Saguaros to Pacific

I haven't written here in ages, but I'd like to get back to it and it was a big effort to go out west with Wylie for the first time, so I'll honor that effort with a very long photo-heavy blog post. Other than a quick post about Hurricane Harvey, I haven't written since Wylie was born late last July. Life has been RICH with the spectrum of things since and unfortunately none of that was recorded here. It lives in texts with friends and family, icloud photos, poorly written journal notes, and my ever-changing memory. Hopefully I can remember a few things to record retroactively at some point (hopefully a free Mary Poppins will arrive soon). 
So, back in April Wylie and I flew out to meet Eliot after the bird conference and before he left for Panama for another bird-related event. It was a haul. We stayed in Syracuse the night before our flight to take advantage of a shuttle and free parking. We flew to Tucson and slowly explored our way to the coast and flew back from LA. All in one piece. 

Checking to see if the complimentary crib was up to code. We're thinking no. 

Blowout on the first flight with no changing table, but luckily nursing saved the day. Then, we got stuck in Atlanta for 8 hours, but he was a trooper. We met so many awesome people and there was an abundance of carpet to roll around on. 

Tucson! First Saguaro at the airport and a cold Colorado beer for mama! 

Tuckered with my travel buddy!

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Reunited

Mount Lemon, AZ

From this car-nursing break, I saw my first Painted Redstarts foraging on the flies hovering at the outhouse exhaust pipe. I found this leftover Easter prize while striking out on my first Lucy's warbler (found later in the day phew). 

Ocotillooooooo.................

Hiking Madera Canyon. Luckily Delta provided a snack mix when we got stuck in Atlanta for an extra day with miniature Doritos (the most perfect food), so we didn't file any complains. 

First pool dip went pretty well!

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Tacos with Hannah

The Desert Museum to see Jon's art

C A L I F O R N I A

I had only been to California twice before this trip and neither really counts. Once while on an off campus program studying the Colorado River on the Colorodo River Indian Reservation, we got turned around in our Red Earlham van after grocery shopping for tofu and boxed cake mixes. Before we knew it we had accidentally crossed the river and found ourselves in California. High-level excitement. The other is just hours spent at LAX. 
We stayed in Blythe, California for the night mostly because Wylie was done with the carseat and we wanted to explore Joshua Tree the next day. It ended up being a really interesting stop. We ate some superb Mexican food, I had my first margarita in almost two years, and we got a bit of an idea of where Colorado River water goes in that part of California (alfalfa). 

Joshua Tree National Park was spectacular and so diverse and cool and sunny. We turned a three mile hike into a half day hike, nursed under pokey plants, watched birds in arroyo oases, and rested our eyes on giant boulders. Minimalist design at its best. 

Hummingbird attack 

Life imitating geology 

Then, to LA to visit with Aunt Diana and the Pacific 

Ruby's, at Huntington Beach, was delicious and so much fun for Wylie! 

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Homeward bound! It was a looooong day and he was not happy about the drive home from Syracuse, but we made it.

Lessons learned on flying with baby:
1. don't pack the diaper bag so full of stuff that you can't get things out easily.
2. bring extra clothes and ziplocks *extra diapers unexpected layovers
3. water bottles are great toys as are magazines
4. nursing is a life saver
5. once in flight, the sound is great white noise for sleeping
6. always ask at the gate if you can be seated by an empty seat
7, use those pacifier teether things with the clips to secure teething rings and other toys they will quickly drop and you'll have to retrive
8. Remember that you'll likely never see any of those people again!

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