Author: kathyanyc

We reached the Florida Eastern Shore College campus in time to register for the Space Coast birding festival and attend our first session, the sparrow identification workshop.  Too much information.  It will take another lifetime to actually be able to tell the difference between vesper sparrows and Savannah sparrows and all those other little brown birds.  We will, however, keep trying.

The rest of the event was crammed with other workshops and field trips – all of which started at dawn.  What were we thinking? Even though we tried hard to get up and out of the campgrounds before the sun rose (and mostly before coffee) we seemed to be late to almost every one.  It was either misleading directions or misjudging the distance between points, but we always seemed to be the last birders to arrive.  Twice the leaders even had to call to make sure we were coming.  How embarrassing. Nevertheless, we had a great time hiking the trails, driving the wildlife roads and meeting great people.  We saw many birds we don’t get to see in NY or NJ and even added one to my life list, the Florida Scrub Jay.  Although Ron had seen them before on a previous trip to the state (with Al Martens a few years ago) he had never had one land on his head before! Hopefully, the photographer that was hiking with us will remember to send the picture so I can share it here. The jays are not quite endangered but are considered threatened, suffering from loss of habitat and declining in number every year.  Brevard  County, where the festival was held, has put aside about 100 acres to protect the birds and we were able to visit the Cruickshank Sanctuary and learn about them.  They are one of the few birds that nest communally and the young birds never move away from their nesting grounds, creating extended families of two and three generations.  They all pitch in to feed the nestlings and to gather and bury acorns from the scrub oak that defines their habitat. It takes a village….

Other highlights: thousands of American coots, hundreds of black-bellied whistling ducks, scores of vultures (turkey and black), dozens of every species of heron and egret, numerous white ibis and pelicans and many, many song birds that will be making their way north in a couple of months. Oh, and more than a few alligators.

We left Titusville after birding the hot spots of Brevard County by bus all day and made our way north to meet Janice, Charlie, Tom and Ann in Palm Coast for a week of relaxation and fun before getting back on the road.

 

Before leaving Georgia we got sidetracked at yet another national wildlife area, Harris Neck.  Now the name “neck” should have tipped us off that this was going to be an out of the way side trip and it was, but well worth it.  The drive in the park was about 4 miles around ponds and marshes with plenty to see.  The volunteer at the visitors center urged us to stop at the first pond and so we did, coffee in hand.  The temperature had climbed to above 65 for the first time in weeks so there were many alligators of all sizes sunning themselves on the banks, turtles on the logs and dozens of night herons roosting in the trees. Reluctantly, we left after an hour or so, determined to get to our next campgrounds before dark this time.

Entering Florida by car is a truly unique experience.  Most states have “welcome to” signs, maybe adding a picture of the state bird or listing the governor and local officials.  They all sort of look the same with some minor variation in font and color scheme.  Not Florida.  These signs are supported by cement palm trees and almost shout the state name. Then, for the first ten miles or so, there are bright red billboards every few hundred feet saying things like “Universal $59.99” and “Discount for Legoland” in giant letters, urging motorists to stop at one of the official visitor centers for tickets to the many tourist destinations Florida has.

We got to Jacksonville smack in the middle of rush hour and starting calling campgrounds for a spot. Anastasia SP outside of St. Augustine had one site left but would not reserve on the phone. As the traffic slowed to a New York crawl I began to panic that it would be taken by the time we got there.  And it was beginning to get dark. We reached the campground at 5:55 – ten minutes past the posted closing time – and found the office dark and locked.  Not to be deterred, and with no other choice, I knocked loudly until the ranger who was finishing up her paper work reluctantly turned on the lights  and opened the door.  She was pretty ticked at first but I convinced her to register us for one night.  Thank you, ranger Pricilla!

 

It was really, really cold when we left Virginia –  at least too cold to consider spending the night outdoors, so we drove straight through to Charlotte and “camped” at a Quality Inn.  Driving down I 81 gave a new view of the Shenandoah Valley.  So many times we’ve looked down on the river from the Skyline Drive; this time we looked up at the park from down below.  All along the way the remains of the last snow storm lay piled in the fields and roadsides.  We couldn’t wait to leave it behind!

Determined to reach Savannah GA for our first actual camping night, we took two hour shifts and made the Georgia border in no time.  As we drew closer we were drawn to a sign for the Savannah National Wildlife Reserve and decided to spend a few minutes seeing what what could see.  Two hours later we reached the city and accidentally wound up at the riverfront.  Of course, we had to park and revisit the Shrimp Factory for a nice meal.  Regrets came later when we had to pull into the Skidaway Island SP campgrounds after dark, tired and very, very cranky.  Thoughts of turning back and selling the van vanished after a good night’s sleep, though, and we headed out again, taking some scenic detours through roads lined with palmettos and live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. I have to dig out the camera and charge it up so I can post some pictures.  We finally felt like we were in the south.

 

One of the main purposes of this trip was to get away from the snow and cold.  No such luck.  Not only did it snow the day we were supposed to leave but the temperature in the places we were planning to visit were not much better than home.  Below freezing from New York to North Carolina and not much above that from South Carolina to Florida.  But we are nothing if not stubborn so we packed the van with freezing fingers, left the apartment for Claudia to “sub-let” (and to water the plants and sort through the mail) and left on Thursday morning, only a day late and an hour or so behind schedule.

We got to Don and Dolly’s in Winchester VA about 4pm and were treated to a delicious salmon dinner after which they took us to a play at the Winchester Community Theater where they both volunteer.  It was community theater at its best.  Titled Good People, the play was based in Boston and the characters – Southies all – grappled with the consequences of past decisions.   Really made us think. We shared more meals together, a movie and some cutthroat Hearts games, one of which (not to gloat) I actually won.

It was really hard to leave our dear friends and their beautiful home but Sunday morning we packed up and restarted the adventure.  Can we really do it? Three plus months in the van? Far from home and family? With minimal conveniences and only three pairs of jeans? Time will tell…..

TUESDAY  What was supposed to be a routine new vehicle inspection of the van minutes before embarking on the first road trip took hours and an unplanned detour to the south shore.  Turns out our local service station couldn’t accommodate a 21′ van on its lifts, leaving us to hurriedly find one that could.  Not so easy, it seems.  But the van was packed and campgrounds booked so we drove out to Bloomingdale in the pouring rain and got it done before heading out for our first adventure.

Our first stop was a visit to Emily and Connor in New Haven. Bingo! The Zion fits neatly into a city parking spot and a half, give or take a few inches. After eating a delicious stir fry prepared by our grad student hosts, we headed about 20 miles north on I 95 to Hammonasett State Park, on the LI Sound.

WEDNESDAY – THURSDAY The next two days there were hot and muggy but we managed to take a few long walks and saw some good birds.

While visiting the nature center, we noticed another Roadtrek in the parking lot.  I knocked on the van door and we chatted with the owner for a while.  He and his wife have been on the road pretty much full time for the past three years; she works from the camper and flies out whenever she needs to be physically present for meetings, presentations and such.  Very encouraging info as we plot our year long cross-country journey. Tip: If you get there early enough most state campgrounds have sites available that aren’t listed on ReserveAmerica.  He was able to spend 14 days in a Florida park at the height of the season. The next stop was Hopeville Pond SP in northern CT for one night, then on to Uxbridge.

FRIDAY – SATURDAY  Cousin Tina was able to secure a parking spot for us by the church across the street where the van rested while we spent the next two nights in her guest room. On Saturday we took a long, hot walk in West Hill Dam SP and I could tell Ron wasn’t having a good time.  When we got back, he napped for a couple of hours and just about woke up for a trip to a local fish shack for excellent fish and chips and fried clams.  He just picked at his meal though and spent a restless night alternating between feeling hot and shivering.  Not a good sign.

SUNDAY We carried out our plan to meet Haley and Nate for brunch in Providence (once again happy that we could park right at the curb) but fate had another detour to throw our way.  Ron still wasn’t feeling well so after eating, while Tina, Haley, Nate and I went in search of a special bakery, he stayed on a bench in front of the restaurant. When I got back, he was nowhere in sight but an ambulance was parked ominously at the curb.  Sure enough, Ron was in it; he had gotten dizzy and passed out, hitting his head and knees.  The EMTs insisted he go to the hospital to get checked out, so off they went with me following behind in the van.  All the usual tests showed nothing, but ER doctors  agreed he was indeed very dehydrated and  pumped three liters of fluid into his arm.  I mentioned that we had been in tick country and that he had been feverish the night before. While they debated whether or not to start antibiotic treatment for possible Lyme disease, Ron stretched his arm above his head and there it was – the bulls eye rash indicating he was indeed bitten by an infected bug!  Not to be deterred, we picked up a 20 day supply of pills at the nearest Walgreen’s and headed back on the road, reaching Salisbury Beach SP just after dark.

MONDAY – WEDNESDAY  We rested the next day,  left Tuesday  morning for Booth Bay ME, and stayed overnight at the Captain Fish Motel.  At 10 the next morning we crossed the footbridge over the harbor and boarded the boat.  The puffin excursion turned out better than we could possibly have imagined.  We saw puffins in the water – 20+ at a time – puffins flying by, puffins on the rocks, some so close to the boat we didn’t even need binoculars.  Both the Audubon naturalist and the boat captain said it was one of the most productive trips of the season. The weather was perfect and the seas calm.  Bonus birds: two razor bills on the rocks and two in the water plus fly-bys. Also many guillemots, terns, gulls and eiders, both male and female.  Highlight was a raft of female eiders surrounding their chicks to protect them from hungry gulls.  All in all a very satisfying trip, followed by a really good lunch on the dock (hot lobster roll for Ron, oyster po’boy for me).

Fully sated, we made our way through heavy traffic (traffic! in Maine!) and managed to find our way to Kennebunk and the Bergerons – with a lot of help from Paulette and none from VZNavigator – took them for another fab fish meal and accepted their kind invitation to spend the night in a real bed.

THURSDAY We left Paulette and George at about 8:45 the next morning with the promise to see them again some day. Headed to NH via scenic byways and entered the White Mountain NF at Crawford Notch SP where we pulled into the campgrounds and did a load of wash.  Met a young couple in a Ram Promaster (gray like ours) they converted themselves; they had just gotten married and were ten months into a cross country honeymoon trip.  We didn’t stay as we wanted to put a in few more miles before the end of the day. We drove the beautifully scenic Kancamagus Highway (with plenty of moose crossing signs) and realized that there is absolutely no cell service in the National Forests. No bars nowhere. We pulled into the Wildwood campgrounds for the night,  last one in the  White Mountain NF.  Very primitive, very quiet.  Here’s where the van’s amenities really came in handy; we scrambled up eggs and bacon for dinner on our propane stove and turned in just after sunset. Birds heard but not seen: pileated WP, red-eyed vireo and chipping sparrows.  Bird seen but not heard: epidonax sp.

FRIDAY  We left the next morning and drove on Rte. 302 through Woodsville, remembering the many times we shopped there when we had the Vermont house.  Things have changed but not much.  No more super market or radio station across the Connecticut River bridge in Wells River VT but the covered bridge is still there looking every bit as picturesque as it did when we made our annual pilgrimage to re-enact the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

After picking up a few badly needed supplies at the Dollar Tree (how did we ever do without the Dollar Tree???) we did a memory loop through Ryegate Corners, past our old house – or at least the driveway –  past the sheep pastures then down the hill and back to  Rte. 5 to the East Barnet general store where we once bought VT’s best breakfast sausage.  This time we had to settle for sandwiches.  We continued up to St. Johnsbury and visited the red stone Fairbanks Museum  which looked pretty much the same as it did the last time we were there, over 25 years ago, except now it has a planetarium and a pretty impressive sky show.  We continue to marvel at the enormous collection of stuffed things – birds, mammals, reptiles – that make up the natural history collection. Every warbler known, foxes, fishers,  deer, mink, bear – you name it, they’ve stuffed it. They definitely don’t make museums like that any more. Thank goodness.

Traveling west along Rte. 2 gave us plenty of time to reminisce over summers past.  We headed into Groton Forest and found the campground was  just across Groton Pond from the swimming beach we had visited often, renting canoes and bathing from the tiny sand beach.  This was the lake that an 9  or 10 – year old Jennifer decided she could canoe across by herself – and we let her go. Not sure how wide is but I do remember pretty much holding my breath until she triumphantly returned.

We made a campfire and cooked pork chops and sweets before turning in for the night.  Not sure how we’re going to contact Clara tomorrow, but there has to be cell service when we get to Montpelier.  Birds heard but not seen: N. Parula, chipping sparrow, wood peewee, red-eyed vireo and an un-ID’d persistent song bird that we recorded to play for Clara.  She’ll know.  Oh, and saw a beautiful magnolia in full-out breeding plumage.

SATURDAY  We left pretty early and headed to Waterbury to find Clara.  Turned out to be pretty easy.  She was on the ground behind the Green Mountain Trail Visitors Center being “tended to” by fellow students as part of her wilderness first aid class. She was mock bandaged and fake bloodied but we recognized her curly hair right away. We made plans to pick her up for dinner and headed to Ben and Jerry’s for a tour and samples.  There was a protest happening in the parking lot – apparently since being taken over by corporate giant Unilever, their standards have slipped.  No longer the socially conscious organization it was under the actual Ben and Jerry.  Who knew?  The ice cream is still good, although some of the current quirky flavors deserve to be buried in the ice cream graveyard behind the factory with the lost (but not lamented) PB&J and Pickle Juice failures.

Lucky for us cell service was available and we tracked down a great Stowe restaurant (The Plate) which promised they could make some of their vegetarian entrees vegan for Clara.  They did and we all enjoyed a really good meal. A little less successful with finding a spot to camp though.  The state parks in the area were full and we had to settle for a privately owned campground with lousy reviews.  It turned out to be fine although finding our site in the dark (and I mean dark!) was really hard.  Fortunately, a fellow camper with a mega-flashlight saw us driving back and forth, got suspicious and came out to investigate.  He helped Ron find the number buried in the bush at the very back of the site and we pulled in for the night.  BTW, Clara WAS able to ID the mystery bird.  It turned out to be a Northern Waterthrush.  I knew we should have watched the DVD before setting out!

SUNDAY  Met Clara at 7 am for a short hike on the Short Trail. Birds heard and/or seen: chestnut sided, prairie, black-throated blue, black-throated green and black and white warblers, red-eyed vireo, song and field sparrows, alder flycatcher, red winged blackbirds and grackles. Had our coffee at the coffee roasters just down the hill and said our goodbyes.

We headed south on Route 100 at the edge of the Green Mountain NF and turned into the Chittenden Brook campground, up a long and winding dirt road.  We were the only campers there with the exception of the campground host, Christine. The brook ran right behind our site providing a pleasant sounding backdrop to the occasional birdsong and frequent chipmunk chatter. Ron made a fire and we ate chicken, fire-roasted potatoes and carrots while planning our next stop in the Berkshires.  We’ll check out the weather when VZ service resumes.

MONDAY  While the sun was out when we left, the weather reports called for possible severe thunderstorms and flash floods.  Sure enough, we were in the visitors center just south of Bennington VT when the skies opened up.  We made a mad dash to the van and waited out the storm on our comfy bed while lightening flashed, rain poured and thunder roared all around us.

As soon as the skies cleared we headed south to Clarksburg MA State Park, stopping to do laundry and lunch.  We introduced ourselves to  a couple from Florida in the laundromat after noticing their Airstream van in the parking lot.  They told us that they were driving through Virginia when they hit a deer and it took three weeks to make the repairs.  We will certainly pay super attention to deer (and moose) crossings on our travels.  Tip: check out Harvest Host Coast to Coast for volunteer ops.  Growers provide RV sites and sometimes meals in exchange for manual labor.

TUESDAY – THURSDAY Took our daily walk and saw at least four Blackburnians chasing each other through the pines near our site.  Heard many black-throated greens and spotted a couple low in the oaks. Decided we weren’t ready to go home so we drove all day to the Delaware Water Gap and camped in Dingman’s Campgrounds, privately owned but operated as a concession with the NPS. Stayed two nights and wandered down along the Delaware revisiting some of our favorite birding spots: Tom’s Creek, PEEC, Zimmerman Farm Road, etc. It was hot so birds were scarce but we did have a scarlet tanager and a nesting ovenbird at Hornback Creek Trail and bluebirds and E. Kingbirds at PEEC, plus chestnut sided and N. Parulas along the roadsides.

Tired but satisfied, we battled NJ traffic and parked the van on the street only a block away from the apartment.  We learned lot about our van, figured out what we would do differently next time and happily look forward to the big trip next winter.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a little background for those who don’t know the whole story. About 10 years ago Ron and I thought it might be fun to drive across the US once I retired in 2011. Nothing fancy – just a mattress in the back of a minivan and the great outdoors, birding, camping, eating in fun, local places along the way.  Well, 2011 came and went and I just wasn’t ready to retire, so I kept on working and the plans began to get more and more elaborate.  We soon started researching pre-owned conversion vans on line and upped our expectations significantly, looking at 3-5 year old Roadtreks to buy when I retired in 2013.

But that year also came and went and I continued to work at the job I loved.  Meanwhile we visited a couple of RV shows and decided we should buy a new van with all kinds of bells and whistles  – solar panels, retractable awnings, AC, etc. –  and take it on the road early in 2015. Needless to say, life happened and that year, too, passed without the ultimate road trip.

But here we finally are now, mid-2017, with our brand new Roadtrek Zion parked on the street ready to take a shake-down cruise for a couple of weeks up the New England coast to see the puffins!  We’ll keep you posted