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 5, 2015

Joshua Springs Park & Preseve - Sunday, April 5, 2015


Today we reconnected with Hans and Lisa of Metamorphosis Road blog fame. Our destination was Joshua Springs Park and Preserve to do a long walk. When we arrived at 9:30 am, it was cool and cloudy/misty, 54 degrees with about 94% humidity. We could barely see the top of Ring Mountain.

I had a debate with myself about whether or not to wear a light jacket. The jacket choice won because it wasn't quite warm. Our walk started along Joshua Springs Lake, then we branched off to walk through meadows hoping to see birds, deer, armadillos, something!

Joshua Springs consists of over 400 acres and is run by Kendall County Parks. Within the park are trails for walking, biking, jogging and hiking, bird blinds, Joshua Springs Lake for fishing, canoeing and kayaking (no swimming), open air picnic pavilions, and a 3,000 square foot event center at the top of Ring Mountain.

As we walked through multiple fields on our hike, our shoes and socks became waterlogged. The grass was just tall enough that the dew or residual drops from recent rain permeated the breathe-able hiking boots. Squishy socks accompanied us as we walked.

Young cypress tree growing in the lake
Fire ant nest (we saw a few of these in the meadows)
Fishing pier next to the lake
Lisa, Bob and Hans on the South Bank Loop trail

We did see a number of wildflowers!



Sand verbena
Spanish bayonet yucca
 In the photo below, you can see what our weather was like...foggy, humid, cool-ish.

On Ring Mountain looking down on Joshua Springs Lake


Indian paintbrush
Spanish dagger yucca flowers
I love bluebonnets!
New oak tree leaves
Woolly Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
Following a road
Too cool for snakes today
Ring Mountain (event center at top)
Lisa
A turkey in one of the meadows
Picnic time
After our hike and lunch at Joshua Springs Park, we went to Comfort, an Antique Town. Because of the Easter holiday most of the stores were closed, but not all. Our goal was to show Hans and Lisa the historic town.

Comfort State Bank
Bird sculptures along the roof line in Comfort.
What you can find in Comfort
Beautiful flowers
Comfortable Pizza station
Bikes
Must be mesquite for wood-fired pizza
Cute place
A Texas longhorn
Find Comfort on the porch of The Tinsmith's Wife
Hans, Bob, Lisa in front of Comfort State Bank
We then drove over to the Treue der Union Monument. Enlarge the signs to read the Civil War history that led to the building of the monument.


Treue der Union Monument

Next, we went along Cypress Creek and that completed our day in Comfort. Hans spotted black squirrels along the bank. Their thick black fur sets them apart from their cousins with gray or brown coats.

A black squirrel
An old bridge
Cypress Creek
We said our good-byes to Hans and Lisa until the next time our paths cross.

Back at Travelers World RV Park, we walked around the park in the evening and found a couple of interesting rigs.

Minimalist camping!
The trailer is not much bigger than the picnic table!
 Does anyone else see the incongruity and irony of the small tow vehicle below?

Big foot with small tow. LOL.
Check out the following two photos of Bowie. Is he sleeping with his eyes open or giving me stink eye? It all depends on how you look at it.

Sleeping with eyes half open?
Or stink eye?
Travel Bug out.


6 comments:

  1. Great write up and some terrific pictures of our day together! Until next time somewhere down the road...!

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  2. Stink eye and I laughed at the teeny car and big moho! Looks like a really interesting place to walk around and see things though!

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  3. What a very nice day spent with Lisa and Hans. I'm loving all the bluebonnets and wildflowers!

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    Replies
    1. The bluebonnets and wildflowers will probably be at their peak this coming weekend (April 10-12). Hopefully we can get out again and do another drive and walk.

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  4. You always find such cool walks to take and areas to visit. Great pictures! What type of camera do you use?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Betsy,
      Thanks for taking time to comment.

      My camera is a Canon PowerShot SX260HS. I love it but it's time to replace it. I'd like to replace it with the same camera.

      Delete

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