Mahler National Wildlife Refuge

Hi All,

Our time in SE Oregon has been very windy (30-40 mph) and wet. However, we have made the most of it and enjoyed it immensely. 

The refuge visitor center and museum were very interesting including 200 mounted bird specimens representing all the birds found on the refuge. The front yard has a busy colony of Belding's ground squirrels that look like miniature prairie dogs. 

We did all of our birding from the car but we still saw a great variety including ring necked pheasant, California quail, sage grouse and 17 species of geese & ducks. We also had a coyote cross the road in front of us.

In addition to the wildlife, this area has an interesting geologic and cultural history with glacier carver valleys, volcanic cinder cones and the remains of 1800's ranches.

Tomorrows drive completes our cross country journey in Newport OR.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Buena Vista Overlook- That's the Donner & Blitzen River down there.

Buena Vista looking north

Long Barn at the P Ranch

Nebraska to Utah

Hi All,

At times like this we appreciate how big and empty the middle of our country is. We drove just under 800 miles in two days from central NE to northern UT. We have come here to bird at Bear River Refuge, a fabulous place where we have been several times before.

After a day and a half of fierce cross winds that blew the coach all over the road and wrecked one of our awnings, Utah greeted us with pleasant sunshine and snow capped mountains

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone (actually, photographed with Sandy's iPhone, Carl was driving)

Clear Skies

Hi All,

When the cranes were gone we looked up and found a celestial showcase.

The crescent moon is at the bottom, bright Venus is at the top and looking closely, you will see Jupiter in between.  An amazing sight.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Breathtaking Cranes

Hi All,

Long before sunrise, we hiked out to a blind along the Platte River. We were greeted by the dim view of 10,000-15,000 Sandhill cranes roosting on the river.

Sunrise Crane Flight

Hi All,

Before sunrise, mostt of the birds leave their overnight roost in or near the river to feed. They need to put on a lot of weight to fly to their breeding grounds in northern Canada and Alaska.

The shallow section of the river where we were this morning was solid birds; tens of thousands of sandhill cranes. Within two hours, nearly all of them were gone. It was great!

If you can view the movie, you can hear the continual din of thousands of calling cranes.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

An Awesome Spectacle

Hi All,

We spent two hours around sunset watching the cranes come in to roost. The sky was continuously streaked with ribbons of cranes, 50-100 in a line. They came from the north and south, seeking the safety of the river islands for the night. The pictures cannot do justice to this amazing sight.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Platte River Sunset

Crane Watchers with some cranes

Zig Zagging among the clouds

A Crowded V

Weathered Knot on Bridge Railing

Crane Migration

Hi All,

We have come to central Nebraska to witness the annual migration of 650,000 Sandhill cranes (2/3s of the world population). Fossil bones indicate that the cranes have been stopping here along their migration for at least 9,000 years!

We are off to a great start. As we drove in on I-80 we saw groups of 20-50 cranes in every roadside field and in this state, fields are everywhere. When we got to the campground, Sandy once again, found us the best site in the park, We overlook a huge field and as this is written, there are about 500 cranes on the field. Later we will go to one of the viewing areas along the Platte River where there are thousands.

Love
Sandy & Carl 

Back "Home" in South Dakota

Hi All,
Most of today was spent traveling north on I-29 from Kansas City through Iowa and up to Sioux Falls. Carl awoke with some sort of stomach bug so Sandy drove almost the entire 400 miles including the fuel stop. She was great.

The most excitement of the day was when a distant column of black smoke turned out to be a fully involved wooden house along the highway. Lots of flames but no fire apparatus.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Across Missouri

Hi All,

We had an uneventful drive across Missouri, up I-55 to St Louis then west on I-70 almost to Kansas City. A gusty cross wind kept Carl on his toes but we are now within a days drive of Sioux Falls and our new drivers licenses.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Three flags straight out at a rest stop along I-70

On the Road Again

Hi All,

Tiffin finished working on the coach at 11:30 and by 12:30 we were on our way. We drove out of Alabama, across northern Mississippi into Tennessee then across the muddy Mississippi River into Missouri. That's a lot of states in under 200 miles.

We are spending the night in Hayti, MO. When we used our iPhone to search for a nearby supermarket, 4 of the top 8 listed were "Dollar General" and that was the only store name we recognized! Welcome to small town middle America. 

Love
Sandy & Carl

Wilson Dam

Hi All,

Sandy's diligent online research paid off when she discovered a brochure for the North Alabama Birding Trail. Several of the birding sites listed were near the Wilson Dam along the Tennessee River not too far away. 

