Galveston Island ....

As arranged last night …. Richard and I met all the other blippers at the hotel … Four Points by Sheraton.  From there we made a game plan for the day. 

First stop was Galveston Island State Park.  We used this as a gathering place as Shelley and Al are camping here and it’s closer to Elaine’s campground.  Originally there were plans to explore this park but there wasn’t much to this area. 

So it was on to Dos Vacas Muertas Bird Sanctuary …. Sheryl and Elaine rode with Richard and I.   It was a little difficult to find at first but we all made it eventually.  The road going in was interesting to say the least and Anni was concerned for her low riding Mustang convertible!

The picture in the lower left corner of my collage is only some of our group. This was taken right after we arrived and before we actually figured out where to go to find the birds! There were no signs and no visible trails so it was interesting finding the bird sanctuary.

But once we did it was game on!  The sanctuary was nice and there were a wide variety of birds.  I think some in the group (Debbi and Hilly!) could have spent all day there! After about 2 hours here a few of us decided to go elsewhere as we were pretty much done here. 

Sheryl, Elaine, Richard and I were in our car and Shelley and Al drove separately. After a quick pitstop at Elaine’s campground (potty break!) and lunch at Subway we drove to the southern tip of Galveston Island to spend time at the beach.  On the way down there we spotted the Scissor-tail Flycatcher that’s in the bottom middle picture.  That’s a first for me! Simply stunning …. especially in flight!

From the beach we went back to Galveston Island State Park to see Shelley and Al’s cute camper and walk out to an observation deck that’s on this side of the State Park.  We had some fun with the crystal globe that we brought with us! Reflected in one of my pictures is Shelley …. and Al is also in globe!

On the way back to our condo we saw quite the phenomenon! And we learned later that this sight doesn’t happen often.  As we were driving up Seawall Boulevard we noticed that the Brown Pelicans were diving into water almost en masse! There were hundreds and hundreds of them! What a sight!!

We returned to our condo to rest for a while before meeting back up with everyone at the Four Points Hotel.  Then it was another great evening spent in the company of new friends!

Backblipped ~ July 4, 2018 ...... Finally!!!!