March 11, 2006 Saturday
We left Tishomingo about 7:15 pm and headed for Ardmore. At Ardmore, we were to pick up the remaining group from Murray State College and meet the students from Kansas. After eating at the Prairie Kitchen and filling up with gas, we stared our long haul to the border.

March 12, 2006 Sunday
Driving and sleeping all night makes a trip go by a lot faster. It seems that it only took a couple of hours to make the drive from Ardmore, Oklahoma to Laredo, Texas a minute jump to Old Mexico. It was around 8:00 am when we arrived at Laredo, but before we could cross the border we had to make a run to the famous Wal-Mart. After the Wal-Mart run, we had to exchange our American money for Mexican money. Next, we went across the Rio Grande River into Mexico customs. Here we filled out paperwork, and paid $22 as an enter the country fee. Once on the road again, we traveled to Anahuac to eat lunch. The specialty was goat, but due to our large group, we all pretty much ate burritos. Now onward to the border patrol were Kansas’s van was searched. Apparently Mexico means business because everyone at the border patrol was carrying heavy weapons, not an everyday sight in Oklahoma. We were special enough to be given a tour of a mescal factory where we were able to see the decomposing yucca plants, to the place where the mule would walk around and power a machine that squeezes all the juices out into fermenting barrels that smell awful. Finally, the journey to our camping grounds that provided natural hot springs ended the day. Did you know that you can fit 13 people into a minivan? It can be done because we did it!!

March 13, 2006 Monday
After breaking down camp at Bustamante, we went to the hot springs in the daylight. Goat herders were bringing the goats through to drink and munch on some grass. It was such a natural and great thing to witness. Here we started our marathon drive at noon, only stopping for gas and restroom breaks. In parts of Mexico you actually had to pay to go to the bathroom. That evening we stopped to observe the cacti and Joshua trees, the desert scenery was gorgeous.

March 14, 2006 Tuesday
Today we arrived at base camp at 7:00 in the morning. Instantly we set up our camp, then we walked along the beach soaking up the view. Today was our free day to enjoy. We walked along the beach into a small town were you observe their way of life first hand.

March 15, 2006 Wednesday
Today we started our field work, the first hurdle was birds, we set up mist nets and bird watched. It was really neat to see birds from another country. What was really neat was to see our bird migrants and to see where they stay during the winter. That evening we set mammal traps , then we set up mist nets for bats over a creek. This was probably the best part of the trip.

March 16, 2006 Thursday
Early in the morning, we went to check our mammal traps, we caught two opossums and a harvest mouse. The mouse we took back to camp to observe the proper way to create a museum display. Then we went to a Mangrove swamp to look for track to cast, we found and caste raccoon tracks.
This was a big night for me, because my boyfriend, Shane, asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes, I was so excited!!!

March 17, 2006 Friday
Today we went in search of lizards; we were on the beach chasing lizards for most of the morning. And the evening ended in trampling through a creek looking for frogs.

March 18, 2006 Saturday
Two 100 meter seines into the Pacific Ocean, 16 people to pull them in and no new species to identify, we gave the birds a feast. That evening, we had our awards ceremony and said our goodbyes to our new Mexican friends.

March 19, 2006 Sunday
This was the best day of all the field work; this is when we took a boat trip along the Mangrove Swamp. The birding during that trip was great and the view was awesome. At the end of the trip, we were allowed to snorkel if we desired, bit it was a bit too cold for me. Oh yeah, we were able to see a crocodile in the wild.

March 20, 2006 Monday
We arrived in Real at 4:00 in the morning, so we all slept in our vans, which were really comfortable. But the thought of having a real bed at the end of the day was worth the wait. Real de Catorce was beautiful, I spent the entire day shopping and looking at different sites. This was part of the country that is seen on television and can make a person speechless. Not even pictures can do this town justice.