A Full-time Life

Category: The Whole USA

  • TRANSITION

    Happy Fourth of July!

     

    We are still in transition mode, getting "Oregonized' here in Eugene.   The collection below is a transition too – birds seen toward the end of our stay in Florida and on our trip across our beautiful country.

     

      LEFTOVERS

     

     Top:  Warbler Western Kingbird seen at a rest stop just into Colorado; and Mother and baby coot in the reeds on the Malheur (Eastern Oregon)

    Bottom row:  Great blue heron on my last walk around our resort in Florida; Magpie in Eastern Oregon; Redheaded woodpecker in Florida on one of the last days.

                         (Thank you to  commenters David G and Sondra for identifying my Western Kingbird — a first for me and one I hope to recognize if I'm lucky enough to see it again.)

        Below are a couple of fun signs seen in Breckenridge when we spent a weekend there with our Colorado kids.   

    2016-06-20

     

    On the left a chalkboard for people to write their thoughts about being up high in the mountains; maybe home was too hot for them!  On the right — Only in Colorado?  Lots of altitude there –I can see why people from Oklahoma (or Florida) might need a hit of Oxygen (although we managed fine without any extra), but IV-hydration???

     

    2016-06-174

     

    Mountain streams in Rocky Mountain National Park.  That is Bill and Geoff taking in the view near the fence on the top right. 

     

    LINKING this post to: Our World on Tuesday; Wild Bird Wednesday; Wednesday Waters; Signs Signs; and Good Fences.

    Thank you to all the wonderful hosts.

     

     

     

  • ROCKY MOUNTAINS and BIGHORN SHEEP

     

     

    2016-06-173

     

    Geoff was every bit  good as his father is in his willingness to stop at every possible overlook on our daytrip to Rocky Mountain National Park.   It was nice for Bill too since he could look at everything instead of having to negotiate the mountain roads (and the frequent requests to stop for pictures).  It was a beautiful day, the company was great, and — scenery junkie that I am – I couldn't have been happier.

     

     

    P1040224-003

     

     

    But then …   something made the day even more wonderful.     We spotted our first Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep!     We have looked for years  in places where we knew they might be, but they had remained elusive.    Geoff and Lisa live very near the National Park, but they had never seen them either.  We were so lucky!

     

     

    P1040230-002

     

    I thought there were more than three that we were watching, but the most I got in one picture was three.  I'm happy with that.  It was so exciting to finally see them that I almost forgot to take pictures at all.  

        

    P1040231-002

     

    The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is Colorado's official State animal.  Their horns keep growing for all their lives — they  don't shed them. The Ram's curved horns can weigh around 30 pounds.    Ewes have horns too, but they are smaller.

     

    P1040226-002

     

    This day was definitely a Rocky Mountain High! 

     

    LINKING to SCENIC WEEKENDS (thanks to Gemma); to SATURDAY CRITTERS (thank you Eileen); to SEASONS (thank you Jesh); and to NATURE NOTES (thanks to Michelle)

  • MORE FROM THE ROAD

     

      P1040185

     

    Our 3,548 mile cross-country road trip is over and it is great to be home again in Oregon.   We drove through 12 states – a lot of miles of road, sky, and sagebrush.   On quite a few days, the highlights were our lunch stops.  We tried to find local places to eat because it's a lot more fun than fast-food freeway stops.  Some stops were more successful than others, but all added to the interest of a long long trip.  

     

      2016-06-018

     

     

    Fortunately, the long miles were punctuated with two beautiful stops.  We spent some wonderful time with our Colorado family.  I posted a few pictures from that stop last week .  Following  are a few more.

      P1040265-001

     

    P1040212

     

    2016-06-171

     

     

    We had such a good time in Colorado and it was hard to leave.  But at the same time, we were looking forward to getting back to our relatively new Oregon home (we moved into our apartment there last fall) and of course to having time to visit with the rest of our family in the Pacific Northwest.       

    P1040409

    To break up the rest of our trip home, we decided to spend a couple of nights at French Glen in Eastern Oregon (we live in Eugene in the western part of the state).   This is  just a teaser photo from the Steens Mountains — I still have more to post from Colorado as well as from this stop as we get back into our Oregon routine.

     

     

    LINKING TO OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  to MOSAIC MONDAY; and SEASONS.   Thank you to all of the hosts.

     

     

     

     

  • POSTCARDS FROM COLORADO

     

    We are alive and well and having a wonderful time with our Colorado family.

     

    P1040337

     

    We've downloaded approximately a million pictures,  but have had no time to cull the rejects.  I will probably delete half a million.

    Here are some that will obviously make the cut.

     

    P1040321

    The Continental Divide — halfway home on our inter-coastal journey! 

    And a lot of altitude for flat-land Floridians.

