Had a better sleep than yesterday. Had breakfast, and visited the Trilogy Cafe right outside the field station. The guy gave me a discount because I brought my own cup! I was able to drink fresh, hot coffee as I strolled around the garden. I found the pathway on to the mud flat...and it's really muddy. Hard to believe shorebirds actually come here and that it's a vital habitat. It seems impossible to habitat. I relaxed a bit in the gazebo designed by Jan Janzen, stared out into the pond that appearently has an alligator living in it. A hummingbird darted [View Full Entry]

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July 20th and 21st. Today Val, Mike, Pam and I set off for a three day tour of the Canadian Rockies, before returning to Kimberley (Anne and Michael's house. We spent two nights in the park at Sunwapta Lodge, which borders Jasper and Banff National Parks. The scenery is fantastic helped by excellent weather conditions. Saw many glacier ice fields, turquoise lakes, waterfalls, a black bear, deer, a hoary marmot and lots of tourists. Pam and George [View Full Entry]

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we got a late start but headed towards Big Sable Lighthouse, a 4 mile hike through the state park. We were able to climb to the top and look around. We then spent some R+R in the campground and went to the Mason County Fair at night for the Off Road Derby. Very cool, loud and some strange way to give out prizes ("Who is missing a finger?") Heading for Port Huron tomorrow (about 4 hours). [View Full Entry]

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Woke up to the rooster crows just outside my bedroom. It was only 7:20am. So I had breakfast and jaunted down to Mackenzie Beach, which was rather impressive. The sand is so smooth, moist but not muddy. I walked around a bit, saw starfish on the beach, sea anemones (or some polyp) on the rocks, and barnacles too. People were climbing on the rocks, trying to get a better view of the beach, and some whiny kid was complaining about the barnacles. I sat on the beach for a bit, watching the waves and observing the sand, then headed back and [View Full Entry]

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San Francisco-- a bigger, better human circus Clerk to familiar customer: "Why's your shopping cart so full today?" Customer: "I'm shopping for my going-solar party." Clerk to familiar customer: "So you're finally switching over?!" From Kathy This is a beautiful, well kept city. Easy to travel. Land of bays and bridges and redwoods. Prosperous and suspicious of prosperity. Place where the only politically correct form of competition is the competition for parking space. Strong opinions, low aggressiveness. Self-aware. Self-expressive. Uninhibited. Struggling with contradictions and ignoring the same. Magnificent waterfront, facing west. We are staying at my friend Susan's home in the [View Full Entry]

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Palenque was the site of these incredible and vast Mayan ruins, a city to rival Guatamala's Tikal, which I will visit at the end of my trip. I got to explore them the first day we arrived, and although it was raining for most of the day, I was still awestruck. I'm afraid I have no words to do them justice, but I spent a good three hours exploring all the ruins and the surrounding jungle, whcih gives some idea of their vastness. I hope my photos will show them off somewhat, but I am too lazy to wait for them [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone!!!! I am not even sure where to begin this entry....the last time I wrote we were staying at Gunsmoke and getting out of Dodge, so they say. Well, maybe Dodge City wasn't so bad.... We hit the road on Tuesday morning and headed to somewhere in Colorado. We had an idea where we would stop but we had an unexpected situation occur. For those of you worriers...everyone is healthy, there was no accident involving wild game or pick up trucks:) While driving Tuesday they were a couple of instances where the RV seemed to exhibit signs of illness. Stalling [View Full Entry]

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July 22, 2008 (Ames, IA) Today I was the designated driver (i.e. the support team). That means that I get up with everyone else at 5:30 and then drop them off in the starting town (we stayed about 25 miles away from Jefferson). The trailer has all the equipment, and we have to set up all the bikes, fill the tires, make sure everyone has food, fluids and all their equipment. From there, the riders head toward the route which begins in the center of town join the steady stream of thousands of riders heading east. I jumped in the van [View Full Entry]

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The other water features I visted were Agua Azul and Misol Ha. Misol Ha was a stunning waterfall that one could walk behind and get refreshed by the spray. Agua Azul was a series of falls that was once again set in the jungle. It was extremely dramatic due to the obvious force the river had forming the falls over huge rocks. I loved the huge trees that were groing alongside the bank, and anted to spend more time exploring the nearby jungle, but I someho acquired a friend on the bus there. A guy from Barcelone, who once he discovered [View Full Entry]

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Before we go anywhere, I want you to cast your minds back to a distant tiime in Venus Bay, Australia, when Richard was practising baby care on a joey wombat in readiness for the arrival of our brand new niece or nephew. Well, we´re pleased to say that little Iona Jade is now safely with us. We were in the land of the Mayans when we heard the news and, as jade was the Mayan´s most precious material, her name seems most propitious. But now let us continue our journey onwards from Palenque... The jungle slipped away behind us and we [View Full Entry]

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