Wednesday, January 27/2010

A dreary day today - no sunshine. So much for having the morning sunshine streaming through the front windows!!! On goes the heater!!

A quiet day today, time to relax and catch up on some reading, maybe do a little painting and for sure get the blog up to date. Man, that blog is like "work" and since we haven't really been doing much lately, it can get a bit mundane. We had better get off our arses and get out onto the trails and do a bit of exploring soon. I heard there was an old cemetery down the road a ways so we had better go check that out - tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 26/2010

Well, we have some sunshine today but still not as warm as I would like. John moved the motorhome around in the campsite so that the morning sun will shine in the front windows. It will warm the air in the bus in the mornings. It still can get chilly here during the night and I hate waking up to the chill in the morning. We haven't really needed any heat in the bus but I often turn it on to take the chill off. Turning the bus into the sun will definitely help!!

Rearranging the campsite was our "job" for the day so decided to head into town for a bit, say hi to some of the locals we have met and generally have a change of scenery. We hadn't really seen anyone since the big rain so off we went. We took the bike in and of course Hogan was not impressed because now he had to stay home!! Too Bad!! It was fun and a good time was had by all - well, except for Hogan!!

Monday, January 25/2010

The sun is shining and as I look out the window, I can see bits of smoke still rising from last night's campfire. I just spoke with my sister back in Saskatoon and she tells me that there is so much snow on the ground that vehicle traffic is near impossible unless you have a four wheel drive. Man, I sure don't miss that nonsense!! Even the city buses are having trouble. I mentioned to her that the hummingbird was at the feeder as we were speaking and I don't believe she was impressed!! She was on her way out the door to pick up her husband in her four wheel drive!!

Another quiet day today - I could really get used to this!!

Sunday, January 24/2010

Once again we wake to sunshine. Maybe the rain has finally moved out of the area and there is nothing but blues skies to come. I can finally leave the door open and not have the cool damp air roll into the bus. Today it is warm and comes with the very busy sound of a woodpecker working hard for his breakfast. I haven't seen the little hummingbird for close to a week (since the rain), so hopefully he will return today. I had to pick the feeder off the ground twice over the past several days because of the wind gusts.

As it turned out, the day remained sunny and warm. Hogan and I went for our walk and saw nothing except a few birds. We stopped and had a brief chat with a couple of hunters and they hadn't seen anything either. The land is quiet and I imagine all God's creatures and drying out after the big rain. According to the news, Arizona received more than it's annual rainfall in these past few days!!

We finished the day with a campfire and BBQ steak supper. The hummingbird had made an appearance earlier today and the coyotes serenaded us this evening. How much better can it get!!!

Saturday, January 23/2010

Oh my God - I think I see the sun!! Could it be?? The clouds are white. Perhaps the monsoon is over and the sand can dry and Marie can start suntanning again!! I can once again get my vitamin D, which I am sure has been depleted these past few days!!

As the day progressed the rain clouds returned and although they didn't release any rain they made the rest of the day very dreary.

One little note - we have neighbors again. Another motorhome has pulled into the site close to us making Hogan a bit annoyed. He hasn't quit growling since they arrived. Him and I will check out the situation tomorrow.

Friday, January 22/2010

Well, it is morning and we are still in the same campsite so I guess the tornado didn't get us!! It was quite windy at times though. Sometime during the night the rain did stop and this morning there has been only a few sprinkles although the clouds and the sky continue to look quite threatening. The wash is once again just wet sand and all is well. It will be interesting to see the effects of this rain on the desert. I wonder if there will be more green showing, more leaves or flowers. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Hogan and I went for a little walk, can't go too far in case it starts raining again. We met up with Truman (the old prospector) and had a little chat with him then carried on our way. There have been several vehicles out on the trail today - all checking out the effects of the downpour.

With all the wet sand being transported into the bus over the past few days, I decided that it was time to bring out the vacuum and perhaps do a bit of cleaning. God, I hate vacuuming - I really must talk to John about sharing the chores!!

The remainder of the day saw a few more sprinkles but that was about it. Maybe there is some sunshine coming our way tomorrow.

Thursday, January 21/2010

It rained all night and is still raining this morning!! I woke up several times to hear the sounds of rain on the roof. I could hardly wait for the dawn to break so that I could see the wash in action!! Up early - still fairly dark out so I can't see the wash. Hogan is once again impressed with me wiping his sandy feet off when he comes in from outside so I can't imagine that he will be in a hurry to leave the bus again. The rain has been nice and steady - not the hard pounding rain we had previously but a real good soaker!!

I got out my umbrella and Hogan and I walked to the wash (about 50 feet away) and I was quite disappointed to see only wet sand - No rushing water - not even a trickle!! Oh well, maybe next time. There are several little riverlets running through the campsite but, nothing more than what you would see back home during a good rain. It is still quite warm out despite the rain - which is good because, this rain looks like it is an all day thing.

I looked out at the wash about 10AM and what do my wondering eyes see?? Why, it is WATER and man is it traveling!! I quickly grabbed the camera and the umbrella and Hogan and I are out the door - ready to catch the phenomenon on film. WOW!! It was a sight to see - one minute there was just wet sand and the next there was a creek flowing by the camper. Hogan of course had to enter the wash and it was only 2-3" deep so, although it was flowing fast, it was shallow.

Because it was such a dreary day, I decided to be Suzy Homemaker and make some cabbage rolls for supper - can't dance so I might just as well cook!! Only one problem with the cabbage roll idea - NO cabbage in the fridge so I had to make a quick trip into town for a few vital ingredients. Once they were made and cooked, John decided to go for a little tour of the area to see what the rain has done. It was still raining fairly heavily but with camera and the little Flip video camera in hand, off we went. Hopefully some of the video will give you an idea of just how fast the water was flowing.

We headed up towards the highway and found a Road Closed sign across it but of course ignored it and went to see what we could see. We shot some video of the water crossing the highway bringing lots of debris with it. The road itself wasn't bad for the little truck and the water flooding it was not that deep, however, I can see why the county would close it to traffic. Not everyone knows how to drive these conditions properly and I can imagine there is a significant risk of losing control of your vehicle so, better safe than sorry. We turned around and drove back to the sign only to be greeted by the local police who mentioned to us that ignoring a road closed sign is a Criminal Act!! We said we weren't aware of that and he said "Just so you know for next time". So now that he had chastised us for our foolishness, we carried on our way and explored the back country some more.

Once back at home, John read on the internet weather report that not only were the flash flood warnings still out but there was also a tornado warning out!! GREAT!! I always wanted to fly!!

Who knows - maybe we will wake up in the next county tomorrow!!