“Watching birds is like looking at the sky at dusk on a frosty night; endless numbers of stars, endless mysteries, and, the more you look, the more you can see.” – Simon Barnes in How to Be a (Bad) Birdwatcher
I wanted music for my birthday. Song.
Mansong and birdsong.
We saw an Air Supply concert on Saturday night in Evans, Georgia, and we were blown away with what a fabulous show it was! These two guys still hold the magic with the crowd! I used to think the worst lines ever in an Air Supply song (Making Love Out of Nothing At All) were
I can make the runner stumble I can make the final block And I can make every tackle at the sound of the whistle I can make all the stadiums rock
Really? I used to wonder. Air Supply can make all the stadiums rock?
I stand corrected. They can!
My friend Fran asked if they could still hold the notes as long as they did before. Maybe not quite as long and as high as before, but they gave their songs some tailoring to keep their fans impressed. I sat next to a young-20ish fan who swooned and held her cheeks and cried the emotional concert tears and sang every word.
After spending an amazing night in Evans, on our way home the next morning we decided to tour a couple of Georgia State Parks that we have not visited yet: Mistletoe and A.H. Stephens. I wanted to do some bird counts as part of the July eBird Challenge to complete at least 31 checklists this month.
If you’re not familiar with eBird and Merlin ID but love to spend time in nature, check out eBird and the free course they offer in birdwatching. No matter where you live, there is always a fun new challenge, and looking at the photos that others post is often quite breathtaking. I enjoy being part of the big picture of helping scientists track birds and their migratory patterns. AND it’s completely free!
We began in Mistletoe State Park in Appling, Georgia. I observed 61 total birds, including 25 different species. The most elusive of these was the Blue-Headed Vireo, which had a child-like call, telling a story and asking for candy or something. Nearby, there was an American Redstart in the same wildlife observation area.
There were also some bird eggs in a nesting box. I stuck my camera in to check on life inside the box, and this is what I found.
There were woodpeckers in abundance – all different types.
Mushrooms filled the woods, and if I were confident enough to be a forager, I’d have collected some of them.
Our next stop was A.H. Stephens Historic State Park, which has an equestrian section for those who enjoy trail riding on horseback. The stalls are clean and spacious, and there are camp spots close to the stables.
The fauna was captivating, but the flora in these state parks is absolutely gorgeous! I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of the mushrooms and flowers I saw along the paths.
Deer were everywhere, too – I think perhaps they were in greater abundance because the park is undergoing restoration. They still let us go around the barriers and drive through, but there are no current campers because they are upgrading all of the sites to full hookup sites, including sewer. It is set to re-open August 1st.
I was hoping to see an eagle as I walked through A.H. Stephens – they are known to have populations in this lake area and nearby Oconee, where I saw an eagle several months ago, but we didn’t see any today. In fact, I only observed 14 birds in total in this park, with 4 species represented.
We saw turtles, though – – basking the day away on logs above the water. This one’s buddy jumped in right before I snapped the photo.
18 Canadian Geese in Mistletoe and 9 Canadian Geese in A.H. Stephens made Canadian Geese the most popular bird of the day for me.
What a blessing to be able to spend a day completely in nature, observing the outdoor life in high dosage. It’s better than any medicine for soothing the soul and bringing peace!
Briar took me to see Air Supply in concert in Evans, Georgia last night. It was fabulous! What an incredible story of these two, who sat next to each other at a singing event and ended up best friends for life and singing partners for a successful musical career!
We’d just left the Gemini Giant on our trip along Route 66 when we rounded a curve and came into a town with motorcycles lined up along the street but no bikers anywhere to be seen.
I was instantly intrigued. We had to stop and check this place out.
“They’re all inside the biker bar,” my brother-in-law explained.
I pretended to be taking pictures of other things, as I sometimes do to disguise my true intentions, in case they were watching me through the window and felt like I was spying on their hangout – – which I was.
“Ah, look!” My brother-in-law announced. “Their secret door.” He pointed.
Sure enough, on closer inspection, there were two doors, not one. Next to the red door that appeared to be the entrance into the Rustic Saloon, there was a second door – – one with a peephole in it to allow a good look at the person seeking to come inside. The red one very clearly said PRIVATE.
All kinds of things started swirling in my mind about what was happening behind those doors at The Rustic Saloon. We’d started making up table stories about situations that left us wondering about things we knew nothing about, so I’d drawn some sketchy concoctions of possibilities, like the workers in Meg Ryan’s bookstore in You’ve Got Mail when they suspect that Frank might be the Unabomber, or that her secret email admirer might be the Rooftop Killer.
