Summer 2007 Week 2

A simple drive from Ontario to near Flint, MI, about 320 miles. It did take 45 minutes to get back across the border into the US but, what the heck, we are retired and not in a hurry.

Another driving day; 380 miles brought us to Milton, WI just south of Madison. The only hard part of today was getting around Chicago. Fortunately it was a Sunday so there was little traffic. Tomorrow it’s on to Sioux Falls, our new home, or at least legal domicile.

A third straight day of driving. Unusual for us but we wanted to get across country quickly. Today’s 450 miles went by easily; drive one mile to I-90, drive 449 miles on I-90 then a half mile to campground. There’s lots of corn between Madison, WI and Sioux Falls, SD!

A very interesting and productive day. First stop was the lawyer’s office to discuss SD wills and health care directives. Next we went to the mail forwarding company where we collected about a months worth of mail and a bunch of packages. While there we met a couple we’d previously met at the FMCA CHAI( the Jewish motorhomers group) meeting in Perry GA. They were in town for the same reason we were; to get SD licenses. We had lunch together then the four of us filled out forms, got our pictures taken and got our SD drivers licenses. We had some time to kill before going back to the lawyer’s to sign papers so we visited Falls Park-Yes, there is a waterfall in Sioux Falls and a pretty one at that. In addition to the lovely rapids and waterfall, we saw some interesting birds including a female wood duck with several ducklings, a pair of killdeer flying around very energetically and a barn swallow family. Four juveniles were perched on a phone line and every so often, one of the adults would fly by with a bill full of food, hover next to one of the chicks to feed it then fly off to get more insects; very interesting to watch. Back at the lawyer’s office we signed all of our new paperwork and we were on our way. Back at the coach we waded through the months worth of mail and wondered how we’d read all the magazines before the next batch arrives.

Another simple driving day. We got a late start after getting fuel and washing the coach at a truck wash. The only reason we didn’t get in too late was that we crossed into mountain time and gained an hour. We found a lovely campground just outside of Custer SD. Tomorrow we continue on to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Well, we finally made it to a national park. Yes, Niagara Falls is a National Park but we were on the Canadian side! This place is magnificent and we have only seen the campground. We are surrounded by tall mountains with patches of snow and we are at 8,300 feet! It was an easy 350 mile drive with the only tough part being the drive through Loveland, CO at rush hour. Six lane roads with loooong traffic lights. Sandy said it was like Florida with mountains. We grilled some salmon burgers and ate at the picnic table instead of inside the coach. The views were wonderful and the air is too thin for bugs ;-). After supper we walked around the campground. There are 260 sites but they are all spread out and many of the tent sites have spectacular views. It is not often that we are envious of people in tents. We decided not to attend the ranger program tonight since we will be getting up at 5 AM for an early birdwalk.

What a wonderful day! We started with a ranger led bird walk at 7 AM at Upper Beaver Meadows (8,400 ft. above sea level). In the next two hours we saw only 19 species but they included three life birds, Williamson Sapsucker, Western Wood Pewee and Dusky Flycatcher. We also saw more nest activity in two hours than we’ve seen in the last two years. We saw several House Wren nests with adults coming and going continuously to feed their hungry broods. We saw similar activity at a White Breasted Nuthatch nest where we could see a couple of juveniles in the nest cavity. We also saw nesting Tree Swallows and Violet-Green Swallows. Although billed as a bird walk, we also saw many interesting mammals including Mule deer, Coyote and Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel. Next we headed to a trailhead where we were told there was an American Dipper nest. Sure enough, the dipper was flying up and down the stream catching insects to feed her young. We next headed back to the coach for an early lunch and a nap. Refreshed from our nap, we headed up Trail Ridge Road to the literal and scenic high point of the park. We stopped at all the overlooks to soak in and photograph the vistas. At a place called Rock Cut (at 12,090 ft), we hiked an uphill trail to check out the alpine wildflowers. There were over a dozen species of beautiful, small flowering plants, clinging close to the ground to stay out of the wind. We were told there were over 1,500 species of flowering plants in the park. We got several bonus sightings. Yellow bellied Marmot, White Tailed Ptarmigan, Horned Lark and three huge American Elk within 50 feet of the trail. Well worth being breathless hiking uphill at 12,300 feet. After the Rock Cut hike, the Alpine Visitor Center was a bit of an anticlimax but the views were splendid and the gift shop was nice. Back at the campground, we called Scott & Tara to wish them a happy anniversary then planned an evening including a ranger program at 7:30 and a campfire. By 7 PM after a quiet dinner and a bottle of wine, the plan was revised to a shower and early bedtime for early birding tomorrow.