Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, return day

Thursday, May 1

And home we went. It wasn’t raining anymore; partly sunny with a wind out of the south. Quite nice, actually, except that my feet got wet and stayed that way.

The lakes going through Oklahoma were very high and very much the color of puke.  But note that the road got nice after we passed through Eufala. So maybe 69/75 isn’t so impossible in future.

During the last couple of hours we started having odd electrical problems—the backup camera wouldn’t work and the batteries were draining. After we got home, Ed discovered that the master switch—inconveniently located right by the door—was flipped off. No wonder!  But how in the world could that have happened…?  If a person were carrying a heavy bag then he might have hit the switch, but we hadn’t been going in or out of the door carrying anything. Is it possible that Molly hit it when we went out for a break at the truck stop?  Did we even go out at the truck stop?

Anyway, that’s fixed and the trip is over.  Looking back over the last many days, I declare it to have been a great trip.  Except for my leg issues, all of the cancellations, and all of the rain on last few days. We didn’t sit outside nearly as much as usual, due to being in motorhome parks and the weather being chilly at first. It’s the price I pay for scheduling a trip during spring migration.  (and worth it!)

TRIP NOTES

1. Never ever plan four days of traveling in a row.

2. Don’t be a afraid to make trips a few days longer if there are cool places to go and things to see. You don’t have much time left!

3. Bring sauerkraut. And more spinach for breakfasts.

4. Try really hard to avoid RV parks that don’t have dog parks.

5. Always take the binoculars on Molly’s morning walks.

6. For now and forever, avoid taking I-70 westbound through Indiana. In fact, we may want to avoid Indiana entirely. Other than the nice KOA, there's not much point to it.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 23

Wednesday, April 30

Written at City of St. Robert Park:
Wish I could sit out and look at birds while I drink my morning coffee but it's too wet, there’s no picnic table and my chair is put away.

I honestly think its these foam pads on these beds that is hurting my hip/leg. I go to bed feeling fine and wake up in agony. Forgot to jog yesterday and that may be part of it.

Lots restaurants in area if we're ever here again.\

It was a pretty bad drive—the road was not as rough but still rough enough to make us miserable. But it was the rain that got us--horrible rain all day, and only just slacking off when we arrived.  We arrived at Cabin RV Park, hooked up and then when Ed went to take a shower, wind gusts of up to 40mph started rocking the Magnus motorhome. I actually checked for a possible tornado warning, but no, it was just the cold front coming through.  The wind gusts blew over the Starlink (on the ground for testing) and the sewer drain holder that I’d so carefully laid out.

We stayed there once before, and when our campground was closed due to high lake levels, I chose to come back here again rather than try to re-reserve the other site.  This place is a full-hookup parking lot behind a diesel repair business. But it is so very, very convenient!  And cheap!  It’s right at the I-44 and Route-69 junction.

You check in at the the truck repair business and pay your fee. The only amenities are picnic tables. But still, I kind of like it.  There are big fields full of meadowlarks all around and a Love’s just down the road if you need anything.

We didn’t eat out this time, but there’s decent place to eat about 20 minutes south on 69. And a nearby café that is rumored to be good.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 22

Tuesday April 29

Our next stop was at the City of St. Robert RV Park, in Missouri right on the road leading to Fort Leonard Wood. When Edward did his basic training there, we didn’t have an RV yet. Too bad—this would have been a perfect place to stay.

It was basically a big green field with two or three rows of wide concrete sites.  The pull-thrus, which we chose, were very unlevel front to back. Other than the full hookup amenities, there was nothing else except a dumpster. 

We did all the check-in and payment online and there didn’t seem to be any sort of campground host or security staff on site. Not that it was necessary—the place seemed extraordinarily safe and quiet.

I wanted some fruit and salad makings, so we walked across the parking lot to the smallest Aldi’s I’ve ever seen or heard of. I couldn’t even get a couple of oranges because they only had them in 5-lb bags; I settled for bananas and an apple. Weird place. It turned out that there was a Walmart just a few minutes drive away, but we were in no mood to unhook the Jeep just to pick up a little dab of produce.

But there was no place to walk Molly except around and around the parking lot.  There were big trees all around but I didn’t care to wade through the undergrowth and walk amongst them, so I didn’t see very many birds.  I heard a summer tanager and saw a redheaded woodpecker, and that’s about it.  But Merlin heard a Nashville warbler.  Darn him.

