Rich on the Road

Aguascalientes, Peru

As I write this on Friday night, Catherine and I are preparing to get the first full night's sleep we've had in days!  Praise the Lord, for a wonderful day of sightseeing and a wonderful bunch of Brothers and Sisters in Christ to share it with.  We were all up early for the bus ride from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo (which we've not done before) and, then, to board a train from Ollanta to Aguascalientes (which we have once previously).  Good road and fascinating slice of rural Andean life on the bus ride.  The train trip was just as dramatic as we remembered -- through the Sacred Valley of the Incas and along the mighty, boulder-strewn white water of the Urubamba River.  Aguascalientes is the end of the railroad line and the jumping off point for a twenty-minute, zig-zag bus ride up to Machu Picchu, Wonder of the World and the treasure trove of the ancient Inca - an archeological wonder I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.  I am too tired to dazzle you with the details now.  Trust me it's cool.  Very cool.  As you can see in the pictures that follow.

In fact, the prose in today's post will be barely enough to keep the pictures from bumping together.

Here's our new friends and beloved Sisters in Christ -- the dynamic quartet of Kristen, Heather, Jenny and Amanda.

And, here are the Llama Mamas at Machu Picchu -- Rosaline, Stephanie, Kathy, Catherine and Lori --  with a real live llama!  I love this picture.

It's not supposed to rain this time of year in Cuzco.  But, in the days before we got here it had been and rain was predicted for Machu Picchu Saturday.  Instead, we had absolutely gorgeous weather.

Everybody seems to be in pretty good health.  A few have started to come down with at least a mild case of home-sickness.  But, we have a couple more days of world-class sightseeing (and, for several, some serious shopping) before the plane leaves for Texas.  I'll try to keep you posted.

Rich

Let me get right to the "chilling" stuff.  Predicted highs in Lima, Peru over the next two weeks  -- in the 60s!  Lord, I cannot wait.  Predicted lows -- the low 60s!  Even better.  For those of you reading this anywhere but North Texas, we have a streak of 100 degree plus weather going here and it shows no sign of ending anytime soon.  Eighteen of us leave very early Thursday for South America and I think everybody on the mission team from Prince of Peace Lutheran is looking forward to jacket weather.

The "fun stuf" includes some pictures from last summer's mission trip to Peru.  The trip is structured differently this year.  We won't be going to the northern city of Chimbote.  We will be going to Cuzco, Machu Picchu and other destinations in the central highlands -- where temperatures at night will dip near freezing!  Winter in August -- gotta love it.

Mission Director Beth Daugherty in Chimbote, Peru

But, as always we will be spending a lot of time at an orphanage on the outskirts of Lima -- a little construction work, VBS, street evangelism, lot of huggin' on kids.

One of the Original "Llama Mamas" Rosaline Hyslop in Las Delicias, Peru

Rich, Tim Meyer and Matt Marshall lifting and lugging at the orphanage

Watcing Mimes at the orphanage in Huaycan

And, I have to add one final picture -- one of my all time favorites.  Peru has a lot of labor trouble and the occasional clash between strikers and police.  On our first visit (the purely vacational one in 2004) we experienced a rail strike that left us stranded for a day in Cuzco, a mass march by striking workers that led to some rock-throwing and car burning outside our hotel.  It was actually kind of fun because after the rally and riot the whole city engaged in what amounted to an outdoor picnic.  When we got back to Lima there were riot police all over the historic district.  But, no one seemed too worried about an actual riot occuring and so, when I asked if I could take a picture, the police officers were more than willing to oblige.  What resulted is the photograph below -- Catherine and the cops, hamming it up.

Catherine and Lima's Finest

I'm hoping to get to bed early tonight.  We have a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow.  I will blog again from our layover in Miami.  By then, I should have a suitable picture of the 2008 team as it embarks on its own Christian adventure.

Dios se bendice!

Rich

Carrollton, TX

I've been promising more pictures and copy on Machu Picchu -- a stop our mission team from Prince of Peace Lutheran in Carrollton is hoping to make in about two weeks -- the rest and relaxation payoff after what we hope is fruitful work in and around an orphanage outside Lima, Peru.

Most of our team members have been to Peru -- but not to its most famous tourist destination.  There are a handful of sites in the world that every traveler has on his or her must-see list.  I cannot imagine that Machu Picchu is not on yours – the awesome Incan city that the Spaniards never found and never looted, the hidden enclave high in the Andes and deep in the jungle, surrounded by jagged peaks and plunging valleys.

