Denver

 

We travelled across Kansas fighting crosswinds of 25 mph or more. A 39 foot motor home acts like a big sail to cross winds. It might have been less noticeable except for the fact that these were gusty, 35 mph maximum. We parked for the night, April 30th, 19 miles from the Colorado border. Weather reports were wind advisory for the next day, Gusts to 45 mph. We decided to stay put.

Next morning the advisory was removed so we ventured forth towards Denver by 10 am. As we made progress westward the temperature dropped and white stuff became visible in the air. It seem to be blowing almost horizontally. Sure enough, we arrived in Denver on May First of a spring snow storm.

We ended with 4 to 6 inches in the campground where we were. Farther north received as much as 18 inches. Luckily the temperature had been about 80 F for a couple days prior. This left the roads warm enough to melt the snow rather quickly even though night time temps were well below freezing.

Of course the “girls” had to get their feet wet in the snow, while I preferred to stay on the dry pavement.

Notice the color of the sky at over 5,000 feet above sea level. It is beautiful especially on a cold clear morning. Morning! That means breakfast and we found a delightful eatery. The view was of the mountains that we would struggle to cross over in two days time.

Thanks to Chris and Katie for their hospitality, apartment tour and pizza that first night. A special thanks to Chris for his patient tutoring of Lou with her new smart phone. Jessie, the boxer, was very well behaved.

The next evening we dined on “Specks” caught in Lake Okeechobee by our good friend Tom Tucker. Lou fried them up with boiled yellow gold potatoes. An adult beverage topped off a fine meal. The four of us enjoyed several games of euchre. Katie insisted on winning before she would leave. It was a late night.

The smiles were indicative of “a good time was had by all”! Thanks Antolines.

Our 2013 Summer Adventure Begins

 

We got going on Wednesday April 24. There  is always many details to attend to when closing the house for an extended period. We pull out of the yard at 10:30 but had to fuel,  get a bite of brunch and connect up the CR-V before leaving Okeechobee at 11:30.

The ride through Yeehaw Junction to get on the Florida Turnpike was thought provoking, “What did we forget?”. The Willie Nelson song On The Rode Again always runs through my mind as we start an adventure in the motor home.

We crossed the Florida/Georgia border looking for a place to stay. As we had vouchers to stay at KOAs on our way to California to work as  KOA workampers, we stayed at Valdosta Lake Park KOA. It turned out to be a very worthwhile stay.

Lou struck up a conversation with a dog owner about his look like a Dane dog. Steve was a certified RV technician. He ended up solving a several problems we had and showed me a number of things that I was unaware of about RVs.

The next night we reached into Tennessee and Raccoon Mountain Campground. It was nestled in the hills and we heard no noise from the rest of the world, peaceful.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights we were parked in Lois Wagner's driveway in the suburbs of St. Louis. The weather was cold and rainy but we had a very nice visit with Lois and toured some of the very many highlights of the area. (Lois is a member of our church in Okeechobee. Over breakfast at the Masonic Lodge one morning she invited us to stop. We did !)

Friday morning started at the Soular Farm Market. Like the Westside Market in Cleveland only larger. They even had live turkeys and other fowl in cages for sale. Lou was busy taking in the sights and taking pictures with her new smart phone camera. (Clicking photos give enlargement, back arrow to return.)

On the way to the next stop, Lou spotted the Oyster Bar with patio eating.

The next stop was, of course…

 

We toured and tasted their wares. Interesting but too hurried. The guides spoke so fast that I missed some of the info. I do recall that one of the large tanks, and there are over 300, holds enough beer you could drink a six pack a day for 130 years. That is a lot of suds. (The tanks did not photograph well.

Lou was busy with her camera phone again and almost got left behind.

We really came to see the Clydesdales. There were four housed at the factory. The others were at Grant’s Farm. It was property of Ulysses S Grant. We made that tour the next day while the weather started to clear.

