Beautiful Autumn Day!

The weather and the colors were absolutely perfect!

Loving this cooler weather and blue skies!

Louise and Duane

 

How?

These trees are not just bent, but broken, yet they are still growing along the ground.  How do they do it? 

They're amazing!

Louise and Duane

18, 19, 20

 On Sept. 28, 2018 we were staying in the Escapee RV Park in Congress, AZ enjoying the butterflies

and sunset.

On Sept. 28, 2019, we were in Ohio watching the family play before our youngest Ohio grandson played in his soccer game.

Son-in-law Benji on left, daughter Rachel on right in pink and white, and Maddy, Simon, and Jude between them.

We also attended the Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil blacksmithing convention and enjoying the amazing  artwork the talented smiths created.

Sept. 28, 2020 found us enjoying the beautiful weather at Tyler (TX) Lake State Park.  We walked the trail around the lake, marveling at the strange stuff we discovered:

a nice woven rug and a almost-new kid's jacket left at a picnic area,

a very weirdly twisted tree trunk,

and leapord

and blue mushrooms.

Next year, hopefully we'll be on the west coast.

Louise and Duane

Tricky

This fierce looking caterpillar is a real fake.  When disturbed it draws its head in which makes its big "eyes" stand out. 

When danger passes, the head comes out and the real shape is revealed.  The "stinger" on its tail is fake too.  It-and the eye spots--are there to convince predators to stay away.

This 3 inch sphinx moth caterpillar is not done growing yet.  They usually reach 5 inches and also have a variety of colorations including black with stripes to green with red spots.  The adult moth is sometimes erroneously referred to as the hummingbird moth because of its bird-like size, with a wingspan up to 5 inches wide.

Interesting.

Louise and Duane

Party Time

Tonight we enjoyed some much-needed social time with some of the people who play pickleball with Duane.  Due to unexpected circumstances the party ended up much smaller than originally planned.  Nevertheless, Duane and I really enjoyed our evening out with (left from Duane) John, Gabriel, Jay, and Mark.  We spent a pleasant evening on the porch chatting and eating grilled brats, raw vegetables, chips and dips and desert.

We also watched the songbirds and hummingbirds which visited the numerous feeders scattered around the yard.

The hummingbirds were hard to photograph, but I finally caught three of them sitting.

During the course of the conversation we learned that one year ago today John was hospitalized with a heart attack.  We were celebrating his full recovery and saluting the medical staff that saved his life.

Thanks, guys, for a delightful evening.

Louise and Duane

Resurgence

Lots of rain and cooler temperatures have caused the Tyler Lake State Park woods to erupt with color. 

New mushrooms are everywhere in bright new shapes and shades.  

Our favorites include this pale lime green,

lemon yellow,

fluted brown/orange

candy pink

and this entirely new color--blue!

Blue mushrooms?  Amazing!!

Louise and Duane

Time Is Short

It's getting to be that time of year when the seasonal workers start leaving for a month or two before starting their next round at this park.  Everyone here are full-time rver's.  Everyone here, except us, are native Texans, and everyone here, except us, returns to this park every year to work camp.  

Tonight we met to share our evening meals together to say goodbye to everyone in general, and in particular to Nan and Bruce (in the middle back) who will be the first to leave--at the end of the month.

We social distanced and all brought our own meals, but shared an evening of fun chat and laughter. 

That's all, folks!

Louise and Duane

Creepy!

We did a lot of hiking back in 2018 (and before), and somewhere along the line this creepy guy started stalking us.  We thought we left him in Bryce Canyon in May, 

but he showed up in Colorado in June!  After that he disappeared.

Then suddenly he popped up right here in Tyler State Park!

He found us!

Louise and Duane

A Perfect Pair

Yesterday, after walking the trails here in Tyler (TX) State Park for 4 months, we discovered our first venomous snake, a coral snake.  

Notice that the head is the same size as the body.

 

The day before we saw this black snake, and in our blog ( Trash? Treasure!) I identified it as a black rat snake.  Our park interpreter, however, disagreed.  He said it was probably a water moccasin, or cottonmouth, another venomous snake.  Looking closer, I was able to see the characteristic triangle head on a slender neck, and the relatively short stubby tail of the pit viper.  

Now I feel we are really lucky to safely view two venomous snakes in their natural world.

What's next?

Louise and Duane

Two In A Row!!

Yesterday--black rat snake, today our first coral snake in the wild!  Even Duane was excited to see this beautiful snake while we were on the trail!

I first disturbed this one about a foot from the trail.  It didn't want to pose for my camera but took off away from us.  When I saw it stop at the base of this tree about 15-20 feet away, Duane tried for photos with his phone.  

When tree stopped its flight,  (middle, right)

it turned and tried to hide in the leaf litter (same position).

top middle

Closeups

There are four venomous snakes in Texas--rattlesnake, copperhead, water moccasin, and coral snake.  The coral snake is unique for several reasons.  It is a cousin of the cobra.  Next to the black mamba, it has the second most toxic venom in the world.  It is considered less dangerous than a rattlesnake because it doesn't coil and strike as a rattlesnake does.  Instead it is shy and docile, preferring hiding to aggressive behavior.  It farts.  When  it is threatened or startled it makes a popping noise by passing gas.  It is the only egg-laying venomnous snake native to the United States.  The others give birth to live young.

Interesting and beautiful--like us!

Louise and Duane

Trash? Treasure

With rain in the forecast for tomorrow, we decided to pick up trash along the lake loop today.  At the lake edge I found this piece of rubber tubing,

which was actually a beautiful black rat snake.

That made it worthwhile to work on Sunday.

Louise (Duane disagrees!)

Race Day

 Tyler State Park will be hosting the Piney Woods Ultra Trail Run put on by Ultra Expeditions this Saturday, September 19th. Please note that this foot race will utilize Loops A-D & EZ all day Saturday and those trails will not be accessible to mountain biking or hiking at that time. Those wishing to hike on Saturday may still hike on Whispering Pines or the Lakeshore trail. All trails will be back open to the public on Sunday, September, 20th. Thanks for understanding so we can keep our racers safe on the trails.

Many aid stations situated along the routes offered first aid in addition to water, electrolyte drinks (which were poured into runners' personal bottles), and various sweet, salty, and savory snacks.

The event today featured 5k, 10k, 25k, 50k, and 100k races between 7 am this morning and 1 am on Sunday. The 100k finishers will run 9 times around the entire trail system. About 200 runners participated, hoping to finish to receive a medal or/and receive the top male or top female award.

100k? We can't imagine running 1k!

Louise and Duane

Sluggo

 This is a bee busily loading his legs with pollen.

This is the opposite of me today.  Duane played pickleball.  I sat around watching tv.  He took me to the laundry and insisted that I help fold, and made me walk around the grocery and put away food at home.  Otherwise, I sat in my chair watching tv while my mind went hhhhmmmm.  To combat the blahs, I decided to eat more chocolate.  

My mind went from hhhmmm to mmmhhhmmm!

Worked for me!

Louise and Duane