Immature Eagle at Old Reid

 An interesting Eagle experience today.... Friend & fellow photographer Bill tipped us on an Immature Bald Eagle at Old Reid just as we were heading out the door this morning. So, of course we headed that way. The Eagle was brunching when we arrived and we shot some images (I've blurred the prey details). When the eagle finished brunch, it roosted in an Old Reid tree for a bit and posed for pics. We left and did a quick look at Buck Creek State Park. On the way home, we decided to drive through Old Reid again. The Eagle was perched on the edge of the pond, less than 100 feet from some anglers who were catching Crappies. It was keeping an eye on them! When they tossed a small Crappie on the walkway, the Eagle immediately flew over to it, grabbed it, and began munching. While it was pretty cool to see, this interaction with humans isn't a good thing. Unfortunately, wildlife that becomes habituated and begs for food from humans can lead to their demise. The Eagle obviously has been used to getting handouts prior to today. It was interesting to watch, though. It's the closest we've ever been to a wild Bald Eagle.

Hooters!!!

I've been watching a Great Horned Owl in a cavity since mid-February. 
I wasn't sure whether is was a nesting female, but after my encounter yesterday....we're going to have Owlets! 
I say that because yesterday, the female was in the cavity, and in a nearby tree was another adult Great Horned Owl. It's now apparent that the "watcher" is the male, who keeps watch over the female that is likely sitting on eggs or possibly minding Owlets. 
Here's some pics since first sighting the roost last month.

Waterfowl at CJ Brown Reservoir

 Yesterday we spent the morning at the CJ Brown Marina. We had stopped there the previous evening on our usual drive and noticed a couple of large rafts of Red Breasted Mergansers just outside of the Marina. In past years, the Mergansers have ventured into the Marina and have put on the great show as they feed off of fish in the warmer waters inside the Marina boundaries. 
So, with that n mind, we headed out before sunup. Sure enough, the Mergansers were fishing in the cove on the the north side of the marina. 
Once the sun provided good light, we capture some images of them and other migrating waterfowl. Here's some looks....

Pair of Red Breasted Mergansers

Merganser lost his fish

Bonaparte's Gull stealing fish

Male Horned Grebe

Female Horned Grebe

Roadtrek Play Upgrades (part 6)

Upgrade Posts List:

Part 1 (Bed Coverings, Bask-a-Table, Aisle Upper Storage Shelf, Cup Holders (for table), Rear Corner Storage Mini Buckets)

Part 2 (Cab Blackout Curtains, Bathroom Door Latch, Bathroom Floor Mat, Bathroom Door Kickstop, Shower Head, Bathroom Motion/Light Sensing Puck Light)

Part 3 (Under Bed Storage Access, LED Headlights, Rear Door Spare Tire Mount)

Part 4 (Slider Door Handle, Exit Step Down Handle, TV Mount, Stove & Sink Covers, Utensil Drawer Storage)

Part 5 (Battery Disconnect for the Chassis, ScanGauge III)

Part 6 (Bathroom Privacy Curtain Extension)

 These are the upgrades in this post (Part 6):

• Bathroom Privacy Curtain Extension

Bathroom Extension
One of our few complaints about our Roadtrek Play is that there's not enough leg room in the bathroom. Once seated on the commode we're ok, but room to get britches down and back up is limited with the wooden doors closed. 
We've seen the "Extend a Rod" that many Roadtrek owners use to extend the shower curtain area, but we didn't feel that using it would benefit us as we needed,
After brainstorming for a bit, I saw this Folding Clothes Drying Rack on Amazon. I wasn't sure if it would work, but after receiving and installing....it's perfect. I used these Curtain Clips to hang the curtain once completed. 
We left our original shower curtain in place. This new curtain extension is not intended to function as a shower curtain... only to facilitate privacy.
We tried it out on a week long trip and it performed as intended. No longer any need to put up our side window privacy shield for pit stop. 
The last couple of pics show our installation area. We used an extra piece of shelving to add a reinforcement brace, but in retrospect I don't think that we needed to do so. While the rack is quite sturdy it's actually very lightweight. 

We used a curtain which matches the curtain we installed between the cab and coach.

Closeup view of the reinforcement we used.

View with door closed

Roadtrek Play Upgrades (Part 1)

    We've been getting a lot of questions about our upgrades to our 2023 Roadtrek Play. I thought that I would just post some of the things that we're done to improve functionality for us....hopefully, some of this information will be helpful to others as well. The posts are divided into 6 parts (thus far)....

