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Borrego Springs, CA

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Ever have this happen?

Did you ever hear a tune or a jingle and have it get stuck in your head for the whole day?  That happens quite often to me, and this afternoon was a good example.  Emma and I were sitting outside while a couple of volunteers were working on trying to improve our wifi service here.  They were installing a new antenna to try to boost the bars of reception for the volunteer pads.  I was their test case.  I sat outside with a walkie-talkie and they would have me check my bars of service as they progressed.

On the electrical lines entering the compound, were about 150 boat-tailed grackles all lined up in a row.  They would periodically all take off together to fly over the pads and regroup once again on the wires.  As they did this, I had this poem (?) jump into my head:
Birdie, birdie in the sky
Dropped some whitewash in my eye
I didn’t scream; I didn’t cry
I’m just glad that cows don’t fly!

Well, once I thought of that, I couldn’t get it out of my head all day!  Ack!  However, I really am glad that cows don’t fly!  :)
_MG_6497Flocks of geese continued to stream into the refuge overhead today.  The ‘V’ is snow geese, and the line above is white-fronted geese.

My post last night sure garnered some interesting comments.  Many of them made me chuckle.  Thanks guys!  I didn’t know that feral hogs, hay, and beef would create such a diversion.  :)

I continued to try to get things organized for my cruise departure today.  Tomorrow, I’ll be dropping Emma off at the boarding kennel, and then plan to buy a suitcase and some other needed items.
IMG_0268I leave you with what a sunset can look like on the marshes of Anahuac.

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

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Coalition for Hog Control in Jefferson County, Texas

How’s that for a snappy title of a blog post?
_MG_6491I never, in all of my wildest dreams, thought I would be attending a Southeast Texas Beef Symposium, but that is what I did today!  :)  I was sent there today to help man the booth for the Coalition for Hog Control.  Oink, oink, what’s up with that? 
_MG_6488I headed out this morning for the Ford Arena, outside of Beaumont, TX, to meet up with Jena Moon, the biologist, at McFadden NWR.  Texas is home to an estimated two million feral hogs, which accounts for about 50% of all the feral hogs in the United States.  Feral hogs destroy rangeland, pastures, crops, streams, ponds and watersheds.  This is a major economic challenge for farmers, ranchers, and wildlife refuges.  That’s about $51 million in damages for Texas landowners every year!

Jena is competing for a grant to help control the feral hogs in Jefferson County.  The method of control is to kill the hogs by shooting them from the air in helicopters.  Some may think this is cruel, but these hogs are really destroying the habitat, and they breed year round here like rabbits!  I’ve seen the destruction they can cause on our refuges.  Anyway, our job was to sign up ranch owners for the eradication program at no cost to them.  Once they heard her little speech, quite a few were very interested.  All the ranchers around here have to deal with these destructive hogs.
_MG_6484As the lectures during the symposium were droning on about soil tests and fertilization of hay fields, I decided to take a stroll around the other vendors.  There were several tractors and other equipment located between the two rows of vendors. _MG_6487I found the booth on ear tagging your cattle quite interesting, considering I grew up in the big city of Chicago.  It was something I had never even thought about.  Notice the diagram about where to place the tags in order to avoid arteries, etc.  I felt a little bit out of my element in my gym shoes as everyone else was wearing boots and cowboy hats.  :)  They were all very friendly, however. 
_MG_6490While I was there, I also visited the Hay Show and saw the Grand Champion Hay Bale!  Life doesn’t get much better than that!   You just never know what tasks you’ll be asked to perform when volunteering.  I know you’re all jealous of my experiences today, but try to control yourselves.  :)  Maybe some day you’ll get a chance to be in Hay, Hog, and Heifer Heaven!

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

Friday, October 29, 2010

I’m running out of time!

I spent the morning with the same group of five people working on the Outdoor Education Programs, but to be honest my mind wasn’t really on it.  In four days, I have to be ready to fly out of Houston and begin my first cruise adventure of my life.  My delays in getting here have condensed the amount of time I have to get ready.  Tomorrow, I have to drive a refuge vehicle to Beaumont, TX, and help a staff member man a booth at a Beef Producers Expo!  The staff member is trying to get a grant to help eradicate feral hogs on our sister refuge, McFadden NWR.  I will be working the booth to help local land owners support that quest.  So, chalk off tomorrow for getting ready for the cruise.  :(  Since I’ll be using a refuge vehicle, I can’t stop and do things like get a hair cut, shop for luggage, or buy some Dramamine. 

