Colusa NWR and Gray Lodge SWR

May 24 – 29 2013
I tried to hide out at one of my membership parks over the Memorial Day weekend. It was a zoo. Lots of adults, children and loud music. NOT a pleasant experience. I am now visiting a friend in Oroville. It’s sooooo quiet here. A couple of other friends decided to join us so it has turned into a lovely gathering. While in the area, I visited two wildlife refuges here in northern CA. I did not know Blue Herons ate snakes. It seems like I’m always learning something new out there with the wildlife.

Blue Heron eating a snake. Gray Lodge SWR CA

Baby Killdeer - Colusa NWR CA

Black-crowned Night-Heron - Colusa NWR CA

Cinnamon Teal - Colusa NWR CA

Mule Deer - Colusa NWR CA

Jack Rabbit - Colusa NWR CA

Pied-billed Grebe - Colusa NWR CA

Western Kingbird - Colusa NWR CA

Western Kingbird - Gray Lodge SWR CA

Western Wood-Peewee - Colusa NWR CA

Western Wood-Peewee - Colusa NWR CA

Beverly's Celebration of Life

May 11, 2013 Sat
Today 30+ members of the RV club attended a “celebration of life” for our Beverly.
It was held at the West Valley Baptist Church in Woodland CA. Our club members all wore our shirts with the club logo on them. There was a wide variety of colors. We looked like a rainbow in the church. There were large flat screens on either side of the alter with a slide show of photos of Beverly and her family and friends. Pastor John Evertson officiated the service and we all sang some of the “old time” hymns that Beverly loved.
After the service the church members and our club members moved to the social hall. There were more photos shown on a big flat screen and a couple of boards with photos of Beverly at the different locations she traveled to. We were served a very nice lunch by some of the ladies of the church. Our desert was, of course, root beer floats.

Beginning to gather for Beverly's celebration of life service

FreeWheeler Outing at Lake Pardee CA

May 2,3,4,5, 2013
This past weekend I attended our annual RV outing at Lake Pardee. This is a beautiful lake and campground near the small town of Ione CA. Most of the sites have no hookups so most of us “boon docked”.  This is our annual “Wienie Roast” and we all bring potluck dishes to go with our “wienies”. We also take turns sprinkling “fairy dust” (chemically treated granules) into the fire and remembering past loved ones as we watch the colors created by the chemicals. Some people enjoyed a day on the lake in their kayaks. Others joined in a washer toss tournament. Prizes were awarded to 1^st and 2^nd place. At 3:00 on Sat we enjoyed root beer floats to remember our Beverly who we recently lost to cancer. A good time was had by all.

Pardee Damn
At one time this was the tallest damn in America

West end of Lake Pardee

Roastn' wienies at Lake Pardee

Sprinkling "fairy dust" on the fire

Washer Toss Tournament
We had 12 teams participate on five boards

Serving root beer floats in memory of Beverly

Toasting the proud owners of a new rig

Casper and Wynona made a memory board for Beverly's celebration of life ceremony next week

Martha played her pipes during our "Sprinkling of the fairy dust" ceremony.
Martha plays in a Bagpipe group that participates in parades and international performances.