Summer in the Desert (07-22-15)

What is the desert like in the heat of the summer?  Well, since I don’t expect anyone in their right minds will be experiencing it any time soon, I will tell you.



It’s Hot.  Always. This is not photo shopped. Trust me.  The heat is so intense you can literally feel it burning your skin.

There is a constant hum in the background- and when it’s missing, you notice it, look at the thermometer and realize that the temperature has, indeed, dropped below 90*, and both air conditioners have shut off (this is a rare occurrence).

Usually when this happens, you are asleep, because the temperature usually only drops that low at about 2 am.

For anyone working outside, the work day starts at 5 am.  That includes the crew working across the lane from us, unfortunately. By 2 pm, you do NOT want to be outside working.  In fact, with a UV index of 11, you don’t even want to be outside swimming in the (very warm) pool in the afternoon.

There are creatures that are around in the summer time that aren’t really noticeable in the winter.  I have not seen a scorpion yet, nor a rattlesnake, but Paul saw a rattlesnake that had had an unfortunate accident with the automatic gate to the RV park.

Many of Paul’s projects lately have been related to summer heat.

To help our air conditioners keep up with the heat, he built sun shades to keep the sun from directly hitting the side of the trailer- this also helps the refrigerator.

On the other side of the trailer, in addition to sunshade, we also have misters that we run- although- since it by 10 pm it has usually only cooled off to 100*, the only time we sat outside was the day it rained and the temperature went down to 82!

The roof of the Jeep used to be black. When Paul tested to see how hot it was, it was  about 160*.  Painting it white dropped the temperature about 40 degrees. He also added insulation on the interior of the roof.

We keep our shades drawn (think “cave”) and fans circulating the air.  We bought “pillows” to put in the ceiling vents to keep the heat out.  At this point, the air conditioners have managed to mostly keep up, so as long as neither of them break down, we should be OK.

Whenever I talk about how hot it is with someone, they are happy, it seems, to inform me that I “ain’t seen nothin yet”.  They always say “just wait till August- when the heat is still unbearable, and the humidity spikes.” Oh Joy.  Something to look forward to!

Summer is Monsoon, or “rainy” season. I made Paul back up so I could get this priceless picture.

  

All kidding aside, there ARE some serious storms that blow through this area.  Just 3 days ago there was a storm that took out a bridge on Rte 10, a major interstate.  Luckily no one was hurt, but the bridge is still out.

 

Whenever it looks like rain, we get the cameras ready and try to figure out where the best show will be, here at the RV park, or up at the house.  (Yes, I cheated to get these pictures. I took a movie, and then took stills from it )

Our new neighbors assure us that we will have the best seats in town to watch the storms rolling in

(we didn’t bother to tell them we won’t be here in the summer).

 
Of course, we try to escape here as often as we can, in the camper, and will continue to do that.  Unfortunately, the heat is such that we don’t dare leave any thing that could be susceptible to heat  in the camper, so all that stuff “lives” in a bin on the couch.  Can’t leave cat food, toothpaste, cooking oil, or even cleaners, since we don’t know how they’d react in extreme temperatures. 






 

Leaving a bin full of stuff on the couch is a small price to pay though, since it gets us that much closer to escaping to reasonable temperatures whenever we have the opportunity.

House Update

Wow, once the start gun went off, the crew has been going like gangbusters!

The frames for the exterior walls were built, but not put up for a few days because a storm was in the forecast. Once the weather cleared, they seemed to go up in the blink of an eye.

This one gives you an idea of how big the RV garage will be- 65’ long, 18’ wide.

Next came the interior walls.  This is the walk-in pantry in the kitchen.

When they had just finished the cement, Paul and I thought the house looked way too small, but now that the walls are going up, it seems to be growing.  This is the rear of the house.

Today was the day for the trusses.  The crane showed up before 6 AM to start lifting those massive pieces up to the roof.

These guys are like a well oiled machine, and the trusses went up in no time!

