January 9, 2019. The park is full now and things are in full swing. Besides the Wednesday Social Hour, there is also Friday night entertainment. We really enjoyed Mario. He spent several years in Branson and now performs in Las Vegas. Every winter he does a few shows here in the Valley. There are other entertainers and activities going on that we enjoy. It is a good place to be.
We are still hiking. Last week we heard about a wildlife refuge around a salt lake, La Sal Del Ray. It had great reviews for photography, birding, and hiking. The lake sits atop 4 million tons of salt! It is a favorite stopover for migratory birds, including the wintering Sandhills cranes. The lake has been an important source of salt for centuries. The Spanish conquistadors named the lake, Salt of the Kings, because all mineral rights were the property of the King of Spain. So we found the entrance and hiked about a mile (fighting off bugs all the way) until we found the lake. Unfortunately, because of the drought, the lake had mostly dried up. All we could photograph were the salt flats and dried up plants. No wildlife in sight, except the bugs driving us nuts. But the weather was nice and sunny and we got our hike for the day. I also enjoyed reading about the history of the lake.
After Christmas we decided to get a couple of bikes because this area has many bike trails and nice, flat places to ride. Combined with the nice weather it’s a perfect exercise. Michelle gave me one of her old bikes and Pops bought one. We have begun riding around the park and getting used to these bikes. Some friends we have met are avid bike riders and we plan to ride with them once we get a little more comfortable with the gears.
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