Davidson Woods

May 26, 2007 - Anchorage, AK
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
Just a short one today as we are in library and have just a few minutes left on the computer before the session runs out. We survived and greatly enjoyed our birding ordeal at St. Paul Island. We birded through mist, fog, rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow with temperatures never exceeding 40 degrees and the wind chill 10 to 15 degrees colder. There is nothing like the sound of ice coated grass crinkling under your feet as you walk toward the sea cliffs. We saw a number of extremely rare birds including a great knot and smew on this patch of tundra in the Bering Sea. Also cliff nesting species including puffin and auklets.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTJust a short one today as we are in library and have just a few minutes left on the computer before the session runs out. We survived and greatly enjoyed our birding ordeal at St. Paul Island. We birded through mist, fog, rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow with temperatures never exceeding 40 degrees and the wind chill 10 to 15 degrees colder. There is nothing like the sound of ice coated grass crinkling under your feet as you walk toward the sea cliffs. We saw a number of extremely rare birds including a great knot and smew on this patch of tundra in the Bering Sea. Also cliff nesting species including puffin and auklets. The accomodations were comfortable though the hotel and airport complex resembled the artic facility in the old movie "The Thing." Birding guides drove us in vans or the tired old bus from place to place in search of various wayward fowl, some from our continent, others from Asia. Resident landbirds are few (winter wren, Lapland longspur, gray-crowned rosy finch, and snow bunting) but almost any northern migratory bird lost up there may find and set down on this island. That is what generates so much excitement. Sea birds gather by the thousand to nest on the barren but relatively safe sea cliffs. Today we recover, do laundry, and shop. Tomorrow we fly to Nome to see the tundra birds arriving at their breeding grounds. We will stay in a bed-n-breakfast (a private home) and rent a car there. It should seem warm compared to St. Paul with lows in the 30s and highs in the 40s and 50s. We'll be back in Anchorage a week from Sunday.
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May 10, 2007 – Slana, Alaska & May 11, 2007 - Glennallen Alaska
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970

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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTMay 10, 2007 - Slana, AK Robert Service expressively described the Yukon. It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder, It's the forests where silence has lease; It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It's the stillness that fills me with peace. Our time there was brief, but we found it a grand and ethereal place, especially after sunset when darkness refused to come. We look forward to returning in July. We left Haines and followed the Alaska Highway northwest in a grand valley north of the Kluane and St. Elias Mountain ranges. Snow flakes swirled and sleet rattled about our Minnie. Maintenance of this section of highway was poor and our speed stayed at or below 45 mph. Red poles marked many of the frost heaves, depressions, and pavement breaks. We rocked and rolled. Although the day was cold, swans and ducks swam in dark holes in the surface of ice covered lakes and ponds. U.S. customs was easy and, hallelujah, the road was much, much, better on the Alaska side of the border. The Alaska side was also blessed with an absence of snow. Running late we observed wildlife in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge but did not stop until we reached the town of Tok (toke) and the Tundra Lodge and RV Park. The owners, an elderly couple, were just opening it up for the season. They gave us a half-price rate because we could connect only to electricity. That was fine. The evening felt almost warm, but overnight the temperature fell to 30. Yesterday we explored the town and looked for owls. We met an old native American who spoke of living across the river in years past. He said they moved over because of the difficulty and danger of boating the children to school across the river each day in spring and fall. “Especially when the ice was moving, it was difficult.” In the winter the river froze and there was no problem. Today we drove the “Tok Cutoff” about 70 miles toward Anchorage. We stopped here to “dry camp” in the largest National Park in these United States and explore the Nabesna Road. We drove the road this afternoon. It is open, but was a bit snow covered at the top. From this narrow track across the wilderness we could see the huge and marshmallowy Wrangle Mountains. These include several of the highest mountains in North America. Much of the range is covered by a massive ice field. We also saw lots of moose. One tried to commit suicide by motor home, but Chuck saw him coming and slowed down fast. We watched in awe as it continued to pace across the highway in front of the rig. Here there are scarce signs of spring. The willows and alder are beginning to bloom. Robins and yellow-rumped warblers are singing. We spotted lesser yellowlegs and solitary sandpipers prancing on the ice along streams. The rangers commented that ours was the first report of these birds this year. Flocks of Lapland longspurs swarmed about brown grass patches. These are heading yet farther north, but their appearance here suggests that we are