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Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Mostly indoor activities

That less than satisfactory meal that I had at a buffet on Easter Sunday played havoc with my innards, so most of the last two days have been spent inside only steps away from the water closet.  Ugh!  While confined to quarters, I did accomplish a few things.  Many fulltimers never make reservations, and I often don’t either.  In planning out my departure from the refuge, I decided that I wanted to be sure of where I would be spending some time along my very slow route to Alligator River NWR in North Carolina.  I don’t have to be there until the first of August, so that gives me three months to play around with.

I’ve chosen to spend about three weeks to a month exploring Alabama.  Towards this end, my first two weeks will be spent at two Corps of Engineer parks.  You won’t ever find me spending a night at a Walmart or truck stop unless it is a dire emergency.  Traveling solo, I’m just not comfortable with those options.  Lots of people do it, but I’m not one of them.  My first stop will be at Claiborne Lake for a week, and then I’ll be up near Montgomery at the Prairie Creek COE campground.  I want to investigate the historic Selma to Montgomery March area.  After that, I’m not sure where I’ll go next.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I’ve got reservations at those two parks, but I’m flexible after that.

66 MS Sandhill Crane NWR 20121While I was ensconced inside, Emma kept up her vigil for squirrels and lizards outside.  No creature misses her surveillance.  Sarcastic smile

I was able to slip out to the grocery store this afternoon for a short foray.  I’ve got three grandkids coming to visit this coming weekend, and I needed to get some spoiling Grandma supplies.  On  the list was double stuff Oreos, the makings for some-mores, lunchmeat, and a bag of cereal.  I’ve already got a supply of bubbles, beach stuff, and hotdogs…

_MG_7551

Last December, my friend Jack gave me a bottle of bug repellant to test out against mosquitoes.  I was feeling a bit better this afternoon, so I decided to give it a test.  We had 4-5” of rain last week, so the mosquitoes have been coming on full force.  I found Pros and Cons to this natural insect repellent:

PROS:  Nice refillable metal container; all natural ingredients; jungle strength; Vegan and Cruelty Free (I’m not sure what that means…No Vegans were harmed in it’s manufacture??); and only 7-8 mosquito bites after its use.

CONS:  I smelled like a walking citronella candle without the flame; 7-8 mosquito bites is about average for me since if there is a mosquito within a mile it will find me; $9.99 cost for 4 oz.; only effective for about two minutes (bottle says it’s good for up to 8 hours).  Can you guess that I would give this product a thumbs down?  Thumbs down

_MG_7555Because of the numerous marauding squirrels, I only put seed in the feeder in the late afternoon.  That has resulted in fewer birds this evening.  I just don’t know if I can afford to keep food all day in the feeder when those fluffy tailed rodents hog most of the feast. 

Kind of a long rambling post tonight, but I blame it all on the terrible food at the buffet!  Smile with tongue out

Thanks for stopping by…talk to you later,  Judy

21 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear you're not feeling up to par ... love that bird in the last photo.

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  2. I hope you're feeling better real soon. Isn't it fun planning a trip. I hope you get lots of suggestions for Alabama.

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  3. Can I come to your place this weekend too? I love Oreos and double stuff AWESOME!

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  4. You're such a good grandma! I love to sugar 'em up and send 'em home - it's called revenge (just kidding). Hope you are feeling back to normal by the weekend.

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  5. Prairie Creek is a nice quiet place to stay...there is also a COE park called Miller's Ferry that is really pretty, good sunsets. I would skip Gunter Hill, they need to do more work on that one. I live in Montgomery so we frequently camp close by. If we're in town when u get there we'd be happy to show u around if u like. I'm born and raised there, my husband was born in Huntsville but raised in Pennsylvania.
    I enjoy ur posts so much. Sorry to hear ur feeling down, don't know what it was but my son and I both had similar results from our Easter food. Haven't been able to figure out the connecting factor yet cause we all ate different things. Hope ur feeling better real soon.
    Don't blame u about the Walmarts....some of them are in very bad parts of town and we have no way of knowing when we are local. We only have 1 I would stay at in Montgomery and one in Prattville which is just minutes way...the others just wouldn't be safe...at least I wouldn't feel comfortable staying there. We stayed one night at a travel center and I was uncomfortable most of the night....haven't done that since. Wish u much luck in ur travels. Take care and thx again for all ur good posts.