 Upgrade Posts List:

Part 1 (Bed Coverings, Bask-a-Table, Aisle Upper Storage Shelf, Cup Holders (for table), Rear Corner Storage Mini Buckets)

Part 2 (Cab Blackout Curtains, Bathroom Door Latch, Bathroom Floor Mat, Bathroom Door Kickstop, Shower Head, Bathroom Motion/Light Sensing Puck Light)

Part 3 (Under Bed Storage Access, LED Headlights, Rear Door Spare Tire Mount)

Part 4 (Slider Door Handle, Exit Step Down Handle, TV Mount, Stove & Sink Covers, Utensil Drawer Storage)

Part 5 (Battery Disconnect for the Chassis, ScanGauge III)

Part 6 (Bathroom Privacy Curtain Extension)

These are the upgrades in this post (Part 1):

• Bed Coverings
• Bask-a-Table
• Aisle Upper Storage Shelf
• Cup Holders (for table)
• Rear Corner Storage mini Buckets

    Our RT Play is built on the 2022 (second half) Promaster 3500 chassis. We love driving it and enjoy all of the chassis upgrades, including safety features and the latest U-Connect system.
    Sleeping configurations in our Play can be used as two north-south twin beds, or as a king bed by using boards and bolsters which fit between the twin beds. We use the twin beds....they are more than adequate for us size-wise (they are each 39" wide by 75" long). They allow us to independently make bathroom trips without awakening the other, and also keep the aisle open for a more spacious feel. So....the bolsters that were to be used to make the king bed are stored at home, and we use 6 queen sized pillows and a couple of 18" x 18" throw pillows for backrests and sleeping. 
    We upgraded our bedding by using a couple of daybed covers purchased from Amazon. They each came with three queen size pillow shams and a decorative pillow. By placing the covers backwards (elastic fitted edge in front) there's about a 24" length of the fabric under the mattress on the wall side which keeps it in place.
We sleep directly on the daybed covers. They have a brushed (almost flannel-like finish) and they po off quickly to wash.
We each have a  Lightweight Sherpa Plush Blanket Twin Size. For storage, they roll up and fit onto an extra pillow sham. 

We love the red, black and gray plaid pattern!

    We have a couple of baskets that we keep in the aisle. I purchased them several years ago for another RV, and happily discovered that they fit perfectly in between the beds. Here's the link for the ones I bought (they were not quite so much then). Note that there are a couple of sizes at this link, and ONLY the 15" wide one fits between the Play beds. You may be able to find a similar basket that will fit between your beds. 





    One of the baskets sits on the floor, and we use it to store our electric shore line, our EMS Surge Protector, and our water hose. The second basket sits on one of the boards which was originally to be used to make the king bed. That gives us a sturdy base and we use that basket to store our photo gear and laptops while traveling. Because the baskets wedge securely between the mattresses, it's very secure.
    One of our most recent upgrades utilizing these baskets was the addition of our "Bask-a-Table." 🤣🤣🤣
    The Play comes with a pole that mounts in a floor bracket and which holds a table top that snaps onto the pole. After using it for a year, we felt like the table was always an issue for us....it was a bit wobbly, even when secured tightly.
    At some point we stopped using the pole and just started placing the original table top one the upper basket for meals, and also as a night table. After realizing that this was a better table solution for us, we constructed our "Bask-a-table" which we both like as an alternative to the original table. 

    While we can't place our legs under the table completely, we didn't feel it necessary since we usually sit at the end of the table or sit sideways against the cushions.  I don't think it would be too difficult to come up with a way to raise the height of the table.
Gracie is sitting in about the same position that we like. 

The table itself is constructed of 3/4" pine, which we stained and sealed to match our interior. We glued 1" shims underneath the top extending into the basket to keep the table secure. Because of our placement, the tabletop fits snuggly into the basket, yet easily lifts out for access to our gear. 

     Here's a pic from the rear doors showing how the lower basket is easily accessible when setting up camp....it slides out to get our shoreline and water hose. 
    The cup holders in this pic are from Amazon as well. They use a washable sticky pad to secure the holders to the table.....love them!

    Another storage solution seen in these pics is the aisle way shelf between the upper cabinets. We weren't certain that we would like them, so initially we used spring tension curtain rods to make the shelf. 4 for the bottom, and one for the rim.     After having them in place and liking the extra storage, we replaced the temporary shelf with a wooden shelf. We stained it to match our table. We cut and screwed a piece of aluminum "L Channel" on each side to hold the shelf. 

Then we glued a 1" lip on the front of the shelf. The cabinet doors prevent the shelf from sliding forward. 

A couple of light weight canvas baskets from Walmart complete the storage shelf. 

One last storage feature for this post....
    These little Hanging Buckets from Amazon make easy access for charging cables, TV controls, and our heated mattress controls. They fit snugly in the slots in the rear van corners. To place them, you need to pull the clip on the back of the cup out a bit and slide one corner into the slot...then the other side will slip in. 

Our heated mattress controls That's all for this post.. Upgrade Posts List: Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5