Winds of change

When I took Emma on her first outs this morning, it was 58* and calm.  Within an hour, the winds began to pick up and blow around 30mph all day, and the temperature began to drop.  What a blustery day it has been.  I spent most of the day inside the rig. 

As the front came through, the skies became cloudless, but the winds continued.  As usual, Emma and I sat outside (although I was really bundled up) in the late afternoon to watch the daily flight of snow geese towards sunset.

Tonight’s flight line was directly over the rigs.  That’s a first for this fall.  The flights have been to the west and south on previous evenings.  The high winds may have had something to do with this, and also kept the mosquitoes at bay.  As I sit writing this in the dark, there are still flocks going overhead.  I love the haunting sounds of their calls as they soar past.

 

One of the things I did inside today was to check the volunteer.gov site to see what opportunities were available in various states this coming summer.  Since my original plans to stay at an RV resort in Illinois for the summer have dissolved, I thought I’d do a little cruising on the site.  One thing I have to absolutely do this summer is return to South Dakota to renew my driver’s license.  So, I clicked on South Dakota, and found a possible position with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Madison, SD.  I normally plan 6-12 months in advance, so I need to get busy lining something up. 

 

I’m juggling this with the idea of staying at a campground for the summer season near my daughter’s house in Indiana.  Since both she and her husband work fulltime, I’m not sure how much I would see them or the granddaughters if I sat there for four months or so.  I wonder how bored I’d get doing that.  I spent two months in a campground last summer without volunteering, but had Yellowstone and the scenic byways of Idaho to keep me busy.  Tonight, I just don’t know which way to go.  :)

 

Well, tomorrow is the bird survey, and I’m thinking it’s going to be rather chilly!  It could get below freezing tonight.  I did speak to Nathan, the maintenance guy, tonight and he will help me set up my extend-a-stay propane tank tomorrow.  Of course, when I said I couldn’t get the valve on the propane tank to move he asked if I was turning it the right direction!  Sheesh!  Yes, I told him, I know which way to turn it.  I need to turn off the valve to the rig tank in order to open the valve to the auxiliary tank.  I just can’t get it to close.  I don’t know why.  I haven’t had any problems with it each time I turned it off to move on down the road.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

 

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