Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
We return to the hotel room only to find our keys no longer work, so while Ric goes off to the office, I sit and look up at the bright California sky and say: “Thank you for this f***ing amazing life,” and then immediately apologize for the expletive, but sometimes it is just called for. […]
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The Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch is located in the city of Gilbert, Arizona and listed as one of the top ten birding sites in the area. We visited on a weekend, not quite recovered from our excursion to the RV show in Phoenix. There is limited parking and the place was buzzing with families, […]
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Our time on the Rio Grande is winding down, as is my energy, so we decided our last outing would be a mini-bus tour originating at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge touring the Bahia Grande unit. We had visited Atascosa the week before, but it was too cold, and my legs were not strong enough to […]
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Our first visit to South Padre was windy and cold – 4 degrees celsius. I stepped out of the car to photograph the ocean and soon popped back into the warmth. Our winter coats were safely packed and stored under the bus, as we lovingly call our motor home. So we had a quick lunch […]
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Boca Chica is a an expanse of sandy beach where the Gulf meets the Rio Grande, and Texas meets Mexico. It is the last stop, past the border guard post, and is a protected natural area. Apart from a few fishermen, we were the only ones on the beach. By the time we reached the […]
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Armed with our passports, cameras, binoculars, and travel mugs, we headed to wall country, piloted by seasoned birders who graciously offered to show us around. “Have you been to Boca Chica?” our host asked. “No, but it’s on my list,” Ric responded. So we set off, the early morning sky a wash of blushed peach. […]
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Lured by the promise of a rewarding birding experience, Ric and I decided to take the drive to McCallen and check out Quinta Mazatlan. As usual, I worry about the amount of walking involved when visiting a new locale, but we were reassured by those in the know that there is a house on the […]
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“Have you seen any of those white-crested, pot-bellied snowbirds?” one man asked us in passing. “Don’t see that one on our list; will have to write a special report,” I responded, chuckling. We were participating in the Audubon annual Christmas Bird Count. Armed with mugs of hot coffee and tea, binoculars and cameras, and our […]
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We came away with the expectation of adventure. We freed ourselves of material anchors and set sail into the unknown with openness, excitement, and a modicum of healthy trepidation. I knew we would encounter new landscapes, experience different foods and cultures, but I did not anticipate how travel would effect my experience of self. It […]
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One Woman's Quest II 