There’s a change in the air

For the last week, while I’ve been residing at various repair facilities, the weather has been sunny and hot.  I’ve been lucky to find some shady spots to sit out the time while the rig has been in the shop, but I think things are changing. 
There have been scattered showers today, a nice double rainbow, and the winds have shifted.  Peaceful scene, isn’t it?  You’d never guess that I-84 is just over this little hill behind my rig.  The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is for more rain, and the high for tomorrow will only be in the 60’s instead of close to 90.  I kind of wish it would rain hard enough tonight to wash off the 8,463 bugs that committed suicide on my windshield.  (Yes, I’ve been here long enough to have counted them!)
I’ve also noticed other changes.  The fallen leaves are beginning to pile up in the corners of the RV lot, and…
the milkweed pods have cracked open to disperse their seeds.  The Canada geese have also been honking their way South in the skies each evening.
When I was a child growing up in Chicago and these seeds began floating past on a fall breeze, my mother would tell us to hide our 5 cent allowance.  It seems their real name was Money Stealers, and you had better hold tight to your cash!  Where in the world would an old wives' tale like that come from?  I sure wish I could ask her.  I just love the symmetry of those seeds just waiting for a stiff wind to take them on a journey to fertile ground.

I remarked the other day on how busy this Camping World is.  I incorrectly assumed that because the store is closed on Sunday, it would be very peaceful in the parking lot.
Not so!  This part of the lot was empty when I got up this morning, but by 4:00 this afternoon quite a few rigs had been dropped off for appointments this coming week.  There were also a couple of dozen other rigs that drove in and out of the facility today.  What’s up with that?

With all my thoughts about the season changing today, I sure hope I’ll soon be migrating south myself.  I think I’ve been in Idaho enough for one year.  :)  The Texas Gulf shrimp are calling my name…

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

Fall rolls on…

When I take Emma for her first outs each morning around dawn, I’ve noticed the increasing silence as the season progresses.  There is no longer the exuberant cacophony of the dawn chorus of birds that we experience in spring and early summer.  Now, only a few Western meadowlarks sing a few notes.  The nighthawks no longer roost in the trees overnight, and today I brought in my hummingbird feeder.  Last week’s cold front passage persuaded many of my avian friends to take flight for warmer climes.  I, too, shall take flight in one week and head South.

The warblers that nest up North in Canada are streaming through the refuge, and serious birders are haunting the paths around the visitor’s center early each morning.  The tall trees around headquarters are a magnet in this desert for those little travelers needing a place to rest and refuel on their long journey.  We haven’t had a hard frost yet, so there are still abundant insects to build up fat reserves.
The 200+ sandhill cranes that nest on the refuge are beginning to congregate, and are being joined by others from up North.  They will soon be heading off to central California.
The red-tailed hawks are still soaring each afternoon in the skies, and they are being joined by other raptors that will winter here.  It is a time of change and movement.  For everything, there is a season…

This noon, there was a luncheon at the Narrow’s Saloon for those of us volunteers that will be migrating on in the next week or so.  Thanks was expressed for our contributions to the refuge along with wishes that we would return.  It was a nice ending to my time here.  I still have a few work days left, but most staff members will not be around next week.  It will be up to us volunteers to keep the refuge running.  :)

On the more mundane side, Judd, a fellow volunteer, stopped over this afternoon to see if he could find the elusive hydraulic leveler dip stick that I have been unable to locate.  Before retiring, Judd spent 40 years with his own mechanics shop and was very familiar with this sort of thing and big equipment.  After I told him what the Winnebago tech had said, it only took him about two minutes to find the dip stick.  Of course, unlike me, he knew what he was looking for.  :)  I’ll be buying more fluid tomorrow to replace the stuff that leaked out, but at least now we know where to put it.  Then it will be a matter of getting the rig to a qualified repair shop to get the leak fixed.    I have e-mailed the manufacturer of the system requesting a repair facility location.  That will pretty much determine my route out of here towards Texas.

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