Hot Time in Palm Springs (Cottonwood, AZ)

I have been enjoying this gorgeous weather during our stay in Desert Palms.  Lots of sunshine and blues skies!  It did get a little warm a couple of days.  Like into the 90 to 100 degrees...yep, even the cats said they were ready to go inside.  Coming from cats who love spending hours baking themselves on the dash....that is hot!  😄

Palm trees lining the campsites

We got a little shade from the palm trees, but we had to time it just right to have the 2' wide shade in our site.  I was tempted to line up the chairs facing forward like we were sitting on a bus.  I wonder what our neighbors would have thought about that.

During one of my walks, I noticed one of the cactus was in full bloom.  I had to take a photo, of course.  It's too bad we missed the blooming season in the desert.

We spent some time exploring the area.  One morning was spent at the College of the Desert's Street Fair.  It's quite large, so we did a lot of walking.  I'm glad we got there early before it became too crowded.  I saw lots of things that I did not need.  With extra restraint, I only bought one new pair of reading glasses.

Came across these cute guys in Blair Station RV

On our way home, we stopped by the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve.  We could see the oasis long before we got there (upper left).  The totem pole is made from one of the California Fan Palms that cover the area.  On the far right, is the inside of a house built from the palm trees.  It turns out that the inside of the palm trees are porous and lighter than wood, but durable.  It was amazing how cool it was inside the house with the doors and windows sitting wide open.  The history of the house and the preserve is in the website.

This was our first time to the Joshua Tree National Park.  We started from the south gate near I-10 and made our way to the northwest gate.  I was a little disappointed that the cactus were not in bloom.  Oh well..  I noticed that the Cholla Cactus isn't looking too good with all the black fungus growing on the lower stems, but the Joshua Trees seems to be doing quite well.

 Below are two rock formations that caught my attention and imagination.  Okay, so tell me that you see a whale breaching the sand in the top photo and an elephant with no ears in the bottom photo.

We had to spend one day walking the main street of Palm Springs.  I'm pretty sure the palm trees are the same ones from the preserve with a good trimming.

The views of the mountains were beautiful from the downtown area.

A few more photos of interesting views from our walk.  

I'm in love with a polka dotted bike!  I would like one in Aqua or Teal, please!

On The Cutting Board

I added three more Happy Camper mug rugs to my Etsy shop.

Lavender Vintage Trailer 

Pink and Aqua

I did find the Ocotillo blooming.  Usually, there are dark green leaves covering the Ocotillo.

I love this desert bush.  It has such a delicate look to it until you get up close and get a view of the long thorns on it.  They are definitely part of the southwest and add a lot of character to my SW campers.  I also added a couple of more of my favorites - a roadrunner and a ristra as well.

Peach and Teal

I'm getting ready to bind four quilts.  I'll post photos of them next time.  I saw one cute pattern called Lovely Giraffes in Craftsy.  I thought this pattern was perfect for this material.  But....

I wasn't so sure about appliquéing the ten small giraffes and I was right.

By the time I had finished appliquéing the fifth giraffe, it was starting to feel monotonous.  The pattern was really made for fusible webbing and machine appliqué.  If and that is a big IF....I decide to make this quilt again, I plan to embroider the mane and tail instead of trying to get all those tiny curves just right.

I'm happy to say this one is about done.  Whew!

Well, I hear the quilts are calling to me.  Got some binding to do.  Let's get it done!

Happy Quilting!

Yosemite National Park (Tucson, AZ)

We are settled in Tucson for a few more days.  We have been busy shopping and getting prepared for our winter stay in Patagonia.  We plan to move to the preserve on Monday.  

I finally finished editing my photos from Yosemite National Park.  The scenic views were breath-taking and hard to capture with a camera.  We visited during the off-season and the place was still busy.  

Yosemite National Park - Valley

Traffic in Yosemite was almost as bad as being downtown.  They say this national park is one of the most visited parks.  I think that is an understatement.

Yosemite National Park - Valley

I did manage to get quite a few shots with no people in it.  Timing is everything!

Yosemite National Park - Valley

Yosemite National Park - Valley

Yosemite National Park - Valley

We had lunch at The Awhahnee in Yosemite Valley.  A little pricey, but my Waldorf Chicken Croissant was delicious!  Sitting outdoors on such a beautiful day was so relaxing.

 The Awhahnee

We had entertainment too.  This is just one of many squirrels that were running around under our chairs and tables.  Snooping for dropped food and every once in a while looking up at people to see if they would take pity on them.  One even tried to go inside except one of the staff saw him coming and scared him away.  

Got lunch?

Funny, he doesn't look like he is starving.  Oh, there were "Do Not Feed" signs up everywhere so it must be all those acorns he has been eating.

After lunch, we went to Glacier Point to see El Capitan and Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite National Park - Glacier Point

Now that's quite a view!

Yosemite National Park - Glacier Point

There was a B&W photo of women posing on this over hanging.  I guess they have no fear of heights.  I'll stay behind the railing, thank you!

Yosemite National Park - Glacier Point

Happy Trails!

Passing Side or Suicide? (Tucson, AZ)

I know! I'm a day late on posting my blog.  It has been a little hectic lately, but we are settled now.  I thought the question of which side on the back of this truck summed up our feelings for most of the southern California's drivers.  It is amazing we did not have some kind of accident.  Dan was in a hurry to get out of California.  I cannot blame him.

