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wrapping it up on the Edwards Plateau

So, we had a day and a half to putz around, having gotten our target birds. We decided to hit the sights at San Antonio – an urban park and the River Walk. At the park, we ran into people we knew from Ohio. We heard a few more Golden-cheeked Warblers, and had a couple of insects which we were able to photograph. The River Walk was underwhelming, as was the Alamo, but we can say we did it. I needed a cup of coffee, and a Starbucks was unignorably convenient. I’ve tried Starbucks in cities all over the country and have decided it’s not a fluke, their coffee sucks. Bob – what is the attraction? I guess their heavily adulterated, bastardized, doctored-up coffee drinks might be good, but their regular coffee is bitter even with a quarter-cup of half-and-half in it. I’m boycotting as of now (unless, I’m desperate and my man The Kingfisher must have a Java Chip Frappacino).

With the weather warming up, we headed back to Kerr WMA (85 miles) to visit my new favorite bird, the Black-capped Vireo. We encountered our Ohio acquaintances again, who had not found any vireos. Five minutes later (after the OH couple headed down the road), we relocated what was probably the same bird and had more great looks. Love it. What a cutie.

Our gift shopping jones was satisfied in the visitor center of the LBJ National Historic Site, where The Kingfisher got some fudge shaped like a cow pattie for his mom, and we bought a couple of really tacky sheriff badges ("We don’t need no stinkin’ badges") with LBJ’s face on them for friends. We were disappointed not to find an ugly LBJ shot glass for a loved one who collects diminutive alcohol tumblers. We were tempted to buy two compellingly titled books: "Cedar Whacker" and "The German Seed on Texas Soil". The attraction was not so much the subject matter, as their interesting juxtaposition next to each other on the shelf, leading us to wonder about the relationship between whacking and seeded soil, and Teutonic self-pleasuring in early Texas history.

Filed in Travel