Of course, the neighbors have all been curious, and many of them have come over to introduce themselves and see what’s going on. We’ve met quite a few of our neighbors already, and hope they keep coming over to say hi!

Desert Surprises (03-04-14)

Paul and I managed to fit in two hikes before we left the Phoenix area.  The first one was supposed to be the Siphon Draw trail to the Flat Iron Trail. 

This is a 6-7 mile hike with 3200 feet of elevation gain. We didn’t make it to the top- after 2 hours of hiking we were only half way there and 1700 feet still to climb. At the top of this picture you an see the Flat Iron portion of the trail.  It does look like an iron.  If you enlarge the picture (click on it)  you will see the little tiny people on the trail.

   We didn't get on the trail early enough in the day to make the whole trip.  Once we got to the basin part, the going got a little slippery and slow going. The trail is pretty steep. It wasn't anything we couldn't handle, but I got concerned about making it back down. Sometimes going down is more dangerous than going up.  I saw many people scooting down on their butts.  I’m not proud- if scooting on my butt is what keeps me from falling, so be it.

Once we had gone as far as I was willing to go, we sat down and enjoyed the view while we ate lunch.

Paul decided he wanted to explore a bit further, so I waited for him while he climbed higher up the mountain.  If it looks like he is going straight up, it’s because he is!

   

Once he was on the other peak he called out to me, and I took a few pictures of him. If you look carefully you can see him standing along the ridge.

It turns out I was worried for nothing, and going back down the slick rock was slow, but not too slippery.  If we come back, I’d be willing to try again to get to the top.

Dutchman’s Trail

The second trail we hiked was actually a combination of the Dutchman’s Trail and the Bluff Spring Trail, in the Tonto National Forest.

Here’s where most of the “surprise” came into play.  The views from the Siphon Draw trail were dramatic and although the views along the Dutchman’s trail were great, they didn't really compare. 

The combination of the two trails was about 9.5 miles long, and took us over 6 hours.  There wasn't a ton of elevation gain, but I stopped to take a million pictures, which slowed us down.

Hiking in the desert after a spring rain brings many surprises.  First of all, there is the water- quite a few streams and waterfalls were running that usually aren't.

The water turns everything green.

The greenery brings out the “wildlife”

 

….and the color and variety of flowers  was absolutely amazing:









    

It was an excellent hike.

We've now left Mesa and have actually been in Los Angeles visiting our daughter for the last few days.  That, of course, will be a different post.

More Desert Fun (01-27-14)

Part of the attraction of Quartzsite Arizona in January is what they call the “Big Tent” RV Show.  It’s a huge temporary RV market place. We like meandering through all the vendors, although we never buy very much.

  This year the big “score” was a small but versatile table. It’s very light weight and when you take the top off, it becomes a foot rest.  I think about 8 of us in the group bought one of these tables.

Life in the desert is never boring.  A few days ago we had a pot luck/spaghetti dinner for about 40 people. 

Although it seems like lots of our fun revolves around food, it’s not always the case.  This time the meal was special because we were honoring Lee, one of our friends who had been full timing for many years, by himself. He’s now in his late 80s and still going strong.  Jeri read a proclamation declaring it “Lee” or “IYQ” (his name on the forum) Day.  It was a great opportunity for us to let him know we respect and appreciate him and his sense of humor!

Since we had everyone together, we decided it would be a good night to get a group picture. Well, tons of fun was had while waiting for the sun to dip below the horizon. It seems we lined up for the picture way too early so we had to sit for quite a while.

What a difference a professional makes! This was taken with my camera while we were still waiting for the correct sun configuration.

 

Eventually the sun was in the right spot and the official picture was taken by Carol Dwyer, one of several professional photographers in our group.








Once the sun had set Dave and Paul lit the Chinese lantern that Paul and I have been carrying around for two years.  Its kind of like a mini hot air balloon.


We all watched it fade off into the distance.