birding – Texans Travel Life

The Manling and I visited Abilene State Park in July 2018. It was our first visit to this gem, even though it is only three hours from our home in North Texas. En route, I hunkered down for some alone time in my favorite space – my head – while The Manling reposed in the passenger seat of the Tiny Toyota Tardis (because the Yaris is bigger on the inside). As the road changed from interstate to a two-lane road, the scenery morphed. I exchanged the flat expanses of I-20 for sublime roads more akin to roller-coaster tracks filled with hills, valleys, twists, and turns. No longer was I staring across level fields of wind turbines. I was now delightedly driving through miles and miles of them as I wound my way ever closer to Abilene State Park.

The Manling had been awake all of 60 seconds when we snapped our entry selfie. God bless him.

While registering our visit with the Park Staff upon arrival, we chatted both of them up about their park, attempting to extract from each what they personally considered top notch V.I.P. experiences within ASP. Their suggestions combined with the plethora of activities listed on the website greased the wheels of my imagination for a fall camp out with friends, from which the gears have continued to spin. From this ceaseless planning, I have created:

Abilene State Park’s Top 10 Activities for Every Person on the Planet

10. Swimming. Open during the summer, ASP offers park goers a ginormous swimming pool, a smaller wading pool, tons of seating, and even shaded lounge chairs to make for an epic poolside day of fun in the sun (or shade). The perfect cure for the Texas summer heat.

9. Bird Blind. Lots of State Parks provide special areas for guests to enjoy the sights and sounds of their winged visitors, but ASP went a step beyond with their bird blind. We could actually hear the wings of several hummingbirds from our vantage point, as well as the happy chirping and singing of several other varieties of birds visiting their favorite, shaded, protected watering hole. Delightful!

8. Horseshoes. Nestled under glorious shade trees near the pool and beautiful CCC-constructed water tower are actual horseshoe pits! As in, good ol’ fashioned fun from yesteryear!

7. Kayak/Canoe Rental. Rentals are available in the park’s HQ for kayaks and canoes, a fun way to explore Lake Abilene during your visit.

6. Team Building Game(s). Sand volleyball. Soccer. Baseball. Kickball. There’s space for all of these fun team building games at ASP! Grab some friends and bond over a competitive sport…or two!

5. Fishing. There is a pond on the HQ side of the park, but there’s a lake across the road surrounded by the beautiful rolling hills of the Callahan Divide. The whole time you’re fishing, you’ve got the sneaking suspicion that you are actually somehow fishing on the planet Mars with the beautiful orange terra firma beneath your feet.

4. Trails. With around five miles of them, you could legitimately see the entire park by foot over the course of a weekend. Some are bike-accessible, too! The ones we trekked on our visit were beautiful with canopied trees, lush undergrowth, and a variety of birds providing an enjoyable soundtrack while we explored.

3. Sunset. Lake Abilene at sunset. Trust me.

2. Geocaching. There were a few free geocaches within the park and I have to give kudos to the brilliant blokes that hid them. They were FANTASTIC! I may sound like a broken record, but geocaching is the best way to explore a new area. Download the free app and go have fun modern-day treasure hunting!

1. Staying. This is number one because of the variety of wonderful, picturesque, and one-of-a-kind accommodations available at ASP.

Tent camping? yes

RV camping? yes

Lakeside Cabin? yes

Tiny House Village? yes (a.k.a. shelters, but they look like an adorable tiny house village set underneath the trees!)

YURTS? oh my, yes! (Sign me up for an overnighter in a bona fide yurt complete with beds and an a/c, please!)

Why We Love Abilene State Park

Location. I mentioned driving through miles and miles of twisty-turny, up-and-down roads through the towering wind turbines en route to ASP. When we left, we were treated to the likes of Buffalo Gap, a precious little piece of ‘Merica that will make you want to listen to Lee Greenwood sing “Proud to be an American” on a loop while you explore it via the geocache method of tourism.
Variety of Activities. Boating. Swimming. Horseshoes. Team Sports. Fishing. Hiking. Biking. Bird Watching. Geocaching. Exploring. It’s all there for the taking, friend.
Accommodations. Yurts, people. Yurts with a/c. And if that isn’t enough, shelters that look like a Tiny House Village nestled under beautiful trees. If those are too primitive, there’s a legitimate Lake House Cabin. Or if you are so inclined to bring your own accommodations, the tent or RV sites are picture perfect.

