Pella was so crowded too, that we need to get off the bike and walk to get through.

{{!gwi}}

Pretty flowers

We are rural, mostly farmland and only a few trees, I was surprised to see this Blue Jay this morning,

Sloth in a tree with a baby sloth

Night lights in Belfast, from my hotel room!

Jim, why were you surprised to see a blue jay? Beautiful bird.

Great sloth shot, Bob. Did you go to Costa Rica?

I haven't posted pictures in so long, but here's a couple.

Our dog, ready for Halloween. He looks worried.
{{!gwi}}

Did some fall garden decorating. I grew the pumpkins. The flat one is called "Cinderella."
{{!gwi}}

Socks, love your dog. A Westie I presume?

A locked door at the ghost town Bodie.

Jodi-

Nice variety of pics today, so I'll keep with the non-theme.

The official greeter in Daughter's driveway

Blue Jays prefer wooded areas and I am surrounded by farm land. In all the years I have lived here, that was the first one I have seen near the house. Same bird before he turned his head.

Yes, Jodi, a Westie without the Westie haircut. We keep him trimmed but will let him grow out a little now that it's getting cooler. Terrific picture from Bodie. Is it very developed or touristy there now, or just the buildings and that's it?

I see, Jim. We don't have that type of jay here in California; we have the scrub jays which aren't as good looking and the Stellars in local mountains which are georgeous birds. Not sure what "yours" is called.

I went to my field guide to see the difference.
Aphelocoma californica is the Western Scrub Jay.
Cyanocitta cristata is the Blue Jay. Our blue jay is a screamer, you can clearly hear its call more than 200 feet away. I hear them even without my hearing aids,

Jim

socks,

Yes that picture of the sloths was from Costa Rica, a stop somewhere in the middle of the month-long Semester at Sea that my wife and I took a couple of years ago.

The next day we visited a sloth sanctuary where they rescue and rehabilitate injured or orphaned sloths.