June 18-22--It’s the summer of 2021 and time to head north to escape the intense Texas summer heat.  This year it’s not working out so far.  Deb & I finally got away from our home in Georgetown a little after 1 PM on Wednesday the 18th heading for our first stop near Paris, Texas on our way to Burlington, Kansas.  After a trip up I-35, and negotiating the constricting construction that is underway (we think perpetually) in Waco, we arrived at the I 20/I 35 intersection just in time for a massive log jam.  The traffic was at a complete stop at the interchange, fortunately the problem seemed to be the lane heading to Fort Worth and not our lane which was to Shreveport.  Shortly after we cleared the Dallas traffic and emerged on I-30 heading east, we came upon a Buc-ees where we stopped for fuel and picked up a BBQ sandwich to be eaten when we reached our campground.  Our campsite for the night was a short 10 miles north of Paris, Texas at a Core of Engineers (COE) campground called Sanders Cove on Pat Mayse in the Red River Basin.  This turned out to be a very nice campground, as are most COE campgrounds.  After a restful night there, we birded the area before heading on to our goal for a few days at another COE campground, Lakeside West on John Redmond Lake near Burlington, Kansas.  We are spending five days here helping a friend of Deb’s who recently lost both her father and husband within the past two months.  The is also a Memorial Service scheduled for Saturday which we will attend.  In addition, we have plans to help her do some things that are needed around her property.  Unfortunately, the Texas heat has traveled with us and it has been 100 degrees here as well.  Today I put together the new Power Washer we brought with us for her and I pressure washed the deck which we will stain on Sunday.  From Sunday to Wednesday Deb (mostly Deb) and I did some task that need attention while Martha continued to work her job.  We stained the porches and did some minor work on equipment.  I have been bothered by a chalazion on my lower right eye lid.  I have seen three doctors on this and the one in Burlington finally got the right diagnosis as noted above.  Hopefully her instructions will solve the issue and I will not need to see a ophthalmologist to have it drained.  On Thursday morning we headed west.

This Barred Owl was seen while sitting at our campsite at Riverside West Campground.