FROG BLOG

How cute is this mini frog?  He was trying to be a part of a portrait sitting last week.

Dave's Post

I decided I better post something on this blog so Deon didn't completely take it over. My pictures aren't as good as Deon's though. I put on some pictures of the areas I have been working this winter and spring. I also put on some pictures from a couple trips I took. It does not include everything, and it is not in order. I just threw it together, because I thought people might like to see the places I've been working.

Crystal and I went on a hike this winter in the Superstition Mountains. It was a really cool canyon with a little creek in it. We hiked to some Indian dwellings in caves, and Crystal even kept up with me when we had to run out of there to get to a BBQ on time.

This is an Indian dwelling we hiked to in the canyon.

This winter I went skiing in Durango, CO. With Clark, his wife Lindsay, and her friend Brittney. It was great snow, and we had a great time.

A professional skier we met up there.

These are the Beaver Dam Mtns., just south of St. George. I spent a week here this spring surveying potential windmill sites. It was beautiful country.

This is the top of the Beaver Dam Mtns. There was a big fire here two years ago, but it put a lot of nitrogen in the soil and has made the globemallow and other wildflowers spectacular.

The area around the Beaver Dam Mtns.

The Beaver Dam Mtns.

A mikvetch I found in the Beaver Dam Mtns. These are really cool plants.

In June I went deep sea fishing with my roommate and his buddy. We went out 25 miles off of the coast in Rocky Point, Mexico and caught grouper, rock bass, trigger fish, and spotted bass.

My roommate Ryan, and a 60 lb. grouper that he caught.

This Fourth of July Crystal, my roommate Ryan, and I went to Winslow, AZ. We had a great time. We rode 4-wheelers, watched fireworks, and hiked, swam, and cliff jumped at Clear Creek Canyon. We watched two guys build a rope swing off this bridge. They were hilarious. They were drunk and kept saying "This is the King Swing!"

This is another picture of the canyon.

This spring I have been spending most of my time in Bryce Canyon National Park area. It has been a lot of work, but a beautiful place to be working. I have spent almost all of my time here from April to July.

A Northern Goshawk. These are a state-sensitive species. We surveyed for these in June.

A Gunnison Sage Grouse. They are being petitioned for listing on the Endangered Species List right now. We surveyed for these in April.

I have also been doing several small projects throughout this spring around the Cedar City area for a company called South Central Communications. We have mostly been surveying for Utah Prairie Dogs (Threatened) on these projects. They have been in some beautiful locations. I included a couple of pictures.

A project near Panguitch, UT. This is a valley called Dog Valley.

A project near Brianhead Ski Resort.

This picture is myself and my co-worker doing Pima Pineapple Cactus surveys in the Santa Rita Mtns. between Tucson and Nogales, AZ. I was down there for most of January and February.

This is a Pima Pineapple Cactus, they are an endangered species.

We found two desert tortoises hibernating. This one's foot was sticking out of his burrow. It looked like he got tired digging his burrow and just fell asleep. They are endangered in Utah but not in Arizona.

A coyote skull we found during surveys. Not quite as artistic as Deon's pictures, but pretty good if I do say so myself.



Needle-spine pincushion cactus. Pretty cool little cacti.

The Bronx Zoo kept us busy all day Monday. Our favorite places were the Congo Gorilla Forest, the Butterfly Garden, the Carousel, and Madagascar, a new exhibit of animals from this island.

After wandering through Chelsea and Greenwich Village, we found a playground that the kids enjoyed (as you can see by Ian's expression). They were so excited to see Uncle Steve, especially Ian since it was the first time they had met.

We went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and enjoyed the Japanese Garden, lilypad ponds, and bonsai trees.

The pictures probably speak for themselves, but the fireworks show was amazing. New York City's show has 55 times more fireworks than anywhere else in the country. We all thought that the grand finale occurred about twenty times. Ian and Gavin were awestruck (and then very tired afterwards). Deon was the master behind these shots (sorry I didn't crop any of them!).

New York City with the Kids

Our first stop was the 'Dinosaur Museum,' which turned out to be a big hit with Gavin and Ian. Gavin ran from room to room in awe of the many dinosaur skeletons while Ian continually roared at all the dinosaur skeletons. We spent the entire day at the Museum of Natural History and Central Park before we met Deon at Grand Central to go to dinner and the fireworks show.

A COLORFUL WEEKEND

This holiday weekend, Jeff, Kim, Deon, Gavin, and Ian chilled in Brooklyn & NYC.

They watched amazing NYC fireworks from Brooklyn Heights, 

found some lovely Farmer's Market finds,

tried to understand what possessed someone to ruin this beautiful brownstone, 

and ate lots of ice cream to stay cool in the super humid NYC weather!  (This pic of Gav is priceless.)

The best part of the weekend was Aunt Non getting the chance to 

baby-sit Gavin & Ian while Jeff & Kim attended a friend's wedding.