Coyotes

We have a pair of coyotes that come through the park at least once a week.  They might smell the corn that everyone throws on the ground for the deer.  The deer always keep a watchful eye on them when they run through here.  This place is full of wildlife.  We've only seen the deer and coyotes but everyone tells us there are quail, turkey and wild pigs that come through the park as well.

We have had dreary weather for the last week or so and are going to see more rain and clouds for another week.   Its not cold -- its been in the 50's and 60's and even into the 70's once in a while.  We miss the sunny, dry days we had in Yuma.  I guess being this close to the coast we should expect this kind of weather.   At least we won't see any of that nasty, cold white stuff on the ground down here. 

Houses on the Water

Port Mansfield is full of houses built along the canals that run through town.   You have your boat dockage right out your back door.  The canals all join up into one main channel that you follow out to the Laguna.  Most of the property here is rental property.  They rent out the houses by the day and week and in the winter they will rent by the month.  Winter is the slow season down here for fishing even though the fishing is still pretty good.   There are some beautiful houses but then right next door could be a small dumpy looking place.  There is some new home building going on here.   Its easy to see how a hurricane could come through and reek total havoc.   A lot of the houses are built on concrete pilings "stilts" to help keep them above storm surge water. 

Its typical Texas here -- very windy -- some days and at least some wind most days.  Being so close to the salt water we are seeing rvs, boats, bikes, etc rusting away here.  We bought some black rustoleum to try and stay on top of the little bits of rust we are seeing on our stuff but we do not want to stay here too long and have major rust problems. 

Birds of a Feather

We are enjoying the different birds we are seeing down here in south Texas.  The bird picture is a gold-fronted woodpecker.  It has an interesting yellow spot above its beak and a pretty red spot on the back of the head.  This one is looking for bugs on a palm tree.  These woodpeckers are only found in the southwest part of the U.S. 

At least once a month a group of ultralite flyers comes to the RV park in town that is closer to the small airport.  There were at least five of them up flying one weekend.   They look like they are having a good time.  They have their meetings and potlucks at the RV park.  These guys haul their flying machines in the back of their 5th wheel RVs.  Its an RV like ours only with a "garage" in the back where they can store their machines.  Most people use these "toyhauler" RVs to haul their 4 wheelers or motorcycles.  This is the first time we saw ultralite flying machines come out the back end of one. 

Our Own Manger Scene

Jim has been busy feeding the deer that hang around the RV park.  The deer are everywhere in town as well.   Everyone feeds them and they are almost pets / pests.  Many times during the day they will just lay down right in our little yard.  I will be reading in my chair and look behind me and there they are lying down.   We've also had a pair of coyotes come through the park at least twice a week.  The deer keep a wary eye on them as they travel through the park. 

Port Mansfield is kind of a strange place.  Its not incorporated and is run by the Port Authority so there is no government per se only some kind of board.  The only group that seems to do anything is the chamber of commerce although they don't seem to do much.  One of the locals was saying that there are a few rich home owners that sit on the "board" and they don't allow much of anything to change here.  Its too bad since it is known as one of the top ten salt water fishing hotspots in the country. 

Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

We've been checking out south Texas.  We went to two wildlife refuges.  The first one was Laguna Atascosa which is just north of South Padre Island on the coast.  It attracts a lot of ducks and birds that are migrating.  They had a special deer hunt going on the day we were there so some of the areas were closed off for hunters only.  The road to get to this refuge was one big pothole.  We would not go back because of the road.

We also went to Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge which is down in the Rio Grande Valley.  It is on the Rio Grand itself so its as close to Mexico as you can get.  A few years ago the Rio Grande flooded and took out a lot of the structures in the refuge.  They have rebuilt the trails and overlook decks.  We got to see our first Green Jays and Chachalacas.  The Green Jays are beautiful with their pretty blue heads and bright green bodies.  The Chachalacas are the size of Grouse or small chickens.  They can fan out their tail feathers like a turkey.  I think they are hunted like other game birds.   

Port Mansfield

We are now staying at a nice RV Park in Port Mansfield, TX.   The park is full of deer so Jim has started feeding them.  One guy in the park gave Jim a bag of animal crackers to feed the deer.  It turns out that the deer love them.  All the stores sell deer corn because it is not illegal in Texas to feed deer.  Its kind of sad that you can have deer feeders and then shoot the deer that you have lured in during deer season.  There are hundreds of deer that hang around Port Mansfield.  They are in everyones yards and they are fairly tame.   They are also very small so not much meat on them.