Playing shuffleboard wasn’t ever what I envisioned in my mind’s menu of shady things, but apparently that’s what they do in there. After coming home and checking The Rustic Saloon out on the review page on Yelp, I see now why they might want to have that peephole in the door. They’re checking for people with long arms to join their team.
My apologies to all the bikers in there playing an honest game of shuffleboard or darts and having a hamburger and a Coca-Cola. I shouldn’t have thought the worst.
Apologies, too, to the waitress in Illinois who claimed she wasn’t from the small town where we ate lunch and had no idea where the nearest convenience store was – we had quite a novel about her hidden identity written at our table by the time we paid the bill. Our imaginations ran a little wild with all the speculation about the world and its people from time to time.
And in my writer’s mind, I shrug it off. I was just coming up with a few new characters in some different settings, I tell myself.
To prepare for our own trip, I’d been watching YouTube videos of people who had traveled Route 66 and documented their experiences through videos, and that’s how I learned that there is a chunk of the Blarney Stone from Ireland right here in the good ‘ole US of A! There’s a husband and wife team who have a YouTube account called Yankee in the South, and they taught me all sorts of things about Route 66 that the travel books didn’t teach me – – including the bit about this Blarney Stone in Shamrock, Texas!
My brother-in-law kissing the Blarney Stone
Since my brother-in-law and his wife (I call her my sister-in-law, even though he’s the technical in-law) have loved their trips to Ireland, I thought this was worthy of a stop along the route. We had to do a little searching, but we found the Blarney Stone right along Main Street in Blarney Stone Plaza. Sure enough, it was brought here in 1959 after being knocked off the original stone and was ceremoniously installed in the town to bring the luck o’ the Irish to all who kiss it on this side of the pond.
I’m now one of the lucky ones, sprinkled with magical rainbow dust by the invisible leprechaun who dwells within the stone. (Side note: my husband was sitting in the car, waiting for us to return from all the kissing).
Me ~ kissing the Blarney Stone
There are other places to kiss part of the Blarney Stone in the United States, I have learned: Emmetsburg, Iowa; Irish Hills, Michigan; and at Fitzgerald’s Casino Lucky Forest in Reno, Nevada.
If you’re traveling through, make the stop ~ pucker up and luck on up!
We were taking an aerial tramway ride back down from 10, 378 feet above sea level from the summit of Sandia Peak to Albuquerque, New Mexico over the Cibola National Forest when I spotted a hawk that appeared to be riding the cable up to the peak.
How ironic, I thought. I’d been birding at the peak, counting my species and entering them into eBird, using Merlin ID to help lead me to the trees where they sang their identifying birdcalls. I’m always on the lookout for larger birds. I’d seen a Road Runner under a picnic table seeking shade from the brutal heat in Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas the day before, and after peering into all the trees and in the air for signs of these majestic soaring birds of prey, here was one comically riding the cable up to the top as I descended.
That’s my mama, I chuckled. She comes to me on wings. A bird in the depths of a canyon one day, and a bird in the heights on a peak the next. Three vultures when I’d prayed for the reassurance of an eagle at her burial.
“Is that a bird riding the cable?” I heard someone ask the tram operator.
“Oh, yes. That’s our resident hawk. He likes to ride the cable,” she explained. “When wildlife below falls beneath the shadow of the tram car, it scares his prey out of hiding. They run, and he swoops down for a fast-food-lunch. Makes his hunting easier.”
He gives the drive-thru a whole new perspective from the avian angle.
He also demonstrates his experience and intelligence. Here’s a bird who has figured out how to let a shadow do his heavy lifting while he sits and waits.
I’m inspired to think of all the times I make things so much harder than they have to be, when perhaps some creative thinking and a little patience would serve me well.
Which may be exactly what Mama was showing me.
On the top of Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Our buddy Nick celebrated his 66th birthday the week before we drove half of Route 66 from Chicago to Albuquerque. He asked me to send him a few photos of Route 66 signs and to “take notes” to share with him, since he plans to drive Route 66 sometime before he turns 67. I assured him I would take “copious notes” – – which turned into my ChroNICles just for Nick. In case you plan to travel Route 66, these may be of interest to you as well.
We embraced a slow form of travel by only traveling half of the route on this leg of the journey. We flew into Chicago, rented a Ford Explorer one way from Chicago to Albuquerque, and flew home from there. Every point in between was filled with wonder of our nation, so it’s fitting that on this Independence Day as we celebrate America, I can look back and share 12 slices of what I learned along the highways and byways of Route 66.
Take the road trip! There is no better way to celebrate our great nation and to experience the changing landscapes of America than by taking a drive. Ever since I was a child, I have loved going different places to broaden my horizons and explore a variety of cultural flavors! I’d visit a place – Paris, London, Berlin, Orlando, Asheville, Nashville – – thinking I’d seen France, England, Germany, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee. Boy, was I wrong! Worse: I hadn’t truly “seen” any of those cities, either – just a landmark or two at most. I realize now what John Steinbeck meant when he said, in Travels with Charley, that “We don’t take a trip. A trip takes us.” To see a slice of America by car, watching the changing landscapes from state to state, is the way to experience the diversity of our land and its people. We find it in the roadside diners, in the conversations with waitresses and other travelers.
Get in touch with your inner criminal graffiti artist self with the situation allows! Buy more than one can of spray paint from Wal-Mart in Amarillo, where they keep it locked behind the glass and will have to help you get your colors. Go for the yellow and black, and add the white and pink. Then drive on over to Cadillac Ranch and paint. But do not – I repeat, DO NOT – wear a hat. The wind is so fierce, it’ll lift you off the ground at times and take your hat with it.
Look for the things no one tells you about – There’s a place somewhere near Albuquerque that plays America The Beautiful if you drive along the teeth of the roadway. We missed that. When we start leg #2 in California and drive back to Albuquerque, we will find out where this is and drive on the teeth on the very end of our Route 66 adventure, coming sometime in the next year! We had deep discussions about the things we don’t see.
Stay on the path, but stray from the path, too. Build enough flexibility in your plan to be able to throw it all out and do something spontaneous. We had planned to go to Meramac Caverns, but after going up in the St. Louis Gateway Arch, we wanted to see it from the river, so we took a river cruise instead, then planned a different cavern the next day. We saw signs in Uranus, Missouri for the Uranus Fudge Factory, where they claim that “the best fudge comes from Uranus,” and the t-shirts were too inappropriate to pass up. We built in some iconic landmarks, some quirky stops, some experiences in nature, some retro diners and some ice-cream-for-dinner nights, some chain hotels and some back-in-the-day motels, a peak and a canyon. We wanted the sampler platter of America, and we savored every bite! We were early to bed and early to rise so we could take it all in and still have some energy to enjoy it all.
Keep your eyes peeled for the unexpected – – you just might see it! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d see a Road Runner and remains of a Mohave Rattlesnake on the trip, but I did! I saw Prairie Dogs, too, and we watched them playing from our room overlooking their playground. The simplest moments turned out to be some of the most memorable ones.
Take the time to talk to the servers! If you’ve never eaten “the special” breakfast in Tulsa, Oklahoma at a hole in the wall cafe with a waitress who’s the Queen of Bling and has a red tattoo of a Q and the shape of diamond right next to her left ear on her cheek to prove it to anyone who doubts it even after seeing the bracelets that line her arm from elbow to wrist and then, when you ask if she’s from Tulsa, she coughs the raspy smoker’s cough and emphatically says, “HELL no, I’ve lived here for 40 years, but I’m from Wisconsin,” as if you’ve offended her, you might want to try it. She may have gotten a few double-takes from some traveling diners, but I realized I was in the midst of my kind of people when I sat down and heard the blatant honesty spew forth from her lips, telling us about a recent storm she’d endured. And talk to April at The Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas over a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. She’s a single mother in her young 20s but knows the whole history of her corner of the world and would climb one of those tall windmills for $56.00 an hour if she could repair them. This is how Steinbeck wrote Travels With Charley – from the lively conversations with his fellow Americans!
Pack light, but bring home some souvenirs and mail some postcards! Memories are the best souvenirs – – photos, journals, blogs, and t-shirts help bring us back to those moments. We have a rule: if it won’t fit in the carry-on and personal bag, it doesn’t come home with us. We pack a 3×3 for a week’s trip – 3 bottoms, 3 tops. That makes 9 outfits and leaves plenty of space for bringing back some new socks, t-shirts, bracelets, and other small things that will fit in our bags.I even found room for a Texas Longhorn and a Highland Bull! I found a turqoise and mother of pearl bracelet in Old Town Albuquerque in a store called Warpath with a red door that reminded me so much of my mother I had to have it. It keeps her on my mind and keeps the memories of the trip close at hand, too.
Wear a great pair of shoes and carry the best water tumbler you can find. My inner hippie couldn’t drive Route 66 without my trusty Birkenstocks, but for getting out on the peaks and in the canyons, I relied on my On Clouds. Even though it’s a road trip, there’s a lot of walking and stair climbing in parts. The water tumbler: I filled it with icy water at every single restaurant and hotel along the way (except one, where it smelled a little funky), and it cut down on the amount of bottled water I had to buy and kept me cool and hydrated.
My new bulls, and a wine cork noted with the date, people, and place of savoring.
Make a countdown list of the things you need to do so you can leave at peace and embrace slow travel (without stressing) at its finest. The most challenging thing for me to remember is holding the mail, but the USPS makes it easy to arrange online, so even if I remember at the airport, I can still make it happen!
Leave something behind – a time capsule, a signature on a sign, some graffiti. We left a styrofoam cooler, inviting someone else to use it and give it a new life, then share it with us if they felt moved.
Eating Lupper (supper off the lunch menu) at The Big Texan in Amarillo
Take a group – you’ll share fabulous company and financial costs, but whatever you do…..don’t talk politics. It can ruin a trip. Enjoy the moments without splitting hairs over differences. We met a couple from New York, who dove straight into their political stance as we all sat outside at The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico. When they realized all of us were not in agreement with them, my husband broke in: “What you’re looking at right here in the four of us is a wide part of the political spectrum. From the moderate to the conservative, we have a wide gap.” They were amazed, and asked, “How do you do this, traveling together?” My husband was quick: “We talk about other things besides the POTUS. We talk about the places, the food…. we respect each other’s opinions, and we keep it that way.” He wasn’t afraid to speak the truth we could all agree on….and when we returned from dinner, the couple was sitting elsewhere.
Research, read, and explore ahead of time so you’ll appreciate all the things you’ll see. Get the Roadtrippers Plus app for planning the journey, and print a hard copy of your planned-but-flexible itinerary to take, along with a hard copy of a travel book and a map in case you don’t have good cell service.
Happy Birthday, and enjoy the Route 66 Experience, Nick! There’s nothing quite like it!
Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Canyon, TexasA Texas Longhorn
We were driving through Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Canyon, Texas when I spotted him. We’d taken a last-minute cruise through one of the campground loops to see how big the campsites were and whether they had water and electricity hook-ups. I’d just remarked that the awnings over the picnic tables were a blessing of shade out in the brutal heat when I saw something out of the corner of my eye; it looked like a legless bird with a hooked bill, a crested head, and a long tail.
“Stop! Back up a foot or two!” I urged my husband.
There, resting under the picnic table of an occupied campsite, was a Lesser North American Road Runner. At first, I thought it was a Greater North American Road Runner, but now that I’ve compared the notes on the differences, I am convinced that it was the Lesser North American Road Runner. With names like these, I’m wondering whether these birds inspired Dr. Seuss to write The Sneetches.
Lesser North American Road Runner resting under a campsite picnic table
A Road Runner. Not the kind from the cartoon. This one didn’t say Meep! Meep! and take off running from a coyote that left its outline where it crashed into a rock wall. I asked Google what the Road Runner says, and a Big-Bird-sounding Meep! is not part of its call. It sounds more like an impatient robot strumming its metal fingers on the counter at a Dollar General waiting on a cashier.
Apparently, this bird eats almost anything – rodents, snakes, lizards, other birds’ eggs, berries, cactus fruit, rabbits, spiders, and crickets. It can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour and has an 18- inch wingspan.
I was conducting a bird observation in eBird when I saw this species I’d never seen in real time. I snapped a few photos to add to eBird’s media documentation and we carried on with our drive, but my heart stayed right there under the picnic table with that roadrunner – – until we saw the remains of a Mohave Rattlesnake in the road. My husband spotted it, and sure enough, it had the black and white tail bands, the greenish hue, and the eye stripe and body patterning that I could still make out to get a positive ID on the snake. I’ll leave its photo at the very end so that if you are squeamish of dead snakes, you’ll have had a heads-up.
Speaking of Heads-Up: My sister in law spotted the water snake with its head raised up in the center of the photo – it was checking us out! It’s coming out of the rock just above the waterfall.
We also saw Texas Longhorns, a water snake (observed by my sister-in-law, who despises snakes), a porch full of barn swallows, and several other species of birds, including a pair of Northern Cardinals.
The Bird Blind at Palo Duro Canyon SP – with identification photos and an observation log!
Palo Duro Canyon State Park is well worth the drive for its beauty and its wildlife viewing opportunities. Looking back through the bird observation logs, I noted that a day or so before we were there, someone had observed a wild male hog!
Baby Barn Swallows peeking their heads over the edge of their nest
If you love wildlife and enjoy the beauty of nature, don’t miss Palo Duro Canyon State Park! You really don’t know what you might see out there in the big Texas wilderness!