Machu Picchu

Until very recently, if was thought that the visually stunning ruins were not discovered by the outside world until 1911, when Hiram Bingham, an archeologist and explorer from Yale stumbled on it.

Steep Drop From Machu Picchu to the Urubamba

Thirty years ago it was an arduous trek that only a select few had the time, the money or the physical endurance to make.  Today Machu Picchu is more accessible to average tourists, some think too accessible.  The last leg of the journey is by bus and train from Cuzco, the ancient capitol of the Incas.  Our train ride in 2004 began with a series of switchbacks, the train going forward and backward and forward as it zigzags up the mountain side.  Train rides often bare the soul of a city and this one certainly does with Cuzco, past urban trash, adobe homes clinging to the steep slope in layers, past real Peruvians living 21st century lives.  Once outside Cuzco, neat rural farms, terraced fields, and small villages rolled past - corn, sweet potatoes, sheep, cows and a mule “mowing” the grass on a soccer field.

Catherine in Cuzco

For much of the way you follow the Urubamba River; it starts small and then suddenly the valley deepens and the train begins another series of switchbacks, this time zigzagging down into the valley and across the river.  More isolated settlements appeared but the towering granite spires are too steep for even the Peruvians to terrace and farm.  The valley widened and plains appeared before we entered the largest village on the route, Ollantaytambo.  Not far from here the Inca trail begins, an arduous four-day hike (there are shorter variations to take including a one-day walk) that trekkers revere.  As we pulled out of the station oxen teams could be seen pulling plows, single blades of iron on wooden frames.  More cows and chickens and whole families working in the fields together.  But there were modern-looking houses and a rock quarry with big trucks, too. 

     The valley disappeared and the terrain changed.  We were moving from the Andes to the jungle.  Green mountain tops piled high, one behind the other, soaring into the clouds, sometimes so high that their peaks were lost in the clouds.  Waterfalls cascaded in ribbons down the steep slopes and the roar of the Urubamba grew loud enough to be heard over the noise of the train.  The Urubamba and all the streams that feed it are headed for the Amazon basin.  It quickly became a raging monster, with huge boulders and foaming, muddy water.  The trees grew larger and, on the slopes outside our window, cactus plants were replaced by ferns.  By the time we reached Aguas Calientes, the end of the line, we found ourselves in a full-fledged tropical forest. It was a wondrous four-hour journey.

     Aguas Calientes is now also referred to as Machu Picchu Village but don’t be confused.  It’s the same place.  The village is at the bottom of the valley.  Machu Picchu is almost straight up the hillside.  Again, a lot of zigzagging back and forth to get there.  This may be the most dramatic terrain you will ever encounter.  The road really does cling to the mountainside.  Beyond the Urubamba valley there were soaring peaks shaped like arrowheads or shark teeth – a whole mountain range full of teeth, sharp but covered all the way to their points by vegetation.

Once out of the bus, and through the park gates, Machu Picchu opened in front of us.  We concluded that all the pictures we’d seen beforehand do Machu Picchu justice, but just barely.  On second thought – you have to see the place to believe it.

Anyway, that's some of what I remember.  I'm looking forward to the return trip.  And, to our work in Lima.

Rich 

Photographer Rick Smith and I were Lone Star Adventuring today with scores of school children -- hawks, an owl, turtles and fish.  The wildlife combination (actually, the children were remarkably well behaved) all came together at the still evolving Blackland Prairie Raptor Center.

Photos courtesy of BPRC and Dianne Earley

A little history is in order.  For more than 30 years, Brockdale Park (an absolute jewel of public land on the banks of Lake Lavon near Lucas, Texas) has been largely closed to visitors.  It has rare blackland prairie habitat (thus the name of the new center) and a picturesque little pond that is well stocked with fish.  But, only the occasional Boy Scout troop or school group was allowed in to use it.  Then in 2007 the Army Corps of Engineers leased it to the non-profit BPRC.  And, the Raptor Center has great plans for it.

For several years state and federal wildlife agencies have used Brockdale Park once or twice a summer to put on outdoor programs and that's what Rick and I came to see today.  The Richardson YMCA provided the children -- who rotated through a series of stations where they could get up close with birds of prey (courtesy of the BPRC), learn how to bait a hook, cast a line and often catch their first fish.  Other stations were opportunities to get hands-on experience with turtles and all sorts of critters. 

