Recently in Travel Category
I started birding casually several years ago when I wanted something to do while kayaking with my wife and friends. I read Sibley's Birding Basics, bought a decent pair of binoculars, and started going on free birding walks here and there. As with most new hobbies, the flamed burned hot for a while before fading to a spark. I had been meaning to read Mark Obmascik's The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession since it was published in 2004. I finally got around to it on the cruise and I loved it. Incidentally, I picked the paperback at Powell's Books when I was in Portland a few weeks ago--an autographed copy no less. I hate to echo what the book jacket reviews say, but it really is a great story for anyone, whether interested in birds or not. For me, it lit my fire for birding again.
A Big Year in birding is an informal competition where birders attempt to see as many different species as possible within the US limits (set by the American Birding Association) from January 1 to December 31. Few people have the time and resources to attempt a record-breaking attempt, but in 1998 three birders broke the 700-species barrier (note: there are about 675 species native to the US). In fact, 1998 is now considered the biggest Big Year ever because of the large el niño that brought dozens of species within the geographic limits that normally don't come close. It's quite a tale of determination and the human spirit, and entertainingly written.
Even when I wasn't actively birding over the past couple years, I was always mindful to take my binoculars when traveling to places where I might have a chance to see birds. They came in handy on the cruise as I was able to do some birding at Yellow Beach on Pinel Island, St. Martin (French-side). We took an excursion there to snorkel and then I saw several Bananaquits in the trees on the beach. Unless I return to the caribbean, this may have been my first "life bird."
Someone asked me once why I started birding. I simply responded, "because the bow tie just wasn't nerdy enough."
A week has passed since we returned from our cruise and yet no posts were made to this blog since our return. The intention was to summarize our trip with some pictures, but alas that hasn't happened yet and so I decided to get over the hump and post this brief review.
The cruise was great. Aside from United losing one of my wife's bags on the way down to Florida (which we finally received just before heading to the ship), everything went smoothly. Needless to say, it paid to travel to Florida the day before the cruise rather than the day of. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It only rained for about 20 minutes on St. Thomas, and then once in the middle of the night (I don't recall where we were). Having done both a cruise and an all-inclusive resort, we agreed that we'd opt for a second cruise before returning to another resort. There's just so much to do on the ships and it's fun to wake up to a new port of call in a different country.
We ended the cruise with the VIP Tour of Kennedy Space Center, and that was certainly worth the time and money. Endeavour is scheduled to launch Aug. 8 so we got to see it on the launch pad, which was very cool. Obviously, we didn't get close to it, but we did get much closer to pad B, which gave us a nice view of Endeavour on pad A. In addition, the VIP tour takes you to a special Apollo center that houses what would have been Apollo 19--the actual Saturn V rocket suspended lengthwise in a long building. It's enormously cool. We highly recommend the tour if you have the chance.
The Mariner of the Seas departs Port Canaveral this Sunday afternoon for a 7-night cruise through the eastern caribbean. Our itinerary is as follows:
Sun: Depart Port Canaveral, FL
Mon: Cococay, Bahamas
Tue: Cruising
Wed: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Thur: Philipsburg, St. Maartin
Fri: Cruising
Sat: Cruising
Sun: Return to Port Canaveral, FL
On Sunday, July 29 we'll be doing the VIP Kennedy Space Center Tour before flying back to Virginia. It is unlikely that I'll blog before July 30. Have a great week everyone.
It has been a week since my last post. I was in Stevenson, WA (in the Gorge) for the 2007 Driving Assessment Conference. The conference was great, as was the setting. Before returning to the Portland airport (PDX), my travel companions and I headed to the world famous Powell's Books in downtown Portland. There were nearly as many books as there were tattoos in the joint.
I now have a week at home and work before heading out for a 7-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise with my wife. I'll do my best to post several times before next Saturday afternoon when we depart.
The new moleskine PDA worked well during the conference. I'll continue to post updates on my progress with the it.
BTW, any comments on the trial new blog name?
I'm headed to San Francisco for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual meeting next week. I'm traveling a few days early to visit my mother, grandmother and brother in the Bay Area before the conference.