And the weirdest thing happened—while we were off walking to Aldi’s, our Starlink broke.  It was working before we left and broke when we got back.  I entered a ticket and got a call back within an hour, but the technician couldn’t diagnose it.

It rained most of the night. The power went off at some point and Ed turned on the generator. Not sure how long it was off.

REVIEW: City of St Robert RV Park.

Frill-less FHU in front of Fort Leonard Wood. 

The utilities worked fine and the place was very clean, easy to find, and unbelievably convenient.  It was a one-night stopover for us, but most of the other RVs seemed to be staying a few nights or longer.  We never happened to talk to anyone, but my guess is that they were visiting soldiers at the fort.

The sites are wide, concrete pads; easy to pull into/out of. But the pull-thru sites are very unlevel front to back. It looked like the back-in sites might have been more level.

There were no picnic tables and any other amenities other than a dumpster.  Reservations and check-in were done online, and it all happened seamlessly.  People were very quiet and there wasn’t a lot of coming and going. The traffic noise was constant, but not super loud.

But there is no where to walk the dog except in the grassy area around the campground. About a 10-minute round trip. It was kind of boring. I’m sure there were places to go in the area, but we didn’t care to drive anywhere.

In the next parking lot over were the smallest Aldi’s grocery I ever saw in my life, and also a coffee place and a Subway.  But there were lots of restaurants withing driving distance.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 21

Monday April 28

We had an overnight low of 46 but it felt warmer than that when we went for the first-in-the-morning walk. I wore my hood up but no gloves. 

It was nice having my own private dog park.  There was a Coopers or Sharpie hunting the area.  And I heard a Baltimore Oriole. This is a very birdy KOA in the mornings. Having a creek running through it helps.

Then we got on the road. I-70 was still terribly rough; Ed dealt with it by going really slowly in the right lane.  As in, 55 mph in a 70 mph zone—I was worried he might get a ticket, but the minimum speed was 40. While I don’t blame him, it seemed a little too slow at times.

But we soon got to our destination—Lithia Springs COE campground.  We had full hookup, and it was a gorgeous place with trees in the early stages of leafing.  We were in site 68, I think.

 

Walking around, I noticed that the electric-only sites in another one of the camping loops were very nice—site 71 especially.  I’d definitely stay here again.  The picnic tables were aluminum; the sites were large, spread out and very neat.  We were on a long road that went straight through the middle of the campground from the guard station/gate to the picnic/swimming area.  There were lots of good sites down closer to the water, but ours was very nice, too. Just no view.

 

We got there early and there was no one at the gate, so we just went on in and occupied our site. At 3pm, when I walked back, the very nice lady at the station didn’t mention that we had checked in early and so I didn’t mention it either.  I actually had to walk back a second time—I’d forgotten my "old person’s pass” that gave me a camping discount.

Sadly, when Ed and I sat at the picnic table to take a breath of air and enjoy the outdoors, we noticed it had a couple of ticks on it. Waiting for our blood!

So Ed went inside and didn’t come out again until next day. Sad.  But Molly and I took a long walk, up the hill to the boat ramp, down to the picnic area, and in and out of some of the camping loops.  It was very windy—my ball cap  had to be manually anchored at times.  From the clouds it sure looked like rain was coming but the weather said no—not until the next afternoon.

Molly and I found one trail (not common in COE parks)--a short one that went out to a scenic point overlooking the lake. With a picnic bench facing west. No doubt they called it sunset point.   But it was not time for sunset yet, so we returned to the Magnus RV for supper.

The only birds were the usual, plus a palm warbler.  And I saw a wood thrush on the ground, and I heard a probably Scarlet Tanager in the trees. Merlin heard a Nashville Warbler, too. There was a sweet-smelling flower all over but I couldn’t figure out which one it was.

I’d definitely come back here again, but need to make a note that it’s pretty far off the interstate, so we’d want to be sure to stay a couple of nights.

REVIEW: Lithia Springs COE Campground

Exceptionally nice COE campground on a lovely lake

We had a back-in site 68 with full hookups, which is unusual for a COE park. They had a lot of nice electric-only sites, too, in particular on a loop that’s up on a hill with a lake view and a whole lot of space around the sites. And some more FHU sites down on the lake by the day use area—they were a little more crowded but had great views.

