RV There Yet?

Today Barbara and I took a short drive to visit the Montezuma Castle National Monument.

This area was inhabited by the Southern Sinagua Indians until approximately 600 years ago. They lived in this area for 500 years before they built the cliff dwellings seen here. During there time here they farmed the land adjacent to the Verde river growing corn, beans, squash, and cotton using canal irrigation. The surrounding area provided abundant resources: water from the river and streams, and sufficient game including deer, antelope, rabbit, bear, muskrat and duck. Their diet centered around corn, but they even mined salt nearby. They traded salt for other needs with other tribes in the area. But for reasons unknown, they left this area and moved north approximately 100 years after the dwellings were built. Today their architecture still stands and is protected by the National Park Service for all to enjoy.

Today Barbara and I spent most of the day inside because mother nature provided the area with abundant rain. It never rained hard, but it was consistent most of the day. This evening, right after dinner, we were treated to one of the most amazing rainbows we have ever seen. Take a look!

Yesterday as I was looking out of the bedroom window I saw a little head poking out of a hole in a cactus just outside.  So I grabbed my camera and tried to get some photos of a woodpecker living there.  At first it was shy as it would duck inside each time I pointed the camera in its direction, but after a short time it almost seem to be posing for me. 

I have always been amazed the way animals are able to adapted to the environment around them.  Here in the southwest desert of Arizona there are very few trees so these little creatures make there homes in cacti.  Take a look!

Keep Calm, You’re on the Fun Side of Trump’s Wall. Today our friends Glen and Kathleen Lefler showed Barbara and I around Los Algodones, over the border, in Baja Mexico. This is Barbara’s and my first trip to Mexico. It’s a different world south of the border. I have never seen so many dentists, optometrists, pharmacies and street vendors, in one place, in my entire life. Glen and Kathleen enjoyed some shrimp tacos and nachos for lunch. Barbara and I each had a bowl of nachos of our own. I finished mine.

The street vendors are very persistent. They will follow you down the street trying to make a sale. Myself I just pretended not to hear them. It seemed to work for me. All in all the four of us had a fun day south of the border. It’s easier for people from the US and Canada to get into Mexico than it is to get back into the US. We just walked into Mexico, no questions asked. Coming back we had to wait in line for about an hour to get back into the US. Not a big deal. It is interesting seeing the border wall up close. I hope it gets completed some day soon.

Last night was the last full moon of the winter season. This is known as the Worm Moon. So our friends Glen and Kathleen along with Barbara and I ventured out into the desert, east of Yuma Arizona to experience an event that the locals call, Howling at the Moon. At this event people get together to enjoy music from a live band, good food, company and maybe some dancing. Later in the evening as the moon rises over the mountains everyone stands up and, you guessed it, howls at the moon. It was fun for all with the warm evening sun and the cool desert breezes.

This past Saturday our friends Glen and Kathleen Lefler invited Barbara and I to go with them to see the Blue Angels at the El Centro Air Show. We went to an air show and saw a bunch of old cars. Just kidding! The previous week was the Midnight at the Oasis car show in Yuma and several of those cars were also on display at the air show. The weather was warm and the show was amazing. I took over 500 photos during the air show, so the hard part was determining which to include here and which to leave out. Take a look!

Yesterday Barbara and I travelled 17 miles north to visit the March AFB Air Museum. We have visited several air museums over the years, but this one is by far the best one we have seen. Our tour guide was a retired air force pilot with a lot of fun and interesting stories. The nearby mountains provided a nice backdrop. Take a look!

Happy Birthday Hopper! Our little boy turned 16 years old today. That’s 112 in dog years, so we baked him a pumpkin flavored cake, made especially for dogs, and let him have at it. This is a Wonderful milestone for him so we felt it should be celebrated. We just hope that we can do it again in the years to come.

Barbara and I landed at Wilderness Lakes, Thousand Trails park last Thursday. This is a nice park with a lot of things to do here and nearby. But my favorite part of this park is the abundant wildlife at the park. There are numerous canals here and the waterfowl really enjoy them and I enjoy photographing them. Take a look!

This morning Barbara and I headed to Wilder State Park, north of Santa Cruz, to take a bike ride. Our neighbors at the RV park went there yesterday and told us how nice it was so we decided to check it out. Unfortunately, the park was full so we had to resort to plan B. We headed to Henry Cowell Redwood State Park and ran into the same issue. We started to head back home when I decided to try the lighthouse. What did we have to loose. As it turned out the first parking lot that we came to, near the lighthouse, had a parking spot. So we unloaded the bikes and headed north along the bike path. There was a lite breeze from the northwest that made it cool at times, but we had a nice ride with a great view of the Pacific Ocean.