The area just below the dam was rich in bird life including dozens of cormorants, a great blue heron rookery with 30-40 birds on nests and a huge flock of white pelicans.

We ate our picnic lunch overlooking the dam and river then hiked a total of 4 miles along lovely wooded trails.

It was a beautiful day.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Wilson Dam built in 1925

Wide spot on the Tennessee River

Lovely Waterfall along the River

Moth Sipping Nectar from a flower

River Cave

Interesting pattern under a power tower

More local color; a cemetery for hunting dogs- no we didn't stop!

Getting Out of Red Bay

Hi All,

While chatting with the guy in the next coach, he observed that being at Tiffin Service in Red Bay has much in common with being in prison. People are always asking others. "What are you in for?" and "How much longer do you have?"

We spent a busy day replacing chairs in the coach and washing the motorhome including the roof. 

Once finished, we headed out of town to the Rattlesnake Saloon. This funky place is a restaurant built into a cave. We rode the back of a pickup down a steep dirt rode. 

The food was OK, the crowd was rowdy with many smokers and, though the music was good, we didn't stay too long.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

What's Red Bay Like

Hi All,

Red Bay is a small city of 3,300 in the northwest corner of Alabama. Tiffin Motorhomes is the largest employer. The next largest employer is Sunshine Dog Food. When their roaster is in operation the entire city smells like dry dog food.

The people are friendly and very polite.  We were talking to an upholstery craftsman about a chair we were interested in. He said he had one we might like then proceeded to hand us the keys to his workshop in town and invited us to go take a look. 

At lunch in Subway we met Bob Tiffin the founder of the multi-million dollar motorhome company.

We just learned that the coach repairs will take until Monday. A weekend in Red Bay can be very long. The nearest movies and malls are 50 miles away. We cancelled our tickets in Branson and we will go direct to Sioux Falls.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Ginger Goes Hi Tech

Hi All,

When Ginger's mockingbird flew away she got bored (easy to do in Red Bay, AL). To remedy the situation, we downloaded a few iPad games for her. The objective is to tap the moving red spot, fish or mouse. It keeps her interested but so far it is a spectator sport.

Almost done in Red Bay, we hope.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Still in Red Bay

Hi All,

We are still getting the coach serviced in Red Bay but at least Ginger is staying occupied. A mockingbird sat on a wire next to our coach for almost an hour this morning. Ginger watched the whole time, chattering occasionally.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Red Bay at Last

Hi All,

We arrived in Red Bay, AL today as planned. The Tiffin service facility is huge with 49 service bays and 92 full hookup sites, most occupied, for customers. 

We visited with friends Arthur and Jane who are also here for service.

We will be here until Saturday when we drive to Branson, MO for some music before continuing on to Sioux Falls, SD to renew our licenses.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Back on the Road

Hi All,

We are grateful that everything has gone so well.

1. A safe stop off the highway

2. An iPhone app that auto dials the emergency road service company and sends them our gps location.

3. A technician who brought us a new tire and changed it in less than 30 min.

4. We were on the way less than 90 minutes after the blowout.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

On the Move- for a While

Hi All,

We said good bye to Shanty Pond and headed towards the motorhome factory in Alabama. Five hours later we were parked along I-10.

Ever since Carl started driving a big motorhome (about 140,000 miles ago), he has wondered how difficult it would be to control a front tire blowout at 65 mph. Now he knows that, at least this time, it was not too bad. We got stopped safely and are now waiting for roadside assistance.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Seven Thousandths of a Second

Hi All,

In the afternoon Wyatt's car competed in the finals. He finished second, only .007 seconds behind the winner. He will be in the North Florida Council finals in April. Yaaay Wyatt!

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Wyatt Wins Again!

Hi All,

Wyatt won the District pinewood Derby competition for Webelos this morning. The race for overall District champion is this afternoon.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Ravine Gardens

Hi All,
Sandy left her binoculars in the Campbell's car yesterday so we made plans to meet them at Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka, about midway between us. The blooming azaleas were beautiful and we saw two snakes along the trail.

After a picnic lunch and a hike around the park we, once again, said our good byes to Kim & Evalyn

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Mayport & Little Talbot

Hi All,

We drove to Jacksonville to visit Jim & Evalyn today. We had lunch at Singleton's then took the Mayport ferry. It was a short drive to Little Talbot State Park where we walked along the beach in the glorious sunshine.

Back at the Campbell's house we said our good byes. We will not see them again until our paths cross in August at Grand Teton National Park.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

A Dumpy Looking Place with Great Food

Front Row Spot on the Ferry

Driftwood on Miles of Unspoiled Beach

Flow Pattern in the Sand