Merry Christmas

We have just been chillin' down here alongside the American Girl. Sounds lazy, looks lazy, hell it might even be lazy, but that is what we are doing here and we are pretty happy doing it. I still wander about the desert, even sometimes take a picture or two, almost have to as my version of Blogger won't actually make paragraphs in this journal so unless I take a picture and insert them, this just becomes one long, long run on sentence.

Of course then the challenge becomes one of, "did I already put that picture here, where else is it, will it bore the folks who are following me on Facebook?" all stress inducing decisions. Well not really, it works like this, if I like it you get to see it, over, and over, and over again, sometimes two or three times.

A couple of days ago we had a rainy day, rainy for down here in the desert, more thunder and lightning than rain, but it did get the wash running for a while. Not enough to get our fishing poles out, but enough to change the scene a little for our sundown. And cause us some chaos with our Starlink. The folks at Starlink jumped right to attention said, yep, you bet we can deal with that, in fact we will send you an entirely new system. Took about 5 minutes to get to that point, then they threw in a complication, they are sending the new system to Mom's old house. Folks will probably figure out that since Mom passed almost 12 months ago, her house is not her house, or our Amazon depot anymore, so that will give us something to fret about over the next few days, while we try to convince Starlink that sending a big box of stuff halfway across the continent to an address, we no longer have access to makes a whole pile less sense than sending it halfway across a state to the place we actually are. Oh well, first world problems. But while those issues are buzzing back and forth in our human world, my friend here comes every night to enjoy the sunset with me. Hopefully by the time we leave this spot we will have got an image that does his brillaint plumage justice. It does change with the light, a twist of his head can change the whole scene.

Same bird, different angles, the one below is as we sat watching the sun sink over the Imperial Dunes to our west.

Oh yah, Merry Christmas, the neighbours down the wash were kind enough to invite us to join them for their Christmas Eve celebration so we are actually infused with a little Christmas spirit here at Dogpound Anywhere.

Same Old, same old

Still hanging out here along the American Girl, still taking a stroll in the morning to get my heart pumping. Gives me time to listen to some political podcasts and contemplate the state of the world as I wander about the desert. I was looking back at my old blog entries back in early 2011 and I was doing sometimes 5 or 6 miles a day, maybe sometimes 7, today I am lucky to cover 5.5 kms so I guess old age is a metric measurement. Oh well, it is what it is I guess, still feels good.

I took this shot yesterday on my way back from my walk and then spent the rest of the day just watching the world go by, and stopping it with my camera a time or two to capture the things that pleased me. The picture below was taken from the comfort of my recliner just behind the rig.

And here is a look at our site from somewhere down in the Wash

We do have more critters visiting us here than just the hummers, this little fellow spends his days much like I do, just soaking in the sun.

I was just recollecting the old days in blogging when I was a lot less likely to stick a bunch of photos into the entry. We had about 5 GB of data to last us a month, now with Starlink the sky is the limit from here at Dogpound Anywhere. So I get to subject you all to an endless series of sunsets, sunrises, hummingbirds and neighbourhood views. This pair of hummers are pretty frequent visitors here at DPA so they are starring in a lot of our pictures.

And just so you know I am not the only picturin' person here at DPA the shot below is one I stole from Brenda of the sunset last night.

Road Trip

We figured we should head down Why way so on Friday, we packed our outfit and headed east. The plan was to stop at a park in Gila Bend that we have frequented before, it is a nice place, well set up and best of all it has a great laundry facility that is open 23 hours a day, and we needed to do a few loads, before we headed south to Ajo and Why. Thought we might see a different scene as well for our camera's to shoot.

That shot was from the side of our rig after the sun had set. The bright lights on the right are the Calgon Carbon Corporation. Before sundown we went into town to a Sofia's Mexican place, a small local place, been there for 23 years and by the quality of the food and the service we received they shouldn't have any problem making it another 23 years. Somewhere along the way someone pointed out to us that the border crossing into Mexico at Lukeville was closed and had been for a couple of weeks. They have an invasion going on there, reports of lots of folks jumping the border, cutting down the walls and fences. Mainstream media, says maybe 10,000 a day, now we know those guys sometimes get the numbers wrong, but if it is even 10% of that number sitting out in the desert along the route those folks will take to get anywhere doesn't sound like the smartest plan.

But the sun still rises in the morning so I got out, walked a little, shot a little sunrise and then we got our laundry caught up. Once that was done I took a run north up to Aqua Caliente, looking for a spot that might come in handy another time. Different country up there, but it might work some other time.

Early in the day we figured we should head over east towards Picket Post an old favourite spot and hole up there for a couple of weeks over the Christmas season. But we'll sleep on that decision before we hook up and head that way. Meanwhile if the sun comes up, we all know it will slip over the horizon in the evening and if we are lucky we will catch it at an opportune moment and save that image for our old age.