There are several boat launches in town that dump you into the Laguna Madre.  Everyone that is staying in this town fishes.   The Laguna is over 10 miles wide and several hundred miles long following the coast down all the way to Brownsville.  The Padre Islands separate the Laguna from the Gulf.  You can get to the Gulf through the Port Mansfield cut.  They actually dug a channel (cut) through Padre Island in order to get out to the Gulf.  The Laguna is only 1 to 5 feet deep so you need a fairly flat bottomed boat to fish it. 

Very Nice and Very Odd Water Creatures

I'm still sharing pictures from Padre Island National Seashore.  We saw these wonderful Red-headed Ducks.  They are the first ones I've ever seen.  There was a whole pond full of them.  Its amazing how many birds come to the southeast coast of Texas for the winter.   Walking the beach was a challenge with all the jellyfish that washed up on shore.  The high tides must strand them on the beach and they were all over the beach.  I found out this pretty blue one that was still moving even on the sand is called a Portuguese Man O War.  Yes, their sting is poisonous but I don't think its deadly at least not the small ones.   They aren't really a true jellyfish.  They are some kind of polyp with many polyps forming one organism. 

There were other plate sized jellyfish with pink tentacles all over the beach as well but I couldn't figure out what they were called.  From what I read they can still sting even after they are "dead".   We accidentally stepped on a few while walking (we had shoes on) and they are very slippery -- its like stepping on ice.   People were fishing in the surf  and others were enjoying the water.  I couldn't believe none of them got stung.   Although people must get stung because there were notices at the visitor center on how to treat the stings (use vinegar).

Padre Island National Seashore

We spent two weeks in Corpus Christi, TX.  We stayed at a very nice campground and it ended up being fairly close to the Padre Island National Seashore.  This is a national park that covers over three fourths of Padre Island.  It is a sanctuary for the Kemps Sea Turtle.  The sea turtles come here every summer to lay their eggs in the sand along the shore.  The park service actually takes the eggs and incubates them in a safe place.  When the turtles hatch they make a big production of releasing them on the beach so they can make their run back to the ocean.  Everyone in the area is asked to help keep the gulls, etc. from trying to eat the turtles before they get to the water.   There are big fines posted for poaching turtle eggs or turtles.  

There are a couple of campgrounds along the shore in the park-- no electricity but there is a water faucet to put water in your tank and a dump station for your sewer.  We don't like this kind of camping because we don't have a generator so don't have anyway to live  "off of the grid".  There are picnic tables with shade covers for day use.  We saw all kinds of interesting shore birds.  Here is a picture of Ruddy Turnstones. 

U.S.S. Lexington

We followed US 77 highway south from LaGrange and when we got to the small town of Schulenburg we had to take the truck detour around to avoid the low underpass.  Well the truck detour was very tight so Jim was not happy trying to drive our train through it.  We got to Corpus Christi and decided we would park for two weeks.  Its beautiful here and the weather has been excellent. 

The first touristy thing we did was take a tour of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lexington.  This is the famous aircraft carrier from WWII.  It was in all of the famous battles in the Pacific and survived even after being very badly damaged.   Jim got pictures of the aircraft that are on display on the flat top of the carrier where they would normally take off.  The carrier is in the harbor by downtown Corpus Christi and is so huge you can't get a good picture of the whole outside.  It takes several hours to see the whole thing.  You get to climb many, many stairs to get up to the bridge.  Jim had to play with the phone and wheel and the airtubes used for calling the engine room.  They also show a 3D movie in a huge theater which was fun to watch.

Lots to see and do here so we are glad to be staying for two weeks. 
 

Painted Churches of Texas

After we left Arkansas and drove through Oklahoma.  We haven't driven through Oklahoma in a couple of years and if we can avoid it we certainly will.  We took freeway, U. S. highway and toll road through Oklahoma.  The toll road was tolerable but the rest of the roads were horrible.  We hit Texas and breathed a sigh of relief because the roads are so much better.   We stayed in a little towns across Texas.  We took some state highways which were pretty nice roads although some not so nice.  We stayed in the Paris, TX and then Athens, TX - funny how Texans like to name their towns after capital cities.   We then hit the little town of La Grange, TX.  We managed to bypass Dallas and Austin. 

