Babies

I love birds.  Since we've been in this spot we've had five bird houses and each year usually only one will have birds in it.  Each year a pair of Eastern Blue Birds have taken up residence in one of the boxes and raised three or four nests of babies over the course of the summer.  I am not sure if it is the same two birds who stay all summer or not but the same house is used over and over and over all summer then the next summer they choose a different house and use it all summer too.  This year we have been doubly fortunate as two of our bird houses have residents in them.  A pair of Finches are raising their young in one and a pair of Eastern Blue Birds are raising their babies in another at the same time.  Both of the houses stay busy all day long with the mother and father birds flying in and out every few minutes with food for their babies.  I've yet to see any of the babies but we certainly hear them singing all day long.  They are quite noisy but it is music to my ears.  I have a few bird feeders that I plan to take along in our travels and hope to have a few birds stop by for feeding but this may be the last of us having the opportunity to have babies to watch.  Along with the Finches and Blue Birds we also have a pair of mallard ducks that visit us daily.  They know I always have food for them so they make an appearance several times a day.  I'm thinking they may have a  nest nearby along the lake edge although I've not seen one but they tend to hang out there all the time when they are not here at our RV site.  We are leaving the five bird houses behind when we leave and hope that the birds will continue to use them and bring joy to future occupants of this site.  

Preparing

David and I have been in this RV park for the past four years.  Now we are in a position to travel again and can't wait to hit the road.  In the beginning we are not planning on straying too far away.  We have reservations up until mid July and at this point we don't want to make plans any further out.  We are spending our remaining weeks of May trying to prepare everything for full time traveling.  Two new batteries were installed this week and today for the first time since we moved the fifth wheel into this spot we pulled in the four slides.  YES!  They worked just fine.  We pulled up the carpet about a year or so ago and had wood flooring installed so today we were both holding our breath as we tested the slides.  I'm thinking that test should have been performed when the flooring was being installed but at this point it doesn't matter because they work fine.  I have completely organized everything inside the RV as well as the basement storage area.  Everything is in clear plastic boxes with snap lock lids and properly labeled.  I have to have things organized and I am just hoping David will do his best to help keep it that way.  We had a big sale a couple of weeks ago and got rid of all the stuff that has been accumulating over the past four years.  Sold our car, washer and dryer, big refrigerator/freezer and now the last big item remaining is the 10x16 storage barn we had built on the adjacent site. Once that is sold we can breathe a big sigh of relief.  Now we are updating the RV to get it all ready for our adventures.... new TV satellite and washer/dryer are to be installed soon as well as new tires for the RV.  We will be leaving this park near the end of May and heading to a state park in Georgia.  In our remaining days here we hope to take in a couple of factory tours that we have been meaning to take but have not had time until now.  If we fit them in I will be sure to blog about them.  

Wrightsville Beach, NC

After the interesting geocache find we opted to spend the day at Wrightsville Beach.  It was a hot, sunny day and just perfect.  The water was cool but that didn't stop Hannah, Jordan and Elizabeth from getting in the ocean.  The entire family played bocce ball and David is the king when it comes to winning that game.  What fun! Wrightsville Beach is a pretty beach and although it is still fairly early in the season it was quite crowded for the Easter weekend holiday.

Hannah the mermaid

Wrightsville Beach sand dunes

Wilmington, NC

David and I are getting ready to hit the road and start traveling in our RV again.  The past month has been a very busy one with us getting everything prepared and getting rid of the "stuff" we have accumulated over the past few years.  It is amazing how quickly you gather things.  Last weekend was Easter and we decided to take a trip to the coast of NC to visit our son and daughter-in-law.  This was a car trip but I wanted to blog about the trip because of something we did that was fun and interesting and I felt I needed to share.  We had our grand daughter with us on the trip and decided to do some geocaching.  Jordan took us to a cache he had previously found and it had to do with Venus Fly Trap plants.  The only place on the planet where they grow in the wild is within a 100 mile radius of Wilmington, NC.  I have always been fascinated by these plants and over the years I have owned several but this was the first time I had ever seen them growing wild.  They were just coming up for the season and were still on the small side but it was fantastic to see them.  Lots of pitcher plants were blooming as well.  Below are a couple of photos.

Hannah, Elizabeth and Jordan walking on the trail where the Venus Fly Traps and Pitcher plants were growing

Venus Fly Traps growing in the wild