HUMMER

DUNE EVENING PRIMROSE

TWO BABIES!

MOM OR DAD

Only one more day for us here in the Colorado Desert. This week we have been preparing for departure. Tuesday we cleaned the house from top to bottom: ceilings, walls, floors and everything in between. While we had things cleaned up we pulled in the walls and drove down the road to our friendly Flying J for a propane fill up. Today Duane worked our last four hours this morning. I sat around reading. After lunch we drove to the BLM land outside Joshua Tree National Park. The Escapees boondockers were camped there, so we drove up the big hill for a short visit. The little hummingbird was nesting on the tree watching our 'happy hour' party. The nest was as big around as a quarter! Back home we hiked the Mc Callum trail. The adult owl was sitting just off the trail a little above eye level. While Duane was photographing one baby, he saw another scramble into the corner. We know that blurry business in the corner is another baby by its coloring. A few minutes later it disappeared. Before we left the adult flew away and the babies hunkered down out of sight. We noticed the primroses were sporting three colors. The new blooms are white, turning pink and then purple as they fade. Beautiful to the end. Tomorrow our plan is to hike to McCallum early to see what we can see. We are having lunch with our neighbors and our boss, then will pack up the car. A full day!

Basta por hoy

Louise and Duane

Iguana

My latest carving

Zebra Tailed Lizard

Iguana

Iguana

I just finished this walking stick. I made it to give to our boss Ginny, she loved it. I went looking for the Desert Iguana tonight and was successful as you see. It is getting really warm now and the lizards are getting more active. It reached 85 here. Louise turned on the air conditioning today after we got home from the store. I will start getting things ready to travel tomorrow.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Mom and baby owl

Mom and baby owl

Just had to post this new find here at the preserve. This is first day we have seen the baby in the nest. Our boss who is a specialist in owls, says there are most likely 3 or 4 babies in the nest. We will keep watching. 11 days and counting before heading out on the road again.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

SAND BLAZING STAR
FLOWER BEETLES

WHIPTAIL LIZARD

CHUCKWALLA LIZARD

We're back! Well we weren't really gone, but we have been busy. We've been hiking around the spring desert viewing the beautiful wildflowers and the very active lizards. The chuckwalla isn't moving much, but the whiptail was hunting, and, well, you can see the flower beetles were exercising. The large one was going forward and the small one was walking backward. The photo of the blazing star doesn't do it justice. The center actually looks as if it's glowing with candlelight.

In our previous post I mentioned I wasn't feeling well. Thankfully that only lasted a day. I have been feeling fine as well as has Duane. We have only 13 days left here, and are looking forward to being on the road again. We will use the last week to thoroughly clean the sand out of the house and put things back where they belong. Duane is getting his last couple of carving projects done and I am getting some sewing done before I put away the machine for a while. When we aren't working or hobbying, we'll be walking around the trails trying to get more fantastic pix for you to enjoy!

More desert later,

Louise and Duane