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Welcome to Our Photo Gallery & Travelblog
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March 2007: Snowbirds Wintering in Florida, Playing in Texas31 March 2007: Storms have passed and blue sky and healthier air prevail. March came in like a lion and left like a lamb. 30 March 2007: The thunderstorms continue ... There were over 60 tornadoes in the Texas-Oklahoma area yesterday. We are safe, but the threatening weather has kept us cooped up inside most of this week. Tom has spent a lot of time computering and I have been sleeping way too much because of allergy-medications. We'll visit with Cloyd and Bellann more this weekend, then prepare to head north to Kansas next week to get the RV repairs done as scheduled. We hope the weather clears up because we do not want to be like Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ in Kansas next week! 26 March 2007: Finally! Some heavy showers to wash away some of the pollen and clean the air. 23 March 2007: The weather is just yucky. We're parked in a grove of oak trees that are raining flowers filled with pollen. Allergens are inciting a riot in my sinuses and on my skin forcing me to take Benadryl every twelve hours then sleep ... Tom went to Joe T.'s and to Billy Bob's in Ft. Worth with friends last night; I stayed home in bed. He said the gas pedal in the truck seemed disconnected last night at one point and there was no going for awhile. Ruby's in the shop today. 22 March 2007: The weather has been warm, humid and with clouds that actually spit some rain drops every now and then making all of the pollen sticky-icky on everything. We have been spending evenings with Cloyd and Bellann eating dinner and watching American Idol. The lack of talent this season is disappointing. I wish Sanjaya would respect himself enough to withdraw from the program. It's very sad to see him suffer through this humiliation. The pre-teen girls love him so they are voting to keep him on the show and they will go see him on tour this summer, but his lack of talent is so obvious that he's becoming a joke and discrediting the show as a singing competition. Of course, his continued presence gives folks something to talk about at the water cooler. This evening, we'll venture out to Ft. Worth to have dinner at Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant. 19 March 2007: Alas, we did not have energy for anything but resting and shopping and towing over the last few days. We have not had a decent Internet connection in days and now that we've stopped for a few weeks in Denton, TX, near Dallas, this RV Park's WiFi (Tengonet) is sporadic and sloooow, probably too many users with too little space, like the highways here. We're glad to be stopping for awhile to "eat, drink, and be merry" with Tom's friends, Cloyd and Bellann. Tom did get the satellite dish to fetch TV signals, but it's facing trees so we can't get a strong enough signal for Internet, and the satellite TV does not get the local channels anymore. So, how will I watch my shows? There's a TV in the Rec Room and I may ask Bellann to TiVo some shows for us. Two weeks without our shows is just not acceptable! Gotta get a TV antennae installed when we get to New Horizons in Kansas. Tomorrow is a must do laundry day and maybe we'll have dinner out with our friends. As for wildflowers, bluebonnets are blooming amongst a variety of mustard grasses, Texas dandelions, and orange paintbrush. I also saw a few spider lilies blooming in some creeks along the way. There may have been other flowers blooming that I could not identify as we were speeding along the highway. Hopefully, I'll get a few warm, sunny days to photograph some of the wildflowers here. Spring is definitely here. Yellow dusty pollen is covering everything and causing me to feel like I have "pins and needles" in my eyes requiring allergy medication at night. Tom is calling me his "Benadryl Babe." He is having some allergy-induced coughing. The joys of spring's beauty! 15 March 2007: Thunderboomers crashed through the area last night leaving puddles of rain water, but at least the rain stopped before we had to get ready to tow another day. We drove through lower Louisiana today, Cajun Country. Spring has definitely sprung here. The trees are blooming and budding. Early spring flowers beautify some bumpy, lumpy sections of I-10 W. The grasses are growing fast. Oak flowers are falling. Pollen covers the truck and I need Benadryl. We saw many bayous and rice fields. Evidence of Hurricane Katrina's fury is still present. Some houses are still covered with blue tarps and downed trees slump in the woods. I think there were several relocated families living in FEMA trailers in the park we stayed in last night and along the way today I saw several camps filled with such trailers. We've stopped in Beaumont TX for a few days to rest. We may drive out to the Big Thicket National Preserve tomorrow or Saturday, if we can find the energy. 14 March 2007: We drove through Alabama and Mississippi today on into Louisiana. We've stopped overnight in Baton Rouge. Tom drove through a downpour, the skies cleared, now it's raining again. Time for bed ... 13 March 2007: Later ... I did walk through the woods with a flashlight to watch American Idol on the TV in the Clubhouse here in this RV park. It's definitely a girls' race mostly between Melinda and Lakisha who sing R&B, not my style. No Chris Daughtry, no country Songbird. Sadie Cat is feeling better. She's much more sociable today. We have left Florida behind ... We're stopping for the night in Alabama. No problems towing today, but we're headed into stormy weather tomorrow. Bummer of all bummers: no way to watch American Idol tonight unless I walk up to the Clubhouse. I might. Our satellite is working fine, but we do not get the local channels. There's no cable and we never got a TV antennae installed, which we will have done when we get to Kansas. The "Yellow Rail" was not yellow rail after all; it was an immature Sora Rail. Bummer, too. 12 March 2007: The Spring Breakers have taken over. They are everywhere and they have turned the roads around here into motor speedways. One of the park visitors found a card on the ground written from a Mom to a