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Driven to Distraction 2

 in camping / Travel tips  tagged GPS / road trip / travel by

The man is losing it. I’ve gotten used to Steve firing up our GPS, Faith, to drive to places that he could find in his sleep. I concentrate on my puzzles and block out her prattling every name ever assigned to each highway. When he ignores her pleas to “turn around when possible,” I console myself: better her than me. But for our trip to Newfoundland, Steve decided that we would listen to Faith and the truck’s built-in GPS’ in tandem.  A month-long duet of “route recalculation” and “turn around when possible?” Yes, absolutely, a second opinion would double our chances of finding the best route for our 8,000 mile journey. Great, […]

Romancing the Condor

 in Peru / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged condors / Inca ceremony / Machu Picchu / Peru / Temple of the Condor / travel / vulture by

  At Machu Picchu’s Temple of the Condor, Incas placed their deceased leaders on a specially carved stone then attracted a condor to carry the leader’s spirit to the sky.  Nice imagery, I guess, but knowing that “condor” is another name for “vulture” takes a lot away.   Note to loved ones:  Please don’t invite a vulture to my funeral.

Patroling for Pals

 in Newfoundland / Wildlife/animals  tagged Newfoundland / road trip / states visited count / travel / travel dog by

Our Colorado to Newfoundland road trip chalked up more states for our 3 1/2 year-old lab than I had amassed at 40.  Raven now has BFFs–dog and human–in 13 states and 3 provinces.  She traded smooches with a biker babe in St. Andrews, comforted a man who’d spent the day searching for his wife’s purse in Acadia, and contaminated the hands of most of the diners and wait staff in a dockside café in Bar Harbor.  If only her leash were longer she’d be a serious contender for president.

Brilliant Gift for Traveling Dad

 in Gratitude / Travel tips  tagged appreciation / Father's Day / gift for Dad / grandkids / lawn / travel / yard work by

We spent last June on the road. Steve hoped that his stingy watering program would keep our lawn from going jungle, but that plan was called on account of rain.  Our ever-loving (and seriously overworked) son sent a message telling us how bad our place looked, then followed up with, “I mowed it for you.  Have a good Father’s Day.” He couldn’t have come up with a better gift. Now, here we are gallivanting through June again.  We hear it’s been hot at home, so maybe Plan A will come through this time.  In any case, we hope our overworked son lets the lawn go and enjoys a day […]

Who Doesn’t Want to Hold a Shark?

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged Florida / mosquitoes / Patrick O'Donnell / Rookery Bay / sharks / South Fort Myers High Scool / travel by

Photo provided by Patrick O’Donnell, Environmental Specialist in Fisheries The question came from Vanessa, a South Fort Myers High School girl who joined our Rookery Bay shark tagging trip with Pat O’Donnell.  Oddly enough, I seriously wanted to hold a shark.  Having read so much about them, I wanted to experience a living, gill-breathing, not too dangerous little shark in my hands for a heartbeat or two.  Sadly, all we met while fishing Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands were catfish, isopods, and several zillion mosquitoes.  Still, it was a thrilling experience, and I’m so glad that Pat is out there offering that opportunity to […]

Sharks as Science Bait

 in Florida / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged high school science / Neil Hammerschlag / sharks / Steven Allen / Steven Wilkie / travel / University of Miami by

On a mission to meet sharks, I worked with students and teachers from schools on both Florida coasts.  The two instructors had gone above and beyond in prepping their classes.   We met four of Steven Wilkie’s freshly polished shark experts on our visit to the Ten Thousand Islands estuary with Environmental Specialist Pat O’Donnell.  Wilkie, of South Fort Meyers High, gives up uncounted evenings and a good deal of sleep to expose many such tiny groups to real-world research. He and O’Donnell also took pains to individualize their onboard lecture for Yazmin, a wannabe accounting major, by emphasizing the importance of statistics and data software in research.  […]

Stardust Dance

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged bioluminescence / combjellies / estuaries / Florida / fluorescent algae / lagoons / Patrick O'Donnell / travel by

One of my Florida missions was to see the fluorescent algae that blooms on certain lagoons in June. Patrick O’Donnell, Environmental Specialist in Fisheries, showed me where to watch for the occasional greenish flashes from bioluminescent creatures that were disturbed by the passage of our boat. Comb jellies made saucer-sized flashes when bumped.  That was as good as it got that night because Steve and I had opted for May’s less sultry temps. When the fluorescent algae blooms, it leaves a shimmering wake behind the boat, or even a paddle stroke. Patrick once watched night rain transform a bay into a psychedelic dance floor, every drop bringing shine […]

How Fun is That?

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged dolphin communication / dolphin research / Dolphin Research Center / Dolphins / Florida / Grassy Key / travel by

A dolphin named Tanner whistled wheezy squeals as Emily Guarino, Administrative Director of Research, explained the research games we would ask him to play.  Maybe because the sound came from his blowhole instead of his mouth, I couldn’t be sure where it came from.  Emily said that the sound is associated with high levels of dopamine, meaning Tanner was indisputably HAPPY. He was excited to play research games with me. Imagine my dopamine level. Many thanks to the dedicated staff at Dolphin Research Center who engineered that joy-fest.

Sea Lion Love

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged Dolphin Research Center / dolphinariums / Flipperphilles / Mary Stella / sea lions / travel by

Both of the dolphinariums I visited last week host a couple sea lions amid their extensive dolphin collections.  There’s obviously a far greater demand for dolphin time than sea lion.  I asked Mary Stella, Director of Media and Marketing at Florida’s Dolphin Research Center what it is about sea lions that makes them less appealing than dolphins. She called that “an invalid question.”  Sea lions, she assured me, are charming and so smart that DRC’s Kilo responds to over 150 different requests from his handlers.  The only explanation Mary could offer for the disparity in popularity is that no sea lion rock star like Flipper has come forward to inspire mass adoration. I hope you won’t judge me when I admit that […]

Losing Faith 2

 in Gratitude / Louisiana / Travel tips  tagged GPS / Joplin MO / navigating / travel by

Our GPS leads us out of the darkness so unfailingly that when our friend Pat suggested the name Faith, we embraced it. Since then Steve began calling on Faith’s ways of finding reasonable rooms for the night whenever we grow weary. Our March road trip to New Orleans tested Faith on several evenings when pickings were slim, but between our Faith and Pat’s Siri, we found comfortable vacancies.  One evening Siri’s Trip Advisor ratings insisted on an inn a good way off our beaten path.  Without Faith the complicated cross-town zigzags would have been overwhelming, we didn’t despair. Over a late supper, we plotted our final leg, […]