The Kids Like Presents

A new toy

A Scene Right Out of Hitchcock's "the Birds"

The windows on our fifth wheel are mirrored and it must confuse the birds here. For the last two days we have had numerous birds repeatedly attack the windows. Here is an example of what is happening.

Going to the dog park

We took some videos on the way to the dog park this week

Here we have Baxter and Molly Jumping into the back of the Jeep without our help.

Here is their reactions as we pull into the dog park parking lot. If you listen close you can hear Baxter whining in excitement.

Team Work

Molly and Baxter love to "fetch" the soccer ball as a team, and they can even run in synchronization. Here is another video of the typical soccer experience.

Baxter is Learning to Catch Frisbees

Baxter is lossing his fear of flying objects and can catch stuff mid-air. Here are a couple videos of his attemps with the chew ring.

Lets find Molly

I know I post a lot of Molly pics, but she is just too funny.

Two Bald Eagles

Here are a few pictures of the Eagles that Sandy found this morning.

This one was just hanging out on the branch

This one is eating another bird

I got the evil eye from the eagle while it was eating.

Molly and the fly

Here is a few short videos of Molly chasing a fly around the apartment.

Part 1



Part 2

Our Molly is a sunggle bug

This is how we found Molly last night. She did this. We did not move the blankets at all. She loves the comforter

The Petrified Forest

Another national park we visited on our move to WA was the Petrified Forest in Arizona. It is a very unique park with many Indian ruins and petroglyphs, as well as the petrified trees. here are a few of the pictures. I'm sure we will have another post on the many petroglyphs in the park.
This is the ruins of a pueblo that once housed close to 1,200 people.

This is the Agate Bridge, it is being supported by the concrete slab.

These logs are part of the Jasper Forest. This area was looted by tourists in the early 1900's when the rail lines brought passengers to the park.

A beautifully colored log in the Crystal Forest.

More of the logs in the Crystal Forest.

A view of the painted desert in the road into the park.

The Amazing Ever-Changing Molly

Our Molly has been changing color for the last year. Here is a bit of a time-lapse of her coat color.

Here she is on the day we picked them up, almost a black and a white spot on her head.

A few weeks later, hind legs starting to turn tan.

On election day, the white spot is almost gone and legs are starting to become tan.

Christmas week in Tennessee, Head is almost entirely tan and so are her front legs.

In April, Hind legs are becoming more tan and head is tan.

This week, very tan hips and shoulders, face becoming white.

Where the Bears and the Antelope Roam???

Here are some of the wildlife photos from our trip.

This was a young black/brown bear that was wandering alone the road in Sequioa.


This is a antelope/prong horn feeding on some grass in Bryce Canyon


A couple Ravens setting on a post in Bryce Canyon

A nice friendly lizard setting on the granite at Glacier Point, in Yosemite.


A seagull feeding in the saline flies on the shore of Mono Lake. Yes, all the black things in the picture are the saline flies.

A couple panoramics from our trip.

Here is Sandy in front of a redwood, the picture does not do the tree justice.

Here is the view from Hurricane Ridge in Olympic NP. Notice the glaciers on the peaks in the distance.
Here is Crater Lake and me. Now that's a lot of rain and snow melt. almost 2,000' deep.

Our New Digs

Well we have now been in Gig Harbor for almost a week, and we are starting to find our way around town. The camp ground is on the back side of a hill that over-looks the harbor, so today we drove to the other side and snapped a few shot of the harbor and Mount Rainier in the background. The next picture is the few out our back window. All we can see is trees and leafy green plants. The last picture is one of the "typical" harbor view houses. I wonder if they buy Windex in bulk?

Big Bend NP

Today we went to Big Bend National Park. It is different than I ever expected it to be here are a few photos of the park.

Our Campsite in Uvalde

Well this morning I finally got around to taking a few shot of our shaded site here in Uvalde before we leave next week. The trees are about the only thing saving us from the heat.

Only In Texas

Across the street from the campground is a store named Oasis Outback. They are an outdoors outfitter, that has a little more to "offer" than your average sporting goods store. they have now opened their own grill and BBQ restaurant inside the store. They also of course sell Guns and Ammo and hunting supplies. They also have a Drive thru Liquor and feed store, so you can buy all the beer and deer corn you need for your hunt without getting of of your truck. I don't know if this is the greatest store ever or a sad comment on just how odd somethings in Texas are.

On the move Again....Soon

Well, we just found out today that we will be relocating to Gig Harbor, Washington. It is a small town 16 miles northwest of Tacoma right on Puget Sound. This not a travel position, so we will be there for a year or more. We are both very excited about this opportunity, and about the journey there. Expect a lot of post to detail the voyage, but it will not happen for about a month. For we are enduring the 100 heat everyday here in South Texas. Here is a map of the area, The green in the upper left is Olympic National Park and the green in the lower right is Mount Rainier National Park. North Cascades National Park is only an hour or so from Seattle. We will have lots of fun on our weekends.

New interior decor for the home.

Well.... A couple nights ago Sandy said, "you know honey I really think that the valences would look better if they were a different fabric." So... We started looking for a better fabric, but the only fabric store in Uvalde is Wal-mart. We found a fabric that we liked and bought 3 yards. We set down and in just a few hours had all 11 valences recovered and now we think it looks much better. Here are some pics of our handy work. We would have done it sooner if we had known how easy it was and how big a difference it would make.

Before the change

After the switch

The full package

The sofa area with the new shelf I added a few weeks ago too.

Our Traveling Collection

As a way of memorializing the places we have been, we collect magnets from all the parks, meusums and other attractions we go to. So far we have about 138 magnets on the refrigerator.

On the two day drive to southern Texas Sandy and I took a short detour to Capulin Volcano NM. We did not stay not because to bugs were so bad it was hard to function, much less take a clear picture. here are a few shot we did get.


Here is a shot of the volcano as you enter the park.


Here is a nearby volcano, we like the erosional features on the sides. (look close)
This is part of the caldera inside the volcano.


This shot gives an idea about how many bugs there were. Sandy had them in the jeep for the entire day after just opening the doors two times.