This morning, Stephanie, the volunteer coordinator, suggested I spend Sunday training in on running the VIS, and attend another work meeting on Tuesday to finish up the education programs.  I told her NO!  After tomorrow, I have to concentrate on getting ready for my adventure!  Besides getting a hair cut, luggage, and Dramamine, I have to get Emma to a vet for a kennel cough vaccination, get her to the kennel she’ll be staying at, figure out what to take along, pack, and prep the rig for my being gone for almost three weeks.  Yikes!  There’s also the issue of getting my recalcitrant printer to work so I can do the boarding pass business with the airline to get to Barcelona 24 hours before I depart. 
_MG_6457Late this afternoon, Emma and I took a ride around Shoveler Pond to try to get some pictures.  To my great disappointment, there was nothing to really see on the drive.  :(   I did try to take a pic of one bird, but the camera wouldn’t work.  Turns out, I had left the battery in the charger in the rig.  I guess I would have been a lot more upset, had there been fantastic photo opportunities.  :)
_MG_6476We spent the evening sitting outside and watching the numerous flocks of snow geese continuing to arrive on the refuge.  That is until a little after 6:00, when the mosquitoes began to get active.  :)

It seems my hit counter has also decided not to work.  What’s up with that?  This gadget counts how many people view the blog each day, and suddenly all that shows up is a big red X where the counter is positioned.  :(  I tried switching from my Sprint air card (which was giving me some problems) to the not especially strong wifi signal available at the RV sites.  Same thing happened!  Ack!!  Any suggestions?

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

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Back to work

This morning started out with a fairly brief orientation to the refuge, since this is my fourth tour of duty.  As this refuge continues to recover from hurricane Ike, some things do change. 

_MG_6447I’ve never been here in Oct/Nov, and there hasn’t been much rain for the last couple of months, so the pond outside the Visitor’s Information Center (VIS) has really dwindled in size.  That makes things perfect for young white ibis, white-faced ibis, and snowy egrets to search for food. 

 

After a farewell luncheon for fellow volunteers, Sue and Dave, five of us met at headquarters to do further work on developing the outdoor education programs for visiting schools to the refuge.  All of the education program materials were lost in the hurricane.  Stephanie and I worked on them last year while I was here for a brief time, but it’s always helpful to have more minds working on these programs.  That took up the whole afternoon, and I was tired by the end of the session.

_MG_6463After getting back to the rigs, several of us met outside to enjoy the early evening at the picnic table on the site I didn’t move into.  Four of us enjoyed a ‘happy hour’ chatting about the day’s happenings.  A cold front is moving through today, the winds have changed, the humidity has dropped, and how nice it was to spend some time with three other people that are interested in birds!  Cattle have been moved into the marshes surrounding us, and the cattle egrets were doing their thing…following the cattle.  That bridge in the background is about nine miles away, and leads to High Island, a birder’s hot spot in this country.

IMG_6456The skies were filled with many flocks of returning geese today.  The storms up north, and the approaching cold front have sent them on their way down to Anahuac.  These are snow geese, but we also saw many flocks of white-fronted geese.   Lots of people today were looking to the skies and saying “They’re back!”  The rhythm of life goes on, and for everything there is a season.  Snow geese, snowbirds…hmmm.  Tis the season!

_MG_6464A yellow-rumped warbler even stopped by in the one tree at the RV sites to say hello.  I guess winter is on it’s way.

 

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

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

This place if for the birds!

Literally!  Some readers, who have been journeying with me for quite a while, know that this will be my fourth time volunteering at this refuge.  My blog posts are generally full of bird pictures from here since it is a refuge for birds.  :) 

 

The volunteer coordinator, Stephanie, doesn’t want any grass growing under my feet, so she sent me off this morning with the folks that are presently doing this year’s bird survey route.  When I get back from my cruise, I’ll be working on this as well.

_MG_6404There were four of us in the vehicle, and since I was just along for the ride, I sat in the back.  Of course that meant I didn’t get to see very much.  At one of the stops, I got out for this pic of a young double-crested cormorant.  I liked how the bird and the dead tree both seemed to be flowing to the right.  Seems funny to see a bird with webbed feet perched in a tree!

