Description

I own no land, instead I have wheelestate. I’ve been a full time RVer since 1997. Working summers as a Park Ranger takes me to many beautiful places and playing during the winter takes me to many more. This blog is simply the story of my life's adventures.

Moved

Thank you for stopping by. Just to let you know, I'm still blogging but have moved to Geogypsytraveler. Hope you'll follow my adventures. Just click here.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Campfire Program at Grand Canyon

Tonight I did my first campfire of the season. I tell stories that you can read here.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Sky Watch Friday - Southern California Sunset


Took this 10 years ago at Anzaberrego State Park.

To see other skies from around the world or to share your own go to Sky Watch Friday by clicking here.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Ghost Squirrel


Nowhere else on earth will you see the likes of Kaibab squirrel. Although you may meet its cousin Abert on the South Rim or even into central Arizona and New Mexico. Both are tassel-eared squirrels that haven’t seen each other in a very long time because of the Grand Canyon. There is a subtle difference to their look, Abert has a white belly and only the underside of its tail is white.

Almost all visitors to the North Rim want to know where to see the illusive Kaibab Squirrel. I usually send them to the campground. But all I have to do is watch quietly around my RV and will usually see one or two daily.

Kaibab squirrel lives in a rather small territory in the Kaibab forest and has a definite love affair with Ponderosa Pines. They build pine needle nests in them which they use all year, not just to raise young, but also to hide in during bad weather or from a predator like Goshawk. However, Kaibab doesn’t usually run up the tree it lives in. Instead it jumps from nearby trees with crossing branches so as not to advertise where it lives.

Kaibab eats the ever ripening nut in the pine cones all summer and into fall yet never caches away a thing for winter when it has to resort to twig tips, minus the unwanted cone bundles, which it chews the bark off and eats the living phloem beneath, then leaves behind piles of chew sticks. Ponderosa has a terp content like turpentine and Kaibab looks for the sweeter trees. It’s probably happy when spring arrives and new flowers appear loaded with pollen that gives it a yellow nose.

Plus its nose leads it to another food source which grows symbiotically with Ponderosa’s roots, a microrizal fungi, which maybe even you have eaten. Truffles grow about 1-3 inches underground and Kaibab digs them up to eat. However, the spores of the truffles don’t digest, so Kaibab leaves them behind when pooping and that will increase the fungi which helps the tree. These two have a pretty good thing going.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I'm so Excited!

I’ve been googleing my long divorced family’s names for years with no luck. It wasn’t an amicable or ugly divorce, it just was. I never wished ill on my x-husband, in fact I hoped the best for him. But contact was lost. I managed to hear from my step-son’s girlfriend for a while so knew of the birth of a grandson. But they parted from each other, and, sadly from me. Then I hit the road and become very difficult to keep track of myself. That had to be at least 15 years ago.

Last night I decided to look for my x on facebook, and, there he was maybe. So I sent him a very short note. Surprise! This morning I got a reply. I was so excited I thought I’d just burst. We did a quick catch up via facebook. Then, tonight he called.

He’s following his dream and has a 44’ sailboat and in two years, his wife of two years and he plan to sail off into the sunset. He always wanted to cruise. Way back when I also wanted to travel, but I discovered, not by boat.

Now I have a phone number for my step-son but his phone is not accepting calls right now. Hell, it’s probably bedtime where he is. But I will get to talk to him also and then I’ll have something else to post about.

I’m still excited!

Light in the Soul Award

I’ve been sitting on this award for several weeks. I actually received it while I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Since then, I’ve been in training, then barely got started working and have suffered from the flu for a week. So I’m taking time on these days off to pay if forward.

The 'Light in the Soul' award recognizes bloggers who let the light in their soul radiate throughout their blog, spreading warmth to their readers. I received this award from Sarah at ‘Britgalusa’ who always writes from the heart. Talk about a change in life, Sarah met her now Hubby in an online backgammon room and moved from England to live happily in Tornado Alley Okieland. I encourage you to check out her blog. She brings joy to my life more than once daily, I’m learning a little Brit, and maybe you’ll find out how much tea a Brit drinks in a year. Thank you very much Sarah for giving me this award.

I’m sure I could pass this on to many deserving bloggers. Yet there is one lady, Kathiesbirds from Sycamore Canyon, who I find the most deserving because her soul definitely shines through in her most passionate of writing. She’s an avid birder, and has a keen eye for the natural world. When she shares a walk in the desert I always come away feeling like I was there, walking beside her. So here’s to you Kathie!

Monday, May 25, 2009

My World Tuesday - Memorial Day to my Dad


Ray Marvin Olmsted
A WWII verteran, Dad never talked much about the war when I was a younger. Maybe it was partly my attitude about the then Vietnam War.

A few years ago during a visit I asked if he still had his old Ike jacket. I used to sneak it out of the house and wear it to high school.

He told me then he’d served in Algeria, North Africa and was in Oran when Rommel was there to stop Germans from entering.

He was a Corporal 5th Grade Mortorpool Technician attached to Yankee Division.

And served 5 years. Each gold bar equals 6 months and the blue slash equals 3 years.

He learned to be a mechanic which served him well when returning home. He worked for his father-in-law at first in a small local service station then moved to a Cadillac dealer and went from mechanic to Service Manager before retiring about 45 years later.

Dad at my birthday party in S Texas in 2005
My Dad had a couple strokes starting about two years ago. He currently lives in a nursing home in South Texas, and isn’t very happy about it.

I don’t usually support wars because they don’t resolve much. Yet I wasn’t alive for WWII, so I thank my Dad and all the other people who went to war to protect our country.

Happy Memorial Dad!
To catch glimpses of the world of others or to share your own go to My World Tuesday by clicking here.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Plastic Packaging WTF!


The plastic packaging on small, and medium, electronics is way over the top. It can take more than 5 minutes of cutting, hacking and prying to get through the multiple layers of stiff sharp-edged, actually meant to deter you from trying a quick slip of pocket knife and into a pocket. The last I understand.

Maybe they should print instructions on “how to open the package.”

I was already struggling my way through one, two, no three layers of this obnoxious plastic and afraid to stop so didn’t get a fully closed packaging photo. Who’d a thought?

And, no recycle marks. This crap will probably sit in the Earth long after our species is gone. Wow, what a legacy to leave.

Oh yea, I bought 250 GB portable drive to back up all my precious photos, these maybe excluded.

Rant over. I have to go wash the blood off my hands.

Flu update: Still home sick, day 5. Feeling better but still very weak. Also getting increasingly irritable from being stuck in an 8x27 foot RV when the Grand Canyon is just out of sight.

View east out the window next to my puter

(And now, serveral hours later, it won't work on my computer, isn't "compatible")

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