Summer Plans

One of the reasons for my stress about to-do lists is that we’ll be spending a large part of July visiting family in Idaho & camping in Yellowstone.

Plans include visiting with my nephew Max, and seeing his installed quilt in person – oh yeah, a good visit with his Mom & Dad, as well as my mom & step-Dad too. My stepsister Pam works at Coldwater Creek, and a bunch of her pals like my work, so I’m bringing a “Trunk Show” with me – how fun will that be?

Recommendations needed:

My older son & his Dad will be doing some serious fishing while we’re there, his younger brother doesn’t have much patience for that yet, and neither to I. So I thought I’d start some birdwatching with him, while the other 2 are fishing. I’d like to get a field guide to help us identify the birds – does anyone have a favorite bird book sized for carrying while hiking? There are so many on Amazon, it’s hard to know what to believe, and there’s nothing like picking up the book in person. So I’ll be making a trip to the local B&N, but was wondering if any readers had any personal experience with a good one!

I also want to improve my photography skills while I’m in Yellowstone, seeing as there are so many fabulous things to photograph, so I need to find a book on using my Nikon D40 that I can bring with me and read in the car. Again, does anyone have any preferences?

Here’s an amazing video that has got me wanting to improve my photography skills:

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/4923427]