Vegas Roadtrip 2018 {Arkansas & Oklahoma}

It's been a couple years since we've been to Las Vegas. We'd been feeling the pull to visit our friends and some of our favorite places for quite some time. We left from Tallahassee after spending time with family. We even managed to take Grandma to the doctor utilizing some creative transportation. There are two states between here and there that we've never been, so we took a northern route to spend some time in Arkansas and Oklahoma. First stop, Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.

Asher has been looking forward to trying his luck at digging for diamonds ever since he first learned of the place a couple years ago. Upon arrival we found out they were closing early! Ugh! We had only an hour to search, but our admission ticket would be honored for the next day as well. We did our best without tools, but were unsuccessful.

We were surprised to see they have a pool for summer visitors. The campground was full, so we stayed at a small campground nearby. The people there were very friendly and suggested we take a short hike from the campground to a small pond. I spotted some nice birds along the way and then we heard a large animal deep in the woods, stomping and grunting at us! We imagined bears or some other wild and dangerous creature. We later learned it was a herd of deer that regularly come thru those woods. The next morning we took their advice again by driving to the dam overlook. The dam has been here for about 50 years and only three times has the water level been this high!

Back at the state park, we decided to rent some tools for today's search.

There are three ways to find diamonds. The first is called surface searching. This is what I did. Raw diamonds are smooth, round and reflective. If you get close the the ground, with your back to the sun, a diamond should glisten in the sunlight. Though six diamonds larger than half a carat were found in the last two weeks, you're most likely to find one about the size of a match head. And whatever you find you can keep!

The other two search methods incorporate the use of screens. For dry screening, scoop a few handfuls of dirt into the screen and shake left and right to allow the dirt to fall and leave you with just rocks to pick thru. The third method is wet screening. After filling the screen with earth, hold the screen under a tray of water and slowly shake. The heaviest stones will fall to the bottom of the screen. Remove from the water and carefully turn the screen upside down on the ground. Any diamonds will now be on the top of the pile. Sort carefully.

We gave it a good try, and after a couple hours we decided to call it quits and have lunch. We had fun and fortunately the kids weren't too disappointed. The beautiful pieces of jasper and quartz we found left us feeling pretty content. The ranger was shocked by the large quartz I found while surface searching.

Later that day we arrived at Red Slough Wildlife Management Area in Oklahoma. 

We'd reached our 47th state together!

This hotspot has recorded over 300 species of birds! I enjoyed birding from the ground and the platforms while daddy and the kids tried to spy an alligator. No luck, but I was very happy with my birds.

An American Bittern trying to hide with his bill pointing to the sky while looking at me under his chin. Too funny!

We spent the night at a Cracker Barrel parked next to these beauties! Next stop, sand dunes!

4 Years on the Road

In April we celebrated 4 years on the road. I love taking the time to look back at our year and all of the amazing experiences we've had. This year we traded the big 37ft fifth wheel for a 16ft Wolf Pup travel trailer. Wow, what an adjustment!

The big RV was like a condo on wheels; two bedrooms with doors that closed, a large bathroom with shower. The new RV has one door which opens to the wet bath, basically a toilet inside a shower. It's so small we never use it as a shower. It has a bunk bed which the kids and I share and a couch for Daddy. It's not perfect, but it serves our purpose. We wanted to sell the big RV while the market was good for it and we needed a smaller RV to easily explore the narrow roads and low bridges in the northeast. We intended to only be in it for less than six months, just until we flew to Spain, but plans changed. Our route took us from Florida up the east coast into Canada's New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island before heading back to Florida and then to Las Vegas.

We attended church with Jimmy Carter, stood in the bedroom of George Washington during his stay at Valley Forge, and learned all about Minutemen in Massachusetts. We witnessed the largest tide change in the world at Hopewell Rocks, went clamming in the Bay of Fundy, counted falcons and helped release tagged butterflies in Cape May, New Jersey. We hiked Clingmans Dome in the Smokies, Cadillac Mountain in Acadia, and White Point in Nova Scotia. We encountered a bear with cubs along a trail in Shenandoah. Asher rode a motorcycle. We visited two zoos, multiple nature centers and museums, LEGOland and Dutch Wonderland. Took factory tours of Cow's Creamery and Hershey. We tried raw oysters, discovered we love clams and mussels and fell in love with hot, buttery lobster. We participated as a family in our first Night to Shine event.

We explored 37 National Park sites, 7 State Parks, and 5 National Wildlife Refuges this year!

I attended my first birding festival, The Biggest Week in Ohio, and my first international birding festival in Colombia. I saw 10,000 sandpipers and plovers resting along their migration path on the beach of New Brunswick and brought my total bird species count to 771. Daddy spent a month in Cuba walking the same streets that his father did so many years ago.

This year we added 13 new states- Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,  Delaware, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, plus Washington D.C. and three new Canadian provinces- New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. This brings our family totals to 47 states, 6 Canadian provinces and Japan. The only states we're now missing are North Dakota, Minnesota and South Carolina.

What will this next year look like? Good question! We haven't really decided. You'll just have to watch as it unfolds.

Colombia part 3 {birds, monkeys and driving under waterfalls}

After the Colombia Bird Fair was over, Felipe and Luis of Valle de Colores tours, took us back to Pance in search of the Andean Cock of the Rock (above). But first, breakfast with the birds at our favorite place, Balcon de los Colibries.

When we arrived, a hummingbird had become trapped inside the house. Nicole caught it and let me hold it briefly.

The woman here always makes delicious food, even asking us what we'd like, and she is just the most welcoming, warm woman. One time we were here it started pouring down rain, so she invited us inside, made us hot aguapanela, (wah-pah-NEY-lah) a traditional Colombian sugar cane drink, and shared her wifi password.

Finally we found our elusive bird, the Andean Cock of the Rock! What a cool bird! He posed for us allowing us to record video and photos before the female made a brief appearance.

Afterwards a ranger at Farallones de Cali National Park hiked with us to an enormous waterfall.

The next day we headed for a two day trip to the West Andes.

A beautiful tea field.

Orchids of all different colors, shapes and sizes grew from trees throughout the forest.

Felipe knew right where to find the Bat Falcon.

Felipe pairing his phone with his scope to "digiscope" the falcon. He gets really nice video this way.

We stayed at El Descanso for the night. They make THE BEST cheese empanadas! 

And they have a patio with feeders in back so you can enjoy the birds while you enjoy the food. 

Green Thorntail (above)    Empress Brilliant (below)

One of the coolest looking birds was this Toucan Barbet. They were easily seen from the patio. 

One of the huge benefits of having a local expert as your guide, is seeing something that can easily be hiding in plain sight. This Lyre-Tailed Nightjar with baby is one of those amazing sights!

I love how the adult covers the baby with its feathers.

We were very lucky to see these white headed capuchin monkeys, four of them swinging thru the trees!

At one point we heard two frogs. Then we realized the sound was coming from two birds that were twitching left to right. Was it a courting ritual? No, it was an alarm call! Suddenly this long snake dropped onto the branch where the birds were just seconds earlier! We watched as it moved from branch to branch then completely, silently disappeared again.

Later we spotted two more of the same snakes on the ground. We stopped for photos. 

More leaf cutter ants.

That night the guys hung white clothing under a bright light to collect moths 

for us to observe. So many came of all different sizes, shapes and colors. 

A few of the more interesting ones: One with skulls and one that looks like Mickey Mouse.

Rufous-Tailed Jacamar (above)    Long-Tailed Tyrant (below)

The Oropendola (above) live in colonies and build their nests hanging from trees. Up close they looked like weaved sacks.

Rufous Motmot enjoying lunch.

At one point we had to drive under a waterfall! It was crazy! 

Felipe and Nicole stalking the Fasciated Tiger-Heron.

This is an inch long bullet ant, which inflicts the most powerful sting of all insects, 30 times more painful than a bee sting, and the pain stays intense for a full 24 hours. Just ask Coyote Peterson. The Satere'-Mawe' tribe in Brazil use these bullet ants for initiation for warriors. They weave gloves and insert hundreds of ants stinger first inside. The boys or men must wear two gloves for 10 minutes while dancing with other members of the tribe. Once they take them off, they endure at least 24 hours of pain, swelling and temporary paralysis. They are required to do this 20 times over a period of months or years to become a warrior. Wow!

I love kingfishers, and we saw three different species in Colombia!

The Collared Aracari (below) is a beautiful bird.

The plants were amazing as well. Below is a compilation of three different photos merged together.

I felt like I was in the movie, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" while walking among leaves as big as me!

And sadly our time in Colombia had come to an end. Here we are taking our "Last Look" by orders of Urban Birder, David Lindo. When you think you've seen all you can, and you're ready to throw in the towel, do a dramatic half turn and just take in a last look. You never know what you may see. 

Goodbye Colombia. 

Thank you Luis and Felipe for an amazing 10 days, 270 birds, delicious food, and your friendship. You are both amazing birders and guides. I wish you much success with your birding tours.
To Luis' family, thank you for making us feel so welcome and like part of the family while we were there. I only wish our spanish was better so we could have communicated better with all of you.
Nicole, my dear, thank you for allowing me to join you on this adventure. Where to next?