Monday, Jan. 28

There is a unique place in Arizona, Whitewater Draw, about forty miles southeast of Tombstone, AZ. It’s a marsh in the high desert. There is pretty much nothing here, except flat land surrounded by mountains. What’s unique is the twenty-some thousand Sandhill cranes that migrate here for the winter, some from as far away as Siberia. The cranes all leave at dawn to feed, then start to return in the late morning. In the afternoon, some leave again to feed, then return at dusk.

After lunch, we took Lois to the marsh, about a quarter of a mile away, to observe the thousands and thousands of cranes, snow geese and ducks. The activity and noise were pretty crazy. Cranes make a loud, bugling sound. A few hours later, we returned to the Ham just as some cranes were leaving for their late feeding. At dusk, the sky darkened with wave after wave of cranes returning. Imagine the flying monkeys scene from the Wizard of Oz, that’s what it looked and sounded like.

We stayed in the park with seven other RVers.

When getting in bed tonight, we couldn’t believe the noise the cranes were still making. We thought, if it wasn’t getting down to 36 degrees tonight, it sure would be neat to listen to them through an open window. As we laid in bed, coyotes started howling. The more they howled, the more the cranes bugled. It was an interesting way to fall asleep.

Tuesday, Jan. 29

Up at 6:30 am to join our RV neighbors and arriving birders. Like other mornings, I opened the shades to remind us of where we were at. To my surprise, the window had been left open all night. No wonder the night was so loud and we were so cold.

Everyone was there for the morning’s big event, when the cranes all leave at the same time. The closer Carol and I got to the marsh, the louder the cranes got. The excitement was growing – you could feel it. A group of ten took off. You could hear their wings flapping and their throats bugling. Then a group of about twenty. Each time a group went up, the remaining cranes bugled with them. The excitement continued to grow! Another group went up and then another. After about an hour, the marsh was almost empty. The big event didn’t happen. Oh well, at least it was a pretty sunrise.

On our way back to the Ham, I told Carol, I was all “Big Adventured” out and ready for Myrtle Beach. Carol was ready too.

We left for Las Cruces, NM.

Wednesday, Jan. 30

There is a bubble of warm temperatures moving across the southern states for the next week and we decided to drive along with it. I’m sure there may still be an adventure or two on our travels, but we’re not planning any more.

This adventure has been way more than we ever expected. In fact, for the last time, it has been INCREDIBLE!! There is not one moment that we would have changed, except maybe a bad RV park or dumping the tanks.

Mileages driven: 6192, so far.

Miles Carol drove: Quality is better than quantity.

Gas used: I won’t say, but we will be getting a Christmas card this year from Fly J Adventures: At least 25.

Favorite Adventure: Lois – Death Valley / Carol – Death Valley / Terry – McDowell Mountain / Lucy – The Longhorn cattle in Texas / Christy – Hiking any trail

Views of burnt pizza picture: 10,164

I guess this will be our last issue, unless another great adventure pops up. Thanks for reading or just looking at the pictures. It gave us something to do in the evenings.

We are already planning The Big Adventure – Two