Leaving the parking lot we crossed a small creek. There were animals from all over the world running free as we road a tram through the grounds. The eagles had been injured and could not fly. They are beautiful large birds.

The attraction was sponsored by the Busch family. At least one of the family live in the mansion on the property. There are many influences of the family’s money throughout St. Louis. They are very generous.

Our next and last adventure on this stop was to visit the Arch. The Gateway Arch is the nation’s tallest monument at 630 feet. The Gateway Arch commemorates Thomas Jefferson and St. Louis’ role in the westward expansion of the United States. This photo is from the Internet.

After passing through airport style security you enter an underground area housing three movie viewing rooms and and large museum. The Museum of Westward Expansion has an awesome set of murals covering the walls as well as artifacts and life size dioramas of the period.

This wall covering carving shows the relative height of the Arch.

The right hand picture includes the stadium and a St. Louis Cardinal’s baseball game underway. (I never did find out who won. We passed next to the south gate as fans were leaving. They did not seem over joyed. The team has a very large fan base. Cardinals’ red was visible everywhere.)

The mighty Mississippi was flooding and still rising. Attractions like the chopper rides and ferry trips were cancelled as the bases of operation were far from dry land. The River Walk was under water as well.

Looking down you could see ants milling about. (I bet there even a few uncles in the crowd.)

As Porky Pig would say “Tttttthat’s all Folks.”

Pole Sitters revisited

 

Since Lou’s sighting of the owl on the nest in March, we have been excited every trip to town as we have seen signs of the two owlets maturing. They are very aware of us although we are about 30 or 40 yards away on the other side of state route 70. State route 70 is a busy east/west highway across Florida.

The field behind the telephone/power pole that the nest is on is a working sod farm. There are people and machinery there daily. A large pump to spray irrigate the acreage is noisy and runs frequently yet the owls seem content with their aerie.

A closer look and you can clearly see the youngsters. The adults are not home often as they are busy providing meals for the hungry and growing pair. I imagine that they roam farther from home on each foray as food becomes harder to find.

It won’t be long before the first will fledge. As you can see they are exercising their wings and building muscles preparing for that glorious day of first flight!

“Hey you with the camera! Are you taking our picture again?” At least have us pose and say ‘CHEESE”.”

“CHEESE”

We will try to capture the new owls on wing as they start off in the world.

Quick stop along county road 721 aka 9 mile grade

 

We occasionally drive to Sebring which is about 35 or 40 miles northeast of our home. We choose to travel a good part of it on “back roads”.  They are not only shorter but also you get to see a great deal more. Five or six miles into the journey we pass a small pond that tends to dry down a great deal this time of year. It is always a treat to stop and see what is there.

We have seen spoon bills, wood stork, egrets of all types, many water birds. Today was no exception. (Remember to click on the pictures for a closer view.)

This black and white beauty is a black-necked stilt. It is easy to see where it gets the name. The plumage is black on top and white below. When it flies the wings show black underneath with the long red legs trailing out behind the white tail. It is quite a sight. Although not rare in our area, it is uncommon in most of Florida.

Another sighting in this small wet area, it may not be deep enough to classify as a pond, was a sandhill crane. She is very busy as you can see.

These are very large birds. They stand 36 to 40 inches tall and have a wing span of 80 inches. To see one gliding toward you reminds you of a small Piper Cub. The adults are all over gray with a bare red cap. They tend to be talkative when disturbed or as they fly over. They have a low and loud musical rattle. You would not mistake the sound with ant other creature.

Not on the trip but this morning we had a visit from four wild peacocks. There seem to be at least two flocks that move around at will. This is the smaller grouping. They are excitement for the neighbors visiting grandchildren.

I hope that you enjoy these pictures. Again, Lou was the photographer of choice as her snaps of the stilt and sandhill crane were superior to mine.

Florida Pole Sitter (March 17, 2013)

 

During our almost daily trips of 10 miles into the town of Okeechobee, we pass by many sights. Lou, using her keen vision, spotted this pole sitter. We have been watching it ever since. The view from State Route 70 west of town while heading east looks like the photo below.

