Bob

Ocotillo Fower Buds

Ocotillo Flower Buds

Our neighbor, Tim, that lives across from us did a job last fall clearing some property for a construction project. Two of the victims of that clearing of natural desert vegetation were ocotillos that Tim brought for us to add to our xeriscape rock and cactus garden. We planted them at that time and today, we noticed that new flower pods are growing on the tips of the ‘canes’ of the ocotillos. This is very good news since the two of them went into shock and lost their green leaves a while after we planted them.

Now, we will see these flower pods grow and produce the little red and yellow flowers characteristic of the ocotillo. After that, the monsoons to come will likely restore the green leaves that these two lost over the winter months. Click on the image to enlarge.

Holy Saguaro

Saguaro with Solar Halo

The cirrus clouds in front of the sun contained enough ice crystals to create this rainbow halo around the sun today here in Wickenburg. It was 82 degrees and an absolutely beautiful day.

I was photographing some work that we did in the rock and cactus garden this afternoon, when I noticed the solar halo. I walked over to the shadow of the big saguaro out front by the garage to get this shot. I adjusted the gamma shading and chromatic saturation of the image a bit to get this nice effect of a “divine saguaro.”

Hieroglyph Ridge

Hieroglyph Ridge

We have lived in our little house here in Wickenburg for just over five years now. Every day that the weather is clear, we can walk down to the road in front of the house, look east and we see this beautiful mountain ridge, located about 20 miles from us.

It is a ridge and mountain peak in the Hieroglyph Mountains and is the third of three ranges, the first being just east of town. The first range is covered with saguaro cacti, the second with more mountainous vegetation and the last ridge is mostly rocky. The colors are just beautiful, varying with the time of day and weather composition.

We love it here in our retirement house.

Palm Desert RV Camping Sunset

RV Park Sunset

We have had a couple of beautiful days camping here in the Coachella Valley. The temperatures and the weather in general have been very acceptable. This evening, we enjoyed this beautiful sunset. Tomorrow, we will be breaking up camp and headed to the Colorado River to visit with our friends who live there.

While we were here in Palm Desert, we enjoyed visiting with our six-month old grandson, his parents and his other grandpa was here, too. We had a cookout yesterday, when I grilled some steaks and Verna fixed the side dishes which we fed to everyone.

We are planning to prepare another steak dinner for our friends at the river tomorrow. After we spend the night there, we will be driving the Roadrunner RV back to Wickenburg.

Ready for Weekend Cookout

Cookout Ready

When we arrived in the Coachella Valley today, we quickly got settled in for our first of three overnight stays here. Tomorrow, we will further be setting up the grill, tables, chairs and other items to prepare the tenderloin steaks, the gluten-free Mac’n’Cheese and BBQ beans for the cookout we promised the kids and the other set of grandparents. Click on the image to enlarge.

Stocking Up The Roadrunner

Roadrunner

I have the pop-outs deployed and the awning extended on the ‘Roadrunner’ as it sits in the RV driveway, because we’re currently preparing for a medium-length excursion to visit our new grandson and then some friends that live by the Colorado River. I have everything popped-out so we have enough room inside while we’re storing the items we’re taking with us; items such as food, beverages, toiletries, pet supplies and the like.

This time out, we’re going to be “on-the-road hosts,” inasmuch as we are planning to feed our family and friends by preparing dinners in the RV. I have already stocked up the on-board freezer with steaks and some give-away bottles of homemade Limoncello. Verna and I are going shopping shortly before we head over to California and will have more items for the Fridge and pantry.

It’s going to be a lot of fun. We will post plenty of pictures of the events both here and on the FecesBook® thing.