Golden sunsets

Well, we didn't find the gold at the end of the rainbow.

But, we did find this at the end of our digging.

That's  Mt Blanca on the right...
the 4th tallest Mt in Colorado, over 14,300 feet from what I read on the Internet.

Maybe this was the 'gold" the New Mexico natives sent Cortez and his men to find towards the North, back in the 1500's!

Colorado Rainbow

We are enjoying the cool Colorado weather.
First night here, the temp was 50 degrees. I hear in parts of the valley, the lows at  night are in the 40's. One man reported 38 degrees! 

In the day, however, it rises to near 80. But at 48 humidity and slight wind, it is really enjoyable.

And, you might not believe this: it is raining every day for a little while.

With the appearance of rain/fog, we feel we are back in Kodiak.

But, there are 2 things we get a lot more of here:
Thunder, and rainbows.

Do you see the second rainbow to the right?

And.....if the legend is correct.....

 there is a pot of gold to the left of that dead pine tree.

Tomorrow we are heading there, with picks and shovels!
.

Can you tell where we are?

No, it's not a view of a forest fire.

Here's another view, taken a few minutes earlier, also looking West,

 with a little rain on the Southern mountains.

And, no, they have not been photoshopped.

Can you guess where we are?
Here is a clue: it's name says it all.

Colorado!
Yes, it's the view out our window in Forbes Park, in Southern Colorado, 
looking form the Sangre De Cristo Mts. near La Veta Pass,
westwards towards Ft Garland and the San Luis Valley beyond that.

And, in case you forgot, in Spanish "colorado" means reddish.

About 1 to 1 1/2 weeks ago it showed like this sometime between 8-8:30PM every night.
Now, it's like this every night sometime between 7:30 and 8 PM.

We wait for it to get so red (even if it's just for a few minutes) before night begins.

Not a bad dinner time show, is it?

New Mexico skies

New Mexico is known for it's beautiful sunsets. 
That's why many painters have gone there.

And, while we've travelled this stretch of Northeastern NM between Clayton and Raton many times, we again stopped and took in the views.
They must have had a wet summer, 'cause the grass was a lot greener than usual for this time of year.

But, while we've have experienced bad weather several times on this stretch,
the skies, looked just too colorful to us.

And above those bright colors, there was developing a very thick mantle of gray skies.

As we got closer to this farm, the gray skies lowered towards the ground.

Within a few minutes the skies turned totally gray and it began to hail...
larger than golf balls, but smaller than Valencia oranges.

As the hail pounded on us, we pulled off the road and waited for the storm to pass.

Once in Raton, we stopped and looked back at what we had gone through:

Interestingly, the people who had driven past us, at over 60 mph, had also stopped and came over to talk. 

They had decided to drive fast and be in the storm as short a time as possible. 
Maybe that was smart, in case a tornado touched down.
But all we know is that their windshield had broken.

We were sure glad we didn't add any force to those ice balls by driving into them fast!

Driving through Texas

We were surprised to see how good the cotton looked despite the Texas drought!

We wondered how come there are 2 colors of flowers.

Here is what the Internet says:

"About two months after planting, flower buds called squares appear on the cotton plants. In another three weeks, the blossoms open. Their petals change from creamy 
white to yellow, then pink and finally, dark red. After three days, they 
wither and fall, leaving green pods which are called cotton bolls."








Just a few miles up the road, the blowing dirt form the un-planted fields gave a reddish brown tinge to the horizon.

We give up!

We've been in Texas for about a month and a half now.
It's been reaching this temperature often in San Antonio.

Even the plants at the new Wal-Mart are beginning to wilt.

Going to the pool didn't quit "cut it" for the former Alaskans.
It's still awful hot when you get out.

So, it is time for these travelers to hit the road and seek some heat relief!
This is where we'll be heading:

Nearly 9,700 feet in elevation in southern Colorado.
Days there are only reaching in the 70's.

Do you blame us?

Once we acclimatize to the elevation, maybe we'll head towards that mountain you see in the background:

It's Mt. Blanca, the 4th tallest mountain in Colorado, at over 14,000 feet.

Maybe this is the best solution

the neighborhood pool!

No traveling. And it is open every day!

Another attempt at cooling off

This is even better than an open lake.

The shade form the cypress down the Guadalupe River by Kerrville is just great.

We  were surprised at the things we could see:
small fish in the water, ducks, and even over a dozen turtles enjoying the day right next to us.

