Day 11

This was a pretty laid back morning for us. Drizzle continued for most of it, and the temperature stayed in the high 50s. We walked back to the park entrance and paid for our site then went on to a spot where they thought we might see Whooping Cranes. We didn’t see them there but we saw a small herd of deer, which seemed pretty undisturbed by our presence, and a pair of Great Egrets. After getting things done around the camper and eating yesterday’s leftovers for lunch, we drove down to Rockport to look around. We found the Public Library and spent some time updating the blog and checking email. We drove slowly north along the shore and then took off for Aransas Wildlife Refuge. We arrived about half an hour before the Visitor’s Center closed at 4:30. Then we took the 16 mile loop to see the wildlife. The sun came out in time for some nice sunset color. We walked on a few of the short trails they have and read all the interpretive signs. One trail wound through Live Oaks (including one estimated to be 500 years old), then along a boardwalk through a salt marsh and ended with a raised platform/lookout. Along the driving loop we saw a raccoon, two wild pigs, a feral pig, several Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, Great Egrets and snowy Egrets and innumerable deer. But best of all we saw either two pairs of Whooping Cranes, or the same pair twice. These endangered and awesome birds winter in the Refuge and then return to Canada for summer breeding. We considered ourselves very lucky to have seen them since there are less than 300 in the area. Back at camp we had a late supper of chili and did the dishes, as totally unpredicted, heavy rain began to fall. Will it ever stop raining?!?!