Metal Detecting by Quartzite

I'm still learning how to take pictures from my new smartphone and put them on my computer.  Somehow these pictures turned into little videos.  I hope they work if you click on them.  We had a great Thanksgiving with friends we worked with at the Imperial Wildlife Refuge and are all staying in Yuma this winter.  We bought a big Weber grill so I could cook a turkey on the grill like I used to do.  It turned out good and we had quite a feast. 

We had to drive up to Quartzsite for some gold mining supplies so we decided to do some metal detecting along the way.  When you get close to Quartzsite there are lots of open camping areas that you can hike, drive a 4-wheeler, metal detect, gold prospect, etc.  We didn't find anything but its nice to get out and hike around the desert.  It was a very nice day but it did get a little hot -- close to  90 degrees.  It's supposed to start cooling down and by next weekend be in the 60's. 

Having a View

Our friends are renting a lot close to us.  We worked with them at the Imperial Wildlife Refuge and have stayed friends because they keep coming back to Yuma for the winters.   The lot they are on has a building with a room for gathering.  It has a large tv and some seating.  It also has a bathroom and washer and dryer.  Jim is very jealous of the dryer since he has to hang all of our clothes on our clothes line.  What is really neat about the building on their lot is that it has a rooftop seating area.  You go up spiral metal stairs to the top. 

The view over all the lots here in the foothills is very nice.  You can see a virtual sea of RVs, homes and park model type homes.  The view west at sunset is great especially when there are clouds full of dust to pick up the color.  The view west is also over the open desert so even though we are in a little subdivision it doesn't feel overly crowded. 

Creepy Crawlers

Had to get a new hard drive for my computer so I had it in to the Geek Squad for a few days.  The camera is also having issues so its in being fixed -- maybe-- it may be too old.  My WIFI hotspot died so I thought I would get a smartphone with hotspot already in it.  Now I'm using my phone for pictures and can use it for WIFI.  It was lucky I had the phone or I would have missed taking a picture of Mr. Tarantula.  I was sitting outside on the patio and he came crawling right toward me. 
He went under the 5th wheel and tried to hide but Jim hit him with the water hose.  He came out from underneath so I captured him in a coffee can.  I took him down the road to the open desert and let him go. I guess its migration time for the tarantulas.  They aren't poisonous and they don't bite but they can jump at least six feet and they can fling tiny hairs on their back that are irritating.  They don't  creep me out so much anymore.

We have had a few beautiful sunsets and sunrises.  Its cooling off a bit.  Its only in the 80's now.  We are trying to find a little gold and have had a little bit of luck.  After last year and the dirt being too wet we have decided to dig like mad while we can.  It usually rains sometime in December -- just enough to make the ground too wet to use a dry washer.