Grumble, grumble - Sun., July 27

First, Happy Birthday to my sister, Jan. She is celebrating with mom on a four-day trip to Redwoods National Park and Eureka, California. Have fun! Wish I was there too.

Last night, Bob suggested going for a walk this morning. He wanted to show me Southside Lions Park's Salado Park Greenway Trail. Okay, sounds like a plan.

This morning when the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. the plan didn't sound so great, especially after the cats woke me up ay 2:30 a.m. (because they were hungry), and then again just before 6:00 a.m. (because that's the routine, don't you know?). Bob said, "Do you want me to reset the alarm to 7:00 a.m.?"

That sounded like a better plan, so I sleepily said, "Mmmph" (translated as "yes"). Up at 7:00 a.m., ate breakfast, but no shower because we would be sweaty and hot on the trail.  Shower later.

It's a six-mile drive to the park and we started walking by 8:00 a.m. Temperature 74 degrees and humid with a marine layer of clouds which would soon burn off.

The park was a complete surprise to me. I had no idea we had such a nice park so close to us, and it's shady! We ended up walking approximately 4-1/4 miles round trip. Bob did very well until we reached the parking lot at the end. Then he felt very tired. I'm glad we were back at the car so he could cool off in the air conditioning. Temperature was close to 90 and very humid.

Once again, the mantra is true, "You never know what you're going to find or learn on a walk." But more on that later.

Here are photos from our walk this morning...

Palmettos in San Antonio??

They sure look like palmettos.

Below is a fruit I've never seen before and had no clue what it might be. Google search can find almost anything. What we saw is an Osage orange (Maclura promifera), also known as a horse apple or hedge apple, a member of the fig family. Some people say don't park your car under one of these trees. I wouldn't try eating these fruits; they're hard and heavy. Squirrels might eat them after they have ripened enough to rot which makes them easier to open. Horses and livestock sometimes eat the fruit.

The reason for the hedge apple moniker? During Roosevelt's "Great Plains Shelterbelt" WPA project, launched in 1934 to prevent soil erosion in the Great Plains states, osage oranges were one of the main trees planted (about 220 million). (I learned the above from Jim Conrad's "Naturalist Newsletter.")

Osage orange

Big beautiful trees provide shade!

Comanche County Park

Comanche County Park

Salado Park Greenway Trail in Comanche Park

Here's something else we knew nothing about in our day-to-day lives: United States Auto Club's (USAC) Quarter Midget Racing. Comanche Park in San Antonio has the Lone Star Quarter Midget Association (LSQMA) racing track. Bob and I had no idea what quarter midget racing might be, so I Googled that too. Following is information from their website.

USAC Quarter Midget Racing is a family-oriented sport that involves racing in specially prepared cars. The cars, rules and safety procedures are specifically designed for kids. They race on oval tracks approximately 1/20 mile. Children ages 5 to 16 years can race. Safety features on the cars include full roll cages, multi-point seat harnesses, full face helmets, and other gear. According to the LSQMA website, this sport has fewer injuries than little-league football.

A Quarter Midget car is a .25 scaled-down version of an actual midget racer. The cars are built around a tubular frame and are fully suspended with springs or torsion bars and shocks. The bodies are fiberglas. Surrounding the driver is a chrome-moly roll cage and nerf bars. The engines are single cylinder and are manufactured by Honda, Continental, Briggs 7 Stratton, and Deco. In stock configuration they produce between 2.5 and 4 horse power.

Now wasn't that educational?

Lone Star Quarter Midget Association track in Comanche Park

Winner's Circle

Huge playground equipment.

If you want to find the park, here are the coordinates.

Turk's cap flowers are in bloom.

In the photo below you can see flattened grasses from the flash flood 1-1/2 weeks ago. This trail would not be a good one to walk if there is a big rainstorm predicted or happening!

Knobby tree bark. Anyone know what
kind of tree this is?

Molting cicada

Our walk was interesting and fun. It got rid of my "early morning grumpies." Thanks, Bob, for sharing this good walk.

As I'm typing my blog, the kitties have decided they BOTH have to be next to me. They have taken over the top of the box and are adorable. I HAVE to share some pics of the fur-kids. It's been a while since I've put their furry mugs in my blog.

Regal Sunnie

Bowie and Sunnie: hugs.

Bowie and Sunnie

Snuggle bugs.

Yin and yang, kind of.

Have an awesome week. Travel Bug out.