Favorite sunset and moon photos

Here are the almost final "favorite photos," the first and second favorite posts were animals and birds, and this post has my favorite sunset and moon shots.  There were so many that I left a lot of them on the cutting room floor and couldn't fit the rest of the series of favorite photos:  the campsites, campgrounds and miscellaneous shots.  So...  I think I'll do four posts, with the other "other" shots in the fourth one.

I've never seen so many gorgeous, colorful sunsets as I've seen since I've been full-timing.  Here are some of those highlights:

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - 3/18/12

Bluewater Lake State Park - 6/16/12

Casino Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ - 11/19/11

Sand Hollow State Park, Hurricane, UT - 10/18/11

Hood Park, WA - 9/12/11

Utah Lake, Provo, UT - 10/12/11

Watchman at Zion National Park, UT - 11/5/11

Fern Ridge Shores, Veneta, OR - 7/29/11

Utah Lake, Provo, UT - 10/12/11

Bluewater Lake - 8/9/12

I've had many moonshots that are favorites, too, and here are some of those.

Eclipse of the Moon, Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - 12/10/11

Storrie Lake State Park, NM - Harvest Moon, 9/6/12

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - 12/12/11

Christmas Moon, Quartzsite, AZ - 12/25/11

Christmas Moon, Quartzsite, AZ - A little cold and shaky - 12/25/11

Quail Hill Campground at Imperial Dam LTVA, CA - 4/7/12

Full moon behind The Palms at Bluewater Lake State Park - 4/7/12

Full moon rising in Utah Lake RV Park, Provo, UT - 10/12/11

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - Full Moon showing sunspots - 12/8/11

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ- 11/30/11

Lake Pleasant Regional Park, AZ - Saguaro Cactus, The Palms and Moon in daylight - 11/15/11

Hood Park, WA - 9/2011

Tomorrow I'll post the rest of my favorite photos, then we'll be back to current news - we're leaving Bluewater Lake State Park on Friday.  I hate to leave, but it's getting pretty cold at night, you know?

From Me and Katie, have a great day, everyone!  :)

Favorite bird photos from the first 200K page views

This is the second of three posts in which I'm including my favorite photos from Me and My Dog's first 200,000 blog post page views. The first was "animals," which I have to admit is my all-time favorite post.  I just love some of the animal photos I've snapped.

In this post I'm including my favorite "bird" photos, in no particular order.  Before I finished this post, I thought the birds weren't as fun as the animals, but when I was done, after reliving these experiences, I realized these birds are beautiful, and I was really excited when I caught them on "film." I have enjoyed remembering them and where I was when I snapped their photos.

 First the hummers:

 Remember this rakish looking guy?  He's the "masked hummer,"  my favorite hummingbird so far.  This was taken at Quail Hill, one of the campgrounds in the Imperial Dam LTVA in California.

 This hummer was also at Quail Hill.  I liked the way the red on his head and wings matched the feeder. (When I first saw the photo, I thought the red was a reflection from the feeder.)

This hummer was at La Posa LTVA in Quartzsite, AZ.  I liked the way his wings were up and outstretched in this photo

Next, my favorites - the water birds at Santee Lakes RV Park in Santee, CA. I took hundreds of photos of these birds, and Santee Lakes definitely had the most beautiful birds I've seen since I've been full-timing.

This Great Blue Heron was beautiful.  He swooped down and landed right in front of my parked car.

And then he took off over the lake.

Great Egret - these are just beautiful birds.  I think the feathers on these birds are unusual, they just waft in the breeze as they walk along.

This is the same bird, taking off and flying over the lake. I felt very fortunate to have seen this beautiful bird, especially in flight.

This is my all-time favorite bird so far.  A Snowy Egret. He reminds me of an ET with skinny black legs and big bright yellow feet.  I loved watching the Snowy Egrets.

 This Wood Duck at Santee Lakes is one of the most interesting I've seen as far as his coloring and how the colors are displayed over his body.

Remember the dripping water faucet at Lake Pleasant Regional Park in AZ?  It was so far from The Palms, I couldn't reach it with my hose and still be hooked up to the electric post.  But that gave the birds and squirrels free reign over the dripping water. I spent lots of time looking out my kitchen window watching their antics. If you look closely, you'll see another bird with it's beak at the dripping faucet.

I saw this Cedar Waxwing at Villanueva State Park in NM.  I loved his tail feathers.

It's fun to see "bird trees," and this flock of Yellow Headed Blackbirds flew overhead and landed in this tree right in front of us at Storrie Lake State Park, NM.

 I also love "birds on a wire" shots, and this is the best one I've been able to get - it was at Quail Hill.

 I took this shot from the parking lot of Casino Arizona, where were were dry camping, waiting for our solar installation appointment.  I call him my Tuxedo Bird.

Blackheaded Grossbeak at McPhee Campground in Delores, CO.  Big, thick beaks and beautiful colors.

This is a female Gampel's Quail - they were all over Quartzsite and fun to watch.  I had seed out for them, so they came around often along with the squirrels and bunnies.

And this guy, of course, is a Roadrunner.  This photo was the winner of  Mello Mike's First Annual Roadrunner Photo Contest.  These birds are really fun to watch, they run along, stop, raise their tails, look around, and then run on along the sand.

This is a Great Blue Heron flying low over Bluewater lake.

Magpie - Isn't it beautiful?  This bird was snapped at Rockcreek RV Park a Twin Falls County Park in ID.

These two double crested cormorants were often perched on this wire when I drove into and out of Quail Hill,  Imperial Dam LTVA, CA for shopping trips.  I finally got a good photo of them. (Thank you Judy and Hazel for the correct name for these birds.)

 I caught this beautiful Blackbird in flight at McPhee Campground in CO.

Turkey Vulture (or Buzzard) catching the breezes at Bluewater Lake State Park, NM. These are not pretty birds, but they are beautiful in flight.

And last, but certainly not least - remember this bird?  We were at Utah Lake State Park in Provo, UT.  Katie and I were taking a walk along the edge of the lake and saw this bird in distress. There was no one around to help, and I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I couldn't walk away and leave him. I went into the water as close to him as I could get, and could hear him breathing. I finally pulled him in closer using the fishing line, got two rocks and sawed the line as close to him as I could get without freaking him out. It finally broke off and he flew away. I later talked to the Ranger at the Visitor's Center, and he said the bird would probably make it. The hooks tend to dissolve in their bodies.  That was pretty exciting and I sure felt good when he flew away.

American Coot, hooked with a fishing hook and line. Hopefully he survived.

And that's it for now - as it turned out, I had lots more favorite bird photos than I realized.  I guess I DO like my bird photos as much as the animal photos.

The third and final blog post with my favorite photos during the first 200,000 page views will be "other" shots:  campsites, landscapes, sunsets, etc.  Those will be fun to search through. 

Thank you for remembering with me - I hope you enjoyed this walk down my avian memory lane.

WELCOME to two new followers:
Vantramps, who have a '97 Roadtrek.  Their latest blog talks about their new chickens - I loved having egg laying hens, and really enjoyed that post.  Also the post about the mares and new foals.  Great photos, too.  Welcome, Vantramps, we are happy to have you following along with us!

Welcome also to Cactusneedle, who has a blog about her Creations.  Lots of quilting going on!  I've put together some quilts in the past and it's a lot of work, but I'll enjoy checking out her blog to see what's new.  Her interests include needlework, sewing, quilting, reading, cowboy reenacting, and genealogy  Welcome aboard, Cactusneedle!

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)

200,000 TOTAL PAGEVIEWS

Last night we hit 200,000 page views. 

Little did I know August 8, 2010 when I posted my first blog post that two years later I'd have 200 thousand page views.  I was excited to have the first one - wow, someone read my blog!  I have my blog set so that my views don't count, so this is a true number, and I thank you all for your interest in me and Katie and The Palms, and our adventures.

As you know from reading my posts, some days have been really fun and interesting, and some have been normal and dull.  Sometimes I prefer the normal and dull, because that's what life is most of the time for most of us. Except the wild burrows, free range horses, and the occasional critter or bird that I get to see.  And the gorgeous sunsets.  Actually I guess most days have something that's interesting, exciting, or fun. Maybe that's why I love full-timing so much.

Traveling down the highway living in a fiberglass box with six wheels has been quite an education and experience so far.  I can't believe I've been on the road almost a year and a half already. It's gone really fast and I haven't once thought about ending my full timing adventure to return to a stable, sticks-and-bricks home.  This surprises me, because I had no idea when I started how I would do - would I really enjoy this lifestyle, or would it be a huge mistake?  But you know what?  I'm really enjoying full-timing.

To all you wannabes and planners out there, the worst part of a cold pool of water is standing on the diving board, fearing the cold.  Jump in!  The water's fine!  And if it really IS too cold for you, you can always climb back out. And you just might surprise yourself and absolutely love being a gypsy.  :)

Here are a few of my favorite photos from some of my favorite places; I wouldn't have missed these for anything!  Can you believe how lucky I am to have experienced these in person?

Today I'm posting some of my favorite "animal" photos. It was hard to choose, but these stood out.  In the next two posts I'll include my favorite "bird" and "other" photos.  It sure was fun going through all my pictures to pick out my favorites!

Remember these?

This is my favorite.  

I was so excited when the wild burros approached The Palms.

"OMG! My favorite seeds!"  Remember this little guy? He was so funny.

This was such a fortuitous shot - when I saw this coyote watching the wild burros across the lake, I quickly grabbed my camera and was happy the way the shot came out. I love the way the coyote stands out against the blue water.