If you were to look closer you would see a nest atop a power pole. The high voltage wires, insulators and metal spikes did not deter this intrepid home builder. The nest looks like an osprey nest. It might have been at one time but not at this time.

Let us look a little closer at this abode made of sticks and dry grasses.

My goodness! Are those horns on that creature?

Yes they are “horns” made of feathers.

The Great Horned Owl, named for it’s ear tufts, is one of the most common and widespread owl. The eyes, when open, are glowing yellow or orange eyes on tawny brown facial disc. They can be found from the Artic tundra to tropical rainforests. They are not uncommon in residential areas.

The young owlets fledge while still downy and the ear tufts are not noticeable. Lou and I have seen a buff colored down ball beside the “pole sitter”. Our nephew Calvin feels that he saw two little ones in the nest. Hopefully we will be able to get more photos showing the young.

‘Gator Hunt

Recently Lou’s sister, Barbara, visited us for a fortnight. One of the activities that she always enjoys is going out in the boat and looking for alligators. This year we made three trips. Some days were very windy. A couple were too cool. (Notice that I said “cool” and not “cold”.)  Cool this time of year is in the low 60s.

We start our safari with camera woman, Lou, in the aft seat and spotter Tanzy at the prow. (Remember that clicking on a picture will provide you with an enlargement. Also use the back arrow to return to the blog. Thanks.)

Along the way we spot many interesting sights such as a Limpkin. These large birds, 26 inches tall, are quite common. Their song, if you can call it that, is a loud piercing wail. To me it sounds like a baby’s scream. This time of year they may wail all night long. Mating? Angry?

Another bird that we spotted is not uncommon but not usually seen especially during the late afternoon hours. It is a female Black-Crown Night-Heron. She sat very still as we maneuvered the boat for a better picture. I had to come home and check two books to be certain that we had the identification correct.

Enough birds for now. I will save the rarest for last. It is time to hunt the gators. I might state the the first trip we spotted 15. The second trip was 9 and the last 12. As soon as we got in the house after the last trip Lou looked out the window here came a 12 footer swimming around the bend toward our place. We decided not to add it to the count.

GATOR AT ONE O’CLOCK1

These pictures are not zoomed or cropped. I run the boat up close for the thrill of being within a few feet of one of these denizens.

THERE IS ONE ON THE BANK! HANG ON!

Guess he doesn’t care for our company!

They can stay underwater a long time.

All of these pictures were taken on our third trip. We saw other birds such as the Moorhen or common gallinule, Great Blue herons on nest and flying, several other species of heron, Belted Kingfisher and such. However a new sighting for us was a the beginning of the ride. The bird stayed around until we returned. I identified it as a bird that I was not aware was in our area. See if you can guess what it is from these pictures. The bird was not the least bit afraid of us as it swam quite close several times as I made U-turns to get a better look and motored past very slowly.

Give up?

If you guessed a duck, you were incorrect.

How about a loon?

A Common Loon!

It does not have the coloration of the loons that I am used to seeing. This is the winter plumage for the loon. What a contrast to those seen in breeding summer feathers. (Look closely for the white eye ring.) We had never seen a loon in Florida before.

Lou did a great job with the camera! Thanks for looking. I appreciate your comments.

Pre-Citrus County Florida Rally

We started the trip by travelling to the Rock Crusher Canyon Campground and parking the RV. We were allowed to leave it without paying, thanks to Yankee Tours wagon master Rod Coe. We made no connections and the propane kept the refrigerator cold while we were at out good friends Ken and Ruth Ann Lautanen.

We had a super time. I think that the ladies especially like beating Ken and I at euchre, both sessions. Pinellas County has a number of very nice parks. We went to the nearest one and spent time walking and talking.

Ken and I took Tanzy to the dog run free area.

Thank you Lautanens for your superb hospitality!

In a hour and a half we were back at the RV to start our adventure with Yankee Tours Rod Coe and 16 other good RVers.