BPRC hopes to make events like today's commonplace.  Their first order of business is to get a bird re-hab hospital up and running (maybe by the end of the year) but the plans don't end there.  They want to restore the blackland prairie and make Brockdale Park a premier destination for school groups and outdoor lovers.

We will run the story we shot today the Sunday after next in the 9pm news.  But if you want to learn more now you can check out the BPRC at www.bpraptorcenter.org.

Rich

Thursday night in Addision -- at the Kaboom Town celebration -- instantly makes my Top Ten 4th of July (even though it was, technically, on the 3rd of July) Memories -- probably Top Three.  More on why in a moment but, first, let me recap the contenders.

1986.  Grand celebration for the re-furbished Statue of Liberty in New York.  KDFW-TV (then a CBS affiliate) sent Clarice Tinsley and I and a crew of 4-5 others to cover it.  We had a blast doing stories in the days leading up to the 4th.  I sailed into New York harbor on a foggy morning aboard the historic tall ship Elissa from Galveston.  I featured Texas rockers at a famous New York nightclub.  But, it was all topped off by watching fireworks over Lady Liberty from a park in New Jersey on the night of the 4th.  Exploding lights framing the Statue of Liberty with the Manhattan skyline in the background and all reflecting off the water.  What a memory!

2004.  County Fairgrounds just outside Yosemite National Park in Mariposa, California.  Old-fashioned fireworks with Catherine and the Nugents (sister, brother-in-law, beloved nieces) on a perfect summer evening. 

Sometime in the 90's.  Catherine, daughter Kristina and me in the back of my pickup at Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville with the fireworks exploding right overhead.  The oohs and aahs of a pre-teenaged child on a night to savor.

2008.  Might be the best ever.  Catherine, oldest son Nick (wife Simone, unfortunately, had to work) and I were invited by Kevin Raulie and the folks at the great Cavanaugh Flight Museum to a hangar at Addison Airport and one of the best 4th of July celebrations ever.  The Cavanaugh provides most of the vintage War Planes for the Kaboom Town celebration every year and we had the best seat in the house to watch them warming up, flying overhead and then returning to the hangar.

We got to meet an American hero -- Dana Bowman -- after his sky diving feats.  Dana is a former special forces soldier and member of the U.S. Army's elite parachute team, The Golden Knights.  He lost parts of both legs in a 1994 accident but went on to earn "worldwide recognition as a motivational speaker and skydive demonstrator."  Dana and his family live near Weatherford and I hope to do something with him someday on Fox 4 News.

But, the topper to the night was, of course, Kaboom Town fireworks.  Again, we had a ringside seat. 

And, when it was over, we beat most of the traffic out of Addison. 

A 4th of July to remember -- even if it was on the 3rd..

Rich

I've been doing the Lone Star Adventure series now for more than a decade and, yet, I've never done a golfing story - until tonight.  But, this is a special golf course that we're featuring -- maybe the "greenest" in Texas. 

Tierra Verde Golf Club is a municipal Arlington course that has won a host of awards (state, national and international) for its environmentally friendly design and maintenance schedule.

 Rich Swinging Away on Driving Range

Texas Parks & Wildlife just gave Tierra Verde its prestigious Lone Star Steward award and has this to say about it:

Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington was uniquely designed to maximize the natural areas of the facility while accommodating golfers of all skill levels. Corridors of native vegetation throughout the property provide habitat for a variety of birds and other wildlife.

A minimum 20-foot buffer area of native plants, established around water bodies, reduces runoff and provides wildlife cover. Carefully constructed brush piles provide additional cover and dead trees are maintained for cavity nesters.

Nest boxes for wood ducks, purple martins, and bluebirds have been erected throughout the property and basking logs are placed in the ponds for turtles. The irrigation system monitors weather and plant condition to determine daily water requirements. Areas of native grass are mowed to a height of 12 inches every 3 years to simulate grazing.

Turf grasses are maintained with organic fertilizers, and both ground and surface water quality are monitored. The facility conducts environmental tours throughout the year for local schools interested in sustainable development.

 Groundskeeping Naturally

Above all, it's a great course.  Country club quality turf.  Excellent layout.  Check out the story tonight at 9pm (it will be on the web earlier than that) and try out the course if you get  chance.

