Birding the US

Submitted by: SJ

The Quest: The Charting of the Chickens

The Challenge: Find and document (photo, note, etc) a bird in each state you visit - no repeats. I'll start you off - in Missouri, look for Eastern Bluebird.

Zora's Note: I love it! We will put our ornithological skills to the test and come up with an eagle or something. Would running into with the truck and stuffing it count as documenting?

Challenge Accepted!

Wombat's Ruling: This sounds like fun! As an additional service, you need to give us a few fun/interesting facts about each bird. Try to educate us a little about America's birds.

Drawing on my ruling for "Proof you have left!" let's say that it's 200 experience per bird, and 0.5 hour charity. Bonus 300 exp and 0 hours charity for each 10 birds you do. Bonus 1000 exp and 0 hours charity if you do all 48! (The seemingly low charity hours actually add up - if you do all 48 states, that's 24 hours of charity!). 

Update 1: Missouri

Well we failed a little bit at the initial bird challenge, but we made up for it by giving you two birds! (also see Update 3) Most of our traveling in Missouri was in the Missouri Ozarks (which are distinct from the Arkansas Ozarks). If you've ever watched the show Ozarks (we enjoyed it, but it's not for the squeamish) you'll know that turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) feature in it. And it's no surprise because they were EVERYWHERE. We also saw some black vultures (Coragyps atratus) but unless you see them side by side to compare wingspans (turkey vultures are much larger) or get a good look at the underside of the wings (turkey vultures have a silvery underside for the whole length, black vultures it limited to the tips) it's a bit hard to tell them apart. 

We saw the turkey vultures do just about everything, from soaring around on thermals, to creepily hanging around in the trees around one of our campsites making a lot of tree branch noise, to rather graphically ripping apart a roadkill raccoon (but hey! they are super important parts of the ecosystem for doing so!). We were pretty fascinated. The hard part of this challenge is that though we bought a nice camera for TGQ we didn't have enough funds for a zoom lens, so we're stuck with longer distance shots and fuzzy zoomed in iPhone photos. But here are our best attempts:

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Wombat's Comment: That's actually really cool. Vultures get a bad rap, but they're important.

Update 2: Illinois 

We haven't actually spent much time in Illinois (at least not since TGQ officially hit the road), but we spent our first night there and walked around Horseshoe Lake the next morning. That is where Tristan saw his first bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)! I saw it as well, but was sadly looking the wrong way when it took a dive and tried to snag a fish out of the lake (the fish got away), he was seriously excited. Bald eagles are primarily piscivores but will also eat carrion and are kind of famous in Alaska for swarming dumps...a less than glorious image of America's national bird.

And Tris managed to get a photo of it looking pretty cool:

Bald Eagle

Wombat's Comment: AMERICA MOTHERTRUCKERS!

Update 3: Arkansas

The start off challenge for this quest was to find and document the eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) in Missouri, because, well, it is the state bird. We saw zero. Not even a glimpse of a blue color bird that wasn't clearly a jay that we could pretend was an eastern bluebird! However, Arkansas was very gracious in providing a mated pair (the female having duller coloring than the male) flitting around our camper while we stayed on the grounds of Headwaters School. They played the game of stay very still until I raised the camera and then flying further away with me which was frustrating. That is, until the male discovered our rear view mirrors. Apparently this little guy has been wreaking havoc on all mirrors and ledges of the school attendees cars, he loves landing on them and pooping everywhere!! Ours were no exception. The little dude also liked attacking his own reflection in our mirrors which were probably a bit larger than he was accustomed to. Hopefully they lay some eggs in the school's box, the eggs are as pretty a shade of blue as their feathers!

Perched on the mirror, doing his worst

Admiring his smeary handywork and laughing at us

Wombat's Comment: He clearly doesn't like you.

Update 3: Louisiana

It was pretty difficult just choosing one bird for Louisiana. We saw so many! From all sorts of swamp birds to brown pelicans on the Gulf, we were spoiled for choice. So we've gone with the one we got the best photo of! Tris had a lot of luck stalking this pretty unconcerned yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea). We got a great look at it! Apparently they only grow those long white feathers in their crest during mating season, so I think we got lucky! In one of the photos it looks like there may be an egg? But it could also just be a rock. 

Wombat's Judgement: Very cool! Very pretty and exotic. Full points.

Update 4: Texas

This episode of choose that state bird actually comes from Tristan. He completely fell in love with these guys. It's also one of our silliest. We snuck up on these guys who were sitting on the roof of the nature blind. When they saw us and flew away they made the silliest squeaky noises! They also have very bright bills. Zora searched for squeaky orange billed ducks with long necks and...

             Not helpful.

Right. That is not the duck. 