Then a picnic on the shore
and a cookie for another ride!

And you know what?
Unlike Alaska, the further inland you go the less mosquitoes there are!

A better choice for cooling off

Finally, we discovered an enjoyable outside activity in this weather!

With the encouragement from those younger than us.....
we took off!

Oh, how enjoyable it is to sit in a kayak
with the wind blowing cool water as you cross the fresh waters of Canyon Lake!

As you might have noticed, this is a "sit on top" kayak"(not like those in Alaska, designed to keep the water out!
That's what we prefer down South. And if you practice, every time you paddle, you can make a little water dribble down your arm.
How refreshing!

But, may we remind you....
it is wise to put sunscreen down by your lower legs, just above your water shoes.

If not, you will pay the price!

Trying to scape South Texas heat

We've been in Texas for 1 1/2 month now.

And the heat has been tremendous. Lots of days above 100!

So we thought we'd scape to the beach (about 3 hours away), and see if the gulf breezes would cool us off.

Lot's of people had the same idea. All state and the National Park on North Padre Island were full.
So we took off for Goose Island State Park, just north of Rockport.

It's on the mainland, separated from the barrier islands by Aransas Bay.
But for us form further South Texas, it is just the northern most extent of the Laguna Madre. That's our opinion anyway.

With so much marshland, there is a very bountiful animal here:
It is the mosquito.
Yes, as mean and as abundant as in Canada and Alaska, if you can imagine that!

And unfortunately, it just didn't seem any cooler here than far inland.

So, drinking water, tea or beer and sitting under a tree was the extent of our activities.

They have somethings that are interesting to note.
One is the Live Oak tree that is over 1,000 years old.

Yes, they do help it stay up with a few "crutches" to support it.
But it is neat to see something old enough to have lived before recorded history in this area.

Now, you might ask:
Why didn't you just get in the ocean and cool off?

Well, look a little closer:

Those oyster shells can be a little rough on your feet.

and....
look at the name of the beach:

The hot shallow water is great for sea weed to decompose.
Oysters love it.
Birds love it,
Fish and, therefore, fishermen love it.

But, it is not a beach bathing paradise.

May we recommend, that for beach fun, you go to North Padre or Mustang Island.

And leave Goose Island State Park for the winter.
Then you'll enjoy great weather, no mosquitoes
and see migrating birds such as the Whooping Crane:
the tallest bird in North America,
5 feet tall, with a 7.5 feet wingspan.
Now, that is worth coming here to see!
.

Those wise Canadians

Don't get me wrong. Just because I can't imagine playing golf under an umbrellas doesn't mean I do not respect our Canadian neighbors.

There are lots of things they do which we in the USA should pay attention to:

1) They make the new construction in the cities be a long distance form the freeway. Just drive by Edmonton and Calgary, cities which have had tremendous growth, perhaps due to the oil boom just north of them. All the people we met on our trip seemed to be engineers related to that industry. And they planned their cities well. You certainly don't feel claustrophobic with all that greens-space between the road and their new neighborhoods!

2) And they seem to take care of their wildlife. Just look at the crossovers they have built close to Banff. It is covered with natural vegetation so the animals cross over the traffic. And miles and miles of high fences prevent animals form getting in the car's way.

3) But, most important, they really warn people about wildlife.

Yes, at the start of every hike from that road, they have a sign saying people should go with a minimum of 4 people. If you do not have 4 in your group, wait for others to arrive and go with them. And keep talking to prevent surprising a bear.

What a great idea. In Kodiak we didn't have those problems. Bears there are very well fed and keep out of your way. But here and in Montana, those guys are a little hungrier. So when you enter their space, you are traipsing on their feeding range.

I take this very seriously, because the ambulance I heard as I was leaving the Yellowstone clinic from a fall I took 2 years ago (while doing something stupid). It was carrying the lone survivor of a bear attack that made national news.

Anyway, travel in groups of at least four and be loud, as you hike in bear country near the Lower 48 and lower Canada!

Canadians must just love golf

While driving south from Alaska, just west of Edmonton and going south to Calgary, there were lots of golf course signs.

In fact, there are a few intersections where one sees four  (yes, four) signs for different golf courses.

With courses like this one, we can see why they might like them.

But to be playing in this type of weather ....

…..under umbrellas…..

is beyond what we can comprehend.

.

Birds of prey

One thing we learned while in Alaska was to keep your attention up in case something interesting comes your way.

