Hunting for scorpions

One night while everyone was getting ready for bed. I lead a group to search for scorpions or anything else that glowed in black light. We surveyed the surrounding area hoping to find the feared arthropod. During our walk we found four in total 3 relatively small and one fairly large. I was surprised to find as many as we did although I have been told that they are frequently seen in our home area. It was cool walking around CEDO gives a different perspective on the area at night

 Garrett Michael 

El Estero

On Thursday, we had planned to kayak the Morua Estuary. It had been extremely windy the night before, and, coupled with the new moon, we were looking at a very, very high tide. It was a unique opportunity to get further into the estuary via kayak than is usually possible, so a little wind wasn't about to get in our way.
By the time we got out onto the estuary, the tide was already extremely high, and still coming in. According to our guide, Efrain, even he had never seen it this high, and so wasn't entirely sure how to navigate without his usual landmarks, but after a few course corrections, we made it to the other side. Going against the wind was pretty tough, and to whoever was prescient enough to bring protein shakes on this trip, thank you for basically saving my life. During the journey over, running into submerged bushes was pretty much a given, but what I didn't realize was that doing so had netted several of us a little stowaway. Once we had made it to the other side and exited our kayaks, several green and brown praying mantises appeared on different people. I picked one up and let him crawl around a bit before returning him to a bush nearby. We don't really see many praying mantises in Arizona, but it didn't take long to figure out that these guys were pretty content to just chill on your shoulder. The area we had landed at was full of tiny crabs that had burrowed in the loose sand, and once we had disturbed their hiding places, immediately began breaking for the water. There were also a ton of burrowing gnats that seemed to take no interest in a group of humans, luckily for us.
The trip back was also pretty difficult, but we made it, even though we were late. Afterward, we ended up at an oyster shack while we waited for the tide to lower.
As fun as all this had been, it was also really exhausting, so by the time we made it back to CEDO, I was ready to take a long nap. As a note to future kayakers, always check if there's wind before you head out.