We are back in "Killing Time" mode and as luck would have it we weren't more than 3-miles down the road when we ran into some road construction trafiic that kept us sitting still for almost 10-minutes. 10-minutes doesn't sound like much, but every little bit helps!
We still have just over a half tank of gas, but we pulled into a station that was selling gas for $5.48 when everyone else was closer to $6.00, so we filled up.
Then we went back to the same Walmart parking lot where we spent some time in 3-days ago so Tricia could go in and pick up her Cranberry Juice that she forgot the last time. Again, every little bit of time helps.
A few of the YouTube channels we regularly watch are all traveling Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica this year because it's the 100th Anniversary of the Mother Road's completion.
Every once in a while I can search along our route on Google Maps when we're trying to "kill some time" and find a scenic spot to pull over for a while. Today we hit the jackpot for just such a place.
It was out in the full sun so we could recharge our solar batteries, it was up high where we were in a nice breeze and it had a view.
OUR LUNCH SPOT
It doesn't look like much on Google Maps, but wait until you see the slideshow.
We had to trust that Google Maps was correct and there would be room to turn around up there.
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Turns out there was plenty of room to make a wide u-turn with THE POD attached.
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This spot is listed as the Pardee Reservoir Vista Point on Google Maps.
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The Pardee Reservoir covers 3-square miles with 37 miles of jagged shoreline.
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At the south end of the reservoir is the Pardee Dam, which we get to drive over when we leave.
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The green light means it's our turn to go across the 1-lane dam.
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The walls were so high we couldn't even see over them as we drove across the dam.
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No traffic light needed to cross the large straight spillway, just yield if someone is there.
Just 9-miles further down the road we arrived at New Hogan Lake where the Acorn Campground is located. It will be our home for just 2-nights before we move again to another Army Corp campground just a little bit south of here.
It started with a male and female Blue Jay that were apparently having a lover's quarrel over something. There were chasing each other by darting over and under our picnic table before moving on to somewhere else.
Then there was a larger black bird that was hobbling around on one leg. A squirrel was trying to sneak up behind him, but at the last second he flew off to safety.
It was then that Tricia got her cell phone up to start photographing the parade.
WILDLIFE PARADE
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There was a small herd of six deer at the waters edge.
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15-minutes later the deer had approached much closer to our campsite.
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After being assured no harm would come to them they walked right in front of us.
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He eventually rendezvoused back up with momma to proceed on their way.
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30-minutes later a group of six river otters came floating past our campsite.
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Tricia was on a phone call at the time and didn't take any video of the otters.
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They didn't seem to be in any hurry and remained within sight for half an hour.
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Here's three of them in one photo, but I assure you there were six in all.
There was other wildlife also, like egrets, ducks and Canadian Geese, but these tended to hang out on the far bank of the reservoir, much too far away to photograph.
At lunch time today we took our two empty 3-gallon water jugs into town to refill at the grocery store. Also while in town we ate lunch next door at the Taco Bell.
When we returned to the campsite we sat outside in the shade because the tempurature inside THE POD a stifling 96°F. Tricia was so jealous when these four women came paddling passed our campsite in their kayaks. They looked so "cool" out there on the water.
DEER PARADE 2.0
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One by one the deer began grazing on the grass in the empty campsite next to us.
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They no sooner made it down to the water when a loud truck pulled into the empty campsite.
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Getting bored with watching the three men set up camp they mosied off to the right.
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About a hour after the previous video we heard the guy next door yelling about something. At first I thought he might be yelling a the dog they brought with them. Then I saw what the commotion was about.
One of the larger deer had his front feet up on the picnic table bench and was gnawing on a loaf of bread. When the guy starting yelling the deer pulled it down onto the ground and then took a defensive stance with it's head down, their front feet holding onto the loaf and it's eyes up, continuing to tear apart the bread wrapper with their teeth.
This went on for an least 2-minutes before the deer finally pulled several slices out of the wrapper and backed off about 20' to enjoy their plunder. Tricia was a little slow getting the video rolling, but you can clearly see the loaf of bread on the ground (behind the guy) and what he did next was not the proper reaction.
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