Category Archives: Travels with Maria

Blogging from the road.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: Fishing from Camp

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My friends have success fishing right from our campsite.

It started yesterday afternoon. Janet and I were down on the shoreline talking about how high the water had risen. (Water level here is determined by releases from the Parker and Palo Verde Dams 50+ and 10+ miles upriver from here respectively.) In general, fishing is better when the water level is higher. Obviously, so is boating. Janet loves to fish and I love to paddle so the higher the water level was, the happier we were.

As we stood there looking out at the water, fish were jumping. Big fish. Lots of them.

“Maybe I should throw a line in,” Janet said.

It was about 3 PM and we were supposed to go fishing earlier in the day at another site up the backwater channel. But our companions needed to make a propane run and the weather had become overcast and chilly. No one — except maybe Janet — seemed interested in going anymore.

Janet's Orange Ear
Here’s Janet and her orange ear, after putting it on a stringer.

I was ready for a nap — or a least a few hours in my camper with Penny and a book. I went in. Janet took her fishing pole and worms out to the shrinking beach. I was stiff fussing around in my tiny kitchen area when she called out excitedly. I ran out in time to see her reeling in a fish. When I caught sight of it in the water, I thought it was small, but when she pulled it out, it turned out to be a decent sized orange ear — a very tasty edible fish. She’d gotten it on her first cast out.

Of course, I like to fish, too, especially when I can do it in some level of comfort. So I carried my fishing pole and camp chair down to the shore, put one of Janet’s worms on my hook, and cast out.

The jumping fish seemed to taunt us. It reminded me of a meteor shower where you feel lucky to see one or two meteors per minute. We were seeing one of two jumping fish per minute.

The two of us fished for at least a half hour but no more luck. I gave up first. I’d been steadily getting colder and was now really interested in that nap I’d been thinking about. I tossed my soggy worm into the water and took my chair and pole pack up to my camper. A few minutes later, I was stretched out on my bed with Penny and my iPad, reading.

Meanwhile, word had spread in our little camp. There are six of us here with six trailers/campers and four trucks. One of the other campers, Jeff from Canada, had cast out a line and set the pole on shore propped up on a forked stick. He put a small bell on the pole.

Jeff's Channel Catfish
Jeff (with the pole) and Steve admire the channel catfish Jeff brought in. I love this photo mostly because of the late afternoon light.

We were all gathered around the campfire just before dinner when Penny took interest in something on the shore. Although I didn’t hear the bell, Jeff did. He jumped up and ran to his pole. A minute later, he was reeling in a pretty big channel catfish.

We’ve already had two fish dinners at camp — three, if you count the one I missed when I was in Phoenix over the weekend. While I’m not particularly fond of catfish, the orange ear and bass that are in here are very tasty. I’m sure we’ll fish some more to collect enough for another dinner. I hope I can contribute.

With some level of comfort, of course.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: Paddling with Penny

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We take the boats out into the backwater.

Backwaters
Here’s a Google Maps image of the backwaters in the area. Keep in mind that not all of the channels actually go as far as they appear to on the map due to the growth of tall reeds and bamboo along the shore. We’re at the blue dot.

One of the things I like most about our campsite this year is that it’s right on one of the longest backwater channels off the Colorado River. Last year I’d camped near this site, which has its own boat ramp, and had launched my inflatable Hobie pedal/paddle kayak into it, so I was already familiar with the waterway. I knew that I could go at least two miles north with very little current in either direction. It was perfect for a casual afternoon out in the kayak.

My friend Janet, who is sharing the same site, also brought her fishing boat along. It’s an inflatable one-seat affair — I’ll have to get a picture for a future post — designed for fishing. We both inflated our boats Tuesday afternoon and launched them, despite the chill in the air and a pretty stiff wind from the north.

Penny came along, of course, I prepped the boat by securing her fleece blanket on the bow so she’d have some traction when she stood or sat there. I also put her life jacket on so I wouldn’t have to worry about her trying to swim if she fell in. Because the water had virtually no current, I didn’t bother tethering her to the boat. She’s only fallen in once and that was a long time ago in my old kayak. I didn’t expect her to fall in today, but if she did, I knew she wouldn’t get swept away.