Must Do’s

Um, see the above list.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Abilene State Park! Please share your experiences at this deliciously diverting State Park in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.

Estero Llano Grande State Park was the second birding center we visited on our South Texas trip in mid-June 2018. We thought we knew what to expect. We had, after all, already done this birding center thing once. But…

Estero Llano Grande State Park was vastly different from Resaca de la Palma State Park both in it’s Jurassic Park vibe, and in the overall look of the place. Where Resaca was unspoiled (wild, if you will), Estero Llano was manicured. While Resaca had the feel of the country, Estero Llano had the feel of a masterfully planned city park. You felt the history of Resaca de la Palma while Estero Llano Grande felt more like a modernized zoo – the kind where habitats are designed to be more natural and the patrons observe said animals in habitats that mimic the animals’ natural environment even though they are not the animals’ natural environment. So, two birding centers that couldn’t have more contrasting vibes if they had tried.

Once we parked, we followed the cute bird tracks on the ground to the HQ, which is nowhere near the parking lot. Brilliant move, those tracks. After explaining our gap year goal (99 Texas State Parks. 12 Month State Park Pass. 1 Awesome Adventure.), our enthusiastic Park Staffer called a co-worker to help us all plan just the right adventure for us. And while they talked of this bird, or that nest, even pointing to photographs taken presumably at the park decorating the wall behind their desk, they completely had us at alligators. Yes, friend. They have alligators at Estero Llano Grande State Park!!! We basically left the stack of Park Maps scattered in the wind of our hasty departure as we set out for some alligator sightings at birding center number two.

As we walked the clearly marked eight foot wide trails, enjoying the nicely manicured park that presumably houses wonderful flighty creatures, we were singularly focused on seeing us some alligators at aptly named Alligator Lake. Seldom a thought of snakes hidden in the tall grass (or reeds) entered my mind. Just alligators. There may have been some birds. They might have even provided a cheery soundtrack to our time at ELGSP. Honestly, I don’t remember. I was excited (and a teeny bit scared!) that we might soon see some ginormous reptiles that could end us in a habitat that didn’t appear to have the safety precautions you’d appreciate at the aforementioned modernized zoo.

At this point, I’m just going to go ahead and spoil the end for you. We didn’t see any alligators. Nada. Zilch. Not even a trace of an alligator, unless you count this sign –

This was a quickie photo op because I was a little hesitant to have them with their backs to the water at this early point in the game.

– which I did not. Kinder Frau? She is in the throws of big fears in the pics, which – like my snake-infested imaginings – were for naught. We walked all the way to the other end of Alligator Lake, as seen here –

This raised platform felt marginally safer than the previous photo for turning your backs to the water. Just marginally, though.

Still nothing. These alligators have that “Leave No Trace” thing down. We took some side trails as we headed back to the HQ, Kinder Frau thankful for a true Jurassic Park experience (meaning the animals were a “no show”).

Why We Love Estero Llano Grande State Park

Jurassic Park. Admittedly, we hummed Welcome to Jurassic Park while we were exploring, but that is only because it really did have that vibe. It was cool.
Alligators. Um, yes, please! Ironically, Alligator Lake is the only natural part of the park, we were told in the HQ. It is shaped like an alligator, but we were assured it was naturally so and that it was the rest of the park that was planned.
Park Staff. We loved their enthusiasm and appreciated all that they {tried to} teach us about the birds there, even though they lost us at alligators.
New Feel. Hey, we’re city people. After spending time at the wilder Resaca de la Palma State Park, it was nice to relax my muscles and enjoy the familiar city feel of Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Must Do’s

Alligators. Try to see them. And then post about it in the comments! We’d love to read about your experience with them!
Birding. There is a scope-type binocular available on the porch of the HQ overlooking Ibis Pond. Spend some time getting “up close” with our feathered friends from the comfort (and safety) of the shaded porch either before or after you wander the grounds.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Estero Llano Grande State Park! Please share your thoughts on this masterfully planned state park in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.