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Borrego Springs, CA

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Busy day again

I was off this morning to the refuge headquarters building in Anahuac to help Stephanie get ready for the Anahuac Wildlife Expo coming up a week from this coming Saturday.  There’s lots of work to do.  It’s inside work at this point, so I packed a lunch for my day at the office.  As you may guess, office work is low on my list of exciting and enjoyable endeavors, but it’s stuff that has to get done.  I’m a team player, and I know more exciting things are on my horizon.

We need some vans to handle transporting the crowd and volunteers to and from the venues for the event, and I asked to be the person to go up to Balcones Canyonlands NWR near Austin, TX, to borrow one of their vans.  I volunteered there for a couple of springs in the past, so I know where it is and would love to visit folks there again.  Since I was the first person to respond to Stephanie’s request to go pick up a van, I got that assignment for next week.  Considering I have to drive through Houston and Austin to get there, I’m thinking it would be best to make it an overnight assignment rather than to try to get there and back in one day in the daylight hours.  I’ll be working on the details tomorrow.

At one point in the day, I found out that I’ll be getting neighbors at the RV sites in Winnie.  One of the couples at the pads on the refuge are very uncomfortable there, and don’t feel safe.  I never had a problem with feeling safe the five times I stayed there, but apparently when the wife took their dog out after dark the other night, she encountered some feral hogs in the compound and it rather unnerved her.  So they’ll be moving into the other site here tomorrow. 

Since I was working in the office all day today, I don’t have any pictures for the blog tonight.  I am going to try to include a link, though, to a video that is less than four minutes long.  It was sent to me by Barbara W., a fellow volunteer.  http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BUOQ_yPW_0s

Just about all of this video was taken in Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, and the National Elk Refuge NWR, and so truly depicts the joy and peace that I experience as a volunteer on our nation’s National Wildlife Refuges.  I hope you’ll take the time to watch it.  My experiences have made so many of my dreams come true…

I also got a heads up today to a location on the refuge where a great congregation of roseate spoonbills is going on, so I hope to have some really ‘pink’ photos for you tomorrow.  I’ll try my best.  Open-mouthed smile

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

26 comments:

  1. I will try to save that link (in a place where I will be sure to find it again). I've used nearly all my bandwidth for the month and still have a couple of weeks to go! So will you drive your car or one of Anahuac's vehicles, leave it at Balcones while you drive the van back, and again when you return the van? That's a lot of driving especially anywhere near Houston!

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  2. The video is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
    Now, who would want to be in a cement campground when there is all that beauty to see?
    Will you take Emma with you on the trip to get the truck?
    For your sake, please make sure you drive through Houston in the middle of the week!
    Happy Tails and Trails, Penny

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  3. Thanks for the video - makes up for lack of pictures tonight haha. Drive careful.

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  4. Sure are busy. Hope you enjoy your new neighbors.

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  5. Oh pink....I can hardly wait! Isn't there someone there who can ride with you? Will there be a place at the other refuge for you to spend the night?

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  6. That was stunning! When those two elk turned their heads to look toward the camera I had to catch my breath. (about 1 min)...and the bald eagles? Wonderful!

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  7. I really enjoyed watching and listening to that video! Thanks for sharing it.

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  8. Beautiful Video. Thanks for sharing. Working too hard in office...

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  9. Beautiful video.

    I can't wait for the pink pictures!

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  10. I too will look forward to those pink photos!

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  11. That is one of the most beautiful video's we ever saw, and the music was perfect. That is also one of my wife's favorite songs. It was just perfect. I hope I have your permission to pass it along. I know it ended and said pass it along. Hope its ok with you to do this. Being outdoor folks we truly enjoyed every minute and were sad when it ended.

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  12. I really have to remember to log into Wordpress BEFORE trying to comment -- I keep losing comments….

    Anyway…

    I'll save the video until I get up to Florence and can use their free WiFi. I'm close on my metered account at the moment.

    The references here and previously to the feral hogs at the refuge are interesting. On a similar but different note we had our volunteer luncheon and our boss' boss made a comment to all the campground hosts (as opposed to us 'caretakers' who don't live in the campground) not to go out after dark. The reason being not wildlife but WILD LIVING. The Dunes OHV's are crazy and not always safe drivers, the drivers are frequently intoxicated and nowadays with concealed carry you just never now who might have a short temper. We all have Law Enforcement programmed on our cell phones for us.

    We're fortunate though. We're about a mile away from the closest campground and no one comes up our gated road.

    I'm like you though… if there's a job I WANT to do I speak up and get it. No sense having someone who doesn't care get it, and then get stuck with something you aren't all that interested in (if there's a choice). Drive Safe my friend.

    Cheers,
    Peter
    A retired photographer looks at life from behind an RV steering wheel.
    Life Unscripted

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  13. Gotta save the video until I can get on the Siuslaw free public net -- I'm running tight on my metered signal for this month.

    Interesting about the feral hogs at the refuge. I know up here at Siuslaw the Forest Service tells hosts not to go out of their trailers at night but that's because of the OHV's, their drunk drivers, and Concealed Carry -- Knowing how to keep a campground under control and not get shot appears to be a priority of theirs. :-) It was something I just heard from our bosses boss the day before yesterday and I scratched my head for a moment and then was very glad we are up here alone, and far away from the crazies on the dunes.

    We've got a couple bear in the area, and a momma mountain lion or cougar -- the only two people to have seen her haven't been very clear about their descriptions and I don't know my N.W. Critters very well yet.

    Have a safe drive. (and I'm like you -- when there's something I'd prefer doing I'm right there to volunteer. :-) :-) )

    Cheers,
    Peter
    A retired photographer looks at life from behind an RV steering wheel.
    Life Unscripted

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  14. Thanks for the video link, Judy, it was spectacular - very nice. My pink photos are of RV antifreeze!

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  15. Yea, that drive needs two days.

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  16. Great video. Those are definitely places I love. Sure you don't want to swap sites with the feral hog worrier?? A lot of trouble I suppose. Safe trip through the cities!

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  17. It should be a nice time of year to drive to Balcones. I-10 through Houston is so big that it is really easy traveling now. Austin- not so much. Looking forward to the spoonbills!

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  18. I needed that this morning. Reminds me of my dreams.

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  19. Looking at you header picture, I can only wonder why I enjoy a good crab meal:)

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  20. That video was fabulous. I can't wait to spend some real quality time in Yellowstone. I'm sorry I missed it this year - car troubles in Oregon held me up too long to make there and really enjoy it before it got too cold. Hopefully, I'll make it next year.

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  21. Awesome video! Looking forward to your "pink" pictures.

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  22. Can't wait for the spoonbill photos.

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