Rainy day thoughts

Just after I took Emma for her first outs this morning, the overcast skies began to drizzle on us.  Haven’t had any rain in a week or more, so I guess it was about time.  My chores to do on this day off didn’t really depend on blue skies, so it’s really best that it rained today rather than on one of my bird atlas days.  I did a load of laundry, and then headed to Detroit Lakes for the Saturday farmer’s market.  Every one was there and lots of folks thought to bring an umbrella… not me, of course.  I picked up this week’s loaf of fresh bread, and some scallions, butter crunch lettuce, spinach greens, free range chicken eggs, luscious local strawberries, and a bouquet of flowers to enjoy in the rig.

I also stopped at Wold’s RV Center to see what was up with their supposed repair of my awning.  I haven’t heard from them in weeks.  Good thing I stopped by.  An appointment is now made for them to come out on Thursday to do the repairs.  We’ll see how that goes.

The cement for the new patio was poured last Wednesday, but on Tuesday night this female turtle came to the edge of the patio area to lay her eggs.

As I drove home to the rig, the skies opened up, and it rained for most of the day.  Rainy days like this give me plenty of time to think about my travels when I leave here.  I’ll have about two weeks to get to Bayou Cocodrie NWR in Louisiana.  I plugged the address into my GPS, and it basically retraced the route I took to get here in May. 

After she laid her eggs and covered them up, you could hardly tell where she had been digging.  No raccoons have come to dig them up, and the cement truck didn’t disturb the area.  Perhaps I’ll get to see the babies when they hatch.  That would be cool.

So, I got to thinking about doing the route a little differently, and avoiding US 71 through southwest Arkansas and northwest Louisiana.  A couple of years ago, Sam and Donna extended an invitation to stop at the Weeb Ranch if I was ever traveling near them.  They live fairly close to St. Louis, and I’ve never seen the arch close up.  That’s certainly a possibility if the invitation still holds. 

Catching I-55 south out of St. Louis would also afford me the opportunity to do a section of the Natchez Trace on my way to Bayou Cocodrie.  It’s been on my bucket list of things to see and do, so I’m kind of leaning that direction right now.  Sometimes, rainy days have their advantages.

My plans for tomorrow are to survey one of my bird atlas blocks.  I know it’s supposed to be a day off for me, but time is running out to verify breeding behaviors.  If it’s not raining in the morning, I’ll be out early ‘working’.  Staff here has gotten used to me bending the schedule of work days to accommodate the weather.  Have I mentioned lately that I really like it here?

                                                                              THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy