The Letterpod

Here is the podcast I do for letterboxers...

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Dillon Park

I have probably said this before, and I'll probably say it many more times in my life. There is no better place to be on the planet then the Adirondacks in the Fall. OK, so that is a pretty bold statement. Maybe I should say there is no better place that I would rather be then the ADK's in the Fall. This September certainly proved this to me.

I got a chance to camp this year with Dom and Ken in a great place, John Dillon Park. Dillon Park is owned by International Paper and managed by Paul Smiths College. It is unique. And I mean unique. It is one of a kind. It is the only place in the country that we know of, and that the staff at the park know of, that is a park for folks with disabilities. ALL the paths are 10% or less grade. That means you can use a wheelchair or scooter. They have lean-tos with ramps. All the outhouses are handicap accessible (and have composting toilets). They have large battery trailers they can bring to your campsite to recharge your wheelchair that is charged by two large solar panels in the parking lot. And the lean-tos, they aren't just ones you drive up to. Ours was about an 8 minute walk. The park is on Grampus Lake, which they have an accessible fishing dock and boat launch (though these were taken in for the year because we were there the last weekend of the year.)

So, with such a special place, we were all able to enjoy it. The weather was perfect. The place was perfect. The fishing could have been better, but it was fun. The food lockers were great, didn't have to hang a bear bag. Composting toilets...come on, that's awesome. No bugs in September...can't beat that. It was an amazing trip, and I hope we can go back again when they finish the trail that goes even further into the wilderness to two more lean-tos on Hansome Lake. Incredible.

Montezuma Wrap-Up

Well, this of course is a late report, sorry about that Marylee. But I wanted to thank everyone who made a pledge to our team. I still don't have a final total, but I think we will come in around the $500 mark again this year. Special thanks to our sponsor this year Micron Industries.

We succeeded in our goal, which was to come in ahead of the youth teams this year, especially the youth girls, which we dubbed the "Girl Scouts." They are probably not scouts, but last year we didn't beat them, so this year our goal was not be be beaten by a bunch of teenage girls. We didn't beat them by much, but we came in at 82 bird species, and that was up about ten bird species from last year. The top team saw 140 birds.

What is really more important to us is that we had fun. And we really did. Special kudos to Amy who competed despite having a broken foot. She is a real trooper, and probably still spotted more birds from the front of the car then the rest of us combined.

Some real memorable birds were an early morning pheasant that Dick spotted first, flocks of Bald Eagles, Bard Owls calling into the morning, and my first look at a Bobolink.

Thanks again for supporting the Mottled Mucks in our yearly adventure. You can read the full report of the Muckrace here.

Montezuma Muckrace 2007

On September 7th and 8th I will again be participating in the Montezuma Muckrace. If you remember from last year, this is a 24 hour birding marathon against other teams competing to see the most bird species in the Montezuma Wetlands Complex in Western New York. Our team, the Mottled Mucks, consists of myself (NY), Dick (OH), Dom (PA), Chris (PA), and Amy (PA). Last year we saw 72 species, which was fine for our rookie year, but we are determined to up that number this year (and try to manage to beat the team of "girl scouts"). Last year we raised well over $500 to help Ceulean Warbler habitat.

This is the part where you can help us. The Montezuma Wetlands just opened a new Audobon Center dedicated to educating people about wetlands and birds. We are again asking for donations and pledges to raise money to support the center. All you need to do is email me how much you would like to pledge, and I will contact you later about payment. You can sponsor us a flat donation, or you can pledge us an amount based on the number of bird species we see (i.e. $0.50 per bird). Please let me know also if you would like a receipt for tax purposes.

Thanks again, and wish us luck!

Podcasts!

So I have finally released the first episode of the Letterpod podcast, a podcast for letterboxers. I have picked up the reigns and taken it for a ride, and its been a lot of fun. Hope to hone my podcasting skills some more on a fun one like this.

I'm still working on my storytelling podcast as well, "Tell Me Again", and will be getting a new story out real soon.

New Letterbox

It's been awhile since I actually planted an honest to goodness letterbox. I have done a ton of postals and event boxes, but actually going out and hiding one in the woods...its been awhile.

My newest is a series, and it took awhile. It began with a simple box in Ohio. It got washed away by a flood. I planted a new box in a new spot. I hadn't even posted clues, and that one got muggled. So then I planted two new ones, in new spots. This time when I returned they were still there, and I planted two more. So I now have a series of four in Ohio, called A Drive Through the Marsh.

Special thanks to Dick for helping me with the new plants!

I hope you enjoy.

Progress

Work in progress

This is the mural I am working on for my sister's at St. Lawrence Chocolates. Still have a long way to go, but am having fun with it so far.

Scavenger Hunt

Today, I participated in an awesome scavenger hunt in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Below are some of the pictures I took and the points I got for them (I hope). Sorry they are not great, had to use the cell phone today as Laura has the nice digital camera at her conference this week. Anyway, will describe more here after the official results come back.

Headless Eagle - 5 Points