Birding at lower elevations

Today was Sraddha's birthday.  We had planned a reprise of last year's hike through the oak savanna to Fairy Falls near Spenceville, but my sprained ankle prevented us from hiking very far so we strolled up the road about a mile and back then drove down to Graylodge to see if we could spot the Owl's nest.  Success in this matter.  

Click on any of the photos to enlarge and see them better.

About half mile up the trail/road we spotted a pair of Western Bluebirds building a nest in an oak tree.

Western Blue Bird poking out of its nest

A few minutes later, when both bluebirds were out scavenging nest material, a woodpecker arrived with his lunch. 

Acorn Woodpecker with snack

"Hmm.  Nest huh?  This is one which I or my ancestors built.  So I am taking over!" he says.

Bluebird and woodpecker

"Now what do I do?" says the bluebird with nest material in its mouth.  "tough beans" says the woodie.  We didn't stay long enough to see the resolution.

I had hoped to see Lewis's woodpecker up where the road turns into a cow path.  That is where I saw them last year.  Nope.  not there and ankle hurting (remember I sprained it in Zion park a while back).

So we walked back down to the car.  Did I mention it was 90+ degrees out?  I was dragging when we arrived at trailhead.  Hauled the big lens, tripod and camera (30 lbs) on shoulder. (Memo to Kent: find a better way of carrying this gear next time).

We cooled off the car, re-hydrated and drove back down the road.  Finally spotted a Lewis's woodpecker in a tree.  Not the best light but he was still cute.

Lewis's Woodpecker

We headed down into the valley to Graylodge, a wonderful wildlife refuge north of Sierra Buttes to see if we could spot the Owl's nest.  Sraddha had been there last week and knew where it was.  Sure enough we saw it had at least one "Owlet" in it.  This is a little Great Horned Owl which hasn't yet learned to fly and was patiently waiting its parents for feeding.  It was huge but when we trained the scope and camera on it we could see its baby downy-like feathers.

Owlet with downy feathers in its nest high in an oak tree.

After viewing the "Owlet", we walked back to the car, pulled out our folding chairs and picnic dinner in the shade and ate.  We kept our scope and camera out and I got photos of Bullock's Orioles feeding on the grasses across the road.  Most of the photos were not very good due to interference with the reeds, weeds and grasses but I did get this photo.

Bullock's Oriole

Also saw a Kildeer sitting in the shade on the road and couldn't pass up the photo.

Kildeer

All in all, a lot of fun seeing all these interesting birds and celebrating her birthday.

Tulips at Crystal Hermitage

We made it back in time for full tulip bloom.  Every April, the Crystal Hermitage gardens at Ananda Village opens it gates to the public for several weeks of garden viewing.  The upper gardens are open during week and both upper and back gardens open on first 2-3 weekends.  Sudden late spring storms delayed the flowers opening then the weather turned warm into the 80's which made this weekend the best viewing of all.  Over 400+ visitors here just today Saturday.

We spent the morning as volunteers greeting people and I cooked in kitchen serving up scones and quiche with coffee and ice tea.  This is such a wonderful way to connect with the greater community.

View of upper gardens from hermitage front porch

Ornamental Cherry tree in back garden

Another view of upper garden from front porch of Hermitage

Looking down from upper garden at Hermitage and Yuba River canyon

Home Sweet Home

After 2 months of traveling we are home!

Stayed last night in a KOA west of Lodi near the delta.  So this morning we drove around the delta area looking at various potential campgrounds for future use.  We were aghast that the nearby Brannon Island State Recreational Area is scheduled for closure July 1.   We hope it doesn't happen.

We found one possible RV park with a quiet vibration and one little gem in a county park.  We also discovered that the Hwy 12 exit on I-5 has a great place to refuel, add propane, dump waste and then head out.  It is only less than 3 hours drive (in RV) from home so we figure it will work for future trips.

We arrived home about 5 PM and were greeted with a tree limb across our garage roof.  Seems last weeks storm had its way with the tree but it appears that no damage occurred.  We will get a head start on next winters firewood.

Madrone tree fell on our garage roof.  Whew! Seems it hasn't damaged anything.

One of the big decisions we have to make is where to park Charli when we are home.  Last fall, we parked it down at the end of our road next to the Gaia house, thinking it could be developed into a good  parking space for other RV visitors to the Expanding Light retreat and Ananda Village.  

However, as we further investigated the costs, it seems that we might be better off saving some of this cost by parking Charli next to our garage.  If we widen the side about 3-4 feet with a retaining wall, we could have enough room to extend the slides when needed.  Everything would be nearby.

