Lori's Travels

My morning in Houston started well with the hotel’s breakfast buffet and an easy checkout. But as soon as my car and I emerged from the hotel parking structure a little after 7 a.m., I knew it wasn’t going to continue so easily. Rain, lightning and rush hour traffic all combined to make my drive to High Island more difficult than I had anticipated. The weather forecast had predicted just a cloudy morning, but it was obviously wrong. Rain pelted my little car, making it sound like I was driving a tin can. I had to use my fastest windshield wiper speed and turn up the volume on my phone’s navigation to hear it giving me directions. The cloud seemed to reach clear to the ground and there were frequent flashes of lightning but I couldn’t hear the thunder because of the rain and road noise. Plus traffic! But at least the speedy Texas drivers slowed down somewhat in the rain. What I thought would be a 90-minute drive ended up taking about three hours, due to slow traffic, a rest break and a grocery stop in Winnie. But it was no longer raining by the time I reached High Island sometime after 10 a.m.

There are several Houston Audubon bird sanctuaries at High Island and I went to two, Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks, both with information tables staffed by volunteers. The two ladies who greeted me at Boy Scout Woods provided trail maps and helpful tips, and they were very interested in hearing about my train travel too. I followed the boardwalks and trails through the woods and out to the wetlands, seeing quite a few other birders at various points. It was windy and pleasantly warm, and I heard a lot of unfamiliar birdsongs and calls, but didn’t see too much. I was probably late to get the best morning bird action.

Then I moved on to Smith Oaks, just a short drive away. This location had sounded more promising when described by the two lady volunteers and it was spectacular. There’s a relatively new elevated walkway that brings visitors up to tree-top level and the area hosts two large rookeries, where LOTS of birds were nesting. I really enjoyed walking around to see all the birds. There were even some large turtles and an alligator down below the walkway. The birds in the rookeries included egrets, cormorants, herons, and roseate spoonbills (the pink ones).

After leaving Smith Oaks, I drove along the flat, low-lying Bolivar Peninsula toward Galveston Island. It was an interesting drive, parallel to the Gulf of Mexico shoreline where the waves pounded in. All along the way, there were elevated homes and cabins in all sizes, all about 20 feet off the ground.

I stopped once along the way to view shorebirds (American avocets) at a jetty, where I ate some things I had bought in Winnie for lunch. Then I continued on to the ferry loading area at the end of the peninsula , where free ferries take cars across to Galveston. I had to wait about an hour for my turn on the small ferries, which run every half hour and take about 15 minutes to cross. My car was at the front of a car line on the boat and was repeatedly splashed with salt spray during the whole crossing.

Once on Galveston Island, I drove around the city to get familiar with it before checking into my hotel at 4:00, a Best Western on Seawall Blvd.

Dinner on my first night in Galveston was at a New York style pizzeria, where I enjoyed a calzone.

I got up a little early Saturday in order to get to the Tucson Amtrak station to catch my 8:15 a.m. train. It turns out I didn’t need to, since it arrived an hour late. But before arriving at that conclusion, I had taken advantage of my $15 credit at the Doubletree for their breakfast buffet and taken an Uber to the train station, arriving about 7:30 a.m.

When the train did reach the station, quite a few people got on, but I was the only one headed to my sleeping car. The car attendant, Efren, met me before the train and carried my suitcase onboard. My roomette was on the upper level again, so I took the stairs up and then got comfortable in the room. The train left about 9:15 a.m.

There were delays along the way due to freight train traffic. The dining car attendant at dinner said we were two hours behind schedule. A while after dinner, Efren set up the bed in my roomette. We had changed time to Mountain Daylight Time in New Mexico and then again to Central Daylight Time a little east of El Paso, TX. It was about 10:30 p.m. CDT by the time I went to bed.

I woke up at 6:00 Sunday morning and went to breakfast when the dining car opened. The train was approaching San Antonio as I ate. For some reason, we sat in San Antonio for over 90 minutes. I think we had to take on more fuel, water and passengers, but I don’t know why it took so long. Anyway we were late, finally arriving in Houston about 1 p.m., two hours later than scheduled. It was windy and warm in Houston, around 80 degrees.

My Uber driver was a young lady driving an electric BMW i3 on her first day of driving for Uber. She was pleasant to talk to, but I was a little nervous seeing how fast everyone drove while they tailgated too. We made it to the Houston airport alright and I found my way to the shuttle bus to the rental car office. My Enterprise compact car was waiting for me, a blue Mitsubishi Mirage. Then I navigated via my phone through the fast freeway traffic to my hotel, the Hilton at Post Oak, which Amtrak Vacations had reserved for me when they booked my train tickets.

But there was an unpleasant surprise when I tried to check in: the Hilton reception staff said my reservation had been canceled. Another glitch with my Amtrak Vacations arrangements! I got on the phone to Amtrak Vacations while sitting in the Hilton lobby and they apologized and told me to book and pay for the hotel on my own, then write an email to the customer assistance office for Amtrak Vacations on Monday, explaining the situation, and they would reimburse me for the hotel. (I sure hope that works.) Anyway, I finally got a room on the 3rd floor of the Hilton.

Since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, I quickly went downstairs to the bar and ate an early dinner accompanied by a beer, again taking advantage of my $15 meal credit gained from my Hilton Honors Diamond status. (Thanks again, Gary!) I decided to not go out sightseeing afterwards since I was tired from the day’s ordeals and didn’t want to battle the traffic or the wind. So I called it a day.

