Vermillion Flycatcher

It might not be a white Christmas but I did find some pretty red.  This flycatcher is such a bright color he's hard to miss.  These guys like to hang out down by the Colorado River where there are lots of bugs to eat.  We have friends that stay at Hidden Shores campground.  Its a campground that is privately run but is on BLM land right along the river next to the Imperial Dam.  This is the same area we've seen the long curved bill curlews looking for a meal.   It would be nice to stay at a campground like this that overlooks the river but it draws too many young people from California.  They just want to run the river in big loud boats or run their ATVS around camp. 

We have enjoyed a couple of Christmas parties with lots of good food.  I also got to enjoy a few days off where I just did some fun cooking. relaxing and reading.   Visiting friends and sending and receiving cards, emailing, texting and phoning loved ones and friends makes it easier to be so far away but still in touch.  Merry Christmas!

Pictures from earlier travels

 

 

 

I sent out my Christmas letter and put photos on the back.  I was able to send them to everyone on my list this year because I found a less expensive way to make lots of copies.  Anyone that has printed pictures with their printer knows how much expensive ink it takes.  I used the local UPS store to make copies and I got a small discount through working at Al's.  They gave me some pointers on how to have even better quality pictures on my copies next year. 

 

These two pictures that are in the letter were from our stop in the Black Hills on the way south this fall.  The pronghorn seem to like to pose for pictures but the coyotes were very busy looking for a meal.  When we got to the prairie dog village it was obvious that the coyotes needed to thin that population out a little.   Coyotes get a bum rap because they also prey on loose small dogs and cats and small farm animals.  They do play an important role in keeping certain small wild animal populations in check.  I would never get close to a cute little prairie dog because bubonic plague loves to hang out in these groups. 

 

We enjoyed fall colors on our trip south and now it feels like fall in Yuma.  There is some fall color with a few kinds of trees turning orange.  Christmas is coming fast and I don't need snow and cold for it to feel like the season!  

.

 

Hummingbirds

I have a hummingbird feeder staked in the ground next to this ocotillo bush.  This Anna Hummingbird pretty much guards the feeder all day.  He fights with other hummingbirds that try to drink out of it.  Hummingbirds are pretty fearless.  This guy doesn't care if I get close.  He only gets upset with me when I'm trying to refill it then he buzzes me until I'm done.   The Yuma area has six different kinds of hummingbirds that hang out here in the winter.  Up north we only ever see ruby-throated ones so its neat to see the different kinds.

We seem to be fighting low water pressure.  The folks in charge of the local water system say they will have the system back up to full pressure by the beginning of this week.  They say its a combination of reasons that cause the low pressure.  The sudden influx of snowbirds, all of the farm fields that need irrigation, aging pipes that are leaking and breaking, etc. etc.   The water's not that great anyway -- very hard and salty.  We buy drinking water and have a little portable water softener hooked up to our water line so we've learned how to live with it.  

Dust and Fruit

I tried to get a picture of the dust filled cloud. You will just have to believe me that you could see the orange dust just loaded up in the clouds.  If it did rain -- it would rain dirt -- which is what it does here.  Thankfully it doesn't rain very often.  The other picture I took from our backyard was the neighbors' grapefruit tree.  The grapefruit should be ripe in a few weeks.  The owner of our rental lot brought us some fresh picked dates from a guy they know that has some date palms in his yard.  They were very good - soft and chewy and sweet.

We had a nice Thanksgiving having a nice meal by ourselves.  I made too much food so we had plenty to eat for awhile.   We've been out gold mining and have found a tiny bit.  While we were out in a slot canyon other folks came out to practice their shooting.   Its public land so its legal but I don't know why anyone would want to shoot into rock.  The chance for ricochets is high.   We will keep mining for gold until it rains then we will be done for awhile.  We need the exercise so hopefully it won't rain. 

Orange Skies and Gold Dirt

Sunsets have been beautiful with nice orange skies because of all the dust in the air.  I love palm trees because it reminds of how warm it is here 70's during the day and 50's at night.  They are also nice and green on top and its nice to see some green around here.  It rained a few drops so it might have knocked some of the dust out of the air.  We finally bought a small air cleaner for the RV and I've already noticed a difference.

We've managed to get out and do a little gold prospecting and ran some dirt through our dry washer.  I was very excited to find a small piece of gold in my pan that actually made a clink when we put it in the little glass vial.  Now we have to wait to go out until after the Thanksgiving holiday because too many people will be camped out where we look for gold.

More people are coming down every week but its still not very crowded.  Lots of empty spaces in the RV parks and lots of RV lots for rent in the foothills area where we are. 

Moon over the Gila Mountains

The view to the east from our lot is of the Gila mountains.  You have to come through them following I-8 over telegraph pass to get to Yuma.  They aren't very high -- only about 3,000 feet high but they look very tall because Yuma is a sea level.   I tried to get a shot of the supermoon.  It was pretty but not very super.  
We went out gold prospecting for the first time this season.  We tried some BLM land close to a gun range.  We didn't really find anything -- two small specks -  and decided we didn't like being surrounded by gun fire so we packed up and went back home.   We will be trying again in a different area where we have had more luck.  At least we know our equipment still works after being stored for the summer. 

Al's RV in Yuma

 

 

 

I threw in a few pictures from Rocky Mountain National Park since they were so pretty.


I have no pictures of Al's RV in Yuma.  Its the place I'm working for the winter.  Its a nice place to work and has a great selection of RV parts to repair just about anything on or in your RV.  The website is www.alsrv.com  The owners have two stores one in Yuma and one in Glendale by Phoenix. 

Many people come in to the store to find out about Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filtration.  The water in Yuma is salty and the only thing that takes the salt out is reverse osmosis.  We sell small RO systems for RV's.  The only drawback to them is it takes 4 gallons of water to make one gallon of RO water so it wastes a lot of water.  Some people try to save the waste water to use to water trees.  There are places all over where you can buy drinking water for 50 cents for 5 gallons so I think its cheaper to just buy drinking water instead of installing an expensive RO system but some people get tired of hauling water.    

Its still quite warm here -- in the high 80's which is warmer than normal even for Yuma.