The lady at the gate was very nice. Check-in time on recreation.gov was 5pm, but the sign on their gate indicated that they opened at 3pm and the lady had no issues with us checking in early.  Obviously we wouldn’t have asked if our site hadn’t been free.  At the time of year (April) the campground wasn’t very crowded at all, but I can imagine it gets pretty busy in summer.

The boat ramp and fish cleaning station was way away from the camp sites, so there was no noise or traffic from fishing boats. It would be a great place to take the boat but probably not a good place to tie it up. I think I saw a warning about wave action making this inadvisable; plus, it was hard to get to the water from most of the campsites.

There was a little playground near the gate.

It was quiet other than a brief visit from a group of young folk at the swimming beach.  And there was a surprising lack of trash around—it was one of the cleanest COE lakes I’ve ever seen.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 20

Sunday, April 27

It was sad to leave and not get to see the birding boardwalk anymore. But there were no birds at the RV park except robins and finches and a few gulls on the water.  I walked Molly down to the edge this morning and saw a really big bird that flew like an eagle; he landed near the gulls. I didn’t have the binocs with me, of course.

The drive for the day was absolute hell.  Interstate 80 thru Indiana was rougher than an earthquake. At first it was just a little rough in spots, then constantly rough, then slightly better with spotty areas of horridness.  It didn’t clear up until 20 miles or so before our exit.

We arrived at the Indianapolis KOA which wasn’t really very close to the city of Indianapolis, and that was fine with me. It was right behind a Camping World, but it was tucked into a heavily wooded area with a creek running through it.  Unless you went jogging, which of course I did, you wouldn’t know there was a Camping World there.

Instead of trying to jog around the park, Molly and I took the entrance road out to the street and back, twice. It was adequate exercise for the evening.

If ever we’re passing through this area again, I’ll stay at this KOA.  The dog park is huge, with benches and shady trees.  Our site was way down at the end and nobody was near us, so it seemed spacious. Might not be so great if the campground were full. But compared to that other place we stayed at in Indianapolis, this place is almost a state park.  (The other place was like an RV concentration camp.)

Review: KOA near Indianapolis. $61
Extremely nice KOA and (off season) not all that expensive
I tend to avoid KOAs because although they call themselves Kampgrounds, they’re really nothing but RV parks--usually crowded; the sites are cramped; and you pay a lot for the privilege. But this one was really nice in spite of all that. Maybe it helped that it was the last week in April. And  a Sunday night. There were only a very few other RVs and none at all down at the end we were at.  I don’t remember the site number but it was a pull-thru site near the dog park.

They had a big, grassy, shaded dog park with a water hose. Nice!

I didn’t check out the playground or other amenities.  Everything worked, including friendly folk at check-in, utilities, and convenience to the Interstate.  I’ll definitely stay here again if I’m in the area…despite Interstate 80 westbound through Indiana which is the roughest road I’ve ever driven on.  Stay at the KOA; avoid the Interstate.

 

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 19

Saturday, April 26

Of all the astonishing places I’ve been, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area on Lake Erie during the last week of April…is the most. Pretty much. Bryce Canyon was cool to the max, and the wildlife in Yellowstone was awesome. But the boardwalk at Magee Marsh is a long, winding pathway through little trees and swampy ground…and birds. They’re all over—at times I felt like I could point my binoculars at a random location and wait two minutes…and see a bird.

Sure, most of them were Yellow-rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers and Yellow Warblers, and a whole lot more were Red-winged Blackbirds and Tree Swallows, plus Downy Woodpeckers, Song Sparrows, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. But there was also a spattering of Blackburnian Warblers (new Life Bird!) and Nashville Warblers (not completely sure about that one, but I got a good look and Merlin heard one, too), Hooded Warbler (seen in South Texas), and probably a lot of other cool birds I missed. And a Screech Owl, too.  And several Bald Eagles, including a nesting pair right by the parking lot.

 

                            Palm Warblers

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Blackburnian Warbler !!!

Hooded Warbler

Merlin recorded a Black-throated Green Warbler. Wish I’d seen that.

And there were a lot of people. We arrived at ten or so, when all the real birders would have already been and gone, but there were still lots of people there. When we left at noon or so there were even more people. All happily oohing and aahing and sighing over the birds.  Funny thing about that—everyone was quiet and everyone was polite. I very rudely passed in front of people using binoculars a couple of times, stooping down not to interrupt their view. But I later learned an interesting point--although I was violating boardwalk etiquette, so were they. Etiquette decrees that when viewing a bird, you should move to the rail so that people can pass behind you.

