Norwegian Fire Logs and Birds

Last night we had our first campfire.  Regis built a Norwegian Fire log.  It is a judicious use of limited firewood.  Firewood runs about $6-7 for about 6 pieces.  He’s very proud of his accomplishment.  It burned all evening.

We brought a little weather station with us.  It’s basically an indoor/outdoor thermometer.  Whenever we stop, Regis puts the outside piece on the trailer tire until we leave.  That way we know how cold/warm it is outside and inside.  It didn’t take long to forget to bring the outdoor piece with us when we packed to leave.  We think the piece is crunched in the campground in Medora, ND.

It’s cool today and windy.  I think that made the ticks less active.  After the same walk we took yesterday, Dart came back with significantly fewer ticks.  We still have to check him every time he goes out, but it was a lot easier to deal with today.

I went to the dam’s interpretive center today and met the two guys in the picture below.  I think they look very, very good for their age.  (I know its a bad shot.  It’s two dinosaurs.  It looks like the one in back is chomping on the one in front.)

There are gulls flying around here.  It’s strange to me to see gulls so far inland.  One of the things I like about the coasts is the sound of the gulls (yes, it’s true).  Knowing we are in the middle of the prairie and seeing gulls flying around is odd.

Often, when we went for walks through the grassland in ND and MT, the killdeer ran on the path in front of us and screamed.  We haven’t seen one pull the broken wing routine, but I find it interesting they stick to the path ahead.

We saw Cedar Waxwings today and more Baltimore Orioles.  By far the most common birds we have seen across the country are Robins and Red-Winged Blackbirds.  Some of my favorite pictures for today are below.

We made it a point not to drive anywhere today and it was nice.  I spent some time closing my eyes and listening to the birds sing.  We did walks, sat in the sun, read, and looked at maps.  I got a bunch of maps at the Interpretive Center.  It’s beginning to look like I’m starting a map collection.