Sunday, April 3
Kim had his telescope up again
last night….two women in a nearby site came over to take a look at the
heavens. I was up at the clubhouse,
recording my thoughts on the computer.
This morning I came out of the trailer, still sleepy eyed, and wandered
over by the truck. I hear someone saying
in a cheery voice “Well, good morning, Karen. How are you?”
Uh, fine. Seems when Kim introduced himself last night,
he also told them his wife’s name was Karen…hence the personalized morning
greeting from a total stranger.
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While camping here, I’ve become a
regular on the bench by the hummingbird feeders. Just a nice shaded place to sit and be amused
by the birds. I always take my camera
with me because I never know when a Kodak moment will present itself. The nearby saguaro cactus has several bird
sized holes in it and the other day Kim noticed that a bird flew out of the topmost
hole. This morning when I was walking to
the clubhouse to talk to Kim, I got distracted by the bird activity at the
cactus. I noticed that a bird was
sitting on another arm of the saguaro and seemed to be watching the hole,
waiting….and when another bird flew out of the hole, it flew in. So I settled into a chair in the wifi hut,
which faced the cactus, to watch the show. After watching a bit, I saw their
pattern of coming and going….one would wait until the other was nearby, then it
would exit and the other would enter. It was obvious they were a pair. The nest hole was high enough on the cactus
that human activity below wasn’t a threat to the nest. They flew in and out with a purpose; maybe
they were in the process of building a nest, sitting on eggs in the nest or
feeding the little ones. I had no way of knowing what they were doing, although I didn’t see them carrying any nest building material. I sat there for a while, trying to
take pictures of them coming and going. They were quick about it, so lots of my
pictures turned out to be just of the nest hole; but I managed to get a bird
peeking out a time or two. Just one of many
ways to amuse myself on a warm sunny day.
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Today I realized that in another
life I would be a nature photographer. My
camera is always with me…I enjoy taking pictures…I take way too many pictures
of lots of things. But that’s not what
would qualify me as a nature photographer.
My main qualification is that I’m good at waiting…patiently sitting
still and waiting for just the right shot, whatever I determine that to be. I’m
not saying that my pictures would appeal to anyone but me or that I’d earn a
living as a photographer. Just saying that
I don’t mind waiting it out. Because
when it comes to animals or plants, whatever picture I’m looking for, I find
waiting is part of the game. Now when it
comes to taking pictures of people, that’s a whole different ballgame. J
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We came here to Picacho because,
frankly, it was the only place in proximity to Tucson with availability. Initially I was concerned about the location…out
in the middle of nowhere, 50 miles from Phoenix and 40 miles from Tucson. Would it serve our purposes for exploring and
stargazing? We extended our 4 night stay
to 7 nights, so I’d say yes, it served our purposes well. Tomorrow we’re moving onto Holbrook, which is
north of here. More exploring to do in the
central and northeastern part of the state.
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Out on the highway, the road sign
for the KOA says Sept-April, which seemed odd to me. Camping season back home doesn’t start
getting good until June. So, yesterday I
asked at the office if they really closed at the end of April. Yes, they are closing at the end of April…most
people head back ‘home’ around then. The
owners claim that they could stay busy through May if they were to stay open but they
don’t want to. When I mentioned that
our camping season doesn’t start until June, she said ‘Oh, you wouldn’t want to
be around in June, July or August. Too
hot.’ Well, yeah, that makes sense
now. Despite the fact that I’m in the
land of sun and warm, I’ve still got a Michigan state of mind. J
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I enjoy going to zoos. When I traveled with Jeff, I would usually
find a way to visit the local zoo while he was in a meeting. Been to zoos all over the country, including
Hawaii and Alaska. So last night when
Kim came in the trailer, he says he heard that Tucson had a zoo…had I ever been
there? Another person, who came over to
gaze at the heavens, recommended it…said it was small but nice.
Yes, I have been to the Tucson zoo, with my mom years ago. But I’m game to go again! So that’s where we rode to today…the Reid Park
Zoo in Tucson. It’s about 50 miles away,
very doable on a warm sunny day.
Opportunity to ride and visit a zoo….bonus! **A few exhibits at the zoo were undergoing construction so there were
empty exhibits. And because we got there
at 2:15 and it closed at 4, we might not have seen everything. And yes, it was a smallish zoo, but it had 3
of what I consider to be the Big 4….lion, elephant, rhino and hippo. This zoo didn’t have a hippo, but it did have
the others..and a tiger, too. **
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Overheard a couple of young kids
talking about animal poop…specifically elephant poop. Best comment on the subject: ‘Well, what did you expect...that it would
look all cute?’
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Going to the zoo with me is a lesson
in patience because I actually stop and spend time looking at the animals. And part of that is taking pictures and
waiting….for the animal to turn around, to get in the pool, to stop pacing or
for the baby to show its face, etc. I’m
not one of those people who stroll by and say ‘Oh, look…a turtle’ and just keep
on walking. And I’m not one of those
people who assume the exhibit is empty just because the animal isn’t front and
center. No, I usually stop at every exhibit and if the animal isn’t readily
noticeable, I take the time to look for it.
It’s just my way of enjoying a zoo.
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Last night, Kim was frustrated with the alignment of his telescope. He feels he rushed it because the women next door were anxious to take a look. So tonight he’s out there again, determined to take his time to get the alignment right. He’s still working out the kinks on some of this stuff. While he was out there, a family stopped by and asked to take a look; they got to see Jupiter and then went on their merry way. It slowed his alignment process down but sharing with others is part of the fun for him.
Last night, Kim was frustrated with the alignment of his telescope. He feels he rushed it because the women next door were anxious to take a look. So tonight he’s out there again, determined to take his time to get the alignment right. He’s still working out the kinks on some of this stuff. While he was out there, a family stopped by and asked to take a look; they got to see Jupiter and then went on their merry way. It slowed his alignment process down but sharing with others is part of the fun for him.
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The campground smells so good
every night because of Frankie’s Chuckwagon Steakhouse, which is up by the
office. Tonight was our night to see if
the taste equaled the smell. I know the 12
oz. rib-eye steak I had lived up to the smell and Kim said his 20 oz. porterhouse
was delicious also. So, now we feel our
stay here is complete!
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