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Chatfield State Park

 There weren’t many people camping with us the last couple nights at John Martin Reservoir State Park. But we’ve moved on.  Now we’re at Chatfield State Park, by Matt and Lindsay. 2016 Summer Trip Map The sun came out and the weather warmed up.  We set out the bird feeder and the new solar bird bath fountain.  It’s good to be here. 
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John Martin Reservoir State Park

 Hasty, CO. 2016 Summer Trip Map Our site. The view out our windshield. Now we’re at the same latitude as San Francisco and Richmond, Virginia, waiting out the weather again.  It’s a little cold here compared to what we’re used to, but it’s 20 degrees warmer out here on the Eastern Plains than it is in the Denver area.  Denver is still messing around with that silly white stuff. While we were in Amarillo we got a good look at a red-headed woodpecker.   
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Fifty years ago,

 …last Monday, I landed back in The World.  We were so far away and so out-of-touch that was how we referred to home.  “The World.” Wednesday, I returned to Judy.  I never took her home again except the night before our wedding.  Didn’t want to risk any bad luck by seeing the bride during the day before the wedding, so I had her home by midnight the night before.  Otherwise, we stayed together day and night, staying up all night or sleeping on couches. Today, Saturday, we decided to get married the following Saturday.  The alternative would have been for me to go on to Fort Campbell, Kentucky by myself and wait another year to get married, so at 20 and 17, we announced we were getting married in a week.  Legal ages being 21 and 18, each of our parents had to sign for us.  
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While we were at South Llano,

 …we saw a lot of birds.  Two of them are rare, with limited ranges in the United States, the golden-cheeked warbler and the black-capped vireo.  We saw the warbler high in a tree.  We got photos of the vireo coming in for a drink.  He moves fast. Here he is on the approach (over on the left).  That’s a yellow-breasted chat on the right side of the picture (they’re not so rare). He moves in for a quick surveillance.  There is a female cardinal already in the water, but he goes for it anyway. Got the shot! 
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Amarillo, Texas

 Choke Canyon for one night, Llano River for a couple nights, then a tacky RV Park in Big Spring.  By that time we had gone so far north we were just even with Interstate 20, and the southern border of New Mexico. 2016 Summer Trip Map Now we’re at Oasis RV Park outside Amarillo on Interstate 40, even with Albuquerque.  Looking to the east, we’re just across from Arkansas and the southern border of Tennessee. We’re one day away from Colorado but now we’re watching for weather windows.  Colorado is having a bout of springtime winter weather again.  We’ll spend two days here in North Texas where it’s still warm, until the weather clears in Southeastern Colorado.