A few miles from La Grange is one of the famous painted churches of Texas.   These are churches built in the 1800's by German and Czech immigrants.  If you want to do the full auto tour and see them all you start by the town of Schulenburg.  We only went to see this one that was close to La Grange.  It was St. Johns and built in 1890.  The churches are famous because of the bright colors they were painted on the inside.  This one has an orange interior.  It was very pretty and very well kept.  It is still in use as a church. 

We are now in Corpus Christi, TX enjoying some very warm weather.

Govt Shutdown - Means no campsite

We had reserved a campsite at Horseshoe Bend Corps of Engineers Park on Beaver Lake in Arkansas.  Of course it was during the shut down so we didn't get to stay there.  We had to stay at another private campground a few miles away that was overcrowded.  Everyone was trying to get a campsite after the "good" campground was closed.  Horseshoe Park opened up on the last day of our stay but we elected not to move our rig for just one nights stay. 

We were there to visit friends who work at the corps park and of course they weren't working during the shutdown.  They showed us around the park and I took these pictures of the beautiful campsite we would have had as well as the beautiful view from the campsite of Beaver Lake.  People launch their boats and park them on the shore by their campsite.  The lake is huge and has walleye in it but we didn't try any fishing.

Missouri

         We managed to get through Kansas City in the early afternoon before the traffic got bad.  When we double tow we are very conscious of traffic so we try hard to avoid it.  We spent the night just south of Kansas City in a nice campground in Peculiar, MO.   We then went on to Branson where we are staying for a week.    We are close to Table Rock Lake and this is a picture of the dam on the lake.  The dam is one of several along the White River.  This dam is between Lake Taneycomo and Table Rock.  There were quite a few fly fishermen trying for the trout they stock in the lake.  This guy was having the most luck and was catching and releasing some beautiful trout.  You have to release them if they are between 12 and 20 inches.  It seems there are slot limits on fish in every state not just Minnesota.  When we first arrived the visitor center at the dam was open but it has since closed -- even though a foundation runs it the government shut it down. 

 

We went to one show here at Branson --- the Sons of the Pioneers -- playing at the Shepherd of the Hills Pavillion Theater.  It was a great show and one of the band members has been at it almost 50 years.  The band was started in 1934 and has kept going by getting new band members as the old ones retire or die.    Everyone knows a few of their songs -- Cool Water -- Tumbling Tumbleweeds, etc.  Of course they have you line up and take your picture and then sell it to you during the show.  I bought it and got it autographed.  What the heck!

 

We also had breakfast at Billy Gail's.  This is a very popular restaurant for breakfast.  They serve pancakes the size of hubcaps and are also known for their biscuits both of which are light and fluffy.   The restaurant is in an old log building that was once a gas station.  We went by it on Saturday morning and the place was packed with a very long line waiting to get into it.   We had been smart to go during the week and get there right when it opened at 7AM. 

Next stop Beaver Lake, Arkansas.

 

Camping -- on the road

We left the resort and headed down the road but we didn't get far.  Had to stop in Cloquet, MN at the ford dealer.  They didn't have the part we needed and couldn't get it quickly.  They told us we could get to our destination -- 150 miles and then get the truck fixed.  Well we didn't make 40 miles and had to get off the freeway and take backroads to the next ford dealer because we could only go 40 miles an hour.  We got to Pine City ford and they let us spend the night in their parking lot while we waited for the part.  They had the part the next morning by 8AM -  so we were on the road again.  It was just a bad sensor that had gotten all waxed up from biodiesel. 

We went to Precision Frame in Elk River, MN.  We had an appointment to have our axles realigned on the 5th wheel so they had us park in their parking lot overnight so they could start work on it right away at 7AM.  We did have electricity at both parking lots so I guess we were lucky.  They did a great job on our rig and we quickly went over to a campground in Ham Lake, MN.  Of course, you can't get anywhere in Minnesota without hitting some sort of road construction detours. 

We are now parked in Altoona, IA at a very nice campground.  The first picture is the Pine City "camping spot".  We did have a nice view of a little stream.  The campground in Altoona is very nice with a nice cement slab to park on as you can see in the picture-- in Ham Lake we were in a mud hole.    It wasn't a bad campground -- it just happened to be very wet and our site was not hard packed gravel like most -- just dirt.  Next stop -- Peculiar, Missouri.

Fall Colors at the Resort

The leaves turned color overnight.  Its so beautiful everywhere you look.  We had guests until Saturday morning and we worked like beavers and by Sunday afternoon we had the whole resort closed down.  Yippee!! Its time to leave and head south.

