I ♥ Blogs.....

Paul & Kathleen Smith introduced me to the world of blogging in 2004.  We were all on the Adventure Caravan Twin Piggyback Tour of Mexico and the Smith's posted a daily blog of our travels.  I think their were 18 rigs on that tour for a total of about 6 weeks.  For many of us it was our first trip into Mexico and we were all concerned about keeping our families "back home" informed.  The Smith's write a terrific blog, but they involved each of the tour participants by inviting each of us to contribute a blog for "our" day.  I think each couple wrote the day's blog twice during the tour.

It was interesting to see the different styles of writing and to read about the day from a different perspective.  We could use our own photos to illustrate our writing as well.  At the end of the tour, Paul and Kathleen had booklets of the blog made up for each of us.  I still have mine and even now, nearly 10 years later it's fun to look at and relive the trip.

The Smith's had their own dish and service...  not a whole lot of folks we knew had that back then.  A lot of us still depended on local libraries or other  means to get on the internet.  So while Paul & Kathleen encouraged us all to write a blog of our travels it just wasn't easy to do that on a daily basis.

It wasn't until November, 2005 that we bought a dish and tripod and used Hughes net...  it was a real luxury to have internet anytime we wanted it. (We have since changed to Millinicom and no longer carry around all that "baggage")

Bill read some "forums" fairly regularly, and through them began reading some blogs.  I had kept my family and friends informed of our travels writing what I called "long letters" (which included a couple dozen photos) and sending that to about 25-30 people every few weeks.

I began to read blogs that were written by folks I knew.  I still read Paul & Kathleen's blog.  We met Chris and Juan in Veracruz and I began reading his blog, and a couple of years ago we met Mark & Terri up in Maine.  They had encouraged our friends Carolyn and Wally to write, and I began reading both of their blogs.

Hey...  this is fun!  Alongside the written part, most folks have a column that lists the blogs they follow.  Well now...  look at this....  since most of the folks I read were either avid travelers or avid birders... or both...  I found all kinds of interesting reading.

In February, 2012, we were at Falcon Lake in south Texas...  looky here..  a blogger I read is at this park.  I met Donna and Dennis Cave...  knocked on their door and with her encouragement kind of tentatively began my own blog a few days later.

Now comes the interesting part...  I immediately got all kinds of encouragement from other bloggers.  Donna K kept my spirits up with her help and advice.  I hesitate to mention names only because there were many folks who were so helpful and I don't even know who they all were.  I still have much to learn (like how to link stuff...  I should be able to write someone's blogname and you could click on it...  )   Maybe with time I'll figure it all out...

Well, one thing led to another and I started reading all kinds of blogs.  I guess my curiosity wins out because while RVers and birders were my first interests, I read all kinds of blogs written by all kinds of folks.  It was because of a blog that Bill & I went to Seville, Spain.  Yeah, we were going to Spain, but hadn't chosen a city until I read Mitch's blog.  We had the pleasure of meeting Mitch and San Geraldo...  indeed, we got together several times during our stay in Seville.

I started today's blog thinking of a couple of other blogs I read...  One is "1000 Pattes".....  it's mostly wildlife photography...  but it's from Europe and written in French.  No, I don't speak French, but usually there are enough translations to explain it.  The photos don't automatically come up on this blog, so before I get the photos I try to figure out what the critter is by the French name...  and the scientific name.  I know, kind of a weird thing to do, but....  hey....  it's fun.

Another I read is a vegetarian recipe blog.  I even went to the local kitchen gadget store in Granbury and bought a Julienne Peeler.  So what if I haven't used it yet...  I have what looks to be a great Thai salad in mind.....

And of course there's the blogs I look forward to every day...  about National Wildlife Refuges, about the latest in Google technology (which I read but can't always figure out), about things Dizzy wonders about, or what's going on in Carolyn's life today....  People I've never met personally...  the list goes on and on and on.

I appreciate the folks who read my own blog, and love reading the comments.  Some folks who blog reply to each comment, which is really a nice thing to do, but I didn't have a clue how to do that when I started and didn't get in that habit...

Mostly I love reading others blogs...  what a diversity of folks...  what a range of interests....  what a great bunch of people who take the time to share their own thoughts and their own life.  I can't always think of something snappy to say, but chances are, if you're reading this, I read your blog, even If I don't always comment.

Yes, I ♥ Blogs!

That's All For Today!