Battle Creek Wildlife Area

After speaking with our neighbor, Ted, we learned that he had a close encounter with a Bald Eagle in the Battle Creek Wildlife Area. This area is part of the Sacramento River Bend area we went to yesterday. Well, that was enough for us to go back up to the area to see if we could be so lucky.

Battle Creek is a spawning creek for those fish headed up to the Coleman Fish Hatchery that is a couple of miles up the road. Here is a shot of a drainage ditch in to Battle Creek.

Here's another shot of Battle Creek. There were a lot of Vultures and some other birds of prey but no Bald Eagle. Our elusive bird stays just that. One of these days, we will get our perfect shot of one in the wild.

We drove up to the Coleman Fish Hatchery but it didn't compare to the Bonneville Fish Hatchery in Washington. We were treated with a flyover from an Osprey. John says he saw a Bald Eagle circling along with Vultures and I did get a glimpse of a white tail so it must be. Not the sighting I was hoping to have.

We headed home with my request to stop in Red Bluff first as there was a store I wanted to stop at and pick up a few items for Christmas before we leave town. That is where our trouble began. John went to park next to the curb and the Pressure Pro sensor on the tire hit the curb and broke the valve stem off the tire. I heard this huge swooshing sound. I asked John "is that us?" He said he thought it was outside. Well, he was right about that. When we saw that we had a flat tire, we set about to change the tire. One problem was that we couldn't get the spare tire down from the bottom of the truck bed. I placed a call for towing assistance and advised them that Red Bluff's Christmas parade was starting at 5:30 and we were just off Main St. We were told it would be about 45 minutes or so but that they would stay in touch. So while John waited, I went shopping to get the items that I wanted. When I got back, John said that he was told a tow truck would be here in about 20 minutes. It wasn't long after when the tow truck showed up. I must say the tow truck driver was very nice and it wasn't long before the flat tire was replaced. Well, we now know how to lower the spare so at least something good came from the experience. John has to be at the tire store to get the new valve stem installed and the tire pumped up first thing Monday as we are heading for Sacramento later in the morning.

Below is a picture of a carriage that was giving rides around town up until the start of the parade. I wanted to get a picture of the horse wearing a Santa's cap (so cute!) but I guess in the parade that would be too girly.

Everyone from the town must have been there or so it seemed. We were torn about staying and watching the parade but we were starving and didn't want to deal with all the traffic so we left. Just getting around all of the incoming traffic was a chore. Who knew that there could be major traffic jams in Red Bluff.

As our time here in Red Bluff is winding down, we must say we have enjoyed the area very much. This admission comes as a surprise because we thought the five weeks would drag by but they haven't. We like the Durango RV Park and their workers very much and have enjoyed being in Red Bluff but the draw of being closer to Melissa is starting to pull. We also have a few doctor/dental appointments and some catching up with friends to do in the month of December. I'm sure the time will fly by there also.