    Our son and daughter-in-law don't live quite this high up — but close enough.   We had a while  to acclimate at their home — and on day trips –before they treated us to a lovely weekend away which included a stop at this beautiful mountain pass.    There is nothing like having guides who know the great places to visit — and who are great company!

     

    P1040216-001

     

    Rocky Mountain high – on a day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park earlier last week.

     

    We'll be on the road again soon heading to the Pacific half of the Continent.   But I'll certainly be blogging about the Central part of our country for a while even after we get home to very different —  but equally beautiful — Oregon.  

     

     

    LINKING TO OUR WORLD on Tuesday; and SIGNS SIGNS.  Thank you to the hosts.  (And you know the drill — I'll catch up with visits as soon as we get settled back into our summer routine at home.)

  • SIGNS (questions and questionable)

    This is a bit of continuation to my earlier post about learning things because of what I blog about (here).   And, yes, this is  a different picture of the same sign I linked a couple of weeks ago.  (That link is at the bottom of this post.) 

    P1020574-001

     

    We laughed so hard when we saw this at an only so-so rest stop during our December road-trip.  And we laughed  again at all the funny comments and questions that the post received (thanks to all of you). But the comments did motivate me to try to figure out why such an award was ever given (let alone why the sign would be left up for over two decades) .   

    So I tried, but I still have no idea, my research skills and time not being adequate to search through more than a couple pages of possible links.  But we weren't the first travelers to laugh at the sign — and the one thing I did learn is that the rest area is somewhere near El Paso Texas rather than in the State of Arizona.  (I didn't take a lot of pictures on our December road-trip and since this sign was next to the cactus picture which I knew was Arizona, I just assumed this one was from there too.)   So my apologies to the great State of Arizona for (depending on how you look at it) either maligning them or falsely congratulating them for winning this amazing prize (way back then).  Apparently, Texas gets the credit/blame.  

     But all that research about rest area signs reminded me of a couple of other  weird ones we saw during our years on the road.    Both a little questionable in taste — like all bathroom humor – whether it is intentional or unintentional.

     

    BATHROOM SIGN dothan AL

    Yeah, we wondered about who enforced it too!

     

     Both of these signs were at campgrounds where we actually spent a night.  We probably wouldn't stay at either again, but neither was so terrible that we wanted to leave right away.   They just had very strange signs.

     

    FIND A MAN SIGN2

     

     

    This one was hanging above the mirror inside the ladies' room — and I actually went back late at night to take the picture when nobody else was in there.  The funniest thing about it was that the campground was a family-type park (the kind we usually don't stay at, because you pay extra for children's activities — pony rides, that sort of thing — that we don't use).  So that morning, as they brushed their teeth and washed their faces, a little girl about eight years old kept asking her mother some very interesting questions about the sign.    I wondered whether mom stopped by the office on her way out of the park to question the manager's sanity (or maybe mom just wished her daughter had never learned to read).

     

     

    LINKED (of course) TO  SIGNS SIGNS (thank you Lesley).

    Related articles

    RANDOMOSITY

  • RANDOMOSITY

     

     

    Totally random collection put together on a rainy Sunday afternoon.  Linking to several memes (you may have to scroll down to find the one you linked from…. this really is a very random post.) 

     

     

       2016-01-024

     For Monica's DIGITAL ART.  Only the flower in the middle part of this panel is altered.  The two on the outside are straight out of the camera (except for cropping), but I think they look at least as un-real as the one in the middle.

     

     

    P1020715

     

    This is the SOC version of the middle one.

     

    2015-12-141

     

    Welcome to Arizona!

     

    For Lesley's SIGNS SIGNS these two seen at different rest-stops on our December roadtrip.    The one on the left is scary — but it is probably good for strangers to be warned.  The one on the right is just sort of sad.  Because the picture was taken in 2015.     I think they need something new to be proud of!

     

    2015-12-14

     

     For Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS, this guy who welcomed us back to the Canal Cottage last month — he had found a quiet home on our side-porch — and was none too happy about being disturbed.  He finally hopped away safely.

     

    P1020693

     

     And finally, for SKYWATCH FRIDAY this rainbow after the brief Southwest Florida rainstorm. 

    Thank you to Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy for SWF and to each of the hosts listed above.   I appreciate the work you do!!

     

    I am also linking to a new meme (for me) :   FUN FRIDAY FAVORITES, hosted by Cath.  Thank you Cath.

     

  • WE’RE BACK!

     

     We're home for the Winter!

    P1020563

     

    In spite of slow areas like this, it was a fast cross-country trip (for us) as we made the 3,750 mile trip in ten days.  

     

      2015-12-14

     

    In fact, it was actually the kind of road-trip that makes people say they hate road-trips.  Nothing but driving, eating, and sleeping.       (We didn't exactly hate it, because we are a couple of those weird people who just like to go places – but of course traveling is more fun when you stop and explore along the way.)

