May 10, 2003. We drove around as much of the lake as we could visit, dodging rain drops now and again. Also returned to picnic area of park where we again saw a bunch of Palm Warblers. So much of the area's paths are quagmires after recent rains. We feel lucky to be out of the harsh weather; Oklahoma is being hit severely again and again. Only…in late afternoon--again we were monitoring tornadoes and large hail. Hail about 3" in diameter fell in some areas, the closest only 5 miles east near Grinell. During these last week or so there have been 298 tornadoes in various states and 40 people have died. This is weather history, the greatest outbreak of tornados in history--and we were right slam in the middle of it.

May 11, 2003. Our anniversary, Mom's Day. And here we go again--a wicked wind has pummeled Ms Roo all through the night, and Igor says it was 35 mph, gusts around 50. I kept waiting for a huge branch or a tree to hit the roof but all remained intact. Amazing how the local geese continued life as usual--little geese foraged around as they generally did, and the whole family was able to keep in its regimental formation in the choppy lake. Temp outside 46 degrees. We've been grounded by the high wind - the decision was made to set tight for another day. Watching families of geese--they are fascinating, talking with their necks, keeping other families at bay. The wind is so strong, and at one point mama lay down--either for siesta or for less body exposure--and her brood of four ran and nestled underneath her, at times popping their heads out over her back or behind her wings. At one time we could see twelve parents and over 25 kids with broods from two to eight. Will remember this place as the Palm Warbler site and the Canada Goose repository.

Took a ride in to Des Moines, down town around the capitol building and also some outlying areas. Then drove back to Newton and explored it before having a meal at the "Okay Corral". Wind died down then increased--it is blasting us.

This strong northwest wind does represent the final phase of the worst outbreak of severe weather on record. A vigorous cold front has finally swept the deep layer of extremely moist warm air out of the country. As of tonight there is still some severe weather going on in the far east and south-east, but it is over here for now anyway. The number of tornadoes has been updated to 430. For us, it has been many afternoons and evenings of attempting to track nearby severe weather on roadmaps and our computer mapping software with updates and new storms sometimes popping up every few minutes. It was made particularly difficult by difficulty understand "Igors" diction, and having to locate tiny towns and multiple counties with unfamiliar names. The quality of each region's weather service information varies widely. Sometimes excellent and very up-to-date information was given, and sometimes it was very confused and outdated.

May 12, 2003. The worst of the wind died down and that is nice. We worried that the trailer hitch mechanism was getting loose, uncomfortably so. We hitched up, stopped after a short while and unhitched. Just too unsafe. We drove individually180 miles up to Myre-Big Island State Park in Albert Lea, MN. It was such a nice ride going through the nation's fertile heartland, riding through the small towns. Many fields have much water on them--recent rains were plentiful. Took an un-powered site Got a recommendation for a welder and took the car over to Fynbo's, a couple miles from the park. Met an older gentleman named Kenny who looks like a character from Lake Woebegone, and he gave the problem a curious look-over and said he wasn't sure how the boss, Bill, would want to deal with it because they had done a similar job not long ago and had been sued when the weld didn't hold. Before Bill arrived, we started thinking ahead about our options, how we might deal with our travel the 1500 miles home since we suspected that no fix could be made and the old Subaru would probably not be a tow car again. Bill, however, saw some possibilities, had the car pulled into the shop, and while we waited upstairs on a platform overlook enjoying Kenny's brownies and conversation with both him and office manager Linda, our hitch was getting welded. They were all interested in our trip and all were so helpful and outgoing and friendly. The job was done quickly, the price certainly was more than fair--and we breathed a sigh of relief-and we remain surprised. (Update--we did indeed get home with it but it was pulling loose again. Most small cars have "unibody" contruction, which is essentially a bunch of tin substructures hung together. No real frame to attach a tow bar securely. Only pickups and SUVs have a real frame.)

May 13, 2003. This was one glorious day--sunny and mild, little wind, great camp site--and we spent most of the time on bikes exploring various parts of this immense state park. There are areas of swamp, sedge grasses, rolling hills, hardwood forest, green mown grass, savanna, lakes. So many different kinds of deciduous trees just sprouting spring leaves. Hiking/bike trails are numerous and kept up well. We ran across a land barrier between two lakes and saw scores of very large carp hurling themselves against the banks and the weirs to get from where they were to the other lake. Still don't know why. Saw a great array of birds, many warblers--Cape May being a new one for us. Palm Warblers are here--we must be following them!

May 14, 2003. To Sibley State Park, not far from New London, MN. Named after the first governor of MN who liked to hunt here. The park includes Mount Tom, elevation 1375, the highest point in miles, on top of which is an elaborate observation tower built of stone by the CCC. There are two campgrounds, one closed till next week. The one we are in is nothing to write home about, but it's under-whelmed and fairly quiet. Barb, a park worker, approached us and asked where we lived, and it turned out that she has a daughter, Marie, in WF, and she has visits there often. Hopped on bikes after supper, only to get caught in a rain storm. Did get to see some warblers-Blackburnian, Magnolia, Yellow, Black and White, Myrtle, more.

May 15, 2003. Up Rt. 71 to 20 miles north of Park Rapids, to Itasca State Park which contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River (which flows from here 2,552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico). We visited the actual place where the Mississippi River begins. This is a very large park which protects large stands of old pines. The staff is doing some prescribed burning to cut down the forest fuels. Many fewer birds here--guess the migration hasn't caught up to us up here. Leaves are just appearing on many trees. This is more of a conifer area than the places we visited before in MN. Called Nancy and made plans to visit her place on Saturday.

May 16, 2003. The Wilderness Circular Drive is still closed because of prescribed burns so we drove around the countryside, wondering about the incredible variety in landscapes--grasses, many lakes, forested areas--one after the other. Bought a grinder in the town of and ate it in the picnic area of Itasca Park. There were several buses of school kids in the park, obviously having a great time, some very wet from swimming.

May 17, 2003. The Wilderness Road had opened, but there was still smoke in some places. Looked like the crew had done a good job. Went to Preacher's Grove to see a large stand of red pines and to another spot to see a 300 year old white pine. Got over to Osage to see Nancy around 1 PM. Her barn was being constructed--this being the first day. Walked around her 50 acres (saw Chestnut-sided and Cape May Warblers) and then had supper with numerous members of her family. Shared a bottle of MN rhubarb/strawberry wine before we went to bed.

May 18, 2003. Took off early and drove to Detroit Lake where we left Ms Roo in the Walmart parking lot while we went back to Tamarack NWR nearby. Saw a nice spectrum of birds there--Wood Ducks, Ring Necks, YB Sapsucker, Loons, Hooded Merganser, a King Rail, Chestnut-sided and Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, and more. Hopes of staying at Buffalo Hills State Park were dashed when we read a sign on the park road saying the park is not yet open, and by then we were committed and couldn't turn around without unhitching and a lot of fancy manuevering. Grumble... Found a city park in Fargo/Moorehead instead. Near the highway, quite busy, but it has a first class paved bike/walking path which goes miles along the Red River there. Seems this river has run over its banks recently--the path down beside it is complete mush.

May 19, 2003. Rained significantly during the night. Really raw and windy outside. Wound our way through street construction in downtown Fargo, then got onto Rt. 94. Hard to believe it's an interstate--potholes along a long stretch were frightening. Eventually went north on 52, then west on 200. On 52 we stopped at the "town" of Edmunds--a few woebegone houses and falling barns--and parked the motor home. Drove over to Arrowwood nearby and found a completely lovely scene of rolling hills, grasslands, budding trees, lakes. Open land which we both love. Among the birds we saw were huge geese, Brown Thrashers, Marsh Hawks, Goldfinch, White Pelicans, Tree Swallows, Eastern Kingbirds, Western Kingbirds, Harris' Sparrows, Song Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, LaConte's Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Mallards, Pintails, Yellow Warblers, Tennessee Warbler, Palm Warbler, Least Flycatcher, Bobolink, Kestrel, Kildeer, Horned Lark, Magpies, two kinds of gulls. Lucky to see so much with such wind.

Drove another 80 or so miles, missed the COE park we were headed for and landed at Sakakawea State Park on the lake of the same name. (North Dakotans use an alternate spelling and pronunciation of Sacagawea.) Wind still blowing hard and the temp down in the 30s. I think there are three campers in this park--no one else nuts enough to be out here!

May 20, 2003. Drove over to nearby Audubon NWR and did the auto tour. It wasn't quite as diverse as ArrowWood but we did see quite a variety of ducks and much else, including a huge number of Pheasants and numerous Sharp-tailed Grouse (my recorder deleted my list!). On the way back to the state park, we explored the COE Downstream Campground just down the road and decided to stay another day and move down there. What a nice cluster of campgrounds--all of $7 with our old age passes. Sites are generous and far apart. All sites able to be reserved are indeed reserved for this Memorial Day weekend--probably 150 of them. Many trees make the area pleasant and the (Missouri) River is quite close. Rode bikes around the place, by the river. Found many Clay Colored Sparrows (spent lotsa time trying to sort out this fellow--sparrows ain't easy...) and Yellow Warblers.

May 21, 2003. Drove through some pretty flat land with, eventually, "significant hills in the offing"--which turned out to be not really so high! Not nearly so many lakes as we've been used to seeing. Got to the north section of the Teddy Roosevelt National Park around noon and later took a bike ride around to get our bearings. Not nearly so many birds here--though we did see a couple Merlins and numerous Spotted Towhees and Western Meadowlarks; the season is probably less advanced here, plus there were many days of rain recently. Did a lot of maneuvers to "nest"--there are many sites here and they are a bit nicer than one generally sees in national parks. We had our pick of the whole lot--no-one here yet; too early in the season. There are bison nearby, and when we went for a bike ride after supper we had to shorten our time on the trail when we heard those deep guttural growls which buffalo make. Funny-after the whole mass of Corp of Engineer sites on Sakakawea Lake was reserved for the Memorial Day weekend, but here no action. Went down to the visitors center and got oriented, then ran into the closest town and picked us some food items.

May 22, 2003. We did a great hike this morning, up the Capstone Coulee Trail. Part of it was a self-guided nature trail, the rest up and down for about 4 1/2 miles in some gorgeous country. Much of this area is composed of bentenite, and we were lucky not to have hiked over mushy trails, because it can be the slipperiest goo in the world. Stopped for lunch at an observation area and sat on a low wall of a CCC constructed stone building overlooking the Little MO River. Birds we saw were Rufous-sided Towhees, Yellow Warblers, Kestrels, a Rock Wren, Chickadees, Wild Turkey displaying. Such a variety of vegetation--from ash trees to prickly pear, three kinds of sage, rabbit bush, juniper and lots of other foliage combined in crowded woods. Took photos of a gorgeous flower growing out of cracked earth and later learned that it is a gumbo lily or tufted evening primrose.

Drove out of the park to a nearby CCC campground, just south. Looks new, $6/night, nice setting. Also explored a free campground a bit farther south up on a hill not far from the highway--it's free, about 5 sites. On the way back we took photos of buffalo who had herded themselves into the campground area, some with small offspring. Hoped for pics of a group of longhorns, too, but they were too far from the road.

May 23, 2003. Took a chance of finding a Memorial Day weekend camping spot at Fort Peck, and by leaving early we were lucky--there were three unreserved spots left at Downstream Campground. A real nice site and we lucked out once more. We look across to the dam buildings and have a lot of real estate and even a nice shade tree. There are a lot of paved bike trails here. Lotsa Robins all over--and the Yellow Warblers have arrived.

Went through some road construction along the way--it was also raining--and both the mh and the car were plastered with mud. Spent meaningful time cleaning both while C dunged out the inside.

May 24, 2003. Rode around the Fort. Peck area to see other camping spots for future times. There are all sorts of good dry camping spots. West End Campground was one in the area. Finding no grocery store at Fort Peck surprised us since it is a substantial neighborhood. Spent a lot of hours reading. Many cars/trucks/boats driving round and round the campground. There are folks here who arrive with "trains"--camper pulling car pulling boat, or fifth wheel pulling camper pulling boat. Amazing!

May 25, 2003. Left Fort Peck around 7:30 and drove over the highline to Bowdoin NWR near Malta. Quite a bumpy road in with the whole rig. A nice preserve with a 15 mile drive around a lake. Lots of alkalai deposits around the lake which the wading birds and others seemed to like. Birds we saw around there were Barn and Cliff Swallows, Bullock's Oriole, Red-wing and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, American Goldfinch, Grackles, Wilson's Phalaropes, Avocets, Blue-wing and Cinnamon Teal, Eastern and Western Kingbirds, Marsh Hawks, White Pelicans, Meadowlarks, magpies, Ring-billed and California Gulls, Forster's and Black Terns, Eared and Western Grebes, Savannah and Song and Lark Sparrows, Marbled Godwits, Northern Shovelers, Kildeer, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Gadwalls, Widgeons, Mallards, Coots, Pintails, Ruddy Ducks, Greater Scaups, Canvasbacks, Redheads, Willets, Lark Bunting, Robins, Yellow Warblers, Starlings, Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Ring-neck Pheasant, and probably more. There were numerous small islands in the lake and gulls nested on them, even if they were small strips of sand.

Took off for a site just west of Havre, Fresno Reservoir (Milk River) and found a free site over looking the water. Didn't find the campgrounds we were looking for. As I write, we are expecting severe thunder storms.

May 26, 2003. Fortunately, the big storm did not hit us, though we got plenty of wind and lots of lightning. Pulled in the motor home slide to make the target smaller.

Weather unsettled; we tried to make up our minds about staying at Two Medicine--our feelings so undecided that we flipped a coin--and turned right at East Glacier. Surprised to find that an avalanche had removed the last part of the camping road. Camped in site #99 beside the swollen river. Drove up the road to the waterfall and were amazed at the volume of water coming both over the top and through the lower hole. Met a nice couple from SC who were interested in birding and photography. Then tried to take a walk in the woods over the bridge near our site, only to find the opposite side flooded with a couple feet of stream. While in the store C looked out the window and found eight female sheep up on the mountain. Saw no bears.

From here we headed on home, and so ends another fine spring journey.

(Return to home page)

(For more photos)