But could it work?  We needed proof of concept.  Can we back Charli down the hill and past the corner of the garage. Last October we could not have done this due to inexperience but we have been on the road for 3 of the past 5 months and Sraddha has developed a real good sense if directing me as I drive.  I had scoped it out in March when back for work and it seemed it would work.

 We trimmed some tree branches sticking out into the driveway and gave it a go.  After about 20 minutes of back and forth and additional tree limb trimming, we did it.  With room to open the bedroom slide.  So now, we will seriously explore widening the area.  

Stay tuned.

Proof of concept - We shoehorned in Charli next to Garage!

Tehachapi - Rain and snow.

Up this morning early and the sky had cleared out. Rained most of night so ground got a good soaking. Wind still strong and temps cold.

We headed out. 3 miles back to interstate at Yermo where we knew w could find a "decent" gas price for the desert. Filled up and headed west. Fire at was for snow and high winds on tehachapi pass. Sraddha drive over the desert as the winds really threw us around. Some tricky cross winds. Hit us as we circled around Mojave town. The windmills were doing a brisk business.

We stopped at Kramer junction where 395 and 58 cross to ask some eastbound truck drivers about pass conditions. Everyone said the winds were a factor but roads passable with no ice which was our biggest concerne since the temp in the Internet said 32 degrees. Anything above freezing was fine with us. The alternative route through Tejon Pass I-5 was a lot longer and had fog issues.


She pulled over just past Mojave and I hopped into the drivers seat. Started up the grade and found some snow. Fortunately we had waited a whole before heading out so temps were warming up a bit.

We passed Monolith cement factory. (see pic below) and through tehachapi. Beautiful snow covered hills greeted us and the roads, while wet, proved not icy.

As we descended Tehachapi pass and the famous tehachapi loop we saw 6 trains in process of climbing grade. Sraddha grabbed the iPhone camera and got a pic of one of them.

Snow turned to rain and rain dried out as we entered Bakersfield. We drove over to buttonwillow for our favorite salvadoran restaurant and also gassed up. Back in the Valley again.

As I write this fr the passenger seat, we are almost to our Lodi campground destination. Only 100 miles from he. We will relax by the delta tonight and enjoy one more night on the road. Tomorrow we will stop en route to do some shopping and be home leisurely by late afternoon.

More blog posts forthcoming to catch up on some missed spots. Charlie the RV will get a new home after being on the road 5 months. She will be close by and we will begin to consider next adventure.

Approaching Mojave Town.  Snow in the Tehachapi pass area.  Windmills busy.

Monolith Cement Plant near Tehachapi

Eastbound Train near Tehachapi Loop

It Does Rain in Mojave Desert

Departed Zion this morning with sunshine but we knew that was about to change. An unseasonably cold hard storm that directed us to head south over Mojave instead of North through Nevada.

We bucked 30-40 mph headwinds much of the way on I-15. We turned south to go around Vegas through lake mead recreation area but didn't escape the winds.

As we drove past the Nevada/CA border, the winds picked up.  We were in the slow truck lane with flashers turned on indicating less than 35 mph.  Over the pass we go and the rain began.  It continued off and on, mostly on until we reached our destination for the night near Yermo (just east of Barstow).  Calico Ghost Town is a county park in San Bernadino County 3 miles north of interstate in a sheltered canyon.  Having stayed there last November, we figured it would offer respite from the 40+mph gusting winds.  We had called earlier in the morning to reserve a space only to discover when we arrived that it was double booked!  Uh oh.  What to do?

 The rain had termporarily subsided.  We pulled into an unoccupied space (was reserved) and sought out the onsite park ranger.  Meanwhile we discovered we had parked in the middle of a bunch of people here for off roading activities.  They had their souped up jeeps and OHV's and engines running and gunning.  Quite the chaotic atmosphere in stark contrast to our last visit in November.

Ranger Rod called someone to try to track down the problem but all the offices were closed.  He indicated that the D section was available first come first served.  While it had electricity only, it was rocky.  It was getting colder and windier by the minute. I couldn't walk very well due to sprained ankle so we unhooked Mr. Toad and drove off in search of one of these sights suitable for our needs.  Although we can dry camp with no problem, having electrical is handy.  We had water and had drained the waste tanks.  This turned out (as most do) as a blessing because the D section is up in back in a quiet area.  Well, as quiet as the wind would allow.  We scored a sweet location that was pretty level,  easy back-in and setup and voila!.  We cooked up some dinner, watched a little recorded TV. (Diners, Drives, & Drive-ins) and then retired for the night.  The wind howled and swirled above us and the rain pelted us most of the night.

It does rain in the Mojave.  and it gets cold too.  We are now ready to head for the valley.

Looking west at Yermon.  That's Charli and Mr. Toad.  It rained all night

Ominous Clouds in west.  It began to rain as I limped back from snapping this photo