    There was a lot of country like that above  –  not much to look at but sky, sagebrush, and lots of long-distance truckers and fellow travelers.  

     

      P1020568

     

    But the boredom was punctuated by moments of joy.

     And we amused ourselves by reminiscing about times we've spent in every state we crossed.  We've visited pretty much every one of the points of interest on this route.   But this time, we were in a hurry to get back to our winter home.

     

     

    2015-12-141

     

    It's a big country out there — these desert scenes in the middle of our trip really point out how much space there is out there.  Lots of room, but not much water.

     

    CANAL SUNSET PINK-001

    It's good to be home!

     

    (And we don't think we'll go anywhere at all —- for at least a week or two!)

     

    Linking to: OUR WORLD on Tuesday (very late — I must be trying to be the last entry); WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY and SCENIC WEEKENDS.  

     

    Thank you to all of the hosts.

  • WINDOW VIEW MEMORIES

     

     We finally sold our Fifth-Wheel RV.  That is among the many other (and more important) things we are grateful for this Thanksgiving week.  

     

      Geese

    We're grateful we no longer have to worry about the RV and can more freely enjoy this next chapter in our lives!  But we're also grateful for the memories of of our travels in it.  

     

    Sky

     

    We pulled our traveling homes all over the United States over the years (the one we just sold was our second fifth-wheel) .  Wherever we went, we had our own bed, our own kitchen, our own home … but a different view out the picture window every time we moved.    It was a great way to explore the country.

     

    Sunset

     I collected today's pictures from previous posts — all were taken through that picture window.

      

     

    P1020035-002

     

     We still plan to do some  roadtrips — in our much smaller camper van !  Although it doesn't have a big picture window, it is a lot easier to drive. 

     

    Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US and thank you to everyone who comes by to visit FullTime-Life, especially to those who leave comments!  Your virtual friendship is a joy.

     

    And MANY THANKS to the hosts of all of the sharing opportunities I link to.  Today's post is linked to  OUR WORLD on TUESDAY:  (Lady Fi,  Gattina, Arija, Sandy, Sylvia, and Jennifer) and to Stewart's WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY .

  • GOT AN AX TO GRIND?

     

     Another edition of Whimsical Alaska — maybe the last one — for this Throwback Thursday post from last summer.

     

    P1000548-001

     

    (I really think that is supposed to be a bull and a cow moose, not a two-headed one. The sign was very weathered.)    Moose Pass is on the highway somewhere between Anchorage and Homer.   It was founded in 1909 and served as a supply station for the Klondike gold rush and other pioneers.

    At one time, you could have ground your ax (literally) at the water wheel below — it's a restoration of the original built in 1928 (according to another sign at the site).

     

    P1000547-001

     

     The original provided hydroelectric power to the village for decades.  It has been restored as a tribute to the town father who built the original.  

     

     

    P1000554-002

     

     

    LINKING TO:  SIGNS SIGNS (thank you Lesley); to GOOD FENCES (maybe not so good in this case) with thanks to Theresa; and to next week's RUBBISH TUESDAY  (thank you Roan).  

     

     

     

  • HOMER! SCENERY SIGNS and ADVENTURE

    A look-back to last summer combining SIGNS and SCENERY  – two memes that don't often  go together.   But both beautiful scenery and fun signs were plentiful all around Alaska and especially in Homer, where all of these pictures were taken.   

     

    P1000903

     

    One day during our stay Bill took a  halibut fishing charter out of this beautiful  harbor.   This picture was taken a couple days before the fishing excursion, from the deck of a restaurant.   We walked all over exploring.  

      

    P1000965

    P1040219-001 It was a successful day of fishing (only two of these are his — that is the limit).    This is Captain Mike's where we took the halibut he caught to be frozen, packed in dry ice and shipped (back to our daughter and son-in-law's in Oregon.)

    They were delicious!  There were quite a few meals worth waiting in their freezer when we got back to Oregon this fall.   (I wish I'd remembered to take a picture of all of us enjoying it at a family dinner.)

      

    P1000963-001

     

     While Bill was out on the charter somewhere in the middle of the ocean, I spent a lovely day catching my own brand of beach treasures:

     

     

      Homer RV Park and Beach

    Prettier than the halibut — but the fish tasted better!   

     

    P1000926-001

     

    I saw this sign near one end of the beach where our camper van was parked.

     Not having the slightest idea what snagging was,  I could only hope I wasn't doing it!    

    Of course, when the fisherman returned, he knew the answer.   It's a method of catching a fish by using hooks without the fish having to take it with their mouth.  It's usually illegal, but Fish and Game Departments allow it when there's a surplus of fish.  

    Here are a few more harbor shots.  Gotta' get the boats!

    Boats Homer Spit Docks-001

     

     Linking to:  SIGNS SIGNS (thanks to Lesley) and to SCENIC WEEKENDS (thanks to Gemma).