Rain in the Desert

 

We had quite a rainy and windy day yesterday.  The rain was no problem, but the wind was another matter.  We are 24 miles North of Yuma camping again in the desert.  The motor home is on a high point overlooking the valley so no problem with flooding.  The picture below is right behind us.  There is a road that goes up into a large wash . We did look at it  for a site.  So glad we decided to be up high.

This was around 5:00 pm when the rain had just stopped.  Our humming bird feeder was out all day and was swinging madly in the wind and rain.  The little guys hung in there dashing in and out trying to get a sip in between swings.  It reminded me of an airplane refueling in the sky.  The last one that came into the motor home could not find his way out.  I had to take a hat and move him out gently.  The first one that was motor home challenged.  We haven’t had one come in since we got here.

 

We have been 10 days now.  The landscape toward the back of us is nothing but rocks and hills.  Almost moonscape in nature.

Looking out the front is the Colorado river, very small I might add, which you can’t see.  Then a little to the North still in the camping area are several small lakes.

 

It gives a nice choice of camping.  We are in this area as it it closer to the prospecting, although Gary hasn’t done much.  With the rain now, the dry washing will be over. Metal detecting will be the only way to look for gold now.  We have 12 couples in the area now with the same mind set.  Some more driven than others.

There are several burros in the area and are quite friendly especially if you have food.  We were riding the other day and there were 5 of them at the top of a hill.  When I am out walking, you run across their little trails winding thru the rocks.

Yuma is our nearest shopping and has everything you could want.  It is all truck farming and date orchards from here to town.  It is still amazing to me to see all the lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower etc in the fields.  You just want to go out there and start picking.  One of the girls brought lemons from home, so I just made my second batch of lemon bars, which have turned out quite well considering the little oven I have.  It is difficult getting use to the gas.  I should get a thermometer to get the exact temp as I know it is hotter.

It is nice to be back in the desert as there are no rules.  You can run your generator anytime you  like.  The solar panels are working great.  During the day we can run everything with no problems.  Sometimes need to run the generator at night as we have both computers and TV going.  If we had more batteries, we wouldn’t need to run it.  We miss the showers at the spa – hot and lengthy and the church family.

Before we left the spa I took a picture of Jim and Linda’s bird feeder for the gold finch.  This is where they go, when they leave Oregon.

I did catch an evening hummingbird on the feeder.  Still working on getting one in flight.  Need to get the tripod set up with Gary’s camera to get a good one.  The chimes are made of obsidian dug out of the ground in the Northern Calif area.  Quite the artisans that put them together.

We are still having a wonderful time.  The other day I did mention that I missed the house a little mainly for  more room.  Gary is working on radio controlled airplanes now so there is a lot of STUFF laying around.  Miss the junk room upstairs and the washer and dryer.  Ugh- doing laundry at the Laundromat .  The days go by very quickly even though we are not sure what we do.  We are grateful everything has gone so smoothly and our health is good, except for the 2 week flu period.  God is Good.

Happy New Year

 

I have been quite remiss the last 3 weeks in regard to blogging. After reading my niece’s blogs, I feel tongue tied.  Some people just have a great way with words.

 

Ok will start with most recent and work back.  Quiet day to start the new year.  Had to dump the motor home and fill with water.  We have gone 3 weeks – hoped we could make it the whole month, but not quite.  Taking showers in the park showers really cuts back on water usage and the grey water filling.

Thursday, New Years Eve, we took a short (45 miles) ride.  A very busy day for riding – all sorts of riders out there and pretty windy, so we didn’t stay too long. Had a little get together with Jim, Linda and their friends in the evening.  Campfire and munchies – getting to know more folks here in the park.  I would say half the park is Canadians and we give them a bad time with their accents.  Quite a few people from Oregon also.

Christmas was very nice with the church family.  Had a wonderful potluck.  The food was really something probably 100 folks there.  Christmas eve was special as the church had a communion service.  As nice as it was, we still miss our family and friends.

We rode that week 2 days in a row.  Both days were 65 miles.  The problem being you have to ride 13 miles in each direction to get to the area of the desert to ride.  There is a military bombing range right behind the park, so obviously you do not want to be riding there.

 

We are looking for crystals in amongst the rocks.  As you can see Gary is bundled up.  Its the wind that gets to you.

Jim talking with border patrol.  The officer had not been in this area before so was getting an update from the expert.  Is very common for the illegal's to go thru  this area.  We see the border patrol many times during the day.

 

I did feel the earthquake the other day.  Visiting with Linda sitting outside facing their motor home.  Felt the ground moving and then watched the motor home tipping side to side. Was slight but definitely knew the old ground was a moving.  The boys were out riding and they didn’t notice it.

Gary is feeling better but still fatigued if he does too much.  Did get in on a game of ping pong the other day.  Played hard for an hour, gasping for air but hung in there.  They play on Tues. and Thurs and is quite serious.  There is every activity you can think of here.

We have enjoyed the hot tubs- Very relaxing.

This is just one of the pools – hot tub over to the left.  We like this one as it is more private.

Every Tuesday evening they have a talent night.  Probably 200 people show up and the talent is pretty amazing.  Especially as they have it every week and have new talent each time.  The men and their voices really shine.  The church choir has a great men’s section – pretty impressive for a bunch of old guys.  They have a jam session two days a week, but we were a little disappointed as not really acoustic.

We leave here the 12th of Jan and head to Yuma to camp at another claim and hook back up with the folks we were with in November.

The weather as always is great.  Just having the sun shining every day is so up lifting.  Oh another thing – hummingbird in the motor home again.  Gary was napping in the recliner and the little dickens came back to the chair and woke Gary up very quickly. All the gold finches from home are here.  Jim counted 35 at his feeder.  I got some pics today will post with next blog.

We thank God for all His many blessings.