Pages

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

SNOW???

Tue. Oct. 27, 2020

Yes, we're still in Portal AZ, 6 months and counting.

A few days ago the temps were in the low 80's.  This morning we woke up to THIS, and no power!  It wasn't supposed to snow today!




We had to brush up on our boondocking skills for breakfast, HOT oatmeal. The power came on after a few hours.  By 1:00 pm the temp was only 36⁰f and it started snowing... again.


This little guy spent most of the morning on this purch.




Icecile






The forecast calls for 70's by Friday.  

What can I say, it's 2020, the surreal is real!

Coming next, from warmer day back in September: A slow hike on a short trail.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Another Breakfast with a view, and friend!

Aug. 20, 2020

WOW! Two blog posts in a week,  I'm on a roll.

This week we were at Willow Tank (link), a water source for local birds and other wildlife  maintained by Friends of Cave Creek Canyon.



Sitting on a bench in the shade enjoying our bowl of fruit and coffee...

...when this guy came into view.


Western Diamondback, about 
3 ft long.

He didn't seem to notice us and wasn't acting threatening so we just sat there and watched him pass, keeping a close eye to  make sure he maintained the current social distancing guidelines!  He wasn't wearing a face mask but given we were outside, I can't really criticize him for that.  


This was roughly his path. The wide angle lens makes it look closer than it was.

He meandered off into the bushes and disappeared. 

Needless to say,  we were very mindful of where we stepped for the rest of our time at Willow Tank.

P.S.
Last post I referred to "... the heat, high 90's, hasn't been that bad... ".  The caveat I forgot to mention... as long as you have an air conditioned space to retreat to.  The old Prowler's A/C has performed well, giving us a cool respite from the heat.


Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Breakfast with a view

Aug. 17, 2020

Greetings from southeastern Arizona. Yes we're still here in Cave Creek Canyon, Portal, AZ and doing well.  We were hoping things would improve and get some traveling in but that hasn't happened.   

While you may have seen news reports of record high temps in the southwest, it hasn't been that bad here at 4800 ft. While we've had several days in the low hundreds, it seldom gets out of the high 90's in the shade at our site.  The monsoons haven't materialized, yet.  All totaled we've had less than 4" of rain, most of that in one day.  That was enough to get Cave Creek flowing again but with no recent rain it's dropping fast.

For something different, some mornings we'll pack a portable breakfast  and go some place scenic.  



Hiking to Vista Point (about 1 1/2 miles) before breakfast. 





Since the creek started flowing, we've found a nice spot to sit and listen to the rushing water.


Yes, those are flannel shirts, early mornings in the canyon can be chilly, but it doesn't last.


Here's some random pic's...


We spotted this fellow crosing the road on one of our evening walks.




Joan's been passing her time by designing and stitching  Cross Stich projects.  This one was based on a stained glass by a local artist.



Kokopelli with a Chaco Canyon sun spiral.





The clouds have been real interesting here in the canyon.



Road Runner, Beep-Beep!




Red Rainbow.


The "fingers" at sunset.


Moon rise over the canyon.






Mother and fawn outside the dinette window.



Buck's near our site.






The one and only rainy day, clouds moved into the higer cliffs above our site.



The limited rain has greened up the desert outside the canyon.


Big moth!





Monday, June 15, 2020

Hike to Barfoot Overlook

June 25, 2020

I started this post last week and never sent it.  

We'll be staying on at Cave Creek Canyon through July and hope things open up in August.  While Arizona is experiencing a spike in Covid-19 cases, our little corner of the state is Covid free.  Summer has settled in with day time highs in the upper 90's, in the shade.  We had power outage for about an hour this afternoon, makes you appreciate Air-conditioning!


June 11, 2020

Joan and I joined a friend (Steve) on a hike to Barfoot Overlook. It's not a long trail, just 3/4 of a mile with 580 ft of elevation gain. Best 360 view in the Chiricahuas.

Unfortunately there's a lot of damage from the 2011 Horseshoe II fire.  The fire also  destroyed the fire cabin that once occupied the site.

Here's some pictures...












Cochise head, right horizon. 






Here are a few more pics from the last several weeks...


Sun beam eluminating a gentle afternoon shower.







The Coues Deer are very tame.