Blooming Thursday

In the beginning...............there was Happy Tuesday. Nearing the end of our season in the desert, we are declaring today to be Blooming Thursday. Taking it easy today. Laying low. Put in our hour long walk early today, then took a little bike ride around the park and into the desert to see what we could find blooming. Now nearly every species is sporting something in the way of some blooms. The saguaro are budding nicely but so far they are the primary holdout. They are often among the last to bloom anyhow, but this year they seem to be running even later than usual. With only a bit more than a week here, maybe they will bloom before we depart and maybe not. Hope so.

So here's what IS putting on the colorama for Blooming Thursday today.

Of Purple Doors And Dirty Boogers

WARNING: This post contains material not suitable.............. Period!

Well, the shed is finished. The landscape is finished for now (I think). What we have done to this lot in the last 30 days is kind of amazing even to us, given the issue of the heat and the lack of the tools of the trade. Bare hands. Sweaty brows. Cactus scratches. Blisters. It's been some tough work, but a labor of love. Never-the-less, we're tired now. Dog tired. And "tired" can make for some funny times and funny lines.

Ever notice the colors of the desert. You might think its primary color is brown, as in dirt. And to someone who has no eye for color, or who just doesn't care to look for color, I suppose that might be true. But actually the desert is a very colorful place, especially now as the colors of Spring venture forth with or without April showers. We've been here five months more or less already and only four maybe five days have we seen with any rain at all, and only one of them would I call a true day of rain. But I digress.

Color. It comes from the spectrum of light. And perhaps no where is the spectrum more spectacular than in the desert when it's flinging its palette on the mountains as the sun first peeks over the hills in the morning, then changes positions in the sky and then dips below the horizon in an all out assault - throwing color to the heavens for all the world to behold. It can be beautiful. It can be unbelievable. It can be tropical. It can be cold. It can be coral. It can be purple.

Purple doors on a shed? Even Marilyn who ventured the idea of this color for the doors went running for the color swatch we had picked out at Home Depot when we first began to brush the doors on the front of the shed. The label on the swatch said, "Vintage Grape." But, hell, it sure looked like purple to me. I was expecting a soft violet, which, though bolder in nature than my usually preferred pristine paint palette of white or neutral buff I still thought would look good with the Caribbean Coral of the other cans of paint that I had picked to be close to Sedona Red Rock Rose. But purple? Well, it's a hundred miles to Home Depot more or less, so purple it was. Besides, things are winding down here out of time and necessity and hundred degree days and so the decision was made....it is what it is!

It grows on you. Isn't that what they say? And so it did. I like it now. Now I think we are bold masters of the use of the desert colors. The red rock rose of the area and the power tint of the morning sky and the purple majesty of the mountains as the sun kisses them good night. Ah, yes, give me color....

The first person to comment called it "colorful." The second person to comment acknowledged that, "it doesn't offend me." What seemed like it could go down hill rapidly, though, turned around quickly as the colors began to "work" with the surroundings and then "grew" on everyone else watching the process as well. Now we love it. A lot. I think. I'm pretty sure. The owners of the campground like it a lot- the whole lot, a whole lot. The managers of the park stop by regularly to express their delight at the process and prospect. The maintenance crew has all been great, lending a helping hand when they are able. Some of the neighbors have begun new gardens and one guy has a new shed too and is thinking about painting the door red. Neato! And absolutely no one has said they don't care for it (even if that is the case, which we hope it isn't).

So yesterday, as we sat in the late afternoon shade of the shed, feet propped up, sucking down yet another big glass of ice water to try to rehydrate, we felt a sense of accomplishment. We looked for....and saw, all the colors of the shed as the sun bade us all farewell. It felt good. Tired can feel good when the work is all done and the results are good too.

But my nose was running. I took the clean white handkerchief from my pocket and.... I blew. Working hard and riding in the desert in this environment where dust is the major component of every breath you take has one very negative side effect: dirty boogers. I couldn't help observing the dirty little boogers as I "checked the contents" before putting the hankerchief back in my pocket for the next time it might be needed. It was nasty, but nothing new....and all you riders of the dust devils know where-of I am speaking, admit it or not. But while I had blown my nose to eliminate the "nastys" before, you know - those semi detached morsels that sort of race up and down your nostril without deciding which way they really intend to travel- it all of a sudden dawned on me, in all my kicked back tiredness and perhaps bordering on the verge of giddiness, that since we have been here, I have not seen my bride blow her nose even a single time....

"Man, these are some dirty boogers," says I.

"Absolutely", says she.

Then, for whatever reason, I had the urge to question: "So, have you had dirty boogers out here too?"

"Sure."

"Well, I've never seen you use a hanky or go a pickin and a grinin..."

"Of course not,", she said without blinking an eye.

And then my always adorable, and usually but not always proper, wife got up out of her chair and started walking toward the coach to start dinner. And as she walked away, and without turning around to get a reaction, she said to me,

"I've been saving mine up to coat your chicken; it's gonna be extra crispy tonight...."

Under Construction- A & B

Under Construction: A is for Animal..... Since we've changed the make-up of the wash wall from a concrete pour to a real rock wall, the wildlife has been moving into the newly created habitat left and right. We are seeing an influx of lizards, everything from the tiny geckos to the larger chuckwallas and everything in between. There are so many new nooks and crannies, and the far side of the wash still has the weeds and scrub brush for a lizard buffet. It is great to see the new neighbors burrowing and building beside us in the wash....

And speaking of building- the new shed is also under construction. Day one saw the skids leveled, the floor framed and the decking put down. Day two, we put up the framed walls, spacers across the front... and the header went in. On the schedule for tomorrow, wind permitting (it was blowing pretty good by the time we quit for the day) - sheeting the sides and framing the roof, maybe we'll even get the roofing started. The 10 x 10 structure is going up well and looking pretty good so far.....

El Aguila Ha Aterrizado

So how's your Spanish?

Today, with the landscaping pretty much "closed up" for what we are able to do at this point, we packed up the coach, the grill, the tables, the bike, the smoker, and the van...and made the move from A63 to the corner lot F1. A63 was not a bad lot, but F1 is way bigger- downright roomy- and has mountain views pretty much 360 degrees. We were happy with the work we'd done to improve the lot, but by the time we got situated on the space and got the whole impact of the space with all our stuff nestled into its assigned areas, we were downright thrilled. If there was any question that we had done a lot of work with no real justification, that all went away as soon as we settled in. It just looks good and feels good....in our humble opinion. We have about 20 days left here to get the feel of the place before heading out for the summer run. Next post hopefully displays our new shed. Unless of course we get some awesome new blooming going on before the shed is ready.

Here's what we look like at this point in time. Tomorrow, the materials for the shed are due to arrive. Whoopee!
Clean picture window to improve the view of the mountains:
The new view out the front window...
Mountains out the back too...
Little House In The Desert:
And we built our first Inukshuk! It brings our "arctic" experience to meet our desert foray. No glue, no cement- just rocks in balance.

Have you figured out the translation for the title of the post yet? Yep: The Eagle Has Landed!

"Lots" More...

Work continues at Lot F1- Desert Gold RV Resort in Brenda, AZ. The heavy lifting is now pretty much complete, and, knock on wood, the backs are holding up pretty well, although some days dealing with the heat has been a challenge. The reverse osmosis system we put in the coach way back when is certainly paying for itself many times over- as the water here, while potable, is not really good drinking water by any means. I would say the water we drink daily now must surely be measured in gallons per day. Not to mention the ice we go through. Were it not for the r/o, we'd be buying and hauling water more often than not.

The old concrete corner is gone on the new lot and the rock retaining wall in the wash is pretty much built. Some fine tuning remains of course- neither Rome nor F1 was built in a day! But considering we hauled the first rocks and dropped them on the lot boundary just two weeks ago, we've come a long way baby. So today we'd like to give you a before and after look at the portions of the lot where we have been working daily. Materials for a storage shed are scheduled to be delivered this coming Tuesday. That's probably good timing because the wind has started kicking up pretty rough and there is some rain in the forecast. April showers bring......well, you know. And maybe, just maybe there will be time for some shade structure too before we get back on the road the beginning of May. Time will tell!

