Thursday, April 24, 2008

I'm Festival Bound

This afternoon I finalized my plans to attend the "6th Annual Potholes & Prairies Birding Festival" in June (as a member of the "Birdchick Posse!") Thanks Sharon!

Just so you know, I'm not a person who normally makes plans this far in advance, but I'm sure glad I did because I was able to snag one of the 3 remaining spots in the "Birds & Blossoms" tour with Julie Zickefoose.

(My registration form and check will go in the mail tomorrow morning)

I briefly thought about flying out there, but after checking on airfares with my local AAA advisor, we decided it would be more economical for me to rent a car (<$200 vs. >$300 for airfare and still having to rent a car in Fargo).

I guess driving will give me a better chance to do a little birding along the way if there's something interesting to see, right?

The festival is also going to have silent and live auctions at their Saturday night Birders Banquet and I'm donating one of my hand-knitted shawls as an auction item for this festival. Now I just have the difficult choice of deciding which shawl to donate!

June seems like a long time away now, but I'm sure the days will go by very fast (and hopefully gas will still be under $4 per gallon by the time I'm ready to make the trip).

If any of you are still interested in signing up for this festival, be sure to mention that you're part of the birding bloggers "Birdchick Posse" to be eligible for the group discount and remember to sign up before the early bird deadline of May 14th. Hope to see you there!

11 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Sounds like fun to me. Wish I could attend.

Anonymous said...

Wow, you're going to a birding festival in June, it sure sounds like you will have fun, and you'll be in Julie's group, that's a real winner. She is SO knowledgable and loads of fun too. What's this about Birdchick Posse? Is anyone going with you this time?
Sat starts turkey hunting for you and Mr Johnson, dress warm, it might be cold with a chance of flurries [UGH].
Mom

Mary said...

I'm Jealous. I admit it. But I'm happy for you!!!!!

Jayne said...

Dang, I am so jealous too, but North Dakota is a fer piece from Georgia and flight $$ got spent in Asheville. :c( Maybe some day. Hope you have a really wonderful time Ruthie. Take LOTS of photos to post for sure.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I'm going to call in all my favors and try every tactic to get that weekend off. I NEED to go on that trip! Wish me luck!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great festival!! Very exciting. I would love to see your hand-knitted shawls. :)

RuthieJ said...

Hi Lisa,
I hope it's fun and I get a chance to see lots of new and different birds. I think it will be cool to experience the North Dakota prairie.

Hi Mom,
The Birdchick Posse is a special arrangement Sharon has made with the festival organizers. They give a discounted registration rate when multiple people sign up as part of the same group, so signing up as part of the Birdchick Posse helps us to save a bit on our registration fee.

Hi Mary,
I sure wish you could come too--I suppose there's no chance of that wedding getting cancelled at the last minute???

Hi Jayne,
I will be sure to take plenty of pictures. The nice thing is that there will be other bloggers there and what I miss, hopefully you'll get to read about on another blog.

Hi Lynne,
I was so happy to visit with you last night. I will keep my fingers crossed for you to get that weekend off too!

Hi April,
I have so many shawl patterns (and yarn for knitting them) -- probably more than I'll ever complete in my lifetime. They are fun to knit and even more fun to give away.

Meggie said...

Hey Ruthie: Sounds like great fun...the birding festival. I've discovered for all good things, one must sign up early...you know that early bird saying.... It sounds like a good one. Didn't you and Julie go last year? Can't wait to hear all about it. Be sure to tell us all about the turkey hunting also. Your kitty was REALLY loving that catnip!

Mel said...

I wish I could do trips like those :(
I'm too far to try! hahaha

LauraHinNJ said...

I mailed mine in too, Ruthie! Yay! See you there - I got in on that Birds and Blooms trip, too. Can't wait!

Robin (Bumblebee) said...

Oooooh. I wish I were going. I'll be anxiously looking for your pix!

Robin at Bumblebee