Stop 1/25

14 pts!

@ Palo Duro Canyon, Texas

Phoenix wondered why Dorothy seemed to have thrown him in at the deep end by advising him to start his tour of Texas here! He heaved his rucksack on and prepared to tackle the canyon! He noted there were lots of opportunities for bird watching and had made sure his binoculars were at the top.

Stop 2/25

14 pts!

@ Palo Duro Canyon, north Texas

Phoenix paused to eat his sandwiches taking in the stunning view over the Palo Duro Canyon State Park. What an amazing place! It had been hard work with all the hiking but he was having a complete change of scene the next day!

Stop 3/25

14 pts!

@ Sunset over Fort Worth

The next day Phoenix was 300 miles away from Palo Duro, in Fort Worth. He learnt that the place used to be a major trading post for cowboys at the end of the Chisholm Trail, and was now a thriving and vibrant modern city. He chose to tour the Stockyards, home to rodeos, followed by a visit to the Pioneer Museum!

Stop 4/25

11 pts!

@ Dallas Arboretum

"Extraordinary!" remarked Phoenix. It was just the word! He was at the Dallas Arboretum, which extended over 66 acres on the shores of White Rock Lake.

Stop 5/25

13 pts!

@ Lake at Dallas Botanical Garden

Phoenix felt he had had enough hiking for the moment, so elected to go bird-watching round the 1015-acre White Rock Lake. He had a 250-mile journey to Houston later so he didn't want to tire himself out!

Stop 6/25

12 pts!

@ Bayou, Houston, Texas

Phoenix had reached Houston. He found it was popularly known as The Bayou City because it was home to 10 winding waterways. Phoenix visited Buffalo Bayou, a 52-mile slow-moving waterway, the site where Houston was founded in 1836. It was quite crowded and was obviously a very popular spot!

Stop 7/25

11 pts!

@ Lone Star Flag, Texas

Phoenix had been learning all about the Texas flag! He learnt that it uses the exact same shades of red, white and blue as the US national flag. The lone star on the flag represents Texas as the Lone Star State, established as a symbol years before when Texas gained independence from Mexico.

Stop 8/25

72 pts!

@ Misty Wood, Houston

Phoenix stopped near a wood to take photographs of the spooky atmosphere brought about by fog. He was pleased with his pictures but not so happy a little later to find that fog along the Gulf Coast had delayed his flight out of Houston to Austin!

Stop 9/25

65 pts!

@ Stone Map of Texas

"What fun!" thought Phoenix, as he explored a large outdoor map of the state of Texas, located in Town Lake, Austin. He hopped from city to city, and compared the distances from Austin given on the map to various Texan cities: Laredo (235 miles), Houston (165 miles) and San Antonio (80 miles).

Stop 10/25

53 pts!

@ Peach Tree, Austin, Texas

"Fruit-picking today!" decided Phoenix, and headed off to a local peach farm in Austin. He'd never had such delicious fresh peaches! He couldn't decide if they were tastier eaten straight from the tree or in a luscious peach cobbler! He decided he would have to keep experimenting!

Stop 11/25

11 pts!

@ Lake Travis, Austin

"My goodness," thought Phoenix, gazing out over Lake Travis. "This is huge!"
He consulted his guidebook. It said that Lake Travis was nearly 64 miles long, had over 271 miles of shoreline and was 4½ miles at its maximum width. Phoenix loved its crystal clear blue waters!

Stop 12/25

14 pts!

@ Texan Lake at Twilight

Phoenix spent his final night in Austin camping beside a beautiful lake. There was certainly no shortage of lakes in Texas! He had a midnight dip in the still-warm water, and as he was falling asleep tucked up in his sleeping bag in his tent, he heard the creak of the oars of a rowing boat going slowly past.

Stop 13/25

10 pts!

@ Bluebonnets in Spring, Texas

The next day, Phoenix went north-west from Austin to Burnet to pick up the Highland Lakes Bluebonnet Trail. Phoenix learnt that Burnet is also known as the Bluebonnet Capital of Texas and that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas!

Stop 14/25

11 pts!

@ Decorative Map of Texas

Although the bluebonnet season was over for the year, Phoenix enjoyed a visit to a giftshop, where he picked up a cute map, decorated with bluebonnets, displaying the year, 1845, when Texas joined the Union!

Stop 15/25

15 pts!

@ Alamo Garden, San Antonio

In The Alamo garden Phoenix heard squeaking up a huge tree. A fox cub was stuck high up. Mom was nowhere in sight! "I wish Joshua was here!" thought Phoenix. Thinking quickly, he took a blanket from his rucksack, got three other pets to hold a corner each, and coaxed the little pet to jump down.

Stop 16/25

11 pts!

@ Okra with Chili Bean Sauce

Phoenix was trying all sorts of new dishes he'd never had before! His starter at lunch was okra and chickpeas in chili sauce. Phoenix found out that fried okra is a staple in Texas and the south.

Stop 17/25

14 pts!

@ Mustang Island State Park

Phoenix had come down to the coast. Mustang Island was an idyllic place for campers. Phoenix spent quite some time combing the beach for seashells before going parasailing!

Stop 18/25

12 pts!

@ Rio Bravo, Texas

Phoenix had reached Rio Bravo, located on the Rio Grande River and on the Mexican border. It had a unique and interesting blend of Mexican and Texan traditions! Phoenix took part in the annual BioBlitz event, which involved looking for and listing as many species as possible of birds, mammals, insects and plants.

Stop 19/25

11 pts!

@ Creole Seafood Jambalaya

For his evening meal, Phoenix enjoyed Texas Creole: a blending of the food culture and local produce of Texas and traditional New Orleans fare. The waiter told him a French term: terroir, used to describe the characteristic taste and flavour imparted to a wine or a dish by the environment in which it is produced. Phoenix took careful notes.

Stop 20/25

15 pts!

@ Flag of the United States

Phoenix enjoyed learning about the US flag, finding out that the 50 stars represent the 50 US states and the 13 stripes, alternating in red and white, represent the 13 states that declared independence from Great Britain. Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory and The Star-Spangled Banner.

Stop 21/25

11 pts!

@ Desert Flower, Texas

Phoenix was hiking through the hilly terrain of the Big Bend National Park in west Texas. He stopped to compose a photo shot of a bright desert flower with mountains in the background and was pleased with the result.

Stop 22/25

67 pts!

@ Big Bend National Park, Texas

Phoenix stayed in a campsite overnight. He found he hadn't cleared all the stones from under the ground-sheet so spent a restless night. However, his fitful sleep was cut short an hour before dawn. He was going birdwatching. The best time was very early morning when birds are at their most active, right after waking up!

Stop 23/25

12 pts!

@ Santa Elena Canyon, Texas

Continuing on his tour of the Big Bend National Park, Phoenix was amazed by the canyon, with cliffs up to 1500 feet tall. He found the dramatic and beautiful views along the trail really stunning!

Stop 24/25

@ Texan Frost

Phoenix blinked at the picture displayed in his hotel room, labelled Snow in El Paso. He had been expecting iconic images of cacti and ranches, but not snow!
Dorothy joined Phoenix for a mint julep at the bar, and presented him with a splendid pair of cowboy boots as a memento of his trip through Texas!

Stop 25/25

@ Road to El Paso

The last day of his tour found Phoenix, as advised by Dorothy, on the famous US 62/180 to El Paso, with views of the Guadelupe Mountains.

Phoenix has enjoyed his tour of Texas, but it is time to go home now! This Event is over now, but there will be more events in PnF soon!