Beluga's excellent adventure: April 2026

Spring has sprung in the desert. The weather has been just beautiful, sunny warm days and cool nights. Dramatic sunsets and sunrises...... Sheets drying in the sun......Sorry, you folks in the East, I feel your pain.

sunset

sunrise lighting our blooming Argentine Cactus

the sound of bees in this PaloVerde is so loud it sounds like a motor running!

Birds have been busy building and filling nests in the palm trees. Some do a better job than others, unfortunately.

spring wind knocked this poor baby and his nest right out of the tree

One day Taos found a very dry, almost skeletal body of a baby bird and two large, recently removed Pidgeon wings in one corner of the yard. He was horrified but couldn't keep himself from creeping slowly up to the murder scene, every time he went outside......even after the area was cleaned up.......just in case.

The out-of-town ropers and cow people (is that the correct word for cowboys and cowgirls?) have loaded their horses in various trailers and left for home.

Dave has been helping Steve with his recent Tam project. They've made some good progress.

I've been busy making arrangements and rearranging the house to facilitate safer and easier ambulation......

We've had some nice visits with friends. Mona Liza and Steve had us over to enjoy her fabulous Pancit one evening.

Taos photobombs

mmmmm

Gay and Joe drove their motorhome up from Tucson for a first time visit to Wickenburg in March. They came over for dinner on their first evening in town. Their sweet pup, Lucy, was taken aback by Taos size, and she rebuffed all his invitations to play by screaming and jumping into Gay or Joe's lap. Taos was confused; he'd learned to play with another little dog (Kayce) and didn't understand this dog's reticence. Taos being Taos however, he accepted her feelings and left her alone for the rest of the evening. She warmed up eventually once she realized he was no threat. (I can't believe I didn't take any pictures!) You'll have to check out Gay's blog, I guess. good-times-rollin: March 2026

Another day we all (Taos and Lucy too) piled into our Jeep and headed for lunch at Scorpion Bay Marina on Lake Pleasant and then a desert drive back to Wickenburg.

There is always at least one feral Burro working the parking lot there. People must feed them from their cars because one unusual looking young man made a pest of himself as Dave tried to get Taos out of the Jeep.

To get down to the floating restaurant from the parking lot we had to ride a rather steep funicular (or take a long staircase) to the docks below. Taos had done this before, but it was a first for Lucy. She was a good girl!

We snagged a great waterside table, our meals were good and the dogs behaved like the well-traveled canines they are.

After lunch we continued home via Castle Hot Springs Road, a graded dirt road through the desert, the dry Hassayampa riverbed, through the mountains, across small arroyos and past lots of wild burros. Again, I've shown you this route many times and you've seen those burros more than once.

The rest of March and April have been a blur for me. Dave had a total knee replacement on April 9 and Taos and I spent the day with him and stayed overnight in Phoenix to be nearby and to bring him home. Things went well; he's recovering nicely with relatively minimal pain (although I think the honeymoon may have ended last night......) Taos and I are taking good care of him as are the prescribed drugs. He's taking PT here at a wonderful place (Champion PT) in Wickenburg three times a week. Hard work, but he's never shied away from that so we're looking forward to the end of brain fog inducing medication, fingernail shredding compression stockings, ten million staples, walkers, canes etc. and to getting back on the road!