Thousand Trails Lake Medina RV Resort – Day 13 (GA314)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Turtle Beach RV Resort in Manteca, California. I’ll depart here April 10th.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

 

 

In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

 

 

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

 

 

 

This entry was posted December 2, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical and personal business issues. Yesterday she finally made her airline reservations to join me at Harlingen, Texas on January 3, 2013.

 

 

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails about 40 miles west of San Antonio.

 

 

Let’s take a break from the deer photos. One has to be really lucky and fast to catch a photo of these perpetual motion machines…

 

 

 

 

 

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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying beautiful animals in nature is another joy of the full-time RVing lifestyle!

 

 

The red dot on the below map shows my 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!

 

 

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

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/pop-goes-the-weasel/

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

 Forecast for today is rain and 61 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

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

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2018

RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK

We arrived at our destination, Ranthambore National Park near the town of Sawai Madhopur. The park has over a hundred square miles of forests and several large lakes and was at one time a hunting preserve of the maharajas. I bought Theo a tie, but later he bought himself a handsome red scarf and he is never without it.

After our long ride and lunch, we take a canter to the fort and spent the afternoon hiking to various historical sites. In a later blog, we will visit the beautiful Dargah Ganesh Temple inside the fort.

The Park is a UNESCO site and one of 11 tiger preserves in India. India tigers are unique in that they are the biggest cats; they are not speedy. They don’t chase distances for their quarry. They will jump from a tree or rock or attack near a watering hole.

We enter by this huge gate.  Mostly uphill from here.

I’m fascinated by this woman’s clothing and her ability to carry belongings on her head.

The fort was built in the fifth century A.D. Astounding that it still survives especially when you see the current scaffolding still used in India today.

We see this all over India, even on modern high rise buildings.

The men tie the bamboo poles with simple hemp ropes, then wet the ropes and tighten them.  The structure is very solid.

One of  many temples on the grounds. This one a later vintage.

This spot was over run with monkeys, fighting for territory or females. Not sure which.

They would race about and attack each other. You could feel a breeze as they hurtled by we human invaders.

Some of the attacking monkeys like this one, bared his teeth and growled.

None of my other grandsons I’ve taken on their special trip took pictures, but Theo took many.

Onward and up. Another temple is just ahead.

Another set of stairs was daunting, and none of us chose to go inside.

Sandy, is photo averse. She is beautiful, friendly and a joy to be around.

The steps are steep. And after awhile we get our “temple legs.” This step has a stone once used in another building.

Arches are more vulnerable, but these still stand.

At the top, everyone gets to look over the lakes and valley below.

This man takes tickets for the temple located at the far reaches of the hike.  You can buy food, water, souvenirs and flowers here.

People buy flowers as part of their ritual. I picked up a strand to smell and Ranvir, said, “you touched it. Now it can’t be used.  Nothing goes to waste. The monkeys will eat the flowers.” He paid for my mistake.

At the temple, you may not speak.

I came out  anointed.

Where there’s  food, there’s  rats.

The monkey enjoyed his treat.

On the way back, the monkeys get well fed. Everyone gives their flowers.

These little birds seem to find food where there is nothing but rock.

This is a squirrel. At home we’d call it a chipmunk or chicaree. They too, seem to find food where none exists.

More tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Local Critters…

The motorhome is parked at Mary’s second home at Wimer, Oregon. I’m expecting to depart from here October 13th.

I’m expecting to arrive at Mary’s home in central California, October 15th and depart November 30th. While there, I’ll do routine maintenance, minor repairs and major cleaning of the Bronco and motorhome.

Today’s Subject…Local critters…

 

Mary has seven acres here and a fair amount of wildlife. Here are a couple I caught yesterday…

 

The wild turkeys are quite large. Made me think of Thanksgiving to come. Wonder what will happen to these guys?…

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…

These squirrels are cute but they are causing Mary a lot of problems by digging underground burrows. She is still trying to figure out how to get rid of them…

Who are you looking at?…

Don’t you wish you could do this?…

Catch me if you can!…

Mary has a pellet gun here, but it’d difficult at best. The usually high-tail it when they detect you, seldom stand still for very long and are very fast! I’ve taken a few longer distance shots…but so far, to no avail. Mary continues to wrestle with the pesky problems.

