Phila Airport Parking Vacations

Saturday morning we got up well before dawn and jumped out of our sleeping bags to see how much snow we had gotten. We looked out the door of our camping tent and almost a foot of fresh snow covered the ground. The trees were absolutely beautiful covered with the fresh white powder. It was a picture perfect morning for deer hunting. If we were going to get our bucks this season, it was going to happen today! We dressed properly for the cold and snow, grabbed some hot coffee and headed for our hunting grounds deer rifles in hand. The guys were going to head to the north side of the forest where they had seen the deer running last night. I was going to head over to my favorite spot, a large group of oak trees to the west. I knew that after the big snowfall the deer were going to be looking for food.

It was still dark outside and that made it hard to find the acorn feeding ground. I found it about an hour before daylight and set up my deer blind about 300 yards away. I didn’t want to scare the deer away before it got light so I crawled in the deer blind and waited for the first light to arrive. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop but right at first light the forest came alive with the sound of all kinds of critters. I could hear many strange noises in the forest. If you’ve ever been there at that time, I’m sure you know just what I’m talking about. I pulled out my new buck grunt caller and got it ready to go. I also checked my rifle to make sure it was loaded and ready for action. Now all I could do was wait for the big one. With all the fresh snow, I knew he would show up today.

Just at daylight, I heard a shot from the direction where my friends were hunting. Maybe they had gotten one! I tried using my grunt caller to call a buck in but had no luck. Right about then I saw a doe wandering around some brush. She was heading straight for the acorn feeding ground. Then I saw four more big doe coming down a hill beside me and they were also heading for the feeding ground. I was sure that a buck would be following close behind. During the mating season, the bucks will follow close behind the doe and check to see if they are ready to mate. The buck always stays behind the doe and shows up last. At this point there was nothing to do but wait so I grabbed a sandwich from my picnic backpack and ate while watching the doe.

A little later I heard crashing and loud noise coming from the forest on the far side of the feeding area. It was sure to be a buck. Then suddenly I saw a huge deer emerging from the thickets and heading right toward the doe. As the deer got closer I could see antlers! It was an 8 pointer for sure. Then another deer came out behind the 8 pointer and he was gigantic. I counted 12 points. Today was going to be my lucky day. As soon as the two of them got to the feeding area they started fighting. It was an amazing sight that I had never seen in all the years I’d been hunting. The smaller buck lost his fight with the monster buck and left the area. Now was the time to shoot the monster buck that I had been waiting on. I had an open shot so I raised my rifle, put the crosshairs right on this chest and pulled the trigger. The monster fell to the ground right in this tracks. I had bagged a gigantic buck and had a great story to tell my children and grandchildren.

We got to hunting camp at around 4:00 on Friday. The sun was just beginning to set to our west. The sky started to get gray and the northwest wind began howling through the trees. We had to get our camp set up fast because it was going to get dark soon and a major winter storm was brewing. My job was to pitch the camping tent while the others looked for the firewood.

After about 20 minutes the tent was up and my friends were walking up the trail carrying armloads of firewood that they found lying on the forest floor. My friend John said that they spooked three big bucks in the valley as they walked down the hill. He said they ran straight to the north side of the woods crossing a dry dry stream. Now we knew where we were going to start our hunt early on Saturday morning.

Before we could think about hunting, we had to get a fire started because the storm was approaching fast. We built a simple fire pit out of large rocks then started the fire and got the rest of our stuff out of the truck and put it away. As soon as we got the fire built to a roaring blaze it started to snow very hard. It was really cold out so we decided to leave our sandwiches in the picnic backpack and barbecue some thick strip steaks. Since John had just gotten new bbq tools, he got to do the honors. Besides, none of us will ever complain about John’s cooking. He really is the king of the grill.

The snow began to build up very quickly. In an hour or so we had several inches on the ground. My new four season camping tent was holding up to the weather conditions very well. Soon the steaks were done and we could get out of the weather and enjoy our dinner. We grabbed the cooler out of the back of the SUV and headed for the tent for an evening of storytelling, food and beer.

