Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Fields, Farms, Flowers -- Sat., Apr. 6

Disclaimer: Today's blog may not be exactly what you picture when you think of fields and farms.



At 9:00 a.m. we were at the Somerset, Texas, American Legion building, our start point for a 15K (9.3) mile Volksmarch. We could have done a 10K walk, but we decided to do all the optional add-ins.

The fields I'm talking about today are oil fields. Somerset has a long history of pumping oil as evidenced by this antique oil well, still pumping away. Don't you just love the fan belt?


Our scenery included regular fields too. This is our scenery on the Little DK Ranch. More wildflowers have bloomed since our big thunder/rainstorms on Wednesday and Thursday.


I think this is a cowpen daisy (verbesina encelioides).

Bob spotted this handsome, scissor-tailed flycatcher perched on a fence.

Scissor-tailed flycatcher
When we exited the ranch/oil company lease land, we walked along back roads and city streets. Many different wildflowers are in bloom.


Indian Blanket or Firewheel

Spiderwort
Common sunflower (Helianthus anuus)
We saw fields of firewheels.
Other unique sights on our walk in Somerset...

Bob was pointing up into a tree thinking he had found a bird nest. Oops, the whole thing was moving! Glad he didn't get his hand any closer.

Swarm of bees in a tree.

An interesting fence.

This planting is for the birds.
Solar energy farm...
Actually a very large solar energy farm, producing 10.6
megawatts of power per day, enough to power 1,600 homes.
What a weird sculpture!
St. Mary's Catholic Church (founded 1920)

Lawn ornamental sculpture
Beautiful sky (once it cleared up)
We also hiked around the perimeters of two different Little League parks. Games were in full swing, so to speak.

After we finished our walk, as we were heading to our next destination, we saw about 30-40 horses under some trees with a couple of support trailers nearby. The riders were taking a break, talking on their cell phones or running across the street to the convenience store. The sign on the trailers said something about Mexico to San Antonio. We did not stop to ask what the occasion was, but I did capture two photos.



We continued to Medina River Greenway and Natural Area which was on our way back to the RV park. We saw the park on the map and wanted to check it out. We will likely go back and hike all the trails, but today after walking 9.3 miles we opted to hike approximately 3/4 miles roundtrip to see the river. Both paved and unpaved trails are available in the park and there is a large pavilion for picnics and events. Here are photos of Medina River Greenway:


Lizards have claimed #97 as their spot.
Medina River
Susan at Medina River.


We had a great morning. In the afternoon we napped, then ate dinner. Laundry got done this evening.

Oil fields, solar energy farm and wildflowers. Quite a day.

Good night.

10 comments:

  1. Sounds like it was a great walk. I enjoyed all teh different wildflower pictures you got.
    Elliot
    We Are Adventure

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it was a very different walk from most we do.

      Thanks for commenting on the wildflower pics. This is the time of year to enjoy Texas wilfdlowers!

      Delete
  2. Love a good long walk with lots of variety!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So do we. We can't wait to do the Volksmarch in Comfort, Texas. We drove around town on Easter and there are historic markers everywhere. The buildings in the old main street are really great. Plus the walk goes along a river with cypress trees. We plan to do the year-round event soon and then a sponsored event will be held June 1. We'll head over for that walk too.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. It is! Before Bob realized what it was, he almost touched it! Yikes. That would have been a nasty surprise.

      Delete
  4. butterbean carpenterApril 7, 2013 at 3:03 PM

    Howdy Bug & Bob,
    Thanx, for the hike and the great pics!!! You could have 'caught' that swarm of bees and taken them home with you; they'ed of made you some good honey from all of the spring flowers, all you had to do was BE CALM, REACH into the middle and find the queen, PUT her in your pocket and the rest would follow y'all anywhere!!! YEAH RIGHT!!!
    Hope y'all take us on another hike today!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I told Bob all we had to do was get a hive, and whomp the whole mess of bees off the branch straight down into the hive and close it up. Of course it would help to have on netting and a smoker. (My brother used to keep bees.)

      Delete
  5. Those bees would have seriously hurt...lucky escape.

    Pauleen at Tropical Territory
    A to Z 2013

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the flower pictures, particularly the cowpen daisy! Very cool, with the cracked earth and all.

    Enjoying A-Z

    ReplyDelete

Please let me know what you think, your experiences, and constructive criticism to make this blog stronger.