indeed travelling with the birds. Since we are now going south we may not see them again until we get to the Pribilof Islands in a couple of weeks. The land here is taiga, the place of matchstick trees, and muskeg marshes. It is permafrost country and ice underlies everything year round. A lovely stream flows by our remote campsite and is open and clear, but ice lines some of its banks above and below the turf. Away from the stream a thick carpet of dwarf shrubs remains brown and yellow above greenish moss and cranberry ground cover. Skinny and irregular black spruce rise above it all, stately as cypress in the bright early twilight. It is now 9:15 p.m. We can’t see through the clouds to tell if the sun has set or not. The setting does not make much difference to the light. It will persist for a few more hours. We have cut sections of insulation foil to cover the bedroom windows. The regular shades are useless here. Light still seeps into the bedroom from the shower skylight, and already, it scarcely gets truly dark at night. May 11, 2007 - Glennallen, Ak We made another short, one hundred mile drive this morning. The weather was cloudy so we missed seeing some of the mountains, but enjoyed grand vistas of braided rivers and taiga woodland. Now every puddle seems to have sprouted sandpipers. The Internet reports many “first of season birds” from the 50th State. The night was cold and today remains cool. A sleet shower turned the ground white, briefly, after we set up camp. Now bright sunshine has turned the gravel lot puddly. This is mud season here. We had planned to camp at the Northern Nights Campground, but the sign said “closed.” A shopkeeper called and was told, “tomorrow.” It was supposed to be open May 1. The shopkeeper told us that there were RV “hookups” next to the waterworks. We found this little and somewhat austere gravel lot and self registered. The proprietor stopped by and greeted us. He asked only that we not use Canadian currency. “The bank here does not exchange. Stupid really. I have to go all the way to Anchorage to change it.” We used American. We have about a hundred Canadian dollars left to save until our return to the Yukon in July. We were delighted to find that this little rv park has Wi-fi, and now post yesterday’s and today’s notes. This afternoon is for laundry and grocery shopping. Tomorrow we continue our search for a great gray owl and other local specialties. On Monday we will move on down the road to near Sheep Mountain (Dall’s mountain sheep) and the Matanuska glacier. If it is not too cold there, we will spend about four days in the high country before continuing to the agricultural community of Palmer, just outside of Anchorage, and then Anchorage itself on Thursday. It is hard to believe, but our birding buddies, Ed and Nancy, will join us in Anchorage in only a week and a day, and that we will fly to St. Paul Island a week from Monday. Our Alaska adventure is seriously underway already and will continue in earnest through June.
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MaY 6, 2007 - Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
Well, we are international travelers sort of. Our Alaska adventure began with the ferry trip to Haines. There we enjoyed coastal scenery and many many sea birds. Trees were leafing out and snow was receeding. On our last day we drove about thirty miles up the Haines Highway and found nesting trumpeter swans and enjoyed a "33 burger" at a country restaurant and gas station at mile-post 33. The road followed the Chilcat River that yielded sights of moose, dozens of eagles, and our first arctic terns of the year. The valley was beginning to show signs of spring, but several feet of snow remained around the thawing marshes and rushing river.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTWell, we are international travelers sort of. Our Alaska adventure began with the ferry trip to Haines. There we enjoyed coastal scenery and many many sea birds. Trees were leafing out and snow was receeding. On our last day we drove about thirty miles up the Haines Highway and found nesting trumpeter swans and enjoyed a "33 burger" at a country restaurant and gas station at mile-post 33. The road followed the Chilcat River that yielded sights of moose, dozens of eagles, and our first arctic terns of the year. The valley was beginning to show signs of spring, but several feet of snow remained around the thawing marshes and rushing river. Yesterday, we drove north again, this time with our full rig. We crossed the border in the wilderness about 60 miles from Haines. Then we climbed away fromt he river and across alpine tundra and the pass at Haines summit. Flocks of white ptarmigan strolled in the deep snow along the roadway. A very fluffy arctic fox pranced across the pavement. A wolf paused in its deliberate travels about a hundred yards away from the road. Snow buntings and lapland longspurs flew through snow flurries. We stopped at a turnout for lunch and the wind shook the motorhome. The temperature was well below zero degrees celsius (we are in Canada now.) Spectacular peaks rose above the white barrens and the blue ice of glaciers glistened in the gaps between them. Gray clouds broke to reveal blue sky that gave way again to cloud. The motor home danced through this actic alpine fairy land and then descended into the taiga or stick forest below. Deep snow surrounded our narrow ribbon of asphalt that made a magic carpet down down down into the Kluane Valley. The lake was frozen. We passed it and glimpsed the town of Haines Junction and another river of pavement, the Alaska Highway. We crossed the river and entered the town, blessed with a population of 800 souls. A left turn brought us onto the Alaska Highway proper and we followed it about a hundred meters and turned left into the Kluane RV Park, the only campground that is now open. Anne questioned if it was open, but it was, and we checked in. The grounds are a bit rough, but behind the open field is the river forest, and above that stand the peaks of Kluane. They glistten, part silvery rock and part ice. The temperature fell to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but we were snug in our little home in the Yukon. Winter has not really left here, but at dawn a robin was singing and the sun shone. The temperature reached 50 and only the deep snow interfered with our walking and birding. A Kluane National Park nature trail begins at our campground. The snow is almost gone there, but deep puddles made the wearing of rubber boots essential. We walked it at dawn and at sunset (8:30 to 9:30 p.m.). The sunset walk was splendid. A hawk owl flew by just as we started. Ruffed grouse were drumming in the woods. We found one on his grand log after much searching and watched him drum with his wings. Neither Anne nor Chuck had ever witnessed a drumming grouse before. Snipe were calling over the river. A hermit thrush gave its first song of the season. Yes, we are here a bit early, but it is a great time to be here. A Wisconson family was trucking north, camping in their pickup. She said, "it is time to move North. Soon the wood ticks will be out there in the South. I can't stand them. It is cool here now, but better than warm. No mosquitoes yet." We felt like such wimps. Our adventure continues.
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April 29, 2007 - Haines Alaska
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
We have arrived. Our mobile home is parked in a tiny RV Park on the waterfront along the Lynn Canal Fjord. Paved but rough Front Street behind us runs along the shore. A gravel road leads up through town. Snow covered peaks penetrate the sky through bare trees above house roofs. The small boat hrbor with its fishing and recreational craft is next door. We will watch there for fishermen returning with their catch. In front of us is the arm of the sea. Across it is "Santa Claus" Mountain and the rest of the Boundary Range. Its slopes extend vertically above the water a few thousand feet and then slope back several thousand more feet up to the peak. Dark trees cover much of the lower slopes. Little snow clings to the sheer walls, but whiteness reaches the water line in a few notches. Above the vertical walls the powder becomes dozens of feet deep and forms pure white barrens. In places these appear soft and cottony. In others avalanches have given it a wrinkled appearance.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTWe have arrived. Our mobile home is parked in a tiny RV Park on the waterfront along the Lynn Canal Fjord. Paved but rough Front Street behind us runs along the shore. A gravel road leads up through town. Snow covered peaks penetrate the sky through bare trees above house roofs. The small boat hrbor with its fishing and recreational craft is next door. We will watch there for fishermen returning with their catch. In front of us is the arm of the sea. Across it is "Santa Claus" Mountain and the rest of the Boundary Range. Its slopes extend vertically above the water a few thousand feet and then slope back several thousand more feet up to the peak. Dark trees cover much of the lower slopes. Little snow clings to the sheer walls, but whiteness reaches the water line in a few notches. Above the vertical walls the powder becomes dozens of feet deep and forms pure white barrens. In places these appear soft and cottony. In others avalanches have given it a wrinkled appearance. In town the snow is almost gone. The temperature today reached almost to 50 degrees F. The temperature will fall to almost freezing tonight. We are told that the piles of snow are unusual here. Rain is more typical at sea level, but this winter was particularly hard. The ferry ride from Bellingham to Haines was spectacular and enchanting. We were ready for some downtime and had it on the boat. The 418 foot M/V Columbia departed Washington State on Friday afternoon and arrived here this Monday afternoon. The weather in Bellingham was rainy and the green hills on the mainland and San Juan Islands were somewhat shrouded in mist. The cone of Mt. Baker was not to be seen, but the water shone darker beneath black mountains and the dusky sky. The vessel cruised at 17 knots between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland. A famulous rainbow appeared at dusk. It was nearly vertical and seemed and iridescent spotlight into the sky. An expansive and brilliant sunset promised a better dawn. We set our alarm at 5:45 a.m. to view the dawn, but awoke a little after five to find it already light. The sun rose before 5:30. We were soon on the deck. Loons, grebes, phalaropes, and gulls enertained us. Two humpback whales breached. Seals, sea lions, and dolphin crossed our bow. Snow covered mountains paralled the channels. Many of the peaks had dammed cirque valleys from which narrow ribbons of water escaped and streamed down the walls in cascades and falls. Many of the passengers were Alaskan residents going home to open businesses. Others were going north to work the season here. We were among the few early tourists venturing north a month ahead of schedule. There were fine conversations about native peoples, land management, and making ends meet in the 50th State. The ship traveled almost 30 hours before reaching Alaska waters, but one is considered to be in Alaska once the ship leaves the dock (I kid you not). We celebrated our crossing the border and also our arrival at Ketchickan horbor on Sunday morning. With a four-hour layover, we left the ship and shared a cab ride into town. Everything was closed, but we walked, talked, took pictures of totems, and found dippers, fox sparrows, and varied and hermit thrushes along a rushing stream. An orange-crowned warbler and winter wren gave song to a spring that might otherwise be in doubt. The second stop was at Wrangle, and we managed a short stroll there too. On Monday this morning, the ship landed at Juneau harbor, but the time was too short for a several mile run into town and back. Instead we treated ourselves to breakfast in the ship's restaurant. This was our only meal there as we had packed meals for the voyage. Leaving this stop we saw our first large glaciers pushing hundreds of feet of ice out of the high mountain valleys. The snow on the mountains now reached alost to sea level. We didn't expect this, and neither did the Alaskans, but they knew that the winter had been hard. Finally the ferry made the turn into this fjord and worked its way up to Haines. The end of April looked very wintery, but close inspection of the alders showed that they were in bloom. Just before landing the thermometer indicated 50 degrees, the warmest of the journey. The sun was trying to shine through the clouds. It had not rained for hours. A wonderful day in Southeast Alaska! And so we landed. Chuck extricated the motor home from the ferry. Anne took out the car. We felt tired but also exhilarated. After setting up camp we drove back to the ferry terminal where we had seen a few thousand ducks loitering. We became cold watching common goldeneye, Barrow's goldeneye, black socter, white-winged scoter, canvasback, redhead, red-breasted merganser, green-winged teal, northern pintail, bufflehead, and mostly surf scotter swimming within dense flocks. Passing bald eagles made them nervous Returnig to camp we watched lesser numbers of birds along the shore. It became dark about 9:30 p.m. Yes, spring is coming to Alaska, and we are here to see it.
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April 25, 2007 – Bellingham, Washington
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
Another rainy day on the Washington coast, but aren’t they all? We enjoyed a mid-day window when the sun almost shone to visit a state park near Blaine. A walk through deep forest rewarded us with views of giant cedars and spruces and a multitude of mosses and ferns that thrive in this moist climate. Winter wrens rattled the woods with their chatter, but there is still no sign of the warblers and flycatchers that we had hoped to see arrive. They have one more day to get here. Friday is departure day and we will focus on the loading of our vehicles. Anticipating higher gas prices in Alaska we will top off both the motor home and auto tanks. We also will refill the propane tank. Heat will likely be necessary in the 50th state. A check of the Weather Channel finds that the forecast for Haines is similar to that for Bellingham. Cool and wet. Inland at Tok, the forecast is sunny but with freezing nights. The sunshine could be welcome after a week at Haines.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTAnother rainy day on the Washington coast, but aren’t they all? We enjoyed a mid-day window when the sun almost shone to visit a state park near Blaine. A walk through deep forest rewarded us with views of giant cedars and spruces and a multitude of mosses and ferns that thrive in this moist climate. Winter wrens rattled the woods with their chatter, but there is still no sign of the warblers and flycatchers that we had hoped to see arrive. They have one more day to get here. Friday is departure day and we will focus on the loading of our vehicles. Anticipating higher gas prices in Alaska we will top off both the motor home and auto tanks. We also will refill the propane tank. Heat will likely be necessary in the 50th state. A check of the Weather Channel finds that the forecast for Haines is similar to that for Bellingham. Cool and wet. Inland at Tok, the forecast is sunny but with freezing nights. The sunshine could be welcome after a week at Haines. The bird reports are still sketchy, but “first of season - fos” reports are starting. It was humorous to see a fos report of Brant today in Seward, Alaska. Here we saw probably one thousand of these geese. They may be traveling with us at the end of the week. We will travel by sea. They will travel by air. We have been blessed with both cell phone and wireless internet access here. This has allowed us to catch up on business before traveling to more remote areas. We expect to have no communications during the three day ferry ride, but hope to have communications in Haines during the first week of May. Between Haines and Anchorage, who knows? We should touch down in Anchorage on the 19th. We’ll then have two weeks of sporadic contact as we fly to remote St. Paul Island and the “bush town” of Nome on the northwest coast. We will attempt to touch bases from Anchorage between our two puddle jumping adventures. We are anxious and excited about the next phase of our adventure. The ferry ride should be wonderful, if it doesn’t rain all the time. Loading Minnie could be a challenge. Rumor has it Chuck will have to back it down the ramp. Hmm. We have a cabin which should provide a retreat and quiet place to sleep. The more rugged will crash on lounge chairs on the main deck or pitch tents on the open deck. We would have done that in earlier years. Haines and the nearby town of Skagway are coastal towns with a gold boom history. We will enjoy exploring the relics, meeting the people, and looking for birds in and around them. In the outdoors there we will have to begin to practice bear avoidance. They grow them big up there and they are not to be messed with. Here we have one more full day. The forecast is not good, but again there should be a few hours for walking. There will also be time for haircuts, last minute shopping, and remaining chores. We have already started packing, but won’t finish until Friday morning. There will then still remain a few hours before pulling out. The scenery here is spectacular when it is not clouded over. The local monster volcano is called Mt. Baker. It is deep with snow. The jagged cascades are also still white. Even larger rocks on the Canada side show themselves on clear days. They give a hint of what we should see on our ferry ride. The forests are now a mixture of dark evergreens and pale green newly-leaved deciduous trees. Every cherry in coastal Washington is now in bloom and tulips spice the towns. The bays are framed by peninsular and island hills. Thousands of ducks, geese, loons, and grebes swarm over spawning herring. Eagles scare the uric acid out of the huddled gulls on the jetties. We can’t complain.
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April 18, 2007 – Bonney Lake, Washington
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
We are in the Tacoma area this morning visiting old friends and enjoying the tulips and dogwoods under the always somewhat cloudy skies. We have been here two days and have yet to see Mt. Rainier. The western sky has remained a jumble of ominous gray clouds that completely hide the white colossus. It may yet appear in the remaining 24 hours of our stay. During our visit here we are staying in a guesthouse. Minnie sits quiet and cold in the driveway. We both enjoy the spaciousness of the house and miss the familiarity of our cozy road abode. This morning we stepped back into the RV to retrieve various items, including the Mac on which I prepare this statement. Tomorrow we will have to make several trips to return our paraphernalia before departing.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTWe are in the Tacoma area this morning visiting old friends and enjoying the tulips and dogwoods under the always somewhat cloudy skies. We have been here two days and have yet to see Mt. Rainier. The western sky has remained a jumble of ominous gray clouds that completely hide the white colossus. It may yet appear in the remaining 24 hours of our stay. During our visit here we are staying in a guesthouse. Minnie sits quiet and cold in the driveway. We both enjoy the spaciousness of the house and miss the familiarity of our cozy road abode. This morning we stepped back into the RV to retrieve various items, including the Mac on which I prepare this statement. Tomorrow we will have to make several trips to return our paraphernalia before departing. On our arrival at Washington we camped two nights along the Columbia River and enjoyed a day’s driving and walking tour of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge on its banks. This park preserves a section of the waterfront that is now largely in agriculture and development. Three eagles soared and called from within a thermal. Red crossbills and varied thrushes were added to our year’s list. Volunteers gave us a tour of a reconstructed Chinook Indian lodge such as Messers Lewis and Clark may have encountered on their long stay here so long ago. We also encountered flocks of Barrow’s goldeneyes in rivers and bays. We have unsuccessfully sought this “accidental” bird of the Northeast, but can now claim it as a life bird. The drake is superbly designed with a line of white spangles on the sides of its back and a flashy white crescent on the front of its round green head. Barrow’s is a tree duck and will shortly move inland to nest near lakes or mountain streams. We may or may not encounter them again in Alaska. Resuming our journey we continued north on I-5 and heard the sad news from Blacksburg, Virginia and arrived here near Tacoma. Here we are on the coast for the first time since a romp with our daughter on the beach at Sandy Hook, NJ in January. No beach here, a deep arm off Puget Sound reaches the port of Tacoma and beyond. We shared a fine dinner at a bayside restaurant with our friends last night. A ferry moved from mainland to island during our meal, and a pigeon guillemot, our first of the year, appeared on a piling. Sea lions idled in the channel. Spring has just barely arrived here. The trees are leafing out and the daffodils and tulips are putting on a great show. Some of the rhododendrons are starting to open. We are racing north with the season. Tomorrow we continue to Bellingham near the Canada border and will remain there until April 27 to allow the green to advance on us. Then the good ship Columbia will carry us in three days and nights another 600 miles north. We’ll find on landing if spring has arrived there. Here the level of the thermometer reflects the level of cloudiness. A moment ago, the sun flashed brightly and shadows stood out. I could feel the warmth from its glow in this office. Now the intensity has diminished, the shadows are subdued, and the sweater remains in order. I won’t make any bets on when we will again experience a high of 70 degrees. It may be today or later this week. It may not be until June. Our mail arrived on schedule this time, thank goodness. We enjoy a good cell phone signal here, but our friends have elected to live without internet and there is no stray wi-fi signal. We