OK a Little More Texas

 

  I had to go see the The Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge before I left Texas. Its lies southeast of Corpus Christi along the Gulf of Mexico. Its considered Coastal Prairie and is not that different then Cape Cod and its National Lake Shore, except being in a warmer climate it attracts many more species, of everything. One of the signs says there use to be three million acres of coastal prairies, now all that is left is this small stretch along the Texas Coast. Considering how varied and teeming the wildlife is here, its kind of depressing to think paradise has been reduced again.

 

 

Ok here is a list of what is there, what I saw, and up to recently what was there.

What's there now are Alligators, huge Leather Neck Turtles, half of all Butterfly species in North America, Dragon Flies, Deer, Bobcat, Ocelots, Sand Cranes, many different migrating birds that are in Michigan in the summer especially ducks. I also saw Pelicans, Ospreys, Owls, Falcons, Chugacarro's, (roadrunner like birds, probably spelled wrong), Ok the list is too long. Up until 1980 there were even Jaguars in there. To think there use to be three million acres of this kind of wilderness along the gulf coast  and is no longer here, is like I said earlier, "kind of depressing".

 

The whole refuge is pretty amazing. A 15 mile loop road goes thru the heart of the refuge and brings you to views like this.

These two pictures were taken from an observation deck about half way along the loop.

The biggest treat, was while I was up on this observation deck an Ocelot came walking down the road towards my motorcycle. Since I was up on the hill to its left, and the wind was coming at us from off the gulf, it never knew I was there. At first I thought it was a bobcat because they are suppose to be in the refuge as well. It was bigger then a bobcat and I guess it was maybe between 20 and 30 lbs. With its markings and short fur it looked like a small Jaguar. I'm not  100 percent sure it was an Ocelot, but it was too big and marked differently for a bobcat and too small for a Jaguar. I told a local about it and he said I was very fortunate to have even seen one, let alone get to photo it so close. Since they are so rare their on the endangered species list. As soon as it saw my motorcycle it backed down the road and left.....but to be the watcher and not the watched by a hunter of that skill  I thought was  luck indeed.

 

Earlier I did a little house hunting, for some reason I'm hooked on houses with palm trees in the yard. Wishful thinking I think, I don't think I would mind missing a winter or two.... Here's some of my favorites

And finally I went over to San Padre Island and got to walk along the gulf. I ate Sea Bass and Shrimp, both fresh and deep fried in a very light batter. It was the best deep fried fish or shrimp I have ever had. Good Gulf food is a treat in itself I'm learning. The restaurant is  La Jaida, on the main strip. The northern beaches on the island were littered with Galveston debris from hurricane Ike. As beautiful as the north spit of the island is (it reminded me again of Cape Cod), the waves, sand, and sunset. All the garbage littering the beach was hard to take in such a beautiful place. The owner of the La Jaida said they would get to cleaning it up eventually, but for now it was like walking thru a dump.....

I thought why doesn't the governor let some prisoners out of jail, have them camp out, get some fresh air and exercise and clean the whole spit up, it really is sort of a disgrace.

Living up north, its hard to appreciate how destructive hurricanes can be. If this island ever gets a direct hit, with a huge storm, there probably won't be much left.

Mexico Tomorrow (manana)

I've spent a few days just northwest of Corpus Christi taking care of last minute details, things to get, last log, last phone calls, etc. I've stay'd at a quiet place here in Rockdale, The Rainbow Motel.

The weather here has been very nice, 85 degrees during the day, sometimes as low as 40 at night, but very dry and perfect for bike riding. Rockdale is a small out the way place with a Walmart and the usual suspects along the main strip. McDonalds, fast food places, etc. The houses are older and look like they aren't built with severe cold in mind. In fact the drive and yard of the motel is all filled with pebble gravel. It is low maintenance, keeps out the weeds, and never has to be mowed. The assorted southwest plants and vegetation placed over the property makes it feel very comfortable. Of course the gravel would never work up north where the plows would simply plow it away. Also it being 85 at the end of October, one can imagine how hot it is in summer here.

The weather down in Central America has created some conditions that needed monitoring. The rainy season this year has created a lot of flooding and disrupted a lot of the infrastructure of Nicauraga and Costa Rica, as well as other countries in the area. Some roads are reported out, as well some basic services.

With the western media as usual it seems, neglecting news from these countries for the most part, accurate reports and up to date conditions have been somewhat hard to come by. Fortunately the internet allows for other sources of information.

I have called the Nicauragan embassy here in the states, to get some news and also have reports from fellow bikers who are making the same trip and are down there now. While some roads are out depending on which route one takes, the Pan American Hwy.,the main route thru the area is reportedly in good shape, and a lot of last weeks rain seems to have dissipated. Sunny skies are reported!

The rainy/hurricane season officially ends November 1st so hopefully the worst is over. I'm planning on leaving before light and try to get to the border as early as possible. Since the luxury of driving at night from now on is not an option, according to all reports night travel is too dangerous in these countries. Because of the roads themselves being rough, poor lighting I imagine, and also a lot of livestock, bandits and whatever else you can imagine, it just is not recommended.

So I look forward to this part of the journey, and finally getting underway. I think Mexico and then the Central American countries will be the most challenging and probably, the most rewarding part of the trip. I will have to see how communication goes since I don't know where or how the my next access to the internet will be....