When we got going this morning and looked at the long term weather for Picket Post, it seemed that we would have to break out our coats and long pants for much of the days over there, and things down along the border looked not so bad with that in mind. But a little caution was needed, and a quick text told us we knew where there was a vacant spot and maybe even some hungry neighbours that would be glad to see us and our sugar supply back in their neighbourhood. So we lifted the jacks and headed back west looking for warm temperatures and friendly neighbours.

Crossing the Line

This morning started like every other one here along the American Girl Wash. I did my daily inspection tour of the desert as the sun came up, and then it was back to Dogpound Anywhere (DPA) for a bit of breakfast. About mid morning our neighbours from up the wash a piece came down and we slid in behind them. They led us down to the parking lot north of Los Algodones, BC, that's Baja California, a little Mexican border town just south of the extreme SE end of California and just across the river from Yuma, Arizona. We have been across the border here a few times in the past, but never with such a big gang, in total we numbered 8 folks, Deb and Ryley, Tom and Deb, and Kim and Ken, all Canadians hiding out from winter here in the Southwest, except for Tom and Deb who call the Upper Peninsula of Michigan home, so they are damn near Canadians.

We didn't have anything special in mind, just a little trip for lunch and a few drinks. Oh yah, and a chance to see about augmenting our drug stockpile, prescription drugs, but just like last time I had a look, most of them are cheaper in Canada than down here in Mexico. We did pick up few Z-paks of antibiotics just because, but other than a cool shawl that Brenda bought and a couple pounds of shrimp we just carried lunch and a few drinks back across the border. The line at the border was pretty quick, so that was a bonus as well.

Left to right, Ken, Kim, Deb, Ryley, Brenda, Deb, and Tom at our last cantina of the day. Once we got across the border Brenda and I ran into Winterhaven to the local pot store to pick up a few things that seem to give her a little relief from the trials and tribulations of CRPS. Then it was back out along the American Girl where we rejoined the whole group for Happy Hour up at their spot a half mile or so farther up the wash from our location. I have been shooting some hummingbirds here the last few days so I will throw a couple of shots in of these little critters.

Just Another Beautiful Day in the Desert

I began this morning like every morning, with a walk around the desert, checking out the new arrivals and seeing what there is to see. You would think that after a few weeks of wandering about every morning it would get old, but it doesn't. I never take exactly the same route so although you might see the same stuff it is usually from a different angle or with different light on it. The last day or two have been pretty active with rigs coming and going, here is a bunch that are familar, they must have got tired of shivering up near Quartzsite and decided to wander a little farther south.

After my walkabout I jumped in the truck and ran into Yuma to pick up a couple of Amazon packages that had been delivered to a locker in there. Yuma is obviously a "remote" outpost on the Amazon planet as even with Prime it is about 6 days to get things delivered here and often the Lockers are full and that delays things even more, waiting on folks to get out and pick up their stuff to make room for more folks and "their" stuff. Oh well it is not like we are in a rush or anything. While I was in town I stopped by the Uhaul shop and filled a propane tank, and picked up a couple of things for Brenda at the grocery store as well. And of course got rid of some rubbish along the way as well. The rest of the day was spent chillin' and watching our little buddies buzzing around.

This fellow above came and sat in a tree about 2 feet away from me, obviously wanted his portrait done. And a few seconds later he jumped up and headed for the feeder for this action shot. They are not bugged at all by having me and my cell phone sitting almost on top of their feed source, and I can get within a foot or two of them while they are eating. All todays shots were taken with my iPhone.

Lazy Desert Days

We are not doing much out here along the American Girl, just chillin' in the desert.

I was out for my morning walkabout before the sun came up as usual. So peaceful here just wandering up the wash, the only sound my own footsteps and the lonely train horn down the road a bit. We are far enough away that the train doesn't bother us, just adds a little reminder that civilization is racing by just a mile or two down the road.

Once I am back from my daily wanderings, and the sun is up over the mountains to the East of us, the rest of the day I spend just watching the light change over there and poking around in the wash beside us looking for something new or a different angle to shoot it at. Might be a little time spent checking my eyelids for holes when the sun is high in the sky. And our "flock" of hummingbirds keep us entertained most of the day, buzzing back and forth, sometimes just inches away from my recliner.

We had one of Brenda's Potato Salads and some burgers on the BBQ for dinner tonight before heading out to watch another spectacular sunset. I swear that she makes the best potato salad on the planet and there is always enough for two days, and like a lot of special dishes the flavours meld together so tomorrow's salad will be even better than today's. My Aunt Hazel made a great potato salad and for many, many, many years it was what I considered the gold standard, but I am thinking Brenda's is every bit as good and maybe a touch better. Sure would be a toss up anyway I am sure. I wasn't going to inundate you with hummer pictures again today, but I sat down a couple of feet away from the feeder to see if I could catch the light refracting through the glass as the sunset and this little critter decided it was time for his final meal of the day and me and my iPhone be damned he was going to hit the feed pail.