should reconnect at our next campground near Bellingham. We will have our vehicles serviced there before moving on. We are still removing desert dust from everything. We don’t anticipate that the transition to Alaska will be too tough, but we fear an arrival on a rainy and blustery day to a closed downtown. We also can imagine that the road across high country between Haines to Anchorage will be wintery in mid May despite the many hours of daylight. We’re hoping that the temperature does not fall below 20 and that neither snow nor mud prevent our progress. We also hope that it is warm and dry enough that we can truly enjoy the long and supposedly very scenic drive across the 50th state. The Alaska driver’s bible is known as “The Milepost.” In a state where gas stations can be 200 miles apart, a listing of what is on the road is critical for long-distance travel. We want to buy one and know that the 2007 edition is out, but so far have failed to find it. We could have purchased the 2006 edition at discount last week, but elected to get the new one. Yesterday we found only the obsolete edition at the Tacoma Borders store. The helpful clerk told us that another store in the Seattle area should have just received to new edition. We will look for it there today. So, our journey continues. The birds keep coming and we find great joy in seeing old friends and relatives removed from us by space. Shared ancestry, ties, and remembrances provide contacts and emotional connections in this sea of humanity on a spinning globe. Sadly, we miss seeing our closest kin on this long journey even as we reestablish old contacts. Our trek is not yet half over, but by the end of June we will have set a course eastward. Labor Day in Vermont does not seem so far away. By the end of that month we should begin our reunions. Some (of those reading this) may consider joining us for part of our walk across the Green Mountains. We’ll provide details as we define our plans.
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Autism Speaks
Patty submitted on January 14, 1970
Autism Speaks created a music video of the Five for Fighting song, "World", which features images of autistic children and their families. It is a truly moving video and was the work of Bill Shea. The band is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed - the funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link above to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTAutism Speaks created a <a href= "http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/213154" >music video</a> of the Five for Fighting song, "World", which features images of autistic children and their families. It is a truly moving video and was the work of Bill Shea. The band is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed - the funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link above to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.
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April 13, 2007 – Eugene, Oregon
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
Western Oregon is cool and damp and glowing with spring green. We are here primarily to visit family and are enjoying our stay, and finding the change of weather refreshing. We traveled from a Death Valley that was heating up to a Mammoth Lakes where spring was scarcely to be found. From there we crossed the Sierras to the Central Valley where spring had sprung and the farmers were busy planting rice and harvesting strawberries. Rain arrived as we left and it followed us across the Trinity Range and past magnificent Mt. Shasta to Oregon’s verdant land of pastures and great forests. Here the cherries are in bloom and the grass is growing faster than the cattle can eat it.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTWestern Oregon is cool and damp and glowing with spring green. We are here primarily to visit family and are enjoying our stay, and finding the change of weather refreshing. We traveled from a Death Valley that was heating up to a Mammoth Lakes where spring was scarcely to be found. From there we crossed the Sierras to the Central Valley where spring had sprung and the farmers were busy planting rice and harvesting strawberries. Rain arrived as we left and it followed us across the Trinity Range and past magnificent Mt. Shasta to Oregon’s verdant land of pastures and great forests. Here the cherries are in bloom and the grass is growing faster than the cattle can eat it. A short morning walk in a park found that black-throated gray and Townsend’s warblers have arrived with us. What a treat. We also found the local chocolate brown song sparrows and both black-capped and chestnut-backed warblers. This is definitely not the Southwest anymore! Tomorrow will find us enjoying more reunion, and perhaps looking for a few more of the local specialties early in the morning. The band-tailed pigeon would be a good bird to find. We have to toughen ourselves up to the chill again and get started early. This morning the chill in the air and the sound of raindrops on the roof of the motor home kept us snuggled up under our warm comforter. The moving west and north is changing the pattern of daylight on us. The former brings sunset later, and the later an earlier dawn. The lengthening day is a blessing, but also confusing to our feeble minds. Better weather would make it easier, but we guess that we have already experienced the warmest weather of the year. Alaska will probably be chilly. The Canadian Rockies are unlikely to be balmy. Perhaps we will find some hot days crossing the northern plains in August, but, if not, Vermont will provide a cool September.