Meanwhile we'd like to express thanks to everyone who stopped by to "marvel" at the transformation of the lot and to cheer us on. And to the grounds crew who brought the heavy equipment over to help us break up and remove the thick concrete pour at the back corner of the lot. I tried to break it out with a hand maul and a chisel- tough going! And another round of thanks to everyone who volunteered a plant or two that they didn't need to the effort. Team work always produces good results, so "Go Team Brenda!"

Concrete Corner Before:
Rock Wall After:
Rock Hauled and ready for placing, Corner Planting....Before:
Side Border Garden...After:
Corner Planting ...After:
Looking Down the Back Wash....Before:
Looking Down the back Wash...After:
The New Corner....After:

And we found two new desert plants blooming today....and both of them were right in our own new back yard landscape: a red pad prickly pair and a red yucca!

Now Blooming

Like the proverbial, quintessential western desert movie, here's the "What's Playing", i.e. "What's Blooming" in the desert around Quartzsite this week. You can watch for an early look at what is shaping up to be the first bloom showing up on one of the big Saguaros. The "buds" are popping, but no flowering yet. It appears to be a long way ahead of most of it's neighbors, but I hear from the year-rounders that that is often the case: some of the cactus bloom in a sequence and it is sometimes predictable within a region which specimen will do its thing first. The Saguaro flowers are, as best I know, the largest of the blooms, so waiting for the first one is kind of exciting; I'll be keeping my eyes open for the first chance to grab a picture.

What's Playing on lot F1? Well, the cement pour at the back corner of the wash is gone and today we started the back breaking, sweat making, muscle bruising task of laying the first course of mega rock- those big enough to withstand the force of the water on those occasions when the wash is ripping with flash flood currents. Haven't seen the real deal up close and personal yet, but I guess it's the closest thing to a tsunami that the desert will see any time soon. We're trying to build for a worst case scenario. We actually got more done today than I expected to- what with the heat and a mid-day break to join what's left of the Class of Brenda for Happy Tuesday. On the menu today- baked Alaska salmon, roast turkey (the whole big bird), mashed potatoes, corn bread stuffing, gravy, broccoli and bacon salad. Just like Basking Robins----Yummmmmm!

OK, here come the pics.... A few stills and a slide show. Enjoy. Hopefully the next post will begin to reveal the new wash rock wall.

New Beginnings

Still riding. Still going off to see new things here and there. But two new endeavors have begun in earnest:

First- the desert blooms we have been awaiting are starting to arrive in earnest. Not from the rain, because we have still only had three days of rain since early December. Rather it seems the flowers are being pulled into bloom by the heat. Two days ago, our thermometer read 115 in the sun, 104 in the shade. Lynn's reading on the north side of his rig had 103.9 as confirmation that we really did have that kind of heat and not a busted thermometer. One never knows on April Fool's day! So for this post, I'll just put up a few of the first bloom shots. Much more to come, and I am guessing they will come pretty fast now.


And because we have come to really love this part of the country in the winter and spring months, we have signed on to an annual lease of a spot. The cost is reasonable enough that reserving an entire year is more cost effective than even a month would cost in some other places, like Florida Keys for example. And with fuel costs being what they are right now, honkering down for longer stays seems like a good idea. So we picked a corner lot- pretty much a bare lot (although I forgot to take a picture before our first efforts to improve the lot began). We are permitted, and this is part of the reason we decided to do this, to landscape the lot the way we wish. We can create shade structures, a shed, and a layout of the space to suit what we would like to have. We have missed that "this is ours" feeling that you get when you own a piece of land or a home, and this gives us a bit of that feeling back without having to make a costly and/or long term commitment.It just feels right. And even though we extended this year's stay here by a month, we are still running way short on the time to do all the things we would like to be doing. That being the case, we can make the case for spending more time here....at least until that no longer feels right. So a slide show of the lot and the beginnings of the work will appear in today's post. Days were spent hauling rock from the desert (where allowed). There are stone borders to be built and a rock barrier and retaining wall on the wash that makes the back of the lot. Concrete dumped there to control erosion prior to our taking the lot will be removed and "beautified and fortified." Plants are being introduced where once there were none and this too is only a beginning. A shed is in the planning and some nice shade structures are on the drawing board. We are pleased with the progress and the rate of the progress to date. For sure a lot of neighbors like what they see and are dropping by to offer encouragement..if not a helping hand. A few have wondered why we would put this kind of effort into someone else's property. In a word- FUN! I trust you will see the developments as this and other slides shows will demonstrate. We must be careful though- the last time we put this kind of effort into 'scaping a place it turned into a full time business. Already we have been asked to do some other lots....maybe a few- but no new business; I mean it this time!



