Celebrating my birthday with friends blown in by the wind

I know the wind seems to be a reoccurring theme lately, because it’s spring, in the desert Southwest, and its windy.  Like in many places as weather patterns change from winter to summer,  but that didn’t stop me from celebrating my birthday with friends blown in by the wind.

After a couple days filled with laughter camping with me near Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Joann continued to Yuma with a promise to stop again on her return home to Prescott.  I settled outside in a sundress soaking up a few rays and reading for several hours before the wind increased enough to send me back inside.

Buds on Beavertail cactus, the only bloom

As days get warmer it feels almost like summer arrived on the desert, yet I know me in shorts at 10am and 73° with no wind isn’t really southern Arizona summer that can easily break triple digits daily.  Then after noon the wind kicked back in sending sheets of dust across the land.  I go back inside the rocking camper.  Sure glad it’s heavy and I’m four wheels down.  So I work on the previous long post because I was two weeks behind.  Usually the wind drops after sunset.  Note I said usually, but not that night.  Sadly, the wind just blows dust and no rain making the land more parched and dry with nothing blooming.  Last year’s rather green desert was because of winter rains.  All life in the desert will suffer from this lack.

Joann was blown in by the wind Sunday afternoon and parked her minivan on the leeward side of my camper.  We watched a Redtail Hawk roost with a quick snack then soar off looking for more.  Lots of lizards and rodents in this desert but hawks don’t get lucky every time.  Nor do I taking photos of bird is a struggle zoomed in and trying to hold still.  We sat outside for a little bit but the wind got too much for me so we ended up chatting and laughing in the camper.  Sierra even woke up briefly to join us.

Windy again the next day would have kept us indoors so Joann took us for a ride.  Much easier for her to pack up and take a passenger than me.  We headed south a few miles to the “Stone Cabin” built in the late 1800s as a stage stop for travelers.  What remains measures about 20×25 feet including a corner fireplace.  Over time other buildings were added as a gas station, store, RV park, and Randy’s Hamburger Stand where I ate in 2016.  Now all the structures look like ruins with a row of electric boxes but no power.  Land might be for sale or lease.  We didn’t stay outside long in the hair-blinding wind.

Across the highway we drove east into King Valley and more of the Kofa NWR.  I camped off this road a few years ago but didn’t like the lights from a nearby Border Patrol check station or the sight of the often flying blimp.  The Kofa Mountains are named for the rich King of Arizona gold mine, discovered in King Valley in 1896. The mine used to stamp its property “K of A”, and is commonly known as the Kofa Mine. The old mine and its surroundings are private property.

Curving around the southern foot of the Kofa Mountains a subtle change in elevation brought more cholla into the Sonoran desert mix.  Note a familiar peak on the left seen from a different perspective.  In the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge campsites are strictly limited to specific areas within 100 feet of the road and, the further we went, no signal at all.  We turned around at a junction to McPherson Pass 8m and Castle Dome Mine Road 15m.  May be a good thing because I discovered during research later this lead to an old military site with possible undetonated ammunition.

Have now been on all the west side roads into Kofa from SR95

Joann left in the afternoon for a quiet alone-time camp near Congress.

Started the next day slowly as was up feeling sick to my stomach during the night.  Don’t know what I ate different but something did not agree.  OK, TMI.

The sky was magnificent with stormy clouds but my lack of ambition kept me shooting mostly out the window.

Eventually, about 12 drops of rain hit the window leaving behind dusty spots.

A photographer friend—who upgrades regularly—called to find out how long I’d be in the area and I ended up buying an almost new lens from him.  My “go-to” 18-200mm lens bit the dust a while back and I should be happy with this Sigma 18-300mm replacement.  Happy birthday to me.

Another friend from Mesa, Sandee was blown in by the wind around noon in a borrowed minivan for her overnight stay.  We’ve celebrated my birthday together before at Grand Canyon and with Joann near Lake Pleasant.  She brought Ruben sandwiches, fruit and vegie snacks, and chocolate cake.  The wind kept us inside chatting away the afternoon and most of the next day before she had to leave.  She hopes to visit Bryce Canyon this year.

And I should be there as my start date at Bryce is April 11th, about a week earlier than I expected.  And because I am such a procrastinator I finally decided I should get the camper repaired.  I contacted Jay who quoted a camper repair in November then had to wait and see if he could schedule me before I had to leave the area for Utah.

The next morning greeted with some color and sun rays.  And it was time to go, shopping in Blythe then dump and fill at Shady Lane RV Court.  My last morning this winter waking to the Kofa Mountains.  I saw goodbye pee on two of the tires.

Window view sunset

Even with an early start the brutal wind knocked me around on the drive.  Parked by noon, I asked the owners about having work done with the camper off the truck and got the OK if all messes where cleaned up.  But of course.

Wouldn’t be first choice to spend my birthday in a RV park but even with great clouds the predicted wind and fast signal kept me in another day.  Thank you for all the birthday wishes.  Plus I wasn’t sure where to go while waiting for an answer about the repairs.  I walked a couple blocks for lunch at Taco Mio and was extremely disappointed.

Finally, late afternoon an answer that repairs couldn’t be scheduled until after the first of April.  That’s too late so I started to make a plan or two or three.

Saturday morning I drove two hours blown in by the wind to Wickenburg to pick up mail I hadn’t seen in months.  That would include a couple of birthday presents, a lightning trigger from Pat and the camera lens.

Then I went a few miles from town to camp off Vulture Peak Road.

Place was crowded but I managed to get past most of that to a semi isolated area with an open view east for full moon rise.

Even got one shot of the moon with a turkey vulture in front of it. Talk about coincidence.  I am happy with the new lens, just have to get accustomed to the zoom turning the opposite direction from previous lenses.

Flicker

female & male Vermilion Flycatchers

So nice to be back in bird country:  Cactus Wren song, Flicker pecking at the camper, Curved-bill Thrasher, doves getting friendly, hopping Sparrows, wobble-topped Gabel Quail, my first ever Vermilion Flycatcher male and female, and I even saw a cottontail.

The signal is great here as I look up at a huge tower.  It’s still windy but warm enough to sit outside on the leeward side.

Tried that night for the true full worm moon rise but I can’t seem to see a good focus when it’s so dark.  Something to work on.

So now time for another plan.  Depending on weather, Congress, Kirkland or Prescott before plan A to Flagstaff and north; Or, plan B towards Nevada, St George, Fredonia, and north.  Just trying to stay warm as long as possible because it will be cold at 8000 feet in Bryce Canyon National Park, and will probably snow before summer when I hope visiting friends will not be blown in by the wind.

For some reason, I couldn’t get this song out of my head.  Seems appropriate in so many ways.

Blowin’ in The Wind      -songwriter Bob Dylan

How any roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must cannonballs fly
Before they’re forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
the answer is blowin’ in the wind

Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
And how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
the answer is blowin’ in the wind

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
And how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take ‘til he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
the answer is blowin’ in the wind