Fun Times

Norma and Quinten wanted to give me my birthday card before they left for Hawaii, so we joined Barb and Bernie for burgers at the VFW a couple Monday nites ago. This was my card and gift.

She does such beautiful work! On my actual birthday, Bernie, Barb and I went shopping and then to the Chinese restaurant.

I signed up to go 4-wheeling last Friday and invited Bernie to go with. I warned the group that I had never done it before, but they told me not to worry; they'd help. On the way out, we stopped for a potty break, and I got a picture of a skyscape that I dubbed "cotton balls."

Then there was this memorial in the middle of the desert and some fields. Someone put a lot of work into it.

Not too far from there, we switched to four wheel drive. On the first arroyo crossing, the leader came back to  make sure that I negotiated it with no problem. When I pulled up behind the jeep in front of me, the ladies jumped out  and yelled, "Woman Power." Too much fun! Our first stop was a hike up to a cave that had crystals on the ceiling and walls. Here's part of the group at the entrance. You'll notice we had a four-legger along.

This a mine entrance that has been well-marked.

Then we went to another mining area, but what I found so interesting were these rock formations. The first one looks like someone's bare butt :). The other one is the result of major water and wind erosion.

After lunch, I realized that most of our group were serious rock hounds. I found some pretty rocks, and naturally took some pictures. Here's a saguaro with a twisted arm.

Is this an example of siamese twins?

Several of us held up the procession to take a picture of this crazy-looking guy.

When we went through our last major arroyo, several people jumped out to take pictures. As Pam says,
"This doesn't the half of it!"

I don't know if Bernie is getting ready to laugh or cry. Here's a shot of the guys behind climbing out.

I'm off again this Friday to Baker's Tanks with the group from Pioneer. I drove into the base this afternoon to get the permit for Barry M. Goldwater Range. Stay tuned for more adventures!

The New Year

The trip to Chandler on December 30 was uneventful and the weather gorgeous. We went to the Elephant Bar for lunch, and I got to open a late Christmas present from Tammy and Bob which was a velour stylish warm-up outfit with matching earrings. I wore it for New Year's Eve. On Saturday on the way to Scotsdale to visit Jim and Alice, we stopped at the Fashion Mall that had free garage parking. The Z something store was fun. If I were still into decorating, I would gotten these glass flowers.

This guy doesn't need to be walked or fed and he was so-o soft.

Jim, Tammy's boss from year's ago, and Alice's home was beautiful. They had friends visiting from Las Cruces, so we had a lot of fun swapping travel stories. That evening, Tammy had made a 7 o'clock reservation at Carrabas, but when we got there, it was so noisy, that we opted for some goodies and drinks to be consumed in Bob's room. We made it to where they drop the ball in Times. Tammy was a big help walking the dogs and loading up the next morning. The saguaro cactus west of Stansfield were some that I always wanted to get a picture of.

I made a trip to Niland, CA and the Slabs by the Salton Sea, and to bring my friend Bernie her mail. She had been boondocking in her Scamp since Christmas.

Before you enter the area is a world-famous man-made mountain that I just had to get a picture of.

Yesterday I went to the Bikers' Beer and Burger Bash at the Palms RV Resort. They had a good band from Prescott, and we all had a good time. This was Norma and Quinten's idea, and as you can tell by the pictures: a damn good one.

In the first picture, Norma is negotiating the poolside on her way back from the bar. Here she and Quinten are chowing; I think she's saying, "Yea, the sun is shining." It was unusually cloudy and cool.

This is the group complete with jackets to keep warm. Good friends, beer, and burgers. What more could you ask for? Probably pictures of the bikes that I didn't take.

Soaking Up the Sun

I would like to back-track a bit to my adventures at Bosque del Apache. I found these pictures on my Olympus. I used both cameras plus my cell phone on that trip. This is a sunset picture.

I call this photo the "Ghost Bushes", because the flash picked up the bushes in the foreground.

Another eerie shot!

Brock and I laughed so hard at the way the birds looked when they were getting ready to land.

I had a great Christmas Eve at Norma and Quinten's meeting his sister and renewing friendships from last year. Norma delights in entertaining and the food was outstanding. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera.

I went to the Arizona Market a couple of weeks ago and got these two yard art thingyies. Yea, spell check says that's not a word. Too bad.

On my walk this morning, this crow was yelling at me, so I took his picture.

There are some beautiful homes out here where I walk; however, I think these people need to recycle this particular piece of yard art. Notice the hole and cracks in the donkey. Oh well, it makes it more interesting.

So we added about a week's worth of rain to the desert about ten days ago and this is what we got. In some areas, it almost looks like someone planted grass.

So tomorrow morning, I'm off to Chandler to spend the New Year's celebration with Tammy and Bob. Who knows what pictures I'll capture on that adventure. Happy New Year to all!

More Adventures

On Monday, I put Plan B into effect, and drove to Alagodones to make a dental appointment. I can't wait until Friday at 8:30 am. Since I was in town, I left some money at Walmart. On Tuesday, I ran into my friend June at the library, and we went to lunch at the Beaches in Coyote Wash.

