ANA Summer Seminar

Son John was in town last week to teach a class on Colonial Numismatics at the ANA Summer Seminar at Colorado College. His co-instructor was Erik Goldstein, numismatic curator at Colonial Williamsburg.

The boys look like they could be brothers. Despite their casual look, they are very professional and extremely knowledgeable. I attended a couple of sessions and the class couldn't get enough. It was fascinating! I'm very proud of them both.

During the week, Johnny joined us for dinner several times and brought friends from the seminar with him and we all had a great time.

The weather has been beautiful, so we spend a lot of time outside. Mr. Robin had just taken a bath in the pond.

The juvenile Robins have fledged. Look at his speckled breast - it almost looks like a different bird.

We've seen a couple of Black-headed Grosbeaks at the feeders.

The Lesser Goldfinches are plentiful and there are always several at the feeders or getting a drink from the birdbath. The Lesser variety is smaller than the American Goldfinch and has more greenish-black on its back.

A butterfly stops to enjoy the yellow flowers.

I love the colors in this shot.

On one of our walks over in the park, we saw a large group of these tiny non-descript grey birds flitting around in the pine scrub. I've decided it is a Bushtit. I'm sure we've seen them before, but this is the first time I've really identified one.

We hadn't been out geocaching in a while, so decided to locate a couple of new caches that have recently been placed in Palmer Park. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt where someone hides a container then publishes the coordinates (http://www.geocaching.com/) and other cachers try to find it. Inside the cache, there is always a paper log to sign and date. Some of the larger caches have trinkets you can trade or travel bugs you move along to another cache. Everything gets recorded on the website. World wide, there are over a million caches. This is a very popular, family friendly sport that gets you outside in the fresh air.

This is a picture of GZ (geocache talk for ground zero) the place where our GPS unit indicates the first stash is located. Once there, it can be anywhere up to about 25 feet from GZ - and can be on the ground, in a tree or hidden in a hole in the rock ledge. They cannot be buried. I was down to the right with the GPS indicating I was within 5 feet - as the crow flies. Elevation is not part of the formula - so we had to climb up on the rocks another 15 to 20 feet to get 3 feet closer.



Then we look for something out of place - or a likely location to hide a very small container. We found a small pill box behind the rock. Inside was the log where we signed our geocache name (gailandbill) to show we found it.

While walking, we found another geode - a rock that is hollow inside - perfect to hide a cache in. We took it home and Bill made the hole a little wider and we put a small pillbox that I covered with camouflage-colored duck tape inside. We named it Bublenut (the GPS unit only has space for a 7 letter name, so we dropped the other "b" in "bubble") and hid it in plain site just off a trail in Palmer Park - on the ground with a couple of other rocks. The hollow rock is the one on the upper left. Inside is the log and instructions - just in case someone finds it by accident. Non-geocachers are called "muggles" like in the Harry Potter books. Bublenut was published after dark on July 4th and the FTF (first-to-find) located it at first light the next morning.

Back in the park, the hummingbirds are thick. My challenge is trying to get a picture where the light is at just the right angle that the iridescent colors show.

This little guy has a bright red gorget (throat) but it looks black unless it is reflecting the sun.

I also saw another Violet-green Swallow perched in a tree begging to have his picture taken. Beautiful bird!

Son John left yesterday to fly back to New York City where the temperatures are over 100 degrees and the humidity is just as high. Here in Colorado Springs, today is cool with highs around 60 and humidity at 15%. A cold front came through last night with hail the size of golf balls and lots of rain - but today the skies are clear and blue. I think I'll take a hike!

Geocaching at Ross Prairie State Forest

Bill and I have done very little geocaching this season so after Bill returned from flying at the OTOW RC field (and to celebrate our anniversary) we decided to go back to Ross Prairie State Forest to find the two caches hidden there.

The well-marked hiking trails wind through some beautiful woods.

I guess this is a type of moss growing under the oak leaves.

The first cache was hidden in a PVC pipe and was hanging on a tree. This second cache was named "On Top of the H" and when I saw this tree, I understood the name. You can see the cache (a Tupperware box) sitting on the limb under some pieces of bark. I can't figure out how this tree grew - is it a conjoined twin?

After locating both caches, we hiked on to the open marsh land, around the loop and back via one of the many spurs off the main trail. We saw lots of birds in the trees, several lizards scooting across the fallen leaves, a bunny hiding from the hawks and a couple of squirrels - or as Bill calls them "Sport Model Rats" looking for nuts. It was a great walk but it was hot by the time we got back home and decided a visit to the pool was in order.

There are three pools here at OTOW - two outdoor and one indoor. The big (huge!) pool at the Health and Recreation Center is open to guests, including children. The other two pools and the hot tub are at the Arbor Club and are for adults only. After hiking, the hot tub sounded good so we were off to the Arbor Club.

As you can see, we are finding our way around and enjoying the amenities here at OTOW.

A Visit With Paula and Louis

Our good friends Louis and Paula came up from their home in the San Luis Valley to spend a night with us before picking up their son at the airport - here from Virginia for a 2 week vacation.

Louis and Paula enjoy the outdoors so we took them hiking in Palmer Park and introduced them to our newest hobby of geocaching.

