Monthly Archives: January 2017

Stopovers

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*This post is part of a series about a road trip completed in 2015. For the first post in this series click here.*

When I lived in Alaska, driving six hours from point A to point B without stopping seemed like the norm. There was beautiful scenery to look at and many animals to keep an eye out for. Nowadays, I find it difficult to drive such a stretch without stopping at least once. Perhaps the highways on the east coast do not provide enough visual stimulation to keep my interest. Or my stamina behind the wheel is waning, who knows?

I usually plan a stop in advance for most long car trips. For instance, my favorite stopover on my NC to DE trip is Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR just north of the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel. The refuge visitor center is secluded, offers a dog walking area, clean bathrooms and is never busy, unlike the highway rest stop less than a mile away.

Planning Stopovers

When I planned my summer road trip I wished to maximize the amount of time spent at my destination. This called for extended travel days at the beginning and end of my trip. I carefully looked for places where I could stretch my legs and get in a little bird watching.  Ebird was an essential tool in this part of my research. Their hotspot tool enabled me to find high-density locations nearest to my route.

Planning for safe highway rest stops with dogs is a little more tricky, but there are quite a few websites that provide listings for free dog parks and pet-friendly rest stops along the major US Interstates.

I wrote about my stopover at Mermet Lake WMA already, but I would like to share my favorite photo again, a stunning Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron
Mermet Lake SFWA
June 2015

Unplanned Breaks

In the case of a road trip, it is always a good idea to keep an eye out for a great opportunity. Unexpected photographic inspirations or unique roadside attractions can pop up without notice. Sometimes traffic, or a lack thereof, allowed me to observe the weather or animals from the road without fear of causing an accident. I was able to slow down to a stop on the road or pull off on the shoulder to snap a few photos along the way.

The photos below were taken with my iPhone 5c. The photo on the left was the result of bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-70 in Missouri. The construction work never seemed to end. Occasionally a deserted stretch of highway would allow me to drastically slow down for a quick picture. The photo on the right is from Montana on the way to Devil’s Tower. I wonder if X marked the spot to something spectacular? 🙂

As luck would have it, I came across a small herd of Pronghorn on a secluded byway in northern Utah. Here I was able to stop in the middle of the road for 30 minutes to observe them without worry of oncoming traffic.

As a rule of thumb

  • Always keep a watchful eye on the rear view mirror and the road ahead. I usually check every few seconds. If you have multiple people in your car, designate the look out and rotate.
  • If I cannot pull completely off the road I usually put on a blinker or my emergency lights to alert other drivers.
  • Do not be rude to people who stop to ask you if you are alright (in fact thank them!). You would not want to discourage them from asking the next person who may actually need help.
  • Heed road signs that specify no pull-offs and minimum speed limits.
  • On most highways there are usually exits that would allow you to turn around every mile or so. Consider this rather than slowing down or stopping in heavy traffic areas.
  • If you know of a roadside photo opportunity in advance, consider using Google Maps and Street View to research potential pull-offs.
  • Be prepared for weird (or nasty) looks from passers-by. 🙂

Reminiscing: Road Trip 2015

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I never truly presented my thoughts, impressions and photographs from my 2015 cross-country road trip. At least not to the extent I wanted. In reality, I left little time for blogging while I was on the road. Wi-fi hotspots were few and far in between for the majority of my destinations. Cell coverage was deplorable; more about that later!

I wish to devote some time to a collection of posts highlighting destinations, lessons learned, travel tips and photography from 29 days on the road by myself with a dog for company. I hope you will indulge me:

The Whole Trip

In total I would drive nearly 8,000 miles, visiting:

  • 5 National Monuments
  • 4 National Parks
  • 3 National Scenic Highways
  • 10 National Wildlife Refuges
  • 2 State Parks
  • 3 Wilderness Areas
  • 3 Wildlife Management Areas

I hiked more than 40 miles of trails.

I lost 15 pounds on the trip!

Spent 2 nights in a hotel, 22 nights camping and 4 nights with friends.

Added 71 new species to my bird list.

