Time Flies

 I promised myself that I would write and post my weekly blog every Saturday evening.  Well, here it is Monday afternoon and I am just getting it done.  Time just seems to be speeding by without having to do very much.

The weather this past week - we have seen wind, and cool, and hot.  It is windy and dusty today but there is a promise of nice mild temperatures with minimum wind - our favourite weather of course.

This week we celebrated a couple of birthdays.  Marleen's brother and sister-in-law came for a few days and it was Melinda's birthday so of course, a celebration.  Then we celebrated Gary's birthday so naturally, more cake and visiting.

Whenever one is RV'ing, there is always a great chance that something needs to be fixed.  Well, this past week it was happening.  We had a water heater problem so after a diagnosis and some pondering, Gerry ran a new wire, and voila - we have hot water.

We have no idea of the problem this fellow had but we think he must have been part gumby as he twisted himself into the bay of his fifth wheel.

Then we have Gary who is always working on a project.  He always has a new idea on how something should work better which he will thoroughly research and without a doubt, he will be able to complete the task to his specifications.  Of course, the rest of us just get to sit around and enjoy the afternoon.

It has been terribly dry here so there are not many flowers other than the odd plant in town, but we enjoy them where ever they are.  This ocotillo is fascinating as it looks totally dead other than the flowers - not a leaf to be seen.

And of course, some folks have a real imagination for  what to put in their front years.

Before we head out we visited a date farm to buy our annual supply of dates.  Here were some just ready to be picked.

This next week will be a short week as I promise to do my writing Saturday evening.  We are also planning on going somewhere down the road so will likely be writing from another spot.  Hope you all have a great rest of the week!!

The Winds of Change

 This past week we have certainly felt a change in the weather - temperatures of 25 - 27C, less wind (less dust in the air) - feels like a lovely summer day.  With this great weather, not too much is happening.  It's too warm to do much in the way of chores, and too nice not to just enjoy.

We still try to walk daily and very often we see some unusual, and/or interesting things.  One day we came across a Free Little Library.  There are many of these little libraries, much like we see at home; however, this particular one was definitely unique.  It looks like it was made from several old coffee or end tables.  Take a look at the top of the top cupboard (table) - there is a bumper on the corner which I expect was to avoid bumping your head while looking inside.  Inside was a little container with candy and suckers inside, and outside a lovely park bench so you could sit while you chose a book.

I am not sure about this photo - I was wondering if perhaps it is in lieu of a regular bus spot as we know it.  It didn't look particularly comfortable.

Tonight was another launch from SpaceX in California.  Since we can watch the launch online, we were able to follow it in hopes of a repeat of the last time we saw one.  This time, though, we are quite a long way away and all we could see was a large speck in the sky with a contrail.  The other problem was it was not totally dark so it wasn't nearly as visible.

This is not Gerry supervising a couple weird folks.  He is really just watching our friend Marleen, and her neighbour Gene, work on sanding a dining room table.  I look forward to seeing this project progress.

But we did get to see this great sunset earlier this week.  We often get to see some amazing sunsets.  I'm guessing that dust in the air greatly contributes to these.

Last week I wished for warmer weather back home.  Well, it seems that it has arrived and I imagine it is none too soon for everyone.  Enjoy the temperatures and until next week, take care.

Yuma Once Again

 Our time at Borrego Springs was coming to an end so we decided to make one last trip so out we went to the Kumayaay Historical Village where many native Americans lived for thousands of years.  They were a nomadic people and lived in this area from October to May until the late 1800's.  We walked among the boulders much like they did and it was easy to see how the huge rocks provided shelter from the weather. 

There are a number of huge, flat rock surfaces that had morteros.  This morteros are holes of varying sizes and depths that were created by the women grinding  seeds. 

Present day uses are not necessarily used for this same purpose.

After walking throughout the area we then drove a bit further up the wash and went for a bit of a hike.  We didn't go very far because once there was a bit of rock scrambling, I was out of there.

There was a fair bit of wind at the beginning of the week.  One evening, after supper, Gerry went to put the barbecue away so it wouldn't get blown over through the night.  All of a sudden he bangs on the side of the motorhome and points towards the sky.  I ran out, and by the time I got my camera, some of the amazing sight was gone so I had to snap it in two separate photos.  What it turned out to be was the launching of 23 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in southern California - quite a spectacle!!

We moved on in mid-week and came back to Yuma.  We went and did laundry one day and there on the wall hung something I had not seen for quite some time.

And you hear about the price of eggs!!  Well yes, that price has certainly increased.  At a local big chain grocery store, this dozen of eggs is 5.49 (8.01 Canadian $$) but the regular price was 8.99 (13.13 C$).  That sure makes the price of 3.89 or 5.99/18 quite a bargain.

With that little bit of info, stay warm, stay safe, and perhaps mother nature will be much kinder to all this coming week.

Back in the Sun

 We are now back from our trip home and have been greeted with sunshine, and wind!  At least that was after we were picked up at the airport by our kind friends.

Now our trip home was great; however, the weather wasn't so hot (literally).  This is the temperature as we were on our way to a volleyball game.

  It sure did grab your attention.

And it seemed to want to snow, and snow, and snow.  There is definitely nothing dirty out there.