Rich

More adventures in hiking on Thursday.  Once again, the trail system fooled us.  This time we spent 30 minutes trekking down an increasingly boulder strewn path that finally ended in a dead end of rocks and tangled undergrowth.  We were trying to get to Tenaja Falls, what the trail map claimed was a fairly easy .7 mile hike.  The only problem was that we didn't realize you had to ford a small stream to get to the actual path.  After re-tracing our steps we finally figured it out.  Got a great picture of the ladies carrying the girls across the little stream -

The rest of the hike was mostly straight and straight up through some beautiful Southern California high country.  The falls itself was almost dry.  Just a trickle could be seen.  But, clearly when it's running it would be impressive.

Let me share a little bit about Bob & Darla and the girls and how much they mean to us.  They are a Brother and Sisters in Christ -- as well as relatives.  Our times together are joyous -- though we share our difficult times as well and in those we comfort each other.  We've traveled together a lot.  Even went on a mission trip as a group to Mexico once -- building a house for a poor family through Amor Ministries.  Our time together is always filled with fellowship.  And, with Jesus Christ.  The Nugents have been a tremendous blessing to us.  As, I trust, we have been to them.

We're heading home later today.  Back to work tomorrow.  We're dreading the heat and humidity a little (it's too hot too soon!) but it's always good to get home. 

I will see you on TV Saturday.  Or, more correctly, I hope you will drop by to see me. 

Rich

Murietta, CA

Hiked ten miles Wednesday (not entirely on purpose), just missed seeing a cougar as the sun set (after setting out purposefully to spy one) and thoroughly enjoyed our time in a place called Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve.  Here's what the Riverside Park website says about the place:

The Reserve consists of 8,300 acres and protects unique ecosystems like Engelmann oak woodlands, riparian wetlands, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, bunchgrass prairie and vernal pools.  Visitors to the Reserve can enjoy the oldest standing structures in Riverside County that once served as bunkhouses for cowboys dating back to 1846. These two adobe structures remain shaded by a 400 year old tree and separated by a relaxing, one-of-a-kind, picnic area.

Darla, Catherine and I set out at midday, intending to walk 2.2 miles to the bunkhouse area (very picturesque place called The Adobes), and then to circle back past the vernal pools (unfortunately almost dry at this time of year) for a total of maybe five or six miles hiking.  Somehow we misread the trail map and nearly doubled the length of our intended stroll.  We basically got a grand tour of the entire trail system.  Worth it, though.  Amber waves of grain.  Purple mountain majesty.  America the Beautiful.

While at The Adobes (1880s bunkhouse area) we ran into a young man from California Fish & Game who told us the place was crawling with rattlesnakes and cougars.  Both of which I was keen on seeing.  The ladies, maybe a little less so.  The Fish & Game man also told us about a place further up Tenaja Road where cougars routinely are seen about dusk. 

So, we went back out with the whole gang when Bob got home from work.  It certainly looked like cougar country.  Lots of exposed boulders and clusters of brush and trees.  But, where we were told we might see cougars, instead, we saw two more Fish & Game men hovering over something 100 yards from the No Trespassing sign (we know this because their marked Cherokee was parked on our side of the fence).  We watched them for a good long time.  My guess is they had darted and were tagging something.  A cougar? The guy back at The Adobes had told us earlier that all the cougars in the area have collars, so it might have been.

But, Emily wasn't feeling well, it was getting dark and we moved along with the mystery unsolved.  We stopped at Trail Head, however, so Emily could use the bathroom and a couple guys there told us they'd just encountered a cougar!  Minutes before we got there.  They'd just set out on a trail, when they spotted the big cat.  And, wisely, re-traced their steps.  Here we'd been trying to see one and didn't.  They really would rather not have - and did.    Isn't that how it always works?

Dinner with the Nugents is always a wonderful social event.  Much laughing and teasing.  And, this night, brainstorming about S'Mores.   After a healthy meal of salad and fish (which Catherine doesn't eat so she got chicken) Brother Bob whipped out the "S'mores Stick Kit."  I'm serious.  All the fixin's for the campfire favorite sold in a handy plastic tube, complete with marshmallows, Graham crackers, chocolate, roasting sticks and a printed "History of S'Mores" -- which apparently date back to a 1927 recipe in a Girl Scout Handbook.  My, the things we learn when we come to Bob and Darla's!