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  6. Sorry to read that your Easter meal left you not feeling well. Hope you are about over it by now. I'd definitely give it a hands down based on it not lasting very long and smelling like a citronella candle.
    Hope you find lots of good things to see and do in Alabama.

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  8. Corinth COE in Bankhead National Forest in Alabama is one of the few COEs with FULL hook-ups that include sewer. It's a lovely area. This is a link to our blog entry for the first time we stayed there: http://here4now.typepad.com/here4now/2008/10/still-heading-east.html

    Glad to hear you're feeling better. Another couple of days and you should be fit as a fiddle to welcome your family. Wishing you a wonderful visit with them!

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  9. Hope you are much better by this time. We steer clear of buffets as a rule and even declined an offer to go to someone's home for Easter dinner. Although we appreciated the sincere offer, we (hopefully) graciously declined - Dave is carbo-loading for his race this weekend, so that was a valid reason.

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  10. Sorry to hear food made you ill. I love food and always sad when it makes me feel bad.
    Think you are smart to stay away from parking lots being a lone traveler. Even in good parts of town you never know when someone might decide its fun to bash cars etc.

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  11. I know you will enjoy the grandkids but in the meantime take care of Grandma. Hope you feel better.

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  12. Thanks for the review of the insect nonrepellent. Another one I can scratch off my list. I hate wearing deet but it seems to be the only thing that works.

    3 months of travel, sounds like a lot for you. I love planning travels. Sounds like you've gotten some good information from comments.
    I've found COE campgrounds to be great and like you just wouldn't want to Wal-Mart camp.

    GREAT pictures of Emma!

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  13. I am always so disappointed when I have a less than pleasant eating-out experience..we just don't eat out that often. And I find that the older I am getting the more sensitive I am to foods that are not a part of my daily diet!

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  14. McGyver has been sick with some kind of bug since yesterday...He remains on the couch today,too....Sometimes, I think our body knows when we need a rest....Glad you are feeling better...Alabama sounds great!..Dothan is where our Chris's best friend who passed away from breast Cancer lived...she was a nurse and her hubby is a doctor...Beware of the red ants in Alabama, though...They formed a parade up our water line and right into our camper..YUCK!

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  15. I hope you're feeling better today, Judy!
    Maybe you need to put in a complaint to the board of health!

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  16. Hope you are feeling better. We aren't buffet people either, we just plain eat too much and its not always that good. I don't think I have ever gotten sick from one but I don't think I'll test that out any time soon either. Squirrels sure can be pesky creatures can't they. Hve fun planning your summer travels.

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  17. Sorry to hear you were not well. My daughter also got some bad food at a party on Easter. She thought she was going to die for sure. But this morning she was feeling a little better.
    I hope you both get well soon.

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  18. Hope you're feeling better, soon. I had a bout of food poisoning a couple of months ago, and it sure is unpleasant and painful.

    Bugs: I HATE them. I have Jungle Juice from REI which I think is 100% Deet. I try to put it on my clothing near exposed skin, shoes, etc. You only need a drop, but I still don't like them buzzing around me. I have mentioned it before either here or on other blogs, but the Thermacell really works. http://tinyurl.com/bty92zk - comes in various forms to use sitting out or walking (I can't vouch for that kind since you're in motion). I planning to get another one to expand the area of coverage. If I'm going to sit out I put it on about 10 minutes before and it covers about 12-15 feet. I also put my big box fan on the ground to keep the mosquitoes and noseeums off Jack, and I put a drop or two of jungle juice on his collar.

    Now, for inside, I have the tennis racquet electric bug zapper and I keep it by my bed for any that may have slipped in when the door was opened. I'm ashamed to say it, but I love frying them before they bite me. Mosquitoes are supposed to be especially bad in the southeast this year because of the warm winter.

    Again, hope you feel better soon.

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  19. Read an article in Hiker's magazine about the Sipsey Wilderness area.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipsey_Wilderness

    Waterfalls, gorgeous streams galore. Haven't yet been there in person, but plan to investigate camping opportunities when we head in that direction.
    Be gentle on those guts!

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  20. Sorry you're not feeling all that great and hope you're better soon. Buffet' always look a lot better before eating than after!

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  21. Can we come to your house when the kids are there? S'mores, Oreos, and other Gram goodies sound pretty darned good to us! YUM. Hope you're well enuf by then to enjoy Kids and Feasts - have fun!

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