Oregon Coast, Lagoon Campground

I am back on the Oregon Coast where I spent a couple years doing volunteer work for the USFS. There are still many of the same volunteers here that were here when I left for my Snowbird trip!

I spent the morning walking the old trails and birding. Same birds as before but a bit of a challenge to recognize their songs after being away for 7 months! I did see a pair of my favorite water fowl, Wood ducks!  

They are common in Oregon but rare in many of the other states I visited over the winter! It is a nice "Welcome Back!"

Salemtowne

I spent most of this week in the Salem area with my friends, Jim and Jeanette Scott. They took me to a number of their favorite birding hot spots! We spent yesterday in town at various parks. A great area to visit, even if you are not a bird person, are the parks along the Willamette River. There are several pedestrian bridges which offer great river views.

This bridge is a converted railroad bridge. To the south lay a couple highway bridges where we spotted a Peregrine Falcon.

There are a number of things to do and see through out the parks. There is a children's museum, where I have been with some of my grandchildren, with fun things to see and do. There is also a Carousel museum, which I did not have opportunity to visit, and a paddle wheel boat on which you can take dinner trips!

I would encourage you to visit the area if you have a chance. I will certainly be back!

Back in Oregon!

I left Lahontan Reservoir on the 9th as there was a week of unsavory weather coming into the area I wanted to drive to get back to Oregon. Lots of wind and possibly snow in the mountains! I spent the 10th at the parking lot of a casino near Chiloquin then down the mountain to Veneta where I have spent most of my time working on my 5th wheel. I removed the air conditioner that had stopped working in Texas and replaced it with a opaque vent the lets in air and light! I added 2 100 watt solar panels to the roof and wired them in along with a second battery. My cpap machine can run on an independent system from the rest of the 5th wheel. Naps are an important part of retirement and must be protected! I also had some welding done. Since the wheel incident I have been looking carefully at all the welds on my RV!

I am now in Salemtowne, a subdivision on the west side of Salem. I am staying in the retirement community of Jim and Jeanette Scott, which has RV parking for guests. They have been taking me to there favorite birding hot spots in the area. Today we went to Lyons, Oregon, east of Salem on Hwy 22. Here is Jeanette looking for birds, Jim documenting the sightings on ebird and Buster sniffing for any interesting scents!

Not only did we see a good number of birds but they also showed me several beautiful places to camp along the Santiam river! I will definitely be going back!

Lahontan Reservoir, Silver Spring NV

I am back at Lahontan Reservoir where I camped for a few days on my way south last October.

I picked a spot at the Developed camp sites rather than camping right on the beach. All campsites are $15 per night. There are no hook ups but the developed sites have showers and flush toilets where as the others just have pit toilets. The bad news is that the showers and flush toilets are closed till April 19. The waste water dump opened April 1 as it was closed for the winter months. Some things have changed since my last visit. All the leaves are gone from the trees as you can see in the two campsite pics and the lake is much fuller!

The campsites flooded campsites, in this pic, were about 400 feet from the waters edge last October! The ranger said the the lake is already at July levels. Good news for Nevada as many lakes like this one and Lake Mead are in need of water! A lot of the area I birded last fall is under water but there is still some great birds there including Western Bluebirds like this one!

I am looking forward to birding here the next couple days!

Longstreet's Casino, Amagosa Valley NV

Once again I am at Longstreet's Casino about 2 hours north of Las Vegas. This is where I stayed for a week on my way south.

Full hookups are $25 a night. The RV parking area is a large gravel lot behind he casino. I could not resist the temptation and dropped $5 in a slot machine. Ten minutes late I cashed out at $22.50!  Not a fortune but I was happy to have made a profit! I plan to spend a couple days here and bird Ash Meadows NWR. 

Boulder Beach Campground 4/1/2018

Another month arrives! It has been 6 months since I left the Oregon coast and started this adventure and it has been a fun and educational trip! I started the morning with my usual bird walk. No new species here at Lake Mead but I captured a great pic of a Horned Lark!

What I like about the photo is that it clearly shows the horns (feathers) that give this species its name! After birding, I headed into town for a few things. I have been putting of some RV cosmetic work until I got back to Oregon. I wanted to repair and paint the cracked fiberglass fender and stain the paneling below the table. My shoes had made a noticeable worn spot near the floor. As I thought about what needed to be done, it made more sense to do it here where the temperatures are warm and the air is dry. I am very pleased with the results!

Filled and painted! You can also see the end of the new axle. Pull off the end cap and there is a grease fitting so no more hand packing the bearings! I painted both fenders and they look great. I also stained the paneling.

The new stain blends in well with the old and no more worn out spots! It feels good to get thing taken care of! The only current project left is to mount solar panels on the roof but that will wait till I get back to Oregon as I want to purchase a couple more panels and I will need a ladder!