Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wednesday

It was cold last night 36 degrees. Drove an Interstate 80 day. Trucker’s highway. Stopped for the night at Fort Kearney State Park. The farthest east we’ve been in Nebraska this year.

So what do we know about Nebraska? Corn? Check out Fort Kearney State Park!










Wind in the trees. Cicadas. It’s nice here.


Elevation 2,150 feet.


Temperature still in the upper sixties so far tonight.


5,910 miles.



http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107013362562471418011.00046ff7cac9ae98ff560&ll=40.513799,-107.402344&spn=30.0185,78.662109&z=4

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

On the road again

 

There is nothing wrong about oatmeal.  It’s just me and the goofy way I metabolize carbohydrates.  I don’t do it very well.

 

The Leaf Bug; that was Teigan’s.  I got to take pictures as she was letting it go in the raspberry bushes.  Leaf Bugs really like to eat raspberry leaves.

 

 

Monday

We’ve been in Colorado for a month.  Had a nice long visit with the kids.  Not nearly long enough.  But time to move on anyway.

 

North up Interstate 25.  Across the state line to Wyoming.  The road got smoother.  Traffic dissipated.  Wide-open rolling grasslands.  Love that drive through Wyoming.

 

Stopped for the night at Wheatland; elevation 4,750 feet.  Cold at night; in the thirties.  The air won’t hold much moisture here.  Dry skin.  We mean to find some humidity.

 

Dinner and a visit with Bill and Marge.  Friends for over forty years.

 

5,530 miles since Port Aransas.

 

 

Tuesday

Rolled down Highway 26, diagonally southeast through Wyoming and Nebraska, through Torrington and Scottsbluff, to Ogallala.  Saw a bald eagle on the way.  Weather front coming in.  Windy today.  Looks like three days of rougher weather coming up.

 

Elevation 3,200 feet.  A little warmer.  The air should be able to hold a little more moisture here.

 

5,750 miles.

 

Life on the road.

 

 

Leaf Bug



Here it is, just off Teigan’s hand.




Monday, September 28, 2009

Leaf Bug



Here is another picture of it. Hint: It looks like a leaf.





If you want to see it bigger, go to the blog and click on the picture: http://steveandjudystravelblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/can-you-spot.html



Sunday, September 27, 2009

Can you spot the.

Can you spot the Leaf Bug in this picture?




Saturday, September 26, 2009

You just never know

 

Given my heart history, I have to remain constantly aware of my energy level.  That’s my early indicator of redeveloping heart issues.  If my capacity starts a steady decline, that means it’s time for another visit to the Cath Lab to open up the blood flow to my heart again.  We expect it to happen; we just don’t know when.

 

We’re watching for patterns.  A change in energy for one day is not a big deal.  A decline over time is.  For the last couple weeks, walks were getting tougher and slower.  Clearly, something was going on.  I was almost ready to trigger the cardiology visit and change our schedule to accommodate hospitalization and recuperation, when a coincidence struck me.  For the last few weeks I’ve been eating oatmeal again after a several-year hiatus.  I love oatmeal.  I don’t remember why I stopped eating it in the first place.

 

But the onset of my energy decline coincided with my resumption of daily oatmeal.  I eliminated the oatmeal from my diet.  I feel great again.

 

You just never know.

 

 

Friday, September 25, 2009

I don't get it

What’s the big deal about haircuts?

Before



After

Hardly any difference. Why bother?

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The last thing

 

Doctors, dentists, mechanics.  Two weeks.  A full schedule.  Blood drawn from both of us this morning, an annual physical for me.  Only one more thing to take care of: get a permanent filling put in Judy’s tooth; the tooth that required an emergency root canal.  The root canal resulted in a temporary filling.  A quick visit to our regular dentist to look things over, do one filling, and we’re done.

 

Turns out that visit this noon was the *next to the last* thing to do.  Several old fillings, really old fillings, were wearing out and coming apart.  They needed fixing right away, before we’re gone from Colorado for the year.  Last thing to do was to go back this afternoon and get several fillings redone all at once.  Judy is still sleeping it off.

 

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Trauma

 

Oil change trauma.  An oil change isn’t that big a deal for the Jeep.  It’s a much bigger deal for the motorhome.  Not only do we have to buy 29 quarts of oil and an air filter that costs $100, we have to give up our house for an entire day.  We give up our house and our office all at the same time.  We’re left to wander aimlessly in the Jeep.

 

We did manage to occupy ourselves for the day (well, Becky helped).  Actually, we got a lot of errands done.  We picked up the coach tonight and got it parked back in our spot next to the pond at St Vrain.  The oil change only happens once a year.

 

It’s all better now.

 

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Snakes

While we were in Canada, we encountered a snake on the trail; a rare sight, since in that part of Alberta, there is only one endemic snake: the Terrestrial Garter Snake.

It was perfectly still. We were speculating about whether it was alive or not when Judy surprised me and pulled it by the tail; which surprised the snake, and it moved off into the grass alongside the trail.

Last weekend at Pawnee Grasslands we encountered another snake; this one on the road.



I think it’s a Bullsnake. Judy the Snake Wrangler surprised me again; this time by grabbing the snake by the tail and flinging it off to the side of the road. (I wish I had known she was going to do that. I’d have switched to video mode.)



Judy was protecting the snake from getting run over. The snake didn’t appreciate the effort, gave a great hiss, and crawled right back onto the road.




Judy declined to repeat the effort for the video cam. (It would have been a great shrieking hissing clip.)

Pawnee Buttes

 

http://steveandjudystravelblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/prairie.html

 

Note that the tiny toad in Judy’s hand has spines and a tail.  You can click on the picture to enlarge it.  It’s a horny toad.  Specifically, a Colorado Short-Horned Lizard.