Friday, April 8th, was a day of transition for us. We checked out of The Tuxon and went to the nearby Waffle House for breakfast. I had never eaten in a Waffle House before and wanted to experience it. Despite knowing there were probably much better breakfast places around, Nancy went along with my wish. It was smaller than I expected inside and the menu wasn’t as long as other breakfast places. I had eggs, grits and toast which were just ok. I don’t need to return to a Waffle House again.

After breakfast, I dropped Nancy off at the airport for her morning return flight to Seattle. Although many Alaska Airlines flights had been canceled over the previous week due to a pilot shortage and labor problems, hers was a “go.” Then I drove to a Tucson park called Sweetwater Wetlands which is a wastewater reclamation and recharge site. The wetlands cleanse the water and host many birds in the cattails, reeds and trees that grow there. It was a pleasant place to walk around and there were several other birders there. But the air temperature was climbing fast and by 10:30 a.m. I wanted to go someplace cooler.

I returned to the airport and turned in the rental car. Then I took my luggage, walked to the arrivals area and summoned an Uber to take me to my next hotel, the Doubletree at Reid Park in Tucson. An older gentleman was driving the Uber and he arrived quickly, but prolonged the 10-minute drive somewhat when he missed the turn to the hotel. All turned out alright, however. The Doubletree had my room ready eve though it was only 11 a.m. when I arrived, plus they gave me water and a warm chocolate chip cookie. 🙂

I hung out at the hotel’s restaurant, bar, and my room for the rest of the day, avoiding the 93-degree heat outside. Thanks to my brother gifting me Hilton Diamond status, I enjoyed an upgraded room with a view of the pool. (Thank you, Gary!) Saturday will be the beginning of the next leg of my journey, traveling to Texas.

On Thursday morning, Nancy and I enjoyed another delicious breakfast at Casa de San Pedro. We again started with fresh fruit, this time accompanied by a small chocolate pastry and then two poached eggs served over flatbread, ham and cheese, with a hollandaise sauce and mild chiles. It was all great.

After breakfast, as we were walking around the grounds of the B & B looking for birds, a Border Patrol helicopter made two low passes over us and the cottonwood trees of the San Pedro River, causing the tops of the trees to flail and scaring out a hawk. We had noticed several Border Patrol cars the previous night as we went and returned from Bisbee too.

We packed up our things and checked out, noticing a Border Patrol truck with two saddled horses in a trailer just outside the B & B. We drove about 30 minutes to the Coronado National Memorial located at the start of Montezuma Canyon near Hereford. We went into the visitor’s center and walked around the oak and grassland habitat nearby. Then we drove up to Montezuma’s Vista overlook via a narrow, windy gravel road that was about 2 miles long. On the way up, a Border Patrol truck passed us, then when we reached the top, it was preparing to drive back down. We figured the agents had used the overlook to look for immigrants trying to enter the country. The view from the vista was expansive, looking clear into Mexico. It was windy but there were a few birds in the bushes and soaring over the pass.

Returning to the visitor’s center, we noticed Border Patrol agents with a saddled horse nearby, possibly with someone they had apprehended. We continued driving, stopping at a diner in Sierra Vista for lunch and then making the hour-long drive to Tucson.

Our hotel for the night was The Tuxon near downtown. It was pretty standard looking from the outside, but modernly decorated on the inside. It was over 90 degrees in town and our room doors and windows faced the afternoon sun. The heavy window blinds were closed to keep the sun out of the windows, but the metal door handles were super hot. The room air conditioning struggled to keep up.

We went out for Mexican food at Mi Nidito (My Little Nest), famous for good food and because Bill Clinton had eaten there in the 1990s. I had nopal-filled enchiladas and we both enjoyed our meals.

We saw on the local news that Cochise County, where we had just been in Hereford, was experiencing an uptick in illegal immigrants and high-speed chases after people transporting them, so that must have been why we had seen so many Border Patrol agents. Yet the Border Patrol checkpoint on the highway from Sierra Vista, where we had expected to be stopped, wasn’t operating for Tucson-bound traffic so we were happy about that because it would have slowed our trip.

I left my room window open overnight Tuesday so I could hear the sound of the courtyard fountain at Casa de San Pedro. It was nice to hear as I awoke in the morning. Nancy and I had breakfast at the first seating at 7:30 a.m. and it was fresh fruit, a small lemon poppyseed muffin and French toast made from English muffins, all very good. The various family/couple groups were seated spaced out, due to COVID, although everyone who stays at this inn must first show proof of COVID vaccination.

Soon after breakfast, we drove to San Pedro House, which is a trailhead and information center in the conservation area for the San Pedro River about 25 minutes from our inn. We took a path along the river to see what birds were there. Besides birds, there were occasional frogs that jumped in the river when we got close. Once we heard something slither away from the trail in the dry leaves as we walked by, but we never saw it so we didn’t know if it was a rattlesnake or a lizard.

Returning from our hike along the river, we drove into Hereford to find lunch. We ended up at a place called Urbano Coffee House, Brews and Chews, where we had sandwiches. We didn’t really find a town center in Hereford. It’s very spread out, as are other towns around here.

We took it easy at the B & B during the afternoon and I used the free washers and dryers to do a load of laundry. I also bought a Casa de San Pedro T-shirt with a vermilion flycatcher on it, caught up on emails and worked on the blog. I enjoy having some down time while traveling.

For dinner, we decided to go to the historic copper mining town of Bisbee, about 30 minutes away. We went about 5 p.m. so we could walk around town before dinner. From the highway between Hereford and Bisbee, we could see the border wall in the distance and there were quite a few border control and sheriff cars parked at intervals along the road. The highway was probably only 2 miles from the border.

After walking a couple of the streets of the old town, we ate dinner at Bisbee’s Table, located in an old building in the historic area. I enjoyed a tasty pasta dish. We returned to the B & B for our last evening there.