Where are We?

Here we were at Sam Houston National Forest in Coldspring TX a few days before we were nicely booted out! Since it is federal land, law enforcement comes through periodically. Although we hadn't seen any yet, they did show up one morning as we were having breakfast.

The two officers asked how long we had been there and apparently our almost three weeks exceeded the 14 day limit! They gave us the okay to depart the following day. After we ate, we reluctantly started packing up and headed out the next day. We really enjoyed this spot with the horse activity and pretty surroundings, but, the law told us to git out of Dodge!!

We did a few nights of more free camping at a Walmart and a Love's truck stop, a decent experience at both, knowing we'd be heading back to Escapees RV park a couple of days later.

We're back at Escapees now and will be here for two weeks until we head to a new-to-us place here in Texas, High Island, located on the Bolivar Peninsula. Situated on the east coast of Texas, High Island is one of the hot spots in the US to view spring bird migration! It's been accessible to us since we hit the road in 2015 and made Texas our domicile, but we never made the pilgrimage. After a few years of birding less frequently, we are jumping right back in and making up for lost time! We'll be camping there in early April for a week and we couldn't be more excited! If you saw the movie The Big Year, High Island might be familiar to you.

This are just a few examples of what we can expect!

Four sanctuaries on High Island, Boy Scout Woods Bird Sanctuary, Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary, Eubanks Woods Bird Sanctuary, and S.E. Gast Red Bay Bird Sanctuary are owned and managed by the Houston Audubon Society. Peak migration, when migrants come pouring across the Gulf of Mexico, is mid-March to mid-May, so hopefully our timing is good. And we're hoping for a "fallout" while we're there, which happens when there's a fast-moving cold front. Fallout means thousands of exhausted birds drop down into this hospitable habitat to rest and refuel since the cold front is holding them back from proceeding north to their breeding grounds.

We took off a year from full-time rv'ing in 2020 as many of you know, to recover from a very difficult 2019 during which we took care of Michael's mother while she was treated for breast cancer. She passed in December of 2019, and we were both emotionally and physically spent. We sold our small camper and rented an apartment in Kerrville TX to rejuvenate. As 2020 rolled to a close we decided to hit the road again in our newly purchased travel trailer.  Our outlook is bright again and we are anxious to make birding a priority as we travel throughout the country. 

After High Island, we will stay along the coast exploring Galveston Island, Bolivar Peninsula and other nooks and crannies, to make our way up to Beaumont TX, to explore the Big Thicket National Preserve, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, and much more! 

And yes, expect lots of bird pics! 

Thinking ahead, we're considering the east coast for late spring and summer, and New England for late summer and early fall. But, nothing's in concrete. And our plans are always fluid.

Before we leave for High Island, we will have received our second Covid-9 vaccine injection. We're very happy about this. And hopefully, you continue to be healthy and happy.