Cute As Can Be...

This morning I looked out the window and saw some Canada Geese and their babies. I quickly grabbed my camera and a bag of soy chips and went out to feed them and get some photos. They didn't seem afraid of me at all. The parents came to the chips first to check them out but didn't eat any. Instead they let the babies feast on them. There were two separate families. One family consisted of the parents and 3 babies and the other consisted of the parents and 4 babies. All of the babies seemed to be about the same size. It was fun to watch them. The babies stayed with their perspective parents in a little group although they were side by side. Two of the adults got into a big fight. I figured it was the 2 males but I have no idea. I can't tell the male and female apart. The fighting was so interesting to watch but it got quite arrgressive. It went on for at least 5 minutes before one retreated back with his family. The mothers and babies watched as the fighting went on. I had never seen baby Canada Geese before so this was exciting for me. Here are a few photos of them.

the fight!

If that was not exciting enough for me I took Millenni outside to let her pee this morning and was walking along our campsite near the water when a duck flew out and scared me half to death. She flew out of the rock wall and made all sorts of noise and flew into the water and swam around. Millenni and I continued walking then on our way back inside I happened to look down and saw the duck had a nest with 7 eggs she has been sitting on. How exciting! I took another photo then we went inside so the mother duck could return to her nesting. I noticed little ants crawling all over the eggs and wondered if they were hatching. I didn't see any cracks but I didn't touch any of them. I didn't want the mother to desert them. This afternoon I went back to look and mother duck was sitting on the eggs and flew away as I approached. When I looked inside there were only 6 eggs and no ants. I don't know what happened with the other egg. Maybe it was cracked and the ants were getting to it and the mother duck disposed of it. I don't think any predators would have been eating the egg in the day light hours. Mother duck is out there on the nest again as I write this blog. I would love for the babies to hatch while we are camping here.

The Journey Home

It sounds funny to say it was a journey "home" since we live in our home and took it with us and lived in it the entire time we were gone. Nevertheless, we had another very long travel day yesterday. We reluctanly left Florida at 7:00am and arrived at our destination in Georgia Texas when we crossed back over into the eastern time zone. The campground where we are staying this week is beautiful. We probably have the prettiest site here! I will write more about that later and post some photos. We traveled just over 3700 miles on this trip. That includes the running around we did while in Austin. The ride home yesterday seemed to be going alright until we stopped at a rest area and noticed "something" was under the RV tangled up near the tires on the left side. A little tugging revealed it was a window frame and it looked exactly like the one around our bedroom window with good reason. IT WAS!!! We walked around to the other side of the RV and there was our exposed bedroom window! The screen was still in place but the glass and frame were gone! We have no idea when we lost it or even how. David secured and locked that window before we left and I double checked behind him. It was locked! We did hit some rough roads in our travels again yesterday so we can only imagine it jarred the lock loose and the wind grabbed the window and pulled it off. Oh well.... sure hope the glass didn't hit anyone traveling behind us. I will try to post more later tonight when I have more time. Things are pretty exciting here at the campsite and I can't wait to tell you what I saw today!

Linda takes a little nap while traveling.

David sets up the satellite TV dish

a couple of shots of the moon thru the trees on our campsite

the frame of our bedroom window

A Perfect Day

We both really love it here. Today was exactly what we had hoped for. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We ran some errands this morning then went to the little beach area here at the campground. The tiki huts had already been grabbed by people who got there before we did so we opted to use the lounge chairs and plop ourselves down in the sun. It was so relaxing. We were out there nearly two hours then came back in the RV for lunch. After we ate we went back and the tiki huts had been vacated. It didn't take long for us to realize why. The breeze had picked up and sitting in the huts in the shade proved to be quite chilly. We decided to move back out into the sun. We sunbathed for a few more hours then decided to go to the other side of the beach. It is so beautiful. It reminded us of how Panama City Beach used to look 30 years ago when we first started going there before it became so commercialized. Navarre Beach is a small town on the Emerald Coast. There are a few high-rise condos and hotels but only a very few. For now the beach is perfect. The water along this part of the Gulf Coast is pristine... turquoise in color and very clear. Absolutely breathtaking! We did laundry late this afternoon then after dinner spent some time in the campground pool before showering and getting ready to leave early in the morning. We have the RV all packed up and hitched up and ready to pull out early. Following are a bunch of the beautiful photos I took today.

the campground pool

David reading and getting some sun (a little too much sun on his back)

we crossed over the bridge to the beautiful part of the beach

took a couple of photos of seagulls flying over the beautiful water

the beautiful turquoise water of the Emerald Coast

the water is so pristine and clear here

and the sand is sugary white

David enjoying a walk on the beach

Linda enjoying a walk on the white sugar beach

one last look at the water as a wave crashes

Navarre Beach Campground

Navarre Beach Campground is a very nice campground. It is so pretty here, very tropical with lots of palm trees and a white sandy beach. I awoke to the sound of birds chirping this morning and it sounded wonderful. We had hope to spend the day on the beach under one of the tiki huts, just reading and relaxing and getting a little sun. One thing I particularly like is the fact this is not a big commercialized area. Here are some photos of the campground I took yesterday afternoon. I will likely be taking more today and if so will post those tonight.

campground on the beach

entrance to the campground

our camp site

the beach area at the campground

the tiki huts along the beach where we hope to spend the day relaxing

a cute little guy

ahhhhh... what a life!