_MG_6411As I was taking the cormorant picture, this fellow stealthily made his way from one side of the road to the other by swimming through the culvert pipe.  I was happy to see about a half dozen alligators on today’s drive.  They are the survivors of the devastation of hurricane Ike.  Many of the ’gators’ were drowned in the 15 foot high storm surge that came five miles inland.  This guy was about four or five feet long.

_MG_6428 _MG_6429

After the official bird survey was over, we did a little birding on our own.  The sora, a type of rail, was working the shallow water along the levy.  Don’t you just like the white dot camouflage? 

53 Anahuac NWR 2010As we walked a short distance of the levy, this elusive marsh wren kept hopping in and out of the reeds while keeping up a buzzy chatter. 

_MG_6431

Lots of waterfowl are out there on the wet areas of the marsh, and many of them took flight as we drove along the back roads.  Hunting season begins soon, so they’ll be even more skittish as time goes by.

_MG_6433I felt like Jeff Corwin as I tried to sneak up on this big old guy.  :)  Yes, I’m back at Anahuac NWR, and happy to be here, mosquitoes and all!

 

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

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Wahoo! I finally made it.

IMG_0259The winds changed overnight, and this morning were out of the northwest as I headed out of Corsicana, TX.  That meant a nice tail wind for a good share of my journey.  :)  Once I got close to Houston, however, the gulf wind prevailed and was really blasting me from the side.  One of the things I like about traveling around Houston is that they paint the road with pictures of what lane is for what highway.  I really appreciate that in addition to the road signs.

After about 260 miles, I pulled into the volunteer village at Anahuac NWR.  What a relief that was!  After a month, I had finally made it here.  Of course, I’ve learned to not expect everything to go smoothly, and I wasn’t disappointed.  :(  After corresponding with Stephanie, the volunteer coordinator, I knew that I had a choice of two sites, and because I’ve been here three times before, I knew which site I wanted.  Well, there was a refuge vehicle with a fire crew trailer attached to it in the site I planned to move into.  Okay, so I checked out the other site (on foot).  First of all, it had a picnic table that I couldn’t hope to move in the middle of it, and secondly, there was a tree that leaned over the rear of the site which meant I couldn’t fit into it.   Ack!!

I knew everyone was on a field trip today, so no one would be around.  I unhooked the toad, and Emma and I sat out at the picnic table in the 90* heat to wait for everyone to return.  In about an hour, Stephanie and all the volunteers returned.  Since I was parked smack dab in the middle of the entrance road, it was immediately obvious that there was a problem.  After another hour or so, a key for the truck was tracked down, and it was moved out of the site so I could move in. 

A couple of the male volunteers helped me get set up, which I really appreciated since I was feeling pretty wilted at the time.  :)  Once the basics were done, I turned on the AC and sat inside for a while until I stopped sweating.  Then I tackled the DISH set up.  I dragged all the equipment out of the trunk of the car, made some adjustments, and using a compass made my first guess of where to point it.  For the first time in over four years, I was right on the satellites without having to do any searching!   I always make a bet with myself about how long it will take me to find both satellites, but today, all bets were off.  I did a little happy dance and went back into the AC.

I’ve been in the high desert for quite a few months, so it will take a little time to adjust to the heat and humidity of the coast!  I was also reminded I was in a marshy area this evening when I took Emma out.  I had three mosquito bites in no time at all.   Ah, I’m just happy to finally be here.  :)

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

Monday, October 25, 2010

Grounded again

After those storms and tornadoes moved through in the early evening yesterday, things calmed down, and remained warm overnight.  However, by this morning, the winds had picked up again, and there was a high wind warning that doesn’t expire until 7:00 this evening.

IMG_6400I had a couple of pics left of last night’s storm that I didn’t include yesterday, so I’ll post them tonight.  In this pic, I see a face on the right side looking at the swirling clouds in the middle.  :)   Can you see the wrinkled brow, eye, nose, and lips?  I enjoy cloud gazing.

 

With a forecast of at least 35 mph winds that would blast the side of the rig as I drove I-45, I decided to sit tight and wait another day to make the final push to Houston.  Once again, I’m happy I followed my gut because the wind has been awful all day.  By 11:00, several rigs were pulling off the highway and checking into the park. 

IMG_6401I just watched the video of the tornado that occurred just a little ways from here on the NBC Evening News.  It went straight across I-45 where I had driven just a few hours earlier!  It made the National news.  Oh boy, I’m glad it missed the park I’m in.

