Saguaro Cactus Growth

In the ten years I have been visiting southern Arizona, I have heard numerous stories about the slow growth of the iconic saguaro cactus. Here is an image that depicts the growth of the cactus over the years...

Imagine what this saguaro has lived through in its 175+ year history...

Windstorm

This is the normal view of the Superstition Mountains from my park model...

However, we are currently experiencing 25 mph winds with gusts up to 45 mph. Here is what that view looks like today with all the desert sand in the air...

I hated these kind of days in the RV as it continually rocked side to side and the noise from the slide covers and roof was surprisingly loud. The park model does not move and the only noise is the wind through the carport. 😊

Desert Horned Lizard

When I looked outside this morning, I saw this large raven attacking a strange critter in my driveway. Hoping to get a video of the encounter, I slowly opened the door but the raven flew off before I could capture anything. Here's what it was trying to have for breakfast... 

Up In The Pines

Cory invited me to join him and his friends on a ride up in the mountains north of Globe, Arizona where it was considerably cooler than here in the valley...

As the title of the post suggests, we were in pine tree country...

Where we encountered a major roadblock... 

Fortunately, we had a professional logger with us...

At the top of the mountain, we were rewarded with views like this...

I even had my own stone recliner from which to enjoy lunch with a view...

Alternative View of Climate Change

Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom is a well documented book that challenges the popular belief that climate change is an existential threat to human civilization and will create a global catastrophe. The author, Patrick Moore (one of the founders of Greenpeace), believes that climate change is being used to create an atmosphere of fear that politicians are using to grow government, scientists to receive government grants and climate alarmists to profit from it (think Al Gore).

Although I would recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about climate change, I am at a point where I do not know who to believe anymore. Politicians and the main stream media simply cannot be trusted. I would love to see an honest debate between all parties and something other than computer models before we spend trillions of taxpayer dollars on something that may not be a problem and where government interference could create more problems than it solves.

Lastly, anyone who says "the science is settled" should not be believed (I suspect people in the middle ages who thought the world was flat said the same thing). First, we never stop learning. Second, the scientific consensus is frequently wrong. Third, scientists are just as capable of bias as anyone else.

Arizonian OHVs

The Arizonian RV Resort is the winter home for a lot OHV owners. Someone thought it would be a good idea to get everyone together for a group photo...

Drone photo courtesy of Randy Van de Loo

As impressive as this is, it represents only a portion of the actual number of OHVs in the park.

My Viral Video

Back in October of 2017, I posted a video titled Oversize Load Crash that shows a semi hauling a huge tank getting stuck under an overpass on I-10. For the next three years, it was viewed around 20-40 times a day. Suddenly about a month ago, it went viral and is now being viewed 20,000+ times a day!

I have not been able to determine the reason for the video's recent popularity. My guess is some site(s) with a large following recommended it. I keep hoping YouTube will contact me to let me know that I am about to become rich and famous. 😎

Trail Cam Sites

My friends with RZRs were kind enough to help me look for new places to setup my trail cam. With Jimmy leading, Dave & Wylie in the middle and Gary & I at the back, we boldly went where no sane man had gone before. Unfortunately, most of the old waterholes we found were dry as a bone. However, it was still a great day to be out with friends enjoying a beautiful day in the desert. Here's some "eye candy" for the ladies...

Profiles in Corruption

I just finished Profiles in Corruption by Peter Schweizer. In my opinion, this book should be required reading in schools. It is a detailed description of how politicians use their positions of power and influence to make themselves and their families very wealthy. One of the things I like about Schweizer's books is the extensive documentation he lists in the bibliography. He does not rely upon "anonymous sources" as many so-called journalists do today.

Skydio 2 Drone

After crashing my DJI Mavic, I was not sure I would buy another drone. Then the Skydio 2 came out with the best obstacle avoidance system on the market. After looking at a number of YouTube videos, I felt comfortable enough to give it another try. 

