Last week, after spending over eight hours in windy single digit temperatures we had dinner at Clay’s house. While warming up and enjoying a hearty meal I smiled and announced how happy I was to finally have the hip and adventurous lifestyle of an optics rep--a childhood dream. All the other guys at the table looked at me like a chicken with my head cut off. Hip?? Adventurous?? Apparently, I was the only person who got that memo.

Okay, maybe it’s not exploring the Arctic, but it’s still fun and challenging. Non Birding Bill thinks all I do is talk about birds all day and sing karaoke all night while on the road, but there is a lot more to it than that and I love every moment of it. Since the Call of the Ivory-bill Celebration will be my first solo trek running a booth, I will chronicle what all an Eagle Optics employee has to do on the road. Here I am with my suitcase loaded with clothes, binocular demos and my traveling office. I'm opting for my camo jacket this trip, because it seems to help you blend in with the locals in Brinkley, AR.

Whoever is going to this festival is going to meet a bevy of who is who in the birding world: Pete Dunne, Amy Hooper, Greg Butcher, Bobby Harrison, Tim Gallagher, Marie Reed, Gene Sparling, David Lunneau...I wonder if there will be a skeptic crowd there? Boy, it sure would be a good opportunity to ask questions. Should be interesting stuff.