TRIP TO DAD'S -- PART FIVE ~~ PARTING SHOT

TRIP TO DAD'S -- PART FIVE

Today's blog post will wrap up our trip down to Carpinteria, California, to visit Linda's dad. Our trip lasted three weeks (four days were spent driving) and we had a great time. I have always enjoyed going to visit dad because he is such an interesting person. He is always interested in how things work and why they work the way they do. He's always got something going when we are down there. I believe having all these interests in life has contributed to his longevity. It just goes to show you that the more you exercise your mind, the better off you will be.

My most favorite thing to do while down at dad's has always been to watch birds. He has the perfect set-up for bird watching...a nice deck on the back of his house with lots of trees and bushes surrounding it. He has a wonderful large bird feeding station suspended from the deck, and a nice cement bird bath nearby. There are a multitude of different bird species around his area, and I have added quite a few birds to my life list by observing them there. This trip I was able to add two more. One was the Tennessee Red Quail that I mentioned in last week's blog, and the other was Hutton's Vireo. We saw this bird several times at the feeder, but he was always moving so fast that I couldn't get a good picture of him to help in my identification. However, one day as I was sitting on the deck he landed in a nearby bush and I happened to get a shot of him. He was very similar to a little bird we used to see back in North Carolina, the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. I used to call this little kinglet "my baby" because he was so cute and was always visiting the feeder in our back yard. They are both very small birds, similarly colored, but this one on dad's deck did not have the red crown on top of his head.

Could this be my baby?

I figured he was some other kind of bird, but since there are a lot of small greenish-gray birds it was hard to tell exactly which one he was. But I took note of the white eye ring and the white bands on his wings, plus the fact that he was not constantly on the move, and this pointed me to the possibility that he was as a Hutton's Vireo. I saw him visit the feeder almost every day. One day I was inside looking out the window at the feeder and all of a sudden the birds spooked and flew all at once in different directions. Unfortunately, one bird hit the window. I went outside to see if it was alright and it was the little vireo. He was still breathing and I didn't see any blood, so I moved him off of the concrete onto the grass. He fluttered his wings but acted like he was a bit shaken up, so I left him alone but kept checking back to make sure he was okay.

Hutton's Vireo

After an hour or so I went outside to check on him and he was gone. He had been moving about a lot before that so I concluded that he had flown away. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Another bird that I had seen before at dad's showed up towards the end of our visit. He also was very similar to a bird we had back in North Carolina, but his coloring was different. I got this silhouette picture below of him. Can you guess what he is?

You probably noticed the very distinctive curved bill. That feature immediately reminded me of the Brown Thrasher that we had in our yard in NC. But this guy was a dull grayish-brown and turned out to be a California Thrasher. He posed for me to get his picture.

California Thrasher

Here are some more bird pictures that I took while we were at dad's.

A couple of sparrows enjoying a bath

Anna's Hummingbird

A Cooper's Hawk who visited the feeder (not for the seed, though)

Red-Tailed Hawk in a nearby tree

Anna's Hummingbird

Northern Mockingbird on top of a cactus

My first sighting of the Tennessee Red Quail

Alas, the day came when we had to head back home to Yakima. Linda's sister and brother-in-law returned from their vacation well-rested and ready to resume their duties as dad's caregivers. We all watched the beginning of the last game of the World Series, then Linda and I said our goodbye's and left for our motel. We wanted to turn in early so we could get an early start the next morning. Unfortunately, the people in the next room were also watching the game, and none too quietly. After a while they quieted down, but it was a rough night for both of us. However, we did get an early start the next morning. Check out the clock on the wall.

At the Starbucks in Carpinteria @ 5am

Fuel for the drive

The first day's drive back home was uneventful except for a couple of traffic delays. It was definitely more interesting than the drive down had been because we went back on Highway 101 instead of Interstate 5. We had learned our lesson.

The hills along Highway 101

Much better scenery than I-5

Lettuce fields

The garlic capital of the world!

San Luis Reservoir

Victory!  We made it halfway home!

The second day's drive turned out to be very eventful at one point. Just outside of La Pine, Oregon (which marks our halfway point on that day), we encountered this below.

Needless to say, we were shocked to see snow falling when just days before we had been in over 100 degree heat. But we must remember that this two-day drive takes us all the way from southern California into the southeastern part of Washington, so the climate change is significant.

Pictures taken at a rest stop outside La Pine

We started to panic because we didn't want to be driving in snow for half a day and wind up having to go over passes without any snow tires or chains (which we don't even own). Fortunately, the snow eventually stopped and we continued on in clear weather. When we arrived in Yakima it was rather chilly outside but not snowing. However, the next morning was a different story.

The view out our front window

So, we arrived home to temperatures pretty much the same as when we left, with a little bit of snow as an added bonus. Another trip down to see dad was in the history books!

PARTING SHOT

Summer Girl was definitely glad to see us but did sulk a little bit. I would like to take a moment to thank our good friend, Linda H., for taking such excellent care of her while we were gone. She loves her Aunt Linda! Here is where she was for almost every second the day after we got home:

Summer Girl on my lap

Linda and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope you get to spend it doing what you love with people you love.


Thomas Fire Update:  I am happy to report that despite having to evacuate from the house three times during the Thomas Fire, everyone is fine. It was pretty scary for them but due to the diligent efforts of the firefighters and some pretty timely and efficient back-burning, dad's property was undamaged from the fire. It came very close but the firefighters were able to stop it from destroying any houses on the hills around dad's house. We are all very grateful for their hard work and sacrifice during this most trying time.