Jan. 19th to the 23rd

Jan. 19th. [Whoops not September] We left Sanderson in the middle of the morning rush hour and headed out to Fort Davis / Indian Lodge State park.


Rush hour in Sanderson >>>>




Indian Lodge is a magic place with total peace and it's resident herd of tame mule deer.












The birding was also pretty good. I saw an Acorn Woodpecker. These guys nest and live in a commune and keep their winter stash of acorns in a nearby tree or in this case electric pole.

We also visited a local rattlesnake zoo. We had not realised that there are so many varities or that they can grow to 9 feet! It was all a bit creepy as everything was a bit ramshackle and there are a few stuffed ones lying around under the cages to give the visitors something to worry about, dead or merely sleeping?

Carol’s bit,

Went through El Paso today, well named, best thing to do. The place is a concrete mess. Just outside are the museums for the Boarder control, lot of info on K9 units and a museum of archaeology very interesting.
As we pulled in I could see a lady with a large “dog” walking through the garden.
Grabbed my camera and rushed over to see. The dog turned out to be a Malamute /wolf hybrid. Must have weighed about 10st plus and as soon as I started to talk to him, he leaned on me and squirmed. Good job I’m used to being shoved around by German shepherds that was some weight.
His name is Shadow and he is 7 years old . His mum Nancy had had him since he was 7 weeks old. Along with 4 other dogs, two of them pit bulls, she has her hands full. Apparently last year El Paso and other areas of Texas decided that it was illegal to keep wolf hybrids, so these dogs have suddenly become Malamute (husky) german Shepherds. Vets and park rangers won’t admit that anyones hybrid is wolf, so I hope that there aren’t any more dumped anywhere these animals are magnificent, he must be about 3ft plus at the shoulder. Nancy mentioned a wolf refuge near San Diego, so as we are heading that way so that’s on the list.
There are a lot of strays here, they just lay by the roadside or hang around where there are people and beg to survive. I’ve got a box of dog treats to hand out, I didn’t expect to see this is America. Good job I’ve got Charro or we would end up as a refuge for abandoned dogs (and cats) probably the odd parrot as well.

January 18th Sanderson South Texas

We are parked in front of the court house in Sanderson, Terrel County South Texas as I write this after a morning spent on a ranger guided tour of Seminole canyon.

These canyons contain giant overhangs which have been inhabited for at least 8000 years and many are covered in cave paintings. We both made the tour although Carol still has a bad cough. The guide was as usual very knowledgeable and at times very funny. The caves we visited had lots of evidence of long term use and I found it very eerie to put my hand on a rock "table" covered in deep scores where bone knives had been worked, holes where grains and nuts had been ground and the surface finished with a deep dark patina, all of this done many thousand years ago.


Some of the theories put forward by the "experts" [Timothy Francis Leary ?] on the cave paintings suggest that the shamans were tripping on some LSD like substance and had flying dreams seeing the arms as wings. However the guide put forward a convincing argument that this was the case.


John's Bit My replacement Yak profile was flight tested last Sunday and does very nice square loops in knife edge. Not something I had seen before. This model was supplied FOC by OMP as they acknowledged that there was a wing tube problem with some kits.

Charro's BitThey finally found me a nice piece of grass. Tonight I got to walk on something green and soft rather than WalMart car parks. The big fat one is strangely drawn to these car parks with two or three visits every week. The boss got me some new medicine while we were down at the seaside and I am getting some tasty bits of food in with the usual dry rabbit droppings so things are looking up a little. I like this new way of going for a walk. I go as far as I can and as soon as I give a little stagger they put me in my carriage and I get pushed around the rest of the way. The big fat one gets to push mostly which suits me as the boss needs me to keep and eye on her. I don't like her cough one little bit. If it had been me coughing my lungs up I would have been down the vets at the speed of light. However she is self medicating with funny smelling footbaths. There is nothing wrong with her feet as far as I can see.

Jan 13th News from the beach

We liked South Padre Island and the Isla Blanca State Park camp site so much we stayed on a couple of extra days. We are also looking into staying there for a month next year if we can get a good spot. Charro is looking quite alert again, the antibiotics may be working or it could be the sea air or sea water. We still have to be careful about overwalking him but as long as we have the trolly he can hop aboard.