The brainstorming for potential new S'Mores products began even before we retired to the backyard fireplace to melt the marshmallows.  Bob suggested inserting Hershey Kisses inside the marshmallow and selling them as "Kiss Me S'Mores."   Darby thinks a whole series of marshmallows on the stick could be "S'Mores K-Bob" (in honor of the old man whose wicked sense of humor she's obviously inherited).  Bob countered that all the concoctions could be sold at a S'Mores store called "Puff 'N Stuff."  There were soon all sorts of possibilities being floated from Catherine and Darla and all around. 

Amid all the verbal hijinks and flaming sweets, I took some grief for being inept at the burning of the marshmallow.  I failed to get the two I tried hot enough to melt the chocolate when smushed against the Graham cracker.  It was quite humbling.

But, I did prove adept at the eating of the S'mores.  So, there's that, at least.

It's a new and another glorious day in SoCal.  We love to hike and we'll probably do some more today.  There's a waterfall in the Santa Rosa Plateau area that Darla wants to see.  And, I'm still hoping for cougars and rattlers.  At a safe viewing distance, of course. 

Rich  

Against my Doctor's advice I got on an airplane last night and I am traveling.  The left side of my head is swollen, I have a "wick" in my left ear, I'm taking ear drops three times a day, popping Advil  ... and despite all that I'm having a blast!  Catherine and I are catching up with some of our favorite people in the Universe -- the Nugents, sister Darla, brother-in-law Bob and our beautiful neices Darby and Emily.  In a little while some of us are going hiking somewhere in the dry highlands between San Diego and Los Angeles.  I can't remember where Darla said we're going but I know it will be fun.

Nugents and Catherine on an earlier hiking trip

My ears have been a problem for years -- victims of multiple childhood infections, several years in my late teens playing in a rock band (nothing you've ever heard of though we did travel a pretty wide circuit in southern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa in the late 60's) and decades of TV earpieces cranked up during live shots.  I can clearly remember when I finally decided I had to get hearing aids.  I was at an Army base in northern Kuwait, embedded with the 4th ID and about to go on a rescue mission into Iraq with our Blackhawk battallion (not as dangerous as that sounds and all went well) when I simply was having trouble hearing and understanding things I really needed to hear and understand.  It occurred to me that not hearing could be dangerous.  Besides, people were clearly getting tired of me responding to everything with "Pardon?", "I'm sorry, what was that?" or "Huh?"

When I returned from the Mideast I finally did what Catherine had long been urging and got the hearing aids.  Even with them, I don't always get everything being said.  Speech is loud enough but often distorted.  And, as is happening now, my ears occasionally get irritated by the inserts.  This bout has been worse than usual.  But, I'm getting over it with the help of these magic drops and "the wick," whatever that is.

Plus, Catherine hates to travel without me and I hate to blow money spent on an airline ticket.  Fortunately, I bought these months ago when they went on sale and before prices really soared.  Like everyone else, the rising cost of travel has the Rays looking hard at staying closer to home.  But, this trip with relatives has the built in advantages of no rent car and no hotel expense.  And, the weather here is always a great; warm during the day, cool and night and dry.

I'll keep you posted. 

Rich

I've actually been talking about doing this for a month or so -- highlighting the fact that soaring gasoline and airline prices are forcing a lot of folks to stay close to home this summer -- but why that doesn't have to mean a dull vacation.

You don't have to travel to Africa to go on safari -- giraffes, cheetahs, rhinos, wildebeest and much, much more are available just west of Glen Rose at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.  You don't have to fly to Cozumel to go scuba diving -- there's a terrific scuba park just outside Terrell called Clear Springs.  You don't have to book a trip to Costa Rica to go zip lining across the tree tops.  There's a new canopy tour 90 minutes east of Dallas called NY TX Zip Line Adventures.  You can feed giraffes at the Gainesville Zoo or pet stingrays at the Dallas Zoo.  Etc. Etc. Etc.

Stingray Bay at the Dallas Zoo

And, the best way to find the close to home exotic vacations is to check out the Lone Star Adventure page on this website.  You will find close to 100 options there.  I'm doing a piece in the 9pm news tonight (Sunday) that helps you navigate to the page and shows you some of what is there.  Admittedly, this web page can be a little to difficult to get around on.  Our web producers are terrific but they are locked in to a template that we get from the corporate level.  The same one all the FOX affiliates are using.  It's too busy for my taste but there's a lot of stuff there when you learn how to get around on it.