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was a mostly cloudy and 74 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 74 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

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

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2015

Hey Mister…Take My Picture!

The motorhome is currently parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. My current departure date is scheduled December 1st. 12 Days and counting!

Mary has a number of squirrels running around her yard. Usually they are only seen zooming from tree to tree. While working on the computer yesterday morning, I caught a glimpse of motion out of the corner of my left eye and saw this one looking in at me…

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…

My camera was about eight feet away and I just knew he/she would be gone when I returned to my seat…but I was wrong! As matter of fact, when he/she saw my camera…he/she said, Hey Mister…Take My Picture! How about a few more poses?…

After about 30 seconds of posing, he/she said “Okay…that’s enough…I’m gone!”

This one is a Western Gray Squirrel which you can read about by clicking this link…http://thenatureniche.com/2011/12/28/western-gray-squirrel/

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

The cataract surgery of my right eye was conducted on October 9th and my left eye on November 6th. Both eyes are now at 20/20. The only remaining item left (other than eye drops until early December) is a visit to the optometrist to be fitted for reading glasses at the VA Hospital in Livermore, California on November 25th.

Yesterday was a cloudy day and 62 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly cloudy and 61 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather 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 California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

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

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

GOOD SAM, AKA TERRIBLE

I’m glad I live in a small town, like the song says. I get good customer service, people are gracious and nice.  Yesterday, I drove my truck to Angels Camp,  nine miles from my house. My major errand to have the truck washed and get my hair cut.  Then, my truck had the outrageous temerity to stop and refuse to start. The temp was 97  but in a hot asphalt parking lot, you can up that several degrees. I called my roadside emergency service and explained that I needed a tow to Nash’s Chevron, just 1/2 mile up the road. I told the dispatcher, who asked what state I was in, that the  nearest tow service was Sam Berry in Douglas Flat, which is seven miles away. I was told rather crisply that he was “out of district”.  “Calaveras County only has two tow services and he is closest.” I explained to her.

She then told me they don’t have a contract with him and if they use him I would have to pay the tow. Three hours later, while they dinked around trying to find some tow service from  other counties, Tuolumne, Amador and Stanislaus,  Sam Berry picked me up and towed  me the half mile to Nash’s Chevron. What that tells me is they are quite willing to take your money, but not willing to contract with someone in my entire county and not willing to pay the freight without the contract until they had NO other alternative cost wise. Oh, yeah, the dispatcher apologized for the long wait.   Our insurance covers the motor home and all vehicles, and is good until 2013. I won’t be renewing after that hot, frustrating episode. The business people in the center offered me a cool air-conditioned place to sit; coffee, to drive me somewhere, and to make phone calls for me. Like I say, I’m glad I live in a small town.

After my partner’s rant on horrible customer service, I had to add this one.  The other great part of living in my rural area is my wonderful neighbors and my morning walk:

This squirrel has attacked a cone half his body size.

He spotted me. You can see the detritus of chewed cone remnants on the ground. He has obviously gathered them and brought them to his dining room, because the tree is not a pine.

He decided I might be a threat and sprinted up the oak about five feet and flashed his tail in warning!  I left him to his breakfast and went on my merry way. Kind of puts Good Sam in perspective.  Life is good.

WILD CRITTERS I’VE MET

Growing up in the country gave me a deep appreciation for the critters we share the planet with. On our trip, I can’t say we viewed a lot of wildlife, but we did run into these gorgeous pelicans in Venice, LA.

Our campsite was visited by this group of javelinas at Big Bend National Park in Texas.

Also this handsome coyote, fearless in bright daylight.

In Louisiana’s Bayou Signette State Pk. a busy armadillo regularly passed through the campsites.

At Jean LaFitte National Park, this beautiful fat squirrel.

This picture was also from Jean LaFitte. Its always a thrill to see wildlife. (More on this tomorrow.)