A Long Travel Day

Whoo-boy, it was a loooong travel day for us today. We traveled just under 500 miles today. We got up early and were on the road by 7:30am. We drove from the Texas/Louisana line to Florida. We are staying 2 nights here in Navrarre Beach on the beautiful white sandy Gulf Coast. What a day it has been. I must start off by saying both Millenni and Oreo have traveled like champions today. I think they are used to this lifestyle by now and even enjoy it. I-10 proved to be a horribly bumpy ride. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita certainly took a toll on the road and there were times I couldn’t believe the RV was still attached to the truck it was so bumpy. As we drove further into Louisana the wildflowers became more sparse and the trees grew taller. We passed over the Henderson Swamp once again and pee-eweeeee….. was it ever stinky! Talk about a dank, musty odor…Yuck! We really wanted to drive into New Orleans and see if there were still signs of the damage caused by Katrina. As we got into the city we saw a Goodyear Blimp flying overhead. We passed an awesome looking cemetery. It was on both sides of I-10 and it appeared that all were buried above ground with large monuments on the tops. I know that entire area is below sea level so guess they have to bury the dead above ground. I wondered how many graves were displaced when they built the interstate since it runs right thru it. The Superdome appeared to be in good shape, repairs have been made on the outside anyway. The city itself looked fantastic and I was very pleased to see no real signs of devastation remaining. I was concerned because last June, when Jamie drove thru she saw a lot of devastation. I would never have known anything so tragic had happened had I not known. Now once we got on the east side of New Orleans it was a different story. Numerous roofs still have not been repaired and remain covered with blue plastic. We saw a lot of new shingles on roofs too. We also saw a lot of FEMA trailers parked in the yards of homes. I imagine the houses are not safe enough to live in yet so they just parked the FEMA units right in the yard to live in. At times we would see a FEMA park with the plain white trailers all lined up. Over all I was encouraged that the city appears, from the interstate anyway, to be healing nicely. When we crossed over into Mississippi we stopped at the welcome center and took a respite for about half an hour. We ate our lunch, walked around to get some exercise then rested for a little while in the RV. Millenni and Oreo were happy to get out of the truck for a while too. I somehow missed the rest of Mississippi and all of Alabama as I was busy looking in our RV books and online using my laptop for a campground for the next 2 nights. We had hoped to find a state park but with it being a Friday night there were no spots available. We made several phone calls just to verify but no luck there. We ended up finding a nice commercial campground in Navarre Beach and will hang out here until Sunday then will be off to the next campground in Georgia where we’ll be staying for a week. This campground is very pretty and I will post some pictures tomorrow and write more about it then. Tonight after dinner we soaked in the hot tub and it felt heavenly!

Oreo and Millenni were such fantastic little travelers

This is the ever-so-stinky Henderson Swamp in Louisana

Welcome to NOLA

the city of New Orleans with the Superdome to the right

a FEMA village right along I-10, just one of many we saw

a New Orleans neighborhood with FEMA trailers parked in the yards

Goodbye Texas

Today was a full travel day. We got up and spent the morning getting everything packed up then left around 11:00 and spent the day traveling. We didn't have the route planned in advance and just used the map to decide what roads to take. We prefer traveling on the back country roads when possible and found Hwy 77 to be absolutely a beautiful choice. We both wished we had the time to take a road like that all the way but we reluctantly ended up on I-10 to Houston. I never have liked that city and traveling thru it today only proved it once again. It is not a pretty place. Lots of road construction thru the city and lots of traffic and nothing pleasing to the eye. We stopped for the night in Vinton, Louisana, just 8 miles over the state line. It had been a long travel day for us and we had wanted to make it to Lake Charles before stopping but since we were both exhausted we decided to stop at this RV park for the night. It is a nice park just off of I-10 and will be easy to get back on the road in the morning. Tomorrow will be another full day of travel. We want to make it to Florida and spend tomorrow night there. I only have one photo to post from today. As I mentioned before, Hwy 77 was so beautiful. It is what you think of Texas farm land looking like but the real beauty was in all of the wildflowers. Texas has the most beautiful wildflowers you can imagine and as far as we could see on Hwy 77 there were flowers in full bloom in all sorts of colors. I tried taking pictures thru the windshield but most of them are fuzzy. I did manage to get one that came out well enough to share. Unfortunately the colors are not as vivid as they were in real life. After trying several shots I decided to give up and just enjoy the scenery and not worry about pictures. I need to go thru all the photos I have taken while on this trip and will post more of them in the coming days as I have time. I think we'll be going to bed early tonight and get rested up for tomorrow's travels. We plan to drive thru New Orleans tomorrow and see how that city is shaping up after Katrina.