Anyway, here's another blatant plug for the 9pm news.  Check out tonight's Lone Star Adventure, and book mark the Lone Star Adventure home page.  There's a lot of good stuff there.  Vacation options that are close to home and affordable.

Rich

This post is really aimed at my friends in the TV News business but some viewers will recognize the name Erika Ruiz as well. Erika was my weekend co-anchor for a few years in the late 90's. Very nice lady, good anchor, one of several excellent co-anchors I've been blessed with over the years.

Erika left us to take a weekday anchor job at the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque and whenever we traveled to that part of the world Catherine and I would always try to catch her broadcast. A few months ago I saw in the trades that she left her job. It surprised me. No explanation was given for why. But, I found a story this week that may shed light on what happened.

I haven't talked to Erika, I'm just sharing here a story from UPI:

ALBUQUERQUE, May 15 (UPI) -- Former Albuquerque news reporter Erika Ruiz's husband is suing KRQE-TV for allegedly probing his past in an attempt to end the couple's engagement.

Shawn Bryan is requesting $25,000 in damages for emotional suffering he claims to have experienced after KRQE performed the alleged snooping, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Bryan said the station went against the Drivers Privacy Protection Act in 2006 when it used his license plate number to dig up information that could hurt his relationship with his fiancee Ruiz. The couple was married early last year.

"For all the wrong reasons, KRQE took it upon themselves to do a background check based on my client's license plate to determine what, if anything, they could find damaging to share with his then-fiancee, Erika Ruiz," attorney Sam Bregman said.

A longer story in the Albuquerque newspaper indicates that there was a meeting between Erika and station execs in which they presented what they'd found about her then-fiancee. And, that the relationship between Erika and the TV station was strained from then on. Here's the longer story: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/306547metro05-15-
08.htm

As far as I know, she is still not working in the business. She may be waiting out a non-compete clause so she can stay in Albuquerque and work for another station. She was a very popular anchor in El Paso (under the name Erika Castillo) before she came to Dallas. I'd be surprised if she doesn't end up back on TV somewhere.

Rich

I've been trying for years to work out the logistics of a story on Texas Buffalo Soldiers -- the freed slaves who enlisted in the U.S. Army after the Civil War and helped win the West.  Most of their events are on weekends when I'm unable to get time or a photographer.  But, Wednesday it all came together at Lake Arrowhead State Park near Wichita Falls, where the park staff puts on an annual living history event.  Photographer Rick Smith and I shot the fixin's for a Lone Star Adventure that will air two Sundays from now in the 9pm news.

  Rosieleetta Reed Portraying Buffalo Soldier

In the process of shooting the story we got a chance to meet a remarkable woman named Rosieleetta Reed.  She's been a student of Buffalo Soldiers since she was a school girl.  Lee (as she's known to friends and family) is an operating room nurse from Venus, Texas  who volunteers with Texas Buffalo Soldiers and portrays the only known female Buffalo Soldier - Cathy Williams.  Williams was a freed slave who'd worked as a cook for the Union Army and after the war ended posed as a man, changed her name to William Cathey and served for two years along side the men.  Lee has done a lot of research on Cathy Williams (she has copies of her military records and a drawing made by a newspaper man in the 1880s) and loves to share the fascinating story with others.

 Luis Padilla and Selton Williams

The Texas Buffalo Soldiers program is run by a handfull of state employees with Texas Parks & Wildlife but it's the 200+ volunteers who really bring the history to life and they are always looking for more people to get involved..  Here's a link if you are interested: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/community_outreac
h_programs/buffalo_soldiers/

I wanted to share one other picture with you that Rick took with his still camera -- a couple of black-tailed prairie dogs we encountered in the park.  Lake Arrowhead is just south of Wichita Falls.  We're told it's an excellent fishing lake.  And, it has one of the furthest east prairie dog towns in the US.

Lynn Salmon runs the place and we found him to be a great host.  He tells us the crappie are biting and a 66 pound blue catfish was recently hauled out -- a new lake record.  Fishermen may want to put this Lake Arrowhead on the list.

Rich

"Clean Hair" was again the decider (surely I'm not the only husband who's fishing plans have been foiled by the "I've got clean hair" argument) and so Catherine and I returned to High Island for another nearly full day of birding.  We took the ferry from Galveston and headed back up the coast.