 Besides, the times I did that were when I was rushing for the exit to get to the porta-potties.  Lesson learned: do not drink three cups of coffee before heading out for a morning of boardwalk birding. Do not drink any coffee. Or anything the previous day. Trust my memory—you won’t want to stop.

We also saw hordes of Trumpeter Swans, one of the two native American swans. (We’d seen Mute Swans—the European species-- in the Sand Dune park in northern Indiana)  I looked at a lot of the Trumpeter Swans in hope of finding a Tundra Swan, but no luck.

The place also held a ridiculous number of geese, a lot of rabbits, and quite a few muskrats. We saw at least two.

Visitor Center was cool:

 

Oddly enough, it was probably the best of all birding weather. But miserable for human beings. It was cold with strong winds out of the north which was probably keeping the birds grounded. Next day the winds died and most likely the birds left. But so did we.

Took a trail with Molly in the afternoon, but not much to see there.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 18

 Friday, April 25

Raining. We left at 9:30--earlier than intended, because leaving so early would get us there  before our check-in time.  And we did (get there early), but the very nice lady in the office said we were allowed to check-in without an extra fee anytime after noon—I think we got there at about 12:05.

Camp Perry Lodging is a great place—if you don’t mind a little small arms fire in the distance. It’s right in the middle of the Ohio National Guard training facility—they have a bunch of RV sites on a flat, grassy field with narrow asphalt driveways and pads. The grass was drowning in dandelion blooms and hardly a single bee to enjoy them. It’s sad.

Maybe the bees were on the flowering trees—some sort of white flower trees were blooming out all over and covering the roads with petals. Quite lovely.

It wasn’t at all crowded on the last weekend of April—maybe six other RV scattered around among 30 or so sites? 

The sewer hookup was the old style without a locking connector. But Ed made it work. And the fresh water came out brown at first, but a couple of minutes of running cleared it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can’t see Lake Erie from the site, but it’s only a short walk to a “beach” and pier. Dogs are not allowed on either of them, but the nice lady said we wouldn’t want to take our dog there anyway—there was black icky muck at the water’s edge and a rough, spiky surface on the pier. I ended up not going to either of them, but we walked in the grass where we could gaze out over the water.

It was a little bit expensive considering that there was no dog park, playground, or anything to do. But very clean and safe feeling.

 
That first day, we took a quick trip over to Magee Marsh to check out the boardwalk. This is a famous birding site for spring migration—the tired songbirds drop down in the marshes and small trees there at the edge of Lake Erie, presumably to “fuel up” and rest before attempting the water crossing. Miraculously, some of the lakeshore has been preserved for birders, and a long boardwalk takes thousands of excited birders there every spring.  That place, along with the High Island sites on the Texas Gulf Coast, are the most famous spring migrant “traps” in the world. Pretty much any songbird that migrates from Central or South America to Canada can be seen there.  Briefly, in the springtime.

We found out that contrary to reports, dogs are not allowed on the boardwalk.  So we were only able to cruise around on the trails, where dogs are allowed.  We planned to come back next day, and I guess that means we’ll have to leave Molly at home. 

 Trumpeter Swan!
 

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 17

Thursday, April 24

Written at the time:

It got down to 48 overnight but it’s supposed to get to 79 today. Here. But we won’t be here. The plan is to leave early and eat on the road. We have a 4-hour 30-minute drive that will probably take five hours or more.  I’m sorry to have planned such a long drive, but I thought we’d be ready to get moving by now.

Molly and I took our morning walk to the dumpster, bearing trash and the ashes from our charcoal grill.  We heard Savannah Sparrows and Tree Swallows singing. It was very pleasant.

And then we packed up and headed west on I-86. New York is beautiful but has the most awful roads. It’s either hideous road construction or a surface as rough as heck frozen over.

We ended up in an RV park called Presque Isle Passage.  For some reason, either from the name of the place or the sign on their website, I thought it was on an island or near a passage. But nothing of the sort—it was nowhere near water in any direction I could ascertain.  We tried walking around the park to give Molly some exercise, but it was just your basic RV park with nothing interesting to do or see.

 Except a big ol' hornet's nest:

REVIEW: Presque Isle Passage RV Park $65

Nice, new and clean and convenient, but not a fave for us

If you had something to do in the area, this might be a good place to stay for a few days. But for us it was an overnighter, and while convenient and easy access and well set up, it wasn’t a great fit for our needs. We were in the very front in a pull-thru spot with a concrete patio; it seemed a little expensive but might have been more affordable in the back sites.