Spring Breaker. The gist if it was: "Think about the consequences of your decisions. The enclosed money is for food and fins, not beer." I forgot to mention in the last blog that I met a woman from Nashville at the park. I rather kiddingly asked her if she ever saw Keith and Nicole around. She said that she did. I asked her if she thought that their marriage would last and she quickly said no. She works in a breadery-bakery that Keith Urban visits often, mostly without Nicole Kidman. She said that he is known around town to be a druggie and often comes in with "dirty hair and he stinks." She had to stand next to him for a local photo-op for the newspaper and she said that he really smelled bad. Let's hope that rehab works for him and for them. Today, Tom foraged for food and helped me carry in and out about 10 loads of laundry including comforters, blankets, and rugs. We gave one of Tom's favorite comforters to Good Will. It was bunching up, torn, and too big for our RV bed. Tomorrow is cleaning day. I hope to make time early in the morning to see how the Egret's eggs are doing! We leave this partying place on Tuesday heading to Denton, Texas (near Dallas). Sure hope to see some wildflowers along the way ... And, Sadie Cat is sick. She's been throwing up, hiding, and her nose is warm. And, Harry Cat caught a bird for breakfast while he was attached to a leash that was attached to Tom. Imagine that. 10 March 2007: Back to the park ... I have been watching a pair of Great Egrets build a nest from scratch over the last three weeks. The nest just got strong enough for one of the egrets to lie in. Today, I noticed three blue-green eggs in the nest. One of the egrets was turning the eggs over with its beak. Now, if I can see the eggs, so can predators, but I noticed that the adult birds are still building the walls of the nest up and deeper to protect the eggs. This nest is right on the edge of the rookery so I do worry that the baby birds will fall out into the lake and become 'gator snacks. Click here to view photos of the Great Egrets flirting, dating, building their nests, and turning their eggs. I saw two brown thrashers today; this is the state bird of GA. I saw a flock of young coots and two young moorhens. I saw a third yellow rail and a sore rail. There were a few robins in the woods, many grackles, more yellow-rumped warblers, and many beautiful red-winged blackbirds. As I was leaving the park about sunset, a whole flock of new waterbirds arrived including little blue herons, night herons, and reddish egrets. There's no more room on the rookery, so I think they will have to build their nests out in the trees along the water's edge. The weather just turned warmer so that may be bringing more birds to the nesting area. And the 'gators ... I saw six of them today, mostly younger and smaller ones. I did catch several people feeding them. One man brought ham to throw out into the water to attract them, but I told him not to because this was illegal, pointing to the sign that said so, and taught the 'gators to become aggressive. A group of younger folks were throwing shrimp into the water attracting another 'gator. When they do this, the 'gators associate food with people and when they become aggressive they have to be relocated or killed. No more play time. We have to get ready to leave here on Tuesday heading for Texas bluebonnets. 09 March 2007: I spent more time over at St. Andrews State Park enjoying the wildlife and chatting with some "Birders." I actually got too much sun and had some swelling in my face and eyes today, so I stayed inside. I do wear a visor when I'm out, but I did not use any sunscreen and this FL sun is heating up. The "Spring Breakers" have arrived. I enjoyed talking to some of them in the park. There was a group from Ireland, several groups from Ontario, and a couple from James Madison University in Harrisonburg VA. The young man actually grew-up in Bealeton, VA, where I lived for a few years. Small world. The noise level around here has definitely increased with loud engines, thumping music, and screeching tires. We saw a very bad accident the other day. Perhaps there's just too much partying going on. 06 March 2007: The temperatures have warmed up during the day so we went back out to St. Andrews State Park. I used an extender on the telephoto lens to take some nesting bird photos. Although I got closer shots, many of them were not in focus. Me or the lens? Hmmm... A birder gentleman pointed out a yellow rail to me. He's been birding for 45 years and this is only the fourth time he has seen this species of bird as they are quite rare and very difficult to spot. I also saw a common yellow throat and several yellow rumped warblers. The young 'gator came over to greet us later. I have named it "Sunny" because it comes to lie on the sand in the sun in the afternoons. The shuttle boat is running to Shell Island, so Tom and I will do that tomorrow afternoon to see turtles, dolphins, and more water birds. Today, I don't want to go back to work. I want a yard with trees so I can study and photograph birds. I want to join a birders' club, a wildflower club, and a yoga class, so that leaves very little time for work. And, I have to take a nap with Sadie everyday at 3 PM. She comes to get me to remind me that it's our nap time. 03 March 2007: March definitely came in like a lion here with gusty winds spawning tornadoes north of us in AL and GA killing 20 or so people. A tornado hit a high school causing the roof to collapse killing 8 teenagers. Very sad. We were rockin'n'rollin' in the RV feeling like Dorothy in Kansas in the Wizard of Oz, but we are safe. Tornadoes this time of year seem quite odd. Global warming and El Niños are messing with Mother Nature's cycle. The weather has remained cool, only in the low 60's in the mid-afternoon. Of course, this is still winter. Let's hope that March goes out like a lamb. I've been completing online applications for teaching jobs. I want to go back to work until I'm 62, the actual retirement age of most worker-bees. I feel like my knowledge and skills are gathering dust on shelves in my brain. And, we are all ready to get out of parking lots and into our own house and yard. |
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