Nevada, MO

We stopped for the night at a ... you guessed it! Walmart in Nevada, MO. Next door is Sharkey’s Pub and Grub. They had half price appetizers until 6:00 so we picked up some brisket quesadillas, spinach artichoke dip, and fried pickles for supper. Delicious and lots of leftovers.

De Queen, AR

Stopped for the night at the Walmart in De Queen, AR. We stopped for fuel and propane at a Flying J near Shreveport, LA and spent a lot of time there helping a lady who had locked her keys in her motor home in one of the truck fueling lanes and having lunch at Denny’s. Should have a scenic drive through western Arkansas tomorrow.

Nacogdoches, TX

We left the San Bernard NWR this morning to head up to DesMoines, IA. We enjoyed our work and accomplishments there over the winter and leaving the rangers and coworkers there was like leaving good friends. We left there a little after ten and stopped in town to say goodbye to the people at the quilt shop. We had a good day and stopped to overnight at the Walmart in Nacogdoches, TX. 

A Trip to Sargent

Last Friday we drove down to Sargent, TX, a little town near here on the Gulf. They recently built this bridge to replace the old swing bridge that they had to open to let barges pass through on the inland waterway. Last time we went down there it was still under construction, but now it is open so we crossed on it. There is a spiral ramp going up and down again on the other side.

The view from the top looking down on the inland waterway and you can see the Gulf on the right.

We stopped here for gas and lunch. Very interesting place...gas station, groceries, auto parts, hardware, lumbar yard, green house, and restaurant. The food was very good though!

Around the Refuge

My fellow volunteer, Kent, putting the finishing touches on our second replacement kiosk that we built.

We had to move this sign to here from a location abut a quarter of a mile from the road.

The office building here has a light that stays on at night and attracts quite a collection of moths.

Spyder lilies growing near the pond here.

One of the refuge trails near Lake Jackson had a small parking lot that was not large enough, so Kent and I were given the task of expanding it. We built a board fence arount the addition and leveled four truck loads of gravel to fill in low spots in the old and new areas.

 

The finished parking lot.

One day, instead of the usual alligator resting on this dock, a large diamond back water snake was sunning itself. 

After finishing the other parking lot, they gave us the task of fencing another one at a different trail.

One of the little lizards here.

Not sure what the name of this flower is, but there are several of them bloomiing around here.

This is a sign from the cemetery for the church that we attend in Brazoria. The parish of this church was the first parish established in Texas. 

We are finishing our last week of work here and plan on leaving for Des Moines on Monday.