Tag Archives: snowbirding

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.

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.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: Another Colorado River Sunset

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Another gorgeous sunset as seen from our campsite.

I’m going to try very hard not to share photos of every single beautiful sunset we’re seeing from our Colorado River campsite, but this one was too good not to share. With just enough clouds and smooth water to reflect them, Thursday’s sunset was the best I’d watched in a very long time.

Sunset 12/12/19
What a light show!

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: The Cotton Field

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A closer look at a nearby cotton field.

From Wikipedia’s Cotton entry:

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.

We’re camped in BLM land a few miles south of I-10 in western Arizona. On our way to or from the campsite, we pass a cotton field (and an alfalfa field) that’s ready for harvest when we arrive. This year, for the first time ever, I stopped alongside it for a closer look before harvest.

It looks to me as if they either cut the water supply or apply a herbicide (as they do to potatoes) after the cotton bolls have formed. As you can see in the first photo, the plants are pretty much dead, although there was some green at the bases of some plants.

Cotton Field, Close Up
A close view of a cotton field.

I stepped into the field and grabbed a cotton boll for a closer look and to share online. I remember seeing cotton bolls like this packaged as souvenirs in tourist shops in the southeast. The cotton felt soft, like a cotton ball. (I don’t know why I found that surprising, but I did.) I knew that deep inside the boll were seeds that had to be removed to use the cotton, but I didn’t tear it apart to find them. I liked its natural look.

Cotton Boll
A closer look at a cotton boll. I found a tiny yellow spider in the middle of the boll.

I’ll try to get photos of the harvest, but it all depends on if I happen to be driving by when they’re working. I know this field is completely cleared by Christmas every year.

You can learn more about cotton production in the United States, which has a history closely tied with slavery, on Wikipedia.