Let's try again:

These ducks, Google. What are these ducks? Turns out they are black-bellied whistling ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis)! They are pretty much the cutest, and Tristan may just have a new favorite bird. Check out what they sound like here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rgyCbntEAQ

Wombat's ruling: Very cute!

The mark of the dragon

Submitted by: Rania & Jon

The Quest: Carving The Flesh of the Wyrm

The Challenge: Pumpkin Carving in New Hampshire. Attend the world's largest pumpkin carving festival in Keene NH, which takes place in mid October, and carve a welsh dragon on a pumpkin.

Tristan's Note: Excellent suggestion, however this may not fit with our timeline. However what we will do is go to Keene, and carve a Welsh Dragon into SOMETHING whilst we are there. We will also attend the biggest pumpkin festival available to us in mid October and carve the dragon into a pumpkin.

Challenge accepted!

Wombat's Ruling: This is a 2 part quest.

Part 1 is carve something in Keene - 200 exp, 2 hrs charity (< 1 hr, Easy "Sweat Factor).

Part 2 is carve dragon into a very large pumpkin in October - 300 exp, 2 hrs charity (1-4 hrs - I'm including time spent finding a huge pumpkin, Easy "Sweat Factor). PLUS 200 exp bonus (with no charity requirement) if they carve a good Trogdor into a second pumpkin (what's the point of being the arbiter of the rules if you can't abuse your power?). 

For whom the mountain tolls

Submitted by: Kirstie

The Quest: The Sonorous Ascent of Stone Hitting 

The Challenge: Climb to the top of bell rock.

Become members of 'The Top of Bell Rock Club' in Sedona and say Hi to Peter from us. He helps you climb to the top of Bell Rock and it is physically challenging and lots of fun. 

Tristan's note: This is straightforward, challenging, and place specific, I like it! Thanks Kirstie.

Challenge Accepted!

Wombat's Ruling: This is < 1 day, Difficult "Sweat Factor" = 800 exp, 5 hours charity.

Tristan's Update: 6/9/18

I am very pleased to announce that both Zora and I are official members (2753 & 2754) of the TOP OF BELL ROCK CLUB! What an amazing experience it was, I don't think there would have been many others that Zora would have been glad at being dragged out of bed at 5:30 am for on her birthday.

We met Peter, the Vortex Jumper, and the rest of our group at 7 am and followed around to the West side of the rock. We climbed in shadow up the center, winged on either side by the flaring outcrops of sandstone. Our route was a near vertical ascent using cracks and crevices for footholds and treading a path worn smooth by other members of the club.

The challenge of the climb was absolutely worth it when we reached the top, a plateau towering 600 ft over the valley below. It was stunning. I think everyone experienced a profound sense of awe. I certainly did.

We made the most of our time at the top by taking photos, answering riddles, signing the guestbook, and getting ready for the route back down again.

Thank you Kirstie and Reid for questing us, and Peter for dragging us along. It was brilliant!

Wombat's Judgement: Stunning pictures, and a nice story! Also, Tris, your hat is adorably dorky (and presumably quite practical). Full points!

Proof you have left!

Submitted by: Helen

The Quest: The Trove of Truck Travelling Trophies

The Challenge:  Take a photo with each 'Welcome to' state sign.

I have wanted to do this on our (smaller) road trips, but I end up being too busy napping: take a photo with each Welcome to State sign. So I challenge you to take a picture next to a state sign for each state that you visit, and strongly suggest you try and find something appropriate for Hawaii before you leave! https://tinyurl.com/yct5swn6

Tristan's Note: This is an excellent challenge! Unfortunately didn't take a suitable photo before we left Hawaii, I guess you just kind of know when you get there because you are either no longer flying or no longer drowning... However we do have a photo of Zora standing in front of a volcano, so maybe this will suffice:

We will treat this like 48 separate challenges I think, so we can earn the volunteer hours and xp with each state we go through, and maybe if we get all 48 we can have a bonus pay out at the end. Sound Good?

Challenge Accepted!

Wombat's Ruling: This is kind of an odd one. Let's say that it's 100 experience per road sign, and 0.5 hour charity. Bonus 300 exp and 0 hours charity for each 10 road signs they do. Bonus 1000 exp and 0 hours charity if they do all 48! (The seemingly low charity hours actually add up - if they do all 48 states, that's 24 hours of charity!). 

04/24/18 - An Update

Well we have so far crossed two state lines, the one from MO - IL wasn't really anything, plus we hadn't planned on going to IL so early and we don't have a photo, so that may not count. However our crossing from MO - AR was documented! Bear in mind that that we crossed on a tiny little lettered highway so there wasn't a grand banner or anything, but check out the photos:

05/10/18 - An Update!

We have so far crossed two more state lines! We crossed from AR to LA and we landed the missing Welcome to AR sign and also got nailed by a few fire ants. Owww! We also noted the distinct line between road qualities, little did we know how much worse they would get...

And just a few days ago we crossed LA to TX! This time we managed to cross on big enough roads to merit welcome signs. Here you go Helen!

Wombat's commentary (5-15-18): So far that's 3 signs, so 300 exp and 1.5 hours charity. I'm going to throw in 50 bonus exp for the thoughtful documentation of the state-by-state variation of road quality (suck it LA!).  

Update: 05/27/18

We got a bit stalled in Texas (the state is huge!!), but we've made a lot of miles all the same. We have now crossed through New Mexico and into Arizona. Here's the evidence! Also, New Mexico, what is up with that font?? You might as well have used Comic Sans. We almost missed the sign entirely because of the faint writing, we were so confused we took pictures with some sort of Energy Plant's sign, thinking that must be all that was there. Also, while we did our best to look enchanted (and most of the rest of the state genuinely was) the border crossing had a landfill on one side of the road, and smelly oil drilling in the midst of scrubby plants on the other. 

??

So amazing! Wow!

We didn't have a lot of road options for crossing into AZ, so unfortunately were stuck on I-10 with construction and lots of other vehicles, so we couldn't safely pull over to be in the picture with the sign. 

Wombat's Ruling: Really, New Mexico? That's the font you went with? Really? As for the Arizona sign, safety first. Full points (200 exp, 2 hours charity)!

Update: 07/7/18

Goodness, it's been ages since we cashed in our sign xp! Here's where we've been!

First: Utah! We definitely didn't get to spend enough time here, but between it being tourist season in the National Parks here, and it also being HOT, we just had to love it and leave it. What we saw was beautiful. Lots of good rocks, Utah. A+

Next up: Nevada!

Ok folks, not going to lie here. We didn't really like Nevada. To be fair we only saw a tiny part of Nevada mostly because we were sprinting through it because it was HELLISHLY HOT. A hot like I've never known before. 110-116F hot. With 30mph winds that just drove the hot deeper into your skin instead of cooling you off. Awful. Also this heat almost killed our rats even though we were driving pretty fast (luckily Leaky lost some trim on the highway and we realized just how hot it was). So forever grudge Nevada, no one messes with the fuzzballs. We were very glad to leave, see below.

Running out of Nevada, and into California. Oh California, we didn't want to like you as much as we did. You have too many people and too much traffic. Much of our rig spontaneously combusted within your borders. But goodness, your nature! We begrudgingly add you to places we could see ourselves living one day...

And now, suddenly (well sort of), we find ourselves in Oregon for what will unfortunately be a flying visit. But still, so far, so good! Nice trees! Also, this is our 10th state! Crazy.

Wombat's Judgement (7-24-18): Okay, that's 400 exp and 4 hours charity (reflecting new charity rules). Yay California!

Update: 8/3/18

Well, since we just had to blitz back to St. Louis from Washington, we have a lot of state signs to upload all in a rush! Let's start with Washington:

Google Maps has started welcoming us into a place now, so that's cool I guess?

After our super fast WA visits, we began the long distance 5 day sprint back to St. Louis beginning with a quick scoot through the skinny part of Idaho. We enjoyed it and its trains.

Next up was Montana. Montana made it as difficult as possible by placing their sign up on an overpass where you could not pose with it. However we caught on to this deviousness in time so we could take the exit before and get it in the background from an embankment. So there Montana! Shots from driving underneath it to prove it is the same sign in both photos. You can also admire the numerous bugs smashed on our windshield, and the fact the Montana rather grimly demarcates every single road death with a cross.  

Wyoming was next, and also pretty sneaky (read: boring) with their 'welcome' sign. We crossed into Wyoming initially while driving through Yellowstone. We couldn't pull over on that particular bit of road and the sign was entirely missable. Small, green, and all it said was "Entering Wyoming." We vowed to catch it on the exit, and we did, and the sign was equally uninspiring. 

Surprisingly Nebraska, for being the most boring state we've driven through thus far, had a pretty good welcome sign. Who knew they were the ones to found Arbor Day? Tristan was excited, and pulled his best tree impression (I'd give it a 6/10, can do better). There was also a funny little abandoned gas station that straddled the state line. The highway we crossed on used to be the main road between the two, but now there's a big interstate running parallel and is probably what killed business. 

The last state before crossing back into home territory was Iowa. I think we spent about 15 minutes here before being back in Missouri. There were A LOT of bugs. And we felt like we were going to get eaten by snakes and we were slightly delirious after doing a 700 mile day. But Iowa, here we were. And that's all for now! Next leg of the trip takes us north and east and into Canada!

Wombat's Ongoing Judgement: Good work! I don't have something clever to say about each state, but I think you've hit 15 states so far? But you've certainly hit 10 states, so bonus 300 exp for you guys!