The sites were very clean and easy to access, but a little tightly spaced. There was a good bit of traffic noise.  The utilities worked fine—50-amp electric FHU.  The manager was very nice. Online payment worked fine.

There was no dog park or dog walking area, and nothing much to look at except other RVs. The driveways were all gravel with lots of grass, but the gravel made it hard to walk around for exercise.  There was a swimming pool, closed for the season in April.  And I think there was a laundry.  And a playground.

 So there’s nothing to complain about, and I would stay here again if it was on our route and we needed a reliable, easy one-nighter.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 16

Wednesday, April 23

Sad to be leaving, but it was time to get to the second part of the trip—

Spring Migration!!!!

It was kind of a slow drive, but we didn’t care. Interstate 88 was very rough and had road construction out the whazoodle. Icky.

The place we ended up, Pine Crest Campground in Windsor New York…why is everything “Pine” this or that up here?  Why not call them Spruce Canyon or Hemlock Bay?  

Anyway, the place we ended up was very beautiful. Western New York State is a beautiful place, with huge rolling hills, majestic trees, and gorgeous green grass.  The trees were just beginning to bud out and there weren’t as many flowers as in Massachusetts, probably because we were at a higher elevation.

I called their phone number as directed, and the lady sent her husband out on a 4-wheeler to escort us into our site. He took us in backward; after he left Ed turned the Motorhome around which nearly gave me heart failure because he was backing up under a low-hanging power line that came within two feet of hitting the Starlink mount at the top of our ladder.

But the job was done and the hookups easily accomplished. Even Starlink—despite the pine trees it was able to find a clear spot in the sky to point.  There were a couple of big old hickory trees right next to our site. Love ‘em.

Ed and I took a stroll around the campground, right on the banks of the Susquehanna River. It was a little bit on the junky side, with many seasonal sites that were currently unoccupied. Which makes sense—if a person were going to explore the area or do some canoeing in the river, it would be a good place for a home base. Very quiet, too.

 

 

 

On our evening walked Molly and I walked out of the campground down the very long lane to the highway, then on the walk back we detoured on the mowed grass to the top of a giant, green hill.  The whole way up we were serenaded by a Brown Thrasher.  I loved the place.

 Nice places to go #1 or #2.

REVIEW:
Pine crest Campground $55
Seasonal sites in a lovely river valley
For an overnight it was good but not ideal—a little too far off the road and a little too challenging to turn our motorhome around and get into the site.  We had to unhook the Jeep to park it, but the manager was fine with us parking on the grass next to our motorhome.

But it would be great for a longer stay, especially if you were pursuing recreation in the area. It’s an absolutely gorgeous place in the springtime; quiet and peaceful.  The owners were very nice and didn’t even mention the $2 early check-in fee when we arrived at noon.   

I think I requested a pull-thru site on the web form, but ended up with a back-in.  Site 1A and 1B are probably the sites they prefer to use for short-term visitors.  We had to do a 3-point turn to get in the right direction for the hookups, and an overhanging wire came awfully close to the top of our ladder mount for Starlink  (12’3”) when we were maneuvering into the site.  If you have a very long or tall rig, you might want to check with the owner before reserving.

The very nice owner offered to bring us a picnic table but we didn’t need one. We had a firepit (a wheel ring, but it worked.)

It was very quiet and peaceful, especially when they wrapped up the construction they were doing down at the far end of the campground.  And although there were a lot of seasonal or permanent camper setups, they weren’t too junky and didn’t have a “private property” vibe like some places do.  We felt very welcomed there.

They had a swimming pool (not open for the season yet), a playground, and a little fishing pond. Nice.  Although it was right on the Susquehanna River I didn’t see any river access points where you could put in a boat or canoe. But there may have been.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 15

Tuesday, April 22

It rained overnight, making the dog park muddy. But it was still usable.  I took a short jog, then we did our Walmart run, then ate lunch and went to play with the grandkids.  Note to remember—in the Northeast they still have the old-style Walmarts that are not supercenters. The one we went to had stuff but no groceries. Actually, they had a tiny bit of groceries—maybe two aisles and a small freezer section; no produce.  Which didn’t work for us—most of our list was produce!  We wanted to get veggies and salad for the drive home.

