Queridos pandas felices,
As we rolled into town, past the new El Pollo Loco and the old and still earthquake-battered downtown, we were surprised to be greeted by a Welcoming Committee including a high school marching band playing John Phillip Sousa's rousing "Washington Post", green and white confetti thrown by throngs of admirers, and a rose-festooned parade float. A true hero's welcome!
Actually, there was no Welcoming Committee, but after 54 days and nearly 10,000 miles driving, we're glad to be home anyway.
We arrived Friday evening to a pair of quail standing unmoving in our driveway, apparently confused as to why a car was driving down their road, chest-high grass in our yard, and three separate piles of coyote poop on our deck. Ah, home, sweet, home.
Since the last update, we birded around Tucson and Sedona, attempting to find desert-loving birds that would be impossible or hard to find in California. Thanks to hard work, being in the right place at the right time, and a knowledgeable friend, we picked up 14 more birds in the past week, bringing our total to 557 for the year.
When we started the trip, we had 371, and told ourselves that adding 100 new birds would be OK, 125 would be great, and 150 would be almost unthinkably wonderful. So, I'd say we're pretty happy with our final total of 186!
We're home for the next few weeks, before we depart in mid-June for a visit to Alaska. Until then, I've got a couple posts queued up that describe some of what we learned on the trip, so check back soon for that.
Now, off to fold laundry and pull weeds...
Me
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