Working on a plan

I found it hard to believe that I had 29 visitors this morning!  Wow!  That’s quite a few people out here in the middle of the high desert of Oregon on a Tuesday morning in September.  I was busy enough that I couldn’t call the fix it place in Idaho until after lunch, but I’m all set up to get the levelers fixed next Tuesday.  At first the service department asked me to bring the rig in on Monday, and leave it for three days.  After I told them that I lived in it, they revised their plans and told me to come in on Tuesday.  I asked if I could pull in on Monday and stay in their parking lot for the night, and they said they had several spots for that with electrical hookups.  Alrighty then, I’ll be there fairly early on Monday since the sites are first come, first served.  :)  I haven’t decided yet if I’ll leave Malheur on Sunday or Monday.  We’ll see what the weather forecast is before I decide.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to decide what route I’ll take from Boise to Houston.  It could be anywhere from 2500-3000 miles to get there depending on which way I go.  I put it on the GPS, and it routed me through Wyoming and Nebraska, but I’m thinking I might like to go through Nevada so I could maybe still stop at Death Valley NP on the way.  The GPS kept me on a lot of Interstates, but I’m wondering how US 95 or US93 might be through Nevada instead.  Have any of you traveled those roads?
I didn’t have very many opportunities to get out of the VC for photos today, but I had a few.  The resident fawn has just about lost it’s spots, and I’m wondering if maybe it is a male since I can sort of see those buttons on it’s forehead.?
I did get another chance at a pic of the black-throated gray warbler today in a more natural setting than the plant cage of  yesterday.  Man, those little warblers barely sit still for a second!
The white-crowned sparrows have arrived from the North, and really take advantage of the seeds from the bird feeder that get spilled on the ground.
I’m still filling the bird baths daily, and this robin stopped by for a dunk.  I haven’t filled the hummingbird feeders this week since they all seem to have headed for warmer climes. 

I’ve got one last day to work the VC tomorrow, and then I’ll have a couple of free days to explore and get things packed up.  I may try to do the Steen Mountain drive and hit the farmer’s market for one last haul of home grown tomatoes.  :)
                                                                    THE END!

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

Woohoo! I can't believe I did it...

Remember a few days ago when I said I was day dreaming about taking a cruise?  Well, this morning when I got up, it was pouring rain outside which eliminated my plans to do a bird survey.  So, instead I gave the Peterson Travel Services a call about the Escapees Transatlantic Repositioning Cruise HOP.  After talking for quite a while with Dorothy Peterson, I bit the bullet and made reservations!  I really can't believe I did that.  ;)

Traveling solo, as I do, I had to pay almost the same price for the cruise as two people traveling together.  That kind of bites, but maybe I can find a traveling companion.  My cabin on the ship will have two twin beds and I chose to get a birth with a balcony (on the outside of the ship).  They were the most expensive, but I decided if I was going to do this, I was going all the way!  Actually, it's a good thing I called today as there were very few cabins left. 

What an exciting year this is going to be!  Yellowstone, Oregon, and a cruise!  Now I've got seven months to figure out the logistics of how I"ll do this.  I don't know anything about cruises....like what to bring along, how many suitcases and what kind of clothes should I pack, what to do with Emma for three weeks,  where to store the RV, etc., etc., etc....  I have some ideas, but I'm open to any suggestions anyone has.

The travel service also made the airline flight out of Houston for me.  I'll leave on November 3rd for Barcelona.  That's a few days before we embark, so I've expressed my interest in a three day pre-cruise tour of Barcelona.  I've not only never been on a cruise, but I've never been to Europe.  Again, any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

I guess by the end of the year, I'll be able to call myself a world traveler.  :)  Wow! 

I can't say that anything else that went on today is as exciting as this decision for me.  So, Pam, Kurt, Wynetta, Dan, Jack, Andy, Robyn, Dianna; any of you up to joining me?

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

A catch up day

I had hoped to get some pictures today, but it just wasn't to be. I really needed to catch up on chores around the motorhome, and do grocery shopping.