Closing Things Down

The big dock was brought to shore.  It will rest there for the winter.  We are starting to close down cabins.  Sunset cabin (pictured) is all closed up and winterized.  Its not as much work closing the cabins down as it is opening them in the spring.  We just pull all the bedding off, cover everything in plastic or old sheets, wash all the dishes and bag them up and scrub the kitchen and bath..  The guys blow out the water lines and take care of all the outdoor furniture (some gets stored in the cabin).  Some cabins get their carpets shampooed but the owners are going to take care of that after we leave. 

We have finished packing up the boat and I'm putting all my knick knacks away in the 5th wheel.  We've had some pretty cold mornings but its supposed to be nicer during the week.  I'm sure by the time we leave it will be just plain cold.  We will be heading out next week and we will spend a few days in the Twin Cities and then a few days in Branson, MO.  Our goal is to get down to Corpus Christi, TX. 

Smallmouth & Sunset

Jim caught a really nice smallmouth and so did I but we only got his fish picture.  His was the bigger fish.  We have had a great summer of fishing, catching all kinds of walleyes and some really nice bass.  The boat is in getting winterized so if I want to fish now I have to go off the dock or we might take out a rental boat.  We get to use the rental boats and pontoons just for the cost of gas.

We will miss the good fishing and the fabulous sunsets and the loons and the eagles and the otters and, and, and.  Now we are packing up and starting to close down the cabins.  There are still about half of them rented out until almost the end of the month.  The last weekend will be a scramble to get the last ones closed. 

Canadian Cabin

Some beautiful views on Namakan Lake.  The cabin is actually on the Canadian side of the lake.  The land and water on the Canadian side of all the lakes in Voyageur National Park are not part of any kind of park.  You need a border crossing permit and Canadian fishing license to boat and fish on the Canadian side.  A few of the cabin owners that lost their lease on the islands and land that became Voyageurs National Park moved to the Canadian side.   There are some beautiful cabins from what we could see.  There is a barge service that brings propane out to the islands and will probably bring anything else you need for a price. 
Couldn't resist a nice picture of a loon.  It seems we are always fishing where the loons are fishing.  We are starting to get ready to move on to our winter home.  The boat is out of the water and we will have it winterized.  It doesn't need winterizing where we are going but to get there we could hit below freezing temps.  We also could hit very cold weather coming north in the spring (like this spring) so we winterize it just in case.  Not sure if we will fish this winter or not. 

The Eagle has landed

Fishing got very slow but we were still catching some very small walleyes and bass.  A few of the small fish didn't survive being caught so we threw them out for the gulls and eagles to feed on.  We watched as a gull grabbed a floating fish and proceeded to swallow it whole just like a pelican.  We couldn't believe it.  We thought that gulls just pecked at their potential meals.  A small mouth bass that wasn't badly hooked was flopping on top of the water after we released it and a gull came over to it and tried to swallow it only it wouldn't go down.  The fish kept spreading its spikes so finally the gull gave up.  There were many gulls around all trying to grab this meal when all of a sudden they all started squawking.  They then all took off and left the area. 

We soon realized why the gulls took off.  An eagle flew in and quickly grabbed the fish and took off for its nest.  If you click on the pictures to make them bigger you can see the fish hanging out the backside from its claws.  We have been cleaning a lot of very small walleyes that should have been thrown back.  The people catching them all say the same thing -- it was badly hooked so we had to keep it.  They don't realize they missed a photo op of an eagle snatching the fish out of the water.    I would think a photo like that would be much more memorable than the morsel of walleye they enjoyed. 

Gold Portage

We took a tour of the northwest corner of the lake.  We hadn't been there before and decided we needed to check out every inch of the lake while we had the chance.  The bent tree is at the entrance to Gold Portage.  The second picture is the start of Gold Portage from the Lake Kabetogama side.  You can only go so far by boat or canoe and then you come to a little rapids that you can tube through if there is enough current to make it fun or just portage around it.  This outlet from the lake flows into Black Duck Bay which is part of Rainy Lake.

The Gold Portage got its name from back in the day when they used to go this way to get to the islands on Rainy Lake that had gold bearing ore on them.  Rainy Lake had gold mining for a short time until the veins ran out.  You can take a tour boat to see whats left of the mining equipment and shafts on the islands.  Now the area is all part of Voyaguers National Park so you can't explore for gold anymore.