And there have been a few other developments with the coming of the heat. Snakes and lizards are starting to venture out. No snake shots this time around, but how about a nice big fat Chuckwalla munching on a weed near our concrete slab?

...and another one of those famous Arizona sunsets!

She-awatha's South West

Quite a few years back, Marilyn and I were visiting at the home of my parents. I recollect that my father was discussing with my mother what he hoped would become a contribution to one of the South West tribes of Native Americans. They had always loved this part of the country, had Arizona Highways magazine on the shelf ever since I was a kid, and had collected "Indian" artifacts for the museum dad was director of at the time. Not to mention that we as a family often went out hunting for arrowheads.

Without batting an eye or skipping a beat, Marilyn said, "Sam, did I ever tell you that my middle name is Hiawatha?"

Dad turned the phrase on her a bit and from that day on she was often referred to, lovingly of course, as "She-awatha."

So these are some of the shots from New Mexico and Arizona that were waiting to be used in She-awatha's pocket camera that sometimes goes on trips that the big camera doesn't make for one reason or another. It's a bit of a hodge podge, but some pretty good shots of things you may not have seen before, and certainly not through the same lens.... Oh, and a few shots from the birthday celebration Tom and I shared yesterday under the guise of St Patrick's Day!

The Best of She-awatha:

March Madness

If you read the title of this post and guessed I was going to write about a basketball tournament- get a grip and guess again. Did you miss me much? Haven't posted since March 1. It seems I have been much too busy "researching" to get any writing done. Inspiration comes in spurts, so that is just the way it is. Truth is we have been just plain BUSY doing everything we do here with our growing network of friends. The Dukes, Linda and Wayne stopped by to hang out for a month or so- the local chapter of The I Love Alaska and Prospecting Club just got bigger by two. We've really enjoyed their company again- spent a couple months parked next to their rig at Chicken Gold Camp back in 09. Riding with them while our fearless leaders give them the tour d' desert is just downright fun.

On one of our rides we stopped by Ojo de Aquila (Eye of the Eagle). The "eye" is actually a quite large hole in the ridge of the mountain, but from way down below it looks like a small opening. Quite the unusual formation I would assume given the makeup of the mountains in this area!

We also made a run through the majestic canyons of KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. The passage through the deepest part of the canyon is amazingly colorful and breath-takingly spectacular.



Then too, there has been a lot of "scouting" for desert blooms. It has been a relatively dry winter, but even the two little days of rain we had a while back have the flower "buds" starting to form on the cactus and I am about ready to start photographing the blooms as they open up- one species at a time (so far anyhow).

Today is St. Patrick's Day. That's what they say, but actually it's my birthday and that carries much more weight with me. Tom, our neighbor in the park, had a birthday yesterday, so we will celebrate together later today with our collective group of friends that don't have other plans for the day- it is a busy time here for sure. We smoked two pork butts again over night. That with whatever other dishes others show up with will comprise the evening meal. And we have a jumbo cake that Michelle rounded up somewhere that looks like a traditional St Paddy's Day cake, but is actually a flat of cupcakes covered in a solid sheet of green and yellow icing- the campers version of grab and go dessert. How perfect!

