Escapees North Ranch

One of the goals we set for ourselves this winter was to look around for a place we would like to settle on for a winter home. While Valle Del Oro is very nice, for my tastes, it is just too big with too many people!

Because of "the mess" you are not allowed to put up bird feeders, so we're not seeing a whole lot of the flying critters. And you can't see the desert from the streets here at all...

One of the places we wanted to check out is the Escapees North Ranch park near Congress, Arizona. This afternoon we headed a bit north and west to visit there. It's beautiful country when you got up there. It's a little over 2000 feet and in the foothills. Lots of saguaros and other cacti and brilliantly colored rock.

North Ranch is an Escapees Rainbow Park which is one at which you can actually buy an individual lot. It looks a lot like the home Escapee Park in Livingston, Texas with a mixture of houses, park models, RV lots -- each one different from the next. I loved it -- and could sure see living there part of the year.

BUT, Forry thinks it's just too far from civilization! It's about 65 miles from Phoenix. So I guess we'll have to just keep looking.

Baseball and Football and Bull Riding, Oh My!

It's one of those evenings on TV! The Mariners are playing in Texas with the game starting at 6 PM our time on ROOT Sports. The WSU Cougars are playing in Nevada against UNLV with the game starting at 6 PM on ESPN. And the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) are in Springfield, Missouri this weekend with the CBS Sports Network broadcasting the first night's riding at 7 PM.

As much as I dislike Forry's channel-surfing, this is one of those nights I have to admit I'm glad for it. We aren't supposed to covet, but it would be nice to have the kind of TV my Brother Pat has that allows you to have a second small channel showing in the corner of the screen.

It's been another quiet day. Forry did drive over to the nearby Freightliner dealer to make an appointment for an oil change for Auntie Violet on the day we're scheduled to leave Ponderosa Falls. We had tried to get it done the last time we were here, but they were booked solid.

After the couple of chilly nights we had earlier in the week, it has definitely warmed up again. However, we are seeing many RVers starting to make their way south. There's been a lot more turnover here at the park with several rigs only spending the night.

Another Hot Day in Florida

It was another hot day in Florida today. It's interesting that everyone keeps talking about how "unusual" the weather is. Evidently March and April weather is usually only in the eighties at most, not the high nineties we've been seeing.

We've been watching the weather reports on TV with all of the tornadoes in Texas yesterday. It appears the storm is heading towards the east coast, but with diminished intensity. We may see the edge of it here in the Orlando area -- they're predicting thundershowers tomorrow. It's amazing with all of the destruction the tornadoes caused, there doesn't seem to have been any loss of life.

We made a trip to the Post Office this afternoon -- barely got there before it closed at four. When Forry went to start the car, all we heard was the infamous "click-click." We tried using the portable charger, but it didn't have enough charge to turn the starter; added some water to the battery; plugged in the charger and got the Toad started. Forry stayed in the car while I went into the Post Office, then again when we made a stop at the grocery store.

I don't think it's my day. I had a grocery list that included tea bags for iced tea, but I forgot them. I tried to upload a file to our accountant and it was rejected as being too big. I zipped it and sent it again, but it was still too big.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better -- and cooler -- day.

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A Crested Caracara and WOOD STORKS!

We made a Costco run today to the warehouse over by Fort Myers. I convinced Forry that we should take the back road (Hwy 29) through the countryside rather than the four-lane highway. It was a good choice as we came upon a strawberry vendor with his pickup of berries alongside the road. This is the second batch of scrumptious Florida strawberries we gotten -- the smell is heavenly! The fellow said that last week's frost hadn't gotten their berries.

Then to our surprise, Forry spotted a Crested Caracara sitting on a fence post alongside the road. We saw a lot of these critters in Texas, but were surprised to see one here in Florida where they are considered "scarce." My bird book describes them as "as tropical member of the falcon family, but shaped like a hawk and feeds like a scavenger." It's too bad the picture is blurry, because it is a striking bird.

Then a little further down the road, he spotted this Wood Stork hanging out with a Great White Egret.

Then we saw what was probably its mate!

The Wood Stork is our only native stork. Forry has been looking for one for some time. It's another new Life Bird for both of us! It has really long gawky dark legs and a rather ugly naked gray head.

They spooked when a big truck came by and flew up into the trees.It was neat to see the black edges of its wing feathers. This huge (40 inch) bird flew up -- with those long legs dangling behind -- and perched right on top of an old snag.

The Fort Myers Costco was one of the most crowded warehouses I've ever been in! It might have been because it was Saturday, but it was really busy. We restocked our coffee supply for the Kuerig (paying a premium for one case of Starbucks) and loaded up on Forry's cereal (though they don't carry the pumpkin and flax seed one he really likes down here in the south). We had an early supper so that Forry could have his favorite Polish dog.

We stopped at a fruit stand on the way home and picked up some more oranges and grapefruit. We are enjoying Florida's citrus!