Moving on from Sea Rim State Park

We met and enjoyed working with some really great folks here.  The staff was considerate and a pleasure to work with.  Kudos to Ben, Linda, Russell, Laura and Buddy.  We also met some exceptional volunteers.  Gary & Denise, Dan & Carol and Jim and Sharon made the time a pleasure.  Hopefully we will cross paths again someday soon.  Significant progress was made during our stay toward the park’s grand reopening in Mid April.  The cabin is ready for exterior paint and the beach area has water and will have electric when the power company arrives to install the wire.  The last couple of weeks I spent in the campground instead of a host site.  It made enjoying sunrise much easier when you only need to roll over and look out the window.

Sunrise Crop Comp0398

For now we must move on to honor previous commitments at Aransas National Wildlife but, we’ll be back.

It was all about candy for the kids

Fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles, and the corvette club led the way in the lighted float parade in Port Arthur.  It was classic small town with decorated wagons and pickup trucks for clubs, the elementary school, and churches. SantaCycleComp_0076 Everyone threw candy and the kids scrambled everywhere.  TowTruckCoimp_0088I even ended up with a few tootsie rolls.  Middle school and high school bands made a showing as did Santa, The Grinch, a Dino Santa and Blue Santa and Mrs. Santa.  Not the fanciest display but the locals showed up in great numbers even on this cool, windy evening.

Thanksgiving at Sea Rim

The food was fantastic.  Smoked turkey, two kinds!  Sides and pies of every kind.

Great setting.  The superintendent’s house is perched on poles nearly 20 feet above the marsh.  The gulf stretches out to the south and marsh in every other direction.  It is not the classic over the mountains and through the woods but it is beautiful.

New friends.  We hung out with all the folks from here Thanks Comp_0026at the park and their families.  It was a enjoyable day.

Birthday at Shangri La

Buzz Lightyear Comp_0025 Fire Ant Comp_0012 Pot Lady Comp_0022We shared the day with Buzz LightYear, a giant fire ant, pilgrims, the tooth fairy, Rakes Comp0030hilarious rake and broom people, Scary Poly Potter (lady made of flower pots) and a whole lot more.  There were 64 wonderfully creative entries in a scarecrow contest at the Shangri La Botanical Gardens in Orange, Texas.   The manicured gardens are beautiful but so is the moss draped tupelo/cypress swamp along Adams Bayou.  It was a perfect day to be out and about.

A Volksmarch

Just days ago I didn’t even know what it is now we have been on one.  A pretty impressive one at that; typically it is a once a year Spring opportunity to hike Crazy Horse Memorial Mountain.  Luckily this year they also held a Fall Volksmarch and we got the rare chance to come face to face with the larger than life image of the great Chief Crazy Horse as it emerges from Black Hills granite.

Chief Crazy Horse Monument

Chief Crazy Horse Monument

We hiked 6.2 miles through woodland, across blast debris zones, and up the mountain along the progressive blast lines to find ourselves standing right at his chin.  When complete all of Mt. Rushmore will fit in the space occupied by his head.  This is a colossal undertaking driven forward by the sheer will of one family and the dollars of thousands of individual private donors.

The project is awe inspiring no matter how you feel about the politics or the ecological impact.  This was a great way to see it up close.

Model and Mountain

Model and Mountain

A perfect subject

Today is the Buffalo Art Show and Auction at the Park.  As you might have guessed, the Buffalo is the subject of nearly all pieces displayed.  Pieces range from fine art paintings and pottery to welded scrap iron sculptures.  Two life size buffalo statues,buffalo usa_0195 one painted with a collage of natural scenes and wildlife and the other a buffalo with an ornate USA emblazed on it’s hip.   Both are fantastic pieces.  However, neither is a suitable choice for my home décor just now.  We checked out all manner of buffalo adorned items, tasted at the dutch oven cook off, and watched some pretty talented cloggers.  I even tried my hand a “chip flipping”.

Lynn flips a buffalo chip

Lynn flips a buffalo chip

I brought home a buffalo hide shoulder satchel.  Ooh, I love the smell of new leather.  It isn’t too crazy that I can absolutely melt when I look into the big dark eyes of a gazing bull or watch a prancing, playing calf yet buy a buffalo leather purse?