The last three days have been a blur of roads and one night stops.  We started on Friday from Coarsegold, CA and around 750 miles later, we are now in Tucson, AZ.  Most of the time we only did 55 mph, so it took us a lot longer than most people traveling by cars.

Heading towards Barstow - Wind Turbines

The cats were having a harder time with this trip.  First Dusty, our gentle giant came to the front to tell us he wasn't doing well.  He never leaves the bedroom during travel until he hears us setting up outside.  Part of the problem was the heat that none of us were use to anymore.  I closed windows and Dan turned on the generator for some air conditioner to help cool him down.

But, he wasn't quite done.  I had to wait for him to finish using the sandbox too.  Every time I headed up to the front, he would start crying.  I waited while he climbed into the box, watching me all the while.  "Don't leave!"  Once he was done, off he went to his favorite spot in the bedroom quite content.

Dusty in the morning

On the second day, Max became car sick.  We were on Hwy 95 south of Needles, CA.  That road is a regular roller coaster - up & down, up & down!  There were some pretty good dips.  I thought about throwing my arms up in the air and calling out "Wheeeee! Faster! Faster!"  I'm sure Dan appreciates the fact that I did not distract him while driving on such a narrow road.

About an hour on that road and Max came to the front crying and drooling.  He had this look - "Make it stop!"  Poor baby, I have never seen a green cat before and I hope never to see him look this way ever again.  Fortunately for him, we were able to pull off the road for a long lunch.  Unfortunately, we still had another 27 miles to go on this road and we could not zip through it.

Max looks more alert today and just as mischievousness! 

Both cats did a lot better during the third day of traveling after a long night's sleep and a smoother, not to mention, shorter drive to our destination.  Everyone had a turn outdoors once we were settled and they are looking a lot more relaxed this morning.  Our cats really amaze us at times - to have both of them come to the front and actually tell us that they were not doing well instead of hiding in the back and suffering.

R.I.P ~ Old Man Winter! ~ Gila Bend FamCamp

It is nice to be back in Tucson, back to blue skies, desert settings of mountains and cacti, with plenty of hot dry weather.  Unlike California's tinderbox, Tucson is very green right now.  This is a very nice change from the cold and wet weather along the coast.  I enjoyed the heavy mists and overcast days, but I feel like we never had a summer.  Now we are finally getting some nice summer weather....yep, just in time for winter.

Dust crop?

Happy Trails!

Acorn Woodpecker's Tree (Coarsegold, CA)

We head east tomorrow.  We were going to stay another week near San Diego, but we decided we were ready to leave California.  Too much traffic and way too dry.  I don't mind desert areas, but it is hard to look at a landscape filled with dried up trees.  Poor things look so thirsty.

Acorn Woodpecker's tree and Bat Motel

During our tour of the park, we were shown this tree inside the RV park and found it very interesting.  The Escapees put up bat houses around the park, but it is what the Acorn Woodpeckers have been doing to the old tree that caught our attention.  I like all the carving they did on this one limb.

They also store acorns in every little nook and cranny they can find.  If you click on the photo below, you can see the acorns stored in the cut off limb.

Even the bark has acorns stored in it.

The Acorn Woodpeckers were not wanting their photo taken.  I managed to get this one, but I cannot figure out what he is..a Sapsucker?  Maybe my birding friend will know...

Here's a couple of photos from Yosemite National Park.  I'll either post some more later or put them in Webshots.  Below is a photo of Wawona Hotel and the front lawn.  Doesn't this look inviting?

Come sit a while ~ Wawona Hotel

We walked through the Mariposa Grove to see the Sierra Redwoods.  These trees are too tall for my regular lens so I used my fish-eye wide lens.

Standing among the giants

California Tunnel Tree

I'm still editing the other photos.  I hope to have them uploaded soon.

Happy Trails!

Viva Las Vegas (Pahrump, NV)

I prefer ZZ Top's version of Viva Las Vegas, but I like Elvis's old version as well.  I'll be humming this song today...."Y'all still want me to come with you?  Bright lights are going to set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire!......"  

Abandoned

By the way, we moved to Las Vegas today.  It's a short trip from Pahrump, but it is on the far side of Las Vegas so we had to drive through the city's traffic on a holiday weekend.  It was a little scary at times, but we made it through with no incidents.  whew..

I hope to get some good night photos while we are in Las Vegas.  What's that?  Do I plan to gamble...no.  I have never enjoyed gambling, but I would love to see the gardens, the fountains, some of the night life, and the buffets.

All the photos are from the desert and a ghost town called Rhyolite near the north entrance to Death Valley.  

This is a house made from glass bottles.  Talk about a great way to recycle and build a house.  I would have loved to see the inside, but no one is allowed to go inside.

Tom Kelly's Glass House

As a matter of fact, most of the buildings were fenced off.  Safety was probably part of the reason behind fencing off the buildings, but I think the major reason was to keep people from destroying the historical sites.  Isn't it a shame that people feel a need to destroy things?

Old casino

 A few more photos from Scotty's Castle...

Joshua Tree blooming in front of the gate

Raven leaving the tower

Have a great weekend and to all.....

Happy Easter!