A workout, Talleys, martins and grass

It’s been quite a busy weekend for me.  First, on Friday, I drove into the town of Anahuac and signed up for a membership at the Wellness Clinic.  That’s where I did the physical therapy on my shoulder.  My shoulder is fine, but I’m having some issues with my back that makes walking any distance a real problem.  I thought maybe if I could do some treadmill work, things might improve.  For $27/month, seniors can use the workout room, pool, and classes six days a week.  I’m not really interested in the classes, but Friday I used the treadmill and recumbent step climber.  I planned to finish up with some time in the pool, but it was closed for repairs.  I think I’ve been sitting around too much lately, and maybe that’s why I’m having some back problems.  We’ll see.

When I got home, there was an email from Nan and John Talley saying they were staying the night at the Walmart in Port Arthur, and they wondered if we could get together on Saturday.  I sent them my phone number because I had a different idea.  After we talked, they left Walmart and headed to Winnie.  I figured they could stay here overnight with electricity since the site next to me was vacated by fellow volunteers Terry and Bob while I was in Chicago.  They were up for that.

As I waited for their arrival outside with Emma, I heard a familiar sound and scanned the skies.  Sure enough, the first purple martins had arrived!  That means that migration has begun for sure, and spring is not far away.  Wahoo!

It turned out that John and Nan didn’t arrive until well after dark, but we made plans, after they got backed into the site, for an all day tour of the refuge on Saturday.  And what a beautiful weather day we had for it!  It was pretty windy on the refuge, but the sun was shining, and we weren’t freezing to death.

When time allows, I start visitors out at the VC to watch the movies about the refuge.  After that, we head around the Shoveler Pond auto tour route.  As with Sue and Mo when they visited, we took the boardwalk into the fresh water marsh.

Nan recently lost her camera, so had to use her phone to try to get a picture of that baby gator that greeted us as we started out on the boardwalk.  Of course, there was a lot of jabbering away as we leisurely took our stroll.

With the nice warm temperatures, more than alligators we out sunning themselves.  I think it might have been John that spotted this tiny red-eared slider turtle.  It was only the size of a medium sized cookie.

And then Nan spotted another young alligator that was so well camouflaged in the muck and mire of the marsh.  I would guess that it was about a year old and probably a sibling of the first gator we saw.  Mama was probably lurking nearby, as they usually don’t send the young out on their own for at least two years.

It was a grand day on the refuge, and we enjoyed our packed lunches out in the wilds.  After we got back to the rigs, Nan invited me over to a delicious dinner that she had prepared, and we continued our visit.  It’s been over two years since we last crossed paths just before they went fulltime.

John and Nan headed out today for Houston, and I just lazed around most of the day.  I’ve been trying to get someone to help me with the grass around the rig.  This maintenance area that I stay at is mostly cement, but there are areas of green around the RV sites, and they’ve recently gone crazy with growth.  So much so that the grassy area where Emma does her business was about 18” deep.  That was unacceptable to her as she doesn’t like to get her feet wet in the heavy dew of the morning.    Happily, Barry and Lynn stopped over after working the VC today with a weed whacker, and we took care of the problem.  The whole area really needs a mowing, but with reduced staff numbers it’s hard to get that accomplished.  The weed whacker is too much for me to handle, and as near as I’ve been able to figure out, there isn’t any mower located here.  Grrr!  After all, I do have those steel toed boots whiling away just waiting to be used…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy