May 7--Monday Only a few showers occurred around 4 AM, while an area only a few miles away got an inch of rain each hour. Started northward toward the Panhandle. Igor (our NOAA radio) didn't have info about our destination area so we didn't know what to expect. So much of TX is under tornado alert. The Weather Channel, our hero from stormy years past, is now capitalizing on the devastation at Greensburg, KS--the same rhetoric and photos over and over, while so many folks are counting on TWC here and now for specific, life-saving info. Besides, I think it is unthinkable that journalists descend on any community in shock, grief and desperate need. Whose needs are being met here, I ask??

Gas cost has risen to $3.00. We stopped by a WalMart and filled up tiny bit cheaper, then stopped in and got some coffee beans. No store we'd been to in almost two weeks had coffee beans. Imagine! Charlie's grumbling about the fact that no one has "his" kind of pretzels and I am amazed that every store has only soft, gooey bread. Can't find no-fat yogurt, so little whole wheat anything. We do crave our "needs".

Arrived at Palo Duro St. Pk (#117 in the Sagebrush camping area) around 2:30 PM. The park is within striking distance of Amarillo. It's called "The Grand Canyon of Texas"--such a surprise since the land leading up to it is so flat. The canyon is 120 miles long and 800' deep--the second largest in the US. It is of geologic interest, erosion exposing rocks over 250 million years old. Native Americans--Kiowa, Apache and Cheyenne--have lived in this canyon for years, until the US Cavalry forced them out. In the late 1880s ranching began in earnest here, one ranch supporting over 100,000 cattle.

May 8--Tuesday Drove through the park in the AM, and what we could see through clouds and rain drops was beautiful. Made a visit to nearby Buffalo Lake NWR--it's a rainy day thing we could do by car. Great environment but there's no longer a lake. The Ogallala Aquifer has diminished appreciably over the years, dams built and removed, and now no water from nearby areas is allowed to pass through since there's so much agricultural runoff from feed lots that would contaminate the refuge. I read that part of the refuge is flooded seasonally to accommodate migrating waterfowl. Planting takes place in the dry lake area. Great birds we did see today were two Bob White Quails and also a pair of Ferruginous Hawks.

Stopped by the library in the small college town of Canyon--what a lovely building architecturally and visually, created five years ago with numerous grants and with help from a lively Friends of the Library. Got our e-mails and blog up to date and I got to chatter with an older volunteer lady, Jane, who shared stories (and more stories) of her long roots in this state. Such charming enthusiasm.

May 9--Wed. Leisurely morning. Charlie did computer stuff for a while and I went outside fotering flowers. Went for a hike on Paseo Del Rio, sliding here and there in red mud, since there were numerous puddles from rains past. Busses of school kids had already descended upon the park and we could hear them laughing and playing in the river. Could hardly believe it but some of the kids threw themselves into the large mud puddles on the trail and saturated themselves in that gooey rojo stuff. I can only imagine how the busses' interiors will look at day's end! Among the birds we saw along the way were a pair of Mississippi Kites, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and a Painted Bunting, singing away at the top of a tree. Later, when it turned dark, we saw a huge light projected high up onto a nearby mountain--it looked a lot like a stained glass mountain. Guess this was a practice for the weekly TX historic pageant put on at the park in the summer. Sorry to miss it.

May 10--Thurs. The whole landscape this AM looked so fresh after rains in the night. Pretty fair day now. Headed northward toward Amarillo; met with conflicting signs--we had two routes to follow and they unexpectedly split, leaving us bewildered and in part of the town with unending traffic lights. To add to the glee, the lane we traveled on had a post in it--right in the middle of a three-lane road. And we were caught in the middle. Made us both furious (mainly scared) to think that any city would allow such a dangerous, insane impediment. Got over the OK border, out the other side and then into CO. En route we noticed how many truck were on the road--one after the other going south. Found out later that road work was causing long delays, so large globs of traffic were traveling together in both directions. While stopped, we watched roadside prairie dogs resting on top of their substantial dirt mounds, smiling at the sunshine.

Kept an eye out for cheap gas stations--no joke. The going price in this area is $3.14. Seems that many Texaco stations are going out of business--they're either closed or in the process, their signs being removed. Passed a number of wind farms along the way. I never realized how huge those arms are till I saw one displayed in a small town--I'll have to look up their dimensions.

Arrived finally at John Martin Reservoir St. Pk. (#44) near Lamar CO. Actually, it's near Hasty, but this tiny "town" is so shabby and defies description. The park is acres and acres large and once was a COE campground, a large dam forming a sizable lake. CO charged us for two vehicles, since we have two motorized vehicles. We got a pull-through site and if we kept the vehicles chained together only one entrance fee would be charged! Some of this plan I can understand, some I don't. Amazing how many Western Kingbirds and (finally) Amer. Robins are here! Also saw two MS Kites and a very long coachwhip snake.

Verizon has finally returned to us after the TX hiatus. For so much of NW TX we could only get Verizon Extended, which is okay for calls but not for sending/receiving mail.

May 11--Fri. At times we both find ourselves somewhat tired, and today seemed like a good day to take it easy. Decided to pay the extra entrance fee (this in itself was pretty funny since the envelopes almost defy you to fit money into them!) and take the car out to explore the area. Only yesterday, since we'd left the car attached, we forgot to turn off the ignition, and therefore were faced with both dead battery and the hitch in a bind. So had to fold up the mh and move it, undo the hitch, turn around the mh to jump the car, dig out a whole load of stuff from the back of the car to find the jumper cable, and on and on--and so much for a leisurely start! This park, one of many that used to belong to us citizens, then turned over to CO st. pks., is amazingly well furnished with state of the art bathrooms, a laundry, pavilions, finely mowed lawns, fish cleaning stations, much more. Are we enjoying paying a stiff price for what we already owned?? No police/sheriff protection at this large dam.

The park brochure mentioned some good nearby birding spots so we visited them, got laundry and cleaning done, groceries purchased in Lamar. Within the time we were shopping the local gas price rose ten cents per gallon. It's frightening and disheartening. One more thing disheartening: We passed a huge feedlot. It's hard to describe the overwhelming stench, thousands of cows jammed into small corrals standing in their own excrement. Unthinkable.

Nice to have Verizon back again--the abyss of non-Verizon-TX behind us. We are, however, in another zone with no NPR. Actually, we do have satellite radio but are finding there are now so many tasteless Sirius commercials--all delivered in super-blaring tone--and also so darn many reruns.

Had to check bike tires as we loaded them into the mh. This wooded area has those sticky little burrs that come with us into the house, make bike tires deflate, make for some colorful language when we continually step on them!

May 12--Sat. Charlie tried to bring my e-mail down before we took off, and my Eudora was plugged. Someone sent a long attachment, it seems, and it has gummed the works. Won't come down, and we can't even make it delete. Nuttin'. And then--oh dear--the zapper would not open up the car doors. Here we go again, I thought, but on a whim, after the key did work in the driver's door, I put it into the ignition --and voila! This car has a real lock problem, and often it locks whenever it wants. Of course, I'd already gone into yesterday's mode to get the jumper under everything in the car and we had a plan ready pretty quickly.

Drove around four hours to N. Sterling Reservoir St. Pk. in NE CO, another former COE park, large and nicely maintained. Passed miles of farmlands and enjoyed seeing so many black and white Lark Buntings flitting over the fields. We were unsure if this Mother's Day weekend would make campgrounds full or not, but I suspect these parks are so expensive few people are using them. We won't prolong our stay. Our site (#127) is quite close to the swollen lake. W. Kingbirds are doing their screaming act again.. I can hear a warbler over the stiff wind--which did calm down toward evening. The temp today rose to at least 95 degrees.

May 13--Sun. Mum's Day--one of our two anniversaries. Have to add to yesterday's note that now we can see why the park was not filled: After the wind died down, the distinct odor of feed lots descended upon us. 'Nuf said.

Traveling northward, we crossed many miles of ever-changing landscapes--flat farmland, grasslands, undulating hills of sage, back to manicured farmland. Not much traffic on Rt. 385 today. Crossed the N. Platt River. Reached Chadron St. Pk. (#5) in NE a bit after noon. Very confusing sign-in (no one in office) so we just got a site and returned to settle up. Trying to figger out the tally was one ridiculous exercise. Sort of mystifying that someone couldn't have made it plain. This is a lovely park with about 80 sites, and there four campers at present. There are acres of lawn and trees, a long scenic drive, a large pond win which folks fish, but no one has recently kept down the heaps of dandelions.

May 14--Mon. Out of NE and into SD. Temp changed from near 90 on Sunday to 55 this AM. Hot Springs produced our mail and from there we drove on winding 16-A to find us a campsite in Custer St. Pk. There are about seven camping areas and we'd chosen Game Lodge Campground in advance. Again, obtaining a campsite is excessively complex. Three of us near the main entrance were wondering how on earth how/what to pay. Charlie and I decided we needed an annual pass (park entrance fee is $5 per person per day. Or --you can buy an annual entrance pass for $23. Plus a 2nd one necessary for the car.) Figger that out after you decide how long you intend to stay. Us, we decided to split for the campground and go to the visitor center for assistance. Jack, a nice volunteer, listened to us, realized the complexity of the system, and proceeded to offer us a week's pass (this included the two vehicles) for $20. That pass seems not to have been one of our choices. Hmm. Turns out that the campground we selected is the only one open, and each site is now being electrified. Paid the asking price, then found that since the restroom power is off the fee is $6, not the usual $15. But we'd already paid. So it goes. The day darkened and the wind became more brisk (61 degrees) but we're "at home". A beautiful Mountain Bluebird flies near us; it has a nest nearby in a bluebird nesting box.

May 15--Tues. Day started out sunny and we drove 'round the eighteen mile Wildlife Loop, one of three such loops, this one a gorgeous area of rolling green territory on which we stopped numerous times to ogle bison, turkeys, antelope, mule deer, burros, mountain sheep, prairie dogs, whatever. There are over 71,000 acres of this park. Later took a convenient bike trail which starts in this campground and winds a few miles through woods up along Rt. 16- A. Found a great assortment of birds near the end. I like these trails where home is downhill!

Since we didn't want our site reserved out from under us on the 18th and 19th, I called SD Reservations once again. Well, the SD reservations lady couldn't find our site, #2, on her list--site numbers for her began at #4. Figger no one can give it away if it doesn't exist!

May 16--Wed. Well, little did we know. As we were leaving this AM we noticed a ranger flipping signs over at the campsites and ours now indicates that "This site is reserved". Oh yeah?? This, after four calls--with about four different answers. We found a ranger who made inquiries and found that our site indeed was reserved over the weekend. That set my wings a-flappin'. We toured the few now-available sites and picked the only one large enough for us, then called Reservations again (!) and cemented it all. When asked, the lady told me that site #2 actually did exist--imagine that. This system sure am scrod up. Or is it me?

Did a hike through the French Creek Natural Area, not far down the wildlife loop. Not a drop of water in the creek this year (long, intense drought here), so we kept our feet dry this time. Saw a Red-eyed Vireo, Spotted Towhees, Juncos, Chickadees, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers--and a female mountain sheep with new babe sunning themselves way up on a safe ledge of a craggy hill.

In the afternoon, I wandered over to the now reserved group site/ adjoining picnic area and caught sight of a single tiny, tiny gosling swimming around the pond there. A nearby pair of Canada Geese ignored the little one, so who knows to whom he belonged. I felt so helpless. Watched several verbal Amer. Redstarts in nearby bushes.

May 17--Thurs. The ranger who listened to all our site problems recommended a nice hike nearby, so we did the Lover's Leap trail, supposedly 3 miles but we felt it was lots more. Climbed up 'n up 'n up through a yellow pine forest--quite dry from the drought--and finally wandered downward to a more open forest of pines and some deciduous trees along a small stream which we crossed numerous times. The day couldn't have been more beautiful and we stopped for a while, listened to the quiet and the calm swishing of wind in the pines. Watched Pygmy Nuthatches run upside down on branches, saw several vireos. The green tones of new spring contrast with the darker conifers. Many of the rock hills glisten here--there is a huge amount of mica up there.

In the evening a thunder storm tried to create some rain but little came. A group of eight huge buffalo trotted into the field across the fence from us and campers began arriving with cameras. All sorts of folks are stopping by our place thinking we're the campground host, wondering about getting sites. This system has everyone confused, and tomorrow we'll see if the system will work for us when we have to change sites because ours is supposedly reserved.

May 18--Fri. Did the wildlife loop once again--same cast of characters, differently placed, plus some hoary marmots. At one point, when we stopped to watch a group of burros, one came directly over to the car, stuck its head in the window--and for his effort got no reward. Such characters. We saw a herd of about 80 buffalo--we slowly nudged through them in the car.

The occupant of site #6, our new assigned site, took his time to leave. Got dumped and moved over just as a thunder storm hit and rain fell. Later, took the Iron Mountain Rd., another gorgeous trip into these mountains with tall stone outcroppings. Along the road there were three narrow, squat tunnels connected by a corkscrew road--very scenic. Visited small Lakota Lake--breathtakingly beautiful in its settings of forest and meadows with outcroppings in the background. On the way out, just as our NPR station was discussing forest practices, we saw beside us the results of Bush's "healthy forests" project. The largest trees had been taken away, the ugliness of branches left all over the ground, general chaos. In contrast, within Custer State Park, forests have been thinned, most larger trees saved, and debris put into piles to be burned in the winter.

May 19--Sat. Re-walked the stream portion of Lover's Leap trail, stopped at the General Store on the way home and indulged in a barbecued buffalo burger (part of Custer's Open House Weekend activities.) Then re-ran part of the Wildlife Drive, taking off on several dirt road shoots--long stretches where it was surprising to see another car. At the end of one road we stopped to do computer stuff, and as usual, the computer battery went dead on me! All day there was an extreme threat of storms which never came to be (lots of tenters in the campgrounds who were little doubt delighted). I've decided that SD scenery is definitely to my liking--I feel so at home in those physical surroundings. Now, as for the politics of that state…. We appreciate the fact that NPR has come through clearly for us (It's actually NE NPR.) We saw about 45 bird species in Custer.

May 20--Sun. Early start for ND, a drive of over 300 miles. Took us till nearly 3 PM to arrive at Teddy Roosevelt Nat'l. Pk.--south section (#17) near Medora and along the Little Missouri River. After the town of Custer the road was wet, so that storm sure hit after all. Driving northward we ran into numerous smallish towns readying themselves for the seasonal tourist trade. Deadwood looked like a more substantial and attractive town than most--it seemed to have a non-ending chain of gambling establishments. The day turned hazier as we proceeded and the clouds hung low. Many less trees in this section of ND than in the south. Saw our share of Lark Buntings near the road, located the first baby antelope.

Got to the campground and found that the car battery was again dead, so had to do multi-manual-maneuvers to push the CRV around and snuggle it up to the RV to get it jumped. That took the best part of an hour. Sure don't like this unreliable aspect of our car.

May 21--Mon. Took a great bird walk this AM--got off our bikes and spent hours walking the picnic loop, gawking at the action in the bushes and trees. Among species we saw were TN Warbler, E. Bluebird, Baltimore Oriole, Brown thrasher, E and W Kingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Ash-throated Flycatchers, Towhees, Lazuli Buntings, Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireos.

The park has a 20 mile loop road which we took in the afternoon. Not many buffalo were visible but those which were, were huge. One had recently rolled in the dusty dirt and every time his tail swished and hit its body, poofs of dust rose up. Another giant stood there peeing enormously for what seemed like five minutes. Unbelievable! Another across the street had a bone in its mouth on which it had been chewing. Not sure whose. (Who said Bison were vegans?) We saw some handsome wild horses near the roadway, and of course there were miles of prairie dogs performing their numerous amusing antics.

May 22--Tues. Hard to believe but today is the first time this whole trip we've driven in rain. Rained hard during the night; we started out in drizzle with temp. 47 degrees--which fell farther along the way. Even the prairie dogs weren't out--not one head in sight as we drove by! Stopped at an Exxon in Glendive for propane--the helpers there were sour and unfriendly. Many Exxon stations are closing up in these parts. As we approached Fort Peck Reservoir (Downstream Campground #65) we were astounded at how low the water is. Pelting rain and wind are keeping us from the usual bike rides around the lake. Cost only $6/night.

May 23--Wed. It rained hard all night and the wind whipped up. Temp. around 40. We had no chance to ride bikes in this bike-friendly area. Along the way, most fields were pretty well underwater--there were ducks floating in some. We had to ditch plans for going to Bowdoin NWR because it was just too soggy to get down their road, so headed to Great Falls. This Plan B includes visiting the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and using up a free night's coupon at a Good Sam park (I paid $12 for membership and the coupon's worth $25.) The day's trip was lengthy, and wouldn't you know that when we unhooked the CRV the battery was dead once again. Car re-energized, we drove around town a bit to get oriented and stopped for supper.

May 24--Thurs. No sooner had we made plans for our last few days than the weather guessers threw us a surprise--a forecast of snow. So we signed up to stay here a second night at Dick's RV. Took advantage of a clear AM and took off for Lake Benton NWR up the road--a place new to us. Lost track of time as we crept around the auto route. Somehow managed to forget our scope but think we did okay without it, seeing around 45 species of birds there, including a Lapland Longspur (a lifer!), Chestnut-collared Longspur, Whimbrels, Upland Sandpipers, Long-billed Curlews, White Pelicans, a large assortment of ducks, Eared Grebes, Wilson's Phalaropes, Avocets, more. Plus many White-tailed Jackrabbits! Our leaving was well-timed: rain started immediately after we pulled out--leading to sleet and then hail.

Back in GF, we spent the afternoon at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center just outside of town, right on the Missouri River. What a great resource that place that is, with well-presented displays with lots of info, incredibly well-versed and articulate docents, various films running numerous times a day. This place is well-run, in a fine building with an auditorium that stretches from the bottom floor right up to the top (enter up or down.) Native plants outside.

May 25--Fri. Did some shuffling of plans since snow was predicted in higher elevations. Much rain overnight (ducks quacking from someplace nearby), low clouds as we left Dick's RV. Eliminated Freezeout Lake overnight from the itinerary, instead headed up toward Shelby, tacked west on Rt. 44, hit Browning and headed south by E and W Glacier. The temp never went under 42 degrees and though we did see snow on the ground none was on the highway. Little bunches of flowers were working their way up through snow patches, new leaves were bursting out on willows. Once more, spring! Arrived home around 3:30. Thanks to Charlie for so many miles of safe driving. And enormous gratitude for our luck in not being in the target area of numerous severe storms in TX and beyond.

Blessings,

Annie and Charlie