 

I thought about doing a couple of loads of laundry today while I was stuck here, but decided against it.  I’ll have free laundry once I reach Anahuac, so that seemed like a good reason to procrastinate.  :)   I hope to be talking to you from the refuge tomorrow night.  Considering I left Oregon on September 26, it will be about time!

 

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

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Second post—the storm

Just as I published tonight’s post, a severe storm hit the area.

IMG_6385Emma and I hunkered down as the rain and hail hit.  She was shaking like a leaf.

IMG_6387 IMG_6390

The sirens were screaming, but there was no tornado shelter at this park.

IMG_6391After the twenty minute onslaught, we stepped outside to get some photos.

IMG_6393We weathered the storm, thankfully, but it was a little scary!  :)  The power of nature continues to amaze me.

 

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

Emma does Dallas :)

I perceived a small window of opportunity this morning, and got on the road before 8:00!  I’m so glad I did.  As the morning progressed, the miles rolled by and I found myself, and Emma, tackling Dallas shortly after noon.  Thank goodness it was a Sunday, and traffic was lighter than a weekday.  Without a navigator that can help read signs, it was a challenge today to keep moving to the correct lanes as I wove around from I-35 to I-35E to I-30E to I-45 to Houston!

I tried putting my destination address into the GPS, but it would have taken me on an awful lot of side roads, and added 20 miles to my journey, so I didn’t use it.  There were a couple of times when the directional signs were hidden behind overpasses!  Yikes!  There were also several car drivers that wouldn’t pass me, but wouldn’t let me change lanes either.  I hate it when that happens. 
IMG_6382Once I got through Dallas, I hit my easy button.  It helps dissipate my tension and makes me smile to hear someone say “That was easy!”  Of course, I talk back to it and say “That’s what you think!”  :)  Sometimes, I use even stronger language to disagree.  :)

Once outside of Dallas, the dreaded winds picked up, and the last 30 miles of my 287 mile journey was pretty white knuckle.  I would have stopped sooner, but there aren’t many campgrounds along this stretch of I-45.  I ended up at American RV Park in Corsicana, TX.  The reviews weren’t great on this campground, but I didn’t have much choice.  Actually, after stopping here and talking with the owner, I’d stop here again.  Best part of our chat was that after giving him some input about Escapees and workamping, he gave me a discount on my fee for the night.  :)  I was really happy to be off of the road, and get the AC going.  It was close to 90* inside the rig after I set up.

We are now surrounded by tornado warnings, and a tornado has touched down not too many miles from here.  The thunder is rumbling, and Emma is hiding under the table next to my feet.  :(  I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears tuned to the sky tonight!

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

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Still waiting to move on

When I took Emma out first thing this morning, I noticed that there was no rain, but, oh my gosh, the wind was a howling!  I really wanted to be on my way to get out of Oklahoma into Texas, so I prepped everything inside.  I turned on the TV to the local news station, and most of the news was all about the weather!  Lots of warnings and watches, so I checked my online weather source, and the radar for where I was going to travel was not good.  Once again, I debated with myself, but finally made the decision to stay put for another night.  :(

 

When I went to the office this afternoon to pay up for one more night, the gal at the desk told me that she had a call from a camper that was coming in from Texas.  They had called to say they didn’t know when they’d get here because they were just getting hammered with high winds and severe storms.  Whew!  I guess I made the right decision.  In the afternoon, the winds were so bad that I pulled in the slides because I was worried about the slide topper awnings.  We had some rain, but mostly winds.

IMG_6363Things calmed down a bit in the late afternoon, and I was able to put the slides back out.

IMG_6364 IMG_6366

After dinner, Emma and I were able to take a good walk about, and I looked for some photo opportunities.

52 On the way to Anahuac 20104Here’s some more old John Deere equipment.  It was a bit of a struggle to find anything interesting after three days.  :)

 

The forecast calls for sunny skies tomorrow, but increasingly high winds by afternoon.  So, my latest plan is to get out of here early tomorrow morning.  I’m even going to set my alarm!  Egad!  What a sorry state things have resulted in.  :)  I leave you with tonight’s hopeful sunset…

IMG_6378Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Friday, October 22, 2010

I think I only have one nerve left!

