Enter Little Bit

Just a quick entry for my friends that are not connected on FaceBook.
My toy is a Canoe that is somewhat like a Kayak so my friend gave them the title of Kayoos (I guess it should be Kayoe). I ordered mine the first part of June and just received it yesterday, July 23. It is a great toy manufactured by a fairly good company, but the Customer Service is perhaps the worst that I have experienced.


Little Bit is 12’ long and weighs in at about 13 pounds. She is light weight enough that I can one hand carry her around. I took the wrapping off from her today and put her back on the car and locked her up. Let me know when you want to meet me at the lake or down at the river!


The wrapping in which she came.

Getting skinned!

Now here she is!!

The way she will be looking!

I am headed up to Montana to visit with some friends. I will be dropping Little Bit in the water while there. Meanwhile, I am just looking at her.

California Quails Made the Escape

One morning I was sitting outside the RV and doing nothing but enjoying life when I heard the contact clucking sounds of quails. The quails in this area of Oregon are interesting to me because they are not one that I am familiar. However, the clucking contacts sounds are very similar to the Gambels Quail in AZ. The quail went from normal contact to the alert call and they were getting very agitated or excited. Suddenly one quail flew into the Western Cedar tree and it was followed by a second quail and then just a bit longer and a third. Now I had never seen a quail in a tree like that. I had seen them on dead branches on a tree that the 'look out quail' would position itself, but not three into the tree! It was not more than a minute when the reason did a fly by...a nice hungry raptor!

Nice pose for me.

Sparrow at Bullard's Beach State Park

I am not really good at IDing birds, just a lot lucky. But now Sparrow specie just blows me away. If they stand up and sing their name, OK, I can understand that, but if not.....it's a hazard guess. Here is a little guy that sang on the top of the shed next to my RV spot at Bullards Beach State Park, site 1.

Look at me. Aren't I pretty?

Wanna watch me sing?

Here is one of my best!

What? You want more?

How's this?

What now?

How's this one?

If you'd just get me focused, it'd be better.

Okay, Ms. Southie, what am I up here in the North land where I come to spend the summers? Nice and cool up here with lots of bugs for the babies. Yeah, I don't like the marine fog either or the colder winter so I go south where you would know me by where I am and what I am doing and also my duller self doesn't sing like this.

Folding the Firefly Kayak

This is for my friend that bought the Firefly (Advanced Elements) Kayak.

Here are the steps in the process for putting the Firefly away in the bag.

Starting with the blown up Firefly.

And just so you know it is yours...

1. Here it is flat (and dry)

2. Fold one side in.

3. Fold the other side in.

4. Fold the front back one time at about the seam meld.

5. Fold the front back one more time to where the 'tracker thing' is located.

6. Fold the back inward.

7. Check it by flipping it over.

8. Should be ready to slip into the carrying bag.

9. After it is in the bag, slip in the air pump and the seating and other stuff you want to place in there.

Now put it in the car between the seats....or in the storage bay....or take it out and put it on the water!!!

Have fun sharing it and thanks for leading to spending my money on a different unit! You my friend are theWoman!

Toketee Falls

During our tour of OR and on the way to a gathering of WomenRVers, I refer to as Sistahs, we stopped for a couple of nights at Toketee Falls National Forest campground. It is a nice campground and has access to a small lake for kayaking or canoeing and interesting areas around it for sight seeing.

We made the jaunt over to Toketee Falls, the actual falls. One of the interesting thing in the parking lot was this Redwood "pipe" that carries water, still yet today. It has a lot of holes that leak water and consequently there are many things growing on and beneath it.

A little explanation to help understand the area.

Nice path and not too strenuous, but no where handicapped accessible as they stated. Very large trees on the way, some down many still upright.

Now don't you think that there should be an American Dipper, dipping up and down in this river? Well not here, but one morning Liz and Thistle got that life bird on the river closer to the campground.

Don't want to see the dipper at this water pothole.

On the trail this great butt shot of Liz. The rocks and trees were amazing to see on this trail. It was really a short trail though it did have some pretty awesome feet elevation raise.

Then the Falls itself. Quite awesome!

Great little hike for a beautiful view. Was hot there that day and I was a happy camper...no flannel shirt or long legged pants!

The next day we took to the water. So these pics were taken with my little water-proof camera. The water where we put in was not as clear as it was out in the river flow....by a long shot. However, we saw otters there the day before, not today. 

Just viewing here. You can see how calm and reflect the water was for us.

On the way back to take out we saw this Bald Eagle at a distance. But great viewing it.

Great end to a great day.

Is she really going to do it?

Well, she is going to try to get the blog going again. Since 2012 my life has kind of been in a time warp. Lots of things happened in my life. I am doing great and am planning to tour the Western US with my friend Liz Crussell.

Liz and I did make a quick trip to the Texas Big Bend National Park in early December of 2013. We had a great time, saw lots of things, and did lots of things. We had a great time. But….is there one of these things all the time? When we drove out of the National Park, we drove right into a nice little winter ice storm. We decided we should fill up with gas before we went to the RV Park because in those kind of storms you just never know if the power lines will drop and you need your genny! I stepped out of the RV, on to the steps and slipped right down on my behind. Never occurred to be that the steps would be iced over even though we were driving in rain and freezing rain. Filled up and made for the park. We ended up iced in for several days. I headed back to San Antonio area for Christmas and then spent two months down in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.

Had a great two months visiting with friends and family came down to bird. My friend Colleen came down for two weeks. So we RVing sistahs had a grand time.

I left for New Mexico/Arizona to meet up with Liz, then go see my cardiologist, and then get back with Liz for site seeing.  It has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to seeing things I did not take the time to see when I lived in New Mexico and Arizona. Hope to meet up with some RVing sistahs too.

Hope you have been doing well and hanging tight.