Aug24
Posted on Aug 24 by Ruth Davis
All is well here on the Oregon coast. We are so grateful to be in this cool climate, with clean air, the forest and the ocean, and lots of fresh seafood. We are enjoying our snowy plover docent job, though, after 9 weeks, it’s a bit repetitive telling people the same information about the plovers. But we’ve also had some delightful conversations with visitors, and I love giving out dog cookies to all of the dogs who are heading to the beach. And I wrote a song about the snowy plovers, which still delights me every time I sing it. (Click here to hear it.) And we love the area, the campground, and being able to hear the ocean from our campsite. And we both so appreciate that we get to climb the dune and walk on the beach every day as part of our job. We work 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, which is a little more than we’d prefer, but it’s worth it. Our dear friend Judy came to visit this past week, and we...
Aug22
Posted on Aug 22 by Ruth Davis
We spent a gorgeous summer on the central coast of Oregon volunteering with Fish and Game as snowy plover docents. Our job was to walk along the beach! and share information with visitors about the snowy plover, a threatened shorebird that nests in the soft sand during the summer. I am delighted to share my Snowy Plover song with you. I loved writing, rewriting, and, of course, singing it. Just click on the blue words THE SNOWY PLOVER SONG below to play the video. If you’d like a copy of the words to learn and sing along, let me know! ENJOY! THE SNOWY PLOVER SONG by Ruth Davis...
Jun28
Posted on Jun 28 by Ruth Davis
It’s been almost a month since we pulled out of Phoenix and headed west and north to the Oregon coast. It was an easy, wide open, 5-hour drive across the desert to our first overnight camp in Yucaipa, California. The county park has great camp sites tucked into high desert and trees. We leveled and did the usual unpacking, which includes putting out the slides. But the rear slide was stuck in the closed position. I got up on the roof to see if anything was stuck in the mechanism, but it looked fine. So we agreed to stop trying, in case we got it out, and then couldn’t get back in. Without the back slide extended, we lost two and a half feet of floor space in the back half of the RV. We had to squeeze past the stove to get to the bathroom and the door only opened half way. And the bed was up against the drawers, with no walkway around, which meant Marika would have to climb over me to get in and out,...
May24
Posted on May 24 by Ruth Davis
I hope you are doing well wherever you are, noticing the changes in the seasons, the skies, your own energy. And I hope you are breathing often. I mean, really breathing. To ground yourself, to give yourself permission to pause, to slow it all down. It’s the only way to stay sane and centered when everything around you is a challenge.Conscious, big belly breathing is how I’ve gotten through this full and challenging month here in the Big City. After several return trips to the RV repair place, a lot of hassle and arguing, everything is finally working. And we have a toilet that fits the space, that doesn’t leak. We also have a new foam and mattress topper on the bed, stiffer foam in my writing space cushions, and a humidifier to add to our collection of temperature control items. And since Marika’s insurance is only good in this county, she got a follow-up mammogram (all clear), and took care of a cancerous spot on her cheek. We also had my dad’s house treated for termites, and got him a new ID card,...
May20
Posted on May 20 by Ruth Davis
We were supposed to be on the road today, heading west and north to our summer volunteer job on the Oregon coast. But two Saturdays ago, after a delightful dinner out with friends, we came home, turned the AC down and lost electricity in the RV. And we smelled something burning. We followed the smell to the 30 amp plug in the sewage compartment where you attach the power cord when traveling. The power cord that was plugged into the RV park’s electric post, was fine. The damage seemed to be contained inside our plug box, thank God. But without electricity or the use of the generator, we quickly packed up some things and arrived at my Dad’s house at 11:30 pm. Fortunately, we’d been there the week before, when the RV was getting a new toilet. So we were all comfortable and familiar with the space and each other. On Monday we drove the RV back to the repair place. We knew their schedule was full, but they said they’d fit us in, and have it done by Friday....
Apr20
Posted on Apr 20 by Ruth Davis
We’re in our last traveling days before pulling into Phoenix for the month of April. We’ve been mostly hop-skipping our way west, with shorter one and two night stop overs every two hundred miles between Galveston and southern Arizona, where we’re relaxing for this last week. We spent a long weekend outside of Austin near the lower Colorado River, in the same park system where we were camp hosts last March. This time we stayed on the North Shore, with open grass areas and a lovely view of Lake Bastrop. We chose to return to the area so we could get together with friends who live in Austin, and also to eat at a really delicious Chinese restaurant. We were so disappointed to find out that the restaurant had closed the day we got there. We stayed in Kerrville for three nights, in a private campground along the Guadalupe River. We celebrated my 60th birthday there with a drive into the small town, got a free cone from Dairy Queen, and scored some fun shirts at the thrift store. Marika...
