Steve and Judy's Travels!

A red-shouldered hawk.

The harris’s hawk pictures from a couple nights ago; that’s a southern bird.

The red-shouldered hawk, mostly an eastern bird, is more widespread in the U.S.

Have to wonder a little how that disjointed red-shouldered hawk west coast population got there.

And we’re home.  A little cold in the 60s and rainy all week in the Hill Country.  Perfect weather here as we returned today.  85 degrees.  The polar hit happens Monday.  We’ll be cold in the 40s for three days, then back in the 80s.

Now it’s March, and we’re at 4,106, 292, 47, 138.  Miles, birds, hours, counties.

Miles remaining to get to Fairbanks (We’re a little closer right now, but really we’re farther away because we have to go back home again before we start.).  Number of bird species remaining to get to 500 for the year (By the middle of January we only needed to get one new bird a day for the remainder of the year.  We have that, and a cushion of 12 species at the end of February.), number of hours of continuing education remaining to get to the 80 hour requirement (it didn’t change much in February, but I got all the ethics hours done!  I only need about 4 ½ hours per month to get to zero.), and number of counties in Texas we haven’t recorded at least one bird in (That won’t change until we head north and cover new ground).

The dash air is fixed, the speedometer has been recalibrated, and the right outside mirror replaced.  Tonight, we’ve left Pipe Creek and are camped at Quiet Texas RV Park again.

2019 trip home from Pipe Creek

250 miles to home.  We expect to be there tomorrow night.

A lot of times, looking up into the sun, the light is terrible, and raptors are just silhouettes without much definition.

Here is what the silhouette of a Harris’s Hawk looks like.

Dad had Auburn cars parked on the street, in the driveway, and at least one in the garage taken apart.  There were always parts; parts on the workbench; parts stacked on the floor.

Today I hold this part in my hand, and it takes me right back.

If anything ever looked like a part for an antique or classic automobile, this is it!

It could be from a Model T!  (It’s also busted.)

Believe it or not, this is a resistor that helps control the dash air in our modern motorhome.  When motorhomes are designed, it’s all about the main concepts.  They design the rig to fit on a standard chassis; sometimes they build their own, but most just pick an existing proven design.  The motorhome will run a Caterpillar engine, or a Cummins.  As far as I know, every big motorhome uses an Allison transmission.  All the big stuff, that’s standard.

For all the little parts that make the whole thing work, the motorhome designers don’t build all their own parts, and they aren’t tied to any particular brand.  The pieces don’t even have to be located in a normal place.  They grab whatever works and fits in the space allowed, wherever that space happens to be.  In the case of the resistor for our dash air switch, it was not behind the dashboard anywhere near the dash air controls.  It was found from the outside front, behind and beside the generator cabinet.  It is not an antique, or a classic.  It’s not from a 1938 Studebaker.  It’s from a 1980s series Ford F-100 pickup truck.  Who knew?

The replacement part should be here tomorrow, and our dash air fan should work again.

And in line with my previous posts: