In our roamings around South Florida, we discovered that there is an alligator farm not far from the Everglades. The farms are actually a central part in the rehabilitation and recovery efforts for (formerly) the American Alligator and (now) the American Crocodile. Besides conservation efforts, however, alligator farms also serve as amazing sightseeing stops! We were able to take an airboat ride through the farm, and we found quite a few small gators and a horde of gorgeous birds (it was a little chilly for the really big gators). An airboat is a passenger-carrying, flat-bottomed craft with a giant propeller on the back of the boat. The motor is really loud, but it enables the boat to glide on the surface of the water, which is perfect for navigating the shallow, muddy grass-rivers that make up the area. Everglades Alligator Farm also hosts a large collection of other animals, from various iguanas to many varieties of snakes to parrots to tortoises. They also had a panther and a few species of crocodiles, which are often mistaken for alligators. The most obvious differences between gators and crocs are their coloring: gators are almost black, while crocs are an olive green. The snout of a gator is U-shaped, while a croc's snout is pretty pointy. Also, only the top teeth of a gator are visible when the mouth is closed, but both upper and lower teeth are visible in a croc (not that you'd want to get to close to them for confirmation!). Travis, one of the handlers at the Farm, put on a few demonstrations throughout the day. Mom swallowed her fear of snakes and became very familiar with a 9 foot Ball Python during the snake show, and Travis awed us all with an assortment of stunts involving his face and hands and a gator's jaws during the gator show. We all got to hold a few young gators after the show - even if they were only a foot long and their mouths were taped shut! We also got to watch Travis feed several gators. It really was something to see - the one gator nearly jumped over the fence!
by Joe (son) and Lori
In our roamings around South Florida, we discovered that there is an alligator farm not far from the Everglades. The farms are actually a central part in the rehabilitation and recovery efforts for (formerly) the American Alligator and (now) the American Crocodile. Besides conservation efforts, however, alligator farms also serve as amazing sightseeing stops! We were able to take an airboat ride through the farm, and we found quite a few small gators and a horde of gorgeous birds (it was a little chilly for the really big gators). An airboat is a passenger-carrying, flat-bottomed craft with a giant propeller on the back of the boat. The motor is really loud, but it enables the boat to glide on the surface of the water, which is perfect for navigating the shallow, muddy grass-rivers that make up the area. Everglades Alligator Farm also hosts a large collection of other animals, from various iguanas to many varieties of snakes to parrots to tortoises. They also had a panther and a few species of crocodiles, which are often mistaken for alligators. The most obvious differences between gators and crocs are their coloring: gators are almost black, while crocs are an olive green. The snout of a gator is U-shaped, while a croc's snout is pretty pointy. Also, only the top teeth of a gator are visible when the mouth is closed, but both upper and lower teeth are visible in a croc (not that you'd want to get to close to them for confirmation!). Travis, one of the handlers at the Farm, put on a few demonstrations throughout the day. Mom swallowed her fear of snakes and became very familiar with a 9 foot Ball Python during the snake show, and Travis awed us all with an assortment of stunts involving his face and hands and a gator's jaws during the gator show. We all got to hold a few young gators after the show - even if they were only a foot long and their mouths were taped shut! We also got to watch Travis feed several gators. It really was something to see - the one gator nearly jumped over the fence!