Still wished I had stopped for that camel ride in Montana. 🙂

The Bare Necessities

The total trip costs less than $1800, making the trip come in at around $60 a day! Although, this includes some extra costs like a new backpack, some camping gear and a new tent mid-trip. Gas prices were averaging between $2.50-$2.75 per gallon, although gas around Yellowstone NP and northwestern Wyoming was a bit higher averaging $2.90-$3.10 per gallon. If gas prices remain low in the coming years, I would love to re-run a portion of this road trip!

I booked all of my lodging in advance through the respective state parks or on recreation.gov. While this may have been unnecessary for about half of my lodging options, not having to worry about whether a campground would be full when I got there was worth the effort. Many of the larger state parks and national parks allow reservations up to 6 months or a year prior to your selected date. While most leave some sites available for walk-ins, they are on a first-come-first-serve basis. Prior booking for Yellowstone NP-WY, Badlands NP-SD and Custer SP-SD was a wise choice as each was full when I arrived. On the flip-side, there were 2-3 nights where I wish I could have been more flexible and if I had the proper change, probably would have foregone one reservation to stay closer to one of my destinations (more on that later).

In the Beginning

The first planned stop of the trip was a guilty pleasure, of sorts. The Parthenon: in Nashville, TN. I never knew it was there until watching the first Percy Jackson film. It was in the back of my mind and since I needed to crash somewhere in TN or KY the first night, I though why not?

The full-size replica sits in Centennial Park, southwest of the city center. A walking trail encircles a small lake and the Parthenon. Given my arrival at 0630 in the morning, the park was quiet and parking easy to find off 25th Avenue. The numerous squirrels delighted Ari (my Ibizan Hound) to the point of craziness. I thought he would break off my arms! A few runners and bikers would pass us on our circuit. A brisk walk in the morning was just what I needed to gear up for a very long day of driving ahead!

Parthenon, Centennial Park, Nashville, TN

Dec Birding Report – Day 2, part 2

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Okay, I am running quite late reporting on my December trip. In my last post I mentioned that a nice couple we met at Pea Island NWR told us about a photography hide on the northern end of North Pond. We ate a late lunch at the hotel and downloaded photos from our morning hike. Afterwards, we headed out again for the photography hide.

A beautiful sunset was developing as we headed south. We did not have a lot of time, but we stopped off at Bodie Island Lighthouse for a peek at the observation deck overlooking the pond and marsh. This area is accessed from a boardwalk to the far left of the lighthouse. Superb directional lighting on feeding Northern Shovelers and Pintails was a nice treat.

Northern Shoveler
Bodie Island Lighthouse Pond
Dec. 2016

Northern Pintail
Bodie Island Lighthouse Pond
Dec. 2016

Northern Pintail
Bodie Island Lighthouse Pond
Dec. 2016

After spending about 30 minutes here we headed back to the photography blind on the North Pond. I was very happy to find the Marbled Godwit again. Two of them were close to the blind, feeding among a large flock of Avocet. The lighting was not ideal because most of the birds were back-lit. We stayed until just before sunset to observe the birds.

Marbled Godwit
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

Marbled Godwit
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

Marbled Godwit
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

Dunlin
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

American Avocet (B&W)
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

2017 goal updates

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With the recent snowfall I now have some time to sit down and put on paper some resolutions and expand or extend some current goals. As a teacher I usually evaluate my years from July to June rather than January to December, so January is usually a check-in month for my financial and personal goals. This will be a long post, but I really would like the accountability of having this out there! One of the nice things to make this go by faster is the nice activity out the window:

Hermit Thrush
High Rock Lake, NC
Jan. 2017

Pine Warbler
High Rock Lake, NC
Jan. 2017

2016 Was a Great Year!

Despite the shit-show that was 2016 in politics, my 2016 was a great year. My biggest accomplishment by far was being named Teacher of the Year by my peers! My aversion to spotlight has kept me from boasting, but I am humbled by this honor and I hope, so far, that I have done everything that I can to live up to it! I had two Honors Earth Science classes in the spring, the first Honors classes I have taught in my career. I had loads of fun with them and was able to design some fun labs and activities with them! They were such good sports.

I paid off my credit card in March, but this plus was short-lived. I did pay off my hearing aids, which I purchased at the end of November in 2015. After a year of use, I can say without a doubt, this was one of the best decisions I have made for my personal health. It is amazing how much of an impact they have made on my behavior and my confidence.

