traveling south

I left Grand Tetons Park last week and started driving south.  The construction on Hwy 26 over Togwotee Pass is finished and the highway has a beautiful new road surface. 
Meadows along the highway range in color from golden yellow to brown, with all shades in between shown by  bushes, willows and other plants.  One creek was dried to mud and a couple muddy puddles. Lava Creek on the south side is still running between willow-lined banks.  I stayed that night in Casper, WY.
     I had a few business errands to do in the Loveland - Greeley, Colorado area so I headed south on Hwy 25 the next day.  Southern WY is sagebrush land, with Cottonwoods indicating the locations of creeks and streams.  Boysen State Park and reservoir was nearly dried to mudflats.  I saw Ring Billed Gulls and Red-breasted Mergansers enjoying the last bit of water remaining.
     In the 1800's many 1000's of pioneers traveled across WY.  They were going to the gold rush, to find land, and seeking religious freedom in Utah.  I stopped at 2 historic areas, one protected  a stretch of original trail where many wagon wheels had worn ruts into the grey sandstone.  Register Cliffs preserves a tall sandstone butte where pioneers carved their names into the stone.
     Robins are everywhere, a few Red tailed Hawks, a family group of Mountain Bluebirds, a Townsend's Solitaire, and a Western Kingbird catching insects from its perch on a barbed wire fence.
     After finishing my errands in the central Colorado cities, I choose Saturday to drive into Rocky Mt National Park.  What a perfect day !!  Not only was the weather beautiful, but Saturday was one of the FREE days in the national parks.  I didn't have to pay the $ 20. entrance fee.
     I was looking for Ptarmigan, a bird adapted to tundra habitats.  I looked in all the reported and recommended locations.  Ptarmigans were not out to be seen on Saturday.
     My friend, Jan, has invited me to visit and attend a bird festival.  She lives alone near College Station, and enjoys outdoor events.  Well, not exactly alone,  she has several cats and a dog.  
     I drove east from Colorado, thru Kansas and stopped to visit 2 wildlife refuges known for migrating shorebirds and cranes.  Everything is so dry.  The larger ponds still have water, the smaller ones are dried to crackling mud.  A report of Henslow's Sparrows had me driving a bit further to the southeast.  I spent a pretty morning along a dirt road watching Eastern Meadowlarks, Vesper Sparrows, Kestrels, and Scissortail Flycatchers.  No golden-faced sparrows appeared out of the grass.
      Oklahoma seemed greener, less dried out by the drought.  Maybe the land received more rain during the summer.  I crossed the stateline into Texas that afternoon on Hwy 40.  Texas has good state parks, and 2 in this area have been recommended to me.

Photos are all from Rocky Mt park,  a meadow with golden Aspens,  Ptarmigan habitat that I walked around in, and more habitat with snow-capped mountains.