I never imagined that one day I’d have a 118,000-acre yard!
The Best Little Trailer at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
The crew and I are into our fifth day at a boondock in the refuge.
The tiny town of Arivaca, approximately ten miles away from our camp, experiences temperatures in the high 80s. The frequent breezes — the “fair winds” — coming across this ridge cool us to highs in the 70s or into the low 80s.
The photo makes it look like the grass grows right up to our doorstep!
Not so. The campsite is large! It can accommodate a big rig or two. Bridget (below) shows you less than half of the cleared area.
We’ve had the place pretty much to ourselves.
The only people we see are Border Patrol and an occasional overnight camper passing by.
A couple with an Escape trailer stop to chat while we’re out on a walk. They say they had a Casita for five years and loved it, but wanted more room. Their brand new Escape is a foot wider than the Casita and is twenty-one feet long.
“This is her maiden voyage,” the man announces happily.
Away they go!
This being semi-desert grassland, wildflowers are few.
When we find some, they are a pleasant surprise in a world of tan, brown, and gold.
I’ll leave it up to readers to identify them!
LATER: My readers never fail to help with identifications! The flowers in the photo with Reggie (above) haven’t been identified yet. We’re still discussing them. The second flower photo is Sand Verbena. The yellow flowers (below) are California Poppy.
Bridget, Reggie and I walk our road every morning.
In the next photo, Reg shows you another large campsite. It extends all the way around that clump of trees!
The sites are spaced far apart.
At the refuge you are allowed to camp only at numbered campsites. The number is on a post by the road. You can pick up a map at any of the entrances to the refuge. The map shows the location of campsites. They’re easy to find.
Here’s another nice campsite. It’s also a pull-through. Baboquivari Peak can be seen from this site. “Babo” is much more imposing than it appears in this pic.
For our late afternoon walk, the Perfect Tow Vehicle takes us to another road.
We walk a different one each day. The crew enjoys the variety. I don’t know what Reggie Man is talking about, but he sure looks happy! Bridget’s free-wheeling trot and swinging tail reveal she is enjoying this walk, too!
We see several birds — birds of prey on the highest branches, big black birds riding the air currents, and song birds flitting among the mesquite trees.
We haven’t seen many animals, only a small group of deer that bounded across the lane in front of us.
Animals move from dusk to dawn when we aren’t outside. Occasionally coyotes yip and cry. Otherwise complete silence . . . .
Tracks and scat of deer and javelina are all over.
One morning Reggie discovers scat near the Best Little Trailer. I find tracks, too, evidence we have visitors during the night, probably deer.
At twilight we’re treated to the “Golden Hour.”
More accurately, the “Golden Five Minutes.” I grab the camera and race around snapping shots as fast as I can before the light fades.
Why boondock?
This is why.
I haven’t boosted the color in these photos. This is real!
All these golden scenes are from our campsite. It’s like standing in a hallelujah chorus!
That’s all for now. Be well, be safe, be happy!
In the next post . . .
Arivaca!
rvsue
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG!
“Time for you two to go inside for the night. It’ll be dark soon.”
