NEW 2021 GMC YUKON XL AT LAST

 In January 2020, I started trying to order a new GMC Yukon XL.  Starting at that time, I figured that I would have delivery by mid-summer.  I was wrong. The virus screwed everything up.  I started trying different dealers around the state to find one that could order the vehicle. I tried 7 different dealers.  Finally, one of them contacted me in April 2021 and said that they had just received an okay from GM to order the vehicle I wanted.  It was only because the salesman there remembered me from an earlier contact and contacted me to let me know his dealership had gotten approval for a 2021 GMC Yukon XL like I wanted.  I can't thank Bob Yozamp with Miller Buick GMC in St. Cloud enough for all his help and keeping me in mind.  The new vehicle was delivered to me on the 15th of June 2021.  A year and a half is the longest I have ever had to wait to get a new vehicle.  We have taken a short trip in it already and have a little over 200 miles on it.  I think it is going to be a good one.  Here are some pictures.

Front and drivers side

Drivers side

Rear

Passenger side

Patrick

NEW GUY

 There are several Mallard Drakes that come up and eat under the bird feeders on a regular basis.  They do a good job of cleaning up the stuff that the birds knock off the feeders.  This year, for the first time, there is a new guy in the bunch.  It is a male Wood duck.  We have never had any Wood ducks around here before.  He seems to be all by himself as we haven't seen any others or any Wood duck hens.  He is a nice looking fellow and seems to get along with the Mallards just fine.  Here are some pictures of the Mallards and the Wood duck.

 This is the Wood duck.

Ducks in a row on the way back to the river.  They normally walk or waddle, but will fly if startled

This is the bunch that was here this morning.  There are sometimes as many as 10 or 12 at one time.

Patrick

MISS BULLY

We have two Hummingbird feeders right outside our kitchen window.  We have been having a lot of Hummers visiting lately.  Now we have a female bully that has decided that they are all hers.  She sits on top of one of the feeders and chases away any other birds that come around and I don't think it is for social distancing.  She is going to have a lot of work to keep this up.

  This is the bully sitting on her throne.

This is a close up of the bully.

This is her having a bite to eat.

Patrick
 

APRIL SNOW

 It looked like for awhile that we weren't going to get our usual April snow this year.  We have had days in the 70's and 80's recently and several rainy days.  But, good old Mother Nature came through again with enough snow to make it all white out again.  Hope it doesn't last long and the sunny days of spring and summer get here soon.

 Our backyard April 14, 2021.

A good coating on the Gazebo roof.

All the bird feeders are well coated.

The front yard.

No grilling for a couple days.

 Patrick

MISCELLANEOUS

 Here it is the 1st of March and it has been a good winter.  Soon be time to go back to Minnesota and hopefully the start of spring.  Not much to report, we are still both healthy and no virus.  Looking forward to getting home so that we can get out shots.  We will be headed home around the 25th depending on any spring storms.  Not much else new.  Below are a couple photos taken recently.

 

 This is a Gambel's Quail that was sitting on a wire right outside my window.  They are common in the area and we see them often.

 

This is a shot of the full moon setting over the mountains.  When I first saw it, it was a big round ball sitting on top of the mountain.  By the time I got the cameras, it was like this.

This is a shot of Pat and Ilene at the Pizza place.  We met for pizza recently.

 Patrick

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 Just a quick note to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.  Looking forward to much better times in 2021.  Hope it is a healthy and enjoyable year.  Every one take care, be safe and get your shots when you can.

Patrick

PICTURES FROM OUR LAST DAY GOING TO lAKE HAVASU CITY

 We are in Lake Havasu City, AZ now, arriving yesterday after a 4 day driving trip.  The trip went well and we arrive safely.  The first 3 days there are not a lot of things to take pictures of.  The fourth day has some interesting things to snap.  All of these pictures were taken from the car with it moving at around 75 mph.  I wasn't driving, my dear wife Pat was at the wheel and did great.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

This is the first mountain we see east of Flagstaff, AZ.  It had snow this year, but there have been years in the past when it was bare.  It is in the area where all the skiing is done for the Flagstaff ski area.

Another shot of the mountain from about 5 miles closer.

Just a big hump of a hill with flat land around it.

This is west of Flagstaff and we are starting the down hill run.

The big hump hill from closer up.

AZ didn't agree.

Another down hill shot.  Some of the runs were pretty steep.

Going back up again.  This happens several times between Flagstaff and when you get all the down to the low lands

This was along down hill run and steep.

And up again.

This was just coming into Kingman, AZ.  It is at the bottom of the hills in the distance.

Some of you will remember Andy Divine as the sidekick of Roy Rogers. Andy was actually born in Flagstaff, but grew up in Kingman and considered that his home town.  He was in many movies and TV shows.  Kingman named the main street of the town in his honor.

The sign we were looking for all day.

The off ramp to go to Lake Havasu is on the right by the truck in the picture.

This is the "boondockers" area just before you get to Lake Havasu.  Boon dockers are those that don't want to be in an RV camp and just find a place out in the country to park.  This camp gets to be very large when all of them get here.

The very first glimpse of the lake.

 

A closer shop of the main body of the lake. and we are in Lake Havasu City.

 

Patrick

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.  Hope everyone has a fun and safe day with lots to eat.  Today we are having turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cranberry sauce and peach cobbler for dessert.  Hope your meal is as great.

Patrick and Pat

WINTER, AGAIN!

 We got around 5 inches of snow yesterday during the evening and night.  The ground was totally bare from the very nice weather we had last week.  This may not last long as it is suppose to warm up a little in the coming week.  I am sure there will be more soon enough  It does clean everything up and make it look pretty.

Our backyard white again.

Bird feeders all covered up. 

No More grilling this year.

The trees are all snowed up also.

Patrick

STUMP REMOVAL AND FIRST SNOW

 In the previous blog I had pictures of some trees we had removed.  Yesterday the guy came to remove the stumps and get the spots ready for lawn again.  The pictures will show a couple steps in the process.  And, as a bonus, there is a picture of the first snow this winter.  It is far to early, but has to happen I guess.

This is what the stumps looked like after the trees were taken down.  They were surrounded by a rubber edging and the area was filled with River rock.  The flags in this picture were to mark a sprinkler head and the water supply line to it.

This is how they looked after the edging and rock had been removed.

Here is the second one before rock removal

Second one after rock removal.

This is how it looks after the stump has been ground away and black dirt has been added.  It would be black if the snow hadn't come this morning.  At least it is nice and smooth and will be easy to mow over next summer.

This is the back yard with the first snow of the season.

Patrick