Tuesday, April 1 – Thursday, April 3
Creosote flowers and Weaver Mountains
Bridget, Spike, and I walk to another promontory that overlooks the washes.
We discover a campsite with a fire ring and splendid views. This makes me feel better after seeing that our former campsite of three years ago has been ruined. (Don’t get me started.) The new campsite is better!
Landscape photos are fun to take on a blue-sky-with-cotton-puff-clouds sort of day.
I wish I could report on my many accomplishments over the past few days.
That’s hard to do since I didn’t accomplish anything. Oh, yeah . . . I did get out the Windex and paper towels and cleaned all the windows of the Perfect Tow Vehicle. That took about ten minutes. Ten minutes of work over a span of three days. Sounds like a good balance to me!
The first three photos are views from the new campsite we found.
Wednesday the crew and I go to Wickenburg.
It’s a good day for this little excursion because the temperature has dropped from the 80s to the 60s. I don’t have to hurry out of the store before the crew gets hot in the PTV. Our mission is Safeway for groceries, of course. I could bring our laundry along but that would seriously upset this great work-to-days ratio I’ve got going!
This looks like the Not-So-Fab five with three black friends who often tag along with them. The cattle brand is “66.” More like “666,” I’d say.
The remaining photos show our return trip across the BLM land to home.
When I come out of Safeway, I see rain clouds in the direction of our camp. In these parts, that’s a welcome sight. We could use a good soaking. (“We” includes the livestock and wildlife.)
Here’s the new gate at the entrance to Bureau of Land Management Land. It’s set back further from the highway than the old gate, making entry safer. Gosh, look at that sky!
I open the gate, drive through, and shut the gate behind us. Wouldn’t want our 70+ new friends to run out onto the highway!
The sandy road to our camp . . . Clouds cast interesting shadows on the mountains.
Along the road a black-tailed jackrabbit disappears into the creosote.
When the crew and I go walking, I look for animal tracks. Tracks show up clearly on the sandy lanes. So far I’ve only seen one snake track. It’s my guess that all the heavy hooves around here make it an unpleasant home for snakes. That’s what I like to think anyway!
We pass the cow-poopy water tank area. The cows are hunkered down under gathering storm clouds.
We pass the gang hanging out at the water tank.
“Hey, no hard feelings, okay? Just like my privacy!” (Nothing against cattle, but it would be very exciting if 70+ horses showed up instead. I’ll never forget the fun I had photographing the small herd of horses that visited our camp in 2012.)
The rain clouds pass over our camp. We get a few drops. The rain falls on the mountains instead.
After our grocery run, I cook.
Seems like many of my favorite dishes begin with frying (“Fry” is the peasant word for “saute.”). More specifically, these dishes begin by frying a big o’l, soft-ball sized, yellow onion. Then whatever is thrown in afterward is bound to taste good, in my book. Speaking of books . . .
I’m thinking I’ll write a cookbook.
I’ve already come up with great titles. I can’t decide which is best. “Get Fat with RVSue” is catchy and to the point. I like “Cooking with Cans,” although that title will never get featured in Gourmet magazine.
Today I fry up a big ol’ yellow onion, add a can of lima beans and a can of kernal corn, throw in dried red pepper, garlic, and lemon pepper . . . and what do we have? Succotash!
Hmm . . . Perfect for my new book . . . “The Joy of Weight Gain with RVSue.”
Javalina! Javalina!
How’s THAT for a quick change of subject?
A cozy home under stormy skies
Yesterday I’m at my computer desk when I see out the window two javelina (or javelinas, take your pick.). It’s right before dark. They’re up toward Inspiration Point, not real close, but, dang, they look big!
I run outside to snap a zoomed photo, but the two of them take off before I can get a shot. Apparently javelina are good runners. They’re gone in a flash.
Now for a little lesson on javelina.
The baby is upset because the mother brushed him with the cholla stuck to her nose. — Photo by David Baker from the Arizona Daily Star photo gallery.
They aren’t pigs or hogs. They just look like them, which is always suspicious when it comes to heredity.
Kind of like the joke about the milkman. I heard that said more than once, as I stood with my blazing red hair next to my blonde mother and dark-haired father. It took a few years before I understood the joke. That joke never got a laugh.
Anyway . . .
(I look up javelina on Wikipedia and, sure enough, they are in the pig family.)
A javelina is a peccary. A peccary is from South America. They can weigh up to 80 pounds or more. They have hooves. They like to sneak around at night. (Hold that last thought.)
This morning, I wander around the campsite . . .
My second cup of coffee is in my hand, the morning sun is on my shoulders. Spike and Bridget wander around with me. I look at the ground and notice a new track. Hmm . . . what is this? Small, cloven hoof tracks go over to the outdoor mat. On the other side of the mat, the tracks lead away.
Well, well, well . . . Javelina visited our camp last night, right under our window.
I pause, contemplating the tracks, sipping my coffee until it catches in my throat . . .
Dear God! I hope they don’t show up with 70+ of their friends!
rvsue
THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AMAZON HERE!
