tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1349422585285787852024-03-14T06:48:58.508-07:00mnkcusaA picture journal of our (Keyna and Mikes') adventures in Paradise (our motorhome) as we travel the USA.keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.comBlogger992125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-61789351253747673112021-06-23T17:31:00.000-07:002021-06-23T17:57:27.361-07:00Spam Museum, Austin, MinnesotaWe were staying just a few miles away in Blooming Prairie and, of course, were going into Austin to a couple of breweries....how could we not go to the Spam Museum??? No, we are not spam eaters but that is beside the point, a spam museum....really?? It was one of those quirky fun things one just has to do!
keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-58599934125587256332021-06-14T18:00:00.003-07:002021-06-14T18:01:27.902-07:00Buddy Holly Crash Site Hi all, I know it has been a while and I have been a bit of a slacker. We are seeing some points of interest that I want to share. We are currently in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. It has been unseasonably hot, don't you know, but we have managed to get out and see a few things. One of those things is the Buddy Holly ( and Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper and the keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-56702864790538156942021-02-27T13:30:00.006-08:002021-02-27T13:52:14.884-08:00Sipsey River Trail, Bankhead National ForestTwo days ago, before the rains came, we drove about an hour to the Sipsey Wilderness to walk some of the Sipsey River Trail which we were told was well worth seeing. We only walked about 4 miles roundtrip because I had to take a few pictures;) When we got back to the trailhead we found out that, had we headed the opposite direction on the river we would have seen bigger falls! keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-46216887706514245122021-02-18T07:54:00.005-08:002021-02-18T08:13:50.929-08:00Tishomingo State Park, MississippiBefore this nasty winter storm set in to Red Bay, Alabama, along with a good portion of the normally warmer south, Mike and I managed to get in a couple of good hikes at nearby parks. We are just a half mile from the Mississippi border so Tishomingo State Park is only about 20 miles from here. High 40's with sun is great hiking weather (what we are having now, not so much;) and we keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-46523661615297435172020-09-13T20:09:00.001-07:002020-09-13T20:09:41.925-07:00Elk Action in Elk Country RV Park near Trinidad, CA Mike and I spent 6 weeks at this park this past spring and it was amazing to have elk around so much of the time. We were privileged to see a few of the new babies born to the herd before we left in June. Now we are back for another 6 weeks and already are seeing elk regularly. There were 21 babies born to this herd this year which is amazing and make the herd keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-85085956502165497592020-09-11T12:16:00.000-07:002020-09-11T12:16:42.084-07:00Shore Acres State Park, OR Just a few more pictures of the coast in the Coos Bay area. These were taken mostly in Shore Acres State Park. There was definitely some fog but also, unfortunately, smoke from many fires now occurring in this part of the country. The water shapes the rocky shoreline in some beautiful ways:Enlarged area of photo above showing cormorants on rock ledgesA lone, and very keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-46692908705143920662020-09-06T20:02:00.000-07:002020-09-06T20:02:15.686-07:00Cape Arago , OregonA couple of days ago, Mike and I drove to Cape Arago State Park for some hiking and geocaching. As soon as we arrived I remembered we had been there some 8 years ago! There is a beautiful botanical gardens in the park and, as you can see below, it is the home of thousands of sea lions and seals! They have to be viewed from shore and hang out on a string of small islands and keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-30214220664931430302020-09-03T20:08:00.001-07:002020-09-03T20:08:55.660-07:00Lincoln City, Oregon We overlapped out stay in Lincoln City, OR, with our friends James and Wendi and had to do some geocaching with them. So we did this lovely trail in Lincoln City featuring "Gods Thumb" and picked up a few caches along the way. Had a great day!An amazing coastal view from "The Knoll" on this trailHeading towards a promontory called "God's Thumb"A few steep areas on the trail for keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-28664934139558636972020-08-28T20:28:00.005-07:002020-08-29T08:08:59.764-07:00Depoe Bay, Oregon Mike and I are currently in Lincoln City, Oregon for a week and yesterday we drove down to Depoe Bay. Depoe Bay is the place to go to see whales virtually year round. We have been there before but not actually seen whales from right at the harbor.....this time it was different! This is the time of year when moms and their calves are feeding along the coast and we did get keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-3694274591135926962020-07-17T22:35:00.003-07:002020-07-17T22:35:53.272-07:00Olympic National Park, WASpent some lovely time with friends James and Wendi in Olympic National Park. Stunning views all around! Up on top of Hurricane Ridge we could see across the Puget Sound to Canada on this beautiful day!
Looking down on the visitor center
one of the locals;)
another local, a marmot
Mike and I with James and Wendi Brenner
keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-63481134508547592832020-07-14T12:36:00.003-07:002020-07-14T12:36:37.167-07:00Anacortes, WA, and areaI know it's been a long time folks but I did want to share some pics of Anacortes, WA, and area where we have spent the past month. Originally, of course, we had other plans this year. But ending up staying a month in this beautiful area helped to make up for some of those plans.
Friends of ours now have us hooked on geocaching which has added a whole other dimension to our hiking.....keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-48390139471994447422020-03-23T10:32:00.000-07:002020-03-23T10:32:53.409-07:00Lake Cachuma, CALast Tuesday, March 17th, we arrived at Lake Cachuma for a 2 week stay. It is a beautiful county campground up in the Los Padres mountains near Santa Barbara. Seemed like a good place to be with the Covid-19 virus spreading like crazy everywhere. The day after we arrived, the park ranger informed us that they were closing the campground to campers on Friday, because of the viruskeynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-54833525240777128462020-03-09T12:42:00.001-07:002020-03-09T12:42:28.947-07:00Sandhill Cranes at Whitewater DrawThis will be my last post from the Tucson stay. A few pics of the beautiful cranes from a day trip to Whitewater Draw. Just an incredible auditory and visual experience to witness these large birds coming in to land in the draw!
Mike and I are wrapping up a 2 1/2 week stay in the San Diego area and will be heading gradually north in CA trading off some previously seen places keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-35654098481626631052020-02-27T18:47:00.000-08:002020-02-27T18:47:08.976-08:00The Hummingbird Show, Tucson, AZI don't think many of us have seen a show like this! This little guy was going all out to attract a female....well he had this females attention for sure!! I was shooting 25 frames a second to get these shots:
keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-47580759787007251802020-02-22T16:36:00.000-08:002020-02-22T16:36:23.607-08:00More Pics From Our "Backyard" in TucsonWe have just made our next move to Bonita, CA, from the Tucson area. We will be here, in the San Diego area, for 2 1/2 weeks but I will still be posting from Tucson area pics as I have a lot that I want to share. This set is just from right near our campsite there:
cactus wren
evening in the desert garden
male quail
female phainopepla
below is a
male keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-24844409876577668572020-02-17T19:12:00.000-08:002020-02-17T19:14:56.484-08:00Tumacacori Natl Hist Park...and BirdsA nice half day visit to Tumacacori National Historic Park. About an hours drive south of Tucson. Ruins of 3 mission churches (foundations only of two) and museum provide history of the area. Home to Spanish priests, settlers and some O'Odham. The missions flourished from the late 1600's to mid 1800's.
running around the mission yard, a very unconcerned keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-38272745260078812572020-02-14T14:06:00.000-08:002020-02-14T14:06:03.627-08:00Madera Canyon, Coronado National ForestWe spent a lovely day in beautiful Madera Canyon, located 30 minutes outside of Tucson. It is not only a great place to hike year round and cool off in the summer, it is a bird migration route and many different species of birds make their way through the canyon this time of year.
I've tried to show some of the variety below, which means that not all the pictures are great, but they keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-35903409294873436152020-02-09T18:08:00.001-08:002020-02-09T18:08:33.438-08:00Tucson, AZ, III'm getting some good pics and need to post more often......I'll try!
These are from just around us here in our back yard next to Tucson Mountain Park:
just house wrens having a get together
curved bill thrasher
female kestrel
male phainopepla, notice the bright red eye
female phainopepla
cactus wren
home is where the heart is!!
ladderback woodpecker
keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-82609395794887871342020-02-04T18:54:00.002-08:002020-02-04T18:54:39.399-08:00Tucson, AZOkay, I keep thinking I should be posting but am too busy taking pictures.....and editing them (which means throwing away most of them;) so here is a quick post to help me get going. I love the Sonoran Desert!!! We are staying at our usual haunt just south of Tucson Mountain Park. A few pictures to whet the appetite:
Our back yard
house wren
cactus wren
keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-80347197613741329782020-01-28T09:13:00.001-08:002020-01-28T09:13:37.680-08:00Parker Dam AZ/CA and area, donkeysAfter a lovely 5 weeks of visiting family and friends in both Vegas and Washington over the holidays we moved on to Lake Havasu City, AZ, January 14th for a week. There we met up with Dave (Mikes cousin) and Mary and did some hiking and exploring:
We "discovered" a new trail at Havasu State Park with a cactus garden. Nice walk along the river with a few water birds.
egret on Havasukeynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-66016602547666344512020-01-22T18:41:00.000-08:002020-01-22T18:41:36.141-08:00Pecos National Historical Park and Las Vegas NWRA couple of notable places and definitely things to do when in the Las Vegas, New Mexico, area are Pecos National Historic Park and the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge.
The historical park was another of those places we did not expect much but were pleasantly surprised. Such beautiful country! Not only were the pueblo ruins interesting but we enjoyed a lovely keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-87937107023409250342020-01-14T19:27:00.000-08:002020-01-14T19:28:08.934-08:00Nov 2019, Las Vegas, New MexicoHappy New Year All!! After a lovely time over the holidays visiting family and friends I need to do a little catching up before continuing into the new year. We just came from Las Vegas, NV, but we were in Las Vegas, New Mexico, last November and really had a nice time....even with the snow! Las Vegas, New Mexico has been around a lot longer than Las Vegas, NV, as you can see keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-75856951129621645062019-12-03T15:29:00.000-08:002019-12-03T15:29:08.984-08:00Amarillo, TX, has Palo Duro Canyon and More!Nov 12 - 19 we spent in Amarillo, TX. Yes, Amarillo! And, of course, we found a few interesting things to do there not the least of which is hiking in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, a pretty canyon second only to the Grand Canyon in size!
We also visited Lake Meredith National Rec Area and right next to it, Flint Quarries National Monument. Not lots to see there but a nice hike.
keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-35128291913870006892019-11-18T18:12:00.001-08:002019-11-18T18:12:25.241-08:00Boiling Springs State Park, OK, Nov 5-12I don't think we will be traveling this part of the country this time of year again but, in spite of the crazy swings in temperature, we are enjoying it.
Boiling Springs State Park, near Woodward, OK, is another park built originally by the CCC. A lovely wooded area with a small lake, I think what I will always remember about this park is the number of armadillos we saw! There was a keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134942258528578785.post-22430898622688712292019-11-11T09:16:00.000-08:002019-11-11T09:22:09.278-08:00El Reno, Oklahoma City, OKWe stayed at the El Reno city campground, Oklahoma, for the last week of October. We knew we were in for some cold weather based on our choice of travel this fall.....but it is so hard to think that cold!! We woke up to iced over puddles 2 mornings, brrr!!
We enjoyed our stay nonetheless as we always do. Had a nice sized lake to walk around and wildlife to observe.
We also keynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12241190643059359613noreply@blogger.com0