I happily headed northward from Yuma returning to a favorite landscape to shoot April’s full moon over Easter weekend and the clouds beckoned me to stay just a little longer.
I’ll be honest, I won’t miss the noisy camp near Yuma, but I will miss Gayle. She’s slowly recovering from her dental work in Mexico but staying nearby for a while longer.
After shopping in Yuma I headed northward and less than an hour away to my next camp (where I took a 360° video), a favorite place, the BLM adjacent to Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Not many people out there so really lots of peace and quiet guaranteed.
I sat outside in the welcomed afternoon shade of the truckcamper. Set the camera on tripod and the moon snuck up on me faintly and not yet full.
Still struggling with autofocus on the Nikon so after some googling I took the polarizing filter off, not an easy task. That filter also reduces light so now I have to think differently when shooting in Manual. Bumping up the shutter speed is a bonus for hand-held shooting as I’m not very steady and usually too lazy to use the tripod.
Photography is all about the light and I love watching changes on the land throughout the day.
I think the focus improved and some of that night’s moon shots were better. Sadly, clouds were low on the horizon so I once again didn’t catch it until above the clouds.
I woke at first light to pee and stepped outside with the camera for sunrise and saw the moon setting behind the Palo Verde tree. Score. Then went back to bed.
After processing photos all morning, I went outside to read and enjoy the view. Then, about 4pm got a bug to move camp. Not far, just down the road a bit, to a place I camped this winter.
PhotoPills Augmented Reality usually out of calibration
Time for a different moon rise view. Then I speculated on where the moon would actually rise almost 30 minutes after sunset.
It would be very dark and that’s when I struggle the most shooting the moon, even using the tripod. That night was no different.
Easter Sunday, very quiet and found no eggs. However, I did wear a summer dress to nature’s cathedral. That could have had something to do with the 91° day.
The next day reached 96° yet the cloudy skies begged me to stay.
One minute later, changing light
I just can’t resist the light and shadow play across the landscape. I told myself to get to work on the next blog post, but instead spent a good part of the day outside just taking in the views.
Amazing what just a few moments in time will do to change the scene entirely. Though I took lots of photos, I also wanted to imprint this image on my brain knowing I’d not be back to the Sonoran Desert again until winter or at least fall.
As much as I prefer warm to cold I honestly can’t envision living with daily highs consistently over 100° all summer long. A true bonus of wheelestate. Don’t like the weather then move.
I spent the evening watching way too many RV-people videos. So many just record themselves talking and even while driving. Is that interesting? I could talk forever doing that.
Honestly, after the previous day I was ready for cooler weather. Only supposed to be high 80s in Congress about two hours northward. So even though the clouds invited me to stay, I hit the road and took video along the way. Driving this route over 20 years I’ve become familiar with the small towns along the way, so I chatted about that. The loud Mexican music drew me into Agila’s Tuesday market especially for produce and I found a little treasure. Also grocery shopped in Wickenburg and had lunch at my favorite fast-food joint before headed northward to camp Congress.
I planned to spend only a few days before continuing northward again and return to my Skull Valley home. But the overnight lows still hovered just over freezing further north so I didn’t rush off.