We headed out around 2 PM, with me pedaling and Janet rowing against the breeze. Penny soon settled down on the bow, which is when I got this photo.

Tiny dog on bow of kayak
Penny the Tiny Dog settled down on the bow and remained in place for most of the trip.

We were out a lot longer than I think we expected to be. Janet’s boat goes fastest when she rows backwards, but that’s not always enjoyable so she kept switching. Also, her boat seemed to have a bit more trouble battling the wind than mine did. My boat, on the other hand, rode very well yesterday, with its speed wholly dependent on how fast I pedaled. It didn’t take much to get it moving at a decent clip. But I was cold when moving into the wind and I suspect I’ll suffer for that later this week.

We got nearly to the end — Janet wanted to see a fishing spot she calls “the walk in” from the water — and then turned around and headed back. Although we were looking forward to the wind at our backs, the wind didn’t cooperate. Instead, it died down. We didn’t get back until nearly 5 PM.

More pictures to come; we’ll be here for the next two weeks and I’m sure we’ll do a lot more boating.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: Fire Roasted Yams

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My absolute favorite camping food.

One of the things I like best about camping with friends along the Colorado River is the evening campfires. It’s not just sitting around a warm fire with friends on a cool desert evening — it’s the fact that I can roast up some yams or sweet potatoes to snack on the next day.

The trick is to get the fire going early enough in the evening so that we have plenty of hot coals to roast the potatoes on. Then I scrub each potato and wrap it in aluminum foil. I use enough foil so that the potato has at least two layers around it on all sides. Then I lay the potatoes on the coals and turn them occasionally as we sit around the fire chatting about this or that. The hotter the coals are, the more often I turn them and the quicker they get cooked.

Fire Roasted Yam
OMG. How’s this for a fire-roasted yam?

The other night, we burned the bundle of fruitwood I’d brought from home. (Long story there.) It’s a hard wood and very slow burning, but it did make good coals. Trouble is, it took so long to burn down that we were ready to call it a night before the potatoes I’d thrown on — four regular potatoes from my garden and two yams from the supermarket — were done. So I moved the regular potatoes over to the side of the fire pit and left the yams right on top of the fading coals. Then I went to bed.

In the morning, the fire pit was cold (as we expected). I pulled out one of the yams and my fingers immediately smushed it. Uh-oh, I thought. I ruined this one. But when I unwrapped it, I found the potato skin only mildly scorched. I broke the potato open and was thrilled to see a uniformly soft orange center.

I ate it with a spoon.

The regular potatoes came out okay, too, but they’re not nearly as tasty cold as the yams are. I’ll peel the scorched skins off, chop up the flesh, and add it to my breakfast scrambles.

Phoenix Festival of the Arts

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I participate in an art show in Phoenix.

I was set up as a jewelry vendor this past Friday through Sunday at the Phoenix Festival of the Arts in Phoenix’s Hance Park.

Hance Park is also known as “the deck park” because it’s the park that sits atop a tunnel where I-10 runs under Phoenix. (It’s a park on the top deck of the tunnel.) It’s a bit of a pain to set up and tear down because they limit the number of vehicles on the deck and if someone selfishly sets up while unloading — rather than unloading, moving a vehicle out of the park, and then setting up — there’s a long wait to set up. Parking outside the park was supposed to be a problem, but I didn’t have any problem at all. I always arrived early enough to get a good spot on the street less than a block away. For tear down, however, I couldn’t get my truck into the park timely so I wound up parking in the nearby library lot and taking my gear through a gap in the fence that someone had opened. It saved me a lot of time, but I had to carry each of my 40-pound tent leg weights separately. I felt it in the morning.

