Bootleg Canyon Park

From our window in the morning, we can watch the sun rise, just until it peeks over the tops of the mountains. From that point on, it becomes too bright to look, and we're required to close the curtain to avoid blasting out our retinas. For a while, though, it is very pretty. This morning, there was a sliver of a moon high in the sky.

Yesterday afternoon, we took a bike ride from the RV park to nearby Bootleg Canyon Park. What a lovely place! And what a nice resource for the people who live here! There were restrooms and picnic tables and lots of fun stuff for people of all ages, not to mention the nice biking and hiking trails. 

But first...there were our morning activities. Miraculously, the kitties shared Mike's lap for a while. Neither of them has exclusive reign over Mike's morning lap; however, it is considered rude to horn in when someone is already sitting there. Smitty doesn't mind. He just horns in when inspiration strikes.

Sadie didn't mind. She just continued soaking up the morning sunshine. I can assure you there would be less cooperation if their roles were reversed.

While they were jockeying for lap spots, I was working away at my morning stitching. I filled my hoop.

And now I've moved to the final position for this piece. I might be able to finish it up this morning.

We had a package to pick up at the local Amazon locker. I'm really happy about discovering the Amazon lockers. They've been in existence for a long time, but I've only just started using them. For us, and while we're traveling, it takes the worry out of having a shipment show up after we've left. We're given three days to pick it up, and then it is returned for a full refund. Recently, I ordered the wrong N95 masks and tried to cancel the order. I wasn't able to do that, and so the parcel was delivered to the locker back in Escondido. No problem. We just didn't pick it up, and it was returned...as expected...with a full refund in just about two days. 

And all of that to tell you that the Amazon locker we're using in Boulder City is located inside Boulder City Co. Store, a gift shop and cafe. While I was there, I took a little walk around the gift shop. I thought I might be able to score a refrigerator magnet or a shot glass. I didn't see anything I really wanted, but I knew you'd want to see this vintage sewing machine.

To its right was this little box of vintage sewing notions. Those little spools are only about an inch tall.

After that, we returned to the RV, got on our bikes and rode just a little ways down the road. Yes, road. I said I wouldn't ride on the road, but there were almost no cars, and the bike lane was about 15 feet wide. It seemed safe enough. Arriving at the park, I was able to get a picture of the mountain behind the RV park. I can't get it in the park because there's too much stuff in the way. You can see the "BC" for Boulder City there in lime on the hillside.

Looking in the other direction is the Mojave Desert and a huge solar farm covering several acres.

The park is something of a rock garden. I think of this area as desert, but the colors in the mountains surrounding us are so beautiful in reds, tans, and chocolate browns. This rock seemed to cover the gamut of colorations.

It's hard to know if the rock landscape is natural or if it was set this way by human hands and equipment. I'm guessing it's a combination of both. It's very pretty.

This park was fun for all of its larger-than-life statues of desert critters with the accompanying signs that included some fun facts. So, let's just take a look at the Black-tailed jackrabbit. I had the pleasure of seeing one in the wild last time we were here. Here's a little information about it:

I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of the one I saw in the wild. Here's one I found on Creative Commons:

(image credit: "Urban jackrabbit (EXPLORED 08/27/2019)" by Lhallwildlife is licensed under . 

To view a copy of this license, visit undefined?ref=openverse&atype=rich)

They are big! About the size of a small dog.

Moving on...

Spooky, huh?

Okay, now stand back if you know what's good for you.

Looks all soft and fuzzy, huh?

This one happens to be blooming.

Everyone should recognize these next guys:

Here's a greater roadrunner we saw when we visited Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas panhandle.

This next sign was referring to a prickly pear cactus growing nearby, but it wasn't a very photogenic specimen.

Here's one I saw while out walking in Pahrump last year:

Here's something I've never seen in the wild.

There were some Joshua trees, but these were small ones.

A better place to see them is in Joshua Tree National Park. Here's an image from our last visit to the park:

Until recently, the Joshua tree was considered a member of the lily family. The lily family has now been split into 40 separate plant families, and the Joshua tree has found its rightful place in the agave family. Here's another we saw when we visited the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. This one was blooming.

Okay, and you don't want to meet up with this guy. I've never actually seen a live one in the wild.

And I've never seen one of these either, although I would like to. Don't worry...I'd give him a wide berth.

And finally, the lowly desert tortoise. We used to see these all the time when we were kids. I haven't seen one in decades.

So, our bike ride went fine. I've made a decision about the bike though. I really can't ride it safely because I'm too fearful of falling. My fall and injury from last year has given me PTSD (literally) where riding the bike is concerned. For about a month after my accident, I was having flashbacks, seeing the ground coming toward me as I fell. As a mental health professional, I recognized that as a symptom of PTSD. I have tried to find a way to make peace with the bike and ride more comfortably, but I have not been able to overcome the terror that accompanies me on every ride. Even the anticipation of riding fills me with dread. I told Mike yesterday that this would be my last bike ride. We're both fine with that decision. I think he's as much afraid of me falling again as I am, and so we're retiring the bike and selling it. Good riddance. Mike can continue to ride his, and that's just fine with me. I have plenty of things to keep me busy when we're traveling, and hiking is still very much on the table.

On a lighter note...very light...the hummingbird continues to visit the feeder. This was his visit from last night. I was experimenting with manual focus on my point and shoot fixed lens camera. This one turned out okay. It was very low light, and so the image is a little grainy.

Oh, and I tried a great recipe last night. This is my single serving of Baked Black Bean Burritos. This was so easy to make and required so little preparation or ingredients, it's hard to believe how yummy it was. 

 

It's also diet friendly. This serving has just 365 calories. We were filled up with one burrito each, and there is enough for another meal. You can find the recipe right here, and I can highly recommend giving it a try. 

I wanted to say something about the can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. There are so many recipes that ask you to buy a whole can, remove one chile, and "save the remainder for another use," which kind of bugs me. I've figured out that I can label a zip-lock sandwich bag, put the excess in the bag, and then freeze it. When I want another one chile, I thaw the bag in a bowl in the fridge (the bowl is important to catch any leaks), remove one more chile, and then put it back in the freezer. I've done this multiple times with no ill effect, and it saves me some frustration at having to open a whole can and then use only one chile. Oh yes, and this dish can be prepared 8 hours ahead and then heated when you're ready for it. For me, being able to prepare something ahead is always a bonus.

Okay, so the hummingbirds were hard at it again this morning, which caused Sadie no end of consternation.

She can see them, but they can't see here. Weird, man!

She paws at the window, and they don't even care! She wonders if she's losing her touch.

Okay, so I'll get back to my sewing today. I want to finish off the City Bank quilt. And I've decided to change the name of the quilt to "Strips & Stripes." The pattern was in this book:

In a nutshell, all the patterns in this book were inspired by cityscapes. There are lots of good projects in the book, and I can recommend it. On the other hand, I'm not a great fan of banks, including City Bank, and so I don't want my quilt named after the bank. Last night I went toying with some other ideas for names and Strips & Stripes was my choice. 

So that's it from me today. Hopefully, I'll have a finished quilt top to show you by tomorrow. Oh yes, and I can hardly believe it, but the reveal of my latest art quilt is just a few days away. I've been sitting on pins and needles waiting to show it, and the day is almost here!