3pm 1/18
Well I’m headed West from San Antonio out through the town of Hondo, and I will go North to avoid the towns of Del Rio and El Paso. I love Del Rio, I’ve seen great birds there, but it’s a little too urban, and once you’re in Del Rio you really have no choice but to continue on through El Paso, through some very barren areas. I’m going to try to stay more in the better populated areas, going North, and maybe trough Alamogordo. Once I get to Las Cruces I really don’t know what I’m going to do because of the problem of walking on the interstates with the dog.
Anyway, I expect to be making those decisions soon.
I would like to send a really big thank you to Kathy and Barry Rinehart, Becca’s parents, in SanAntonio. Kathy has always had good advice for me and it’s really helped me out. They were very generous and I just really wanna say how appreciative I am to them. There will be lots more updates soon.
I am hiking along the railroad here, maybe for the last time, because once I head North, the Railroad just continues West to El Paso. Xena is doing great. The cart is doing ok. The modifications I’ve made on it are okay and I’m looking forward to the West. As Jim Morrison says; “The West is the best.” Thanks, Love you all. Bye.
351pm
I want to tell everyone what a wonderful break it was for me to visit my niece and nephew, Becca and Nathan Chapman and their four kids; Mark, Michaela, Katye and Kade for 2 weeks. I got to rest and rehab.
I was pretty tired when reaching San Antonio, and now I’m ready to go again on to the most difficult part of my trip. Nathan helped me so much, converting and strengthening my cart. He has good understanding of tools and mechanics and now I’m in good shape, cart wise. Becca cooked special veggie meals for me and sent me packing with cookies and brownies and cough syrup for this Cedar allergy everybody down here has. All four kids were fun to be with, at Kayla’s basketball games, riding bikes with Katie, getting my dog pack fixed by Mark or just playing with Kade. I miss the tub, the T.V., the bed and the food. But mostly, I miss their family.
My vans parked at their house now. Did I tell you about my bus ride back to Alabama to get it? I’ll be heading back to here for sure now after my walk, and I just might relocate to around here.
I would like to say that I had a wonderful time visiting the San Antonio Audubon at the Lake Mitchell preserve there. I met with Iliana Pena and Susan Albert, and they were just really great. They drove me all around, showed me some birds and also talked to me about the efforts of Audubon in San Antonio where they coordinate a lot of Audubon projects for the entire state. West Texas has been so dry, as everybody should know if you’ve been paying any attention at all, you know that there’s been a humungous drought here and one of the effects that effects the birds is that the water usage in East Texas, around Arancis, has been compromised so much that it’s endangering the cranes. It’s killing their food. Their food is in water that is too saline to live. The crabs are dying and the cranes are having a very difficult time.
Houston Audubon is in court with the state of Texas because of the endangered species act. They’re saying that we must protect the water flow to that area. If you would like more information on this, look up T.A.P; The Aransis Project. That’s the National Wildlife Refuge on the East Coast of Texas. This is a very critical time for Texas, and especially for the wildlife. That’s all for now, I’ll talk to you when I get to Del Rio. Bye!
birdmanwalking 