walk in the woods

Went out first thing this morning, by 7, in search of birds at Davidson
River Campground. Not much stiring this morning probably due to the dreary
conditions. It rained part of the night and this morning was cool and damp.

Later we looked for birds on the short trail near the Pisgah Ranger
Station. It wasn't a long walk but it was a walk. There were a few birds
out including a blue headed vireo and a black throated green warbler tha
both came to within hand holding range from pishing.

The sun is coming out and warming the air up. It shall be a grand, yet
cool, day.

And then...

It rained more. Gore tex wouldn't stand a chance. Plus lightening Ben
Franklin would enjoy.

car

Been holding this for a couple weeks and it's time to share it. I love
these rides.

This Chevrolet was in Greensboro. What a great shade of orange!

Chips

From last night. It is the coolest. We've had it happen in the southwest
before.

Buy a bag o chips in the low country and carry them to high altitude. The
pressure in the bag is relatively higher causing the bag to blow up.

Try it!

No chips were harmed in this photo.

View

While resting in the rain.

campsite view

At Davidson River Campground.

Afternoon

We went to Walmart and the grocery store in Brevard while it was raining.
Interestingly enough they had bricks of .22 ammo so I bought a couple
thousand rounds. With the current ammo panic it is impossible to find.

Photo of the continued rain.

Friday is a new day

Woke up early, didn't really sleep, and headed out before 8. Found a blue
headed vireo and red breasted nuthatch. Then the rain set in.

It has rained and stormed most of the day. Since the high country
campground was closed we headed for Sunburst only to find the Blue Ridge
Parkway was closed south of 276 presumably due to the cold weather this
week. So...

Down the mountain we go. At the Pisgah Ranger Station we found out the BRP
was now open. Rather than go back up we decided to stay in the low country
at Davidson River Campground.

Why so many campgrounds you ask? We haven't got the knack for hiding the
big Tioga yet.

Still raining. But wait! Now with thunder and lightening.

Campground

So what happened on Thursday night?

We arrived at Pisgah Campground and it was closed! It hasn't opened for
summer yet. I guess it is still cold above 5000'.

So we found a dark corner of the earth and went to sleep.

We'll first I went out lokking, and listening, for northern saw whet owls.
As usual with saw whets I had no luck. Someday...

A clue or two

A photo taken on interstate 40 in North Carolina.

on the road

In the Tioga this time.

James McMurty playing the tunes from the ipod.

Where are we going? Only time will tell.

Reddrum and Speckled Trout as Gamefish in NC

A bill has been introduced in the NC house to make reddrum (redfish) and
speckled trout a gamefish in NC. This will make it illegal to sell
reddrum or speckled trout in NC. Why haven't we heard more about this?
http://www.ncgamefishact.blogspot.com/

It is probably doomed with Marc Basnight in office, however it is worth
a try!

Link to the actual bill.
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2009&BillID=h918&submitButton=Go

Did you know that NC is one of only two states in the US that allows the
sell of reddrum?

where did the Lance go?

Lanceless. Truck camper sold.

Wonder what is going to replace it?

Wait who's truck is that?

And what's going on?

NCAA Tourney

Thanks to technology we are driving on 540 in the Tioga watching the NCAA
Tournament on the laptop LIVE!

Crazy

On the way to Croatan National Forest in the Tioga Ranger

Chevrolet Chalet

Big time

Alcan

This drove the Alaska highway bumper sticker kindof takes some of the bite
out of the rumors, no?

I mean a Honda, come on.

Yup

Look funny? Well the back rider on this Harley, not a woman.. It's a dog
complete with helmet and goggles.

Furniture arrival

New furniture from Bassett

Back

Well we went to Flamingo but cell phone service didn't. Imagine 4 days
without a cell phone. That was pretty cool.

More on that next week. It was perfect! Birds seen and fish caught.

We are in Port St Lucie tonight and heading north. It sure is cold here.
Time to go back to Flamingo!

Camp

Tonight's secret camp is in Naples. Its not so secret but it should work
well.

On the way we saw about 20 wood storks next to the interstate. How cool is
that?

