Tuesday, February 14, 2023

I wonder if Google will hide this post!

Not having a lot of luck with my posts showing up lately, I don't have a lot of confidence that this one will show up!  I did get some help from some in the Blogger community fixing some weird settings for the blog, but don't know if it will make a difference with the main problem ...

Also trying to use the Blogger editor this time, so bear with me!  One of the few advantages of the Blogger editor is the ease of adding videos.  I will take advantage and see how it works out.  This is a night time video of a coyote visiting a previous camp spot.

 
 

Below, a video of the inside of a gopher hole in the desert!



We are still camped in the Ironwood Forest National Monument, west of Tucson, Az.  According to the signs, it is also a 14 day camp spot.


There are cows grazing this part of the monument, so Hailey is keeping a close watch when any wander close.

The Tucson Gem & Fossil was on this past week, so I paid a visit to a few of the huge tents to see what they had on offer.








Not my usual habitat, for sure.
Not far from my camp is the western section of Saguaro National Park, so we paid a visit to the visitor center for a look around.

Still in the same spot.  Had a bit of rain this morning, and our dirt camp spot turned to slippery gumbo for a while, but after a couple of hours and some brief sunlight, it reverted back to it's earlier state.

Quite a bit of Border Patrol action in the general area, and one night the helicopter was doing circuits over the camp continuously from about 3-4AM.

If this post shows up normally, my next post may be a little more entertaining.


 

Wednesday, February 08, 2023

Blogger Hides my Posts - yet again :-(

 BloFeb 8, but Blogger has not updated it on anyone's sidebars!  Thanks blogger.



Yuma, Quartzsite, Yuma again, and beyond!

I thought I’d put the calendar on ‘pause’, but it now appears that it kept on counting the days since the last blog post!  I guess it’s about time to get caught up a little bit. Winking smile

We’d already been boondocking outside Yuma in three different locations before heading up to Quartzsite for the second visit of the season. As detailed in the previous post, the big tent Rv show was on, and we took in the crowds and the traffic.  After the excitement of the big tent, there was plenty of time to check out all the other vendors.

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It could be our last chance to pick up a rusty wrench!

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A hoarder’s paradise!IMG_0651

I was parked out in the desert in an undisclosed location south of town.MST&T Camp DJI_0123 (2)

Hailey spent time researching the most comfortable way to sit on a lawn chair.

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And practicing her three-legged tree climbing skills!

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She does pretty well, with only a few close calls.  It’s not quite as extreme as it was in her first tree climb video, also filmed near Quartzsite a few years ago.  Check that one out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71wImQxKA_I

Then one day, within an hour, friends arrived from both Saskatchewan and Alberta!

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It was Ernie and Deb from Saskatchewan, and Donna & Don from Alberta, who had all braved the snowy conditions, blizzards and road closures on their escape from the north country!IMG_0639

After a few days, we all headed off, back to the Yuma area again; the 4th time for me this season!

One day we all did a road trip to the Costco in El Centro, Ca, and on the way back, I convinced them to stop for a happy hour along Ogilby Road, where I knew that Doug & Yuma, Tom & Deb,  and Deb & Riley were hanging out, after migrating back from the Borrego area.  That made for three Deb’s in one camp!

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Another day, I accompanied Ernie to Algodones, where he was visiting the dentist.  I was quite amazed to find the free wifi at the dental office was downloading at around 200Mb/s!  But I spent most of the time out walking around the non-tourist areas of town.

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Getting up close and personal with the border fence …

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And, discovering new ways of parking when space is in short supply!

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I took Ernie & Deb on a hike up Pilot Knob, for good views all around, as well as down into Algodones, Mx. Two border patrol helicopters spent a lot of time searching some ravines below us, along the border.

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Ernie found this hummingbird nest right behind their rig on Sidewinder Road.  Took a peek inside, but no eggs yet, though the female was spending some time sitting in the nest.  I wondered if some of the lining of the nest was Hailey’s fur we left behind when we were camped there in January!

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Playing with my new endoscope!  Here’s a shot of the ethernet connector on my laptop!

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The USB plug.

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And, the ground connection on a standard 110V plugin!IMG_0703IMG_0697IMG_0704

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Some brightly painted rocks at the base of the General Patton monument at the start of Sidewinder road.

IMG_0708IMG_0707A huge, 3” long grasshopper hiding in a creosote bush.

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And, to bring the blog right up to date (!), here’s where we are presently camped in Ironwood Forest National Monument, just west of Tucson.Ironwood Forest camp DJI_0133