Hot Springs Are TOO Hot To Soak Your Feet!

This morning my banking problems were solved. I was disappointed that it took 2.5 hours to solve the problem but the day got better after that. Here I am strolling the Grand Promenade. What a gorgeous day here. I had to remove the sweatshirt and don a sun shirt.

His name is Chip, not Dale.

A Northern mockingbird sings while I watch for 5 minutes.

The rocks here are very nice. I asked the park ranger if I could dip my feet into a pool. "NO! The water is 140 degrees. We have had people go to the hospital with severe burns. Once a dog went in and went into shock and could not move. The owner went in after the dog. Both the dog and the owner had severe burns and had to be hospitalized!." Good thing I asked. Thanks.

I ate my sandwich by this hot pool.

Inside the cultural museum is some original artwork that was restored by the National Park Service. This is Bacchus, the Roman God of wine and revelry. 

The artists in residence do some nice work.

Here is a good idea. I could do that.

The baths are good for osteoarthritis. I thought my banking problems were worse than they were. I could have made an appointment for a $40 bath which is the reason I drove here. Dangitall, I was too late. Except I could get one on the way of town tomorrow.

A diorama of all the bath houses.

Earlier I saw a Viceroy butterfly. I heard pine warblers singing away. Makes sense. There are pine trees here.

I saw some scat but it looked like horse apples. I hiked the Honeysuckle trail. I used a branch because my walking sticks were in the car. I went to walk up the steps to the tall tower. I chose not to because the fee was 9 dollars and I am afraid of heights when it is windy. This one doesn't sway as much as a water tower but it does sway.

 

The Heart Goes Last

 I seem to navigate more accurately when I listen to books in my car. I have loved Margaret Atwood ever since I read her first book and I did not know she wrote The Heart Goes Last until I found it on Libby. Margaret is a prolific writer and this book is also a dystopian novel. In this case the government has opened new prisons. Some of the employees like Charmaine, Jocelyn, Max, and Stan work there. The government has started doing surgery on people. When they wake up from the surgery, the first thing they see that has two eyes will be their love interest forevermore. If, like one woman, the first thing you see is a stuffed blue teddy bear, you are in love with your teddy bear. I was sure Charmaine had the surgery. Charmaine is so innocent, so gullible, so trusting, she must have had the surgery. Jocelyn has to be a manipulative evil woman. This book kept me guessing. Frankly, I still don't know if the Positron Project in Consilience is a good thing or a bad thing.

Isn't There A Bush I Can Hide Behind?

Made it to Arkansas! Yeah!

I was talking on the phone with my friend when I had to pull off Highway 35 to use the facilities. She asks if there is a bush I can hide behind. I find a nice bathroom at a soccer field instead.

 

Hello Texarkana!

I left the Longhorn ranch by 8:15. My host is super happy with how clean I left the place. They gave me all ten stars. I drove north and east. I figure semi truck drivers are professionals so I stay near them. By 5 p.m. I hit the border of Arkansas. By 7 I am in my cushy bed in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I am glad to be here. I already took a bath but I might take another one tomorrow! 

Japanese Garden San Antonio

This is the sunset. This morning I drove 20 minutes to have breakfast with one of my Girl Scout's mother. We had a protein shake at the PCA company she now owns. She hasn't changed a bit. She was doing payroll on Sunday while the office is quiet.

This sparrow joined me at a deli where I had tomato basic soup and an avocado sandwich.

I drove to the Japanese Garden which was a 10 minute drive from her company.

Afterwards I noticed fancy cars go by so I followed them.

This 5 inch bug was on the bathroom wall.

I walked past the zoo but did not go in.

A family was going overboard on a 1 year old's birthday party. Mickey Mouse themed party included a bouncy house. He was a cute baby though.

What a beautiful place. I scanned a QR code and listened to Japanese music. I tried an immersive experience. I colored a lily pad and dropped it in the water.

I took a picture of a family. They took a picture of me. One kid said, "Stop instragramming us all the time." I laughed at that.

I am glad I came. No entrance fee here. I didn't eat at the restaurant though. I ate elsewhere.

My car is mostly packed. Ready to hit the road tomorrow.

 

Talkative Red Shouldered Hawk

This morning I hung my clean laundry to dry outside. Then I went for a walk on my dirt road. This road is gravel and has farms. One block over is a road with side walks and huge mansions. This red shouldered hawk was calling. Here it is after leaving the telephone pole.

Here it is before it flew away.