You know how sometimes things just get on your last nerve?  Well, if I’m lucky I have one nerve left.  First there have been all the repair challenges, then this morning the storm’s blew in.  I decided to sit it out in Guthrie rather than drive in the deluge.  Weather is something I have no control over so it didn’t bother me too much.

I decided to use the day to set up the printer and do my “Online Check in Procedures” for my upcoming cruise.  Everything moved along smoothly until I went to print my boarding pass.  It wouldn’t print.  I spent hours resetting and trying again to no avail.  This is a brand new printer, and all I can get is the first few lines of a page printed!  I’m so frustrated I could spit!

(I just may do that.  I bet you didn’t know that I am a really good spitter!  It’s one of the important things I taught my kids.  You don’t want to be a wimpy spitter with drool running down your chin.)

Well, after that little rant I’m feeling a little better.  I’ve emailed my sister and asked her to print my boarding pass since we’ll be roommates.  Of course, that doesn’t mean she’ll do it.  :)

Ah, well, I’d better move on before I get cranky about something else tonight.

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

Thursday, October 21, 2010

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto

But we almost were thanks to another challenge this morning.  I had everything unhooked and packed up.  All that was left to do was pull in the slides and bring the levelers up.  After turning the engine on, the big slide in front went in like a charm and I locked it down.  Next was the smaller bedroom slide.  I pushed the retract button, and only one side of the slide began to move in, and I stopped it before things got all out of whack.  I hit the extend button and it went back out.  I tried it a few more times, but with the same results.  Ugh!  What next?  Okay, I took a deep breath and marched off to the office hoping someone would be there.  When I talked to the owner by phone late yesterday afternoon, he was on the road and returning from a funeral in Missouri.

After pounding on the office door, the owner opened it and I asked if he knew of any mobile RV repair people in the area.  He was very helpful and called a guy that had done some work in the park in the past.  After explaining the problem to him, the guy said he was busy today and couldn’t come out.  :(  After thinking for a moment, the owner suggested an RV place on the other side of Wichita, but said they would be more expensive…like I had any choice if I wanted to get out of here.  The RV place, whose name I can’t remember, sent out a technician, but let me know that it would be $100 to send him out, and then another $100 minimum to look at the   problem. 

While I was waiting, I called my extended warranty company for the third time in just over three weeks!  I’m thinking pretty soon they’ll recognize my voice.  :)  The repair tech got there within an hour and began looking at things.  In not too long of a time, he thought he had found the problem and began working with some wrenches underneath and inside the slide mechanism.  After a few more minutes, we tried it again, and viola! it worked!  The tech then  checked the seal around the slide both inside and out to see that it was seating properly.  He said it was perfect, and I would be fine.  I asked what caused it and he showed me where a bolt and washer had come loose and fallen off.  Luckily, they fell into one of the storage compartments.  That missing bolt meant only one side of the slide mechanism would turn to close the slide.  Thank goodness the fix was that easy.  I’m guessing that horrible washboard like dirt road I was on yesterday was the final culprit in jogging that bolt loose.  :(

To make an already long story just a little bit longer, the insurance would not cover any of the charges, and after putting out $250, I was on my way about two and a half hours later than I wanted to be.  At least I was on my way.  The owner of the RV park reassured me earlier that if I had to stay beyond the normal check out time, he would only charge me an additional $6 as long as I left by the early afternoon!  What?  It wasn’t like there were rigs just waiting to get into this place, and I wasn’t even plugged in to the electric!  So, do you think I stopped at the office as I left 30 minutes after check out time to pay up?  NOT!
IMG_6348 After 150 miles on the road, I decided I’d had enough for today, and pulled into the Pioneer RV Park in Guthrie, OK.  I think I’m about 25 miles north of Oklahoma City which is not as far into OK as I’d originally planned, but I’m happy with at least making some progress.  :)
IMG_6349This appears to be an older RV park, but all the electric hook-ups are new.  How’s this for a mail box?  There are lots of old farming implements scattered around the park.
IMG_6351I guess this is where they got their name from.
IMG_6353 IMG_6352
They do have good wifi here, which is good, because I barely get a cell signal.
IMG_6350There’s a pleasant area with benches for relaxing, but as you can see…NO DOGS!  So Emma and I kept walking.  :)
IMG_6354I’m guessing this is some kind of old cultivator.  Don’t know if this was pulled by a mule or what…not having ever lived on a farm.
IMG_6356 IMG_6355
One of the amenities listed for this park is the panoramic view.  I’m not sure it’s exactly panoramic, but it is a view if you walk to the end of the RV rows.  :)

The forecast for the next few days is not too good, and there’s the possibility of severe storms after midnight and tomorrow morning.  I’ll have to see whether or not I’ll be moving on tomorrow morning. 

