Vacation 2016 Summary

It looks like work on my 2016 vacation is finally complete. It's time for me to post my summary.

Vacation 2016 - Final Falls

We have finished everything except the drive. A couple forms of wildlife had been seen while my attention was aimed elsewhere. Those would be a Douglas Squirrel and American Dippers. I didn’t do any bird checklists today.

Vacation 2016 - Arriving at the Gorge

We made our way to the Columbia River Gorge. We made several quick stops before calling it a night. Our first stop was Deschutes River State Recreation Area. I threw together a quick eBird checklist. Then we started waterfall hunting.

Vacation 2016 - Farewell Bend

It was hot and windy last night. It took a long time for the temperature to drop to semi-tolerable levels. Even if temperatures were cooler, it was going to be tough. The wind hitting the tent created quite a bit of noise. Despite the problems, I’m pretty sure we all got enough sleep for today’s push to Eagle Creek.

Vacation 2016 - Birds of Prey Area

While it is difficult to identify birds from a moving car, I know we saw some kind of Fowl on our way to Celebration Park. We also visited Dedication Point and Swan Falls (dammed) within the Birds of Prey Conservation Area. I didn’t do too well with birds, and the heat certainly didn't help. We followed these stops with the related World Center for Birds of Prey where we saw a couple Condors (obviously in captivity).

Vacation 2016 - Craters and Falls

We had two stops that we really wanted to make today. We succeeded with both. The first was Craters of the Moon. We walked several short trails along the obvious lava flows. I have done similar walks before. The biggest difference I noticed was that these flows maintained a texture that made it clear that these were indeed flows. The flows I have seen in Oregon were essentially piles of crumbly rock.

Vacation 2016 - Pushing through Wyoming

We have anticipated that our return trip would be trickier than the way to Colorado. We gave ourselves one less day (although we shaved off a day on our way out to make them equal) even though this route is longer with more to do. Perhaps even more noteworthy is the fourth of July weekend. With our looser plans than most people, we really couldn’t make reservations. We made an exception for the fourth since we have a solid target for our final stop.

Vacation 2016 - Colorado Springs Area

We stopped at three locations near Colorado Springs. The first was the Garden of the Gods. The primary focus of this area is the rock formations. If you know me, you shouldn’t be surprised that I counted birds while there. This was my only checklist for the day. We actually made a second stop within the park. This was at the Balanced Rock.

Vacation 2016 - Waterton Canyon

Today, we headed to Watertown Canyon. This was a fairly straightforward walk, so this walk will be better chronicled as an eBird checklist.

Vacation 2016 - Cherry Creek State Park

We visited a local park today, Cherry Creek. Most of what I have to say will be in the form of an eBird checklist. It got hot, and we were out longer than originally expected. When we returned, we spent some time just relaxing. That’s why it took me so long to get around to writing this mini-entry.

Vacation 2016 - Reaching Colorado

Oops. I almost forgot my final log entry for the day. In short, we reached our end point. We will spend a few days here in Colorado before starting our return journey.

Vacation 2016 - Fort Laramie

We have finished up our first stop. Like yesterday, we went with history. This time, we were at Fort Laramie. We looked at their various buildings as well as their wildlife. I hope to have some good Snake pictures. We also found some more Nighthawks. I guess it’s true what they say about historical sites. Sightings repeat themselves.

Vacation 2016 - To Douglas, Wyoming

We just discovered that our camping book does not cover eastern Wyoming. We decided to follow signs to a campground. This took us to a KOA outside of Douglas. There isn't a trail system here, so we are foregoing our usual campground walk.

Vacation 2016 - Montana to Wyoming

It was kind of nice watching a little television last night. I got to watch the Carbonaro Effect for the first time since dropping cable. I had seen most of the episodes, but I managed to get one that I hadn’t seen. Of course, the biggest benefit to staying at a hotel was not having to put away a tent before continuing. We got out early and made a lot of progress before our first and likely only real stop today.

Vacation 2016 - East Gallatin

We added another stop. This one was at the East Gallatin Recreation Area. This is a park that is probably best for regular visitors. There are a lot of short trails cutting through the property. Regulars will know these trails and how to approach the best habitat. I kept a checklist, but I'm fairly confident that my counts will be lower than most people who visit.

Vacation 2016 - Lost Creek

We hit another driving stretch, so I might as well provide another update.

Vacation 2016 - Quartz Flat

We have a little driving time ahead of us, and I am doing a better job of conserving battery life. I might as well do a quick entry to this log to help avoid anything as long as my last.

Vacation 2016 - Reaching Montana

We got up this morning well ahead of sunrise. Since Potholes State Park has an entry gate, we felt that it would be best to enjoy the park one last time. I have a checklist for the day that will eventually be posted to eBird. I don't think there’s any question that the sexiest species (in terms of appeal for finding) was the unexpected Great Horned Owl.

Vacation 2016 - Starting in Washington

We started our vacation a little earlier than originally expected. We did not make our first stop until we reached Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. We walked a little around their visitors center. We didn’t do any real trail, but we did look at their petroglyphs. Part of the reason for this laziness was the warm weather. I have a feeling that this could become a common theme.

Vacation 2015 Summary

I have finished going through all of my vacation pictures. The next step is to summarize the vacation. Me and one of my sisters visited another sister and her husband from May 26 though June 2. The vacation featured a road trip from May 27 through May 30 that included Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. We spent the rest of the vacation in Ohio, and added some local attractions.