Dogsledding, My First Real Adventure

I am not a winter person. Never like cold weather, never tried skiing.

One night in the fall of 2006, I watched a PBS program called "Great Lodges" (of America). One of the lodges hosted the tour of dog sledding from one lodge to another, in Minnesota, the land of ten thousand lakes. I was always fascinated by sledding dogs since the book White Fang, but also considered it out of reach because of the season, price, and distance.  With the push of the fresh TV program, at least I can  google the tour company.  There it was: Wintergreen Dog Sled Lodge, and the price was very reasonable with different length and size of trip. Totally doable! That's the time I did my first spontaneous travel booking.  Strait ahead to the north!

My first sighting of California Condors 見到加州禿鷹

加州禿鷹是北美洲最大的鳥，成鳥展翅幾乎有十英尺長。因為棲息地減少，鉛中毒和偷獵，在1987年只剩22隻，全被捕獲，在洛杉磯和聖地牙哥動物園保育繁殖。我印象裡的禿鷹都是保育人員手套上戴著假禿鷹頭餵食新生兒的照片。到1991年保育成功，就開始逐漸放生野外。他們常在在中加州Monterey 以南的Big Sur附近活動。這次跟著賞鳥隊，希望可以一睹這瀕臨絕種的大鳥。領隊問說，誰沒看過加州禿鷹？十五位隊員裡，只有兩人舉手， 我當然是其中之一。一行人到一號公路旁的 Andrew Molera State Park 裡的 Discovery Center 參觀，出來正要吃自備的午餐，有人抬頭望著天空，問說，那是嗎？領隊 Lisa 拿出望遠鏡鑒定：就是他！高空盤旋的禿鷹，飛的低時，可看見胸前的白塊，是成鳥！展翅飛翔毫不費力，這鳥很會利用熱氣滑翔，一旦登空，很少需要拍翅。每天覓食可能要飛上一百五十英哩。天空中還看到 Turkey Vulture 和 Red Tail Hawk, 今天的任務已經達成了！

When Sea Lion Met Pelican

On the way of my bird watching trip, an attempt to see California Condor, we stopped at Moss Landing, south of Santa Cruz, to check out the birds there. Right at the parking lot, we saw a pod of sea otters, sea lions, sea gulls, brown pelicans, and a group of terns all within a short distance. Kayakers were just starting out for their day trip. A big group of sea lions occupied the long pier dock, mostly sleepy. This is Northern California coast, at 10am, thick marine layer still covered the sky, sun was not out yet. Our birding guide Lisa just pointed at a pigeon guillemot for us to see, my first sighting of that bird. Suddenly some big splash on the pier grabbed everybody's attention. Two brown pelicans just decided to land at a section of the dock, and all the sea lions on that section simply fled and slipped into water.

我從天使的領地裡回來--墨西哥看帝王蝴蝶遷徙 I Came Back From The World of Angels

在電視節目上看到帝王蝴蝶從北美的美、加遷徙到墨西哥和中美洲去避冬的過程，感到很不可思議。那麼小而弱的生物可以飛到那麼遠的地方去，又能不約而同的聚集在幾個特別的地方！我曾經到北加的Monterey試圖去找在那裡過冬的蝴蝶，結果是一隻也沒見到。後來才知道牠們都棲息在高樹上，冬天天寒，要到中午以後氣溫升高了才飛得動，一大早去當然看不見。後來找到牠們在墨西哥棲息的地方，覺得很難去，我的西班牙文只有兩三句，要自助到那裡可能有嚴重困難。磨蹭了幾年，看到加拿大小團旅遊公司G Adventures 有出特別團在二月去看帝王蝴蝶遷徙，因為時間不長，所以也不太貴，就決定跟了。

The Brilliant Poppy Show

California poppy is the state flower of California. They pop up here and there in the spring with bright orange flowers.

For years, I wanted to visit the California Poppy Reserve. But the drive is long, and I worried all I could find is the small patch of flowers scatter around vast land and would be totally lost and waste the long drive. Came spring 2010, with rainy winter and mild spring, everything bloomed like crazy. For once I did my homework, check the wildflower report, call the Reserve for information, then I knew the wait was over; I'd have to wait for several years to get such a perfect condition for the flowers if I missed this one.

The Little Chapel That's Full of Imagination

When I first traveled to Europe, I was totally in owe of the churches. Not only the facade looked exotic to me, but also much more sophisticated, arty and full of history than the churches in America.  Years of traveling passed, I now often hail: A church is a church is a church, and usually skip them. 

One of the exceptions was a little chapel. When my friend Tina said she would like to see the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence while we were in that area of France, I had to agree because she was the one that did the research. Once walked in, it surprised both of us. I have never seen a church more alive, stimulating, and full of hope. After so many churches, I came to believe that churches are designed to make people feel the power and peace of religion. Yet this very small chapel, designed by Matisse, simply refreshed my sense, and the one thing came to my atheist mind was: Heaven!