Mexico: Snorkel Trip

Yippie! I love snorkeling!

A parrotfish enjoying his turn a the cleaning wrasse station.

This was Chris and Angelas' first big snorkeling trip together so it was alot of fun to share with them.

Mr and Mrs. White watch as Jeff feeds the sargent majors.

I brought a banana to feed the fish and gave half to Angela. I was expecting a few fish to stop and nibble but within seconds I was surrounded by a huge school of sargent majors and they were so anxious to snack that they were biting me! Angela held her banana out of the water and I could hear her laughing through her snorkel.

Our guide playing with a little skate.

Tulum, Mexico

Chris and Angela hopped a collectivo bus with us and rode down to Tulum to see the ruins and snorkel.

We could see coral off the coast but the life guard wouldn't let us use our fins so we just played in the water instead.

This iguana is the reincarnation of a Mayan emperor.

The best thing about the ruins at Tulum is that they are right on the coast and there is a beautiful beach to cool off.

Mexico: Playa de Carmen

We stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort. Here is the courtyard outside our room.

There wasn't much coral to see in the water near the resort, but we did see some nice critters, including this squid. I spotted a school of about five squid. I mistook them for fish at first. When I realized they were squid I was really excited - we've never spotted squid and they were very interesting.



This queen trigger is being cleaned by a tiny black and yellow fish.

A pair of queen triggerfish.

The guy on the right is a dog face puffer. I'm not sure what his black and yellow friend is. He was very tiny though, about the size of a nickel.

Chris and Angela in the poolside buffet tiki at the resort. Chris' shirt makes me laugh every time I see it.

I rescued this kitty from a trap. I heard her meowing and searched until I found her in a trap near our room. There was a sign on it saying, "Please do not disturb the trap, the cat will be relocated." I didn't have much faith in the Sandos resort after the 'all inclusive snorkel gear' turned out to be $25 an hour so I let the poor cat out. The next day I found another trap (empty this time) and rolled a coconut in to spring it. Score 2 for the kitties!

Becky's Reception in Missouri

We drove up to Eureka, Missouri for my cousin Becky's wedding reception. She and her husband Frank were married in Jamaica earlier in the summer.

Here is Becky looking absolutely lovely in her wedding gown.

We took a family trip to Grant's Farm, owned by the Budweiser Beer family. Here we are in the Beer Garden enjoying free samples.

The Clydesdale foals were so sweet. They love being petted and nibbling babies' shoes.

Isn't this a handsome horse? He is a Norwegian Fjord. I've always wanted to see one and now I have!

Lexi and I with one of the Budweiser stallions.

Me, feeding the goats. Lexi made the mistake of going into the pen with them. She came out with hoof prints all over her white shorts.

Cicada Mysteries

I found this cicada named Clark climbing the side of the garage. I brought him inside and watched him molt before letting him go. It took him about an hour. I think the fourth photo is especially beautiful. The color in his wings was a very concentrated emerald before they puffed out to their full size.

I love cicadas. I'll have to put up another post of my cicada art sometime.

My Cafe Press Shop

Bat Watching in Austin

Digging for Diamonds

Well, it's not quite summer yet, but we decided it was as good a time as any for a weekend adventure. We went camping and treasure hunting in Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. Our party included Cass, Makaela, Aaron, Jennifer, Angela and us-Andi and Jeff. Between the 7 of us we drove up to Arkansas in three Honda Elements. Being a geek at heart, I couldn't resist bringing out the Periodic Table of Elements so we could drive up in our "Periodic Table of Honda Elements." Angela and I rode in Zn (Zinc), Aaron and Jennifer in Ti (Titanium) and Cass, Jeff and Makaela in Kr (Krypton). We marked atomic number, weight, abbreviation and name on our back windows in car chalk.


We camped just outside of the diamond mine. In the wee morning hours a horrible thunderstorm came through and it was like trying to sleep in a can of marbles with all the booms and crashing rain. In the morning we ate breakfast at the cheap, friendly Campbell Family Cafe. Then it was off to the Diamond Mine to search for some bling.

The mine is just a big plowed field dotted with muddy holes. Mud was plentiful and diamonds scarce but it was still fun looking. Makaela came with me and lost a shoe in the mud. As I was retrieving it, I got stuck. I freed myself and re-shod the kid who promptly lost the other shoe. Right about that time, Aaron and Jennifer came over to see why we were laughing and rolling in the mud. Aaron picked up Makaela while I tried to get the shoe out of the mud. Finally I had to stick my hands under it and pull. We decided Makaela was better off without her shoes and socks. The other diamond mining children were roaming the field in barefoot packs, wallowing happily in the mud. It was a holiday from cleanliness.


Saturday night we tried for several hours to start a fire with the dry wood we bought from the park before finally getting the fire going with the rained on wood we'd bought in town. We roasted hot dogs, smores and played a few rounds of Catchphrase.
None of us found any diamonds, but we did have fun.

Felted Landscape of Fairyland Geyser Basin

I made this landscape mostly from store bought wool roving but some fibers I gathered in Yellowstone.
The cliffs are made of bison fur I gathered near Canyon and parts of the mountain goat are made from mountain goat fur I gathered while climbing down the cliffs into Fairyland. We saw a goat and her kids on the cliff across from us just before we spotted Fairyland.

I'm sure the Park Service would frown on it, but it's not like I yanked the wool off the buffalo's butt. They shed the stuff all over the meadows and all I did was walk around and pick it all up. I collected it under the truck's seat during the summer I worked there. Zilla the cat adores the bison wool. I have to keep it hidden or she steals it and hides it under the bed. She is a texture connoisseur.
The waterfall on the left is Golden Fleece Falls on Shallow Creek. On the right are Guardian Falls, Halfway Falls and Impasse Falls on Broad creek.
Strange art project, I know but I thought you guys might get a kick out of it. It's called needle felting. You use barbed needles to mat the fibers together. Lots of fun.

Goodbye Namibia

Tuesday- We drove on from Swakopmund across the Tropic of Capricorn to a rest camp called Solitaire in the desert. It reminded me of an Anasazi village.
Wednesday- Woke at 4:45 am in hopes of watching the sunrise from the top of a dune in Namib-Naukluft National Park. Instead we waited one hour at the gate for the park to open at sunrise and drove 45 kilometers to said dune. We climbed Dune 45 and ate breakfast in front of it.
That wasn't enough for some and they just had to climb Big Daddy - world's tallest dune-at noon without water. I climbed an acacia tree instead. We walked with a nice guide and visited Sesriem canyon before continuing on a long sunset and then pitch-black drive. Before sunset we saw ostriches and oryx running across the desert.
We've become so accustomed to doing our business alongside the road in the middle of nowhere that when the truck stopped we all piled out and headed for bushes. Five minutes later we sat down to dinner at a roadside inn whose front lawn we'd just peed in. They actually had lovely restrooms, it was just so dark that we figured the truck had once again stopped in the middle of nowhere for a potty break.
Thursday- We spent the night in a nice German lady's guest cabins in the middle of nowhere. Our cabin was adorable but there was a dead skink in the sink. The German lady baked a chocolate cake for us.
In the morning we continued on to Fish River Canyon which everyone agreed would have been better oriented East-West to catch the sunrise and sunset.

Friday- Left Fish River Canyon and drove through a gorgeous forest of impressive kokerbooms. Peter stopped at a dead, or as he said, 'wilted' and lonely kokerboom for us to take photos. Jeff and I ran to the nearest live kokerboom and took photos until they honked the horn at us.
Now I write from the bank of the Orange River in South Africa. The sun has set and the afterglow has turned the river a brilliant orange. Our trip is almost over. I loved Namibia. I felt very much at home there in the desert. It was hard to leave.