Arizona

Shorts Weather Again

Shorts WeatherExcept for a few days when the weather involved a chance of rain and it was overcast, we have had a delightful January and February (thus far). The forecast calls for more warm days (in the 70’s) for the next week. Tuesday, prior to heading to the doctor down in Litchfield Park, Bob put on his shorts and T-shirt to cope with the few degrees warmer it gets down in the valley.

I took this photo of Bob and Cabela on the road that day. We were taking the dogs for their last run before leaving them “home alone” for the few hours it would take to get down to the valley, have the appointment with the doctor and the drive back home. Fortunately, one of the doctor’s staff told us about the opening of the new SR 303 Loop all the way to the road near the medical plaza. We made good time having avoided the traffic and all the signals on Grand Avenue and Litchfield Road. Click on the image to enlarge.

The best part of the trip to the doctor was having him give Bob a clean bill of health and, after from one more minor procedure on Friday, will relieve us of the constraints that have limited our ability to doing some recreational travel. YAY!

Beavertail Cactus New Spring Growth

Beavertail Cactus

This is one of several beavertail cacti that we transplanted from the hill behind our house to various places around the landscape. This one, the largest of the cacti, has sprouted new flower buds and cactus paddle buds. We should be getting some flowers on this one pretty soon, maybe in less than a month from now.

The desert weather has been just gorgeous here for the past several days and is forecast to stay nice until the next rain or cool air comes through. For the time being, we’ll take the 80 degree days and mild nights. Click on the image to enlarge.

66th Annual Gold Rush Days Parade

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I had to sit out the parade today since I’m still a little wimpy from the surgery last Monday. However, Verna hiked down to the parade route and took a lot (>300) of photos of the festivities. As usual, The topless Cadillac with a very large steer on board was featured near the start of the parade. Click on the image to enlarge.

I reviewed many of the pictures from today and wish I could have gone. I made a slideshow of last year’s parade in which many of the parade units that marched then and today can be seen.

Wickenburg Station

Wickenburg Station

Verna took this photo of the tracks and the old train station downtown this afternoon. The train station isn’t active these days since the freight trains that go along this track seldom stop in Wickenburg and there are no passenger trains that run here any more.

The train station building is home to the Wickenburg Chamber off Commerce, where they are getting ready to have their Annual Gold Rush Days this coming weekend. The events planned for this yearly celebration include a carnival, a classic car show, a parade, theater and two days of rodeo. It should be fun.

Scenes From Around Our Desert Home


I wandered around our little patch of desert this morning taking photos. I captured pictures of cacti, critters, rock garden, etc.

My original purpose was to get up on the hill out back and take pictures of the top of the RV to see if there would be any problems installing the new cover we ordered for it. It looks like there are no objects to adversely impact the installation.

The slideshow leads off with “the big guy,” our saguaro cactus out front, followed by Verna’s rock and cactus garden, one of the hidden hedgehog cacti up on the hill, a view of our neighbor’s house on the hill across the little wash, quail and a squirrel snacking on critter crunch, a compass barrel cactus on the hill, beavertail prickly pear cactus in the landscape cover, a place on the hill under a palo verde tree, a desert lizard and another hedgehog in the river rock landscape cover.

Waiting for the Spring Flowers

We’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring and the wonderful desert flowers it brings. This is a slideshow from last year showing several of our beautiful, colorful flowers. This reminds us of how much we like seeing spring unfold and looking to the summer season as well.