Carol nearly adopted another parrot, it was walking around the floor of the aquarium we visited and after a bit of a chat he would have left with us.

We are heading towards Arizona along the border through Laredo and El Paso but for tonight are back at Mission to pick up some late mail.

Jan 9th 2008 South Padre Island

The view from Amberjacks restuarant.

We are staying at the Isla Blanca State RV Park on the South tip of Padre Island, for a few days before heading up to Arizona and Quartzsite. Charro has been to the vet again which he hates but it looks like it might be just a bladder infection and some specific antibiotics should help. His medical file is now pretty thick and includes UK history, several US vet’s comments and his British passport which always impresses the vets over here.

After a few shaky days Charro now has his own personal carriage. We have been working on adapting a bicycle trailer and he had his maiden voyage in it last night. It is quite remarkable how quickly he learns to accept new things. He walked up the ramp, and after trying to get off the front soon realised that we were expecting him to lay down. Soon we were off around the park with him enjoying the new smells and sounds. Our progress attracted lots of comments and we were feeling like having a sign made to tell his story. Carol has had 14 years of explaining about white shepherds and usually leaves it to me now. His carriage will allow us to range further with him and if he gets tired he can hop on for a ride. And we don’t have to worry about over walking him, as he just keeps going till he collapses.

Carol’s bit

Every time Charro goes to the vet I think it is for the last time, seems it’s not yet though. Each vet I take him to adds his own opinion, but it always seems to be for the best. It’s possible that the bladder infection has caused inflammation in the collapsing disc, which is why he is reluctant to walk, having his spleen out in February has compromised his immune system, so he is prone to infection. The vet has recommended cranberry powder, which I have used before, and I will add pro-biotics to counter the negative effect of anti-biotics. I just have to juggle them at opposite times of the day.
The vets here seem to be more interested in the animal than making money, they always give a thorough examination and don’t charge a lot. This last one took over an hour and charged me £30. I got the antibiotics from Wal-Marts for £2. The vet was very open to Naturopathic medicine and sent me to the local health shop ( a proper one) to get the stuff that Charro needs.
I’ve always had to fight with the British vets, about using drugs, very expensive ones, and using my own medicine.It has cost me a fortune for them to confirm what I already knew most of the time, but x-rays and blood tests back up any suspicions.
He is over 14 yrs old now, and in very good health apart from this disc. The dog trolley is a godsend, we can go further now and take him with us, I won’t leave him alone, he has been stuck to my side since he was 7 weeks old, and he would feel abandoned now and unhappy if I changed his security, and I owe him plenty.
All the training that he has had in the past, and experiences that he has had, make it easy for him to understand when I ask something new of him, he soon realised what to do with his trolley, and also signalled us when he wanted to get out and walk. I hope that this will give us more freedom and buy Charro more time.

BEFORE






AND AFTER MODIFICATIONS HAD BEEN MADE

Monday 7th. Off to the seaside

We are leaving Bentsen Palms RV park and heading down to South Padre Island. This strip of sand protects a shallow lagoon and runs for 115 miles up to Corpus Christi. We plan to spend a few days in a State Park on the South end.
We have finished Charro's new dog cart and he has made a short test trip in it. This will allow us to take him with us on outings without the fear that we might over exercise him. We will post a pic soon. I also finished my replacement Yak 55. OMP sent a replacement kit FOC which makes them good guys in my books. However it was too windy today to test it.

1st January 2008 Happy New Year

About us


We are not serious birders but we like to walk Charro in the local state park which is a world famous birding centre. Today the bird count was a little disappointing, even the usually very noisy Plain Chachalaca [Ortalis vetula chachalaca vetula] were quiet and as we walked back we thought that perhaps they were all catching up on lost sleep after all the fireworks last night. However as we parked the RV the trees behind our site contained a bigger range of birds then we had seen this afternoon. As well as two different woodpeckers and a couple of tiny yellow breasted birds we saw something new. I do not know if this is common behaviour, but I have never seen or heard of bird pyramids before. It was forecast to be cold that night so may be they were preparing for a long cold night. I can not identify the birds, they maybe sparrows? If any reader can help please add a comment.