Sprinkled On

Soaptree Yucca, ocotillo and mountains

Really blustery this morning, perhaps more so than yesterday; and, although the sun made brief appearances at times, it was mostly cloudy during our trek.

We followed our usual route, at one point considering shortening the outing because it started raining lightly.  The rain let up and we decided to do the entire hike.

When we exited the right branch arroyo and climbed the steep hill to the west we got sprinkled on a bit more; not enough to really wet us, though.

This & next:  same Soaptree, different angles

Up the left branch arroyo

This & next:  Tortugas and the Organs

Sky to the southwest

Willow seated between the left and right branch arroyos

View from the middle branch arroyo

Distant view of Tortugas and the Organs

Trek with Moderate Wind

Looking back the way we came down LDR-A

Blustery out there when Dr. K, Willow and I did our morning hike.  Cloudy with somewhat higher humidity, too.  We occasionally got out of the wind, but when we were climbing the steep hill west of the right branch arroyo the sky started spitting on us.

Dr. K went shopping at Target after we got home, and I drove over to AutoZone across Lohman from Albertsons in order to pick up two quarts of STP 5W-20 motor oil to put in the Jeep.  I did that when I got back.

Hill east of LDR-A

Dusty Tortugas and the Organs

Wils

View from LDR-A arroyo

Dust enshrouded Picacho "Peak"

Patch of blue

Yucca monster

Fishhook Barrel Cactus fruit

Last 2:  Gopher snake I moved from our road

Tuesday's Errands

Last night's moon

Regular hike this morning with Dr. K and Willow.  When we returned to the house I checked the air in Dr. K's tires and filled them.

Went shopping at Albertsons a bit later.  Got a full week's supply of groceries.  Heading to the checkout area I discovered that none of the lanes had checkout workers staffing them.

Found out from a young woman who works there that all the checkouts were malfunctioning; the self-service lanes were open, though, and she checked me out on one of those.  What's oddly funny is I had a bizarre dream last night about shopping at a dysfunctional Albertsons.

This & next:  interesting cloud this morning

Picacho "Peak"

Down LDR-A

Upper flatland road

This & next:  two views of the same scene

Yucca monster

Hill west of the Organs

Organ Mountains

This & next:  not a tornado

Hint of a rainbow

Last 2:  Tortugas Mountain

Moon Day Threesome

Soaptree Yucca spent seed pods

We three did our regular hike this morning; and even though we saw a pickup truck parked at the Tellbrook/Sonoma Ranch corner lot we saw nobody else out in the desert.

After we returned from our trek I took the Jeep over to PetSmart to buy Willow some grub, and then I walked from there to Michaels to purchase two large tubes of titanium white acrylic paint.  I've been redoing an old painting I finished in 2001, one whose "finished" product I've never been happy with.

This & next:  Willow resting in the shadow of a yucca

Barrel cactus

Over the ridge the Organ Mountains

Mama and two adolescent barrels

Leafless ocotillo branches

Wils and Dr. K in the right branch arroyo

Sunday Trek Trio

From the hill west of the right branch arroyo

Dr. K, Willow and I did our regular hike this morning.  We saw a woman in the far distance northwest of us bushwhacking through the desert.

A while later we saw the black side-by-side descend LDR and turn west into the Tellbrook Arroyo.  Soon afterward the man who drives the side-by-side was out bushwhacking with his two dogs, both of whom wore brightly-colored vests.

We took a drive after the trek listening to the football game between the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars which was being played in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London, UK.

Willow and Dr. K

Wils having a sit-down

Last 2:  looking down steep hill at a somewhat green ocotillo