Ding Darling NWR

We saw many waders at DDNWR today.

It was unbelievable how close you could get to the waders.

sanibel

Sitting on the beach at the Sanibel causeway.

Tons of people and boats were out there today. Too many.

Then we went to Ding Darling NWR.

burrowing owl

In the center is a burrowing owl. I took some great photos of them today.

breakfast

Was really good at Cracker barrel.

History

A few pics from the first couple days.

All loaded up at home.

On the road first thing leaving Charlotte. Traffic got much much worse
later in the day.

One of the new hardened vehicles that replaces the Huumer and protects from
roadside bombs.

We stopped for a rest a a logging storage area. Thousands and thousands
logs. This is a tiny tiny fraction of the logs there. This was in the
edge of Florida.

Traffic by lunchtime on Thursday was unbearable. By far the worst traffic
I've ever seen. It has been that way through Saturday. We finally got off
95 on 301. 301 was very scenic and had much less traffic.

Camp

Camp from last night. Not too bad,probably good for these parts. Little
noisy starting at 5am.

Today

Was a good day. We woke up in a cool place, saw some birds, and had a
good time.

We are parked in Port Charlotte tonight. I hope we don't get chased off.

Tomorrow should be an awesome day including burrowing owls, Sanibel, and
more.

Night night

sandhill cranes

Late this afternoon we got off thee interstate to get out for a few
minutes, let a traffic jam sort out, and figure out what our target
location was for the evening.

As I pulled towards a grassy field (no knoll) I saw two sandhill cranes
feeding! It was way cool.

They are shown in the center. Can you see the birds?

In Ocala. 80 degrees. Jerry Jeff Walker plays on the radio.

Juniper Springs

Stopped at Juniper Springs, looked at the springs but we did not swim.
Raccoons were friendly and abundant.

Night camp at Lake Eaton

There were 100's of vultures, a nice lake and some owls.

Bumper sticker combo

Two bumper stickers you don't expect to be side by side.

medical

Could probably get hip work done here. The Engelhard Medical Center.

lighthouse

Cape Hatteras lighthouse. Its not in Cape Hatteras ya know, its in Buxton.

ramp

On the way to Cape Point.

blow boat

The Gypsy Dane hard aground.

Look at the bend in the I beams! Its heavy!!!

Just saw the gypsy dane the hard.

Nite spot

We tried number one island night spot but it wasn't good for tonight so we
went to a backup spot round the road and under the bridge.

moon

The biggest full moon of our lifetime or so I'm told.

Met Ken Mann that does tv shows on UNC tv. He was out trying to make a
moon lighthouse video.

Lighthouse

Bodie Island lighthouse was special today. Great lighting....and then

but first

Waiting

fords are smelly and loud

Next

Had lunch and a nap. Off in search of birds.

Alligator River NWR

Off to ARNWR.

Tons of northern pintail. Plenty of swans, ducks, and lots of bald eagles
today.

View of the lunch spot overlooking thousands of northrn pintail.

Mornin

Headed to Morgan Futch Gamelands first thing.

Hoped to see an early morning bear but onlt found tracks. Plenty of deer
tracks too but no deer.

Lots of ducks and swans.

yet more guns

Did I mention they had some .50 caliber sniper rifles?

A giant Bushmaster for $5300.

Bullets are gonna run you $5 per shot though.

Did the best I could with the pics. The glare on the cases was bad for
photos.

Guns

The next few are photos from the gun store at Mackey's Ferry.

It is amazing how many guns are in this store.

Couple photos of the Judge that fires .45 acp or .410 shotgun shells.

The Glock 34 9mm. It might be my next gun.

The Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm, another canditate.

Plenty of AR 15's left. Better get'm while you can.

Lots of bathroom guns too. 18" barrel on a 20 guage shotgun would probably
work.

The store has downsides... the smoke knocks you out the door. The people
aren't so friendly, and the owner has no clue how to handle a gun. He
constantly points guns at people.

more guns

New curtain

Made a new privacy curtain for the Lance. The 921 has a wet bath so you
need an area to dress.

Perfect!