Back in the Desert

As I said the other day we are back from the seashore, and after rescuing our rig from the Park we abandoned her in for a short trip, we headed back out into the desert. The Park wasn't crowded but it was NOISY, and that is not what we are used to. We are happy to be back out alongside the American Girl Wash again, in fact within inches of being in the same spot we were in earlier. Good thing we pulled out here yesterday, today there have been a few more rigs joining us along the Wash, so for sure this great location would have been taken. I am back to my old desert walkabouts early in the day so I will bore you with a few sunrise pictures.

It is great walking along the wash early in the morning, not a sound out there except the crunching of my boots in the sand.

And soon after the sun is up in the sky the hummingbirds come to feed. Today it was a lot like rush hour, guess they were happy to see us back or at least our feeder back in the neighbourhood.

I probably need to apologize to folks who also hang out on the Facebook site as most of these pictures show up on both sites. I have said before but these little buzz bombers are aggressive protectors of their food sources so it is a constant air war going on here daily.

We're Back

It was nice while it lasted, and we had a great getaway to the sea, but we have come back to the desert and will be heading back out into the boonies tomorrow bright and early. We thought we needed a little ocean time and our trucked needed some brake and AC work so the time was ripe for a salt water escape. We came in out of the desert last Sunday, spent Monday catching up on our laundry and picked up a rental car while dropping off the 450 for it's spa treatment. Then it was off to the coast and Pacific Beach for a two night visit. It was different walking on the "boardwalk", really a cement sidewalk instead of meandering through the desert, but interesting nevertheless.

The two shots above were from last nights sunset, as I have said before it is worth staying for the whole event as things change rapidly as the sun goes down. In the first shot sharp eyes will see what I think is a Marine V-22 out for a sunset cruise. Both nights as I watched the sunset this aircraft came by, the first night doing a lot of dipping and circling, not sure what he was up to, but maybe he spotted a whale or something offshore and was just having a look, or just maybe he was just entertaining the looky-loo's shoreside.

These two shots above were taken from or off the Crystal Pier just down the beach from our hotel, those old planks creaked as I walked across them but I saw a pickup truck drive out there so they must be OK. There are cottages out on the pier that I guess you can stay in.

This great mural was in the alley behind our hotel. Pretty nice alleyway art. But sometimes an alley is just an alley, but we don't discrimate we wander in the plain ones as well as the fancy ones.

And a couple of shots of the local flora, around the hotel and throughout the area. Pacific Beach is for the most part a clean friendly place, lots of folks walking the beachfront and all pretty friendly, and dogs, man there are a lot of dogs, and everyone well behaved with and keeping their owners close at hand.

Below are a couple more shots of the beach I took yesterday. I can only imagine how many folks are on this beach on a nice summer weekend, cause here in what they call winter, in mid-week it was a busy place and hard to get a picture without a bunch of folks wandering through it.

Change Up

I thought it was getting a little tedious for our readers, a few pictures of sunrise, a couple of hummers blowing by, and then a few words of prose so we decided to change things up a little. We had been in our spot on the American Girl for two weeks and that is a good time to move on in this boondocking world. We had a couple of things that needed doing, like dumping tanks, laundry, and getting the AC in the 450 looked after. So I made an appointment for the truck, but first we hauled the rig into a park where we could abandon it for a road trip of our own.

A shot of the moon as I headed out on my walkabout a couple of mornings ago, and below some Ocotillo's and the sunrise along the wander in the desert.

Then we decided it had been 25 or so years since we had ventured into the San Diego area so we made some reservations and headed west, without the Solitude or the truck. They are staying back in the desert for this trip. It is some interesting country to the west of El Centro going over that coastal range of hills. I would call them mountains but they look like nothing more than huge, 4000 foot high piles of boulders, dumped there by some behemoth rock truck. One of the things I saw that kind of bothered me was the mammoth solar installations on the edge of the Imperial Valley, while I have no issue with solar power, we have it on our RV, somehow it seems that land like that in the Imperial Valley, North America's green grocers homeland, is not the place to sterilize so much of it with those installations. I have seen a lot more likely places on land that probably doesn't feed a continent. But enough said about that.

I found this fellow standing on the sidewalk when I wandered down to the local Amazon locker to pick up something, and his buddy was watching over the beach go'ers just behind him.

We had an early dinner at a rooftop place down the road from our hotel called the Pacific Beach Ale House, good food, great staff, and a pretty decent view as well. Then it was back to beachfront walk by our hotel to see the sun sink into the sea. That speck, kind of bug like is a Boeing V-22, maybe some Marines out for their own version of a sunset cruise. I suspect they were combining a sunset cruise/whale watching session with probably some training as they seem to do a lot of circling and swooping out there while we watched.

And in the tradition of Lorne over there on the A Place called Away blog here is a view from my window this evening.

Till next time, life is good here down the road from Dogpound.