Peculiar, Missouri

Interesting name, yes?  After 226 miles, I find myself on the outskirts of Peculiar, MO.  I was not interested in trying to drive through Kansas City during the afternoon rush hour, so I stopped at the Peculiar Park Place RV Park.  This campground is very nice.  It is big rig friendly with many long pull-though sites.  The sites are terraced on a hill so you're not looking into the rig in the row in front of you.  It is very clean, has free Wi-Fi, and full hookups go for $25/night with the Good Sam discount.

The drive today was kind of uneventful, but I'm thinking I'll not take US 69 at any time in the near future.  Dang, that road is in bad shape!  Once again, I felt like every screw in the rig must have jarred loose on this road.  It was the same last Sunday as I made my way to the COE campground.  A very loud rattle began on that trip.  When I stopped for lunch, I checked every cabinet door and drawer.  It sounded like a door banging open and closed.  I couldn't find anything.

Well once I got back on 69 today, the slamming began again, especially when an 18 wheeler passed me.  Eventually, I figured out that it was the living room ceiling vent that had shook open slightly with all of the bumps, and the wind from the trucks made it bounce open and closed.  If I had a passenger, they could have figured that out pretty quick, I'm thinking.  Grrrr!  At the first, and only, rest area I made sure to tighten up that vent.

After getting around Joplin, MO, I headed north on US 71.  What a dream drive this was compared to US69!  I filled up with gas along the way, and the price was cheaper than in Oklahoma by 12 cents/gal.  You know, this driving sure does wear me out more than it used to.  :(  I figure I have two more days of driving left to reach Andy's house in MN.  I'll be happy to arrive. 

Last evening, after I finished my post, I sat down in the rocker to enjoy the birds with my camera ready to go.

I kept seeing this fast moving blue-gray gnat catcher flitting about.  At one point I noticed that he/she didn't swallow the bug that it caught, but flew off with it in it's mouth.  Aha!  That can only mean one thing....a nest with babies in the area.

I kept a close watch and eventually found the nest that the bird kept returning to.  This nest is only about 2-3" across and it located out near the end of a branch about 15-20 feet up in the tree.

I can't believe I actually got a picture of a parent bird visiting the nest!  The wind was blowing about 20 mph, and the nest was just swaying in the breeze.  If you click on this photo, you can see the tail feathers of the parent on the left.  You can also just make out it's head on the right side of the nest.  I'm sure that just visible eye on the nest edge was looking at me looking at it through the telephoto.  :-)

I also got a nice shot of one of the male orchard orioles that was working the same tree.

THE END!!  (sometimes birds just don't want me to take pictures of their better sides :-))

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy