Letters/60

Dear Amber, thanks so much for taking me to learn cupcake decorating for my birthday! Even though I'm pretty sure the owner was giggling so much because, well, let's face it. Frosting decorations just are not my forte (hint, all the pretty perfect ones in the picture above belong to Amber). Dear Seoul, you're my favorite city in Korea by far. I'm so glad we get to spend the weekend, hanging out with friends, shopping, and of course getting our fill of Mexican food. I can taste the guacamole now... Dear Crystal, I hope you're enjoying your little Philippine getaway but I'm ready for you to get back so we can have a blogger meet up this weekend! I can't wait for you to show me the ropes in Seoul for vintage shopping! We all know that you're the best at it. Dear Hubs, I'm so glad I married someone who gets worried about me if I'm too quiet. Which we all know doesn't happen very often. 

Oh and stayed tuned because I have some big news coming up later today!

Linking up with Ashley, Jean, Lauren, Kerry, Chrissy, Kenzie, Lisette

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And now onto some of my lovely sponsor this month. Be sure to check them out and say hi!

About Quinn: Kimchi & Sweet Tea started out as a way to share honeymoon pictures with family. It has turned into so much more. I love sharing our everyday happenings and experiences as a mixed culture family - the good, bad, and hilarious. 

Her Favorite Trip: During the summer of 2009, I was newly married and on my way to South Korea with my husband… and his dad. That's right. My father-in-law joined us on our honeymoon. It turned out to be the best trip ever! Although, my husband still owes me a tradition chaperone-free honeymoon. I am a sucker for history and family stories, so it was nice to have someone tag along that knew the ins and outs of South Korea. We traveled all over the country- adventuring and meeting many of my husband's family members along the way. 

Twitter // Facebook

About Sage: Sage is a faith-based lifestyle blog that aims to bring together women from all walks of life. Sage chronicles the ins-and-outs of everyday life as a twenty-something-year-old Christian gal including realtionships, food, health, and life as a newly engaged lady. As Sage continues to grow, I really hope to provide encouragement, fellowship, and love to all of my readers. It is my hope that my crazy little world will inspire others even in the slightest.

Her Favorite Trip: You would think that with all the international travel I have done, my favorite place to travel would be abroad, but it's not. It's actually right in my own backyard. My favorite place to visit is the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is SO much different from the South Rim. It's green, full of aspens and mountain wildlife. Cool breezes dominate, where on the South Rim there are rarely breezes at all. It is a different world, and its serenity gets me every time.

Instagram // Twitter

About Kim: I started blogging when my husband and I decided to relocate to Mexico City. Blogging, has allowed me to share my experiences (good and bad) with my family, friends and readers and connect with other expats. The Mexico you see on the news is not the Mexico I see in my day to day life.  I love exposing people to the  rich culture and wonderful places through the writing and photography on my blog.

Her Favorite Trip: This is a tough question! There are only two places I've ever been, where I've cried every time I boarded the plane to leave: home (for the obvious reason that leaving home and my parents is always sad) and Hawaii.

I love Hawaii.

Hawaii has such a relaxed vibe. It has all of the benefits of life in the US (functional baking system,  Reese's Peanut butter cups, postcards, etc.) but with a very distinct island vibe. The culture in Hawaii is enchanting unique and special. Plus, there are many things to do for free--which makes it even more fun!

Instagram // Bloglovin'

About Heather: Oh hey there, I'm Heather from Fiery & Opinionated! A late 20-something new resident of San Francisco… product manager by day, blogger and fledging amateur photographer by night, food lover and booze aficionado. On my blog you'll hear randomness about my life, musings and yes, opinions on just about everything. 

Her Favorite Trip: My favorite place to visit is, and always will be the lake. I grew up spending my summers on one of the Finger Lakes in upstate NY. It is gorgeous and there's something about time at the lake that relaxes and recharges me like nothing else can. Lucky for me, I found a guy who is also from a 'lake family' so I have two amazing lakes now!

Bloglovin' // Twitter

A Wellness Giveaway

We could all use a little relaxation right? I'll admit, I don't lead a super stressful life here in Korea. I work part-time, have great students and have a pretty darn good support system. So where does the stress come in? Mostly from missing out on events back home or from me...just being inside my head too much (it happens quite often). Everyone has their different stresses in life but we all have one thing in common, we want to get rid of it! So this month I have joined an awesome group on blogging ladies to giveaway one 'wellness package' that is sure to reduce some of that pesky unneeded stress. What are you most looking forward to winning?

//Yoga Mat//EOS Lip Balm//Happiness Project//Portable Tea Infuser Tumbler//

//1,000 Places to See//Origins Calming Candle//Twinnings Green Tea//

I'd like to thank my wonderful June sponsors for donating to this giveaway! Be sure to stop by their blogs and introduce yourselves.
//Postcards from Rachel//A Fabulous Life in Jamaica//Lost in Travels////Chits and Giggles//Found Love Now What?//The Nectar Collective////The Olive Tree Blog//Stay Blonde, Ski Local//'Cause You Gotta Have Faith//a Rafflecopter giveaway

The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS)

Back in 1966, Chandler Robbins began the North American Breeding Bird Survey.  The results of the BBS are valuable in evaluating the increasing and decreasing range of bird populations which can be a key point to bird conservation.  That first year, there were only 600 official routes mainly starting in Maryland and the surrounding area.  Presently, there are about 3700 active routes throughout the US and Canada.

Each route is exactly 24.5 miles long, and remains the same year after year so population trends can be studied.  The BBS is one of those great citizen scientist projects that birders can get involved in to help insure the continued existence of our avian community.  Cooperators (me) begin the driving route exactly one half hour before sunrise at stop one.  (That’s why I had to get up shortly after 3 a.m. so I could take Emma out, eat breakfast, pack the truck with equipment, and get to the starting point 15 miles away on back roads by exactly 5:01.)

After looking for and listening for all species for precisely three minutes at each stop, you hop back into the truck and drive one half mile down the route and do it all again.  There are fifty stops along each route, and it is expected that you will complete the route in four to five hours before bird song drops off dramatically.  So much for expectations…

It was warm, muggy, and slightly foggy as Rachel and I arrived at the starting point.  Only one person is allowed to identify birds or songs, so Rachel was my official recorder.  I would call out what I was hearing or seeing at each stop, and she would tick the birds off on an official record sheet that is not in any particular order.  It’s not easy to start with.  A couple of readers of this blog have been recorders for me in the past when I did the BBS for 13 years outside of Rochester, MN, so you know of what I speak.

                                                    Egg shell remains of a dug up turtle nest.

We were off to a good start, although moving a bit slower than some routes due to the two track overgrown back roads of the refuge.  Our first major delay came when we were supposed to cross a very narrow bridge over the Otter Tail River.  Upon approach, there were three snapping turtles busy laying eggs in the tracks where there is some open ground.  It’s a popular spot for laying eggs as was evidenced by three other nests that had been gutted by raccoons overnight.  Getting around those turtles and onto the two skinny strips of wood over the river was a real challenge especially when one turtle decided to get up and move under the truck right by the tire!

     One of the pluses of the day was finding this happy Trumpeter Swan family with five signets in tow.

Next up, I was carefully watching the odometer to arrive at exactly the next half mile stop when Rachel hollered bear!  Sure enough, just on my left in a small but deep pond a big male black bear swam across.  He headed for the woods about twenty feet away.  Since our next stop was only ten feet away or so, I told Rachel I was going to shout out my bird sightings to her to be sure the bear knew we were still in the area. 

We powered through some boggy areas in four wheel drive, and continued on to our next obstacle.  Remember, we had scouted out all of the roads on Saturday, so were really not expecting any problems.

Well, Mother Nature had another surprise in store for us.  We must have really ticked off those beavers that I got pictures of on Saturday, as they decided to put up another dam right on the levy that we had to cross.  In only two days, the result was a flooded road bed close to a foot deep.  No way I was going to try to drive across that.  That meant backtracking, and going the long way around for over ten miles.  That business took us an hour to accomplish on these back roads, which really put us behind.

We managed to finish the whole route, but bird song had surely diminished after the beaver dam fiasco as the temps rose.  I had to remove four stuck on ticks after we finally staggered home.  For the first time in over seven years, I actually took a nap this afternoon.  Getting up at  3:00 took it’s toll.  We had quite an adventure today, but I’m happy it’s done with.

                                                                               THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

On the Road to Whale Sharks

We got a flat tire. In the middle of no where. In a third world country. Most people would panic and trust me, I had my times that I wanted to, but thank goodness the people in the Philippines are some of the nicest I've ever met. Oh! And most speak perfect English. I'm pretty sure my 'almost' freak out would have most definitely turned into a full blown freak out if we were in a country where we didn't speak the same language. Just another one of those times that are truly unpredictable in traveling and you have no option but to sit back, laugh, and wait as your tire gets fixed.

