Oh My- Oregon Hwy 244

Our route from John Day to La Grande  took us on Hwys 395 to 244 to I-84. Highway 395 is stunning - we followed the Camas Creek for the 2nd part of our journey on 395. On the right hand side is the 24 square mile Bridge Creek Wildlife Area. We stopped for a few minutes to take a look at the beautiful creek and 2 American Kestrels took flight not 25 yards from where we stood. Then 2 flickers flew in. Needless to say we can't wait to go back to this wildlife area. Access is through Ukiah.

We took a right onto 244 which led us into the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest- wow! The Grande Ronde River was on our right the last 20 miles or so of 244. It is a lovely river and stretch of road. There a handful of state and National Forest campgrounds with barely a human insight. 

It was so beautiful that we had to go back today to explore while Shak3 was having some work done. We stopped at Hilgard Junction State park right along I-84 and 244. There was lots of highway/truck noise but we thought we would check it out. It was amazing!! We had many warblers (Nashville and mostly Yellow), a family of Red-naped Sapsuckers, male Belted Kingfisher, chickadees, Downy woodpecker, American Dipper and we heard a Gray Catbird! 

Some photos from the day:

           Red-naped Sapsucker

                Yellow Warbler

              Lurking Song Sparrow

We went on to visit Red Bridge campground, right on the Grande Ronde River and it was pretty quite - a few campers and fewer birds. You be never know what you are going to find- that is why we love birding:)

We then went on to Birdtrack Springs campground - woo hoo! We will be back here.  Beautiful forest with an 1.5 mile interpretive trail that follows along the Grande Ronde River. Lots of warblers, Western Tanagers, Robins, Red Crossbills, Red-tailed Hawks, Golden Eagles, Warbling Vireo and 4 Ruffed Grouse (red morphs) displaying with their neck ruffs(brownish red) fluffed out in some type of display. That was a first!!

Back into town to do some errands and pick up Shak3. All in all another spectacular day. As Bob says- our life is one extended field trip from here on out!

Ciao for now,

B&B 

 Red Bridge Camp State Ground

Bird Tracks Spring NF Campground 

Hilgard Oregon StAte Campground 

We have fallen in love with the John Day River region

The morning started out with Bob cooking breakfast. I love the sunbeam coming down through our skylight. 

Bob gave me the whistle to bring my camera. This who we had sitting outside our back window:

          A female Kingfisher:)

We took a drive to visit the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. This is such beautiful, unique country. There are 3 -4 forks of John Day tributaries that feed into the main John Day River that flows north into the Columbia River. The surrounding hills sides are ancient fossil beds. 

                  Sheep Rock Trail

          Petrified Dawn Redwood

You never know what your going to find. On our way home we stopped into an Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife office and found information on a protected wildlife area along the South Fork of the John Day River. 50,000 acres of incredible pristine habitat. It claims excellent birding year round and populations of big horn sheep, mule deer & elk. Lots of places for us to camp!

And here we end a lovely day with the coyotes howling in the background. It is a full moon tonight :)

Good night~ B&B 

Home sweet home:)

We are settled into this beautiful Oregon State Park- Clyde Holliday - for a few days. We are parked right on the John Day River - right where the otters are reported to come out of the river. 

We took a walk along the river and there are tons of birds- cedar waxwings dominate- flycatchers- kingfishers - warblers- cliff swallows and swifts to name a few. Can't wait for our early morning bird walk;)

B&B 

It is amazing how beautifully things unfold if we only get out of the way:)

It would be an understatement to say preparing to go on the road full-time has not had its challenges ... For a bit if it was not one thing it was another from my macbook dying and me having to ship it to Apple -to our new South Dakota license plates not making it on time before we were leaving -to having issues with the location we were planning on storing Shak3 while getting her ready for the road~~~ but in the end we went with the flow and every thing resolved itself! Apple is shipping my repaired MacBook to Zumwalt and will be waiting for me- we got an extension on our temporary tags and we ended up finding a camping spot right outside of Ashland to park Shak while we got her all ready for our big adventures. It was the greatest spot on Neil Creek with lots of old Oaks and birds to keep us company. The sound of the bubbling creek was worth the price of admission. 

Saying good by to our feathered friends that Bob has been feeding was not so easy. A few of our regulars were trying to figure out where the water went:

Our destination for our first stop on the way to Zumwalt was La Pine. We headed out of town on Hwy 62 towards Crater Lake. We happened to pull into MacGregor Park and who do we see fishing the Rogue but our dear friend Otis    . It was such a great way to leave the Rogue Valley- seeing one of our favorite people doing what he loves to do....be outside fishing:)

We had a beautiful day to drive. It took around 4 hours to get to our campground in La Pine. I came out of the office to check in and Bob told me to get my camera- there was a flock of Red Crossbills bathing and drinking in the fountain right there at the entrance!! 

We ended the afternoon with a lovely walk in La Pine State Park :)

What a wonderful way to slip into to our new life. 

Going with the flow,

B&B 

Driving down the road ......

Well we are driving down the road (I-5) headed for Ashland!! 

Bob doing the driving:) he loves our 3500    Silverado. 

We arrived in Junction City on Monday thinking we would stay a few days....and we are just leaving after our RV 101Seminar, here it isSaturday. We have learned so much. The folks at Guaranty have been amazing and we love our new home on wheels:)

We will be packing things up this week and heading out on Friday- 

Woo Hoo!!

B&B 

We are tucked in our new home & love it!

Here is Bob getting some coaching from one of the incredibly helpful Guaranty folks. Bob is looking at the best way to pull Shak3 ( our new home) and park it into a very tight place. And what a job he did- he drives it like a pro:)

We have been parked in Guaranty's parking lot since Monday getting the kinks out. We headed out to a local campground today so we could experience the "whole enchilada" on our own. We drove in and Bob parked Shak3 like a pro again in a pretty tight spot. We got everything hooked up and are settling  in. We will be hanging around until Saturday for a RV 101 workshop that Guaranty offers for free. How perfect !

Still in shock -

Bettina & Bob

Otis's pond- what a special place!

We have been blessed with very special friends that we made during our stay in Ashland. Vince Z. & Otis S. have come to be some of the most important people in our lives. Not only have they been our mentors & teachers in learning about the world of birds but they share our passion and concerns related to our precious natural resources.

Vince introduced us to Otis and Otis's pond a few years ago - what a special place. The pond consists of a spring that is fed from one of the mountains around Ashland. There is water bubbling up and forming a little pond with lots of cover for the birds. The birds love to bathe at this spot. It truly is a magical place to see these birds bathing and drinking as if we were not there. 

Please see the photos below. Note many are under exposed and grainy due to the low light conditions. 

Hermit Warbler with lunch

Nashville Warbler taking a bath

Nashville Warbler taking a bath

Wilson's Warbler

Sopping wet Wilson's Warbler

Sopping wet Wilson's Warbler

Black-headed Grosbeak

Beautiful maleYellow-rumped Warbler

An Orange-crowned Warbler & Black-throated Gray Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Bullock's Oriole juvenile

Chipping Sparrow taking a bath

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Juvenile Hermit Warbler

Female Lazuli Bunting

Scruffy MacGillivray's Warbler

Red-breasted Sapsucker doing his thing

Western Tanager taking a drink

In Joy~

Bettina & Bob