Birds of the Desert

Snowbirds are not the only creatures that venture south for the winter. There are numerous species of migratory birds that winter in the desert including Canada Geese. The most prolific birds we saw were the Humming Birds. They were everywhere! Here is a sampling of birds both in and out of captivity. I never left home without my camera.

The Last Road Pictures

I always find it interesting the way the topography changes as the miles drift by. Sometimes the changes are gradual and other times they are quite abrupt. With eyes glued to the road in the rain, it is a pleasure when it clears up a bit and you can see beyond the mist thrown up by the truck in front of you.

Close to Weed, California, (what does it say when they name a town after a noxious plant) the snow was quite evident and we even saw small patches of it in the ditches. We passed numerous warning signs such as this one, as well as large overhead read-a-boards but they all remained unlit and that was fine with us.  

We stopped at most Rest Stops and took a quick stroll before getting back in the car for more driving. We find this helpful to reduce fatigue in the body as well as in the mind. The USA has a good network of these stops and they are a vital safety feature. We noticed that a few of them were closed, blocked off. We made some inquiries and found that it was due to state funding cuts. California is on the verge of bankruptcy and they cut back where they can. The new governor, Jerry Brown, is tackling the deficit by taking the bus to his new offices. That should work.

In a few years, the pot holes in the freeway, which were just starting in many places, will be hazards. Many places where we stopped had very much evidence of hard times. There were even people begging at some of these rest stops, something we had never encountered before.

Lake Shasta, always a jewel. We have seen the water level much lower than this, so we can see why the rain was welcome here. There was a very large construction project on the highway here, building a bridge over an arm of the lake. It was one of the few new projects we saw anywhere.

That California Winter Look

Travelling the I5 in the winter can be tricky. Usually there is only rain from Seattle to Grant's Pass. After that, it can change in a moments notice when the winter storms sweep in from the Pacific and hit the higher elevations. We got lucky this year. Rain on the way down, and warm showers on the way home. Of course, the down side to that is that it is a bit grey and boring. Central California is especially grey. We had no blue sky from Mojave to Sacramento.

There is that long stretch where all one can do is count trucks and how many times we pass the same ones, and watch out for 'smokies' because everyone is driving over the limit.

How many millions of nut trees and fruit trees did we pass? It is hard to say but I would not want to prune them all. The rows are insanely perfectly straight and they go as far as the eye can see. They are up to their armpits in fruit and nuts in this country but when you go to a farmers market or see a truck selling produce in the parking lot of a gas station, you can be sure it will be twice what we pay at home. Oranges are being harvested now and we passed so many trucks carrying tons of them. Yet, they sell them for almost twice what we pay at home, where there are no oranges growing anywhere.

On the way south, we spotted these, the first palm trees and orange trees and we got really excited. Somehow, going north gives one a different perspective on the same trees. Not so excited. More than once I was tempted to take I5 south after filling up with gas and see how long before busylizzy saw through my ploy.  

You know you are heading north when the shorts and T-shirts are replaced with jeans and hoodies. A few more miles down the road, the hoodies were replaced with parkas. busylizzy is sporting a fake smile. She likes the warm better than the cold.  

And the last orchard of any type we saw before we hit the sheep and cattle country of Oregon was an Olive Grove. These are interesting and beautiful trees with their gnarled charm.

These Olive trees are confused. On one branch there are hard green, rosy cheeked early ripe, pinky red all over, black ripe, and old shrivelled ready to fall off olives. My theory is that they are picked all at once and then dyed either green or black. That way they all taste terrible and become destined to make a perfectly good pizza taste terrible too.

You Cannot Escape Shopping

Jim and Dawna had been up this highway the day before and wanted us to see the view from the lookout point. This is Highway 74 that is an extension of Monterey Drive, the road only two blocks from our street.

It was a clear day and view was spectacular for more than 180 degrees. This is looking eastward. Behind that mountain ridge is Indio and LaQuinta.

If you are a 'driver' like I am, you will marvel at this road that takes you up a 6% grade for several miles, turning on itself many times. Not for the queasy or those prone to car sickness. ('Click' on it) 

Besides the view, what do we find in the viewing area but a Hopi Indian lady displaying all the jewellery and pottery her kids have made. She was from Arizona, or so she said. Her 'stuff' was beautiful and busylizzy bought some ear rings. Each display blanket was a different colour "so I know which kid gets what money"

The pottery was exquisite!

