And I thought maybe with only three sites we might not get a spot, but when we arrived there was nobody there... except for our little buddy who was quick to greet us.
Here's the route of our drive...
Yesterday's drive, 115 miles (184 kms).
At this rate, we will probably arrive at Ruth's dad's place in Ontario a little faster than our planned date of August 1st. And that's fine... the sooner we get our 14 days of house arrest over with, the sooner we can see our family.
Not much to see.
Fields of corn and wheat.
Oh look... a curve!
We took some paved back roads to get to Tulare.
Why did the pheasant cross the road?
As we were about to learn, there are a lot of pheasants in this area. In fact, the town of Redfield (just north of Tulare) calls themselves the "Pheasant Capital of the World".
Scenery along the way.
We pulled in to the town park at Tulare, and there was nobody else around. Got ourselves set up, and even plugged in to 30 Amp electricity. Not that we need it... but it saves up some propane.
They even had 50 amp outlets at the three sites.
I got our chairs out and set them up under the shade shelter. As I'm doing that, I almost stepped on this little baby bird.
I went and got Ruth, and we looked at him (her?). He looked really healthy, but there didn't seem to be a mother around. We couldn't figure out what he was... he looked and acted a bit like a chicken!
And he was really friendly. Sitting in our chairs, he would come up and sit down right in between your feet. Ruth picked him up at one point and he just snuggled right up and went to sleep! We tried giving him water and some oats but he wasn't interested in either one.
Doing some research, we think that he was a baby ring-necked pheasant. This was before we realized that we are near the pheasant capital of the world!
Our little buddy hung around all afternoon with us under the shade structure. Apparently the pheasant can just look after himself only 2-3 days after being hatched. The poor little guy will have to watch out for owls and foxes though!
Not a bad spot for a free overnight.
But, with a poor internet signal, and the wind picking up, we are headed into the town of Redfield to use their library WiFi and wait out a windy day. Supposed to be better for driving tomorrow.
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Record low deal on the 8' Sport-Brella Sun Shelter.
And in Canada...
The Chinese ring-necked pheasant is the South Dakota State Bird!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't know that but now we do, thanks! :-)
DeleteDid you give your little buddy a name? “Snack” sounds sadly appropriate.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough we didn't, normally I would give it a name, I don't know what I was thinking! ;-)
DeleteIt’s unfortunate you view quarantine as house arrest. We have been working very hard in Canada to keep the spread of infections down. 14 days is a very small price to pay to protect your fellow citizens. We have all had to make sacrifices during this unprecedented time.
ReplyDeleteYes Sue, I do consider it as house arrest, because that's exactly what it is. You can call it whatever name you like, but when the conditions are as strict as what they are, it is exactly the same as being punished.
DeleteYou are currently in the highest infected country in the world - I think you misunderstand your responsibility to society.
DeleteI have no problem following the rules Sue. I simply disagree with them.
DeleteAnd I should add... if you have been following our travels here, you know that we have done everything possible to minimize the risk to ourselves and other people. Those precautions will continue no matter what side of the border we are on.
DeleteWhat a bonus free camping with power we’ve recently come across a few free camps here in Aus that offer this too. Cute chick perhaps he wanted bugs and worms
ReplyDeleteThere are still some of these parks around and it is nice to come across them. We found some free parks in Australia but I don't think any of them had power.
DeleteYes, I think probably he/she would rather have had some bugs or worms or maybe even some seeds.