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Friday, February 24, 2012

The Secret Revealed

This is the secret:


Here is a picture of the previously referred to redheads:


And the person responsible for it all?  None other than that lovely lady with the great blog Travels with Emma, Judy Bell.


We've enjoyed Judy's blog for quite a while now and enjoyed getting to know her through back and forth comments.  As we were posting our travel plans to Pensacola, Florida, she touched base with us and invited us to visit her at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge where she is a volunteer.  She had a nice site for us for the night.


Now here is where it gets a little complicated, so stay with me.  A while back, in one of our blogging comment conversations, I volunteered to wash and wax Judy's motorhome one day in the future.  Being we only had one night to visit and we had to get on the road the next day, I knew I wouldn't have the time to take care of it.  So to soothe any disappointment she might have on my failure to be able to deliver this time, Marti and I bought her some flowers and took her out to dinner.

Judy had posted on her blog that she had received flowers and was taken out to dinner without revealing any details, arousing curiosity of her readers.  Not to let the cat out of the bag for her, we kept quiet about the "secret" until she put the details up on her blog.

We had a great dinner with her and early the next morning, before we had to leave, she took us out into the refuge to look for the rare Mississippi Sandhill Cranes.


  We did good, we saw 23 of them!

As we drew near,  groups of the cranes took off and flew around, it was thrilling to see them.


As a bonus, we got to see a bald eagle nest with a baby eagle in it, and one of its parents nearby watching over it.


Sorry the picture is so poor, I couldn't zoom in any closer. :c(

All too soon, we were back at the Visitor Center, where we enjoyed the displays and a short film on the efforts to prevent the extinction of these rare and beautiful birds.


It is amazing to see the effort put in by so many people at the refuge, the scientists, biologists and of course the dedicated volunteers who, without them, the refuge couldn't run.

Thanks Judy for a great time, a great tour and the wash-n-wax offer still stands, we'll be back when we have more time.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.


18 comments:

  1. what a great surprise and a great day for you all...great pictures...what a great private tour you had..:)

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  2. So what can I offer you in order for you to wash and wax our RV and TOYS??

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  3. I want you to know what an enjoyable time it was for me to have the two of you visit. You both are just as up beat and willing to laugh as I thought you would be!

    P.S. You're off the hook for a while, as I believe I can get some underpaid interns to give my rig a wash and wax job when the weather gets a little warmer. :)

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  4. Emma is a puppy! See I was right.

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  5. Paul, note Judy said: 'off the hook for awhile'. And now we have it in writing.

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  6. Well, you sure did good with the 'red heads'. Friends of ours will be visiting the refuge shortly and I hope they have some luck seeing their share of red heads, too.

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  7. How lucky you were to meet Judy. Glad you guys had such good luck with the cranes.

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  8. What a great visit! We're feeling extra guilty now!!!!

    We're planning to visit the Naval Air Museum early next week (Monday or Tuesday). So, we'll be in Pensacola. If you two would like to meet for breakfast or lunch, let us know.

    Here's an email address, slightly modified to avoid spammers - rvescapees(at)gmail. Add the .com, of course.

    We look forward to the chance to meet up. And, if it doesn't work out for your schedule, we totally understand. We'll catch you next time.

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  9. Glad the cranes put in an appearance for you. Meeting Judy would be so much fun.

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  10. One of the nice perks of this lifestyle...meeting blogger friends in so many interesting places!!

    Keep having fun:o))

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  11. Glad you slowed down just a bit and took time out to meet Judy. Sounds like a great time...

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  12. How nice that you got to see so many cranes and of course Judy!

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  13. Very nice! Glad you had a nice stop there. Great looking red heads :)

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  14. Sounds like great fun visiting Judy and getting an upclose and personal tour...
    Have fun & Travel safe
    Donna

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  15. Boy do I feel stupid. I had read Judy's blog saying you were there and should have figured out that your next post would be about seeing her and those "red headed" cranes. You got me for sure!!

    So glad you stopped. Wish I could have been along. What fun with the 3 of you.

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  16. How nice that you were given a private tour to top off your great visit!

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  17. It would be great to meet Judy and see all those red heads. I love those birds.
    Syl

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  18. What a nice visit you had with Judy and Emma.

    We were lucky enough to have an overnight visit in 2010 with her.

    I am sure you will live up to your promise of a wash and wax job in the future (wink,wink).

    Take Care
    Missing you both
    Brenda

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