Mom and Dad's C-182

A wrenching goodbye aids African elephant conservation

The long fight to save wild beauty represents democracy at its best. It requires citizens to practice the hardest of virtues – self-restraint. ~ Edwin Way Teale Our family said a bittersweet goodbye recently. No, it wasn’t a funeral. My parents had to sell their Cessna 182, a four-seat, single engine plane with lots of memories. It wouldn’t have been …

Muddy TAG cavers support conservation

“Fire, fire, fire…,” chants the crowd, as a longhaired man wearing bat-print pajama bottoms launches a flaming arrow into the 20-foot tall bonfire. It lights with a loud ka-thump! About then, another lovely fellow wearing a red ball gown and blond wig allows me to take some glamour-shots of him before moving on into the revelry that lasts into the …

Exploring natural Florida at Babcock Wilderness Reserve

I’m exploring Charlotte County, Florida, this week thanks to the Charlotte Harbor Visitors and Convention Bureau. The reason I am so interested in this area is that it offers abundant adventure travel options. Our focus during this trip is birding and eco-tourism.  Today we visited the 90,000-acre Babcock Wilderness Preserve via a converted school bus run by Babcock Wilderness Adventures. I’ll …

Rappelling into Signal Light Cave

Slippery When Wet – Caving TAG

Enjoy this post on my favorite adventure sport, caving….   Flat on my belly, I was laying in an underground puddle trying to push myself under a collection of stalactites without causing damage.  The icy water soaked my coveralls and made the going easier. I think the saying is, “slippery when wet.”  Using my toes to propel me, I slid …