The following is my first "motion tracking" video where the drone autonomously follows my Jeep without any direction on my part. I start out in a wide open area to first make sure it is tracking correctly. At about the 3:00 minute mark the obstacle avoidance is put to a real test and you get to see how well the drone manuvers around bushes and trees.

Sand Hollow Extreme Rock Crawling

Regular television has become so depressing that I have turned to YouTube for entertainment and information. You can find pretty much anything you are looking for there. Recently, I came across a video that features a highly customized rock crawling machine and professional driver, who explains how he tackles one of the most difficult trails in the country...

The obstacles get increasingly harder as the video progresses

Rare Sight

We finally got some much needed rain. The surprise was the sleet and snow that came with it. Here's the view of the Superstition Mountains from my porch...

Desert Cam Take 3

After leaving the trail cam at the waterhole out back of the RV park for three days, I got a lot of video but most of it was birds that were not very interesting to watch. I did capture one very thirsty coyote that I thought was worth publishing...

I always thought coyotes traveled in packs but so far, I have only videoed one at a time.

2020 Selfies

As I was sitting in a restaurant the other day, it occurred to me that all the servers I have seen in the last ten months have been wearing masks and that I would probably not recognize them without one. That got me to thinking about what selfies taken in the year 2020 should look like...

This has got to make banks and liquor stores nervous

Drive-In Movie Night

The pandemic has caused the RV park to cut back substantially on their organized events. One way they have enabled people to get together is by having an outdoor movie every couple of weeks. Tonight, they are showing "Sully" starring Tom Hanks...

COVID-19 Stimulus Package

Congress on Monday passed a $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus package that no one read before they voted on it. Senator Rand Paul, who voted against the bill, wrote: "Deficit busting bill will be 5,593 pages! If there are 250 words per page, then that's 1,398,250 words. If Congresspeople read at the American average of 300 words/min, then a Congressperson might read this in 4,660 minutes or 77.68 hours!" Congress was given only two hours before having to vote on the legislation. Even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted "This isn't governance. It's hostage-taking".

The bill contains hundreds of unrelated legislative items negotiated by leadership for special interest groups. It is politics at its worst. Here are some of the expenditures contained in the bill...

• $300,000,000 for Migrant and Refugee Assistance
• $10,000 per person for student loan bailout
• $100,000,000 to NASA
• $20,000,000,000 to the U.S. Postal Service
• $300,000,000 to the Endowment for the Arts
• $15,000,000 for Veterans Employment Training 
• $30,000,000,000 for the Department of Education stabilization fund
• $200,000,000 to Safe Schools Emergency Response to Violence Program
• $300,000,000 to Public Broadcasting 
• $500,000,000 to Museums and Libraries
• $720,000,000 to Social Security Administration
• $25,000,000 for Cleaning supplies for the Capitol Building
• $7,500,000 to the Smithsonian for additional salaries
• $35,000,000 to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
• $25,000,000 for additional salary for House of Representatives
• $3,000,000,000 upgrade to the IT department at the Veterans Administration
• $315,000,000 for State Department Diplomatic Programs
• $95,000,000 for the Agency for International Development
• $300,000,000 for International Disaster Assistance
• $90,000,000 for the Peace Corps
• $13,000,000 to Howard University
• $9,000,000 Misc. Senate expenses
• $100,000,000 to Essential air carriers 
• $40,000,000,000 goes to the Take Responsibility to Workers and Families Act
• $1,000,000,000 Airlines Recycle and Save Program 
• $25,000,000 to the Federal Aviation Administration for administrative costs 
• $492,000,000 to National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) 
• $526,000,000 Grants to Amtrak 
• $25,000,000,000 for Transit Infrastructure 
• $3,000,000 Maritime Administration
• $2,500,000 Public and Indian Housing 
• $5,000,000 Community Planning and Development 
• $2,500,000 Office of Housing

Even foreign governments are getting billions of dollars. Among the payouts: $1.4 billion for the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, $1.3 billion to Egypt, $700 million to Sudan, $135 million to Burma, $130 million to Nepal, and  $85 million to Cambodia. Israel will also haul in $500 million and Ukraine will get nearly the same. If this money were to go to American citizens, we would be getting a lot more than a $600 stimulus check. And lastly, why are we giving this money to foreign entities when our country is running a national debt of almost 28 trillion dollars?