You just never know when a shopping opportunity will arise, even in the middle of the desert on the top of a pile of rocks.

Disclaimer: For those of my readers from our church, as you well know, there is an excellent series of sermons going on now regarding 'bling'. I am rubbing our noses in it a bit and in actual fact, we purchased very little bling and had this in mind at every shopping opportunity. Our purchases on our trip were by far practical and of very good value. Having said that, the whole trip was 'BLING' so who am I to speak. :)

Palm Desert Golf

The Palm Desert area is a golfer's paradise. One does not realise how many golf courses there are here because so many of them are behind the walls and the berms that protect them from snoops and sneaks. However, get to elevation and it becomes quite evident that the Coachella Valley is riddled with golf courses. One of the most intriguing is the Iron Eagle course that I wanted to see, but it is off the beaten track and accessible only via private driveway. Until one hikes the Hopalong Cassidy trail. As one gets to the lighted cross on the hill, the view to the backside of the course tells all. In the photo above, the famous Big Horn course is in the bottom left. Above and in the dry hills is the Iron Eagle Course. This photo was taken from the lookout near the top of the highway that crests the mountains and then goes southward to Hemet. Click on it for a better view.

The contrasts are striking. Keep in mind that I was using a telephoto lens to bring everything closer.

By a quirk of nature, the acoustics here were amazing. Perhaps the wind, the contour of the hills, or a combination, but I could hear every word these golfers were saying.

Seeing this course from above was an unexpected but delightful bonus for sticking it out on the longest hike we attempted. Effort does have its rewards. Next goal ... actually play it.

Living on the Edge ... of the Road.

Our last night on the road was in Umpqua (Roseburg) at the Holiday Inn Express. We heard this gentle rushing noise all night and in the  morning realised the source. It was the Umpqua River flooding! This photo is from our hotel room balcony. All of Oregon was in Flood Alert from heavy rains. We thought we would be in for a day of driving in the rain, not my favourite thing to do.

After filling the tank with tax free gas for the last time, we headed out and much to our delight we had sunshine. To make things interesting, I took to having my camera strung around my neck to take some action shots of the road. Here we are, following my least favourite kind of truck. They make me nervous, especially when the sticks start falling off. (We have real logs here in BC)  

The sun was short lived but the scenery was wonderful. Most of the trip is great to look at except for a long dismal part in mid California.

A bit more sun and then we were headed into a nasty bunch of rain clouds. Note the lack of traffic. It was light until Portland and then very heavy almost to Bellingham.

And then we drove into the wall of water. Was I Pharaoh heading into the sea after the Children of Israel? That was not fun and lasted for about 50 miles.

They say all good things must come to an end. Well, that applies to bad things too. And as the deluge stopped abruptly, there was a rainbow!

And just down the road, another one. We witnessed at least a half dozen rainbows driving through Oregon and southern Washington.

Driving and photographing at the same time is not for the faint of heart. One must compose and shoot very fast and expect to be deleting many photos. I made sure there was never a semi on either side of me as the car seems to wander a bit while I am peering through my view finder. It certainly is a great way to stay awake while driving. On the other hand, it is probably a way to die also. busylizzy was puzzling as to what she would put on the traffic report if something happened. It would probably make an episode of TV's "World's Worst Drivers". But then, I like living on the edge every so often.  

Oh look! There's a smokey parked in the median. Quick, put the camera in the back seat.

Day 36 The Last day of Vacation

It is late and I am too bushed to post any photos tonight. We had a wonderful day of driving with only a few intermittent showers in Washington Sate. The traffic in Seattle is insane and we are fortunate to get through that gauntlet unscathed. It was 5 seconds at the border crossing and next thing we knew, we were home. 
Now, to wade through the piles of mail and messages. I was able to keep up to emails and most phone calls while in Palm Desert, but now it becomes urgent to follow up. 
Tomorrow will be a 'catch-up' day, and a chance to see my Pop to see if he still knows me. Nice to see the mild weather at home and best of all, no snow. 
Off to the showers now to wash away a month of tan. In no time at all, I will be all white and pasty like the rest of you. Ah, but the memories will linger.