As we ate, the snow and wind got even worse. The tent was shaking hard but we weren’t worried. I was very glad I bought the four season tent instead of the three season one I had been considering. If I had purchased the other tent, we would have either stayed home or we’d have been sleeping in the truck. Soon the steaks were just pleasant memories and it was time to head for our sleeping bags and get some rest. The alarm clock was going to go off early because the hunt was at hand!

Please come back soon for the next part of this story about my bad weather hunting trip. In part 3 I’ll tell you all about the hunt and the huge buck I got that day.

Africa, a place that is naturally endowed with species that it exclusively owns.

The mere sound of the name rings bells of adventure, exploration, realization and hunting. Because of the diversity of hunting safari, it offers as much opportunities for hunting fanatics to explore a range of ecological areas that have their own specialties.

Well, it’s hard to imagine how we can exactly describe the purity of Africa. It is safe though to tell you that it is filled with rich resources of plain animals suited for game, predators that follow after their kill, animals grazing on fertile and unspoiled lands and others.

The game aside, Africa gathers the largest, most dense and extreme concentration of plant species and strange animals that seem to have come directly from the sixth day of the creation.

Now going to the bird, at any given time of the year, a single national park can contain an average of 300 to 500 bird species, which make Africa not only a haven of species but also a paradise for naturalists and ornithologists.

The plant and tree species are also diverse that it is impossible to record them all. Some species are as old as several thousand years ago, which again seemed to be the direct link to the Creator.

Al these combined (and the mixture of other components), Africa is one big paradise for man and the creations to enjoy. To flourish and to experience the circle of life. The dance that plays with each organism and specie. And the life that sets the balance between the created and the wardens.

As for the hunting safari, Africa boasts the most excellent sites and species that fuel man’s passion for hunting animals in their natural habitats. Though hunting is restricted in some national parks, local governments still assigned African hunting safaris where varieties of games are enjoyed but in accordance with ethical restrictions.

Some common hunting safari animals in Africa are: black wildebeest, gemsbuck, red hartebeest, springbuck, waterbuck, bushbuck, zebras, antelopes, eland, steenbuck, rhebuck, impala, blue wildebeest, warthog, kudu and many other species.

In African hunting safaris, the most common method used is the rifle hunting. However, although it is popular enough there are still unsettled issues concerning the caliber of the rifle. Please check on the guidelines as suggested by you guide or outfitter.

Next to the rifle hunting is the bow hunting, which is just as popular as rifle hunting. Experts see the future of bow hunting as the standard to restrict any other issues that must be dealt with the more common form of hunting.

Now why anyone would want to live in Death Valley is beyond me but here but Albert Mussey Johnson decided to built his vacation home in Death Valley. It was supposedly built with the money from the gold mine that he had backed but in fact, there was no gold mine and so it was certainly not built with funds from one.

Walter Scott was a miner, a dreamer and apparently a scammer to boot. He convinced Mr. Johnson to invest in the gold mine in Death Valley. It was probably going along just fine (with Scott getting his money from the investment) until Mr. Johnson decided to visit. He thought a tour of the mine would be a good idea. It was hard to do since there wasn’t a mine to see.

It was lucky for Mr. Scott that Mr. Johnson became enamored with Death Valley. Because he liked Mr. Scott and thought that Death Valley was truly spectacular he and his wife decided to build a vacation retreat in the valley. It was called Death Valley Ranch but was known to the locals as Scotty’s Castle.

The rich and famous came to the retreat when it became a tourist attraction. They wanted to see the retreat built by one of California’s richest gold miners. Of course, had he told that it wasn’t from the riches gained from the non-existent mine there wouldn’t have been nearly the attraction to it that there was at the time.

Daily tours are available on the hour of the castle and the living history exhibits and the displays inside the house. These guided tours will help you understand the lifestyle of the Johnson’s.

The second tour available for you while you are at the castle is of the underground area. It shows you the technology used to provide electricity to the castle. There is a 1/4 mile tunnel system that runs under the castle that you will be able to see.

The National Park Service is in charge of the castle now. It uses some of the underground area to preserve Scotty’s Castle. Technology from the past is working with technology of today to keep the castle in good condition.