May 2009 Trip

My Uncle Buddy and I took off on a little trip in May of 2009.  We started out going to Rapid City, South Dakota to visit the place where Buddy was stationed back in the 50s while he was in the Air Force.  We drove up through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and into South Dakota.  We went through the Bad Lands National Park on the way to Rapid City.

We spent a day and a half in Rapid City and Ellsworth AFB where Buddy was stationed.  All of the places where Buddy worked part time were gone and in some cases the streets were even gone, replaced by parks.  We took a tour of the base and it had changed so much that Buddy didn’t recognize much.  It was interesting touring the base and the museum they have there but things had changed in the last 50 years and we saw what we had come to see and we left Rapid City to go to Mt. Rushmore.

We toured Mt. Rushmore and it was inspiring until we went downstairs and toured the museum and saw where they lied about how Texas joined the Union.  They had Texas joining the union in 1850 as a result of the United States winning the war with Mexico which is totally wrong.  After reading that lie, I didn’t trust anything else they had to say in that museum so we left and went through Custer State Park and saw a lot of wildlife and pretty scenery and then we went to the monument they are building for Chief Crazy horse.

   That was interesting but they have been working on it for over 50 years and only have his head compete and they still have his body including his arm and hand and his horse to finish.  They are refusing to take federal funds which is good and the man who started it is now deceased and his wife and children are taking on the project.  I am guess that it will take about 200 + years before it is complete.  I doubt that I will be around to see it finished.

The Grand Tetons was pretty and we saw snow along the highways and of course in the mountains which is somewhat strange for Texans to be seeing in May.  The weather was nice during the entire trip  and we walked up to the snow in short sleeves shirts.

We went into Idaho for a brief drive and then back into Wyoming for a while and then into Utah.  It was the first time I had seen the western side of the Rocky Mountains.  We went into Colorado on the southwest corner and toured the Mesa Verde National Park which was the most interesting thing I saw on the entire trip.  The Indians ruins of Mesa Verde.

We spent one whole morning at the park and then drove into New Mexico through the mountains around Taos and then into Texas and home.  It was a very enjoyable trip of about 3,500 miles and 10 states.

Mother Day at the Heinesh’s 2009

We had a nice Mother’s Day celebration at Margaret and Jack’s house.  We also celebrated Mom’s 92 Birthday.  Here are Mom and Jack sharing stories about their walkers.  Jack just had his knee replaced last week and is going to be a little confined for a few weeks.

Henrietta and Jackie.

Jack, Mom and Judy.

Stan, Darren and Steve.

Morning Walk

We are having some unseasonable warm weather for May even for south Texas.  It is already 80 degrees and it is just 9:00 am.  It is supposed to get up to the mid 90s this evening.  It is going to be a long hot dry summer.

Mosquito, Blue and I went for our morning walk down to Pebble Beach.  Blue went for a swim and Mosquito walked around and I looked for artifacts but didn’t find anything interesting.  I did manage to find some more pretty flowers.

We didn’t stay down there very long as the real Mosquitoes started to come out.  On the way home, Mosquito and Blue were ahead of me and they let me know that they didn’t care anything about flowers and artifacts but they treed a squirrel and they were proud of it too.

Of course, by the time I got there, the squirrel was long gone so we left.  There will be other trees and other squirrels and another day in this long, hot, dry summer that is just getting started.

Castus Rose

Out on my walk this morning I saw this pretty Castus Rose and wanted to share it with you.

When I got up to take a closer picture, I found out I was already sharing it with one large bee and two smaller ones.  They were too busy doing what Bees do to mess with me.

Painted Bunting

This beautiful bird showed up in my front yard a few days ago and I have seen it a few times since them but not in the past two days.  I hope it is still around because it is a beautiful bird.  It is called a Painted Bunting according to many of my bird loving friends.

Sharing the Feeders

Most of the time the Hummingbirds are willing to share their feeders with each other although there are one or two Hummers that don’t like to share with anyone but they can’t be around all the time so everything seems to work out okay.

Today the Hummers found themselves having to share one of the feeders with  different species.

This lizard decided it want to know what all the fuss was about with the feeders and came down to take a look see or maybe he was trying to capture the wasp that was taking a drink.  I guess the lizard decided that it had seen enough and went back to doing whatever it is that lizard do.

The wasp left too and then things returned to normal at the feeder.  The feeder is a four holer and all of them are taken up at the moment and all by Hummingbirds.  You can just barely see the head of the fourth one but he is there.  I guess they figured that if they were taking up all the holes then there wouldn’t be any room for other guest.