The monarch butterfly migration is underway

While walking the eastern shore of Lake Michigan we have been treated to an incredible profusion of Monarch butterflies, all travelling southward in their annual migration to Mexico. Exhausted, some rest on the beach and we have to be careful where we step.

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Copyright (C) 2019 Norman Retzke "All Rights Reserved"

The guardians to knowledge...

Today's helpful expression:

"The guardians to the gate of knowledge are Paradox and Confusion".

I got that in a course on living, many years ago....





Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Our Present Location

Not everyone heeds the red flag warnings - September 4, 2019

Butterflies

It has been a stellar year for butterflies. I'm not sure why. The campground we are at has a lovely floral garden and that certainly has an impact, but I can't explain why they are so prolific. Friends elsewhere, such as Minnesota, have agreed on the proliferation this year.

G and I were discussing the "out of focus" backgrounds in some of my photos. I use a specific aperture setting to reduce depth of field, which yields a crisp foreground and fuzzy background. This makes the object of interest stand out. In this case it was the butterfly and the flower. I learned to do this in the old days when we shot in 35mm using something called "film". Back then I also spent many hours in the dark room developing the negatives and making prints. While the digital technology has replaced that technology, the principles of optics and the lessons I learned so long ago still apply today...

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Roadtrek Featured Models - July 21, 2019

Updated September 23, 2019
The "New" Roadtrek website is up and running.  You can see the current model offerings, but no idea of delivery status. The manuals section is there as is a list of dealers......

This is an opportune time to download the official manuals for your Roadtrek if you haven't already done so. We carry PDF versions of these and other manuals such as the Onan generator with us when travelling.

The Chevy  models are no longer offered. The Roadtrek company will be showing their Ford Transit based model during an "Open House" in Elkhardt IN  September 23-26, 2019. The Ford Transit model will be there. This may be the same one that the "old" Roadtrek was showing before bankruptcy.  No word yet on availability.

https://www.roadtrek.com/

Original Post
I've wondered which models Rapido will be building. Here is the current Roadtrek website information. It seems the Chevy based 210P and 190 are no more!  The 170 had been removed from the list some time earlier by Roadtrek....

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

July 4

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Swallows keep insect pests at bay

We enjoy the acrobatics of barn swallows as we walk along the lakeshore in Michigan.  These birds and the dragonfly are are friendly insect catchers.  We sit on a breakwater or at a bench and watch them dive and swoon capturing insects.

 I do know the barn swallows can make a mess beneath their nests.  It is possible to provide them with a conducive environment where they build in places where their droppings are a part of nature.

They are so small and so fast! They can change direction unexpectedly. But they aren't afraid of us sitting and chatting, so they come very close, possibly because of the insects attracted to us.  Photographing them in flight can be a challenge!

 

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/