PUDDLES IN THE DESSERT

It has rained a lot on our trip south this year but last night it rained all night and sometimes pretty hard.  There was more snow in the mountains of KOFA also.  We went for a 7 mile hike this morning and it was great.  Can't believe we have found such a great place to camp and hike and there is nobody around!  We will be leaving here in a few days and head east to Gila Bend where we will leave our camper for a couple of days and go up to Scottsdale and visit our friends Ross and Brenda.

Zeph liked the water around on our walk.  Got a drink when ever he wanted.

Can't believe this lupine was growing in the creek bed all by itself.

We came upon this on our walk and have no idea what it is or why it is there.

A little later we found this fire pit.

The ocotillo are really leafed out this year. 

These are the biggest leaves we have ever seen on them.

Not sure what kind of tree this is but the wood is harder than a bullet.

Saw lots of humming birds this morning and they all looked cold.

A saguaro died in the creek bed.

This saguro is near our campsite and looks like someone may have used it for target practice in the past.

Maybe the same thing happened to this one.  Tough plants I think.

That is our camper in the background.

A lonely dead saguaro.

Zeph found this and think it is a coyote den.

The snow on the peaks in KOFA.

Sunset tonight.

QUICK TRIP TO MEXICO

Looking at the weather back home makes me glad we are down here in Arizona even if it is colder than normal and getting some rain.  We have had to run our generator more in this year than we have in all the years before combined.  Our solar panel does not charge so good when it is cloudy and raining!!  We did a quick trip down to Los Algadones, Mexico today to get a couple of things.  One being fresh shrimp!!!  It rained on us some going down and we saw snow on some peaks in KOFA national Wildlife Refuge as we were driving by.  That is a first for us.  Everyone is commenting on how cold this winter has been. 

Moon rise the other night.

Stopped by the tank display at the Army Proving Ground near Yuma.

This is snow on the peaks near Palm Canyon.  Never seen snow down here before.

Connie always drive just a bit over the limit!!!

They are harvesting a lot of lettuce and other crops down here right now.

Little lemon trees that have already been picked.

The streets of Algadones.

When we came back there was still some snow to be seen on the top of the mountain.

ANOTHER GREAT HIKE IN KOFA

Connie and I have been hiking in KOFA for the last few days and it has been great.  Here are a few pictures from today's hike.

Well, will start off with some pictures of the full moon last night and this morning.

These are of the setting moon to the west this morning.

Moon rise.

This is a little unusual to have a barrel cactus in a wash as they are usually washed away!

This dead tree has a lot of branches that grew down to the ground.

The view looking west.  Our camp is about a mile and a half out there.

An old saguaro that has fallen over.

Connie and Zeph looking good.  It is still a little cool down here in the dessert in the early mornings so coats are required.

And a picture taken.

Connie getting some cactus spines out of Zeph.  There were a lot of them on our hike today.

A panorama looking to the east.