Friday

Quiet night in the desert, and coffee outside with friends.  Life is good.  Nina and Paul joined us for second cups this morning while the dogs played and played.  Well, two black dogs played and one black dog plopped herself on the dog bed in the middle of us and enjoyed herself quietly.

fun in the desert - hurry Polly, hurry!

Nina winds up for another throw!

We ate a quick lunch and then packed up and started our drive to the Phoenix area and our next home base, site 43 at McDowell Mountain Regional Park.

good bye again beast....

It was a 3 hour drive east on I-10 right through the middle of busy Phoenix, Arizona for us.  Traffic moved along slowly, but moved along.  We had to dodge a plastic dresser that was smashed in the driving lanes, someone's clothes scattered to the wind, valiantly trying to make it to the shoulder before being plastered on the front of an 18 wheeler.    Some made it across, some didn't.

 It wasn't a difficult drive, but much more traffic than we've seen in a while, so Dave was tired and ready to "be there" when we pulled into this pristine, beautiful, quiet county park.     We came into the site from the wrong direction, so he had to back up, turn around, and take another shot at it.  As usual, a perfect landing.    Our site is level side to side, but very low in the front, necessitating a creative step addition in order for us to get in and out.....Once again, Dave to the rescue.   Now we just have to remember to be careful when exiting, or one of us will break a leg!

Pre-sunset was beautiful, but when the sun went down, the color dispersed and was gone

how's this for a view?

our beautifully raked sitting area, all ready for a sunset G&T
(No, we didn't do the raking job, it was here waiting for us)

Alex and Ellen stopped by to say hello, just before sunset.  We had a nice visit, but as soon as the sun went down, the temperature plummeted, so we said good evening and headed inside for some nice hot split pea soup.     We're glad we're here and looking forward to exploring the area tomorrow.   This is a good place for us.    Stay tuned.