The Birth of a New Volksmarch? - Sun., Aug. 10

A couple of weeks ago, Bob showed me a great trail where near where we live. It's shady which is a plus in the 100-degree South Texas heat. South Side Lions Park is near the intersection of Southcross and Pecan Valley in south San Antonio.

This morning Bob, my friend Susan, and I took the walk to see if it fit the criteria for a new Volksmarch in San Antonio. We started out with a one-mile circle around the lake in the park and then crossed the bridge over Salado Creek on the Salado Creek Greenway Trail. On the lake, we saw a momma black-bellied whistling duck with 13 (!) ducklings. Cutest sight of the day. Enlarge the photo to see how adorable the ducklings are. The momma was whistling to her brood as they moved away from the shore.

Black-bellied whistling duck and 13 ducklings

The walk passes through a densely forested area from South Side Lions Park, through Comanche Park to Covington Park. To make a complete 10K Volksmarch, we continued on 1/2 mile past Covington Park, then turned around and walked back to the start point. The trail follows Salado Creek most of the way.

Trail sign with the usual flash flood warning

A patch of Pigeon-Berry (Rivina humilis).

We did the 6.2 mile walk in two hours. Time flew by because we had great conversations along the way.

The trail is very popular with bicyclists who did a good job announcing their presence on the trail today. That makes it a lot less stressful for us walkers who fear getting hit by a bike that we don't hear coming.

Susan will present the proposed new Volksmarch to the Randolph Roadrunners Volksmarch Club in San Antonio to see if they would like to add it as a year-round event (YRE).

Bob went in for his follow-up with the cardiologist. While in the doctor's office, he was in atrial fibrillation again. His doctor wants him to have another cardioversion. That is scheduled for August 19. After cardioversion, if his heart goes back into normal sinus rhythm, all is good. If his heart doesn't cardiovert to normal sinus rhythm, then the doctor is recommending a more thorough ablation procedure which will scar more of his heart tissue. We're pretty disappointed in this turn of events. Bob truly hoped his last procedure would make his heart "like a 17 year old." (Kidding of course.)

Thursday through Saturday I worked in the RV park office. It was pretty quiet so I was able to complete Carefree RV Resorts Training Program with three modules: hospitality, the front desk, and reservations. I learned some good information; namely, that I tend to be too business-like and efficient, and need to be more fun and friendly. That gives me something to do to improve myself.

Susan and I plan to see "The Hundred-Foot Journey" this week. I also want to see "Guardians of the Galaxy."

That's about it from this neck of the woods. I'll write again in a few days, probably with some movie reviews.

Travel Bug out.

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.