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by Joe (son)
We're camped in Las Vegas at a Thousand Trails campground, not far from Nellis Air Force Base, where the Thunderbirds are based. In case you're not familiar with the Thunderbirds, they are the Air Force's precision air demonstration team. They fly F-16 fighters and perform all sorts of amazing manuevers. We skipped school on Tuesday the 25th (making the day even better) and went down to the flight line, and spent all morning watching jets take off, land, and fly by us. The F-15s were by far the loudest, but it was also really cool to watch the F-22s and F-35s, a couple of the newest 5th generation fighters the military has. A little before lunch, we went into the Thunderbirds Museum, and were lucky enough to be able to latch onto the back of a tour. We got to go into their hangar and look around the spare Thunderbird in there, and then we got to go down onto the flight line itself and watch the fighters come and go. We were there when three Thunderbirds took off. It was pretty cool to watch the pilots and mechanics go through their pre-flight rituals. All the final preflight checks and tweaks were done in unison, and the unit cohesion between mechanics and pilots was flawless. What was even cooler was that when those birds took off, they took off in unison, three abreast. After they took off they flew straight up vertically before turning it back over and flying off into the Nevada sky. by Joe (son)
We endured the “stifling” 70 degree heat in Death Valley this last week. Considering the 120’s and 130’s that aren’t uncommon during the summer, it was really nice to be able to go hiking around the badlands and canyons right after lunch. I thought that Death Valley’s mountains resembled the Grand Canyon an awful lot in both their height and their color. Their very presence was probably the most surprising feature for me. Up until this week, I had always imagined Death Valley as an enormous, completely flat sandbox, dotted with a few scattered tents and maybe a prickly pear cactus. Instead, from the Alabama Hills at the foot of Mount Whitney to Death Valley itself, we found lots of history, towering mountains, gorgeous colors, stunning canyons, and unique shapes. We went hiking or bike riding about every day, but the night sky was just as cool, if not cooler, not only in temperature but in its uniqueness. Death Valley happens to be an International Dark Skies Park, which basically means that there’s so little light pollution that you can see the Milky Way galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, several star nurseries, and just about every star that the pioneers of the 1800’s were able to see. In, fact, the brightest thing in the sky, apart from the stars, happened to be a giant glow behind the mountains to the southwest: Las Vegas. It was also quite fun to be able to fit in a National Park’s campground for once, and we were also fortunate enough to be able to eat lunch with Ranger Jonathan and pick his brain for half an hour or so before earning our Junior Ranger badges. We learned all about why you find tons of different kinds of rocks randomly mashed together all over the place, the importance of borax mining to the area, and how Scotty’s Castle got its name (the guy’s name was really Walter Scott, but he didn’t actually build the castle). Overall, Death Valley was an experience I would definitely repeat (though probably not during July). by Joe (son)
We spent Friday, the 7th, roaming our California surroundings. After some schoolwork in the morning, we left the trailer to see what we could see. We stopped by (what used to be) Fort Ord, where my dad lived at the ripe old age of two. It turned out a couple of folks at the community center had an old map of the base, so we were able to find the old hospital where Pop-pop worked and Tunisia Rd, where they lived. After that we drove to Carmel, and visited the San Carlos Borromeo Mission there. They had an entire museum there, and it turns out that San Carlos was the second mission founded by Father Junipero Serra, who happens to be buried at the foot of the altar. After that we visited Dennis the Menace Park in Monterrey and played around for a while, but then we got bored and started begging dad to find us something to do. In a stroke of genius, we got back in the car and drove to the beach. Again, the usual complaints about walking surfaced, but were conveniently forgotten not long after when we walked along the Coast Guard Pier right off of Cannery Row. We beheld more seals than we had ever seen since we went whale watching, except this time they were literally just on the other side of the fence! We took plenty of pictures as we walked along, and mom got sprayed with seal snot when one of the dozing sea lions sneezed! When we reached the end we discovered that the entire rocky point was covered in sea lions. We were also lucky enough to catch a few sea lions flaring their egos at each other (it was a little more fun being on the other side of the fence). On the way back though, said fence was almost of little reassurance. One of the large sea lions we had passed on the way to the point had positioned himself nicely on the cinderblock retaining wall, just on the other side of the fence, and was trying to take a nap. Apparently, mom and I disturbed him a little by walking within ten feet, and he suddenly raised his head and began coughing in our direction! Mom freaked and bolted, and I fumbled for a camera I had left in the car, but neither of us wasted any time in retelling the situation from a safe distance away! by Joe (son)
We spent All Hallows Eve haunting the sidewalk, driveway and porch of my uncle Chris's house in Windsor, CA. The festivities commenced on the afternoon of the 30th with the initial decorating, consisting of cobwebs, skulls, skeletons, vampire bats, rising zombies, creepy signs, ghouls, and a graveyard bordered by a fence of skulls fused to stakes! The afternoon of the 31st saw pumpkin carving in the kitchen and the appearance of spiders and their victims throughout the property, as well as the smoke machine and a rather grisly collection of scattered bones, dismembered limbs, vermin, and crows. We discovered during that afternoon that the all Jolly Rancher candy had melted, transforming an entire bulk bag of mini candies into a sticky mess of red Rancher goo. Aunt Heather cooked up some delicious Bats and Cobwebs for dinner (after we cleaned up the Jolly Rancher mess) and then climbed into our costumes for the pre-festivities photoshoot. We officially kicked off trick or treating at about 6 PM. I stayed behind with Dad and Uncle Chris to get ready for the Haunting. We broke out the Haunted Pumpkin Trees (dad and Uncle Chris) and the Spectre (me) at about 6:45. There were many memories made on that All Hallows Eve. The 8-13 age group tended to be the most fun to watch, and the few teenage girls and moms we spooked almost caused us to burst out laughing. It was very fun to watch the trick or treaters go through the stages of progression in trying to discern "Is that thing real?" I was also very surprised at the number of people who were taking pictures of our Haunt. I had never been in front of a camera lens so much in my entire life! The other very memorable spook came when some poor mom was trying to reassure her daughter that everything would be okay as they walked back with their candy. The mom stepped down onto our bubble wrap carpet and triggered one of the spiders along side the walkway, which promptly leaped out at her. The poor woman hollered bloody murder and leaped all the way back to the porch, her daughter dropped all her candy and bolted for the sidewalk, and when the mom finally remembered how to breathe again, all she could manage to say was "That scared the hell out of me!" That was a fun one to watch. by Joe (son)
We spent the last couple days hiking around Lassen Volcanic National Park near Redding, CA. Lassen is a very stunning place, with several mountains and ridges and deep, striking valleys and lakes. The various hydrothermal areas add a (smelly) diversion from the mountains (if scalding mud and gaseous sulfur are to your liking). In the process of earning our Junior Ranger badges, we learned about a program that would get you a cool bandana if you hiked three trails and told the Rangers how many calories you burned. Thus we set off on treks to Bumpass Hell, the Devastated Area, and Manzanita Lake. Bumpass Hell certainly looked like stereotypical hell, with several steaming fumaroles and the stench of sulphur filling the air. The Devastated Area got its name after Lassen erupted in May, 1915. The mudflows and avalanches left the area completely barren. The area didn't seem very devastated when we went there though; the pinecones were only as big as our heads! We were a little disappointed that we didn't see much wildlife, but we did stumble upon a doe and her fawn as we were walking Manzanita Lake and playing Pinecone Soccer (yes, the pinecones were big enough to play soccer with). I think I was most impressed with the amazing views of the deep valleys and lakes around Mt Lassen. It was also very interesting to find out that the road we drove on would have been inside Broke-Off Volcano, if it was still around. But most interesting, perhaps most mysterious, was Vulcan's Eye on the southeast face of Mt Lassen, watching over our every move! by Joe (son)
The Trechter Clan has always left a mark, but we, the Fighting Badgers, have taken it to a new level. We first worked on Beach 3 on the way to Olympic National Park. Built to defend a small sand mountain, our first fort was little more than a series of small walls and ditches designed to redirect and contain the sea. However, upon finishing our noon meal, we discovered that our fort had been vanquished by the sea. Seeing this, we hurriedly returned to draw a new line in the sand, and again set to work in our hopeless race against the tides. We were forced into retreat by our misguided general (cough, cough, Dad) and we were whisked away from the scene in our Armored Troop Carrier (also known as a Ford F-350). Still, the Fighting Badgers of the Trechter Clan cannot be long contained, and even misguided retreats cannot smother our fighting spirit. We rode our gear-horses (bicycles, for you outsiders) along the Discovery Trail in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, and found ourselves another beach to fortify. We persevered even as cars raced by us along the sands. Built to defend Mount Rainier, our Fort MacDuff was a masterpiece. The nearly impregnable forward wall was backed up by a still larger wall that defended the southwest side of Mount Rainier from the tides that skirted around our forward wall. We erected a wall on the northwest side as well, complete with a network of ditches. But as the tide rose, it became clear that our walls could not hold, and we set to fortifying the Mountain itself. We constructed a stupendous barrier of sand, and for nearly twenty minutes we held on, digging holes when the water receded, always increasing the size of our wall, until it grew larger than the Mountain it protected. But the sea had a will of its own, the waves grew, and we threw our bodies in the line to shield the Mountain from the sea’s fury. The next wave though, struck with such fury that it climbed our Final Wall, and the courtyard around the Mountain flooded, and then the walls burst, and we watched in horror as the Mountain was carried off, broken, by the tides and we emerged from our battle covered in the sand of our fortifications, our work destroyed, but our warrior spirit never broken! by Joe (son)
We visited Vancouver, BC, on 30 August. We got stuck in border crossing traffic at about 0900, but we were able to help out the people in front of us when their car broke down (dad and I helped push it out of the way). We rode the Shoe Leather Express for most of the day. We wandered around in Stanley Park and ate lunch in the first half of the day, then walked back toward down town. We walked by Canada Place and looked at some enormous cruise liners (by our standards, anyway). Then we stopped and played at the Tellus Science Center for a while, passed by Rogers Arena where the Canucks play, ate dinner, and rode the bus back to Stanley Park. What struck me most about Vancouver was how many apartment buildings there were. Nearly all of the “skyscrapers,” if you could call them that, were 20-30 story apartment buildings. The other thing I found interesting was the lack of an “Interstate” or main highway. Even on the big road that led to the border, it was still only 3 lanes with approx. 60mph speed limit. I was also very impressed by their money, which came in different colors and had a silver holographic strip on the right side, about where the watermark would be on our bills. Also of note, we finally got some rubber hair bands for Mariana, but we did to go all the way to Canada to get them! by Joe (son)
We spent the day in Glacier National Park yesterday. We all worked hard to earn our Junior Ranger Badges, bringing the new total to 15! We got up early (0640, which in this teenager’s sleepy opinion is way too early to be up on a year-long vacation) and hit the road right away, having pre-packed our meals and gear. We arrived at the shuttle stop at 0710, and discovered that there were already 20 people waiting there. Even with forecasted temperatures in the 80s, it was pretty chilly. We split up as the trams arrived (30 minutes later) for seating sake, linking up again at Logan Pass. We then began hiking the Hidden Lake loop, which was mostly boardwalk, at about 0900-0915 (yes, transit took an hour). We were very impressed by all the wildlife along the trail. At the end of the hike, we counted 9 mountain goats, 5 marmots, 18 Columbia ground squirrels, 6 golden-mantled ground squirrels, and a crow. We’d sighted a white-tail deer the previous evening as well. After our Hidden Lake hike, we went back to the shuttle and went down to St Mary Falls, eating lunch while we waited for the bus. The hike to the falls was about 1.5 miles round trip. We found that the falls, though not enormous in height, possessed awesome power. At the end of the day, we were all very glad that we’d gotten up early, because it rained pretty hard at about 1400-1430. The lines for the shuttles were inundated with people trying to get back to their cars, but when we got to the Avalanche Creek stop we were all unloaded and had to stand in the rain again, waiting for another bus. It was pretty miserable, but there was no better feeling than seeing the truck again! What struck me most about Glacier was the breathtaking scenery. The shuttle ride to and from Logan Pass was especially stunning, as I could look out the window and take in the high peaks, the plentiful waterfalls, and the deep, gorgeous moraine valleys. The other thing that one-upped Yellowstone: the sunbathing marmot who turned towards whichever group had the most cameras out. by Joe (son)
As you’ve probably heard, I went up to the border waters of Minnesota for a week long canoe trip with my Scout troop. We decided while we were at Pop-pop and Gramma’s that dad would not accompany me on the trip as originally planned, so I prepared to go Baptism by Fire and fly on the plane solo and link up with everyone at the Minneapolis airport. We left at 0430 on July 22nd to go to the Sacramento airport. Dad helped me get checked in and saw me to the gate (which was a good thing, because I almost bombed check-in). I got situated on the plane and everything went A-OK, including my connection in Phoenix. I rendezvoused with the troop at the Minneapolis airport, which was a bit of fun because they were in the other terminal. As I’ve been pointing out since, the “Instructions Speech” that dad gave me the night before I left covered nothing on the topic of “How to Navigate an Airport Tram and Light Rail System to Get to Another Airport Terminal.” I still made it in good order, which gave me a little something to be proud of. Being on the water with the troop was an amazing experience. We split into two crews, so we didn’t see the other half of our group for the duration of our trek. We learned very quickly that lunch provides an insane energy boost (we covered the 6 miles to our campsite in about 45 minutes after a baloney sandwich lunch), and we also learned early that portaging with a canoe on your head? Yeah, that sucks. Think mosquitoes covering every square inch of your entire head, and you can do nothing about it. The mosquitoes aside though, it was really cool to sit on your canoe for sunset and listen to the waves crashing over the rocks or onto the beach. It was a very calming feeling, and I certainly enjoyed the brief period of solitude. On the social side, we learned very quickly that 1-card poker will keep your entire tent up ‘til 11 PM and beyond! The on-water time lasted 5 days, from the 24th to the 29th of July. I thoroughly enjoyed linking up with my buddies in the troop again, and our interpreter (they’re really guides—Canada just has weird guide requirements, so they go by interpreter) was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed my time up there, and I would certainly go again given the opportunity. Obviously, I can’t fit the detailed chronicle I wrote in a little blog space, but if y’all would like to read it, feel free to email me and I’ll be glad to send it along! by Joe (son)
We went down to Ellsworth AFB this afternoon for some basketball and some groceries, but when we came back we were met by a potent problem: our fridge, and by default our freezer, was no longer working! Compounding the problem was that we made a big grocery run just a couple days ago, and we just picked up some frozen meat at the Commissary on base. Dad went to work troubleshooting the problem, and we think that the rain caused a circuit board to short-circuit and cause the fridge unit to shut down. Unfortunately, we don't have a time window for the replacement, so we entered upon a race to transfer everything to makeshift ice chests: also known as the Action Packer. Fortune smiled on us kids though: we got to eat every last bit of ice cream we'd just bought! by Joe (son)
We spent the majority of the 11th roaming Mount Rushmore (which is also a National Park). The sky was clear when we arrived, but it was beginning to sprinkle by the time we left. I was quite impressed by the sheer enormousness and clarity of the presidents enshrined in Rushmore. I was amazed that simple jackhammers and dynamite could produce such clear, well defined images. We all discovered in the course of completing the Junior Ranger program that the workers got so good with dynamite that they were able to blow rock away within inches of the final surface, and that they rarely missed and took too much. We also learned that the amazingly clear detailing was due to the use of the "pointing system", a technique developed by the ancient Egyptians that resembles a bar suspending a string that is attached to a compass, and that the small details were completed by a "bumper drill", aka a mini jackhammer with a finishing bit. We also saw one of the nine, 1-12 scale models used by Gutzon Borglum in the creation of Rushmore. We also ate lunch in the shadow of Mount Rushmore and hiked the Presidential Trail and learned all the "at a glimpse" stories of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. We certainly enjoyed our time there! by Joe (son)
We devoted the 7th and 8th of July to wandering around in Yellowstone National Park. We did our best to get early starts in the mornings, and it payed off quite nicely (we even missed the 1200-1300 flood at Old Faithful!) We certainly enjoyed the park. After dropping in at Old Faithful, we roamed around the boardwalks and saw a really cool collection of hot springs and smaller geysers. All the crystal blues and golden reds created by bacteria and iron oxide deposits made for some really cool pictures (the iron oxide deposits looked like lava flows when filtered the right way). We were also lucky enough to catch Beehive Geyser (pictured above) erupt on the 7th. Beehive Geyser has an eruption window between 5 hours and 10 days, so we were very fortunate to catch it erupt (and we got a free shower too--Beehive is about 4 times as big as Old Faithful by my reckoning, so we all got drenched). The 8th featured a stop at Gibbon Falls and a nice hike along the South Rim Trail up to Artist Point and back. The falls and canyon, combined with well-placed overlooks, combined for some great views and pictures. The thing that really added excitement to the long drives though, was the wildlife. Our estimated tally came in at about 20 bison, 3 ospreys, a pair of bald eagles, 3 elk, a pronghorn, and, the highlight, a young grizzly bear! The grizz was really exciting to see, as we'd all been hoping to see one, and we caught it in the best of circumstances: driving in the car as it walked the other way. by Joe (son) One of the things that coincides with this year long trip is learning. Considering that most of our learning will occur as we experience all these new things, it's only appropriate that we also learn to manage our money. In the first days of June, dad called a family meeting and laid down the guidelines and expectations that go with the allowance he was giving us. For most of us, it's the first time we've ever been given an allowance, so there have been a few slips when it comes to accounting and wise spending. We all have to keep track of the flow of money in and out of our "accounts" and prove to dad on allowance day that we have all the money our ledgers say we have. Thus far there have been no major issues, but some of us have learned to keep a closer eye on their ledgers and the numbers therein.
by Joe (son) We wandered around Zion National Park today. We took the Scenic Tram ride up to the Temple of Sinawava (at the end of the line) before hiking the river walk and eating lunch. After lunch we split up: Dad, Morgan and I went to hike The Narrows while Mom corralled the rest of the gang back to the tram. We hiked for about an hour and a half through the Virgin River and some gorgeous sandstone cliffs. I'd certainly repeat the trek given another chance! by Joe (son) We've entered upon a new era of collecting! Most National Parks, Monuments, etc have a Junior Ranger program for us kids. We've traditionally worked toward our Badges whenever we visit, but of late we've been accumulating never-before-seen amounts of hardware. In the past two weeks, we've accumulated 7 Badges, and we're looking to nail at least one more in our current stay. Our resume includes (but is not limited to) the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings, Glen Canyon (where Lake Powell is located), and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. My favorite thus far has been the Cliff Dwellings. It was certainly an amazing place to visit by Joe (son)
Hey There!! I'm Joe. I'm a rising sophomore in the Class of 2017. Back in Colorado Springs, I attend St. Mary's High School (great place, by the way). This whole trip idea was spawned (by my reckoning) about a million years ago, though Dad insists it's really only as old as I am. Things are well underway in our "Silver Bullet" trailer, affectionately nicknamed "The Big Rolling Turd" as a Robin Williams tribute. We still have yet to fall into a set routine, so bedtimes, and consequently patience levels, have been fluctuating a bit of late. We do get along quite well when we are united in a longing for TV privileges, though!! Our first stop was the Colorado Heights RV Resort in Monument, CO, which I regard as the official start of the Hands and Feet Tour, though Dad insists our first day was really 9 June, when we left for Gunnison, CO. (Sigh...) Gunnison has been my favorite stop thus far (though we've only stopped once). Talk about a gorgeous place...I could definitely get used to living there! We've had a great start. Thus far I'm really looking forward to finding a place where I can pitch a tent (mostly to escape the snoring epidemic which has struck the bunkhouse. My requests for earplugs have thus far fallen on deaf ears, though I am told that I myself am the latest victim of the epidemic!) |
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July 2015
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