Now our flight was to leave mid day on Wednesday.  We had arranged for a ride to the airport at a nice decent time.  Well, that was not going to happen.  Our flight was delayed by three hours which meant that we would miss our connecting flight.  But we were quickly rebooked, the next day, at the wonderful time of 6:30 a.m.  Of course that means getting up a tad on the early side.  Fortunately our neighbour said that he would pick us up at 4:30 a.m. and made sure we got to leave town.

The day before, it snowed a good part of the day, and the wind blew, and blew, and blew.  We did get to the airport just fine, but due to me not being able to focus real well in the morning, I hit the deck at 3:10 a.m. so I was ready in plenty of time.  It was a long day but a 12 hour sleep was absolutely refreshing.

As we were sitting on the plane waiting to hit the runway, we got to watch some unfortunate airport staff trying to navigate the snow that had piled up over the night.  They shovelled, and pushed, and were finally able to get the luggage to the plane and loaded.

There are a number of citrus groves in this area and one of them have a stand.  They load the stand with grapefruit and/or oranges and payment is on the honour system.  Here is Chris buying herself a bag of grapefruit.

Today, the sky seemed to be every changing.  This afternoon there were some really neat cloud formations.  Of course as we were admiring them, the camera stayed on the shelf.  Then this evening, the moon seemed to have an unusual ring around.  I did get a photo although it doesn't show up nearly as well as the real thing.

Another week has come to a close, and fortunately we are able to enjoy the warmth.  I sure hope that those that are currently having harsh weather, that Mr. Weatherman will  reverse the current cold trend.

May all of you have a great week, and until next week, take care!!

 

This is the Week

Good evening once again.  Most years we take a week to fly home, see family, and to reset our insurance.  Well, this is the week so we won't have done very much (although that does seem to be the norm these days).  We tend to make this trip in mid-winter, partly so we can experience the bone chilling winds and the frigid temps, but also to avoid trading our first born to pay for medical insurance.  And since the cost goes up with our ages (never mind medical conditions), I'm not sure that our first born would cover it.

Our flights were amazing - on time (or early), great timing on connections, and relatively inexpensive.  I keep hearing that travel is pretty well back to pre-pandemic times but both legs of our flight home were only 1/3 to 1/2 full.  Going back may be different so will see.

We did go out on a small drive to Rainbow Canyon.  It was very pretty but of course, a lot of the photos I took with my camera which is still back in California so today will be just a sneak preview with hopefully more to come next week.

This a monument commemorating the cattle drive

We left on a bright sunny pleasant day which was sad as we had had cool weather and winds for several days.  Our friends, Rick & Chris drove us to the airport so we didn't have any hassle with parking the Jeep in long term parking.  I really like the Palm Springs Airport as it is easy to navigate and much of the waiting area is outside and so pleasant.  And they do have a mascot (I think!!)

A night flight

The kids dropped off our car at the airport so no waiting and a quick ride home which was terrific since it was 1 a.m. Here is home this morning

The snow isn't too back but I'm not real wild with the high temps of -25C (feels like -35C) they are predicting for Monday.  But I know it's only for a couple of days and not like it has been all winter for most so it was simply "suck it up buttercup".

I hope you all have a great week and I'll be back in seven days!!

   

Some Work and Some Play

 We took a drive up the mountain towards Warner Springs.  First stop was St. Francis of Assisi Chapel.  This chapel was built in 1830 to serve the native Cupeno Indians.  It is amazing that this chapel is open all the time to everyone and remains undamaged. 

Then it was on to Lost Valley Road  to Atáxam Mámta’ash Campground, formerly Indian Flats Campground which is a small campground in a small valley just over the top.  A short walk from the campground was a small waterfall (at least there used to be on but with it being so dry, there is just a small trickle at the bottom).  For the guys that felt like young boys, there certainly was the chance to clamour over the rocks.

Notice how that cactus is growing right out of the rock!

The drive, however, is absolutely stunning.

Just after getting back on the highway, we stopped in at the glider port where we took a glider ride a few years back.  As luck would have it, they were just towing a glider up.  No rides this time!

Of course, one should go on a hike since there are so many great ones in the area so we went to Glorieta Canyon which is not very far.  It is considered to be moderately strenuous but actually it wasn't very difficult.  There was just a bit of rock scrambling but it was only 1.25 miles in length with an elevation change of 304 feet.

On afternoon a fellow parked next door to us and started setting up some sort of equipment.  Of course, Gerry soon found out that he was setting up his telescope as the planets are to be quite visible. It was fairly powerful and he came out from San Diego area because this area is a designated dark sky community.

It is also not known as a bargain community as you can tell by the price of fuel in town. 

And some of the groceries tend to follow suit in pricing.  However, they are certainly into the arts and a green environment.  They have built an Art Park which consists of a number of different things particularly recycling.  There is a community recycling depot which is wonderful.  It's hard to believe how much it saves on garbage.  There are also quite a number of plots for some community gardens.  Each of these gardens have chicken wire around them and today we saw why.  Here is a roadrunner and he was definitely looking to see how he could get over the fence.

And we have the occasional campfire and have developed a real system.  Gerry is the official fire starter as he has a special lighter and he starts it for afternoon happy hour.  We sit around the fire and as the fire dies down, we put our supper on the coals and when it's supper time the food is cooked, the coals are pretty well done and are no longer throwing much heat for warmth, we call it another great day.

But it hasn't been all play and no work.  Today we had to pack up as it was time to dump and fill with water. But  now it's back to just living life!

I hope everyone is doing well and may you have a great week.