So first things first. Let's start from the beginning. We woke up at the crack of dawn...ok, it was more like 6am but I'm pretty sure on vacation that can be considered before the crack of dawn. We woke up to the sound of pouring down rain on our little bungalow and immediately felt our hearts sink. Our plan for the day was to take our rented motorbike on the two hour trip to the town of Oslob where whale sharks can be seen daily. 

We would have been just fine waiting until the rain passed but the whale sharks usually leave the area around 11am. We were on a deadline. We were told that if we didn't leave by 7am there was a chance we wouldn't make it in time. As we looked out the window at the rain clouds that surrounded our hotel, we knew that it was now or never. 

We gathered enough determination and decided that despite the rain, we would head out anyway, through the pouring rain and onto the whale sharks. Might I add that this is probably making it seem like we were a whole lot more upbeat than we were. I believe our exact words were along the lines of 'screw the rain, let's go see the whale sharks'. 

Thankfully by the time we headed out at 7, the rain had cleared up. We went about twenty minutes out of Moalboal and were making our way through the countryside, dotted with modest wooden and concrete homes. I remember thinking how amazing this was and even with the rain, everything was working out perfectly. Tip: don't ever think that because the minute you do, your motorbike will begin to swerve and slow down and you will find out you have a very.flat.tire. At least that's what happened to us.

We rolled to a stop in front of a large wooden box of a house. No windows, no lights inside, this is what was common to see in the countryside of the Philippines. A friendly couple inside must have seen us and directed that there was a bike shop about a kilometer down the road. Well since the bike wouldn't drive, especially with two people on it, I hopped off and told hubs to go on ahead and I would catch up on foot. I know, I should have been more worried and hubs gave me several nervous looks before I finally convinced him and he slowly rode off. But it's hard to be worried or nervous when every person I encountered is so genuinely nice. I had several people stopping what they were doing to say hello and ask me if I was ok. Once I told them I got a flat tire, they nodded knowingly and pointed down the road. They must have seen hubs pass by just minutes before. When I finally arrived at the infamous bike shop, I saw five guys huddled around our bike staring at the gaping hole in the tube. Finally, the owner of the shop nodded his head and told us no problem, he'll have it fixed shortly.

I was relieved but apprehensive as I watched our mechanic use technics that haven't been seen in the states in decades if not longer. When he finally finished, and went to fill the tube with air, we were met with another disappointment. That hole was fixed, but there were five more that he hadn't seen before. He shook his head and set it down. We would have to go to the next town over and buy a new tire. By now I was getting really anxious as it was nearing eight o'clock and we had hardly begun our two hour journey. Hubs jumped on the back of a workers motorbike and I sat at the shop playing an unofficial game of peek-a-boo with the shy little girls in the shop next door. As one point, I prayed 'Why don't you want us to see the whale sharks God?!' It seemed like the trip just wan't going to work out. After checking at two different stores, hubs finally found the last tube available and returned looking triumphant. Things were finally starting to turn around. He quickly installed the new tube but the most important question was still to be answered. How much? We were obviously tourist and in a country that blatantly posts two different prices for locals and tourists, we were expecting the worst. 

The owner looked down, thinking of what to tell us, then talked with his shop mates to confirm. The total cost for his labor? 50 pesos or $1.25. As a traveler and tourist, these are the times when you double or triple the asking price without question. The total bill for labor, a new tube and paying the young man who drove to get the new tube was 280 pesos or $6.50.

In our short time in the Philippines, I was amazed not only by the prices, not only by the genuine friendliness that you encounter, but also by the simple way of life. It's a humbling experience to see how others live and to see a young man's face light up when you give him the equivalence of a dollar for driving you a short distance. It is these experiences and realizations that I cherish from our trips abroad.
Linking up with Rolled Up Pretty and Shanna 

Some bird nerd trivia

I was up and out early again today to do my atlas-ing of the Booth Lake block.  I don’t just randomly drive around hoping to see birds.  There is some method to this madness.  Nature has a biological clock just like we do.  I’ve pretty much established what birds are present on each of the blocks, but now I have to find proof of their breeding.  The easiest ways to do this is to see a species building a nest, carrying food for young in their beaks, or finding recently fledged young ones.  It all depends on the calendar.

                                                                          Male wood duck.

There are a couple of general rules of thumb.  Just as the larger the bird, the longer its lifespan, the same goes, in general, for the larger the bird, the longer the eggs need to incubated before hatching.  That little chestnut-sided warbler nest we found will only take 12 days or so to produce young.  Eagles, and ducks, and larger birds will take up to or more than a month to hatch.

Then there’s the matter of whether the hatchlings are precocial or altricial.  A precocial bird is capable of moving around on its own soon after hatching.  Altricial means the babies are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching and remain in the nest for some time.  Robins, warblers, finches, and blue jays are examples of altricial birds.  On the other hand, loons, ducks, swans, and killdeers are examples of precocial birds.  Those babies are up and walking or swimming within a day or two.  Can you see the connection to Mother Nature’s calendar here?

I don’t even want to talk about the two nasty snapping turtles that I ran into in the early morning light today!  Both of the females were intent upon digging out a hole to lay their eggs in.  Seems the middle of the back road track is the easiest digging.  They were each on a mission, and grumpily hissed at me with open jaws!  I gave them a wide berth.

Most little birds have made their nests and are sitting on eggs.  The larger birds started their nests earlier since they’re not so dependent on insects.  So, this week I expected more little fluffy precocial birds, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I confirmed trumpeter swans with signets, and Canada geese, hooded mergansers, and ruffed grouse with fluffy young. 

While on my journey today, I couldn’t ignore the blooming of the smooth wild rose.  There’s a virtual rainbow of wildflowers in bloom right now, and the bees are loving it!

Next week, the little birds should start hatching, so I’ll concentrate on finding adults with food in their beaks for the young ones.  Of course there are always exceptions to the generalities I’ve talked about, but it does help me to focus my attention on ‘nailing’ certain species according to Mother Nature’s calendar.

After checking the weather forecast for the week, it appears that tomorrow should be the best day for doing the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) route through the refuge.  That means I have to set my alarm for 3:15 in the morning in order to be at the starting point of the official count exactly a half hour before sunrise.  Uf-duh!  I haven’t been up that early in the morning since the day of my hip surgery almost six months ago.

                                                                              THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Travel Tuesdays-Shanghai

Just a little something to cure your wanderlust for the week.

via

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” –Bill Bryson

Rushing Water and Lines of Rope

I never thought that I would be able to mark 'repel down waterfalls' off my bucket list. Then again, it was never on my bucket list to begin with. But leave it to hubs to find a new activity that I have never heard of and make me fall in love with it. 

When we arrived in the Philippines, hubs only had one thing planned and that was repelling...down waterfalls. The gist of it was that we took about an hour ride in the beast, hiked for 45 up the side of a mountain and then hiked/repelled down waterfalls on the Montaneza River until we reached the bottom. We repelled down a total of five waterfalls, the largest of them being 30 meters. 

The walk up the mountain was a little less than enjoyable. The views were fantastic, the company was great, but walking uphill for 45 minutes in what my guess was 100% humidity was not my idea of fun.

With it being low season right now in the Philippines, we were actually the only two that had signed up for the trip. This was great because we not only could we go at our own pace, but we got to know our guides a whole lot better. 

This was just one of the many 'iffy' walking paths that we had to take. Good thing we had helmets on!

After we were finished, we ended back where we had started and the driver had prepared a feast of a  meal including fruit, barbecue chicken and fish, rice wrapped in bamboo and and my favorite, shandies. I tried to get hubs to stay behind so he could learn how to cook but it was a no go. 

I couldn't get over the landscape in the Philippines. Everything was lush and green when we went and the areas around the river were astounding. I would highly recommend if you ever make it over to the Philippines, find a spot to go repelling! 

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About Belinda: Hello lovely little jelly beans! My name is Belinda and I am the writer behind the creative space of Found Love, Now What? I moved from Seattle to Northern Wales all to be with my British husband. I write on travels throughout the UK and beyond, life as an expat, advice on long distance relationships and more. Hop on over and say hello. I look forward to meeting you!

Her Favorite Trip: That is a tough question Chelsea! Hmm.... of all the places I have seen and visited I would have to say that one spot that would make my short list would have to be Istanbul. I loved the combination of the different elements of history, design, colors and cultures. I was mesmerized. I hope the dissent in Istanbul is resolved soon so the city can welcome visitors back with open arms.

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Linking up with  Carissa, Rachel, Logan, Leann, Molly