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

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Seeing more of Kansas than I planned on today.

My trick of setting the clocks ahead an hour last night worked out pretty well.  Emma had her first outs in the pitch dark, but I was on the road by 9:00, Central time, and passed into that time zone within 10 miles of leaving the campground.  I usually try to leave about 9:00 to avoid any early morning rush hour traffic…of which there is none in Goodland, KS.  :)

Anyway, I planned to drive about 240 miles today and end up just South of Salina, KS, on I-135.  It was a good plan, but it just didn’t work out that way.  As I got off the interstate to head for my destination campground, I began to wonder.  The last mile and a half was down an incredibly dusty and washboard like road.  Once I got to this Passport America campground, I couldn’t find any sites.  It looked crammed full of seasonal rigs, and I didn’t see any of the advertised pull through sites for any sized rig.  There also wasn’t any office to check in with.  It was also pretty seedy looking, so I turned around and made my way out via the nasty dirt road. 

I hopped back on I-135 and began to formulate plan B.  I stopped at the next rest area, and scanned through my Trailer Life Campground book.  There’s not much to choose from in this part of Kansas.  :(   By the time I finally pulled off of the road, it was after 4:00, and I’m only ten miles from Wichita.  320 miles is more than I like to do in a day when I have several more days of traveling to do, but I didn’t have much choice.  I did call ahead to be sure there was a site available, and there was, but the owners were on the road traveling back from a funeral in Missouri.  At least my call went through to their cell phone.  By the time I got set up, made dinner, and took Emma out for some exercise, the light was about gone.  No bird or other pics tonight of my location. 
IMG_6347I did find a bunch of these things on the ground under the trees across from my site.  I can’t remember the name of them.  They are about 3-5” in diameter, and I seem to remember that they are good for keeping spiders out of your rig.  They don’t grow up North, but I remember seeing them in Arkansas.  Can any of my Southern friends enlighten me?  Spiders give me the willies', and if they work, I could pick up a year’s supply of them before I leave in the morning.  :)  Let me know quickly if you know if this is true.

Here’s another thing that has been nagging at my mind recently… should you capitalize the directions; North, South, East or West, or is lower case acceptable?  My mind goes unusual places when driving for many miles with no one to talk to.  :)

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

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Loveland to Goodland

I covered almost 250 miles of ‘land’ today, and went from Colorado to Kansas.  I took the first exit for Goodland with plans to stay at the Mid America Campground, but as I gazed at the campground from the exit ramp I decided to just hop right back on I-70.  No one was staying there and the campground looked miserable right in back of a truck stop.  I knew there was a KOA two miles down the road, so I headed there.  For only $5 more, this campground is 10 times better than the other one.
IMG_6343There are lots of trees here, and I think I’ve discovered where all the robins from up North have migrated to so far. 
_MG_6332Each of the cedar trees harbors multiple robins as they take advantage of the cedar berries that are perfectly ripe for their consumption.
_MG_6329With so many berries to chose from, the robins can be picky.
 _MG_6325It’s a matter of finding just the right berry to pick.
_MG_6322Aha!  That one looks perfect! 
_MG_6337Just like we toss our heads back to swallow pills, the robins do the same to swallow the berries.  I have often picked one of these cedar berries to roll between my thumb and finger to enjoy their pungent aroma.  It makes me think of gin.  :)  They have always been hard little rocks when I’ve done this, but today they were squishy like little blueberries.

What a bonanza for these migrating robins!  There must have been close to a thousand of them in the campground.  Mother nature knows how to take care of it’s own.  As Emma and I sat outside this early evening, we were also treated to the haunting calls of many sandhill cranes.  This was so much better than the sounds of the interstate behind a truck stop!

Tomorrow, I hope to put in about the same amount of miles and end up about 30 miles South of Salina, KS.  I’m very close to a time zone change, so I’ve decided to put my clocks ahead this evening so I won’t feel I’ve lost an hour shortly after I get on the road in the morning.  I’ll have to see if I can fool my inner clock into believing that.  :)
_MG_6314                                                                         THE END!! 

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