Pet Northern Pike

Jim has managed to attract three small northern pike by the dock.   He calls them his pets now because they come when he throws dead minnows in the water.  Its pretty amazing when one of them goes after the minnow.  They will shoot out of the water like a shark to chomp down on the poor minnow.  We sell live bait and have to keep the minnow tank clean so the dead ones now go to feed the pike.  The pike are too little to keep so no one tries to catch them.  The kids and even the adults enjoy watching the pike stalk the minnow and then POW snatch it.  I tried to get a picture of him before the water erupts.  He's in the top picture by the letters reflecting in the water. 

The cold snap is over for now and its finally summer again.  Thank goodness although the fishing still hasn't gotten back to what was.  The bass fishing is pretty good and we both have caught nice bass.

Rainy Lake Visitor Center Boats

When we spent the day on Rainy Lake we launched at the boat launch at the visitor center for Voyagers National Park.  Its free to launch there and many people use it including cabin owners that have cabins on the islands.  They can safely park their vehicles for a day or a week or longer.  People that take their boats and just go camp on the islands at the designated campsites also launch here.  All they have to have is a free overnight camping permit. 

The big boat in the picture is the tour boat that the park service owns.  They do two hour tours of the lake.  You get to see the islands that had gold mines on them.  You also get a nice tour of the lake itself.  The other picture has our boat up front and the park service boats in the back.  There is also a sheriffs boat parked here.  When we were there we saw the sheriff race in by car and then him and a deputy or first responder ran to the sheriff boat and tore out on the lake.  We heard a 12 year old boy was hurt out on one of the houseboats.  We didn't here any more than that so don't know if he was ok or not. 

A Touch of Mink

We were out fishing and I saw a mink swimming out from an island.   I thought I would get a great picture with the telephoto lens.  As I was taking pictures he kept coming closer and closer to the boat.  Pretty soon I realized he was actually looking for a way in the boat.   I guess he thought it would be a good place to rest but I shooed him away.  Mink can be quite mean so I didn't want it getting too close.  I did want to reach out and pet that fabulous fur!

It has been kind of cool here and the water temp has dropped 10 degrees.  That makes it really hard to swim and enjoy all of the water toys.  The kids still manage to use them but they don't stay in the water as long.  When they turn blue from the cold water they run into the sauna to warm up.  Its looking like we are done with the hot weather and by mid August the night time temps usually drop in the 40's so the water will just keep getting colder from here on out.  

Sky on Fire

They say "red sky at night sailors delight", meaning that the next day should be great for being out on the water.  The last two days have been really cold up here.  Record breaking cold -- highs in the low 50's and lows in the mid 40's and its July!  They say when we get this kind of cold and wind that Canada left her back door open.  Please shut it! 

I went to the local community center for a night of bingo.  Of course it was packed -- it draws locals and a lot of tourists because its something to do.  I got close to winning one game.  It was different - if a number is called and any of your cards have it you turn the card over and if all your cards are turned over you sit down.  Last one standing wins -- it was down to me and another lady.  Oh so close!

Weeeeeeeee

Summer fun at the resort is going full blast.  The water tower is the favorite water toy here at the resort.  The first guy jumps down from the top and crawls out to the end and then the next guy jumps down and launches the first guy.  If you have a large body launching a small body the small one gets launched pretty high in the air.  Kids scream and beg to be launched -- then they get launched and scream and cry because they land pretty hard in the water.  Of course after all that they want to do it again -- go figure. 

Jim's been catching all the fish this past week.  I think I've only caught two to his many, many fish.  What burns me is I'm using the exact same setup as him.  Hopefully this week will be my week to catch all the fish!

They Are Watching

One of our favorite fishing spots is close to an island with a Bald Eagle's nest.  Jim happened to catch a really nice walleye that was over 25 inches while they were watching.  He also caught a smaller walleye that was too big to keep (over 17 inches) but was badly hooked.  He threw it back but it was obvious it wasn't going to make it.  Suddenly, one of the eagles swooped down and grabbed it and took it back to the nest.  Now we know why they perch over us.  They are waiting to be fed!

We are having Thanksgiving in July at the resort.  We are deep frying several turkeys and the guests are asked to bring a dish they love at Thanksgiving.  So between working hard on Sundays and getting ready for the feast I am getting to the blog a little late.  I made homemade stuffing and used fresh herbs out of our big herb garden here at the resort.  It's weird picking fresh herbs out of the garden for Thanksgiving!