Sunsets, Breakfast time, Verizon pt. 2

The day I groomed the dogs, Marcia said there was a nice sunset going on that evening…I did not feel like going out and taking it, so she took this out her window.

On Thursday I took this shot above just as the sun was hitting the horizon…

    

Last night I took these two above…and to the east I took these two below, each within minutes of each other.

    

Sunsets without clouds are not as vibrant and interesting as those in cloudless skies…but sunsets are nice no matter how you look at them.

    

Got up about 6 this morning, let the dogs out just before 7, and by 7:15 Skruffy was in my lap just staring at me.  “Sorry little girl, it is too early…”  She wants her breakfast.  I really try and keep them on a 8 am and 8 pm schedule, with adjustments as we pas through time zones.  She can really give me that look…but it was 8 am when they finally ate.  Bubba just sat there in his chair (the driver’s chair) and tried to ignore what I was doing…until I said to him, “I know you see me Bubba…”, then he jumped down and by the time I had their food ready, he as jumping around like a 2 year old child.

I should have just ordered a new antenna from Amazon instead of messing with the Verizon store.  I think the older antenna I had worked for 3G and early 4G, but not the 4G LTE bandwidth.  So I ordered a new Wilson Antenna and adapter cord through Amazon and I am having it shipped to an Amazon Drop Box here Phoenix…it will be in on Sunday (cross my fingers).  I am sure that will do the trick.  Here we get 1-2 bars of 4G, but it is faster than the 2-3 bars of 4G we got up in Camp Verde and over in Cottonwood…but just barely. 

Did some laundry today, we did some Sam's Club shopping Thursday, and on Monday before we leave we will fill up at Fry's Grocery Store, just a few miles from the Cave Creek Entrance, with more veggies, water and diet tonic water before we head north.  It might be 5-7 days before we walk into a grocery store again, and up to 10 days before we walk into a large grocery store.  I hope by then that we will be camping near Pikes Peak…yes, Colorado is still in our plans, after a brief visit at the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and south-east Utah.

Cave Creek Regional Park—Return Visit

We return to Phoenix with heavy hearts with the loss of Marcia’s long time friend, lifelong friend, Joyce.  While in the Smoky Mountains we found out that things looked real bad.  Joyce had walked into the hospital on Thursday, by Friday she was bed ridden.  On Sunday we decided to alter our trip to try and make it out to Phoenix as quick as we could with still getting promised visits in with Marcia’s relatives in Indiana, and my doctor appointment, which I moved up, in Arkansas.  Well, we did not even get out of Indiana before Joyce passed away on Wednesday from Leukemia.  We are here now to see her daughter Laurie, and attend the Celebration of Life on Sunday where all of Joyce’s adult children will be there…many of whom Marcia has not seen for many years.

This is our second or third time at Cave Creek.  The first picture shows us in the pull-through, the last available for a week, while this picture above is what our door opens up to.  No grass for the kids, but this sandy gravel is something they don’t seem to mind…no stickers to deal with.

    

This time of year there are few people in the park, although I expect the weekend will bring in a few more.  We did not make reservations because that cost extra…and I could tell from the website that there were many sites to choose from for a full week, over half of the spots…so I don’t expect it to get too busy at all.

Our drive down from Camp Verde was not long, about 70 miles, but the wind did not make it easy.  About half way there is a rest area, and we stopped just to give my hands a rest because we were being blown back and forth a lot at times.  On the outskirts of Phoenix there is a Walmart and a Denny’s…we did Denny’s first so that we would not buy all the junk food that we can’t have.  Denny’s are Denny’s, but we had an exceptional server named Candice, and that made Denny’s feel more like a real restaurant this time.  Then nearly an hour in Walmart, and getting out of there for under $100, we put our stuff away, I re-hooked up the car, and off we went to Cave Creek.

After a bit of a rest, Skruffy and I stepped outside to see what we could see.  Most of the following pictures were taken sitting around this table…

I just love Quail…and I don’t mean the “taste” to Quail, I mean I love seeing them, and hearing them.  This one skirted along the road behind the motorhome…when they start a running, you don’t have much time to take the picture.

    

It looks like the bunny and Skruffy were having a stare down.  In the picture to the right, just follow her nose and you will see the bunny.  Unfortunately, Skruffy did not see the Bunny at all, even though it was that close.  Her poor Diabetic eyes are just not what they use to be.  Her hearing and her smell seem to be more enhanced, but she is more startled by loud noises, and if Marcia and I are laughing at a TV show, she will even go hide in the bedroom.

This little guy was just as happy as can be on top of this saguaro cactus.  The cactus was far away, and many of the shots did not come out very clear.  Not sure what type of bird this is, I know there are many birds that love saguaros…but I think this is a Gila Woodpecker.

This guy walked right in front of us.  Skruffy did see it, but she ignores most birds.

This pair were out under the ‘tent’ looking area just outside our campsite.  For awhile I thought I was going to have an “Adult Blog” today…but one of them finally just chased the other one away.

It looks like we are a few weeks too late for most of the desert blooms…

But regardless, it is nice to be back in the desert at Cave Creek.