My decision to travel abroad was made clear and I aligned many financial decisions to making this dream a reality! Planning this trip has been a most wonderful experience. In another life I think I would have had fun as a travel agent.

By the end of 2016 my credit score, as reported by my bank, has soared to a number I am VERY happy with. I have a love-hate relationship with money, so budgeting and watching my accounts is compulsive for me. Years of paying down debt and wisely managing my financial choices has paid off!

I had several birding trips that added a few new species to my list. While on spring break in Delaware with Teddy we found Purple Sandpipers and Brant. In May, a rarity was spotted just up the road from me. A Brown Booby was found far inland at Lookout Shoals Lake. Despite the very hot weather this summer, my mom and I took a short trip to Charleston for some summer coastal birding. New species for me were Gull-billed Tern, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Common Gallinule and Painted Buntings. I regret not getting a good picture of the last one. The last highlight of the year was finding Wilson’s Snipe at my usual haunt: Pee Dee NWR.

Brant
Delaware Seashore SP
April 2016

Brown Booby
Lookout Shoals Lake, NC
June 2016

Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Donnelley WMA, SC
July 2016

Black-bellied Whistling-duck
Donnelley WMA, SC
July 2016

Common Gallinule
Caw Caw Interpretive Center, SC
July 2016

Wilson’s Snipe
Pee Dee NWR
Dec. 2016

…But there were a few downs.

I had a few back-and-forth trips to the vet with a sick dog this year. Thankfully the situation has been remedied by a diet change and all things seem to be back to normal. I had to cancel a week-long trip to Maine because of it. A few more injuries kept me in and out at the vet’s. Man, I LOVE them (and they probably love me too)!

I had to have my car engine repaired in early 2016. In part due to my own negligence and another part due to the nature of the problem. I thought it was a braking problem. We looked for and changed a different, smaller, problem before realizing the issue was bigger. While fixing the engine was cheaper than getting a new car, this fix required me to dip both into my savings and my credit card.

Though not really an up or down, I moved this year. Financially it was a smart move and it will make my travel goal more reachable. However, it did not affect my long commute (only 0.1 miles difference) so no boost to my gas budget. I also became a roommate. After five years, and for the better part of 10 years, of living on my own, this has taken some getting used to.

Upcoming Trip

There is just a little more than 23 weeks to go until my first overseas trip! My itinerary is pretty full, although I left at least one day at each of my bases free. I’ll be visiting London, Oxford, Hadrian’s Wall, Lake District, York, Wells-next-the-Sea, and Bath for a total of 35 days. I tend to over-plan my trips, but I do not get upset if I get side-tracked or miss something. This just gives me a good excuse to visit again!

I budgeted $4200 for this 35-day trip. The day total does not including the day of plane travel and airport transport on the day before landing in London and round-trip travel to Baltimore. My budget includes these days and additional to/from travel costs like gas and dog boarding. It is predicated on a currency exchange rate (USD-GBP) of 1.4, which is currently 1.229! If the exchange rate falls below 1.15 I will go ahead and get a TipPak from AAA.

My plane ticket and all but four of my lodging places are booked, so the trip is shaping up just as I envisioned. I booked a ticket for the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London back in October as this opportunity books up fast! I still need to book some long-distance travel by train and bus in-between bases, but that will take place 12-16 weeks out. When the concert tickets for both the York Early Music Festival and the Proms come out I will be purchasing those tickets in advance as well. I will continue to keep an eye out for the season at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, since I was not moved by the summer selection at the Globe.

