February 17th
At the entrance to the park, I encountered a herd of deer in someone's yard and managed to get a few pictures of them before they high tailed it. At the park I took
pictures of the "Big Tree". There is a fence around it to limit people compressing the dirt above the roots. So, I walked around the fence to get pictures from all
the sides. Also did some photos of other live oak trees there. Apparently, they don't know the exact age, just that it is centuries old.
While there, the wind got intense and the temperature was still in the low 40's. I was wishing I brought my heavy coat. Leaving the tree, I thought I could still find Schoenstatt and had just missed the entrance, but I still didn't see it, so I continued to the National Wildlife refuge.
The van took us along the two-way road to the view tower, stopping along the way at the short walking trails along the way. At each stop the two volunteers took turns telling us something about the stop, then we would get off and look for some wild life. It was too cold for the alligator. They like to lay in the sun, not in the 27 mph 46-degree wind. No herons were visiting their flats, the song birds were taking shelter in the trees. They offered us a bird guide that illustrates the size difference between similar species of birds to aid in identifying them. At the big tree trail, there was another big live oak that has vines growing up through the branches so it acts as a cool shelter in the hot summer. Today we stood on the downwind side for relief from the wind. At the lookout tower you had two choices. One was at water level and the other about three stories high. I took the upper stairs. You could see a few birds way out in the distance. There were two pairs of whooping cranes way in the distance. Below me in the trees were several turkey vultures that I was able to get pictures. The only animals that were visible in numbers was deer. We saw several herds in the fields and a few were eating in the picnic area.
After a short time on the look-out we headed back to the visitor center. I went straight in to warm up. Then I went back to my car and took out my stromboli lunch which I slowly ate inside. I then got in my car and drove through the one-way trail. The drive took more than an hour. The sight wasn't so good because the trees are thick and in their wintery dismal colors. I saw an occasional deer crossing the road and some smaller birds, probably juncos, flying between the trees. I stopped at the visitor center for a restroom stop before heading back to Rockport to pick up the sisters. I got back to Rockport around 2:30. They thought the conference would be over by 3:00, so I decided to hang around there instead of going to the Fulton Mansion.
I ate the rest of my sandwiches while I was waiting. They got out around 3:30 and we headed back to Corpus Christi.
Links:
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Goose Island State Park - Big Tree
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The Dominican Nuns needed a ride to a conference in Rockport for their daycare. When they asked me to take them. I decided to visit the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge,
visit the Big Tree at Goose Island and stop at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Lamar to make it a day trip. I think I zigged when I should have zagged and ended up at Goose Island
State Park, so I proceeded to the Big Tree by following the signs.
