We Had Issues

Road Trip!

Jeremy had been wanting to take another Southern Utah trip because our hunt for roadrunners and other birds was so successful when we went back in 2022. There was a particular place he wanted to go this time that we'd never been before. So we made sure to schedule it in on one of the only Saturdays we hoped we'd have available. I told you things have been soooooo busy the last few months.

So on Saturday, September 20, we got the kids up early and headed out.

We had to drive down a long gravel road to get to our destination, which was nice as it was fun to see cactus and Joshua trees and even lillies around. We only saw a few birds, however. We did see a roadrunner.

We saw some lizards, which are always fun. 

When we got to our destination to get out, it unfortunately wasn't as good as it could be for birding. I won't go into details but several of us were having issues. None of us were trying to be difficult, we were just having a difficult time.

So we went back to the van, drove the long gravel road back to the main road and headed into St. George to a park we enjoyed going to last time we were there. We stopped at restrooms because it had been a long morning.

The original plan was after lunch and bathroom break we would drive over to a different part of the park to leave the van while we walked around looking for specific birds. Most of us ate lunch. I was still having issues so I didn't eat but cried a lot.

My sweet husband was so nice to me, though, and so patient with me while I was having problems. Have I mentioned how much I love him and how awesome he is?

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), we all got buckled in the van and Jeremy tried to turn it on and it wouldn't start. In St. George. 4-5 hours away from home.

The van had issues. 

Now it's time to talk about recognizing blessings and answers to prayers. We knew of another birder from Utah County Birders who was planning on being in the area that day. We were able to contact him and he came over and jump started our battery. Our hero. While we waited, Jet got to play on the playground that he really wanted to play on so it was easier getting him back in the van when we got it jumped. We also had plenty of food and water if it was going to be a long wait, which it wasn't.

We drove over to Autozone where they checked to see that it was a bad battery and told us it's possible the battery was still under warranty. We bought some tools for changing the battery and a portable jumper just in case the next time was not in the middle of the city where our birding friend could get to us (because he happened to be in the area that day). It was a good thing it was not at the end of that looooong gravel road that the van decided to die (blessing).

We drove to Costco and found out that indeed our battery was still under warranty so we were able to get a brand new battery (with a new warranty) for a lot less money than it would have if it was not under warranty. I helped Jeremy change the battery in the parking lot and we made it home safely.

As bad as it was for this to happen, we also recognize the timing as a blessing because we got a brand new battery before Jeremy left on a couple more big trips. I didn't have to worry about the van dying while he was gone.

And the drive home was beautiful with a nice lightning storm and beautiful sunset colors. 

So even though we had issues that day (including the van), there were still lots of blessings we were able to recognize.

It was appropriate that September 20 was National Punch Day because I feel like we got a punch with the things that happened. 

Southern Utah

The last time I went down to Southern Utah (St. George area) was when we went as a family to Zion National Park in 2017. We made that a day trip, getting up early to drive down there. 

Jeremy had it on our Summer wishlist to take the whole family down to Southern Utah this year so we planned a trip (again planning on getting up really early to drive there). We especially wanted to look for roadrunners. We'd never seen roadrunners before but have been wanting to for years. 

The only day the trip would work originally (and that's why we scheduled it that day), things looked like they might not work out. Jeremy was told earlier in the week that he'd have to work that day, but that was canceled. Woohoo. A day or so before we were going to go, Nichole was sick but that didn't last long and she was better by the weekend.

So the Saturday of Pioneer weekend we got up really early in the morning and drove down to Southern Utah, hoping to see roadrunners... and some other birds we'd never seen before.

We went to a few birding spots and parks around Hurricane and St. George (all that had reports of roadrunners recently). Yay for helpful fellow birders who go down there enough to give us suggestions.

I did take pictures of cactus/cacti but somehow lost all the pictures that were on my phone from that trip. That means a lot of pictures of us. I am sad. 

Here's the one picture that survived.

Eating alligator meat stick (not just alligator meat, several meats put together but it was also alligator meat) that Jeremy picked up at a gas station for us all to try. Note how exhausted I look from getting up so early in the morning and the long day.

We took plenty of pictures of birds and lizards and other creatures with the birding camera, though, so it's most important that we didn't lose those pictures. Nichole also took plenty of pictures with her camera... of birds.

Speaking of birds (and other creatures), here's some we saw (we saw lots of new birds):

Black-chinned sparrow (looks a lot like a junco to me but we knew what we were looking for so didn't mistake it)

 

We went to a park/walking/hiking trail and saw several new birds, but also got some old friends.

 

Phainopepla (Jeremy was so excited to see this one just because of the cool name)

 

Great-horned owl (still a favorite even after so many years of seeing them)

 

Peregrine falcon (no longer my nemesis bird, I figure I'll be seeing it all the time in the wild now)

And there were lizards all over the place.

We stopped at a park where Jeremy had seen a vermillion flycatcher on a previous trip. We saw some this time as well as more and more and more lizards. They were on practically every tree. They blend in so well with the trees but Jr. Jr. got really good at spotting them. He knew to look for them sticking their heads up from the bark of the tree (almost like a yoga pose, stretching your neck and head out while lying on your belly). I don't have any good pictures of that (sigh, I took some with my phone. Nichole also took pictures but I don't have access to those pictures right now),

 

We enjoyed a tiny bit of rain then a caterpillar before we got back in the van.

After that, we debated about eating lunch at that park or going to another park a few minutes away. We opted to go to the other park.

When we got there, we parked and just sat for a bit. Jeremy fell asleep. The kids contented themselves in the back while I looked out the windshield at the walking trail in front of us. Jeremy told me he picked this park as one of our stops, not because of birding friends' recommendations, but because he had seen an online report of roadrunners there just the day before. So I daydreamed of what it would be like to see a roadrunner when all of a sudden one started walking along the path right there in front of me. "Jeremy, wake up! There is a roadrunner right there. Seriously. I am not joking!" Jeremy was happy to wake up and called out to the kids. "Look, kids, there's a roadrunner. There are two roadrunners. Three!" He was so excited and exhausted he started crying. They walked in front of us to a nearby tree where we were able to get some pictures, then when they continued on the trail, Jeremy took some of the kids out to get more pictures of them in a tree. I didn't know they were tree birds. I just always assumed they ran around on the ground but I guess you can get bugs and lizards up in the trees as well.

Here are some of the pictures Nichole got of the adult Greater Roadrunner with two juveniles.

 

That was the trip highlight. Lifer for all of us and nemesis bird for Jeremy. Hip Hip Hooray.

We finally got some pictures of cicadas at that park. With the hiking trail we went to earlier in the day, it was pretty quiet when we got there but by the time we left, all the cicadas were active and the sound was deafening. I wasn't able to see any there but we got to see some at this park. Also loud but cool.

As we walked back to the van to eat lunch, I told the kids how the heat reminded me of when we made the trip to Las Vegas when Jr. was a baby. It was so hot it melted the CD case of music we had in the car (we didn't have the van back then). After taking one walk around the block in that heat, I was not going to do that again. Luckily in St. George we weren't out of the van as long.

After lunch (in the van) we headed to a nature area where there were lots of trees and more lizards (this time blue tailed lizards) and more birds and a pond with frogs, turtles, ducks, neotropic cormorants, etc. etc. etc.

Neotropic cormorant (which we do see from time to time but not as often as the double-crested cormorants which we see a lot)

Summer tanager (we're used to Western tanagers around here)

 

Lucky's loose tooth came out so I took a picture (which I can't show. Writing this blog post is reminding me of all the pictures I lost. Sigh). I happened to have a bag on me that we were able to keep his tooth in until we got home that night.

At one point we drove past the St. George temple and I was able to tell the kids a little pioneer story about their great great great grandfather who was a carpenter on the St. George temple. And Jeremy was able to tell them the story about how Brigham Young didn't like the height of the tower on the temple. He thought it was too squat. Later it was struck by lightning and ruined and rebuilt higher as Brigham Young would have liked it.

 

The last bird of the day in Southern Utah was a great-tailed grackle which we get in our neck of the woods but I still love them.

Great family/birding trip.