September 20, 2009

On Sunday, Randy got the boat in the water and we floated back in the shallow areas near the waters edge, exploring all the little nooks. We thought we might be able to sneak up on animals and we did. There was a deer but we only caught a quick view of its backside as it disappeared into the woods. We also saw lots of turtles and a couple of spiders, as well as ducks.

September 19, 2009 A Majestic Encounter

On Saturday morning, I got up early. It was still dark. I got my coffee and cameras and went out to wait for the morning.

Most of us have spent little time outside, alone, in the dark. If you are very quiet you can hear all sorts of things and can only guess what they are. I personally have a great imagination so I think of lions, tigers and bears but in reality they are deer, raccoons, birds and maybe a coyote. Near the water you may hear a fish plop out of the water. It is actually very quiet at 5 in the morning.

Slowly you begin to see the outlines of the trees and the sky lightens and daylight falls onto the lake.

Randy woke up around 6:30 and joined me outside and brought more coffee.

Around 9:00 we heard what we initially thought was a hawk and later Randy caught a glimpse of a large bird land in a tree not far from us. We eased up the hill and found a spot were the bird could be seen. I had brought my camera and tripod, naturally. I was so excited to get a photo of a hawk but even more excitement came when I discovered the hawk was actually an Eagle.
WOW! I was shocked. We spent the next several hours photographing the male and female eagles. Last year, someone told us eagles had been released here but I never thought I would get to see them. When the boats started running up and down the lake, they disappeared. It was a great encounter.

September 18, 2009

We drove the 35 mile trip to Turkey Fork and arrived around noon and got the camper set up just in time for a downpour of rain, wind and lightening. It got so bad at one point we had to go out and put the awning back in so it wouldn't blow away. The rain lasted for about an hour. There were a couple of other campers nearby but most of the camping spots were empty, leaving the park quiet. Randy made coffee and we spent most of the rest of the day watching the cranes. They are a strange bird. One large grey crane spent a lot of time slowly searching the edge of the water for fish. Their eyesight must be extremely keen, as they find prey in the weeds and deep in the water. There seems to be many more birds here than last time and two white cranes have been flirting with each other a great deal. They have been flying together and swooping down at each other, then will go stand near each other at the edge of the water and look for fish.

September 17, 2009 NO GO

Well I hate to say it but we won't be going on our trip as planned this year. We were planning to leave next week but there were a few things that happened that cut into the funds. So we won't be going until the spring. I would only put it off for a couple of months but that would put the trip right in the middle of the winter and I think the Snow would be more than Randy could bear. He would definitely freak out so we will wait until April or May of 2010.
I suppose we will take a few shorter trips that are closer to home until then.
In the morning we are going to that old stand by, Turkey Fork and will be staying until Tuesday.
I hope to get lots of photos and video. Its getting kind of cool in the mornings so maybe some of the animals will be out and about.

August 30, 2009 Leaf Wildlife Management Area

Randy and I went riding in the dune buggy at LWMA in Southern Mississippi. Lots of dirt rodes and you get a glimpse of deer and turkey once in a while. They say there are bears there but we've never seen one. We did find some some long coarse black hairs in a tree branch once but don't know if they were from a bear or a Sasquatch. Check the video.

Pikes Peak Definitely on the Final List

We have tried to get to Pikes Peak on our other vacations but haven't made it yet. Last year there was snow in the Colorado mountains and we decided to take a safer route since we were in the Z3 and had no snow tires. Maybe if we had gone early in the vacation it would have worked out so It will be the first major stop this time around.

Pikes peak is more than 14,000 feet high and was the inspiration for the words "purple mountains majesty", in the song, America The Beautiful and many other songs. It is Americas Mountain. There is a road and you can drive to the summit or take the cog railway to the top where you can enjoy something warm to drink, as well as, flavored oxygen.

We will make it this time.

Photo from PikesPeakColorado.com

For more info click on the link below.

http://www.pikespeakcolorado.com/generalinformation.htm

PLANNING THE NEXT TRIP

My husband and I have previously taken two roadtrips lasting over two weeks each and are planning another in late September. It's time to try to figure out where we might go and how we'll get there.

My husband, Randy, doesn't really get involved in the planning stage except to ask once in a while where we are going. He does, however tend to get in a rut easily. For example, on our first trip, Arches National Park was top priority. He loved it so much and had such an enjoyable time that now he wants to go back every year. We did go back...on the last trip. Now he wants to go again. He wants to plan a guided 4WD back country adventure...hey that sounds like fun...and we do love it there. OK i'll put it on the list.

Potential places:

Arches National Park, Utah

Crater Lake, Oregon

Olympia National Park

Yosemite/Kings Canyon/Sequoia, California

Glacier National Park, Montana

Jet boating in Hells Canyon, Idaho

Thats a short list but I will add to it as I research places to see and things to do.

We are taking the camper this year. We took it the first time and then last year we took the Z3. We really did miss the camper. It's nice to have all you need in the comforts of your own camper and there is so much more room.

The camper will need new tires and a canopy for the slide out before we go.

It's a start.

Happy Trails