The event included at least 80 vendors, most of which were selling handmade goods. There were a lot of potters and jewelers, some woodworkers and metalworkers, a handful of photographers, and some painters. The rest were making a variety of other handmade items, some of which were impressive pieces of art while others fell into the category of granny crafts. There were also more than a few vendors who shouldn’t have been there at all — folks selling obviously buy/sell merchandise they didn’t made like salt scrubs and salsa and garlic grating dishes. It was a typical mix for an event that was apparently setting a low bar for vendors and lucked out by getting some good ones. I’d say that my work was neither the best nor the worst, which is a spot I don’t mind filling.

Because the booths were set up in quads, we were all able to have our booths open on two sides. Technically, I could have been open on three sides because I was in the last row, which just had paired booths. But I went with two sides and had a nice walk-through booth. I put my pendants on the back table, logically with the cases of stones that I use to make pendants. I had earrings in three places, including the back of my large hinged display on an island in the open corner of the booth.

First booth setup
My initial booth setup on the first day of the show.

Oddly, the only thing I sold that day were earrings — six pairs. No pendants, no bracelets, no rings, no stones. I suspected it was because of the booth layout so on Saturday morning, I reorganized to move the pendants closer to the front of the booth and reorganize the earrings to both sides of the hinged display.

Booth 2
My booth setup for the second and third day of the show.

I’d put up my shade extension on Saturday morning but quickly realized that it was causing people to walk around the front of my booth instead of coming in. So I pulled it down. People came in. (Go figure.) From that point on, I did relatively well, selling a mix of pendants, earrings, and rings.

I was satisfied with sales at the event, but not thrilled. All my costs were covered and I made a little profit, but I’m not convinced that my time wouldn’t have been been better spent at camp, making more jewelry in my mobile shop. As it was, I sold out on all of my most popular earring styles; I’ll definitely need to make a lot more for my next show in January.

I’d been accepted to two shows that weekend but had chosen this one because it was a three-day event instead of a two-day event. I think it was also a little cheaper. Next year, I might try the other show, which I think was in Tempe, AZ.

As an event for people wanting something to do on a December weekend in Phoenix, I recommend it. With art vendors, mural painting, live music, and food trucks, it was a great way for people — including families — to spend an afternoon.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: Traffic

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I experience Phoenix rush hour traffic in my truck.

On Friday morning, I had to drive to Phoenix for the first day of a three-day art show. I had a setup window that required me to be there by about 7:30 AM. Because I’m camped out in the desert more than 100 miles west of there, I had to leave my camp at 5 AM.

I don’t like driving at night, but the moon was just past full and it illuminated the desert around me with a faint monochrome glow. There were few vehicles on I-10 at that hour — mostly semis — and I was able to easily maintain the 75 mph speed limit most of the way.

Google Maps
Here’s what I saw on Google Maps when I realized there was something wrong with the math.

I watched the readout on Google Maps on my iPhone as I got closer and closer to Phoenix. At one point, I noticed that the math didn’t seem right: I was moving along at 75 miles per hour and had only 38 miles to go, yet Google said it would take a full hour. How could that be? Even when I slowed down when the speed limit dropped to 65 and probably 55 in the city, I should still be able to make it in much less than an hour. Like maybe even 30 minutes.

What I hadn’t accounted for, of course, was rush hour traffic, which I experienced firsthand about 15 minutes later. Stop and go — just like I used to deal with when I had a “real job” in corporate America. I realized that it had been years since I’d been stuck in traffic like that — the kind of traffic where it takes you 15 minutes to go 3 miles. But this was traffic on steroids: at certain points, there were five lanes of vehicles completely stopped.

What was cool, however, was sitting up high in my big truck, being able to look over the tops of the sedans and compact cars ahead of me. I had never realized how much taller my truck was than the average passenger vehicle. There were few semis on this part of the road — I suspect the drivers were smart enough to exit for a truck stop breakfast instead of dealing with the mess. Instead, most vehicles were commuters with just one person per car, leaving the HOV lane pretty much open. And, as I could easily see, the red taillights went on for miles ahead of me.

I did make it to my destination on time. When I’d left camp at 4:57 AM, Google told me I’d arrive at 7:34 AM. I arrived at 7:35. That’s pretty amazing.