TimesToCome

Convertable Pickup Truck

Some times Houston can be a pretty cool place.

(click on the photos for medium and large views )

Today we made another trip down to Brazo’s Bend State Park. Going to Brazo’s Bend is like falling into the land that time forgot. Everything there, the plants, the critters, the sounds are all like how you expected the earth looked millions of years ago. It is the kind of place where you wouldn’t be surprised if a dinosaur wandered past you.

We were extremely lucky today, the alligators were quite willing to let us pose them and hold still for several close up shots. ( kidding of course ) We were able to get in several very good alligator shots while they were happily sunbathing.

If you go to Brazo’s Bend, stop at the first parking lot after the gate and wander about the first pond. It’s only about a mile or two hike. You’ll be tripping over alligators if the sun is out and the weather is warm.

Today we went to the Huntsville State Park. There are several trails, we walked about 4 miles and covered less than a third of them. It was dry there too, every thing is so dry this year. So we didn’t see any alligators or water birds. There were lots of ravens and the usual woodland birds.

We weren’t sure about the snake till we got home and id’d him. The yellow bellied water snakes flatten their heads and coil and make like a water moccasin when they get scared. Had I known he was faking I would’ve got some better shots. The round eyes are the give away.

If you like biking through the woods ( 10 speeds ) then this is a great park. There were mountain bikers on most of the trails and they are clearly welcome there.

Today I went out and stumped for a local politician.

I arrived at the polls bright and early and stood with the other campaign workers waving signs at passing voters. Except there were so very few voters. We waved at all the cars passing by. It reminded me of being a child and pumping my arm trying to get the 18 wheeler drivers to blow the horn. Most of the cars passing us switched to the lane away from us going by. I’m not sure if that is because they felt guilty about not voting or they felt we were crowding them.

There was a mix of men and women waving signs, small 30ish to 60ish women who had not had boob jobs and 30 something to 60 something men. It was funny, not a single person there was overweight. Do overweight people not work the polls? Or is it some other selection effect?

You’all who know me will be amazed to know that this politician was given the highest rating the ‘Christian Coalition’. I explained that I thought church and state should stay far away from each other. He told me they weren’t a religious group. ???

Any how deep here in the Bible belt I’m not sure there are any non-approved politicians and this guy has a reputation for being a hard worker and for getting things done.

Today I wandered down to the Big Thicket National Preserve I heard they had some batches of wild carnivorous plants growing there.

The preserve is so large (90,000 acres ) that the trail for the pitcher plants is several miles down the highway from the office as is the sundew trail which is about half way between them. I drove down to the pitcher plant trail first. It is off 4850 which is off 1943 off of 69/287 in Warren Texas. The last part of the drive is on a loosely packed sandy road for a few miles. I was glad I traded the Lincoln for the suv thingy. I’m sure the Lincoln would’ve gotten stuck. I was sliding all over the road. Which may be why I was the only person on the trail and why is is worth the trouble. The pitcher plants were just barely still blooming and there were thousands of them along a mile or two trail on a boardwalk.

The sundew trail ( 1910 off 69/287 Village Millis ) was much easier to get to and slightly more crowded. There were pitcher plants and sundews along this trail which was about a mile long. So if you are skittish driving your car down the other trail you can see all the carnivorous plants here. The sundews were ready to bloom but not quite there, perhaps in another week they’ll be blooming.

While I specifically went to see the carnivorous plants I also took a walk around the Kirby nature trail ( off 420 off 69/287). The only critters I saw were lizards puffing up red balloons under their chins, just in case I got any funny ideas.

The mosquitoes were not bad, I didn’t run into a single one, but it’s clear it had been dry there for a while.

If you are looking to see wild carnivorous plants it’s worth a trip. If you are looking for wildlife there are better choices around Houston where you will certainly see some.

This appears to be love bug season down there. By the time I got back to The Woodlands the car was covered so bad you couldn’t see out the windshield or read the front license plate. The car wash charged me extra to remove all the bugs.