Lazy Week???

It seems that this week has been a lazy week - or has it?  The weather has finally warmed up and is absolutely wonderful - sunshine, low 20's, and no (or very little) wind - you can't beat that.

The folks that were beside us left - this makes for some rather quiet surroundings.  There was a trade-off - he blocked any road noise because his motorhome was 42 feet long, but he did run his generator 3-4 hours per day.  Since we are totally self-sufficient because of our solar panels, this is something we are not accustomed to hearing.  The upside was that he was very considerate - no early mornings, and no late nights.

We did go on a couple of runs this week.  Due to the lack of rain this past year, the desert is extremely dry.  Even the Ocatillo  bushes do not have any flowers on them, which is very unusual, but they are showing some signs of budding.  We did find some flowers down in a wash.  It is truly a great sight to see flowers in the desert because there is often very little greenery but these nice, bright, showy flowers.


Coyote

This week also seemed to be wildlife week.  A huge coyote (about the size of a german shepherd)  walked in front of our motorhome late one afternoon.  As he slowly meandered across the field, I tried to get a photo of him/her.  As you can see by the photo, it was a case of "where the heck did I put the camera" to "where the heck did you put the camera" to "here it is" so I only got the back end of him as he was quite a distance away.

One day we came home to find a tarantula on our mat.  It appeared to be a young one based on his size and colouring.  We took a few photos, watched him for a bit, but it seemed that as soon as we turned our backs, he was gone - who knows where.

While not abundant, humming birds love to be fed.  Most of them tend to be rather skittish and prefer to feed when no one is around.  That is my guess because if we're gone all day, there is a substantial reduction of food in the feeder.  As you can see by the photo, there are some that will sit and look to make sure that there is enough food so they are able to snack at the leisure.

We went into Palm Springs one day - did a bit of shopping, but mostly just spent the day.  As we got back we looked and commented "does that motorhome look stuck".  This was determined by the fact that the front was much, much lower than the back.  Well, we went and unloaded our purchases, put the groceries away, and looked out again, and yes, it was still the same.  Off we go to see what was wrong.  A fellow got into some soft sand and coming out wasn't very easy.  To the rescue, and out he came.  As I was chatting to his wife, she said, "my husband said to me - do you remember when we used to come out here and said to look at all those old people that don't know how to drive and get stuck in the sand".  I guess what goes around, comes around. We definitely had better luck getting this fellow out of the sand than we did the last time we tried to be a tow truck/jeep.



Rescued dog!

I get to end this week with a "feel-good" story.  A couple parked near us (from Ontario) were camping down the road at Thermal, CA.  They found a dog wandering loose.  The dog was a boxer and they had lost theirs a couple of years ago so they took him in.  They don't know if the dog was dumped, or why it was loose as there were no identifying marks on him.  He was rather quiet as a man out in that area feeds and waters the stray dogs.  They have adopted this dog and in the past three weeks, he has been neutered, examined by the vet, and received all his shots.  They believe the dog is about one year old, and seems to be a very calm, mind-mannered dog.  Hurray for this couple on their rescue.

This next week is home week.  I will be able to let you know how it feels to go from shirt-sleeve to parka weather in a few short hours.  Until then, have a good week.