I've Got a Gripe, But Before I Do....

... I have to express how great my life is.  Life is grand!  (Thank you, God.  You have blessed me well.)

David and I are so fortunate to travel as we do.  We go into remote places that very few people do.  We take back roads to hike the lesser trodden trails.  We see hidden lakes, rivers, creeks and falls.  Sometimes we are graced by the colorful wildflowers not seen anywhere else.

The vistas are magnificent!

On a very unusual occasion we end up on roads not intended for our 2500 diesel truck without 4x4 capability.  Alas, there are areas that we miss for lack of a proper vehicle.  Those ultra-remote places are left for the even more daring and adventurous traveler.

As you can see, we still venture into territories uncharted by most people who are too pre-occupied with hustle/bustle and crowds.  During our explorations, we experience quiet and solitude.  We hear the sounds of nature and see the wonders of creation.

(Now, this is the part where a person is abruptly awaken from a lovely dream... gone in a puff a smoke.)

As we trek through these areas far removed from the greater traffic of humanity, how is it that those people who do make it this far can be so abusive to the land?  Now matter where we go we always spot TRASH!  ... litter left behind by previous visitors.

In my opinion, it can be reasonable to see a piece of litter get away from the owner.  David and I have risked limb, but not life, to retrieve such pieces of litter.  The cooling breezes that occur along some creek sides can get the best of an unattended stray.  All the more responsible that a possessor of trash should be!

However, we've seen places where people have taken great pleasure in their visit, enjoyed the environment, taken advantage of the beauty and solace, only to leave their trash.  Ironically, many times the the trash is carefully placed in a spot that the owner assumes someone will clean up after them.  AND, THEY ARE RIGHT IN THAT ASSUMPTION!  Unfortunately, our tax dollars are paying for someone to clean up after these people.

Well, I could go on and on, but I've gone on enough!

I really wish to leave you with images of the beauty that we experience as a reminder that we are all responsible to keep it beautiful.

Certainties

(The following is a special posting by David.  All photos are copyrighted by David H. Lewis.)

Last night I woke up and could not get back to sleep. Many thoughts danced through my head.

Mary was sleeping well.  I knew that if I touched her she would turn over and come into my arms.  When she did, the thought came to me of how certain much of my life is.  This thought expanded until I was inspired by how dependable all of nature can be.

 The sage/grasslands along Lake Sacajawea on the Snake River.

Here we are in the state of Washington in a beautiful campground alongside the Snake River just ten miles from its confluence with the great Columbia River.  The season is spring.  The air is cold (by Yuma, Arizona standards), and it rains here.  This is the Northwest!  It is natural for it to be cold (and, in this region, windy.)  In fact, rain is common here during this time of the year.

 Our home

Going further with my thought of nature's certainties, we see acres of green grass and huge trees outside our trailer windows.  Why not, since Washington is called the Evergreen State!  (Pun intended.)  Its namesake refers to evergreen conifers that lace the north and west of this state. 

 There are birds flying and chirping all day, beginning with the loud song of a robin as early as 4:00 am!  Gulls and terns are always searching the shoreline of the river for small fish to eat.

 We were told that raccoons are close by.  Three of them posed for us indignant that we would invade their privacy.  They do reside here especially at night when campers leave tasty scraps of food on their picnic tables for easy takings.  Yes, even the raccoons are dependable.

Raccoon by Mary Margaret Lewis

Everything is very hardy here, not only the outdoors, but the people as well.   The weather does not stop the families from weekend camping here and from climbing out of their tents, RVs, and trailers to stretch their arms and welcome the day.  Fires are built.

 Yes, nature is hardy but so are the people.  Even they are dependable to have fun even in this blustery cool weather.  Frisbees fly, and one family even brought a croquette set.  

Family playing croquette next to the lake

This weekend, rain or shine, campers will enjoy themselves in and out of their campsites. There is a large day park with two covered group shelters, a marina with a boat ramp, a roped off swimming area, and many areas to fish or walk along the river.

 Living in southern Arizona, we know that it is going to be hot from May through September.  Up here in the Tri-Cities of Washington, they tell us it gets hot during the summer months.  Anyway, right now, it's far from being hot. Our heater is on all day!  

In six weeks, Mary and I will be volunteering further north. That is after we have completed our task of photographing all these outdoor-hardy north westerners having fun around their campsites.  There are 54 sites here at Charbonneau Park for us to photograph.  They want us to get five good shots from each campsite. 

One thing is for certain, we'll get it done.

Volunteerism & Tourism: Hand-in-Hand – People Need People

Note:  AAAAACCCCKKK! After several tries to coordinate the type print and make this legible, it refused to change.  There's even double spacing when there shouldn't be!

Darn this Blogger dot com!

David's Passion: Photography

We retired in 1996, David from landscaping and I from office administration.  In 1994 we began developing and honing our photography skills.  Photography has become David’s passion, which I share with him.

David on Ponderosa Trail

Sugarite Canyon State Park, New Mexico 2009 

Me on a ladder getting as close as possible
to the cactus flowers

Saguaro National Park West, Arizona 

I have always enjoyed the creative side of computers and have taught myself most of what I know, utilizing software for office management, graphics design/publishing, and photo management.  I’ve become a “Jack of all trades and master at none!” It could be said that I am above average in computer literacy. It can also be said that I am very spread thin in what I know and fall very short in many areas.

David and I love to travel.  There’s such a great adventure in exploring places that most people never get to visit.  In 2004, we sold most everything – house, furniture, appliances – and stored the rest.  We now live full time in our 33-foot fifth-wheel trailer.  We are in our seventh year as volunteers.

Immediately, we knew it would be perfect for us.  From the beginning we found opportunities where we could use our skills and talents to fulfill the needs of various parks and public agencies.  To our advantage, we are provided, cost-free, full hook ups for our RV in return for our services.

Our full hook up site at White River Wildlife Area included a phone, washer & dryer, and refrigerator with a freezer.

This is a time of financial restraint for everyone including these public institutions.  They are in dire need of volunteer help.  Volunteers save hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars by providing services to accomplish the multitude of tasks that are considered low priority, thus left undone or bogged down in the bureaucracy.  Many Visitor Centers and campgrounds have already closed due to government cutbacks.  More could be closed if it weren’t for volunteers.  Tourism has become a major part of our economy.  Without these recreational facilities, many towns (and some governmental offices) would suffer.   It means unemployment in these communities.

Volunteers are the ones first there in time of need during major disasters.  Volunteers give to humanity, which becomes rewarding knowing that they did something worthwhile and good.  Did you know studies show that volunteerism promotes longevity of life?

David and I are strong advocates for volunteerism.  We hope to encourage EVERYONE, at some time in his or her lifetime, to volunteer service to someone, someplace, somewhere.  You all have something to offer!

Once you begin looking (online) you will find a bottomless pit of opportunities: Federal (including military/USO/Red Cross, etc.), state, regional, local, as well as opportunities for unpredictable situations like the recent gulf oil spill and weather related disasters.

You meet so many good people when you volunteer. 

Sugarite Canyon State Park, New Mexico 2009

All of us volunteers! 

 Volunteering can be fun and adventurous, too!

David and I taking a hike on one of several trails at

Sugarite Canyon State Park, New Mexico

Have questions getting started?  Don’t be afraid to ask!  Click on any of the links here to get started.  Good luck!  Enjoy!

 Castle Rocks State Park, Idaho 2004

David: Groomed & landscaped a long-neglected park. Also photographed images for the park's first postcards and brochure.

Me: Created the park's first ever brochure.

Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, Arizona 2005, 2006, 2007

We both managed the nearby archery range, worked the Visitor Center, and performed other tasks required as needed.

White River Wildlife Area, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife 2007

David and fellow volunteer, Bill, dig post holes to build a fence.

LePage Park, John Day River, USACE 2007

David and I got to ride with rangers on their boat to photograph primitive campsites up river.

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife 2008

Mary leads other volunteers in a game of interaction

at a special volunteers' gathering.  

Corvallis Administration Offices, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife 2008

Mary helps the Volunteer Coordinator with various tasks.

Corvallis Administration Offices, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife 2008

David mows the lawns around the premises, including our campsite area.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon 2008

Mary organized and archived the many slide images at this facility.

David worked with maintenance on lands encompassing over 

187,000 acres of wildlife habitat.

All According to the Plan...

We are staked down at Big Pines RV Park in Crescent, Oregon.   We are enjoying the robins and mountain bluebirds play and forage.












Currently, it is only 37 degrees and snow showers have been on and off all day.

Brrrr! We woke up to the snow flurries this morning.  It's been cold, and I haven't stepped away from my warm heater all day.  I gained four pounds today!  Of course, it's the layers that I'm wearing (and the sitting around), but after dieting and losing over forty pounds, I don't appreciate any weight gain!


It really is very beautiful to see the snow falling like little feathers from the sky (through my frosted window).  This beauty is why visiting this part of the country is nice.  And, I know that we will not be living in it for long!  


From my window (frosted, that is), I watch a neighbor's dog trying to catch the falling snow with his mouth.  Even this dog, however, stops to stare at the door of his owner's rig and begs to be let back in.  Did I mention how cold it is out there?


I also watch another neighboring couple who woke up to frozen water pipes.  I guess they haven't much experience RVing in freezing temperatures. (As full time RVers, we have actually been in the snow before... not always by choice!) Those poor people, all bundled up, trying to figure this out! Glad we have our water running nicely.... need it for the hot coffee and hot oatmeal!

I do enjoy being a snowbird.  Do you think some of the real birds of the wildlife nature make the mistake of flying north too soon?  We don't usually make this trek this early in the year.  I don't know what got into us to think we needed to "fly" north so early. 

Regardless, all is going according to our plan.  We knew this would happen today.  We purposely decided it was necessary to lay over one day until this all passed us by.  Tomorrow we will pack it up and move on behind this storm.


At least we are encouraged by occasional blue skies and the warmth of the sun as the snow-clouds float by. Meanwhile, I will enjoy the Internet, the view, some reading, some Sudoku, and the hot beef stew and dumplings that I cooked up. (Cooking helps warm the place up!)

Flight of the Snowbirds

     The literal definition of snowbird is any bird that is chiefly seen in winter.    In the winter, sandhill cranes and snow geese fly south from thousands of miles in the north to winter in the southern United States and further.  The sandhill cranes fly from as far north as Alaska and the Siberian Sea. Tens of thousands flock to various areas to escape the harsher winters of their northern homelands. Like people they each have their preference of region to reside.

     A newer definition  has added that snowbirds are the people who travel southward to a warmer climate in the winter.  Recent studies release this past January indicate that our own particular area’s (Foothills/Fortuna, an unincorporated suburb of Yuma) year-round population to be 69,874.  However, our community actually doubles and triples that number in the winter when the human variety of snowbirds flock in.

     Yuma is in the Sonoran Desert in Southwestern, Arizona. It is the third fastest growing city in the U.S. right now. Farming, cattle, tourism and two military bases are Yuma’s main industries. Yuma is the country’s highest producer of winter vegetables, especially lettuce.

     Yuma is home to the flow of two major rivers, the Colorado and Gila River.  They used to flow freely until the rivers were tamed by an intricate series of dams and canals. The Gila and the Colorado are the two most historic rivers in the Southwest. The National Park Service declared the downtown Yuma area a National Heritage Area in 2000. There are 23 such areas nationwide, but Yuma is one of only two west of the Mississippi.

     The fall/winter months, October through April, provide the most agreeable climate: moderate temperatures and no snow. It is during these mild months that snowbirds, of the human variety, flock in from as far away as Canada, and many even further away from Alaska.  Traffic gets horrendous.  Not only because of the numbers, but because most are old, on medications, and, hopefully, not too intoxicated from the many parties that gather throughout the area.  Don’t be in a hurry to get anywhere.  They are retired and are not!

     A major attraction is the nearby border town of Algodones, Mexico, and not for the food either.  Many are stocking up on their medications and getting their dental work done at costs that are more affordable than the states.  Savings amount to more than 50%.  Don’t listen to the taboos about buying meds there and the dental work.  Many medications are made from those pharmaceutical companies here in the U.S. and the dentists are trained here as well.  They have state of the art equipment.  Still, it is good to get a word of mouth recommendation, because there are some Mexican natives who will try to sell you their “wares” when you don’t need or want them.

     The lure to this town is also duty-free liquor and, for those who haven’t given up the dirty habit, cigarettes.  Sleeping in is an option if you plan to buy your liquor there.  Mexican law does not allow the sale of liquor until 11 AM.  (That’s Arizona Time, not Pacific Time.) There is also a limit to how much of these you can bring back duty-free.

     Just like the avian variety of snowbirds, they flock into this town in massive numbers.  Thus, count on standing in line to re-enter the states at the border for up to three hours! Of course, if you are not buying liquor, the lines are quicker before 11 AM.

     Snowbirds do not want to remain past April. As the month of May comes around, the temperature can rise into the triple digits.  Many snowbirds are packing it up and flying northward to the places they call home.  Each decides upon the appropriate time most agreeable to the individual.

     Thus, Yuma is seeing its population dwindle once again. There are good-byes and farewells.  Some will not return as the flight becomes cumbersome and wearing.

     As for us, we are trying to wind down all the projects and tasks that we have on our list of things to do.  

     We are counting the days until we pull out, lagging behind the tens of thousands who have already moved on.

Reference: 
          

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