Little Rock Arkansas

We drove to Little Rock, AR today.  Only about 220 miles, but we had a late start this morning.  We are in a nice RV park right on the river downtown.  Both of us are tired and it is raining so we will probably not be going out to sight see tonight.  Maybe we can get some pictures in the morning.

Getting Ready to Leave Louisiana

The last two weeks have been pretty busy here on the refuge.  Much of our work on the refuge has involved using the Polaris Ranger.  It has been a reliable workhorse for us despite its condition.

This is typical of the trails here.  We have some extra volunteers here on the weekends sometimes so they help us with projects such as filling in holes in the trails.

A local group of volunteers that came out last weekend and helped tear out old barb wire fence in the woods.

Another beautiful sunset on the lake here.

Janice was babysitting another dog one day this week along with our rescued dog.  The dogs got along with each other great.

Some of the native plants around the headquarters building are flowering.  Like this redbud tree.

And these.

One volunteer helped me build these ramp railings this week.

 And and another helped  repair all of the benches here last week.

This is a sign that I made last week and helped install this week.

 Janice and Terri working on a craft project in the education center.

Our work here has come to an end, as we will be leaving in the morning.  We will miss this place and the people here very much, but we are looking forward to being back among the kids and grand kids again.

We will be heading toward Desmoines but will probably stop and wander a little on the way.

A Trip to Natchitoches, LA

On Tuesday, we took the day off from the refuge and drove to Natchitoches, LA.  Down here it is pronounced "nack-a-dish".  I'm not sure what phonics rules apply.  We stopped at a couple of the other areas that are part of the refuge on our way there.  One of them has an old small African-American cemetery on the edge of it.  We stopped for a visit.

I thought that this tree looked kind of neat.

Near the refuge was an old abandoned school out in the middle of nowhere.

Near the school was a row of old house that seem to be occupied.

Downtown Natchitoches is across the street from Cane lake.  It looked more like a river to me.

Some of the old buildings on the main street across from the lake.

We spent some time in this general store, the oldest in Louisiana.  They had a little of everything.

The interior of the Church of the Immaculate Conception about a block off of the main street.  It was built it the late 1800s

We found this interesting palm plant outside the church.

Another Lost Dog

Janice and I spent yesterday afternoon out on the trails in the Ranger filling up holes with a load of dirt.  Here are a few pictures of the work of the beavers here.

This is a stretch of the trail by the lake where the beavers were working.

As we were returning through the boat ramp area, we spotted a dog lying in the grass.  His feet were bleeding and he couldn't seem to stand up, so we loaded him into the Ranger and brought him back.  Janice took him to the vet and the vet thought that he may have fallen out of a pickup.  Janice is nursing him back to health as we try to find the owner.

He seems to love Janice's massages.

Better Weather

The weather has been improving here, Friday Terri (one of the rangers here) and I went out on the trails in the Polaris Ranger to find some fences that need to be removed.  We took a few nature hikes while we were out there.  We spotted this armadillo rooting around for some food.

Terri taking a few pictures.

Rodney is the intern here.  After woking several years a a manufacturing engineer, he has returned to school to get a degree in forestry.  We work together quite often.

Janice had asked one of the ladies at church if they had a church cookbook here, so Sunday morning, she gave Janice this gift bag.  It is really a very friendly and welcoming parish.

Sunday afternoon, Janice and I took the Ranger out on the trails to fix a sign.  After stopping to visit with several people, giving a ride back to someone with a sore foot, picking up a bunch of trash back in the woods,  and fixing a bench,we finally fixed the sign.  A great day to be outside and on the trails.
This afternoon, Rodney took me along to check for nests and eggs in the wood duck boxed out on the lake. There are a couple of turtles on the log in the middle.  Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

I forgot the name of this bird in the tree.

This is the visitors' center viewed from the lake.

A few more lake pictures.

It was a great afternoon to be outdoors, around 70 degrees.  Finally some warm weather.