 

 

Monday, September 21, 2009

I get a new cellphone

 

Not because it was time for a new cellphone.  The old cellphone was only a couple months old and was perfectly fine until it drowned.  It was riding along in my pocket then it just suddenly drowned.

 

Coincidentally, it drowned at precisely the moment I decided to step into the kayak.  The kayak was floating in the shallow water just a little offshore in the pond.  I didn’t want to get my foot wet, so instead of stepping closer to the boat, I just took one big step from the dry land to the kayak.  As one grandkid put it, I tried not to get my foot wet and ended up getting my hat wet.  A full-body dunk.

 

The new dry cellphone arrives tomorrow.

 

 

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Prairie

A day trip out onto the eastern plains. As Saturday hike to Pawnee Buttes, from the overlook at the point of the first picture, across the escarpment on the right, and on to the buttes in the distance.











It was a good day for spotting birds of prey: Northern Harrier, Swainson’s Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcon. Lots of other prairie birds: doves, shrikes, larks, buntings, sparrows, and longspurs. Swarms of them.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Saturday

The sound of morning coffee at St Vrain State Park

Friday, September 18, 2009

Even more techno

Judy bought an itouch:



It has all sorts of applications: photos, music; one application in particular I find interesting:


920 North American birds listed with identification keys, photos, range, songs, identifier feature. It’s nicely done.





Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thursday

Our day to go get beat up by our friend John, the dermatologist, and his canister of liquid nitrogen. In a matter of moments he can make it look like you had a bicycle crash and landed on your face. (Funny thing though, a week later all those little dry and sore spots, the reason we went there in the first place, will be gone.) Back at Saint Vrain State Park, a bald eagle soared overhead.







Do you know how hard it is to take a decent video of a soaring bird with a hand-held camera? Let me demonstrate:











Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wednesday

 

The Hydrohot guy, John, came back and finished the service and repair this morning.  He found a circulation pump and a mixer valve that needed to be replaced.  Hydrohot is our heating system.  It runs on diesel, electric, or both, depending on which switches we activate from inside.  It provides the heated fluid for our furnace vents, front and back.  It provides all the hot water for our dishes and showers.  It provides the engine preheat so we don’t have to start a cold engine in the morning or have an extended idle while the engine comes up to temperature.  It even works in reverse.  When the engine is running, the engine provides the heat for the circulating fluid, so all the hot water systems work without any of the burners being turned on.

 

Most of this stuff is usually done with propane.  With all of it done with diesel and electric, we don’t do much with propane.  We have a twenty-five gallon propane tank that runs the stovetop burners and the refrigerator when we’re not plugged in to shore power.  We only have to fill the propane tank once a year.

 

Anyway, we’re all fixed, the hot water stays a nice constant 127 degrees now.  (It was yo-yo ing before.)  Judy got the Jeep serviced and new tires put on.

 

 

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tuesday

 

Root canal day.  Judy had a tooth attack last week.  It turned out to be an issue the emergency dental clinic couldn’t deal with so she got drugs and the opportunity to tough it out over the weekend.  She got her root canal done by the oral surgeon today.  She gets a crown on it next week.

 

It’s always a busy time when we’re in this part of Colorado.  Optometrist, root canal, Hydrohot repair, haircuts, Jeep service, tires, dermatologist, dentist, annual physicals, kids, grandkids, fishing, campfire, hot dogs, smores…  We’re working our way through it.

 

 

Birding

 

That last list was for July.  138 birds.  A good month for us.

And the list for August.  Not so many.  114 birds.  Four of them were lifers for us though.

 

http://steveandjudystravelblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/august-bird-list.html

 

 

August bird list

 

And the list for August.  Not so many.  114 birds.  Four of them were lifers for us though.

 

Cackling Goose (lifer)

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Wigeon

Mallard

Ring-necked Duck

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Ring-necked Pheasant

Sharp-tailed Grouse

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

American White Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Cooper's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Golden Eagle

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Prairie Falcon

American Coot

Killdeer

Spotted Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Baird's Sandpiper

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Vaux's Swift

White-throated Swift

Belted Kingfisher

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

American Three-toed Woodpecker (lifer)

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

Alder Flycatcher (lifer)

Willow Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Hammond's Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Western Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird

Warbling Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Gray Jay

Steller's Jay

Blue Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Violet-green Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee (lifer)

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Mountain Bluebird

Townsend's Solitaire

Swainson's Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Tennessee Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

American Redstart

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson's Warbler

Western Tanager

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Common Grackle

Bullock's Oriole

Cassin's Finch

House Finch

Pine Siskin

American Goldfinch

Evening Grosbeak

House Sparrow

 

 

Monday, September 14, 2009

July bird list

A pretty good list for July: 138 birds.

 

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Canada Goose

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Ruddy Duck

Northern Bobwhite

Pied-billed Grebe

Western Grebe

Clark's Grebe

American White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Neotropic Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron

White Ibis

White-faced Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Mississippi Kite

Northern Harrier

Swainson's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Golden Eagle

American Kestrel

Sora

Common Moorhen

American Coot

Wilson's Plover

Killdeer

Black-necked Stilt

Spotted Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Long-billed Curlew

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Least Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Black Tern

Forster's Tern

Royal Tern

Black Skimmer

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Inca Dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Great Horned Owl

Common Nighthawk

White-throated Swift

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Western Wood-Pewee

Dusky Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Western Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Steller's Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

Pinyon Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Chihuahuan Raven

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Bank Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Bushtit

Cactus Wren

Rock Wren

House Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Western Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

Northern Mockingbird

Sage Thrasher

Curve-billed Thrasher

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Western Tanager

Green-tailed Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Canyon Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Lazuli Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Western Meadowlark

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Common Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Orchard Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Pine Grosbeak

Cassin's Finch

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow