Life Lists

I read in the NY Times today that Rachael Hubbard, a preschool teacher in Oregon, has published her life list of 78 things she wants to do before she dies. She's now 24 years old. Her list includes things meaningful to her: like, "see a dinosaur fossil".

Now, I'm a birder. I have a life list already of the birds I've seen.

And, I've already seen the dinosaur fossils at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. Some were of a newly discovered kind of dinosaur-- so new, that the museum was still going through the process of naming the new find.

So, I got to thinking about my own Life List. And I was reminded of my biggest desire. I want to travel across the country. Taking my time. Not using the Interstates. Meeting people. Opening myself up to adventure.

One of my Christmas gifts last December was the latest edition of Frommer's USA-- the one with the cowboy on the cover. It has lots of useful information like: Don't Get Side-tracked: Big Bend Ranch State Park is different from Beg Bend National Park. Who knew?

So I'm working on a travel plan. My goal is one that includes the Ramsey Canyon Preserve in Arizona which is home to 14 different species of hummingbird and excludes any formal Disney place. Yes, I'm shunning the Mad Mouse.