Happy New Year

We've just been chillin' down here alongside the American Girl Wash, watching the hummingbirds and enjoying the weather. This winter has been pretty nice weather wise, most nights over 50F and the days in at least the mid 60's and often into the seventies, just about perfect for us folks from a land just north of summer over the Medicine Line.

That shot was taken one morning as I headed out my daily walkabout. I have settled on a pretty regular route, that amounts to about 3 miles out and back. Not a long walk but enough to get my blood pumping a bit and often I get to watch a pretty cool sunrise as I make my way across the desert.

The rest of the days have been spent watching our collection of hummingbirds buzzing about and heading up the wash and visiting with the folks in the colony up there. Deb and Ryley, Tom & Deb, Ken & Kim and Keith. We hung with them last night for New Years Eve, and enjoyed a beautiful evening and a nice fire to welcome in 2024. The sky has been pretty amazing this winter as well. This was the sunset a day or two ago.

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.

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.

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.

Another Desert Day

Once again we didn't do anything worth writing about, a wander about the desert, a couple of great meals, and a picture or two of my friends the hummingbirds. Over the last couple of days there has been a few more rigs showing up in our neighbourhood, but none within our comfort zone, which is great.

Above is a look at our spot here. Although we have to share it with two or three hummingbirds and a coyote that comes by in the night, it is a pretty great spot to hide out from the winter weather back home.

Other than a picture or two of this little rooster that posed for my camera, I pretty much let the little speedsters come and go unbothered today, even hummingbirds get tired of being pictured all the time I bet. But they did gobble up a bunch of food on their visits here to see us.

We think this is an Anna's hummingbird but whatever he is he is a pretty little critter.

Into Town Again

The last couple of days my walkabout have been almost all in the wash here as it has been quite windy the last few days and the wash gives a little bit of protection from the wind. Once I have gone half far enough I climb up out of the wash and let the wind carry me home. Each day I do somewhere between 2 and 3 miles, and that scratches my itch to do something at least.

Once I got back and got cleaned up we headed into town to make some arrangements for our next week or so of activities and meet Don and Angela Ritter, folks who we met down here, but have followed for a long time through blogs and such. Usually we are not so fortunate as to get to spend much time with them, but this year we have met for lunch twice, once here today, and once a few months back on their home ground, Vancouver Island. Thanks Don for lunch.

Long time followers will have come to the conclusion that I am not a very good people picturer, and today was no exception, besides between telling tall tales and gobbling down a great lunch who has time to drag out a camera. While we were in town we decided to brave the local grocery store, something we usually avoid like the plague in the days leading up to American Thanksgiving, but actually other than the many carts full of multiple (6-10) turkeys and hams it was really quite civilized in there today. We'll see what sundown brings but we may end up this post with a shot of the rig as I left this morning on my daily march.

Drinking and flying, guess he didn't read the JSA.

And sundown from the American Girl Wash

El Centro

Today started the same as everyday, a desert walkabout, and then back to camp for a kick back and relax. Our rain last night didn't amount to much, but it did settle the dust around camp, but no sign of water in the washes. But, we did hear one crash of thunder off in the distance.

No real colourful sunrise but the clouds in the sky added a little drama to the situation so there is that. Yesterday I did manage to round up a hummingbird feeder so I shanghai'd a cup or two of sugar from Brenda's baking supply and mixed up a feed for my hummingbird friends. We haven't seen any around, since we arrived here at American Girl Wash, which is strange, but maybe now the grub is on the hook they will drop by.

Once we got all that out of the way a trip to Costco was on the agenda. We needed to restock our meat locker here at DPA and when we can't get our usual Long Run Ranch Beef down the road from Dogpound, we usually default to Costco. They seem to have good cuts of beef wherever we go, and for a change the Costco in El Centro also had pork chops with the bone-in. Those have been non-existent at our local Costco back at DPN, so they will be a special treat. Yuma, just across the California/Arizona border has a Marine base and we hear some fast moving jets going by but they usually are above the clouds or gone by quick so I miss any decent shots. However I did spot this pair over the desert early this afternoon, and I expect this was a refueling training mission happening.

And shortly afterwards this fellow gave us a pass by just checking out the RV'ers I expect.

Cloudy all day today, and then it was sunset time. Some places you go folks are lining up to shoot the sunset, but here it just us, and it almost seems a waste for Charlie Russell to waste all that time painting that sunset just for us two lone Canucks. But, dang it, I am going to enjoy it all the more, if it's just for us.

Now if there is one thing I have learned about picturin' sunsets or sunrises, you better hang tight and stay for the whole show cause something might come along that blows the already spectacular images you got clear out of the picture. The moon popped through the clouds for this cameo for about 3 or 4 seconds and I was pretty happy to be sitting there waiting for it. Not a hard job, it was a beautiful night and the entire event was pretty decent as the time-lapse shows but this image made the day for me.

Down the Road from Dogpound

This morning started like most down here in the desert, I was up and out for a walkabout, but today it was just a short one, enough to see a few favourite spots and gather a picture or two for the journal. I still haven't figured out how to actually make blogger make paragraphs yet so the pictures serve as spacers to keep the words from all jumbling together.

This place outside of Bouse is probably my favourite spot from a desert rambling point of view, there is just so much variety here and so many hills and washes to explore it would take an entire winter to see it all.

So that said, we will be back here, but there are other places to see, and trails to wander, plus we have been here for 14 days and although we haven't yet run out of water and our tanks aren't full, that is probably not far in the future so we headed into the local RV Park, and dumped the tanks that needed dumping, and filled those that needed filling, and pointed Dogpound Anywhere southward.

Whoa, that is a kind of crooked picture, but it is what it is. We have changed deserts, left the Sonoran Desert and moved across the Colorado River into the Mojave Desert, to a familar spot to many, alongside American Girl Wash. We will call California home for a while now, although we can still jump back across the border into Yuma, Arizona for cheaper fuel and most of our shopping, although one day we might run west to El Centro just to exercise our Costco membership.

Pretty decent sunset to welcome us to our new digs tonight. The little screen in the bottom hints that if it works out I might have a time-lapse of the sunset as well. But while I am waiting for that to happen I thought I might make a comment on the roads we have encountered on our journey south this year. Now I frequent some forums that folks using the Alaska Highway, the Cassiar, and the Dempster chat on all year round, but especially the summer. Now the Alaska Highway crosses some difficult terrain up in the Yukon, muskeg and permafrost so it has a reputation for having some horrendous frost heaves on it, and I can vouch the veracity of those claims. But it seems to me that the highways down in the States suffer from some kind of heat rash, that is equally as hard on vehicles. We have driven some that had us hurling up and down, lurching from pothole to pothole, or heat blister to heat blister. It appears that our American hosts suffer from the same kind of infrastructure deficit we Canadians do. Just makes me curious where we are spending our tax dollars cause I am sure way back when, we paid lower taxes and we had better roads. All that said Highway 78 out of Blythe heading towards Brawley, a lonely two lane highway was pretty near the best road we have been on since heading down the road from Dogpound.