigeons.

The only fall colored trees here are Chinese Tallow, a non-native problem tree.  We left all the beautiful maples up north.

Once we hit highway 77, we felt we were home.  We drove from Paris, Texas to Victoria, Texas where we stayed in the Wal-Mart parking lot along with 9 other rigs.  This is where we have our first WHATABURGER!!!!  YEAH.  It was delicious!!!

Now we start seeing Caracaras, Harris' Hawks and other South Texas specialities....We are Home at Santa Ana.

I will try to post pictures of our rig tomorrow as some of you are asking to see inside.  We are still trying to get moved in and settled.

Detour, There's a Muddy Road Ahead....

We had been discussing whether it was time to get a new rig for the past two years, but I really like the floor plan we have...it is the perfect ONE.  We never had a problem...everything fit and had a place, even the bread!!!  I hate to give it up.  We were even toying with the idea of a motorhome.  Being that we have had such good luck with NuWa (nine years with MANY miles on it), we decided that's what we would go back to. 

So, we took a detour from Arkansas to Kansas to the factory in Chanute where you can buy directly from them now.  Chanute has a city park where you can stay free for the first 48 hours and then it is $10.00 a night for a max of ten days.  There is electricity and water with a dump near by.  We parked and headed over to see what they have on hand.  One of them had its thumb stuck out for a ride to Texas (Hitchhiker).

We signed the papers on October 25, 2011!!!  We are the proud owners of a 2012 Hitchhiker Discover America 300 FKTG.  We moved from a 34' to a 30'...uh oh.

While we were there, Virginia and Kurt Neville were there having their's repaired from a bad tire.  It was good to see a familiar face and visit with them during their brief stay.