On Wednesday, I headed back up to Martinez Lake and the wildlife refuge. There were about seven other people beside myself on the guided walk. Our leaders were a couple that worked in Denver for American Airlines. Now they winter in Yuma and summer in the Grand Tetons. Betty, the wife, liked to talk about scat. Here she is pictured with some in her hand.

She also had all sorts of animal bones that they had previously found in Wash B and stories for each one. Her husband, who thought it was going to be 90 degrees that morning, had some sort of temperature gauge and measured the temperature of the rocks that were getting sun.

This is a cholla with an unidentified bird nest in it. I took some other pictures, but nothing too spectacular. The bodies of water that they call lakes along the Colorado River are nothing but backwaters that are good for fishing and recreation.

This is a picture of the group paying rapt attention while Charles explains about the Africanized bees that have hives in the rocks. The good news is that they are being tamed, and bees are good, because the plants need the pollination.

Some time in the future, I may go do the Painted Desert Trail in the same area.

On Thursday, Brock and I went birding at Dateland and Tacna. As most of you know, my idea of birding is taking pictures of the birds. Well, that didn't happen, but it was a beautiful day.

On Friday, I did the dreaded dental appointment and found out that I have to have a root canal, maybe two. I don't want to think about it. Should I take pictures?? My friend June is going with me on Monday. In the afternoon, my neighbors invited me to Happy Hour in the middle of our street. Really nice group of people. There's nothing fancy in this park. It's very laid back.

Otra Vez

Since I had seen the ugly weather headed to Elephant Butte, and knowing that I needed dental work, I headed for Wellton, AZ, on Tuesday, the 28th to begin my winter adventure. I stayed that night at the Magic Circle RV Park in Wilcox, and arrived at Tier Drop RV Park here in Wellton on Wednesday afternoon. We are on the west edge of the park with excellent access to the desert. I take Marshall and Tux out there in the morning and mid-afternoon. In the evening, I sort of cheat. We just take a walk around the palms out in front of the coach.

I got in touch with Brock on Thursday. He needed to go to Walmart in Yuma, so I went along and got a few things. I tried to email the dentist for an appointment, and it wouldn't go through. I'll have to resort to Plan B.

On Sunday, I decided to explore, and I drove to Yuma Proving Grounds and headed west to Imperial Dam. I found a place that Gary and I had been to about 15+ years ago called Hidden Shores RV Park. Well, now it's a resort/gated community. They gave me a visitor's pass good for an hour. It was just a mom and pop type of place with a small office and store. They were promoting permanent sites up on a hill adjacent to the park, and, at the time, I thought, "Who would want to do that?" It's quite a community now, and I have pictures to prove it

Here's a picture of the Beach Rules. I think it says something about fat women on a stamp to the right of Beach Area.

Here's a warning sign. We used to sit out there and cool off in the water.

These are some kayaks on the shore. I couldn't resist taking the picture because of their bright colors.

This is the resort club house and golf. It's not my type of place, but it was fun to revisit.

From here, I headed up to Martinez Lake. On the way out of the proving grounds, I had to get a picture of this helicopter.

I had been to Martinez Lake last year with a friend, but didn't have my camera to get pictures of the ducks. Here's what I got last Sunday.

These four guys are taking turns nibbling on a dead fish.

Good to the last peck!  This is the restaurant and bar. I had a good fish sandwich for lunch. Then I headed to the wildlife refuge and signed up for a guided walk on Wednesday,

Festival of the Cranes

Last week my friend Brock came from Wellton, AZ, and we did the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache near San Antonio, NM. It's about a forty-five minute drive from my house, so we had to leave at 4:30 one morning for a birding tour. It was worth it, and we got a bonus: the morning fly-out. Forget the fact that my fingers were burning with cold. I didn't get any good pictures that morning, but after breakfast in Socorro, we went up to Water Canyon near Magdalena. Some of the group was hiking, but we went looking for birds. No luck, but I got an inspirational photo.

I forgot to mention that we went birding the previous morning at Percha and Caballo State Parks. Here are some of the birds that I managed to capture with my camera.

A female phainopepla:

Male pyrrhuloxia:

This bird enjoyed posing. What kind is it? Am I supposed to know that too?

These are my blue cranes. The only reason they're blue is because it's dusk, and that's the way the picture turned out.

This is part of the fly-in on Friday evening. I have the rest on video. The sound is awesome.

One morning there was a great sunrise. I thought capturing it in the reflection of the bedroom window would be unusual.

About a week before the festival, I was in San Antonio to meet a friend for lunch. It was a cloudy day, but I decided to try some shots of the dead cottonwood trees. Here's one I altered. Bad girl!

 

The same day, these ducks decided to be cooperative.

This is a black-crested nocturnal heron getting ready to sleep for the day. I guess that's why he's so cooperative.

The birding experience and the festival were really great. I highly recommend it.