Author Archives: Richard

Dipping On The Great Grey

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When I began thinking about this trip, I noticed that I was heading up to Minnesota and as I often do, I jumped on a state birding listserve for a while. I kept running into references to the Sax-Zim bog which I had known about as a hotspot in the winter for Great Gray Owls. I got on their Facebook page and found that they were seeing a few this summer. So, I put a little jog in my route and Wednesday morning were heading through Duluth for some big tract of land. Google maps was very confidant but they put me, after miles of dirt roads, in someone’s front yard. There was no one there, no 4g signal, and two guys in pickups I asked had no idea what I was looking for. I had plenty of fuel, plenty of afternoon, and water and food onboard.

Retracing my route to the main highway, I tried to call up a post that named two roads where he had seen Great Greys last week. I found it just as I found one of the roads so off we trucked, scanning trees and driving. Right away, there was a large bird in the road – sort of ![title]()grackle-looking. I stopped, got the binoculars on it and bingo: a Black-billed Magpie. I tried to get a shot through the bug-splattered windshield and then maneuvered the van so I could shoot out the window but it flew. I took this long-distance shot for the record. It was a lifer for me. That was easy!

Soon, a car approached from behind moving right along so I pulled way over and as he passed, a passenger gave a wave. “Looks like a birder,” I thought and tailed them from a distance on the dirt road. They pulled off in a grassy parking spot and were unloading when I came by and asked what’s up. In a nutshell, it was a guide from Duluth with two clients from Georgia who were after Black-backed Woodpeckers. Once I explained my ignorance of the area, he gave me his map, guidance on what roads to take, and to do it in the morning. I was so impressed with this guy, apologized to the Georgians for taking a bit of his time, and I was cautiously optimistic.

I drove the hour and fifteen minutes to the campground which is on the upper reaches of the Mississippi River. Here’s the lovely backwater for the dam.

As you can tell from the title, I drove back early Thursday morning and drove roads back and forth. I may have driven by one, who knows. It was a lovely day in some pretty special country – it reminds me of the Tug Hill Plateau in upper New York State. There were lots of birds out and I wasn’t really disappointed – how could you be on such a lovely day.

Meanwhile, flotillas of Canada Geese were on the river when I returned. Here is one gaggle. Off to North Dakota next.

Woody Thoughts

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Leaving Golden Lake campground early Tuesday, I headed west on Route 2 which was pretty lonely. For miles there would be no traffic and millions of trees, mostly coniferous and often undergoing cutting projects. Logging trucks were already off and running. The pulp in Michigan is normally loaded crosswise, in short lengths (5 feet?) and the load looks neat and tidy. I think we’ve all met scary looking log loads, especially in the Deep South, but these looked safe. I must say, based on limited sample size, the logging truck guys are much more courteous than long haul drivers. They see you coming and rather than pull out and slow you down as they get up to speed, they wait. What a concept!

I crossed in Wisconsin, had some not nice thoughts about their governor and the House Speaker, but then fell in love with the piece of the state I saw. I was particularly taken by Ashland, which sits on a bay of Lake Superior. We stopped for a break at a lovely waterfront park with a walking path, lots of parking – just great.

Leaving town, I saw a mile or more of free municipal beaches with picnic areas, then a monstrous water sports store. The van swerved but I fought it – no room for more gear.

After a birding stop which I’ll describe later, I checked in at a small Corps of Engineers campground called Pokegamon Dam – because that’s the dam they operate here on the Upper Mississippi just outside Grand Rapids, MN.

It’s a small campground right next to a busy highway. The railroad goes right by it as well and while the trains are few, they feel like they are coming through the van. One went by about three Thursday morning.

A bigger issue is firewood. These are mainly local Minnesota folks and they never met a tree they couldn’t burn. Last night, the van was filled with smoke from my neighbors.

Thursday, after returning from an outing, I found that I had a new crew of Bubba’s and their progeny, and a pickup truck load of cord wood. They even brought a tarp to keep it dry. Si I went up to see the ranger and asked if they had any open sites – claiming, with some truth, that I am allergic to smoke. We got a change several slots upwind and things worked out ok.

Don’t get me started on campfires. Jen and I were coming home several weeks ago when I noticed a cloud of blue smoke over the highway up ahead. It was just the campers at Lake Elmore gearing up for the weekend. I guess it’s part of our caveman dna but while I enjoy a wood stove fire on a frigid Vermont night, roaring camp fires all day when the temps are in the 70’s? I have the feeling I made my point, several paragraph before. Here’s a shot of part of the non-smoking area.

Yooper Duper

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Sitting here in the Interstate with a #Vizsla snoring on the other bed, the sun setting over an apt-named Golden Lake, I am listening to Sibelius being performed by the Minnesota orchestra live at Carnegie Hall. (Oh, to have a public station that plays real music, not programmed.) Earlier, as I was eating supper in the front seat, I noticed movement outside and a male hummer was inspecting my bright red shirt through the window.

I am using Jennifer’s FitBit and aiming for at least 10,000 steps, even on long travel days like today. So we went for a post-dinner walk to get the 2,500 steps I was lacking. Of course I brought the binoculars and ended the session with two loons out in front of the campsite and a gorgeous Blackburnian warbler chipping away nearby.

My general plan is to get going early, drive for six hours or so, with breaks every hour or two. That gets us to campsites early enough to get some good walking/birding in. Monday, we left Rich, Lydda, and Bronson after a wonderful visit. Driving north through Ohio is nothing to write home about, so I won’t. Except to say that I wish I’d had someone on board who could identify all the spring plants just starting to pop. I guessed soybeans, corn, but then went by a sugar processor so sugar beets?

I drove up into Michigan, noting the change from crops to trees as we headed north. Aside from construction, it was an easy trip although I’m having issues with a “check engine” light. I’m sort of ignoring it.

We tangled with a line of thunderstorms but outran most of them. I had the weather radar on the iPad and it brought back my flying days, as I slid past yellow and red cells, which I could also see as angry black clouds off to my left. Soon the system was behind us.

I’m hitting a few Forest Service campgrounds (since I’m not happy with Michigan’s extra $9/day fee for non-resident visitors. The first was in the Huron National Forest which required navigating some dirt roads.

These campgrounds have no services except for some fancy outhouses. This one had only three campers on 30 sites so it was quiet – and after a cold front passed, pretty chilly.

After coffee and a chilly morning walk, we were on the way north on I-75 with very light traffic. The Mackinaw Straights bridge is pretty impressive and there was just enough crosswind to keep my mind on my track and not the height.

I took Route 2 which is an old-style highway skirting the top of Lake Michigan. It is interesting – you know you are in the Upper Peninsula when the signs say “ATM, Smoked Fish, Pasties, Diesel” and you pass dozens of old rundown cottages and closed restaurants.

Parts of the route were spectacular. The lake with whitecaps, light blue water, and sandy beaches looked like the Caribbean until you noted that the outside air was 52. After about 150 miles of interesting driving – more trees than I need to see in a day – we came the Golden Lake campground which was empty except for a host couple. I picked a site near the water and off we went on a long walk.

Wednesday I hope to start doing a little more serious birding. We will stay for two days at a Corps of Engineers campground in Minnesota. Then a couple of days in eastern North Dakota. So long from Yooper Country.

Stopping In Buckeye Land

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After a quiet night at Allegheny State Park, I spent much of Friday driving to Ohio. Route 17 in New York was lovely and the route down along Lake Erie toward Cleveland was easy. We stopped at several rest areas in Ohio where the breeze off the lake made things comfortable.

Aside from a traffic mess around Columbus, the balance of the trip to Rich and Lydda’s outside Dayton went well.

They live in a large development with hundreds of homes. The builders incorporated quite a lot of green space, berms, and ponds along with a nice network of paved walking/biking trails. I was able to get in rig into their driveway and since I was sleeping in their basement, did not have to worry about the slope.

It has been a nice visit. Lydda is a great cook and we have just had a nice laid-back family visit punctuated by many dog walks. Penny gets along fine with their dog, Squirrel, and there are many rabbits to get her attention on walks.

I went birding with my grandson, Bronson, for a while Sunday. It was his first time and the highlight was probably the Great Blue Heron who arose from one of the little ponds, showing us his full wingspan. Here are some shots of us heading out.

I’m heading up to Grayling, Michigan next to a small Forest Service campground were you just show up. We will see how that goes with thunderstorms in the forecast.

Southern Tier Nostalgia

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As usually happens on a long trip, I was up at two, then at four for real, and on the road at 6 AM. I recalled trudging down an icy driveway in the dark with Mary on our last trip – we had parked the rig at the bottom due to snow and ice. Today’s launch was rather easy relative to that. As we’d say in Navy flying, “kick the tire, light the fire.”

Penny and I took our first break at the Fair Haven rest area where this selfie documented my last time in Vermont for a while.

I had been watching the forecasts which called for severe thunderstorms on our route. I considered taking a higher route – the Thruway – but decided to wait a while to decide and then stayed with our original plans.

Getting out of Vermont was easy and the weather and scenery was perfect. The lightly-traveled I-88 was likewise pretty uneventful aside from a lot of one-lane stretches for construction.

Then I got into the westbound flow of Route 17 and memories flowed. The Blue Dolphin diner in Endicott, owe go where Mary was ordained deacon and then priest. The failed race track that is now a casino. The Exit 61 sign for Waverly/Sayre which we took many a time. I thought I could see our old house – probably the nicest we ever had – up on the hill overlooking town.

Then west of Waverly, the highway slides in Pennsylvania for a tiny distance and I recalled paddling both the Chemung and Susquehanna rivers in my canoe racing days.

About Elmira, the rain hit pretty heavy. I had stopped earlier to check the radar and knew that it was likely a short stretch, and so it was. Of course, I’m still learning the van systems and had quite a time finding out how to defog the windshield.

This part of the trip reminded me of the long drive Mary would make each week to finish seminary in Rochester. And as I passed the sign for Elmira Heights, I remembered how the church there stiffed her for the required contributions to the church pension fund and essentially just said “tough luck” afterward. And they’ll know that we are Christians by our love…..

We stopped mid-afternoon, after nine and a half hours enroute, at a big state park near Salamanca called Allegheny State Park. It was 80 degrees and muggy so I opted for an electric site and we have been running the air. The place has a number of families with young children and most are in tents. We are getting a shower as I write and kids are still riding the camp road on their bikes. Well, it’s really coming down now. I feel a bit smug, and snug, in my rig.

Penny and I took a nice walk before supper, hearing and seeing lots of warblers. Lots of redstarts and yellow warblers. I watched a song sparrow use the little brook as his personal bird bath.

Here’s Penny admiring the pretty lake.

Tomorrow is about six hours to Rich and Lydda’s – I’m really looking forward to seeing them.

Travels With Penny

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A Steinbeck I’m not, as you know if you read this blog. But, by the time you do read this, Penny and I will be well on our way toward the southern tier of New York. It’s a route I know well from my days working in rural New York: the Rutland, Route 4, Northway down to Albany, then I-88 to Binghamton, then Route 17 toward Jamestown. No tolls but lots of river towns and thumpy concrete highway. I think they call it I-85 out west but that’s like putting lipstick on a pig.

Yesterday I went up to Worcester to get some diesel fuel and my last maple bun at the Post Office Cafe for some time. Penny settled into her stretched out spot between the two front seats, where she will sleep for hours.

I don’t have tons of storage space but I am hauling Pete’s Green mesclun, local chicken and hamburger, Cabot Cheese, Morse Farm maple syrup, Booth Brothers milk, and some homemade granola to go with the Stonyfields yogurt. I should have a good first week culinary-wise.

So the general plan is to see our son Rich and his wife Lydda, along with Bronson in Ohio for the weekend. We are getting psyched for that. Afterward, it’s a little open. I am going to head north through Michigan, hook a left before Canada, and wander along the northern route through Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. The objective is to arrive in San Diego County in late June to see the West Coast gang.

Vermont is a tough place to leave in summer. Everything is just popping and one side of me wants to stay and paddle, hike, and bird. But I really wanted a change of venue for a bit, to see grandkids that I see way too infrequently, to explore a part of the country that I have never seen, and to do a little birding in places new to me. It’s going to be fun and I’ll share a bit of what I see and do, including comments my Vermont plates draw. Peace my friends.

Here Comes The Sun

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As I get ready for a long trip, I am trying to address one of the issues that Interstates like mine have – which is weak electrical systems for camping in spots without hookup aka as boondocking. It is a problem I knew about and frankly, don’t anticipate long stints in non-electric situations. However, many state parks and federal sites are definitely non-utility.

The problem comes primarily from the refrigerator, which is electric only. Most trailers have a dual-option system where you can run on just propane but the wizards at Airstream decided, probably for venting issues, to opt for an electric-only. I can hear the design team: “They have an onboard generator, no problem.”

I had a small solar panel that we logged with the Safari trailer and decided to use that if I could. There’s really no room on the roof for panels without a lot of time and expense so I studied things a bit and to use a pun, a light bulb went off. I had two new deep cycle batteries – about 150 amp-hours total – which was less capacity than I wanted. They also had a vent tube going out to the side of the van. Voila! I could used AGM batteries, which require no venting, and run the line from the solar panel in through the vent. Of course, it sounded easier than it was.

I bought two 6 volt Lifeline golf cart batteries which fit into the limited space, connected them to get 12 volts and 220 amp-hours. Here’s a shot of the rabbit’s warren of wires – I’ve got a little finishing work to do.

My brother Barry suggest that I use a quick disconnect plug like he has used – and ordered me one. I bought the charge controller for the solar panel (to avoid overcharging the batteries) and some wire and fittings. Of course, the ground to the battery box snapped off when I tried to use it and I must of dropped some of the small screws for the disconnect several dozen times. The finished project looks pretty good.

I got everything ready, plugged in the panel, and we had liftoff. It’s not a big solar gain, probably 4 amps in full sunlight, but it will help nicely.

I have a good place to stow the panel inside the van so we’ll see how things go. The van has its own battery for the engine but while travelling, I should get some charging of the house batteries. I’ll test this out over the next few months and see if I need more capacity. For now, it was a relatively inexpensive do-it-yourself project (with technical assistance from my brother) that seems to be a good start to energy independence. Nothing like seeing that panel just sit there and quietly crank. Stay tuned.

Getting the Scope Out

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I have been frustrated with blogging from the road where wifi is often slim or none. I can use 3G/4G with the iPhone or the iPad but handling pictures from the Canon SX50 is a hassle. Too much transferring and time taken .

So yesterday, I decided to get back into digiscoping with the iPhone so I’d only have to use one electronic device. I had gotten the scope repaired this winter but haven’t been using it. So, with the tripod and scope over one shoulder and the leash for the Vizsla in the other hand, off we went for a little test hop.

I guess that the Indigo Bunting that popped up first was a good omen. He posed cooperatively as he worked several apple trees right near our campsite. Here are a few shots:

It was rather quiet in mid-afternoon but I also found a Chipping Sparrow and several Black-capped Chickadees to practice with.

I have yet to master riding my bike with the dog attached and also carrying a tripod and scope. This endeavor should prove interesting. Stay tuned.

A Ride on the West River Rail Trail

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I have walked, skied, and biked rail trails around the East and have to say that the West River one is the best I’ve seen. It’s scenic, very burst, and remote so I can let my anti-social (re dogs) Vizsla off-leash and not be bothered by hordes of joggers, cyclists, or dog-walkers.

We took a walk Friday afternoon and I was struck by the quiet. No road noise – nothing but the river and birds. This morning, we went out early and needed a jacket and gloves, which were in the van, but I was too lazy to turn around. I had set up the “Springer” attachment which allows Penny to jog alongside the bike. We use that in the park.

The rail trail goes right through the campground. We start at the southern section and head a few miles toward the big Ball Mountain dam.

It’s easy, when traveling along the trail, to visualize the small trains that once plied this 33-mile route. Lots of ledge cuts, stream crossings, and river crossing (which are mainly abutments.)

The bird calls were amazing. Of course the Veery and the Hermit Thrush are among my favorites but I also saw a dozen or more Ovenbirds. They are usually tough to spot in spite of their constant singing but these were on the path, in the low branches, just not worried about this guy and his dog. I am not carrying my camera since I don’t have my laptop with me so that’s why I haven’t posted bird photos.

Penny is 12 and moving pretty well but I don’t want to over-tax her so we stopped at where the railroad crossed the river. She enjoyed checking the place out and I enjoyed the view, spotting a couple of Common Mergansers downriver.

The trail continues, less bike-friendly, down toward the flood control dam. We turned around and ended up with a two hour outing with about 35 bird species. We earned the bacon and pancakes with maple syrup that I cooked outside after our return.

This campground is the last place where Mary and I camped – we had a lovely time last fall. Saturday marked the two-month anniversary of her death so the walks, bike rides, even the black flies that loved her and ignored me, are gentle reminders. One advantage of knowing most bird calls is that you can bird with tears in your eyes.

A Shakedown Cruise

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After trading some honey for future goodies from my friends at the Post Office Cafe, Penny and I launched on a short shakedown cruise. My brother had lent me a bike rack so we strapped on the old man’s bicycle and we were off.

One of the objectives is to zero in on just what I need to bring on next month’s western trip, where to stow stuff so that it doesn’t shake, rattle, and roll as we head over rough spots and negotiate curves. We never heard that when it was all back in the trailer.

Since we had plenty of time and a gorgeous Vermont day, I decided to take Route 100. It was a good diversion – just plain Vermont for much of the way. It is definitely a ski route as we first hit Sugarbush, then the Killington complex, and then Okemo in Ludlow.

As is the case every summer, there were several one lane bridge repairs and many resurfacing projects. We complain about potholes for six months and traffic delays the other six. Friday was too perfect a day to fret over some stops besides, I had no schedule and Penny certainly did not.

One of my favorite spots of this route is the chain of lakes north of Ludlow where a half century ago, I spent several great summers at Boy Scout camp. Now a state park, Camp Plymouth was special. A good friend from those times – a long-time classmate – Doug Allen said to me not too long ago, “Dick, I often wish I was back there weaving lanyards out of gimp.” I certainly agreed.

After Weston, where Dad was in the CCC’s, we came to South Londonderry, Mom’s hometown. There are no relatives left there but many memories.
Mary and I came here to Winhall Brook Campground last fall and loved its peacefulness and beauty. This time I opted for one of the no-hookup sites along the brook.

Of course, the narrow bridge is always a bit of a challenge.

So, Penny and I are on a grassy site right beside the brook. It’s quiet – bird song and gurgling water noises. We just took a good bike ride down the rail trail and after a decent supper, need to go to town for bread and a 3G signal.