This determined little guy tried various positions to get to this seed in the hanging bird feeder.

This is one of many photos I took at Bluewater Lake State Park of mares with their new foals. I was told the herd of 25+ free ranging horses belong to a local Navajo Rancher.

I love this photo of Hazel with her two greyhounds, Val and Fleur, at Quartzsite.

Hazel lost Val to cancer this summer, but still walks Fleur alongside her recumbent bike or her car. 

Always fun to watch, and people love it when she goes by.

Katie playing with other dogs at Quartzsite, AZ. 

Bennie is Denise's dog, and the black dog is Duffy, Don's dog.

I had just arrived at Bluewater Lake and drove down to park by the lake when this herd of horses roared past to get a drink - you can see the lake on the left. I couldn't believe I was so lucky to see these gorgeous animals running by in a herd. Just beautiful!

At Quail Hill, Imperial Dam LTVA, the wild burros visited our campsite and provided a lot of entertainment.  I snapped some great photos of them, click on the link to see them again. I loved being there and only the heat and the end of the LTVA season drove us on to another location.

Katie chasing Elliott, Debbie's dog, at McPhee Campground in Delores, CO. They had a blast, I loved seeing Katie run like that.

These two adult wild burros tried out the hummingbird feeder - I just loved the look they had on their faces when they saw me through the window.  "Oh-oh! We're busted!"

 Gorgeous Buck resting in a field at Zion National Park

At Quartzsite there were rabbits and squirrels willing to share the seed I put out. I loved watching them maneuver around each other. There were no problems with the rabbits and squirrels eating together.

However, there were a couple of altercations between the squirrels and the quail.  This squirrel was fierce! There are two quail in this photo, but one is fluttering so fast, the camera couldn't see all of him.  No one was hurt in the filming of this photo. :)

I was watching this stallion and his three mares and a foal in the field in front of The Palms. All of a sudden, he laid down and rolled around in the dust. The three mares followed. It was quite a sight.

The deer at Mesa Verde National Park, CO were always strolling through the sites munching on the tender leaves.

These two young horses at Bluewater Lake had a great time play fighting. I took a series of photos showing their playtime.

...and finally, little Katie under the covers - this seems to be a recurring theme. :)

Thanks again from me and Katie; have a great day, everyone!  :)

New Microhearth Grill Pan Review

Kim wrote in her blog about a small microwave grilling dish she got - in fact she and her husband liked it so much she got one for her condo and one for her new 2010 Roadtrek - The Good Deal Bus.  It looked like a nice microwave grill, so I decided to order one, too.

Microhearth Grill Pan with a nice lid that stands up, out of the way.

My first effort was the other night when Ron came over for dinner after working on The Palms most of the afternoon.  He was actually my first dinner guest in The Palms.  I had small salmon fillets in the freezer, and some rice and fresh broccoli and cauliflower, so that was the menu.  Of course I had to try out my grill that arrived from amazon.com that day to grill the salmon.

Honestly, I didn't think my salmon was that good.  Ron said his was good and he ate it all, but his piece was a little thicker than mine.  I think my salmon was overcooked - it was very dry. I should have gotten a photo of the fish, but I didn't think of it at the time.  Even though I did put olive oil on the fish and we preheated the grill, the grill marks weren't very dark.  Maybe melted butter would have been better - so that ended up being a learning experience.  I cleaned the pan and put it away, planning to try it again soon. 

Yesterday I decided to make a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich on Russian Rye bread.  Slathered with mayonnaise and mustard.  One of my favorite sandwiches.

I didn't pre-heat the pan, but I did brush melted butter all over both outside slices of the bread.  When I did the first flip after 2 minutes, this is what the sandwich looked like:

At that point the pan was already hot, so the second side got better grill marks.  I grilled it for 90 seconds, and it was perfect.

This sandwich tasted exactly like the ones I grill in my little frying pan, and the cleanup was almost non-existent.  I wiped the grill pan with a wet paper towel and then dried it with a dry paper towel, and clean-up was done.

This pan is small, as you can see from the second photo - just the right size for me and for my small microwave oven - and it's also very light weight. I'm looking forward to trying out more things.  After my first attempt with the salmon, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but after the grilled sandwich, I've changed my mind.

Kim said it makes the best toast she's ever had, and they have cooked other things with it, too, that were very good.  She and her husband really like it, and I think I declare it a keeper, too. :)

Here's Katie waking up in the morning.  Can you see her little nose in there?  She's in her bed, covered with her blanket, poking her head up to see what I'm doing at the table.  Then she laid back down and went to sleep again.  And I think I have a good life!

WELCOME to our new follower, Anita!  Anita has four blogs, but none that are bout RVing, so maybe she's an RV wannabe?  Her blogs are about knitting, her favorite photos, etc.  Thanks for following along with me and Katie, Anita.  We're happy to have you on board!

From Me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone!  :)