Catherine Feeding Laughing Gulls on the Bolivar Ferry

  We stopped briefly at Tuna Road in Rollover Pass where I did snap a couple of pictures of pictures of birds we actually saw -- though, we aren't 100 % sure on our identifications.  Shore birds are not my strength. 

Clapper Rail (We Think)

The birding was better at both Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks but I had to be back to work today so we left about mid-afternoon and, predictably, migrants flocked in a couple hours after we set out for home -- at least,  that's what I'm reading on Texbirds today.

Semipalmated Plover (We Think - Hey, This birding deal is tough sometimes)

We did have more fascinating conversations with a trio of the guides from www.TropicalBirding.com.  The company has set up shop across from the Boy Scout Woods sanctuary and is offering free guided tours of the two sanctuaries in High Island and Bolivar Flats (great spot for shore birds).  One was from South Africa and another named Benji is from Minnesota (my home state) and often guides in Kenya near where Catherine and I have traveled on short term mission trips for church.  I had a chance to use a little of the Swahili I learned a few years ago (it's pretty rusty) and we had a good time talking about mutual places and situations we've encountered.

The birding guides will be doing more of the same next spring and we will be there to take advantage.  Maybe, next year we'll time it right.

Rich

I love my job! Today is a prime example of why. Photographer John Gnann and I spent a splendid day in the rolling forest outside New York, Texas (yes, there IS a New York, TX) shooting a feature on a new zip-line destination. Five years ago you had travel to Costa Rica or Hawaii to fly across the tree-tops on zip lines but a few of them have started to pop up here in the states and this is the best one I've found to date -- NY TX ZipLine Adventures.

It's set high on a hill top east of Athens with a view that is magnificent. You can see the skyline of Tyler 30 miles away and the view in one direction is easily 60 miles. I never realized that East Texas had this kind of topography. And, it is perfect for zip-lining -- a perfectly safe way to get a great adrenaline rush. You are hundreds of feet in the air but always attached by safety lines as you fly along a cable from treetop platform to treetop platform.

NY TX ZipLine Adventures just opened this month. Eventually owners Chuck and Connie Shultz hope to have a bed & breakfast (in the historic home they moved here from Jacksonville, TX) and cabins. We sat out on the porch and enjoyed the view after the ziplining was over and it was spectacular.

The feature will run in our regular Sunday night at 9-pm Lone Star Adventure spot -- not this Sunday but the next. Right now, the adventure is by appointment only but you can find more on the web at www.GoZipTexas.com

I recommend it highly. Highly.

Rich

Photographer Rick Smith and I were Lone Star Adventuring today at Gainesville's Frank Buck Zoo.  It's a neat little zoo, that's re-opened after major remodeling and doubled in size.  If you live north of DFW it's a great place to take the kids -- but what really drew me there is the history behind the place.  What a fascinating story it is.

The fascinating history part is two-fold:

Gainesville Community Circus - From the late 1920s to the late 1950s Gainesville was known as Circus Town USA.  Circus professionals wintered in town and trained amatuers in circus skills.  It was the brainchild of a local newspaperman that turned the whole town into circus performers -- that traveled the southwest giving performances in the summer.  When the circus folded some of the animals -- elephant, monkeys, birds -- went into the zoo.  Wonderful stills and film from the era will be folded into the TV piece I produce along with an interview with one of the surviving performers -- Evelyn Walker who starred in the trapeze act.  At 75 she remains delightfully young at heart and we had a blast visiting with her today.

Frank Buck - The man the zoo is named after is another fascinating and largely forgotten story.  Before Marlin Perkins, before Jack Hannah, before the Crocodile Hunter there was Frank "Bring 'em Back Alive" Buck.  He was a pioneer of the whole zoo industry.  In the late 1920s he began capturing and transporting tigers and elephants and other exotic animals and supplying them to zoos all across America. By the 40's he was a huge celebrity with books and popular movies.  Buck was born in Gainesville and would occasionally act as ringmaster for the Community Circus.  The zoo now has a Frank Buck exhibit room with DVDs of his movies, artifacts from his animal capturing days, books, photographs, etc.

I'll tie it all together for a story that will air two Sundays from now in the 9pm news.  Should be fun.

One other note -- we found a great little restaurant for lunch, Sarah's on the Square -- on the corner of California and Commerce just north of the courthouse.  Check it out.

Rich