Later I walked past these ducks in another part of town.

I found a greenway to walk on. I left the paved path and took a bicycle path which went down into a ravine and back up again. When I took this picture of the mostly dry gulch I was standing on a bridge. You can see a little pond of water at the top.

 

Star In The Middle

 I picked up a hard cover copy of this book, Star In The Middle by Carol Larese Millward, at a little free library near Galveston. This is a young adult novel written by a woman who used to work at a teen pregnancy clinic. A 15 year old girl gets pregnant and her boyfriend, the football jock, pretends it isn't his. I suppose this happens quite often. The author ought to know, she is probably an expert. In this story the parents step up to the plate and convince these two children to do what is best for the child.

Ferruginous Hawk!

For some reason I was awake at 6:15 a.m. Shocker there. I made it to the Government Canyon park by 7:30. This is an 8 mile drive for me. I paid 6 dollars to get in. I ask the woman in the booth where I can see a road runner. She says on the road. Makes sense why they call it a roadrunner. Did you know that armadillos are almost blind? No wonder they get killed by cars. I saw a dead deer on the road this morning.

I walked around the birding area for an hour. When I got back to the visitor area an older man approached me. He told me some things like he is sure a golden cheeked warbler is in here already because they don't read the guide books. He said this area is like the toilet bowl of the world for birds. I have thought about this for more minutes than I wanted to but I still have no idea what that means. This former green beret who had a hunk of his ear sliced off with a machete in Kenya by a poacher is a talker. He said some veterans have PTSD. He has too much coffee and too much talking!

The speed limit here in 20 miles per hour. I drive with the radio off and the passenger window open. I hope to see a crested caracara, a roadrunner, a coyote, a bobcat and an armadillo. I drive through the campground. This would be a swell campground to be a host. Guldarnit! There he is again and he is waving me over. He talked for another 10 minutes. I am so avoiding him from now on.

I hike the Lytle trail for 5 miles. I am liking the lichen. Would I like the lichen? No I would not lick the lichen.

My boot still has mud from the Colorado River on it.

A black tipped titmouse! I also saw white throated sparrows, white crowned sparrows, Carolina wrens, Northern Cardinals, vultures, a ferruginous hawk, a white eyed vireo and tufted titmouse's (titmice?)

There was a beginner bird walk for women tomorrow morning but the class was already full.

I would have voted for this guy.

 

The Picture Bride

 I finished the eBook of The Picture Bride written by Lee Guem-Yi a few days ago. The story is about a girl named Willow who lives with her mother now that her father has passed. A match maker tells her that  her husband is a landowner, clothes grow on trees, and she will be able to go to school. None of those things are true. The author is the daughter of a woman like Willow. Willow is unwilling to share how gullible she was. Willow wants  her daughter to do better than she does. Willow doesn't care if the daughter wants to study dance in Michigan with her boyfriend. Willow wants her daughter to study here in Hawaii. The relationship is so strained the daughter goes to live with her Aunt. The Aunt isn't family by blood. The Aunt is another picture bride who came from Korea to meet a man who wasn't at all like what the matchmaker said. This story was fascinating because as it unfolds, why Willow annoys her daughter turns from unreasonable to reasonable.

Texas Hill Country Is Gorgeous

Today I drove MY car back to the Fredrickson Nature Center which is a 20 minute drive from this ranch.

I arrived about 10. I walked for an hour on the wheelchair accessible paths. I went back to my car to refill my water bottle and to grab the walking sticks.

I walked a more difficult path until a little after noon. I had a picnic.

I organized my car. I found my harmonica. Monica the harmonica.

I heard a Bewick's wren, a golden fronted woodpecker and a white winged dove. Doves are a lovely sign of peace for me. The Carolina wren was talking too. I saw 3 black vultures perched on a traffic light while driving up here.

I love when the plants are labelled.

I took this picture in case I got lost. Not all who wander are lost but I am.

Tomorrow I will go to Government Canyon. I heard you needed to make a reservation. I tried to make a reservation but they don't accept cash. The woman told me just to go without a reservation. As of that moment they had 250 openings. So I do need a reservation and I don't need a reservation? I feel like Alice in Wonderland sometimes.

Look at the little lizard.

Texas hill country is gorgeous. I tried to take a photo looking out of a hole like that one kid did here the other day but so far no luck on that. I went home and made Mexican enchiladas over Texas rice. I sat on the hammock and spoke with my longhorn. She and I get along real well.