Mexico Belize - Winter 2004/2005

We spent Friday night in the motorhome in Don & Sandy Shapiro’s driveway. It was 24 degrees when we woke up. We smiled at each other and said, “It’s time to head south!” After a brief stop at Camper’s Inn to refill the propane tank (We used a lot of propane keeping the coach warm and the water system unfrozen over the past few weeks) we were on the road. Our first destination was Cape May, NJ. We arrived about 5 PM and checked into a campground full of unoccupied seasonal trailers. It was already dark so we spent a quiet evening relaxing in the coach.

Our plan to run this morning fizzled as we awoke to the pouring rain. Fortunately, by the time we finished breakfast the rain had stopped so we could disconnect the electric and water hookups without getting soaked. It was a short drive to the ferry terminal and we were the only big motorhome on the ship today. The 85 minute trip across Delaware Bay was fun. It was windy on deck but not too cold so we could stay out to watch the birds. In addition to the Herring, Black Backed and Ring Billed Gulls, we spotted lots of Northern Gannetts and Common Loon. Once off the ferry, we headed south to Chincoteague, VA where there is a wonderful wildlife refuge. We checked in at Tom’s Cove Park for three nights. The day we leave, they close for the season. We chose a waterfront site. As I started to type this I could see willet, sandpipers (too far to tell what kind) an osprey and snowy egret. Now that the sun has set we can see the Chincoteague lighthouse blinking on the horizon. A great way to start our birding trip. A few minutes later the nearly full moon rose out of the ocean and created a flickering pool of moonlight across the marsh. It was a beautiful sight as well as a reminder that the sun would rise in about the same position at just before seven tomorrow morning.

What a fantastic day. Carl was up at 6:30AM to take pictures of the beautiful sunrise.

After breakfast we headed to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge about ten miles away. What a wonderful place. We saw 46 different kinds of birds (I’ll spare you the list, if you’d like the details, just ask.). The highlights were a bald eagle, thousands of snow geese (the same ones we saw in Vermont in October) and a cute little Sika Deer. This was Sandy’s first outing using her digital camera. She was delighted to not worry about “wasting film” or running out. After dinner we both downloaded our pictures from the cameras to the computers (yes, we have two laptops with us!). A wonderful start to this trip and we have another day here in Chincoteague before we head to the wildlife refuges in North Carolina.

Another wonderful day. We slept late (8:30) then spent a quiet morning around the coach. Sandy spent the morning learning more of the features of her new digital camera (Nikon D70) and Carl spent less than an hour on money management tasks. This technology is awesome. In about 45 minutes we checked the status of our Fidelity accounts, arranged for funds transfer to our checking account, transferred money between accounts at our Credit Union and electronically paid our VISA bill then downloaded a complete transaction history to compare expenses against our budget. Carl did all of that without moving from his seat at the dinette in the motorhome! We then packed a lunch and headed back to the wildlife refuge. We hiked the 3 mile Black Duck trail then visited the visitor center. The wind had picked up and the temperature dropped to 45 so we ate lunch in the car while watching thousands of snow geese in the marsh. As we drove back towards the wildlife drive, Sandy spotted a Great Blue Heron close to the road. What a patient bird! We took pictures from 100 feet away then walked slowly closer, stopping every 10 or 15 feet to take more pictures. At every stop we expected the bird to take flight. We got within 25 feet of this beautiful bird so that our 300mm lenses filled the frame with images of the bird. We then repeated our drive around the marsh road. We spotted two bald eagles perched on the same branch and had a close encounter with several small Sika Deer, one of which walked up to within six feet of Sandy. Back to the coach for downloading and reviewing pictures from our digital cameras. After supper, we listened to one of the Spanish language CDs we bought to learn Spanish before we get to Mexico. A very full day; tomorrow we head to North Carolina.

The forecast was for rain but it is a travel day. We left the campground about 9 AM right after they shut off the water and electricity (this was the last day of the season for the campground). The crosswind on the Chincoteague causeway was pretty fierce but then we headed south and the wind was on the nose. Tough on gas mileage but steering was not so erratic. The wind had one more surprise in store for us. When we got to the toll booth for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, we were told it was closed to trucks and RVs due to high winds! We parked with about 30 trucks and waited. We listened to the marine weather forecast, “winds 25-30 knots, increasing to 35 knots overnight”. We wondered if we would have to spend the night there. However, shortly after making lunch, the trucks started moving out and we were soon on our way. We missed the turn towards the campground. Usually no big deal but this was the last turn before US-64 went across the sound on a long causeway. It was eight miles before we could turn around. At Sandy’s suggestion we stopped at the visitor center on the way back to the campground to confirm the directions we had. The good news was that it was only a mile away. The bad news was that they were out of business. The man at the Visitor Center recommended another park about five miles away. We didn’t get there until 4:30, too late to go to the wildlife refuge. We’ll do that tomorrow morning.

Today was another wonderful wildlife day. We visited three North Carolina National Wildlife Refuges and saw a wonderful array of birds. At Pea Island which is next to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, we saw White Ibis, Brown and American White Pelicans, little Blue Heron and a Black Crowned Night Heron. Next stop was Alligator River NWR where we left the coach in the parking lot and drove the wildlife drive in the car. This refuge is former farmland with trees along the edges of the fields. It is Raptor Central. We saw Kestrel, Northern Harrier, Red-Tailed Hawk and a Bald Eagle. Our last stop of the day was at Mattamuskeet NWR where we saw many Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and American Coot. However, the highlight of this place is Tundra Swans. At Chincoteague when you saw thousands of white birds spread across the water you knew they were Snow Geese. Here nearly all of the white birds on the water were Tundra Swans, probably 500-1000 spread across a large lake. We also saw an interesting new mammal. A brown furry critter crossed the road ahead of us. At first we thought it was a beaver but it had a narrow tail, not at all like a beaver. Well then, Muskrat we thought, but this guy was four to five times bigger than the biggest muskrat we had ever seen. We later learned that it was a Nutrina, a South American relative of the muskrat, introduced in the southern US many years ago. We drove another 70 miles and arrived at our overnight stop in Washington, NC at about 6 PM. One of the problems with winter travel is that the sun sets at 4:30 so we either shorten our day, or, like today, arrive at the campground after dark. It was no problem here since they gave us a HUGE drive through site where we can leave the car attached.

Today was a 230 mile driving day that seemed a lot longer. We drove 120 miles and planned to explore Wilmington, NC along the way. However, the traffic was so bad on US-17 that it took us nearly a half hour to work our way into the Wal-Mart parking lot where we planned to leave the coach while we explored downtown. Once in the car we waited three light cycles and had not yet gotten on to the side street that led to US-17. We declared it a lost cause, stopped for lunch in the next restaurant we came to then got back on the road. After clearing the suburbs of Wilmington, it was clear sailing until the Myrtle Beach, SC area, a vast “wasteland” of shopping centers, strip malls and traffic lights punctuated by miniature and full size golf courses. We got to the campground about 5 PM and things began to look up right away. We got a lovely, secluded site which backs up to a line of trees along the sand dune. The ocean is on the other side of the dune a can be heard clearly. More good news; this weekend is the first annual “Wings of Winter” birding festival in the state park. We picked up a brochure and plan to go on some of the organized bird walks. Still more good news; the satellite antenna has a “peekaboo” view of the sky between the trees so we can send this email.

So ends our first week on the road and life is very good. We’ve visited lots of beautiful places, already seen 70 different kinds of birds and taken some great photographs. In six days we get