Stayed at Black Rock Campground in Yucca Valley for a few days. Not sure when the next time I will be in the area during the prime winter, early spring time frame, so wanted to take advantage of it. This campground has great Verizon evdo coverage. Not sure when I’ve had a faster internet connection.

Ten miles south of the campground is Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It is on an earthquake fault where a spring comes to the surface for a short distance. It is just beautiful and worth a visit. Their land borders on Joshua Tree National Park and is managed by the BLM. They have a goal of making a large corridor for wildlife, so they are not boxed into a small area surrounded by developed areas.

Talk about developed areas, houses have been built right up to Black Rock Campground. So glad Joshua Tree National Park has their land. Otherwise, you know houses would have been built all the way through the park and up to the hilltops.

An antelope ground squirrel.  Have wanted to get a picture of one of these small squirrels for a long time. This guy had a burrow under a yucca plant next to my campsite.

Black tailed jackrabbit.

Cactus wren

Male and female Gambel’s quail

Scrub jay. Also saw a large flock of pinyon jays. They are the only jay that travels in a flock. Didn’t get a picture. Drats!!

A titmouse, either a juniper or oak titmouse, not sure which.

Noticed that it became very quiet after around 3:00 pm most days. That must be predator time. A coyote walked through my camp one day during this time.

Stayed at Salt Creek Campground on the Salton Sea prior to coming to Joshua Tree National Park. Not many pelicans there yet. There is a 10-15 degree temperature difference between the Salton Sea area and Black Rock Campground at 4,000 feet elevation.

Spent four days at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. Had forgotten their Twin Peaks Campground doesn’t have hookups. Had not used my generator for a long time, probably last summer. A camp host helped me start it up. After that there was no problem. Promptly at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., all the generators in the generator section of the campground started up for the allotted two hours. It was cold at night, and my furnace draws a lot of power. Otherwise, I could go two days before needing a generator. Glad to know it works. It is good to have the option to stay places that don’t have hookups and are often free.

Also had a problem with my hitch jack, the fuse blew. I asked another Airstream camper to look at it and he was able to diagnose the problem. Really lucky he was there.

Could not get an internet connection at the park. Really missed it, to say the least. I don’t watch tv. The internet is my main connection to what is going on.

Cactus wrens

Gambel’s quail

Both the cactus wrens and the Gambel’s quail usually run from bush to bush so as to not be seen by predators, like the red-tailed hawk above.

This curve-billed thrasher really sang it’s heart out one morning.

House finch

Gila woodpecker. None of the birds seemed to have a problem standing on a cactus or other thorny plants.

Below, road to the park and the Mexican border.

Drove from Riverside to Cave Creek Regional Park above Phoenix, Arizona. When I got to Blythe it seemed to early to stop, so I continued on to the campground. It’s a very nice park with lots of birds. The weather was in the 90′s during the day, however, so I just stayed the one night.

Phainopepla

A black-throated sparrow

Blue-gray-gnatcatcher

Cactus wren

From Phoenix I went on to Cottonwood, Arizona and Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Cottonwood is around 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix. The park is very popular and people are coming and going all the time. It is not just a weekend park.

It is just the second time I’ve driven on the I-17 that connects the I-8 and I-40. It has a significant grade, but it’s worth it to get away from the heat of Southern Arizona.

Gambel’s quail

Canyon wren

A brown creeper

Stayed a couple of days at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Seemed 10 degrees cooler than the Buenos Aires Refuge area. The rv campground is beautiful. You park on a level concrete surface and are surrounded by native plants. Glad this beautiful area is being protected.

Cactus wren

Gambel’s quail

Teddybear cholla set amoung ocotillo and organ pipe cactus.

Have been in southeast Arizona for about two weeks. Have never really explored the area south of the I-10 freeway. It has either been too hot or I was in a hurry to get to New Mexico or Texas. Boondocked a few days at the Escapee rv park in Benson (they were full). The top picture is of a cow pasture next to the park. It was watered late in the afternoon and it got to freezing during the night. The weather has been in the 70-80′s during the day, with intermittent freezing at night.

The second picture is a rock wren that lives in a wood pile in the park. It flies out 5 or 6 feet from the pile to search the ground for food, then quickly scoots back into the wood pile. At times it looks like it is doing deep knee bends on top of a piece of wood.

About 40 miles south of Benson, or 20 miles from Sierra Vista, Arizona, there is the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. This is the first spot in North America to be designated a Globally Important Bird Area. The first time I visited it there was hardly any one else there and there were birds everywhere. On a beautiful trail that goes along the river, I saw the above two birds. The first one is a white-breasted nuthatch. It was circling around the trunks of trees to get insects. The second bird is a cactus wren.

Found some wintering sandhill cranes at Whitwater Draw Wildlife Area, about 20 miles southeast of Tombstone, Arizona. They are starting to head north and are usually gone by March 15th. This is an unusual place, as it allows rv’s to camp (boondock) up to three days! There is room for maybe 7 or 8 rv’s. You can bet, if I travel through this area between October and February, I am going to try to stay here.