Silverbell Sasco Loop

Terry, Gail and I joined Sunny, Jane and Leyman northwest of Tucson to explore the Silverbell Sasco Loop, a fun drive in the desert with lots of interesting sites and some very unique saguaro cactus.

Our first stop was the Titan II Missile Interpretive Site which served as a deterrent to nuclear war during the cold war. There is not much to look at as it consists of signs telling you what used to be there and some old concrete foundations. It would be interesting to know what the government left buried underground. 

Heading westward we passed one of the largest open pit mines I have ever seen. The overburden material from the mine has formed small mountains that run for miles and continues to grow as it is an active mine. We had lunch on a large, flat spot where they had dumped slag from a smelter...

Next were some very large and unusual saguaro cactus...

"Mutant" saguaro

Magnificent crested saguaro which are fairly rare

A little ways off the trail where the abandoned mining town of Silver Bell was located is an old cemetery with simple gravesites marked by wooden crosses...

Sasco, which is an acronym for the Southern Arizona Smelter Company, was a company town with a large smelter that served several mines. Here is what's left today...

Intrepid group of adventurers at what remains of the Rockland Hotel

At a time when most of the country is in lockdown, we were able to get outside and enjoy life. It's a nice feeling.

Desert Cam Take 2

I placed my trail cam back at the same spot as the last desert video and was able to capture a Gambel quail, a hawk, a coyote and a road runner...

I think I will try a different spot next time to see if I can find some different creatures. Ultimately, I would like to film some javelinas and a bobcat or puma.

Arizonian Christmas Parade

Each year residents of the Arizonian RV Resort decorate their vehicles for the annual Christmas parade...

Desert Cam Take 1

I found a watering hole in the desert back of the RV park and setup my trail cam where I could video anything that came to drink. After two days and nights, this is what I captured...

CamPark T80 Trail Cam

Last winter, I purchased a trail cam for the purpose of videoing critters out in the desert. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit before I was able to deploy it, so I packed it away in the RV. While moving into the park model, I discovered the cam cleverly concealed in one of my boxes. 

Yesterday afternoon, I placed it in a bush across from my site and left it overnight. Although capturing a rabbit and a gambel quail does not qualify as spectacular viewing, I was pleased with the cam's performance, particularly, the night vision. It should be fun seeing what else is out there.

 

Old Family Photo

One of the ways I am decorating the interior of the park model is to use photographs that I have collected over the years. In looking through my albums, I came across one taken approximately 45 years ago that seems to be a perfect fit for my home here in the southwest...

Click on photo to enlarge

Black Bear Pass Crash

This is an excerpt from a YouTube video that demonstrates what can happen if you take your eyes (and wheels) off the road on Black Bear Pass...

Park Model Interior

Most of my furniture has been delivered and the interior of the park model is beginning to come together...

Here's a quick list of some of the things I like about the model:

• It's light and airy due to all the windows and sky lights
• Lots of storage space
• No longer have to dump tanks once a week
• High speed Internet
• Great insulation makes heating and cooling more efficient
• View of the Superstition Mountains...

Park Model

After nine and a half years living full-time in a RV, I decided it might be nice to have a home to come home to, so I have purchased a used park model in the Arizonian RV Park. It is on a corner lot in the rear of the park with a great view of the Superstition Mountains (home of the Lost Dutchman Mine)...

I am keeping the RV and will continue to travel whenever I get the desire to hit the road again. I may have to change the name of my blog to "Ex-Full-time RVer".