Goals I Need to Work On

I started the school year with ten major goals. I usually start with large goals that can easily be broken down into weekly or monthly (numerical) benchmarks. There are several goals I am behind on:

  1. Walking: Unfortunately, I am probably the most sedentary I have been in my entire life. This is a terrible realization. This summer I moved, which brought me to a better neighborhood. I hoped to walk 500 miles before leaving for my trip, which originally amounted to 10 miles per week. My trip will require a fair bit of walking and about two of the five weeks will require between 5-12 miles per day of hiking. For about two months I was on target, when it was warm and I had the summer off. Once school started and after daylight savings time I fell off track. If I modify my original goal down to 300 miles, still an impressive goal, I can still keep my weekly goal at around 10 miles. For now, I can aspire to complete this on the weekends until daylight savings time begins giving me more evening light.
  2. Lose Weight: I really wanted to lose 25 pounds before leaving on my trip. I am the heaviest I have ever been. Numbers on a scale are not the only measure of my unhappiness in this respect. I am also the most sedentary I have ever been. When I set this goal I had to lose approximately 2 pounds per month, which I felt was a reasonable goal. Unfortunately I have not been making progress on this goal. While I have not gained any weight, I have been fluctuating within 5 pounds of my original starting weight. I am adjusting my original mark and hope to lose 20 pounds before June 1st, which would require a drop of about 4 lbs per month, a very ambitious goal.
  3. Reading: I use Shrook as a means of keeping up with several blogs and RSS news feeds and use iTunes for Podcasts to listen to while I commute. Whenever setting up a feed I set it to delete any unread entries after seven days. This keeps space open for a more diverse news feed. I hoped to develop a habit of spending at least 10-30 minutes a day reading, but this has not happened. I usually keep a journal of thoughts/questions while reading and follow up with additional research. This method helps me learning more about finance, politics, photography and birds. Truthfully, I just need to train myself to get up a little earlier and do this while eating breakfast. (As if I wanted to get up earlier than 0500!)
  4. Credit Card. As always, car trouble and emergency vet bills keep me in credit card debt. After successfully paying it off in early 2016 my balance has burgeoned up to a unsuitable (for me) balance by the end of 2016. Since my focus at the moment has been to save as much for my trip, paying my credit card down to a $0 balance before I leave in June would be unfeasible. I hope to pay it down to under $200 which should be manageable by boosting my monthly payment by 25%. I DO NOT intend to charge anything associated with my summer travel to my credit card! My large budget includes a modest amount for unexpected costs and souvenirs.

Goals on Track

Ending on a good note, there are several goals that I am on track for:

  1. Increase upper body strength: While self-explanatory in its importance, I admit this goal has an ulterior motive. Increased upper body strength will help me keep steady my birding camera. At nearly 5 pounds, hand-holding this for about 30 minutes to an hour can cause some serious issues for sharp photos. I have a variety of upper body workouts and there is nothing wrong with old-fashioned push-ups. My friend Julie let me accompany her to a workout class at a Gold’s Gym about two months ago. I felt that burn for a few days!
  2. Processing Photos: With the exception of just six species, I have photographed every species on my bird list. Over the years, I have greatly improved my photography techniques and upgraded to better equipment. Using Adobe Lightroom, I catalog all of the photos I take on my travels and keyword all bird photos by species. Regularly, I evaluate the photos by culling the least favorite 10-20% of each species. This requires/allows me to continuously rotate the photos on this website and study my favorite photos, improving my eye and technique.
  3. Money Market: A few years ago I created a dedicated travel account with my bank. I automatically deposit $100 a month into this account on payday. This usually covers all of my yearly travel. In order to save for this monstrous month-long trip to England, I needed to supplement my account with an extra $50 a week starting last June. My priority in June was to pay off my hearing aids, which I did in October. After that goal was realized, I simply siphoned the amount I was paying to my money market account which is keeping me on track for my trip budget.

FYI…

As a side note, I noticed that when doing searches on my website that the links seem to be broken. I am researching this issue and hope to have it corrected soon. I also need to finish the content for two posts about my winter trip to the Outer Banks in December 2016.

Here’s to a wonderful 2017,

Charlene

December Birding Report – Day 2

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What started out as a windy, overcast day in the Outer Banks of North Carolina ended up being one of the most spectacular birding days I’ve had in a while. We were the first car in the parking lot at Pea Island NWR, North Pond Wildlife Trail, at 0825. It looked to be a dreary day with a slight wind. Thankfully the wind was blowing mostly east so it wasn’t kicking up too much sand.

