March and April

I started this post in early April.

I was really getting "hitch itch" as we whiled away the last few weeks of our winter stay at Jojoba Hills. In March we went down to the border town of Los Algodones, Mexico to get a little dental work taken care of. Craig had a very old crown come off that he needed  to have replaced. I needed a cleaning and ended up getting a "deep cleaning" on one quadrant because I had a pretty deep pocket next to one of my teeth. We go to Sani Dental and have been very satisfied with their work over the years.

I also do enjoy looking at all the colorful goods offered by the vendors, and as usual did buy one little thing: a new handbag. I had hoped to find some yard art, but the only things that grabbed my attention were the colorful ones, and I learned they require recoating with lacquer every six months or so if kept outside. I don't want anything that needs attention to look nice!

We spent a very nice low key Easter Sunday at our daughter's home in San Diego. Coincidentally, April 1 was the fifth anniversary of the sale closing of our mountain home. Time flies!  

We spent another week there in mid-April as dog-sitters when they (daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons) went to Houston for the National FIRST Robotics competition. We enjoyed watching the Regional near San Diego recently.

The boys have been very active on their school robotics team, which qualified for one of two National finals.  This was the last competition for the older grandson. He will be heading off to college at MIT in Boston next fall. We are very proud of them both.

The weather here at Jojoba Hills has been wonderful this winter. We have had very few cold or gloomy days, and on the other hand, not many extra-hot ones. 

Saturday night there was a very nice sunset to enjoy. At the other site we could see the sunset from our windows, at the new site there is a tree blocking the view, but if we step out we can see the western sky quite well.  

And now I have found a nice spot on our site where we can put our chairs and enjoy the sunsets.

This is the view from the center of the road outside our coach. Not much traffic! I can stand out in the center of the road without danger. The speed limit is 9 1/2 MPH, and most vehicles are golf carts.

Sunset, zoomed in.

The passenger side of our coach faces southeast. The clouds often catch some sunset color as well.  

I know I have written that Jojoba Hills was built by volunteers, and that the members/residents help with maintenence by tackling tasks according to their abilities.

 Above, one of our more flexible members is repainting the pavement stop signs. Yes, she is a "senior citizen." But she also teaches Zumba!

Many RVers have pets.

Our neighbor across the street has an enclosed garden where three  Desert Tortoises live.

They do travel in their motorhome, but they stay at Jojoba in the winter, and one of the full-timer summer residents cares for the garden and keeps them fed and watered.

Tommy is the big male above. Our neighbor had his father and mother as a boy, and Tommy was the result of one of their clutches of eggs. You know he gave them really good care because they have had sucessful offspring! Tommy's mother is one of the three. 

They like roses. 

The smaller tortist is called Rosie. She was a "rescue."

Last year she was a bit shy and avoided Tommy, but now she is willing to get right in there and claim her fair share of the flower.

All gone! You can see the size difference between them.

After eating she went into the shallow water dish and our neighbor sprayed her. He said that they like to get wet down even though they are desert criitters.

The end of April full moon is called the "pink" moon. Not because it is actually pink, but for the many pink flowers that will be in bloom soon. (Except it seems in California, where yellow is the dominant color for wild blooms.)

It was quite bright, and rose over the hills beyond our back yard.

The picture was taken our last night at Jojoba Hills for the season. We set out for our summer travels first thing Monday, April 30th. an are now in Las Vegas at the Duck Creek RV park.

Watch for more frequent posts!  We are on the move.

Arches National Park

The drive from Panguitch to Moab was smooth. We did have some significant uphill grades, but downshifting kept the engine temperature within the safe range. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. I grew up in a mid-west city, and spent most of thirty years in the coastal mountains of California. I am awed by the huge rock formations at every turn. 

Our current location at Archview RV Park is close to two National Parks and at least one major State Park. 

On Thursday we headed over to Arches National Park. I could post several hundred images of what we saw there, but I will try to limit it to a few.

One of the many enormous fins of sandstone.  This is several city blocks long.

   Of course I can't have a post about rocks without at least one dead tree.

These are called the North and South Window, but other rock people would prefer to call them The Spectacles.

The more you look at rocks, the more things you start to see.
We called this group the Three Kings:

Then I spotted this grumpy bearded man:

This cloud formation seemed to mimic the rock pile to the left:

It did get a bit stormy for a short while. We stayed in the Jeep and had our lunch sandwiches during a brief cloudburst, but it passed and the sunshine returned.

 Of the "over two thousand" arches in the park, the Double Arch was one of our favorites. Notice how tiny the people look!

Speaking of favorites, I really like this closeup Craig took looking up at the Double Arch above him.

There are many odd piles of rock in the park. One wonders why some tumble down and some stay up. This is the most famous of the balancing rocks.

We will be going back for at least one more day since we still have so much to see, but it probably won't be until next week sometime.

Meanwhile these are a couple of local residents we saw:

As Judy would say: "The End"!