Birds: Jays

This morning when I was making coffee, I looked out the back window to see a bunch of pteradactyls at the feeders making a bunch of racket! Ok, ok, they're actually Stellar Jays, but we think they look like their prehistoric ancestors! By the way, did you know they can imitate the sound of other birds?! They will often mimic the sound of a hawk's cry to frighten other birds away! It amazed me when I heard a hawk just outside one day and found a Stellar's Jay doing a perfect imitation! We love these birds, even though they rampage around like a bunch of skateboard punks! :D These birds are native to the Western United States, as far north as Alaska and down to Nicaragua. If you would like to know more about these birds, Wiki has a great page here: Wikipedia: Steller's Jay (In this image, I used one of Topaz Lab's b/w filters--they have a wonderful suite of filters for black and white and they're not all black! Many cool duo-tones and neat vignetting styles like this one I used here. This picture was taken through our kitchen window and it suffered from noise problems. With DeNoise and the use of one of their cool b/w filters, along with a touch of detail filter on just the birds, I think it turned out ok! :)

(+3 insets!) We’ve arrived back at our home on our 14th day out on the road! It’s so strange to be back after all of our adventures! We're feeling a little bit like the Twilight Zone...:D Steve and I had a luxurious morning full of happy snuggles, a delicious steak omelet and a relaxed check-out. We continue to streamline our process and it’s faster and easier each time we break down our RV and hook the truck up to pull out. We use walkie-talkies when Steve backs up to the RV and I’m getting better at directing him exactly into place. It’s fun to be a strong team and wherever there are problems, we face them head-on and deal with them as best we can to remove them hopefully for good! There is something to be said about being forced into close proximity for long periods of time. Issues come up and either you deal with them or else, right? We love our teamwork spirit and it’s helping us so much in every way. Hooray! What a lovely, sunny morning it was. We were so happy about our successful trip and the sunny exit was like a goodbye gift! It would mean we didn’t have to drive in the rain and could enjoy a bright and beautiful day, how nice! We got on the road at about noon and headed south and then east, revisiting the beautiful road that took us to our first destination at Jedediah Smith State Park. It seemed like so long ago that we were there, and we oohed and ahhhhed over the incredible trees, ferns and verdant forest all around us as we drove past. It didn’t take but a couple of hours before we were in Grants Pass (about 35 minutes from home) where we stopped to stock up on groceries. Then it was off again and soon we were pulling up to our gate. We wondered if the stormy weather would make our driveway a mess but a couple of dry days made the drive up our hill easy and Steve backed the RV into place without any problems. How odd it feels to be home after such a long time away in our “home away from home.” We both feel like our RV is becoming our real home and our “land-based” home is more like a temporary place to be before our next trip. Isn’t that odd? I’ve never experienced anything like this before and it’s very interesting to think about. Other than a short stop for dinner, we have both been working non-stop to unpack and put things away, get the RV set up properly so Steve can work on it, and do the million things around the house that need tending to. I fed our very ravenous Snakey McSnakerton (our California Mountain King Snake) and watered all the plants, started in on the laundry, etc, etc. I like doing all of this though because it’s a nice way to get settled at home. I am tired though, so I’m going to post my pictures! Today’s main image is the gorgeous, full-fluff Stellar’s Jay that I got a picture of yesterday on our Whaleshead Cove hike. I am so happy that the picture turned out well, we’ve never seen them in a fluffy state like this and I am delighted at my luck! My insets include a detail shot of that lovely Rolls Royce I saw at the car show! Look at that inlayed wood…it’s just WOW! :) I'm also sharing a pair of pictures of the Driftwood RV Park(ing Lot) and our rig there so you can see what I mean when I say it’s not a place to write home about. It wasn’t bad, just nothing special, you know? Heh. Pam, I’m so glad that you’ve been enjoying our trip notes and pictures. It means so much to me that I’ve been able to entertain you with our adventures. Stay tuned for more, my dear…next up will be Bend—John Day—Sun River—and another place we haven’t decided on yet…we’ll be home for a couple of weeks while Steve does a few upgrades to the rig and so forth…we’ll let you know as things develop! :) We’re thinking of you and hope you are well! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 5/29/19; highest placement, #1.