Our initial observations were the number of Tundra Swans and the deafening noise of the hidden Snow Geese. Walking along the wildlife trail under the foliage we caught sight of a few Yellow-rumped Warblers. Close to the shore there were nearly 50 Tundra Swans, mostly butts up, in a “sea” of American Coots. Scattered among various flocks were Northern Pintails and Buffleheads. A few Pied Grebes were spread out as singletons. While walking to the first boardwalk (overlooking the New Field Pond) there were several flyovers of Pintails, Redheads, American Black Ducks and American Wigeons. Even a few White Ibis could be seen crossing from the North Pond over the trail. Before checking out the southern pond a large raucous began to the North. The Snow Geese had begun lift-off from the east. Soon, hundreds of Snow Geese and other ducks were flying above the pond. The culprit for their sudden, and rather loud, mass exodus were a pair of bald eagles.

Bald Eagle
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

Snow Goose
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

It took more than 10 minutes for the pond to quiet down again. The Snow Geese continued to circle the pond in large flocks of 100-300 ducks each. By the time the ducks and geese had settled, the Tundra Swans close to the shore had moved off and we reached the observation tower at the end of the wildlife trail. Four American White Pelicans were feeding near the corner of the pond. A Northern Harrier was completing a low-flying pass along one of the small grass islands. From the tower I managed to take a five-photo series which I later stitched into a panorama (in Adobe Lightroom), seen below. At this junction we decided to continue north along the shore of the pond. Small slivers of daylight were peeking through the clouds and if the clouds continued moving it was possible that our weather and photographic conditions would get a major boost.

Northern Harrier
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016
Clicking on this photo and enlarging offers more detail.

American Coot
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

A large group of Coots were the first large flock we came across as we headed north. It is funny how Coots respond when you approach them. Unlike the ducks who mostly fly off, the Coots seem to run over the water without taking off.

Yesterday I was able to identify Marbled Godwits only as little blobs in a photo, after the fact. Just as the sun was beginning to come out, and stay out, I noticed a shape moving in and out of a grouping of Tundra Swans and Canada Geese. I was very excited to find a lone Marbled Godwit feeding near a shoal. Shortly after we were able to identify a small flock of an additional 13 godwits resting close to a small island in the middle of the pond.

Marbled Godwit (middle)
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

About this time something must have spooked the Snow Geese again as a large flock soared into the sky making several passes along the eastern side of the pond. By the time they were done I had disappointingly lost sight of the lone godwit.

As we continued North along the pond’s edge the sun was out and cloud coverage was almost completely gone. We came up to a small island close to the edge which provided perfect cover for several herons. We spooked them as we got closer. We could originally see an immature Little Blue Heron and a Tricolored Egret. After spooking the first two, an additional Tricolored, a Snowy Egret, White Egret and a Great Blue Heron also were hidden along the reeds by the shore. A few fly-by Tundra Swans in favorable light.

Tundra Swan
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

Canada Goose
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

Bufflehead
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

We continued north and flushed a small group of Eastern Meadowlarks. They flew further down on the path. Amazingly they blended in seamlessly and we lost them until we flushed them again. We soon began discussing whether we wanted to continue walking all the way around the North Pond or turn around. We could still see the visitor center in the distance accross the pond and the far corner of the pond to the north was also visible. If we continued we would have to walk a sizeable distance along the road and dunes without too much prospect of finding any birds. We ultimately turned around and began back-tracking to the observation tower. This move caused us to face the sun (and take on a little sunburn). Occasionally, I would try and track the busy Buffleheads as they flew back and forth.

Bufflehead
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016

After arriving back to the main wildlife trail we happened upon a pair of birders taking a respite on a bench. They were very nice and we chatted about what we had seen and they informed us what they had seen over the past few days. They informed us about a blind along the road north of the visitor center before getting to the pull out for the Salt Flats Trail. The blind was visible when traveling from the south. After we arrived and parked by the side of the road we had to climb over a dune to get to the blind. To my surprise, there were many different species very close to the blind. The highlight was excellent views of two Marbled Godwits!

After nearly four hours of birding and running out of space on my SD card we returned to the hotel for lunch. We returned to this location later in the day along with Bodie Island Lighthouse. We saw fourty-four species in one morning with large quantities for most of them; making for an interesting day full of fantastic photographic opportunities. More photos to come later, included a series of godwit photos!

Tundra Swan
Pea Island NWR
Dec. 2016