LOOKING FOR A SUNNY DAY

When I woke up this morning and parted the front curtains, I could barely see outside. We were in a heavy, wet fog, yet another side of the variety of winter weather we have experienced over the past few days: scudding clouds, rain showers, strong wind gusts, snow on the nearby peaks, and COLD temperatures. The weather forecast indicated SUNSHINE for today, so I was a little disappointed.

As I contemplated my limited view and wondered how long it might be until the fog lifted, my phone rang.

My mom, still staying in Bisbee at my sister's house uphill from Turquoise Valley RV Park, asked about our weather - then told me that they were in bright sunshine!

I jumped in the car, drove about 3 miles uphill, and - no fog! This photo, taken near my sister's house, shows San Jose Peak in Mexico. Our RV park, in Naco, Arizona on the Mexico/US border, is in the lake of fog at the base of the peak. The foreground flora is in Bisbee.

In cold (31 degrees), bright sunshine, I took several pictures of San Jose Peak floating above the fog, then headed back down the hill.

It is about 5 miles downhill from Bisbee to Naco. The road disappeared into the fog about halfway, and I stopped to take this photo where we make the turn to the RV park just before crossing the international border.

As I write this, I am once again looking out our windshield at the bleak, cold, very damp fog... wondering how long until the sun breaks through.

THAT CRAZY CAT!

We're back in Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, settled in for a week or (more likely) two while we visit family and enjoy the town. This is not the warm Arizona sunshine that snowbirds dream about! We arrived in cold rain showers and the possibility of snow is in the forecast in a day or two. A white Christmas??

My sister Sydney and brother-in-law Frank live in Bisbee and have a new member of their household: Frisco, a cat. While Sydney and Frank are vacationing, my parents (Bev and Bill) flew down from Sacramento to cat- and house-sit.

Last night, we went to visit my parents, meet Frisco, then head over to Sierra Vista (a nearby town) to see Baxter Black, master cowboy poet and humorist in a live benefit performance for the Annual Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering.

Here's wild Frisco, a long, slender, young male cat FULL of mischief. This photo shows him rather calm, laying on top of a kitchen cabinet (floor to counter to top of the refrigerator to his high perch - boom, boom, boom, boom). He is a lot of fun, curious about and into EVERYTHING.

Five of the group of six of us with tickets for the performance met at Sydney's house for a quick dinner before the performance. We were dressed a little less casually than usual - jeans and boots traded in for "dress up" clothes and shoes. We bundled up for the rain outside and headed out the door.

As "designated driver", I was in the lead, ready to unlock the car doors when screams, shrieks, and shouts stopped me in my tracks. "There he goes!" "Laurie, grab him!" I turned my head in time to see a dark shadow streak past me, full speed, and disappear into the total darkness that is rural Arizona on a moonless night. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no!

This is what the yard looks like at Sydney's and Frank's house. This photo shows some of the "manicured" part. How would you like to meet this cactus on a dark night? That big, scrubby looking bush in the background? That was where we last saw Frisco before the complete and total darkness swallowed him up.

Frisco is an indoor cat. Now he was outdoors, on a pitch dark night, in a light rain - and we had places to go and things to see that were WAY more appealing than what appeared to be our new mission: capture the cat!

Five aghast faces turned towards the spot we had last seen him while our brains slowly processed our change of plans. Flashlights! We need 'em! Where are they?? Remember, no one who actually lives in the house was with us. We found one flashlight inside, and Odel set off into THIS in the dark and rain while I fumbled to put new batteries in the flashlight we keep in the car.

My turn next and let me tell you - you do NOT want to be wandering through thickets of ocotillo, agave, and other well-defended desert plants in the pitch black night. Oh, how I wished I was wearing jeans and boots.

Then, a miracle: Odel spotted Frisco! He thrashed his way back towards the house, Frisco moving in front of him. Next, a sighting under the van... in the carport... near the door... and he ran inside. YAY!

Oh, man, thank god! We piled into the car, giddy with relief, and took off for the theater. That is one wily cat.

Oh, by the way, Baxter Black was GREAT.

SCENES FROM SOUTHERN ARIZONA

Looking at my recent photos today, I realized I hadn't shown you how nicely Catalina State Park cleaned up after the big rainstorm. Here is Odel walking down "our street" in loop B of the campground there; we called it our street because we were the only people parked along there for a few days.

It was a great time of year to be there. The leaves were still on the mesquite trees and, best of all, so FEW other campers. We like the huge, level sites.


This photo was taken further south in Arizona, though at a higher elevation, on the way to my cousin Rosanna's ranch. I always get a kick out of this sign!

This road is the route to Chiricahua National Monument, an incredible wonderland of rocks that is quite remote... I think the sign is a warning to visitors to the monument that they should not expect much (well, ANYTHING) other than striking physical beauty when they arrive. If you want food, water, or fuel - bring it with you.


Elevation trumps latitude here in Cochise County so, even though we are farther south than in Tucson, it is colder here. The coldest temperatures we have experienced while living in our motorhome were experienced at Rosanna's ranch - 12 degrees one night.

Not on this visit, though. We had great sunshine during the day and nights in the 40's. Today we three did one of our favorite hikes in the area, the Cochise Stronghold trail in the Dragoon Mountains. Here are Odel and Rosanna at the top of the divide, a hike of 3 mostly uphill miles. Happy hikers on a beautiful day!

Tomorrow we are moving even farther south, to Naco, Arizona, on the Arizona/Mexico border. We'll be staying at Turquoise Valley RV Park, a gravel lot directly across the street from Turquoise Valley golf course. While I visit family in Bisbee (5 miles north), Odel can walk back and forth to the golf course, his dream come true.