I headed for Beaumont, Texas, around 10:00. It's about 50 miles from here. It's really a toss up whether to go to Beaumont or Bayside (in the other direction). I like Beaumont, and was surprised that after two years, I remembered where my favorite stores are.

HEB (here everything's better) is a grocery chain in Texas that always seems to have an excellent selection of items. Finding a corned beef brisket in Texas isn't easy since this is the home of BBQ'ed brisket, but I felt confident I could find what I was looking for. I was correct. Although I only had a selection of two briskets to choose from, at least I found one. Whenever I'm at a refuge that has a volunteer building with a kitchen, I buy a corned beef to prepare. Boiling a corned beef in the motorhome is out of the question. That's too much moisture in the air inside for three hours! St. Patrick's day is the last time I was able to cook one. I'm looking forward to a favorite meal in the near future.

Once I got back to the RV, Emma needed some outside time, and I needed to fill the new two gallon water jug that I found at Walmart this morning. A larger reverse osmosis tank is supposed to be installed soon. That will certainly be an improvement. As it stands now, it takes at least ten minutes to fill a two gallon jug. That's with no one having filled a container since yesterday. I'm not sure how long it takes to produce another two gallons of good water, but a larger system will surely help. Three of the rigs here have occupants that are on the fire crew and they are in training at Aransas NWR this week. When they return, there will be seven rigs trying to get drinking water each day. That could take some time.

After we went back inside, it was time to try to tackle all the dried mud and pebbles that we had tracked in the last two days. My vacuum had to work overtime, but I got most of it up. I had planned to replace a set of rugs that I purchased back in 2005. There are five of them. Two on the entrance steps, one at the top of the stairs, one long one down the hallway, and one in the bathroom so my tootsies don't get cold in the middle of the night. :) They are rubber backed, and after four years of hard use, need to be replaced. They all match, and I purchased them from Camping World. Since there is a Camping World on the west side of Houston, I was going to put in a new set while I was here at Anahuac. Well, I think I'll still buy the new set, but after seeing the results of the mud, I surely won't put them down until I leave here. I'm glad I waited. These worn rugs can last another two months, and then I won't have to try to clean them anymore. That mud turns cement-like when it dries!

Ha Ha! Here's a news flash from the six o'clock news in Houston: The school district is going to keep the heat on overnight so students will be comfortable in the morning! For you folks up north, can you imagine a school not having the heat on overnight at this time of the year? What a hoot! With the threat of a couple of inches of snow, people here are getting all in a dither.

Fun times for the next couple of days....

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

I made it!

After waiting until 9:00 for the campground office to open, I was able to get the propane tank filled and hit the road for Anahuac. I drove about 50 miles down I-10 before pulling into a gas station for a fill up. I took on about 55 gallons. Filling up the motorhome usually takes about twenty minutes, and today was no exception.

Then I was back on the road and headed through Houston. There was some construction, but all in all the trip went smoothly until the last 20 or so miles. Then the winds picked up. First, they were head on, and then once I exited at Winnie, TX, they were blasting me from the driver's side. It was pretty white knuckle time the last 45 minutes.

It was apparent when I arrived at the volunteer sites that this area has received plenty of rain recently. There were standing puddles of water, and the two sites I had to choose from were very muddy. These two new RV sites are located right where the former volunteer building was located before hurricane Ike. They have only finished setting up these sites in the last few weeks. It's obvious no one has used them yet, as the gravel hasn't been packed down and clumps of mud and gravel stick to your shoes as you walk around. Yuck!!! I tracked in more mud and gravel onto my rugs just setting up than this rig has ever seen.

On the bright side, I was able to quickly set up the DISH in between rain showers. The forecast for the next week includes the possibility of plenty of rain, so I just may move to a paved site that will become available this coming weekend. I think I might really get fed up with so much mud for ten weeks. ;) We'll see what happens.

I'll meet with Stephanie, the volunteer coordinator, tomorrow afternoon to see what my schedule will be for the next two months. I'm happy to get back to doing something. Two and a half months off was enough.

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