Okay, trying to keep two grandson's busy, and my head straight doesn't work well. Let me try to get back in snyc before I take off again for the day.
GOAS is planning a travel field trip over the Memorial Day weekend, May 29-31. We will be visiting the Cimarron National Grasslands just north of Elkhart, Ks, and the Black Mesa preserve in the west panhandle of Oklahoma. We made this trip some years ago, and had a great time. Normally, birders stay in Elkhart, Ks, because the town is very birder friendly, and there is some very good birding right in town as well as going north to the grasslands. We would then travel through Boise City to the Black Mesa area. Because Elkhart is having a 5yr homecoming, everything in Elkhart is booked up for Friday and Saturday, so we will be staying Boise City, Ok. The travel back and forth between the grasslands and the mesa is the same. These two locations provide a great diversity of habitat and birds.
Right now the plan is to leave on Saturday morning at 7am. The trip with a group should be about 81/2 hrs. We will travel I44 to TUL, and then nw to the Oklahoma panhandle. If you google this trip it will show it a 101/2hrs trip, but our experience has been two hours faster than that. Other than going through TUL, and much later Enid, Ok, there is very little traffic and good highways. We start our return about noon on Monday.
Plan to bring a cooler and expect to eat a lot of pre-prepared food and snacks. Except for Elkhart, and Boise City, there is not a lot of places to eat. We will plan to eat dinners, and breakfast (when possible) at restaurants. We will plan carefully about fuel stops because, from my own anxious experience, there is not a gas station at every intersection.
This area is a very popular birding area, and I would not be surprised to run into other birders, or birding groups during the weekend.
Obviously, we will be carpooling, and to share rooms as much as possible. Anyone who plans to go let me know ASAP, and whether you plan to drive or not, or whether you will have a car seat available in you car. Anyone looking for a room partner, or a car to ride in, please let me know ASAP. I will start sharing these requests as they come in, and as groups form. I will call a planning meeting along the way, when we can gather together and tie loose ends together. Keep the questions coming, and I will try not to loose totally control before the G'kids have left to go back home this weekend.
Charley
On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 9:38 AM, Charles Burwick <
burwick.charles@gmail.com> wrote:
The trip to Elkhart and Black mesa motel availability is as follows: Townsman Motel, ph(580) 544-2506, Boise City, Oklahoma. Elkhart is having a 5yr reunion, and nothing is available there. Boise City is a good location, we just don't have any experience with motels there. As with most western small cities, it will not be fancy. You will need to join with a group quickly for rooms, before the holiday traffic grabs them up. Tell them you are with Greater Ozarks Audubon group for a discount. Any other questions let me know. Thanks, Charley