But rather than drive twenty minutes to a Supercenter and then waste another twenty minutes driving back, we just got the things they had and then walked across the parking lot to a very nice grocery store. I don’t remember the name of it, but if I lived there, I’d shop at it all the time. They had a lot of organics and unusual brands we can’t get back home.

Edward got home at about 6:20. We played Minecraft again, went outside for a while (it was a nice day, in the 70s), and then had some very good carry-out Chinese food.  And then it was time for a sad good-bye.

Next time. Sigh.

 

REVIEW Pine Lake RV Resort and Cabins  

I liked this place a lot. It was well-managed; our hookups worked fine; everyone was excessively friendly and helpful. Although it was already quite huge, they seemed to be building even more stuff. Wow.

It’s hilly but the roads are wide and easy to drive around. Plenty of big pine trees and other trees around the sides and scattered around in and among the sites. Our original site was at the end of a row which made our Starlink want to point right into some big pine trees, but the management was happy to let us move down a few spaces. The speed was the same at both sites but there were fewer interruptions away from the trees.

Very convenient to Interstate 84 (I think?)  but I suspect we ended up paying unnecessary toll a few times. With the toll tag, I don’t always know. There’s a small but perfectly adequate dog park, with poop bags and two benches; it’s right next to a very small playground. Also adequate, but considering how big the place is, they might want to consider adding another of each at the far ends. There’s a nice basketball court centrally located; also a pool but it was closed for the season.  There was even a workout room in the office building.  And a big “party” area with artificial turf for the kids to run on and a firepit. They served us a free Easter dinner on Saturday night, along with other Easter activities that we missed.

There’s even a walking trail around the lake. It needs a little maintenance, but it made a nice hike. A few ticks, true, but also chipmunks and a river otter.

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 14

Monday, April 21

Since Edward had to go to work, we hung out at the campground until mid afternoon. My plan for the morning was to take the “Lake Trail” around the lake, so I went through the RV sites and cabins to the start of the trail nearest us.  We (Molly and I) found it and followed it toward the lake/creek, but it promptly vanished in the marsh upstream of the little lake. We stumbled around in the tall, scratchy grasses for a while and then gave up.

But on the way back to the start of the trail, I saw an Otter!!!  So cool.  It was very dark colored but I don’t think there was a chance it could have been a mink, and it swam like an otter so that lets out Beaver, plus no big tail.  What a lucky sight!  No picture, of course. He wasn’t in a hurry to get away from us, but not stopping to pose for pictures, either.

Our walk couldn’t end so soon—it had only been twenty minutes or so at that point. So Molly and I walked through the campground to the other end of the trail, on the side of the lake nearest the office and “beach” (that’s what they call it.)  At that end the trail was easy to find and follow.  When we got back to the original trail start, we turned around and went back. And then I could see why I’d had so much trouble at first—the trail cuts right across the creek with only a pink flag or two indicating where one might cross. Once across the creek, it took me a couple of minutes of “casting around” to find the trail again.

 

So back we trucked, picking up ticks along the way.  I guess that’s where we picked them up—I didn’t find them until later.  I found a tick on Molly next day. Since she’s wearing a coat of that supremely expensive Bravecto tick killer, I assume any ticks she picked up either died or jumped off and climbed on me. Grand total for the two days:  Molly-2, me-4.

The walk improved my mood. We also saw two chipmunks…well, I saw them. If Molly had seem them I’d probably be missing my right arm now.

We went over to Edward’s house in the afternoon and played outside with the kids, then went inside and watched them play Minecraft until supper time. We went out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant about five minutes away. It was pretty good; nothing special.  But fun for us to eat out together and not break the bank.

 

Mammoth Goes Birding…and stuff, Day 13

Sunday, April 20

We went to Edward’s church in Rhode Island for their Easter service. It was the usual hideous, pointless, stupid Baptist sermon. The only good thing I can say about it is that it was cut short and there was only one service. Usually there’s an hour of Sunday School and an hour of church, but this time they only did church. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we were tempted to join them for a fellowship brunch.  More free food! Very good food, too, especially the waffles.  I could have pigged out royally.

Finally it was over, so Ed and went back to Magnus Motorhome to get Molly and take her to Edward’s house for Easter baskets and an egg hunt.  All was well received, except I didn’t have to fill the eggs, which means I didn’t get to scarf any leftover chocolate.

Note to self: Ethan is very fond of Skittles.