Take this guy, for example.

One of these guys flew down towards our windshield as we drove at 50 MPH. Fortunately we missed him by a foot.

I had no idea what he was.

They talked about it on a poster at the next rest stop in northern Canada. But I don't remember what it said.

In any case, over the next 600 miles we saw 3 more of the same.

Funny what you can see when you pay attention.


And  you know what? There are lots of birds of prey that hang out on the lamp posts along, even on the outskirts of San Antonio.
Somehow I notice them more now that we've lived in AK.

Caribou in Springt to Summer

On our trip down and then up the Al-CAn in March and April, it seemed all we could see was caribou.
We saw a few more in June, on our final trip down form Alaska.

Boy, do their antlers grow!
Here are some in March.

 Some have antlers in early Spring , some do not.

Both females and males get them in Summer. Female's are smaller.
Both shed them after the rut.
But females that did not get pregnant, keep their antlers throughout the winter.
Males start growing them earlier in the Spring than females.

Obviously the picture above is a caribou cow .
(See it's white mame or fur on it's neck? Otherwise it looks like a beef cow.)

How about these?

The one with bigger antlers are probably males, since this is from mid March.
But, even females will get them towards summer.


Compare them to these pics in the middle of June.

No, this is not a Texas Longhorn cow that I mixed up.
Its a real Caribou in Denali National Park.
Here are a few others to convince you.

See that they have an additional (smaller) set of antlers, pointing forward, closer to the middle of the head?

And here are some enjoying a patch of snow and ice that still remained despite mid June's 85 degrees. They are searchingfor lichen under the snow.

When compared to the March pics: pretty fast antler growth, don't you agree?

And here are 2 close ups, also in June.

See the furry growth over their antler?

I hear that at sometime of the year there are so many blood vessels that the furry stuff is actually red! That's how much blood and nutrition it takes to make them grow so fast.

And incidentally, I saw a skull with huge supra-orbital nerve foramen just above their eye. I guess there is a lot of nerves sensation to the antler that must help them walk through the brush.
( Incidentally, for those budding biologists, did you remember that this is the V1 nerve branch?)

Now, what's the difference between Caribou and Reindeer? Not much. The reindeer is smaller. They can interbreed just fine. Reindeer is a domesticated form they brought to Alaska in the 1880-90s and again in the 1930's. The goal was to have the Natives raise them as staple to feed themselves and sell for profit. But, apparently that just was not the appropriate thing to do, according to Natives. You should let animals go free and shoot only what you need. But now there is again a small push to herd and market the meat, due to the bad reputation that beef has in some people's mind.

As far as their meat, there was a TV program on an Alaskan TV network talking about how good it is for nutrition as well as taste. It is a delicacy. But you must know how to cook it just right. Don't let it brown or even lose its color...or it'll be really tough. It is done when it's texture is only as firm as the muscle of your hand, just below the thumb! If you cook it this way, you'll appreciate that it is indeed worth the nearly $ 40 per pound that it costs to produce it and send it to you in the Lower 48. ( I never tried it, that's just what I heard. Incidentally, the reindeer sausage they sell you is required to only have 10 or 15% reindeer; no wonder it tastes like beef sausage).

And....concerning their meat, there is a rumor I heard in Fairbanks that I have not been able to confirm. They claim a lady has been found with the highest recorded level of mercury in her serum, and she is an Alaskan Native. Apparently she eats nothing but caribou meat. And caribou love to eat lichen. And lichen live for 50 years, absorbing whatever is in the air. They are great at concentrating mercury! (But since I don't expect many of you are going to be eating much $ 40 per pound meat, I guess you really do not have to worry.)

One more thing: their fur:
With over 80 degree summers in inland Alaska, they shed their fur in summer as you'd expect. Here are some, again in mid June.

 







But is you get a chance to buy a winter fur, you will find that it is just the right size to cover you on a cold Alaskan night as you sit and read a book!

I highly recommend it. We have two! And they are not very expensive. You can buy them at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, about one hour south of Anchorage, near Portage Glacier, for $ 200. Or you can contact the Alaska Raw Fur Co. in Fairbanks, where they were charging only $ 125 and where you can get lots of other species, too. Check them out if you desire; they have furs, not fancy coats

PS To friends of PETA:
In AK, keeping warm during winter is a not a luxury or a whim.
It is a necessity.
That's just  the way it is.
And there is nothing better than a fur for that!