HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
Day 113 – It’s a new year & the beginning of Week 17, Trip #3, for us. It looks more clear today; the water in the reservoir looks more blue & there seems to be less brown in the air today. This is good! We lived in the smog for many years & I guess you just get used to it. But having been away from it for so long, it’s really amazing when we encountered it again. 43 degrees this morning at 8 a.m., sunny & mostly clear.
We drove to the reservoir to get pictures now that it’s more clear out – don’t know what it will be like tomorrow.
We went to a different wildlife refuge today, Merced National Wildlife Refuge. This one was smaller than the one we went to yesterday, but it had lots more birds. Just amazing! Merced NWR was about 45 minutes northeast of the campground. The lands we drove through on the way there were even more flat & monotonous than usual. Like walking on the moon or something. Rob took a picture.
Farmland near Los Banos, CA
Then out of nowhere is this oasis of a Refuge full of wildlife. Trees, marshes, birds, lakes & waterways. Many thousands of Geese & Ducks. Songbirds & Hawks. Ground Squirrels & Rabbits. At times the noise from the migrating ducks & geese was almost deafening. Their wildlife drive included two boardwalks with observation areas over the marsh. We spent the entire day there.
Ross’ Geese, Merced NWR, Merced, CA
To see lots more pictures of Merced NWR,
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Great day! On the way to the campground we passed a big herd of Tule Elk, right there at the SRA where we are staying. Rob stopped to get a picture or two of the dike with the sun starting to go down behind it. (We didn’t stop to get Elk pictures because we didn’t want to disturb them; they were pretty close to the road.)
San Luis Reservoir SRA, Gustine CA
Back to the RV near sunset. The kitties are happy to see us. Tomorrow we just might go back to both Wildlife Refuges again. You never know what you might see!
Happy New Year Rob & Vicki!
Happy New Year to you too Kushagra! I hope all is going well for you. We’re still loving being on the road!