Another cold spell!

We just survived another 4 days of record cold for our area of Arizona. They were saying on the news that these past few days were colder than any on record for this time of year. Many people lost mature shrubs, trees and plants as a result! We had a couple of nights that went down to -6 & -7 Celsius! The good news was it was also the second driest January on record for our area.

 

This was our fountain at the front of the park the second morning of the cold snap. No one has ever seen ice on it before. It was quite a sight for us. The weather remained sunny throughout which just made it colder at night. The wind howled one day and I am sure with the wind chill factor, it was much colder. Most of us hadn't brought any winter outer wear with us so just had to layer on the clothes to keep warm. After 4 days it quickly warmed up again to the low 70's (20 -21 Celsius) It is amazing how it can warm up again so quickly!

Doug and I did a solo trip into the desert yesterday to do a bit of rock hounding. It was a lovely warm day and I actually got a bit sunburned even though I used sunscreen and wore a hat! We have no idea where we were - it was new to us and we found a great wash that we drove up a bit and then spent a couple of hours pursuing for rocks. It was good fun.

 Sharon walking in the wash

Even though it was warm, I have to wear pants when ATVing as we brush against very thorny bushes and it also keeps my legs clean from all the dust! I usually end up with scratched arms if I don't put my long sleeved shirt on before we traverse again.

We are heading back to the light green coloured hill in the background.

 A wierd looking beetle? spider? Doug saw on a rock in the wash

You have to be careful when turning over rocks as you never know what you might find under or around the rocks. We have seen scorpions and spiders but never one like we saw above. We have no idea what it is

More desert

I can't seem to take enough pictures of the desert. I just love it!! We were supposed to be going on a ride today to an old gold mine in the foothills but the two other women in the group chickened out this morning saying it was too cold and windy so Doug and the men went on their own. I had no desire to go with 5 men on my own. I must say I am disappointed as I was really looking forward to the adventure. Ann and Connie are a couple of wusses! It is definitely windy today but sunny and 65 degrees so not cold. Hopefully Doug will pay attention to the trail and be able to take me out to the mine another time. I told him to take a bunch of pictures so I sure hope he does. I'll do another post tomorrow if he does.