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April 7, 2007 – Mammoth Lakes, California
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970

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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTThe sky is cloudy this morning in the Sierras. Anne is suffering a bit of gastric distress and we are staying in today. The heat is on. Whereas the forecast for Death Valley is 100 degrees, here it is now 38 degrees and is expected to reach only 50 this afternoon. Chuck says that this should condition us for Alaska, but we are happy to be crossing the Sierras tomorrow and descending into the hopefully warmer Central Valley tomorrow. Yesterday morning found a friend and we at the greater sage grouse lek near Crowley Lake. At dawn more than one hundred cocks were on parade there. The only human observers were we an a couple that we had found a few days earlier at this same remote location. After a time we left the grouse and drove to the lakeshore. There an assembly of shore and water birds provided additional entertainment. Ducks, avocets, gulls, grebes, and a loon in “alternate” or breeding plumage refreshed themselves in the here precious fresh water. After lunch our friends took us to Mammoth Mountain itself. We rode the ski lift to the summit. There we watched the skiers and snowboarders, the broad snow covered slopes, and the surrounding mountain landscape. Far to the east a ridge of the Coast Range was barely visible through a gap in the Sierras. Immediately to the west and below Mammoth Mountain was the oval caldera known as Long Valley. We could scarcely conceive of the magnitude of the explosion that occurred here some 750,000 years ago and removed some thirty cubic miles of earth and rock to other places. Today lovely pine parkland, the Mammoth Lakes community, and ash cones occupy the floor and slopes of the caldera. Warning signs and patches of dead trees mark where current geological activity is fatal to life. On our return to town we stopped at the post office and received our mail. The arrival of last week’s packet was a cause for celebration. The previous week’s mail is lost in the post office. We had sent it to ourselves “general delivery” at Las Vegas. Incredibly, the Las Vegas post office does not provide general delivery service. So, we were told, the packet would be returned. Unfortunately it has not been. Calls to the post office have been futile. Local post office numbers are unlisted. The national post office answering service provides local phone numbers. We received two. One is always busy. The other is never answered. So much for governmental efficiency. This time the problem was that the packet did not arrive at Mammoth Lakes. So we visited the post office every day this week. Its arrival on Friday, ten days after its priority mailing was, in the end, a pleasant surprise. It sure beat having to leave a card requesting that the packet be forwarded to us farther along the trail. The mail incidents created numerous headaches. We had to call various parties asking about possible bills and worry that checks to us are floating in postal oblivion. The experiences make us worry about future deliveries as we proceed to even more remote locations in Alaska. We are anxious that this week’s mail, that we cautiously had sent farther up the road, will be there when we arrive.
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Retirement communities
Tom submitted on January 14, 1970
As many of us are getting older and considering retirement, I thought I would pass on this article from the NYT on a new breed of retirement community. From the title I thought it would be about communities of birders; but I was mistaken. there are so many possible communities presented here that I could envision Patty and I joining, it would be hard to narrow it down to just one. Read the article and start planning!!!! Birds of a Feather"
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTAs many of us are getting older and considering retirement, I thought I would pass on this article from the NYT on a new breed of retirement community. From the title I thought it would be about communities of birders; but I was mistaken. there are so many possible communities presented here that I could envision Patty and I joining, it would be hard to narrow it down to just one. Read the article and start planning!!!! <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/travel/escapes/06retire.html">Birds of a Feather</a>"
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