First, we hiked on the north side of the park, climbing up to the Templeton and Edna May Bennett Nature Trails where we placed our newest cache Hambone. You can see it in this picture - can't you?

After that we gave them the GPS and let them locate one of our other caches Leverite. It is high on the bluffs near our house. They finally found it - after Louis picked it up and put it down again not realizing what it was. Both Hambone and Leverite are micro (very small) containers camouflaged inside items from nature we found on the ground in the park. The container has only a small log to sign your name and date of your visit.

Next weekend we are driving down to Alamosa with friends, Moe and Shirley, to see the progress on Louie and Paula's new house. Louie is doing all of the construction - including the doors and cabinets - and Paula is working on the garden. They have a greenhouse, pond, huge workshop, detached multi-level garage and a brand new wine cellar. Louis designed and built the rotating solar panels that provide energy for the house and the complicated system that stores and purifies their water. They are growing fruit (including oranges and bananas!) tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, beans, corn, peas, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and herbs & spices. They hope to one day be completely self sufficient - but I hope they will always need friends.

Yesterday, we took two of the grandkids to sports practice at their school in Hanover - about an hour southeast of here - out in the prairie. I usually don't take pictures of birds on barbed wire fences or telephone poles - but I wanted to try and identify some birds we do not have here in town.

This, I believe, is a Lark Sparrow. I think they are beautiful birds - but then again, I love them all.

I have trouble telling the difference between a Western Kingbird (which is what I THINK this is) and a Says Phoebe. Please e-mail with corrections on this or any other bird I post!

Hawks are the most difficult for me. Many types have highly variable plumage - from light to dark and they are usually too far away for good pictures. This one, I believe, is a common Red-tailed Hawk.

Swainson's Hawks have three main color variants. This one looks like the more common light morph.

We saw this lone duck standing by a puddle of muddy water. Bill correctly identified it as a Gadwall.

The wildflowers are still beautiful. We passed field after field of these wild sunflowers smiling and nodding their heads in the gentle breezes.

Off to the north, a severe thunder-storm was brewing but the sun was still shinning on the happy yellow flowers.

Our weather has been unseasonably cool and damp with lots of afternoon storms. North and east of here, there has been wind, hail and even a tornado or two. Today is dreary and cold with a good chance of rain - not a good day to hike.

We are beginning to get itchy and are planning our return to Florida in October. Bill is anxious to get back to the Cape Coral RC Hawks flying field and I miss the ocean, seashells and tropical birds - not to mention the community pool and all of our new friends.

Geocaching in Palmer Park

Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache anywhere in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache's existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS device can then try to locate the geocache.

Bill and I headed to Palmer Park with our new GPS. We entered the coordinates for the "Hoffmann Boys First Hide" and started hiking. We found the location - but could not find where the cache was hidden. We returned again later in the day - but still no luck.

I emailed the "Hoffmann Boys" and asked for more clues. They kindly responded with precise instructions - so we tried again - and this time we were successful!

This is our first find - a treasure trove of trinkets, toys, key chains, coins, beads and other miscell-aneous small stuff hidden under some rocks at the base of a tree on top of a canyon in Palmer Park.

We took a key chain and left a silver ANA Summer Seminar token. I had to replace the box in exactly the same place as we found it. This is a terrible picture of my big butt - but it helps to tell the story.

Finding the "Hoffmann Boys" cache gave us the confidence to try for another - "Camo-Cache #2." On the GPS it looked to be just a short hike from our first find - but it was down the side of a steep canyon. Bill found it first then re-hid it so I could locate it with the GPS. We had a great time hiking, rock climbing, bird watching and geocaching for about 3 hours!

On our first trip to the park, we saw this beautiful Red-tailed Hawk in a nearby tree.

Several sparrows were trying to scare him off. He must have been too close to their nest.

The cactus are still blooming - and I can not get over how beautiful they are this year!

This thistle was about six feet tall so I had to shoot this picture from under instead of from above.

Back at the house, this Northern Flicker was checking under the bird feeders to see if I had dropped any peanut butter. I had - and he found it!

The pond lily is especially beautiful this year. So far, the raccoons have not knocked it over.

Last week I was in Maryland for the 1st birthday party of my youngest grandson - Sebastian (or Sebanstian as his cake mistakenly said). My youngest daughter, Pamela had all the in-laws and out-laws at her house for a wonderful party with delicious Cuban and Italian food. Big-brother, Gabriel and cousin Zachary were helping with the mound of presents.

Orlando and Pamela - proud parents of Gabriel and Sebastian. They have a beautiful home and were wonderful hosts. I'm very lucky!

Three of my four children - Pamela, John and Laura. I wish my oldest son Rick, his wife Lisa and son Dylan could have been there - but it was the same day as Lisa's 20th high school reunion.

Laura with Aunt Caroline. I had not seen Caroline in years, so it was really nice to visit with her and catch up on her life - children and grandchildren.

John and Pamela. John is my youngest and Pamela is just 13 months older. Don't they look alike?

Pamela and the birthday boy - Sebastian. He was just getting over Roseola so his face still had red splotches.

Sebastian on his actual birthday.

The almost newlyweds - Cheryl and Laura - looking oh-so-cute together.

My wonderful hubby, beautiful children and grand-children are my real treasures!