you may need to click on this photo to view it larger

A Full Day

It has been a FULL day! We started out with a list of things to do on our last day here in the Austin area. We did our usual morning things then as we were getting in the truck to start working our way down the list Jamie called. She has just moved into a new apartment and has been looking for a few items to furnish it. She found a nice entertainment center listed on Craigslist and wanted to know if we could meet her at a house in Round Rock to look at it and move it for her. It was going to be about an hour before she could get there so we would go take some pictures at a park in Round Rock (it was on our list) until she arrived. We got the photos taken then met up with her. Got the entertainment center loaded in the truck then drove it to her apartment. She had a fellow co-worker meet us there to help move it. Finally we got all that done then we were off to drive thru a couple of RV parks downtown and then lunch at the Shady Grove. It was yummy! Afterward we drove over to Town Lake and took some more photos at Auditorium Shores. We drove back to the campground and it was time for Larry and Tina to join us for dinner. Jamie and Bella also came and we had a wonderful time together tonight. Sorry I am not providing a lot of details. It is getting late and David needs to use the computer and we are leaving in the morning so still have a lot of things to get done tonight. Enjoy the photos!

David and Linda with one of the Round Rock Longhorns

David and Linda with the other Round Rock Longhorn

Linda, David and Jamie at the Shady Grove

Austin, the little blue oasis in the sea of red!

painted guitars along Town Lake

Bella and Millenni, getting along for the moment

A Day Trip

Do you know where to go to see Stonehenge and the Maoi statues of Easter Island? TEXAS of course! Well not exactly, but... you can see replicas of them in a field near Hunt, Texas, just a day trip from Austin. I may never have an opportunity to see the real things so this may just have to do. Click the link below to view a website about these replicas.

Stonehenge II

Stonehenge II

Stonehenge II and a Maoi statue

Linda with one of the Maoi statues

Linda with another one of the Maoi statues

Texas!

Listen to my song

And if you want to sing along

It's about where I belong ...Texas…

Sometimes far into the night

And until the morning light

I pray with all my might

To be in ... Texas…

It's where I want to be

It's the only place for me

Where my spirit can be free ...Texas…

It's where I want to be

It's the only place for me

Where my spirit can be free ...Texas…

Texas, lyrics and music by Willie Nelson

Helping Jamie

Our day started out early, too early. We went to Jamie's church this morning then over to her apartment to help her unpack and get some things organized in her new place. We got a lot done. We took our ladders and tools and got busy. The kitchen is the only room that we completed but we were happy with the results and got a few other things done like hanging things on the walls and putting up a curtain rod. She needed to make a dessert for the new members group at church for tonight and asked if I could think of anything to make. I immediately thought of a banana split cake so off we went to the grocery store for the ingredients needed. Jamie is a staff member at her church and this is one of the many responbilities of her job. We spent the afternoon making the dessert and it was a fun mother-daughter time. David took the opportunity to read the Sunday Austin Statesman (newspaper). We left around 4:00 this afternoon. It feels nice to have an early evening for a change. It seems that each night we are out and about until 10:00 or so. I had been fighting a sinus headache all day today and on the drive home it really flared up big time. When we got back to the RV I had to lay down on the bed and rest for a while and let the ibuprofen take effect. I'm feeling better now but I am tired. It has been drizzly all day today. I don't have any photos to share from today. Going now to watch another episode of Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel here on this Earth Day. I sure love it here!!!

Bluebonnets

Jamie drove up to our campground today to spend the day with us. I met her at Ikea and we did a little shopping there then to the campsite. We ate lunch then went to a nearby bluebonnet field to take some photos. It was a windy day and the wind was blowing our hair every which way. We managed to get a few decent shots but not before I made the mistake of stepping right into a huge ant hill. This was definitely a "Texas-size" ant hill. It was about 4 feet high and 4 feet wide with some pretty purple wildflowers growing on it. I just thought it was a little hill and put one foot on it to steady myself to take some shots of the little purple flowers. Within seconds I knew that was a mistake. I looked down to see my shoe covered with tiny ants stinging my foot. It is not easy trying to steady yourself on one leg in a prickly pear infested field. Jamie took my shoe and was shaking it to get the ants off as I was trying to remove them from my foot. By that time they were climbing up my leg, biting me all along their journey. I finally got rid of them all and we moved to another part of the field and made our photos of the bluebonnets. This afternoon our best friends, Don and Ruth, joined us then we all went to another friends house for a nice dinner. We had a great time but on the way home David was pulled over for speeding! He was clocked at 59mph in a 45mph zone. He got by with only a written warning. He is so lucky! I've had 2 speeding tickets in my lifetime and do you think I ever got away with just a warning? NO! We barely made it back to the campground before the 10:00pm gate closing. We arrived right at 10:00. I was so glad because tonight I wasn't wearing good walking shoes and would not have been happy to walk so far. It has been a great day but I am completely exhausted and ready for bed now.

Linda setting up the camera to take photos

David and Linda

David and Linda


Linda, David and Jamie

Jamie, David and Linda

Jamie and Bella

Millenni