This morning we wandered around the Palm Springs campground and hiked up to the top of a butte, a tremendously warming exercise. As we were finishing up the sun hit the bottom of the canyon and the trees really came alive. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, we zoomed up north and started slowly down the central patrol road, stopping frequently. We braved a very windy levy for looks at two kinds of swans. We frowned at idiots who were harrassing a great horned owl. After grabbing our snack food bag, we headed up to the top of Steen mountain, which was clearly covered with snow. We saw Snow Buntings, a life bird for Steve and a really cool find. We didn't get to the top of the mountain due to snow drifts, but we took some excellent pictures and generally had an adventure.

At dinner I met Steve's friend Terry, who is a remarkable man. A very large, thoughtful man who has been a bar bouncer, professional trapper, policeman, professional hunter, and employee of the malheur wildlife refuge. Now he roams the west, camping and taking wildlife photographs to turn into greeting cards. I hope to get some of them.Terry is a native of Oregon, and has very strong views about government bureaucracy, cowboys, resistance to change, mosquitos, and drinking. I'm so glad I got to meet him.

Mary says on the phone that she put down a deposit on a rental house in Santa Clara. I hope we won't be let down.