At the end of each month, (or beginning), I review my yearly goals and spend some time reflecting on how I’m doing in living the life I want to live ~ a way of becoming my own accountability partner and having frequent check-ins to evaluate my progress. I’m still in the process of revising some of my goals as I encounter successes…..and setbacks. I’ve worked on learning new photography techniques, and that knowledge is being put to great use for my nephew’s new dog business website (success!), but it’s hard to travel Route 66 with all its burgers and fries, coneydogs and shakes….and great desserts….without gaining weight (setback!). So new goals have asterisks for the month of July, when I will report on them in a few weeks. For the month of June, here’s my goal reflection:
Category
Goals
My Progress
Literature
*Read for Sarah Donovan’s Book Group
Send out Postcards
Blog Daily
* Write at least 2 chapters for writing group’s book
Ethicalela.com has a new book group! First Book: Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young (https://shorturl.at/coAHN
I continue to send out postcards – I would estimate about 30 this month alone, with travel along Route 66!
I continue to blog daily, and the daily writing and reflecting is a wonderful habit for me. I don’t feel complete without some form of daily writing,
My writing group is writing a series of new books, and I will spend time writing chapters for these in July.
Creativity
Improve blog photos
*Make a rag quilt for a new grandbaby
*Create Shutterfly Route 66
My nephew asked me to make photos for his new business website, so maybe the new techniques I’m learning mean that I’m improving in photography!
I am having a new grandbaby this month, so a new quilt will be on the month’s menu!
I’ll create a canvas or two, along with a photo book using our Route 66 photos! (Oh, and I got creative with spray paint, too – graffiti is fun!).
Spirituality
Tune in to church
Pray!
Keep OLW priority
We will tune in to church by radio or YouTube and catch up with services missed while on the road traveling.
My car is still my prayer chamber for daily prayer, but I’m shifting it to the shower for summer, since sometimes I my habits change when I’m off contract at work for the summer. I’m still keeping my OLW my priority: pray!
Reflection
Write family stories
Spend time tracking goals each month
I’ll be sharing more family stories through small moment experiences along Route 66 in the coming days.
I’m tracking goals, revising, and considering some new categories as I look at my goal table.
Self-Improvement
*Reach top of weight range
This is a setback for me this month. Part of May and all of June was not a good one for weight. I’ve gained back about a third of the weight I had lost, and I need to transition to Weight Watchers point counting, which has been the plan since starting Optavia. I need to make the shift for July – and stay out of the retro diners with burgers, fries, and shakes.
Gratitude
Devote blog days to counting blessings
The gratitude category was strong for the month of June. At every turn of the corner along Route 66, I realized the beauty and wonder of our great nation and its history. I shared the amazing experience of travel with Briar’s brother and his wife this month. I also visited one of my children last month in Kentucky and will visit another one this month in South Carolina. Life is good!
Experience
Embrace Slow Travel
Focus on the Outdoors
While I covered a lot of distance in the month of June with road trips through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico (NINE states in ONE month!), the pacing was relaxed. I didn’t try to do too much in one place – – I enjoyed the moments! I visited Dunbar Cave State Park in Tennessee, Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas, and Sandia Peak in New Mexico to enjoy the outdoors and the grand views of nature and experience time in the great outdoors. I’ve been way far up and way far down on landforms and in goals, but it just goes to show that the peaks and the valleys can both be beautiful places that give us unique views!
We are waking in the Hilton Garden Inn in Albuquerque, New Mexico today before traveling to the airport for our flight home to Georgia. I’ll post photos of our time in New Mexico later today. We enjoyed the Sandia Tramway ride to the peak overlooking Albuquerque, where we saw some breathtaking views and did a couple of bird counts as well.
We made it home safely after a week on Route 66 – even left our cooler by an ice machine in an Albuquerque hotel and invited someone to give it a new life and send us a picture of its next chapter.
We arrived home completely tired, and look forward to our time around the campfire during this week’s holidays so that we can talk about our experiences and our favorite moments. I’ll be sharing those as we get our Eastern Standard Time Zone bearings back in alignment.
ChroNICle#3 for Nick – There’s a place somewhere near Albuquerque that plays America The Beautiful if you drive along the teeth of the roadway. We missed that, but we saw it on Tik Tok. Don’t miss the experience of hearing it like we did. When we start leg #2 in California and drive back to Albuquerque, we will find out where this is and drive on the teeth on the very end of our Route 66 adventure, coming sometime in the next year!
Common Threads 