White and Blue Herons, Circling the Pond, Clemson’s Appointment, Last Day

On Wednesday, Feb. 7^th I was up at 7. Bill didn’t move, I knew he’d been up already at 6 but he was sound asleep again. Clemson didn’t move either by the time I got coffee and teas prepped so off I went for a walk. My goal was to tour the other side of the pond which meant going out of the park.

My little tripod at work
I didn't realize my shoes were reflective!

It was another gorgeous morning and instead of taking a walking stick, I took my funky little tripod. I only have so many hands you know! It was 54F so almost 10 degrees warmer than yesterday when I headed out. I only wore my windbreaker and I was quite comfortable. No wind, that makes a huge difference.

I wished for my good camera and zoom lens
Good morning, Madame Heron

this is a better picture

I stopped at the pond and set up my tripod and got a selfie standing on the dock. It has been a while since I used my little toy. As I was doing this, I noticed the tailless quackers but then I saw a beautiful white heron coming in for a landing. He posed for me so I was able to make sure I had a good picture. After leaving there, I found the road to the fishing dock that could be seen from the south side of the pond.

Strange gnarly cactus

Birds on a Wire
I think it is a community meeting

It is interesting to see where boondockers set up camp. Instead of coming into the park, or maybe waiting for their reservation date, this motor coach was parked along the roadside for the night. Looks like a nice spot with the exception of the traffic. 2 buses and 3 large trucks passed me within 15 minutes which could just be morning workers.

Boondockers and shadow person
They are close to the road but a nice pull off spot
for one night

I found the gravel lane that took me to the pond and there was one pick-up truck there indicating that I was not alone. As I walked to the edge I could see the owner of the truck down fishing off the dock. It wasn’t long and I saw a blue heron doing a swoop around. This is why I was here and I did my best to capture him with our little point and shoot.

I'm not done with the heron yet

Nor am I done with the sunrise
It is so pretty reflecting on the pond

told ya

The road was hard packed gravel so you could drive on it

From the north, looking across at Yuma Lakes RV Park

After wandering around a bit, I retraced my steps back to the road. I didn’t know how long I’d been gone, it seemed like quite a while so hurried my step. I like it when Bill and I have our first cuppa together. 

He said he wasn't catching anything
Probably because the herons were getting lucky

Mister Blue Heron

If you can see through the blur, I see the beginnings
of a beautiful relationship OR
she's saying "it's about time you got home!"

This picture is looking across the pond to the entrance to the park

He was out with Clemson at the front of the Suite and informed me that he had just got up so good timing on my part. We read a bit and talked about the day ahead.

dragging his leash, Clemson comes to greet me

We had an appointment for Clemson to get his bath and haircut at Pet’s Smart for 11:30 so we had our showers and had a poached egg on toast. That should fill us for a few hours. We drove to P.S. and left the little guy with Alivia, even though it was clear he didn’t want to stay. She had to pick him up as we were leaving. We decided to split up.

From this full grown palm tree, a baby grows at the base

Look quickly and you can see that this elephant is
trying to decide if he can go on the grass

I was having some browsing/shopping withdrawal symptoms so a good fix was for Bill to leave me at it. No point in him following me around, neither of us would enjoy that. So, I told him to go do what he wanted, Harbor Freight and O’Reilly’s and I would meander into Old Navy, Beall’s and Ross’s. Oh my, do I love Ross’s! They have nice clothes, nice sales and although long line-ups, friendly staff.

He appears happy here and ready for a new do

You don’t need to ask if I found anything because I did and I’m very happy now. When I was in Beall’s, the last stop, I was checking out wallets. Mine is in need of replacement but it is difficult to find one with all the features I want. It has to have a place for my DL, a zippered or snap coin pocket, a place for bank cards as well as a slot for paper bills. Full length paper bills, not folded ones.

Love everything about my new wallet
even the colour, it will be easy to see in my purse

Bill called while I was checking them out. Pet Smart called and Alivia said she was unable to clip Clemson today, he was panicked (?) and she wasn’t comfortable moving ahead. Oh no! He was leaving Harbor Freight and I stopped debating price on ‘the’ perfect wallet and checked out. I was closer so walked back to their store to retrieve the little guy. Of course, my heart was in my throat thinking what happened to him?

Clemson is still walking quite briskly
even on these slippery floors!

When she brought him out he was wrapped in a blanket, wet and shivering from just coming out of the bath. She explained that he freaked out at the blow dryer and started barking and barking. Hmm, Clemson? If you know our pooch, barking is not something you often hear from him, so this is weird. She was uncomfortable trimming him, afraid she would panic him even more. Fair enough.

"wait a minute, where are you guys going?"

She had managed to trim his nails and clean his ears before his bath and graciously apologized, told us to keep the towel and said it was no charge. Well, that was nice of her. We still have a fluffy dog in need of a hair cut although he is clean and he now has his very own pretty blue towel. It is unfortunate because we know he feels the 80+ temperatures more than us. We’ll just utilize our a/c more often during the day to help him cope and try again in Sierra Vista later in the month.

We drove home and at my request, we stopped at Luz’s Cactus Garden on our corner so I could see what she offered. No vegetables, mostly dried fruit, nuts, honey, dates and other packaged munchies. Pleasant pretty gal, she was friendly and welcomed me to browse. All I left with was 3 grapefruit for $1 but at least now I know. We grabbed a bite to eat and Bill and Clem went up for a snooze. At 2:30 it was time for me to get changed and walk up to the pool. This is our last day here and I would like another swim.

Another picture taken on my morning walk
I  thought seeing the white duck/goose was cool
and then I saw the heron

I walked up to the pool and took a dip right away. It was a dip that lasted 30 minutes and then I sat out to dry off and read my book. At 3:45 I texted Bill to see if he was going to join me and he was instead putting things away for our move tomorrow. No problem, so I got back in the water and floated around chatting with Barb and another lady who’s name I missed.

Hilarious parrot stories she was telling us, made me think of Nancy K. When the sun began hiding and the pool was partially in the shade, I got out and sat for another few minutes. It was 4:30 when I walked back to the Suite and found Bill and Clemmy outside, reading. Even though it got to 80+ today, there was a nice breeze and, in the shade, that breeze gave me a chill after the swim.

Many of us in the park are trying to figure this huge house out
It must be like townhouses, there are 6 garages

Early today, before we went to Yuma, I started a soup with a Ham hock, potatoes, chicken broth, onion, garlic, carrots and peas. The Suite was smelling awesome all afternoon. We hadn’t really decided what to have for supper but Bill (the one who doesn’t care that much for soup on a hot day) suggested we have the soup. That way he could put the Weber Q away too.

To spruce the soup up, I made some dumplings and dropped them in on top of the broth. Outside we got into a conversation with Judy and Bill next door and Verna, our Scottish friend. She has such a lovely accent and such verbal diarrhea that we just love listening to her. Bill took Clemson over to meet Sara, their 5 yr old Doberman. One of the calmest large dogs I've met. By the time the dumplings would be done, close to 7 we came inside and had supper. That was delicious!

         My soup/stew with dumplings
and leftovers! 

Here I am downloading pictures and finishing my post after dishes. Bill is reading, Fluffy Clemson is dozing in my chair. It has been a wonderful day here again today. I feel content. We’ve met a lot of people here in this park and although I can’t keep their travel routes after they leave here straight, I know they are enjoying their adventure as much as we are enjoying ours. I hope you have all had a great day too.

Still morning sun as I walked back into the park
Okay now I'm done.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to drop me a note. I read and respond to every one.