Night time in the Desert

Well last night (Saturday March 19th) was a full moon and a special one at that! The moon's orbit was as close to the earth as it is going to be for the next 20 years. It was supposed to look huge as a result so we decided last night was a good night to go out into the desert and have a wiener roast and watch the moon rise. There were the three couples and a single fellow, Brian who lives in the park full time. We pulled out from the RV park about 6pm and headed into the desert. It was a very warm day, about 88 degrees so still very warm when we left. Still it is the desert and it certainly cools once the sun goes down so we were looking forward to the fire.

 We were getting settled in and lighting the fire. Doug had brought his fire barrel and it worked wonderful!

 The fellows brought fire starter cubes so the fire started with no trouble

 Ann, Sharon & Connie guarding the fire

 The moon is rising behind the saguaro

 It was such a beautiful site sitting out in the peaceful desert, around a fire with good drink, food & friends

 The moon was so huge it was almost daylight it was so bright

 It didn't take us long to get hungry and start roasting those hotdogs

 The fire was mesmerizing! Ask Ann!!

 More moon pictures

 Of course you can't have a campfire without a few ghost stories!

 The moon is getting higher

 Well the fire is going down and it is time to head in (10pm)

Doug guided us in and I was very impressed. Once we headed down the road everything looked foreign to me and I would never have found my way home! Doug got us all home safe and sound. We sure slept well after all the good desert evening air! We were almost home when my ball cap flew off into the night so I guess we'll head out for a drive in the morning to see if we can find it.

Sunday morning, a beautiful warm day with a bit of overhead cloud that makes it feel even warmer. Supposed to be in the high 80's again today. We headed out on a ball cap retrieval trip about 10am and saw our first cacti starting to bloom. The blooms are behind this year because of the two extreme cold spells we had this winter.

 Hedgehog cactus is just now starting to bloom

 My lonely ball cap sitting right where it flew off my head last night!

 The Ocotilla are just coming out in their beautiful orange blooms. We'll have to go back out in a few days to see them in full bloom

 Doug walking off down the road, I think he got tired of waiting for me as I was taking too many pictures! It gave me a chance to get behind the wheel and drive the ATV for the remainder of the trip

 Another Ocotilla but it is just starting to bloom also

 I keep warning Doug the rattlers are now out but he persists in walking out in the desert. Good thing he has life insurance (you notice I didn't say "good thing his wife is a nurse!")

 A dead saguaro cactus skeleton

 You have to look close but we spotted a snake going between the two bushes

 A closer look at the snake

I am sure I won't hear the end of this, but I was driving down the trail and this snake was in the middle of the road. I thought it was just a tree branch until Doug called out snake. Well I gave a shreek and drove right over it and kept going. As you can see, I didn't run over it as it was moving just fine across the desert. Doug made me stop and back up so he could get pictures. I would have been just as happy to keep on truckin. Doug thought it was a diamond back rattler but I think it was a bull snake as I didn't see any rattles on its tail. Not that it really matters, it was one darn big snake and it gave me the creeps!

 

Two hawks flying over head - now they do love those snakes

 I thought this was a neat picture. It is a fallen cholla cactus that is dried up

That's all the news for now. We have closed on our house and now have the title and registration but the old owners are not vacating till March 28th so another week and we'll be moving in! More news then