Marilyn and I went out dry-washing for gold yesterday. First time "skunked" on the dry washer as we came up empty in the gold department. The good news is I suppose that now we don't need to worry any more about getting skunked for the first time. But not to come home totally empty, we found a large (several feet think) vein of white quartz running through a ledge of the claim we were on so we broke it out with mall and chisels and loaded it in the Quig to bring home. Why would we do that? I mean all that heavy rock and all.... It seems we settled on an annual site at this campground and will return for this part of the year in coming seasons. It's a nifty campground, and we get to select our site, landscape it as we see fit, put up a storage shed and collect more "stuff." Oh yeah! Amenities at the campground include a desert golf course of 18 holes, a miniature golf course, a pool, a hot tub, a clubhouse with a gym, a craft room, a community events room, a real post office, unlimited trail rides right from the park- no need to trailer ATVs elsewhere for a ride, weekly special events, concerts, and on and on all included in the incredibly modest annual price of a site. Honestly, if they put in assisted living, I might make some long range plans (just kidding). The site we have selected has awesome views of the mountains and an oversize "corner" space. Right now it has nothing for landscaping, but does back up to a "wash" which makes it perfect for what we want to do with it. The previous tenant is still here a while longer, but when he pulls out we can post our progress on the lot as we develop it. Gotta start slowly though and most of the work can be roughed out next season. Birthday Boy Tom and Michelle will be taking the already nicely planted site next to us, and between the two of us we hope to make it a nifty little corner of the campground. Stay tuned!

Now one of the main reasons for this post was the way cactus are "regarded" here in camp. Saguaro cactus are a specifically protected species everywhere in Arizona. But here in our camp, they actually have the "Right of Way" in the roadways throughout the park. Very cool!

Riding With Miss Katie

We were here before, are here now, and will most probably be here again because good friends were nice enough to invite us in the first place, take us under their wing, and show us the ropes in the desert around Brenda, AZ. Lynn and Jude, and their collective group of friends which we refer to as "The Class of Brenda High" have made our time here exciting, memorable, and just downright fun. The first time we were here two years ago, Linda, wife of the fabulously entertaining Farmer Don made us what we have since referred to as our "yearbook" of our stay here. It came complete with shots of all the individuals in the group, pictures of the places we rode to, parties we held in the campground, candid shots of the more colorful individuals in the group. All this was created "unbeknownst" to us, captions were added, and it was presented to us when we were ready to head out for parts unknown. It was a touching moment that we have relished ever since and we pull the "yearbook" out on a regular basis to enjoy it over and over.

So when Lynn and Jude went to pick up one of Jude's "oldest and bestest friends" (I think that's how she phrased it) for her first visit to Brenda, we knew the process would be repeated for another first timer to the group. And we were delighted to be a tiny part of her visit to Brenda. A ride was planned. That's what they do here; among all the other activities....they ride.

And what a day it was. Beautiful from the outset. We headed out to the backside of the Southern Cross Mine complex and explored there. We rode through scenic mountain passes, across some dusty flatlands (you can't appreciate the desert fully without tasting the dust) and then back into the hills to the Arizona Fish and Game "waterhole"- a man-made water collection and disbursement system to provide much needed water to game in the desert which attracts everything from the smallest bats and lizards to Big Horn Sheep and deer, and, who knows, maybe even a mountain lion on occasion. That was our lunch stop for the day. Circle the chairs instead of the wagons for lunch, munch a bunch, tell some stories, and maybe even laugh at someone whose chair falls over (and doesn't get hurt).

Then off to the next stop. The Bouse Fisherman. Not a petroglyph, but a geoglyph, or Intaglio, a drawing or impression made in the dark gravel of the desert some 400 years ago. It took some looking to be able to make out the entire figure of the fisherman, with his spear, the sun, the waves and the fish,but it's all there if you take the time and find the right angle from which to view it. In the area of the fisherman, we also found, some bird nests in the chollo cactus, a desert rat's nest and some ant nests.

We arrived back at camp after our fifty-some mile trek in time to celebrate the day with a happy hour in the tent. That served as preparation for grabbing a bottle (or a box if you will) of wine and hopping back on the bikes for a jaunt up the hill beside camp for a sunset ceremony. Being responsible adults, we surely didn't want to set off firecrackers in the dry desert, so Lynn came up with an ingenious solution- a bottle rocket made from a 2 liter diet coke and a tube of mentos candy (don't believe it? CLICK HERE). You'll see the dramatic eruption in the slide show if you pay attention.

As is the rule, we pretty much laughed until the sunset quieted things down with its grandeur. A wonderful day. It was great to see Jude and Katie enjoying each others company so thoroughly. And a betting man would guess that somewhere tonight Katie's probably paging through yet another yearbook from the Class of Brenda High.