Flat light

 

A lot of times, looking up into the sun, the light is terrible, and raptors are just silhouettes without much definition.

 

Here is what the silhouette of a Harris’s Hawk looks like.

 

 

 

I remember

 

Dad had Auburn cars parked on the street, in the driveway, and at least one in the garage taken apart.  There were always parts; parts on the workbench; parts stacked on the floor.

 

Today I hold this part in my hand, and it takes me right back.

 

If anything ever looked like a part for an antique or classic automobile, this is it!

It could be from a Model T!  (It’s also busted.)

 

Believe it or not, this is a resistor that helps control the dash air in our modern motorhome.  When motorhomes are designed, it’s all about the main concepts.  They design the rig to fit on a standard chassis; sometimes they build their own, but most just pick an existing proven design.  The motorhome will run a Caterpillar engine, or a Cummins.  As far as I know, every big motorhome uses an Allison transmission.  All the big stuff, that’s standard.

 

For all the little parts that make the whole thing work, the motorhome designers don’t build all their own parts, and they aren’t tied to any particular brand.  The pieces don’t even have to be located in a normal place.  They grab whatever works and fits in the space allowed, wherever that space happens to be.  In the case of the resistor for our dash air switch, it was not behind the dashboard anywhere near the dash air controls.  It was found from the outside front, behind and beside the generator cabinet.  It is not an antique, or a classic.  It’s not from a 1938 Studebaker.  It’s from a 1980s series Ford F-100 pickup truck.  Who knew?

 

The replacement part should be here tomorrow, and our dash air fan should work again.

 

Appropriated from FaceBook

 

And in line with my previous posts:

 

 

 

 

It was awful

 

We’re driving down the highway at 65 mph, and I see the mirror part of the right outside mirror just go away.  It fell out.  No point in pulling over to go back and get it; there won’t be anything usable there.  The rest of the mirror assembly is still in place though.

 

The problem now is, that looking at that gaping hole, I can imagine an eyeball that’s fallen out and I’m looking into the guts behind it.

 

Not really a big problem.  We’re at Texas Custom Coach in Pipe Creek between Bandera and Boerne (pronounced “Bernie”), getting a few things squared away before our trip to Alaska, so we just added that mirror piece to our list.

 

Texas Custom Coach

 

 

Here the bus is, parked next to all its cousins.

 

That’s our camping spot for the next several days.  50 amp service and we’ve got plenty of water.

 

Later today, standing outside, a giant bird came screaming past.  I don’t mean screaming fast, I mean literally screaming his head off.

 

It was the Bandera Macaw.  Someone down the road has a parrot and lets it out to exercise.  It swoops around and yells for a while (didn’t quite get the focus on the flying picture).

 

…then flies back home.

 

 

Life on the road.

The morning view

 

At Choke Canyon.

 

With a blooming huisache tree in the background.

 

The evening view at Quiet Texas RV Park in Hondo.

 

We got our favorite spot; same spot as last time.

(On our second stay here.)

 

February 2019 trip

 

We’re on the road a little

 

160 miles north.  Choke Canyon State Park

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Choke+Canyon+State+Park/@28.4805441,-98.372636,27888m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x865d632f5fe66773:0x7e29f1a6fd1c17ee!8m2!3d28.4725962!4d-98.338962

 

You can zoom in and out on the map to see where we are.

 

Our view.

 

And later.

 

It's hard to get a good photo of a marsh wren.

 

 

And a pine warbler in fading light.

 

Rancho Lomitas

  

It’s way out in the thornscrub.

 

They have a well-established bird feeding station there.

 

They have Cactus Wren.

 

Olive Sparrow.

 

 

Green Jay.

 

A shy Audubon’s Oriole.

 

Pyrrhloxia.

 

Orange-crowned Warbler.

 

Altamira Oriole.

 

…and my favorite, Scaled Quail

 

 

What the

 

 

That’s a white tailed buck in the background on the left.

 

 

But that horse looking thing on the right?

 

 

Oh wait, here’s an even bigger one.  The first is just a juvenile.

 

It dwarfs the deer.

 

Big body.  Small head.  A Nilgai.  A very large antelope, imported and set free on the King Ranch in South Texas in the 1930s, it has since established a robust population in the back-country of all of South Texas.

 

It’s a native of India.

 

Stanly and Dona

 

Steak, grilled shrimp, Judy’s rice with chopped green onion and tomato, tomato and avocado salad with a drizzle, and berries for desert.  The steak was the main course; everything else was so we could still feel good about ourselves after.

 

 

And Stanley and Dona.

 

A fine exchange of stories.  They know so much, especially about Alaska and Louisiana, that we need to know, and we have such limited time with them.  They used to live here at Sandpipers.  Henry loves them and always had to stop at their house every evening and we got to enjoy their hospitality.  But they moved away to Hammond, Louisiana, and are just back here for a visit.

 

The coatimundi we saw in Arizona last year

 

 

…was resourceful.  He wanted the suet that was in the feeder for the birds.

 

He had to figure out how to get it.

 

Grab the chain.  Haul it up hand over hand.

 

 

No problem.