A productive day

I had Monday off, and it seems all the drama with the fridge and the challenging journey down here caught up with me.  I truly took the day off, and did nothing to speak of.  On Tuesday, I was back to work and put in a nine hour day.

One of the things I did was to check out the damage the feral hogs had done to the area around the VIS.  In a week and a half we’ll be having the Anahuac Wildlife Expo.  All of the tents and demonstrations will be set up around the VIS, and the area surrounding the pond.  Feral hogs really did a number on messing up a couple of the venue areas, buy if they move on to another area I think we’ll be okay.

I had today off as well, and after checking the forecast I decided to visit the Skillern Tract area of the refuge before taking care of errands.  The 1-2 mile road to the parking area has been paved since my last visit, and I wanted to check it out before the forecasted rains began.

The trail meanders along the East Bayou.  Though overcast for the most part, the temps were warm and humid.  Perfect conditions for mosquitoes, and since I didn’t bring any bug spray it was a quick walk for me.

The handicapped-accessible paved trail has the bayou on the east side, and the marsh on the west.  Other than the mosquitoes buzzing around, not much else was happening.  The remainder of my pics are from my walk along the way.

When I first arrived here last week, I called my mail service in South Dakota and had them send my mail to the Winnie facility.  After a week, nothing had arrived so I stopped at the post office to see if I had to sign in or something.  I met the person who delivers on my route, and she produced a box and one Netflix movie.  She wasn’t sure what to do with them.  I got that straightened out, so now I’ve got my last two month’s mail and two Netflix movies to watch.

Then it was on to Beaumont, TX, for a wine order.  Next was a stop at Walgreen’s to get my shingles shot.  Unlike some folks I know that are on Medicare and got the immunization at no cost, I had to dish out $91.  I’d rather do that than get shingles though.

After that, I picked up a year’s supply of flea and tick medication for Emma and a new toy for her to play with outside.  I have no idea what happened to the two toys she played with in Minnesota.  She probably tossed them 30 feet into the brush and weeds around our site there.  I looked and looked for them, but couldn’t find them.

Finally, I spent an enjoyable time at the HEB grocery store.  Many folks hate shopping for groceries, but not me, and it’s been two years since I’ve been in an HEB.  I even got a whole fresh pineapple for 97 cents!  Of course I came home with a number of items that weren’t on my grocery list, but since I’ll be here for six months I decided to live it up a little.  An apple fritter donut for tomorrow’s breakfast, a big bag of Texas oranges for fresh juice, one prime filet mignon, some Boar’s Head lunchmeats, and I’m feeling happy.

I’ll be back to work tomorrow to help Stephanie prepare for the upcoming Expo.  In the meantime, I’ve got a Netflix movie to watch, and I’d better pack a lunch…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy