Holly Beach, Louisiana

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 37 miles from Sulphur to Holly Beach, Louisiana. Along the way we passed from Calcasieu Parish (county) into Cameron Parish as we crossed over this bridge…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

We are traveling on an All American Road called the Creole Nature Trail which you can read about by clicking this link…
http://www.creolenaturetrail.org/

The yellow line on this Google Earth shows our route of yesterday…

The letter designations help me locate places in the area.

We stopped at the Sabine Wildlife Refuge but saw little wildlife…

We continued on until we reached the Gulf of Mexico and Holly Beach. You can read about Holly Beach by clicking this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_Beach%2C_Louisiana

Through the windshield of the motorhome we can see the Gulf of Mexico…

Here’s the view from the dinette window…

And a view of the gulf through the passenger’s side window…

We will move along some more this morning.

Enjoying the Gulf of Mexico is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Louisiana. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Port Isabel & South Padre Island, Texas

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 50 miles from Harlingen to Port Isabel, Texas.

We spent the night parked at Wal-Mart in Port Isabel because of its convenient location. Parked at the far edge of the parking lot made for a relatively quiet night’s sleep. We’ll move on this morning to Brownsville about 25 miles distant..

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

As always, i like to show the view from the dining room window…

It ended up being a full day exploring the local area. The Google Earth image below shows Port Isabel as PI and South Padre Island as SPI. The Rio Grande River enters the Gulf of Mexico from the lower left…

Because I took so many photos yesterday…in this Blog entry I’m going to show you only a couple from each location. To see the rest of the photos you will have to click the provided Picasa Web Album link.

First stop of the day was at the Port Isabel Historical Museum…

To see the other 18 photo I took at the Port Isabel Historical Museum, click this Picasa Web Album link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/PortIsabelHistoricalMuseumTexas

The second stop od the day was at the Treasures Of The Gulf Museum…

To see the other 21 photos I took at this museum, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/TreasuresOfTheGulfMuseumPortIsabelTexas

Third stop was at the Port Isabel Lighthouse which provided a nice view of South Padre Island…

To see the other 7 photos, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/PortIsabelLighthouseTexas

A combination ticket to all three museums for seniors was only $5, You can read about theses museums by clicking their website link…
http://portisabelmuseums.com/mopi/

After the lighthouse it was time for a late lunch at Joe’s Oyster House…

Where we both had…naturally…the delicious grilled shrimp plate for $8.95…

Now it was time to cross the Queen Isabela Causeway to South Padre Island. Here’s an aerial view I picked off of Google Earth…

You can read all about South Padre Island by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Padre_Island,_Texas

First stop  was at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center…

To see the other 23 photos, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/SouthPadreIslandBirdingNatureCenterTexas

You can read all about this place by clicking their website link…
http://spibirding.com/

Then we drove “up Island” to see the beaches…

To see the other 5 photos, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/SouthPadreIslandTexas

Enjoying beautiful area locations is another joy of the full-time Rving lifestyle!!!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Texas. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Thousand Trails Medina Lake RV Resort, Lakehills, Texas – Day 1

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues. She had successful carotid artery surgery on Wednesday, November 14th,  returned home Thursday and is in the process of recuperation.

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 50 miles from Kerrville to Lakehills, Texas. This location is about 40 miles Northwest of San Antonio.

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails. the largest RV resort company with 80 locations nationwide, of which Mary and I are members. I’ll begin my “Winter hibernation” by hiding out from colder weather with a three-week stay, departing not later than December 10th. After my stay here, I’ll head even further south until I reach the Rio Grande River and the border of Mexico to hide out from the colder Winter weather.

Along my way yesterday, I passed through the scenic Texas Hill Country…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Upon arrival at the campground and was in the process of locating my camping spot, I was greeted by a six-point black tail deer…

The RV resort is 260 acres with 357 camping sites. My location is level, partially shaded and very quiet…

As always, I like to show the view from the dinette window…

This is Deer country!

There are so many deer here, the welcoming paper work has two sheets of paper about them. The first one says…

Please DO NOT touch the fawns.

The majority of the fawns are born in late May through the end of June. Mother deer often give birth at night in areas, such as your campsite or the surrounding area. Does will often not return to their fawns until well after dark. DO NOT touch the fawns! This could cause the mother reject it. Keep yourself, your children and pets away from them. Enjoy looking at them from a distance. For the first 5 days after birth, fawns will not run when approached. Instead they will exhibit “freeze behavior”. They lie still when approached. From the 7th day on, fawns will exhibit “flight behavior” on approach. By one month fawns venture out to browse with their mothers.

The second sheet of paper says…

Mating Season For Deer

It’s mating season for the deer. Please use extreme caution when approaching the deer while they are feeding as they are very unpredictable.

I wasn’t here very long before I started seeing lots of deer. In the 18 hours I’ve been here, I’ve seen more wild deer than I have all the rest of my life combined. Certainly more than 100. Obviously they are protected here, not hunted and used to human presence. As a matter of fact while reading outside yesterday afternoon, a doe came along and lay down on the ground only about 10 feet away from me. You’ll be seeing lots of deer photos from me during my time here!

I haven’t been in San Antonio since 1979, so I may take a day-trip or two there while I’m here. Other than that I’ll just be hanging around reading and doing area photography. I’ll be supplementing my daily Blog with RV related topics that I’ve accumulated over the past year.

Enjoying beautiful wildlife is another joy in the life of the full-time RVing lifestyle!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Yesterday Was Our Final Day…

of being tourists in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had originally planned to depart Albuquerque next Monday, but finally decided we’ve seen all that is worth our time here in Albuquerque and will now leave on Saturday.

On our final tourist day we…

first went back to Old Town so Mary could get to see somethings she didn’t get to the other day. Since they were girlie-type things, I sat in the Bronco and read.

Then we went to the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park…right in the middle of Albuquerque. Here’s the official website link…
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/rgnc.htm

Here are some photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

The nature center has an unusual entrance…

I like creating patterns…

The viewing room…

which looks out at this…

the first signs of wildlife…

a couple of Canadian Geese…

we then took a walk along a .5 mile trail…but other than some ants and a few birds saw no other wildlife. Hey, after all, it’s in the middle of Albuquerque. Despite seeing little wildlife we both enjoyed the 1.5 hours of peace and quiet. Being in a large city is really noisy…that’s why I don’t like them.

Here’s a couple of shots of the entrance tunnel on the way out. Like I said earlier…I like creating patterns…

Then we went to see the Rio Puerco Bridge on old Historic Route 66 where I saw some more wildlife…Mary going through a barbed wire fence to fetch a couple of hub caps for her new totem pole back in California…

Here’s some photos of the bridge…

On the way back into town we got to see some older Route 66 Motels we didn’t get to see the other day…

and Jerry Unser’s (of the Unser racing family) old garage…

Finally we stopped at our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch…

where I had two chicken tostadas…

This restaurant has the best tasting Mexican food ever! The salsa is SO GOOD…we bought a quart of it to take home. All in all…a nice final tourist day in Albuquerque.

Today we will dump the motorhome’s waste tanks and fill the fresh water and propane tank in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. In addition, laundry and food shopping will also get done.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

JUST VISITING

It’s been fun cooking with my friend Sandee, enjoying the view out her back window of the beautiful mountains and seeing Sandee’s artwork and collections.

An artist herself, she is working on this bobcat. She has routinely seen a bobcat walking her back fence and she thinks the  bobcat may identify  with the sculpture. We keep watching for the real thing, but he hasn’t shown up while we’ve had cameras poised.

She has a friend with a pooch in the National Kennel Club Trials and her dog and cats enjoy seeing other animals on television and watched the dog show intently. Who knows?

Judy and Mike stopped by to visit and discuss full-time RVing with Jim and share their experiences. They’ve just sold their trailer and haven’t gotten a new rig. We were supposed to have left by now but we are still dealing with a signal problem. Jim got a new device and is cursing it as I write. I’m on a signal from Sandee’s neighbor.

The only wildlife we’ve seen is a few birds. This dove came to visit.

Sandee is multi-talented and  makes jewelry, and I photographed gobs of it just because it is so beautiful. Not all of it was jewelry she made.

As I walk around her house, I continually spot stuff I hadn’t noticed the day before because there is so much to attract the eye.  Better than visiting a gallery.

I particularly liked this kitty…

…and his outdoor painting of sunflowers.

And this cute glass frog.

I have a recipe of Sandee’s to share, too.

Prepare 1/2 inch eggplant slices to fry in olive oil until tender by dipping them in egg and bread crumbs first. Then slather them with blue cheese, put on the lid, and when the cheese is melted, serve them. Yum.

 

 

ADOPTED I HOPE

A few years back I had my yard registered as Certified For Wildlife and it has been an interesting panorama of wildlife frequenting my small acreage. Mostly they come for the water. I have had deer, cougar, bobcat, fox, raccoon, squirrel, owl, bat and various cats and dogs stop in to have a drink.   Over the last couple of weeks I’ve seen this chicken pecking about. She is bantam of a mixed breed. During my 40 year marriage, we had chickens in every yard we had until this particular spot. The hawks came by and gobbled up my last 17 chickens as we were moving here.  I never replaced them. I never cooped them, either, they were always free range. And this little bitty seems to have survived the predators on her own. My kind of gal.

I know she must belong to somebody, but she seems to have adopted my place. She isn’t wildlife. I don’t feed her. One neighbor down the way may be her owner and I’ll check with him, but, chances are, she is going to stay.  And, I hope she does. Karen’s cat took a swipe at her, but she just ignored him and Wiley just doesn’t know what to make of a bird that isn’t afraid of him.

 

The woodpeckers that regularly meet on my power pole and I had a conference, and they agree with me. She is here to stay. (I hope.)

 

STRIVING FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Having spent 7 months crossing the United States, enjoying its parks, its beauty, great stretches of  barely inhabited land, fields full of grain, tree fruits, nuts, berries, beautiful lakes, bridges… what a great country this is. Puzzling, though, we sometimes  parked  near a pond or woods and did not see or hear a bird or an insect. Strange. Not even a mosquito.

Sightings of wild animals in the South and West were better, but even then, mostly in protected parks. In the East where population is denser, we saw squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, and deer. Frogs only in protected gardens.

Underneath all this visible beauty survival is precarious for jaguars, Florida panthers, many birds, whales, turtles…the list seems endless. There is one danger, we can all do something about easily. The Center for Biological Diversity offered this thoughtful science to hunters, and gun users everywhere. Lead ammunition puts humans and wildlife at risk. That surprised me.

California condors were brought back from the brink of extinction starting with efforts in 1996 at a tremendous cost. These majestic birds began dying at unusually high rates since their heroic rescue. Scientific studies traced it to lead poisoning from hunting and fishing. Condors are carrion eaters and just one abandoned lead ridden carcass or gut pile can poison several birds and cause death. Other scavengers, Owls, hawks, eagles and vultures are impacted. Small birds  mistake lead pellets or fishing tackle for grit or seed. Birds at risk  include pheasant, grouse, songbirds, waterfowl and wading birds, as well as golden eagles, sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, peregrine falcons, all are poisoned by lead if they encounter it. People who eat deer and elk or other game shot with lead ammunition are ingesting tiny fragments of lead from shattered bullets; fragments  too small for the human eye to see.  Lead is a neurotoxin that affects children at very low levels.
For hunters and fishermen, its an easy fix. Choose lead free bullets and tackle. Lead ammo has been banned in California. It doesn’t ban hunting or fishing, just the lead. So, if you get a chance to support a vote for banning lead bullets in your state, support it. Then we can always appreciate these gorgeous beauties.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK-C0NTINENTAL DIVIDE

The narrow canyon above is just past the Devils Spine and is the gateway to the Rocky Mountain Crossing on Highway 34.
From Evans, Colorado to Steamboat Springs on Highway 34 and 36 West is a reasonable day’s drive. I drove about 13 miles and I could see Jim was getting nervous so I pulled over short of Estes Park, another 22 miles up the road.  Jim reasoned that the highest road in America, at 12,183 foot elevation,  was not the place for a beginner. And, he was right. I drove the last hour to give him some rest. We stopped short of our goal, both of us tired, at the small town of Kremmling, Colorado.

Estes Park is a tourist destination, a skiing mecca in winter, it attracts backpackers,  mountain stream anglers and bikers. Many rustic and fancy cabins entice people to get-away to the fresh air and fragrant woods. It sits on the edge of the Eastern entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

We have a destination with ‘miles to go before we sleep’ so most of my pictures were taken from the motor home window. This rock formation was beautiful whether the pictures give it credit or not.

The pines have suffered from bark beetle infestation. In fact the park campground on the western slope is completely treeless because all of the trees died and had to be removed. Here you see the many dying, still standing trees. The grey ones are completely dead, the brown ones are on the way.

As you climb higher, the trees become smaller, stunted. In the visitor center it showed trees 100 years old bent and twisted by winds; small from barely sufficient nutrition. They were only two feet tall.

Suddenly you realize you are above tree level, looking down into moonscape canyons. The narrow roads and twists and turns made for some tense driving with a motor home pulling a 4,000 pound “toad”.

This vertical cut right through the rock gave our motors passage and has a beauty of its own.

The park is one of two places in the U.S. that has tuffa.

The road just traveled high on the right. The road we will travel in the center, without the twists as we seem to sit on top of the world.

Now we encounter pockets of snow that do not melt during the summer. We learned from the visitors center those pockets are filled with pure ice and are therefore  mini-glaciers.

Valleys like this, full of color and beauty provide forage and water for wildlife. Antelope, a smaller growing moose than the Canadian and Alaskan herds, deer, weasels, fox, big horned sheep, marmots, chickerees, and other small animals and birds make their home here. Plenty of signs show where to view antelope, but we didn’t see any wildlife as we drove by.

This spot marks the Continental Divide where river water now flows toward the west. It is significant, but, not that you could tell from this spot.

On the way down the Western slope, we had several miles of gravel road and roadwork. Signs promised no wait would exceed 60 minutes.

And, none did. But we sat in this parking lot and another for a lengthy time; enough time to turn off the engine and get out and walk around. Thus, I got pictures of some flora and fauna from the roadside woods. No one seemed upset. The air was fresh, the place restful and beautiful. But, at one point we were so close to a huge paving machine we slid by it within a few inches. I had my head out the window as we crawled by with my window beads clinging to my face, laughing all the way.

Don’t know what these plants are called.

The aspens are just turning color.

Its a beautiful drive. As usual, I took many pictures. If you would like to see them, click the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/91310OverTheRockiesOn3436#

REMEMBERING THAT FOX AND A RECIPE FOR MEAT PIE

In mid July, we were treated to the sight of a playful fox in bright daylight. I was unable to load the video until we had a strong enough signal. It takes two minutes to view it if you click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05_Ldnp45R0

Today is moving day. We are headed for Mystic, Connecticut for a few days.
Last night, we said our goodbyes to Donna and Bob where they treated us to thin crust Italian Pizza at Ricardos. When we returned to Dartmouth, Donna presented Jim with a french meat pie she made especially for him, her first effort at meat pie.

The recipe is:
l lb. ground pork shoulder
1 lb. ground beef
2 stalks of celery and
1 onion  chopped fine.
2-3 med. potatoes mashed
2 Tblspns Bells Poultry Seasoning
Ground Clove and salt and pepper to taste.

Saute meat & drain off  fat.
Add chopped vegetables and saute until tender.
Add mashed potatoes and seasonings and mix thoroughly.
Prepare your favorite pie crust for a 10″ pie plate. Load in meat mixture. Add top crust and place foil on the crimped edges to prevent burning. Pierce top crust with fork. Bake at 425* 30 to 35 minutes.

Enjoy.

STORM AT ROCKY NECK STATE PARK

A storm kicked up rather suddenly and sheets of rain drenched everything, tents, bicycle seats, people’s bags, towels, chairs, tables… Even under a canopy it hit the camp stove and everything we’d quickly moved under to stay dry. Twenty minutes later it stopped and the kids played in a huge puddle. Earlier, someone was camped in this spot.  Lucky for them, it was their day to go home.

The driest place to be was the motor home. Four kids and Jim and I managed a card game called BS on the bed, while others spread out on the table and played Quiddler or sat and read in the front seats. Wendy’s brother Mike arrived after the first drenching with two more little girl cousins. It rained off and on most of the day and we enjoyed a “full house” for much of the day.
When the weather cleared, I biked to the beach late in the day. The kids did too. The little girl below, (not one of our group) engaged in a common practice around the beach, dragging a raw chicken leg for crabs. The crabs hang on and get plopped in a bucket. Its catch and release and great fun.

The problem is, some families use fishing line and it ends up on the beach. I questioned them about making sure they don’t leave fishing line on the beach and pointed out the dangers to the birds. Don’t know if they objected to my intrusiveness or not.

This young man used a string, rather than fishing line. I spotted two gulls in trouble. One with its legs tangled together in a piece of fishing line, limiting its motion, ability to fly and groom itself. Couldn’t catch it though. Another trying to swallow a piece of chicken on a string with the string hanging out of its mouth. I was able to step on the long string because it had another piece of chicken on the opposing end, and pull it out and rescue that bird.

Rocky Neck State Park beach is a wonderfully friendly, spacious, and enjoyable place. A full boardwalk with shade, plenty of life guards, a designated swimming area, good signage, a breakwater, fishing spots, huge picnic area for groups and many spots for individuals, fencing to protect the dunes…lovely place for all.

This sand castle was about 4 feet tall.

For someone like myself, who likes to rock climb and take pictures, it was a perfect spot.