Catching Up: Galveston & High Island Trip

Before I go back in time to Saturday's happenings, I guess I should do a quick review of yesterday.

Tuesday was one of the busiest days I've had in a long time. I actually had to make up a schedule so I knew where I'd be heading all day.
9-10:30: school with the kids
11:take Charlie to PE
11:30-12:30: While Charlie was in PE, Rachel and I ran for 30 minutes along with a 5 minute warm up and cool down.
1:20: home and eat lunch. quickly bathe and get cleaned up
2:20 stop by bank; take Rachel to dance workshop
3:10 stop by library to pick up books
3:30 stop by a park to check out a possible canoe launch site
4:00 get Rachel and head home
4:30 get home and throw clothes in the wash
5:20 go pick up dinner at Pei Wei
7:00 start watching Biggest Loser while folding clothes

Here is a great tip to burn extra calories: During the commercials of your favorite show, jog or walk in place. You can even do jumping jacks or jump rope with an imaginary rope.

I started jogging in place during the commercials and was able to get in 32 minutes of exercise and earn a decent amount of calories.

It was a long day yesterday and I slept hard when I got in bed. I'm so happy to be out exercising again.

My run wasn't stellar: 2.3 miles in 30 minutes. The track is gravel and winds all over the place with some sharp curves that make you slow down. Plus there were little bitty kids doing their PE exercises. They would run past me then stop right in front of me. They did it over and over again. I almost plowed over some of them. I felt heavy running. I guess I need to build back up since I took so much time off due to allergies and laziness. :)

Calorie Deficit: -1130 (yeah!!!)


Now we'll travel back in time. It's Saturday, April 17th. A time in the distant past. LOL
I know. I'm posting this late but I wanted to share my day with you. We had so much fun.

We met at Sims Bayou Nature Center at 8:30 then drove to Galveston to see the tree sculptures. As a result of Hurricane Ike a couple of years ago, the huge live oak trees died when the island flooded with saltwater. Many have been cut down but some were carved into beautiful sculptures by artists. The trees are still rooted in the ground where they stood. Some are in yards and some are along the street.
You can get a map of their locations here. You can see more pics and read more about it here.

After viewing some of the amazing sculptures, we took a ride on the ferry from Galveston to Bolivar. Along the way we got to feed the seagulls.

We met our guide at Bolivar Flats. He is a fascinating man who travels all over the world conducting bird watching tours through his company Tropical Birding.

Charlie enjoyed playing in the mud and finding critters like snails.

We went to Rollover Pass and got to see even more birds. These skimmers don't sleep like other birds. They lay down flat on the ground.

Pelicans were everywhere.

Then we went to a place on High Island called Smith Oaks where there is an amazing rookery.

There were cormorants, egrets and these spoonbills nesting all over the place!

These spoonbills were making a nest. It was fascinating.

I love the flowing feathers of the egrets. They look so elegant.

Check out the "hair" on this guy. LOL These guys were characters. One would get a stick and bring it to his/her mate and he/she would place it in the nest.

After all of the fun, we rode the ferry back to Galveston and ate at Fish Tales. It was a great day. I want to go back and do it all again. :)