Morning Walk Along the Beach, Critters Galore, Reading and Sunbathing

Elephant Butte Lake State Park

So, on Tuesday, Nov. 19^th I wasted no time. Up at 6:15, dressed with a hoody, wind breaker, my vest, runners and my crocheted scarf, I was ready for a walk. Bill began making his coffee so had understood that I didn’t want my tea made yet. With a good morning kiss, there’s a private little joke there, I was out the door.

this is the main road and it goes almost to the water before
it turns into sand

I could see what was coming as I walked down

It was still a bit dusky but I could see on the eastern horizon that we’d have more sun today than I expected. It was 44F/6C and I’m glad to have found a pair of mini gloves and to have my head scarf to cover my ears. 

I was in a snapping frenzy so it was tough to choose just a few pictures

There was no wind but the brisk air was cool all the same. I headed down the lane towards the lake. I could see a man and his dog along the beach and soon discovered that he was there not only to walk with his best friend but also to snap photos of that beautiful sky.

The pink sky reflections were stunning

Indulge me please, there is still some 'popping' to happen

Each picture had me curious for more so just kept walking across the sand, up hills and down through the shrubbery where bunnies and quails hide. It felt good to get out and get my Fitbit sated again. 

Pop!

At least start the motions of an early morning walk again. Back at the Suite, I was fully heated up and made my tea and sat to read the few blog posts I missed last night. Bill hadn’t opened the blinds yet so I did that to let the sun shine in.

And walking back up the hill, this is us up there on the hill

 By 8:30, Bill and I both were in shorts and he was outside emptying the basement to vacuum and spray for ants. There was another reason for doing this and without taking away from his post I will just say that he has a great idea for some work he wants to do under there. I sat outside in the sun with my book for an hour or so and then came inside for my shower. With that out of the way, I cooked us some bacon and eggs around 10:30. We’d not had them for a few days and they tasted good.

We are about half way down Loop B row

Bill was puttering around outside with various jobs after dishes and I moved out to my lazy, er, relaxing chair. My book was good and it was a good time to read it when I wasn’t tired. The sun was gorgeous and we got up to 72F today. At one point, Bill had moved the satellite dish and when I came inside, he was very happy to have retrieved a good connection. Not the best we’ve had and still in the yellow but good enough to get our programs tonight.

Bill had the basement emptied here

I moved back out even though I was now in the shade. It was still quite warm in my shorts. Clouds had moved in ahead of the showers that are forecast to start tonight. For some reason, we are in for a week of cold weather again. This is really strange. It seems we get a couple of warm and then hot days before it drops off again into abnormally cool temperatures. Fortunately, there is going to be a fair bit of sunshine throughout so that will help and it still isn’t anything like what they’ll be getting back home.

Around 3, I took my book indoors and watched some NCIS reruns with Bill. Now that we are 2 hours behind Ontario time, we have to catch our programs that much sooner. When it is on at 8, we have to watch it on our Shaw tv at 6. That means when Bill is barbecuing supper, like tonight, he needs to start earlier. Plus, it gets dark that much sooner so it is a win win all around.

Critter time!
This woodpecker was pecking at this pathetic branch right outside our window

This guy, can you see him? walked right behind my chair so I gave
Bill the camera and he ended up following him down 3 or 4 campsites

This looks like Mr. & Mrs. Gamble themselves
dressed for an evening out

 We went for a walk to take the garbage to the dumpsters and came back down row Loop A. Once we saw that there were 4 sites to reserve up there, we checked which one was closest to our site, just over the hill. 

They are nice large sites and park staff keep them
looking nice as soon as someone leaves

Jo-Anne, at her end in Brownfield, TX, is trying desperately to get one booked. They will be arriving tomorrow. Yay! Together again. The air has sure cooled off although it doesn’t reflect that on our indoor thermometer.

This is just on the other side of our Suite
Look at how chubby they are

The winds have picked up and we already know that we’ll have high gusts throughout the day tomorrow. Bill says the cool air I mentioned above is coming in from the Pacific coast, not that we feel any better knowing that. Good grief! I’ll stop whining now. 😉 I read another chapter of my book and then prepped the chicken breast and pork chop for the Weber. It has been a while since we’ve had these bbq’d.

And then I saw this guy

I guess I spoke too soon as while Bill lit the bbq and I washed the potatoes, the satellite dish lost its connection. Darn it! We were all set up to watch some programs and record others. Either the heavy clouds or the strong winds were enough to spoil that but never-the-less, no tv tonight unless we want to put a dvd in. Our supper, on the other hand, turned out great! Chicken/chop, baked potato and Caesar salad. Very nice.

Isn't he beautiful?

After dishes, we both sat at our laptops and turned the radio back on. May as well listen to some tunes. This was a great relaxing day. Bill accomplished things and I read quite a few chapters of The Gate House while catching some sun’s rays. This author has created a character in this book that I love. I've laughed out loud many times. 

