Kathy & Scott’s USA Tour in Texas

Arrival in Plano

We were very happy on June 28 to arrive at the Batchelder home in Plano, Texas, and to see Kathy’s Mom, Dad, and Kevin.

a family dinner

Kathy and Scott went to the Dallas Arboretum with Kevin on June 31. It was hot, over 95 degrees, and sunny. We were happy that there were sufficient large trees to provide shade. It was a special exhibit of Chihuly glass sculpture placed amid the trees, bushes, and flowers.

Later that day, Kevin joined us and the grandparents for a game of Mexican Train.

Kevin made plans to go with us to spend three nights in San Antonio the next week, doing tourist things. After a little more time in Plano, the plan would be to leave Texas, heading for New Mexico.

Bob and Ruth are living comfortably in their home, despite the heat which seems to approach 100 every afternoon.

San Antonio

In San Antonio, we strolled along the Riverwalk, with its shops, restaurants, live music, and tour boats. We had dinner on the patio of the Ibiza restaurant, overlooking the river.

After seeing a heron, we eventually figured out that many Yellow-Crowned Night Herons nest right there in the cypress trees over the river.

The next day we visited the Alamo and watched the IMAX movie on the subject of its famous siege. The history here is considerably more complex than at Vicksburg, involving various foreign powers, revolutions, and independence.

For the afternoon, we drove to the Natural Bridge Cavern, a lovely and varied limestone cavern, where we took a walking tour lasting more than an hour.

Back in San Antonio, we enjoyed a dinner of excellent Mexican food at El Mirador.

The shops were closed the next day for Independence day, so we went a little north of the city to the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne. We followed a trail along the creek, where Scott studied a little flycatcher and saw a Blue Grosbeak. All of us saw Carolina Chickadees, turtles, a snake, and a fawn.

Cibolo Creek

Along the way back to the city, we had a delicious, meaty lunch at the original Rudy’s in Leon Springs.

We observed the city’s fireworks show from a distance, avoiding the crowds. We played games for a second night, with Kevin victorious again.

We returned to the Dallas area on July 5^th.

Guys Birding

So far, the USA Tour had been full of good times together observing birds, leading Scott to buy a nice pair of binoculars to supplant the three problematic pairs that we had been putting up with for 20 years. At the birding shop, he picked up a tip for a birding hot spot.

The “Bunker Sands Wetland Center” is a joint project between a private ranch and a public water conservation district, which is the largest water treatment facility in Texas. As a side effect, it attracts tons of birds and is said to be the best birding spot in the vicinity of Dallas. Kevin agreed to come along with his Dad on Saturday, July 7^th and it turned out great. Kathy stayed with her parents in Plano.

It is only open to the public without appointment on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month. Kevin and I lucked out this morning, because we arrived at the exact time that a group was going out on a bird walk.

These are the new life birds for me:

• Little Blue Heron
• White-faced Ibis
• Mottled Duck
• Common Gallinule (Common Mudhen)
• Dickcissel
• Painted Bunting

After the bird walk we saw a Roadrunner right next to the driveway. There were zillions of Cattle Egrets and lots of other, less remarkable herons and egrets. Kevin plans to use this birding hot spot to motivate Philip to come visit him.

Again in Plano

During our visit to Plano, Dave and Nancy’s family was in the midst of comings and goings. Our nephew John Batchelder returned to Boston. Then Dave, Nancy, and Heidi traveled to Austin and visited Mark and Veronica at the same time we were gone to San Antonio. Olivia has just turned 1 year old. Heidi is about to return to Washington, D.C.

Our spur-of-the-moment method of route planning was surprisingly helpful. Take your loose change, and use it put a relative value on each place you would like to visit. Then connect the valuable coins into a route.

Finally there were partings from the folks in Texas, including an early birthday celebration for Scott at the Bavarian Grill in Plano.