Got to tell you, in all the years that I have been up or down I-17, I have never seen it green. Brown desert with green cacti, yes, but not this amazing transformation.  I so wish I could have gotten photos, but not possible when one is driving down miles and miles of 6% grades.  I was a little surprised by the flowers seen from the road. Not what I would normally associate with the desert, but more with someone’s flower bed.  Nonetheless, I did spot some I have forgotten there names on, but are long slender stalks of coral colored flowers on rather short stems. Paintbrushes? They are different then the ones I’m familiar with in the North Country as the buds are smaller.  Saw lots of purple flowers, as well as orange, yellow too.  It was a great drive down, and lucky for me – it was cloudy so I didn’t have the blazing sun in my face!

Saw a slew of different hawks… gosh I wish I knew my birds like Pat or had the iBird Pro memorized. But some really unusual coloring, like rust colored tail feathers.   I’ve used the iBird Pro app for years, highly recommend it to anyone.  Altho, I did not know until this birding trip in February, that I could use it without being hooked up to the internet. Interesting discovery – that feature may have been added in one of the updates, but it sure is nice to have.

I’m staying at a RV park, to have electricity – we ran the a/c all day.  They say it has cooled down, but I don’t consider night time temps of 71ºF to be cool.  Other than last October when it was in the 100’s when I was here, I haven’t run the a/c. Its been a chilly winter everywhere I’ve been. Have  learned alot on how to stay warm in a RV. Me coming from Alaska, this should have been a no brainer, but it has its learning curve just like everything else.  And I’ve always known that its easier to get warm than it is to cool off. So bit the bullet and am paying for electricity to get a/c.  Next week will be iffy if I can get electricity, so will acclimate me and the cats a little more slowly here.

Still can’t upload photos. Connections appear to be strong, but uploading photos is beyond slow.

Sightings of Lazy Daze RV’s. A silver one was parked at KOA along I-40 – think that was Holbrooke, then saw another sliver one going up/north on I-17.  Neither had their CB radios on.  Hello!