Owl Prowl and Cattle Drive - Fri. and Sat., Feb. 6-7, 2015

It sounded like a good idea at the time: a night-time Owl Prowl at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center (MLAC) in San Antonio. After work on Friday evening, I headed down to MLAC for their special event. Sure we would be making S'mores with marshmallows, graham cracker, candy sclera, candy corn, and chocolate chips, kids crafts would be available, Sea World would be there with live owl talks, and then we would go on a hike "in the full moon" to look and listen for owls.

The reality of the Owl Prowl event was that it was over-crowded. Luckily I got there early enough to snag a seat. Quite a few were left standing because they didn't expect so many people. I estimate 80 people were there. The kids were having a blast dissecting owl pellets and doing crafts. The S'mores were cute (as they were made to look like owl faces) but not cooked. It was also quite cold and we were outside in a covered (but not walled) pavilion.

The most interesting part of the two-hour event were the two live owls, an Eastern screech owl and a barred owl, that Sea World wildlife instructors brought. Each of the ladies talked about the owl they were holding. We learned what they do and don't eat, how they sound, and what their place is in the environment. Very cool. I forgot my camera and my phone, so no photos. Pout.

When it was time for the hike "in the full moon," there was no full moon. You see, the full moon showed up in the early morning hours, not at 7:30 p.m. We took flashlights and lanterns out into the preserve to look and listen for owls. Everyone was told not to shine their flashlights in the trees because it would traumatize the owls if they were nesting. Guess what? Adults and kids were shining their flashlights into the trees. In listening for the owls, all we heard was noise pollution: people's barking dogs, cars on the road, honking cars. Our tour leader, the "bird nerd" Jason, did some owl calls to try to get them to respond. All we could hear were dogs in far-off neighborhoods. Oh, well. He did give us good tips if we want to look for owls on our own. He said it helps to have some kind of light in the background so the trees are silhouetted. In our case tonight, we had the lights of San Antonio off in the distance. Still, we did not see any owls.

I headed home with info about owls in my head and was feeling might cold. Maybe next time we'll find owls.

On Saturday morning I worked until 10 am, then joined some other people in our RV park to see the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive in downtown San Antonio. We rode the bus downtown, walked to Houston Street where the parade would be held, and waited. Again it was cold, and windy. We had on heavy winter coats and gloves.

For the seventh year in a row, the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive kicks off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Domesticated longhorn cattle walk down Houston Street, followed by the parade which includes horseback riders, a band, bagpipers, Shetland ponies, sheepherders and their dogs, cavalry riders, Buffalo Soldiers, and wagons. It was quite fun to see all the longhorn cattle and cowboys on horseback driving them down the street.

Check out those longhorns

Those are some long horns on the cattle!

People ride longhorns??

They sure do!

This longhorn was feisty.

Dogs herding the sheep down the street

U.S. Border Patrol

Alamo City Community Marching Band

Percheron putting on a show for the crowd

Bagpipers

Lovely ladies on horseback

Buffalo Soldiers

Shetland pony brigade

Adorable

Love the little wagons

Las Monas Performing Company

Cavalry from Foot Hood

From Blanco, TX, Buggy Museum

From Blanco, Texas, Buggy Museum

Whiskey Wagon

Beautiful mules

After the parade, we headed back to the resort and I returned to work. As soon as we got back, the sun came out and the day became beautiful.

Saturday evening we had movie night at Travelers World RV Resort and watched "Man of La Mancha," a classic musical with Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren. It had been years since I had seen the movie. Really a good one.

Tomorrow we're off to Port Aransas, Texas, to see Faye and Dave. We'll do a 5k Volksmarch and have lunch. Then we're driving over to Rockport to look for whooping cranes. It's supposed to be a warm day at the Gulf! Looking forward to it.

Travel Bug out.

Historic Menger Hotel Luncheon - Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The ladies from our RV park decided to have lunch at the historic Menger Hotel in downtown San Antonio (next to The Alamo). Twenty-six ladies signed up. When the day turned out to be cold and rainy, only 14 hardy souls ventured out. Not only did we venture out, we took the city bus into downtown; that way we didn't have a bunch of cars paying for parking.

Here's our group waiting for the bus. We colorized the gray day.

The Menger is a beautiful hotel hiding lots of secrets in its rooms and hallways. The Menger Bar sports two bullet holes in the woodwork. A gentleman brought an alligator to the hotel, and left it. Teddy Roosevelt recruited Rough Riders for the Spanish-American War. This Victorian-era hotel hosted Sam Houston, Generals Lee and Grant, and Presidents McKinley, Taft and Eisenhower.

For lunch, we could opt for the Luncheon Buffet for $17.95 or order off the menu. Two ladies chose the buffet. The rest of us ordered off the menu. My Menger Club Sandwich was so-so. It had turkey as the main meat. I expected real turkey, not deli-meat turkey. The Reuben Sandwiches, however, looked excellent.

Our group at the Menger Dining Room

The Menger Hotel

Rare clock that shows time and date

Susan's and Peri's boots on the Menger welcome mat

In the photo below, we are listening to the history of the Menger. The painting in the background has been in the Menger for years. It showed up in the movie "Giant" with Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Sal Mineo, Dennis Hopper and Chill Wills.

Gathering to listen to info on the Menger's history

Our docent

The lobby at Menger Hotel

The Menger Bar

The pool area

The hotel docent talked to us for 15-20 minutes about the history of the hotel and bar. He showed us where the abandoned alligator once lived.

What a fun lunch and talk. When we were finished, we looked around the hotel and bar.

Since we were downtown, Peri walked with me to the Via bus office. I wanted to pick up my Senior Discount Bus Pass. The card lets me ride the bus on weekends for free and only 60 cents on weekdays. (Normal fare is $1.20.)

When we got to our bus stop for the ride back to the RV park, a number of the other ladies were there as well. We made it home safe and sound. So ended our rainy-day excursion into downtown San Antonio.

Travel Bug out.