beluga

beluga

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Happy Spring!

We're hunkered down in Boulder City, Nevada for the foreseeable future.    We're doing everything to stay healthy and keep others safe as we watch this virus situation play out.      Enough said.

So, today is the first day of Spring, tra lee, tra la.      Here in the desert it is cloudy, windy, 55 degrees and trying to rain.    sigh    We're trying to keep from being bored "spitless" as an Arizona friend puts it.     There are ways.

We were in Wickenburg, AZ for three weeks before coming here, most of that time spent driving between Physical Therapy, Dr,'s appointments and grocery shopping.      Dave has made some progress with the leg pain that has been plaguing him.   A combination of PT, meds. and exercises will help his forward progression.

 The weather there was on and off....when it was nice, it was really nice.    We were able to sit outside for second cup and happy hour on those days.    We had avian entertainment while we sat and drank and chatted.   The mornings brought us finches, roadrunners, boat tailed grackles (very vocal and entertaining guys), various flycatchers and a few yellow-rumped warblers.       In the afternoon, however, we had a virtual cloud of vultures overhead.



I couldn't manage to get a good picture of them but believe me when I say there were at least 75 circling overhead while we enjoyed our gins.   Sometimes soaring high above, sometimes dipping alarmingly close,  we began to wonder if it was a sign....were they trying to tell us something?     After a few days we  realized they were heading to their evening roosting trees across the street  (What can I say, we're easily amused).  


On one of  the nicer afternoons we drove a bit north to Congress and the wonderful little hole in the wall restaurant, Nichols West.   You can't judge a book by it's cover.....we'd been told by many people that this is a fabulous place to eat, so we found a seat on the quiet back patio (the beginning of social distancing).     Man, were they right!


We enjoyed a couple of generous pours of wine along with Tacos al Pastor and the absolute best Shrimp and Lobster Tacos.   We left with big smiles on our faces.   Can't wait to be back in Wickenburg to eat there again, and again....

Since I don't really have much more to say, here are some pictures of our time in Wickenburg.

Only in a cowboy town like  Wickenburg is there an equine parking section at McDonalds!




One day we took a drive to see if the Hassayampa River was running.   It wasn't, we drove a fair way along it's dry sandy course before climbing up and out of the river bed and continued along through the desert.



The sky was gray and it was obviously raining somewhere relatively close so we decided to head back to Beluga before we got into trouble climbing in and out of washes.    We did enjoy plenty of wildflowers along the way.








And we got ourselves good and dirty.    That made us happy.



The next day was a Dr.'s appointment day in Phoenix.   On the way home, the sky grew dark and flashed with lightning.




By the time we got home it was raining buckets and hail began to pelt us.   Lewis was not a happy camper and met us at the door when we arrived.   He was shaking, someone was banging on Beluga's roof,  he said, he didn't know what to do.


A couple days after the storms left us we tried to retrace our tracks down to the River.    We didn't get far....

Rincon Rd.


We drove through a couple of flooded spots in the road, we knew how deep they were, but didn't get close to the edge of the River this time.  The banks of these rivers/washes can be very unstable and dangerous.    It was riled and muddy, the current was raging and filled with debris.





So, that does it for our time in Wickenburg.    Lewis continues to work with Dave on his exercises to make sure they are being done properly.   We're lucky to have a trained PT pooch on staff.




Stay well, stay away and stay tuned.




































6 comments:

  1. I'm adding Nichols West to our next trip to the area! With those vultures circling, hope Dave heals fast, keep after him Lew! I'm sure the Nimble Hikers will find a trail to help with his re-hap.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can imagine how scared poor Lew was with the hail hitting the roof. Good he recovered enough to help his favorite PT patient! The vultures look really scary. I don't think I could sit outside with them flying overhead.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maybe this 'time out' will give Dave's leg more time to heal. And fortunately, you have a PT on board who is also very cuddly. :-) Glad you have a place to be and good friends to be with during this surreal time. Take good care, all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The tacos look and sound divine! Love the wildflowers...the first spring in many years we haven’t been in the desert to enjoy them. Happy you are hunkered down in Boulder City and close to John and Pam. So many campgrounds have closed...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Glad Dave was able to get his PT completed when he did! Looks like the sciatica exercises I've been doing - also with a canine assistant :-) It's really weird, but we don't have buzzards here! Smart to keep an eye on distant rain when playing in those washes. Love Nichols West!! So glad you're safely tucked in at BC.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like the last photo, both of them looked at straight in the eyes communicated to us readers your final statement, very cool. Being with friends in a familiar place is the best spot to be in for us RVrs at this time of uncertainties.

    ReplyDelete