No complaints about my view at all

I had a great view from where I was sitting and also enjoyed watching the critters running around. We’ve seen more road runners already this year than all of our previous 3 years put together. Now, I just need to find ‘Jack’ and I’ll be 100% content.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your day as well. Thank you for your visit today.

Walk With Me, U.S. Post Office, Ross’s, Cloudy Afternoon

Bill was up at 6:30 on Tuesday, Dec. 4^th with Clemson and they came back to bed where it was cozy and warm. We’re using our Blue Flame heater to keep us warm in the evenings and overnight now. It was 62F in here when we woke up and 47F outside. We all rose around 7:15 and I texted Rob while we had our coffee and tea that we’d meet to walk around 8:30. That worked for him too.

Catching the sunrise on the north side of the mountain

I bundled up and we all 3 took our walking sticks today. This morning, we headed northeast to find and show Rob the Mohave Mountain Catchment for wild animals.  I lagged behind, mainly because I walk slower and I also tend to stop to take pictures. The walk towards the catchment was an incline on pretty rough terrain, even though it was a worn path.

I would often get lost in the view and lag behind

You’d think a ‘worn’ path would be helpful but it was worn into a washboard/rut sort of path so difficult to stay on the straight and narrow. Because of the slow incline, I felt winded easier and my ankles felt the pressure. When we got to our destination on the bend, we used our sticks to guide us up along the fence line to get a better view of what it is the bighorn ship (renowned for this area) come down for and where they drink. Very interesting!

The guys were a fair bit ahead of me at the catchment
You can see the washboard roads

Jill Stewart, a lady I met 2 years ago here, and I found it by accident and Bill and Rob found it equally fascinating. It was about 40 minutes from our starting point so we turned back towards civilization. 

And here you can see where the water is collected

I texted Pat that we were on our way so she wouldn’t worry. We had omelette sandwiches for breakfast on the Tailgater buns we bought at Smith’s last week. Bill turned the generator on so we could use the toaster. The cloudy skies meant ‘don’t expect much solar power’.

We all agreed that this was a great practice to support
the wildlife in this area
We didn't see any bighorn sheep though, I'm sure they have specific morning
and later afternoon appearances 

Bill had a shower and after I washed dishes and then myself, we drove into the city. First the post office to buy stamps and mail some cards and then to the mall where Ross, Dollar Tree and Harbor Freight reside. 

No, not a giant Tarantula, just a dead cactus

Pat and I spent an hour and a half, I guess, shopping around. We each found a couple of baskets, handy for holding things for transport and storage. I also found a cute dress that kind of fell off the hanger into my arms. Fit perfectly, imagine that!

Peekaboo

And the sun popped on the other side when we were almost 'home'

We drove around some of the beautiful subdivisions in Lake Havasu and showed our friends some of the homes. What do these people work at to purchase such stunning beauties? And how the heck do they get their vehicles up their driveways day in and day out? The ones with the rv’s at the top are the most baffling. We sure saw some lovely residences and I have to admit, the most beautiful homes and properties I’ve seen anywhere.

When we left there, Bill drove into the ‘famed’ blm Craggy Wash, north of the airport. We’ve heard so much about this place to camp so decided to check it out. It wasn’t long when we all learned something, uh, “No thank you”. Maybe we’re too particular (fussy) but this isn’t a spot we’d go to boondock unless it was a last resort. Anyway, now we know. I know many have found a nice little haven in here and that is great, it just wouldn't be a place we'd settle in.

We drove home around 2:30 where Clemson was happy that his Daddy made it back on time to feed him his supper. Good grief! We must starve the poor little guy the way he dances around. I caught up on my post and joined Bill in our recliners with my book. After 40 winks, for my sweetie, and probably 10 for me, we realized the day was half over. I got a couple of burgers out of the freezer to beginning thawing and sat back down for an hour.

Bill lit the Weber at 5 and grilled our supper. With all of the toppings, lettuce, mayo, mustard, onion, bacon, cheese, relish and ketchup, we didn’t need a salad on the side. Oh my, it has been a while since I’ve had a burger and these tasted awesome! For dessert, I’d bought a Jellied Salad so we shared some of that.

Driving into Craggy Wash

It is rough and indeed 'craggy'

The rocks are pretty though!

quite the little 'hidey-ho' up there in the cave

After dishes, we watched our programs. NCIS and then some of our recorded programs. It was a quiet evening. The temperature has been a bit cooler than we like but I know when they are getting 0C/32F back home on good days, we shouldn’t complain. We know the warmer weather is coming. 

Jelly parfait
(sugar free!)

Other than a beautiful  picture, I notice spots on my lens again
Time for a cleaning!

We’ve had a fun day again today with a little bit of variety from previous days. I hope you’ve enjoyed whatever you found yourself doing and wherever you are.

and when I thought the show was over........
I saw this
Goodnight!

Thanks for stopping by. Your comments are always welcome!