The Most and the Least

Now that we've had a few months practice in travelling in "Baby B.", what are the most useful, and the least useful things we've taken along? Here is the list, not necessarily in order of importance.

Most useful:
1.  Laptop computer.
This works well when there is WiFi.  When there is not, it's demoted to the least useful list.  Since my cell phone stopped working, I can at least call people through Google.
The laptop serves as a handy encyclopedia, recipe book, (for me), Canadian news source, sudoku puzzle site, and atlas (for Terry).  When we're bored, we look at Facebook, and check our e-mails. Hardly anyone e-mails, though. 
2. Kobo reader
A  library card provides access to books which can be downloaded onto my e-reader. I still packed a few paper books.
3. Electric heater
Boy, have we been grateful for this little space heater to supplement our furnace.
4. Toaster oven
This doubles as a bread toaster, and is easier to use for baking than the gas oven. Even though muffins have to be baked in 2 shifts.  Great for drying kale to make yummy kale chips.
5. Coleman lantern
Useful for those times of camping in parking lots or at the side of the road. Also for the occasional power failure.
6. Indoor/outdoor thermometer
 We love to check the outdoor temperature first thing in the morning, and note the daily high.
7. Terry's I-phone.  Not as a phone, but with a useful bird book app complete with bird calls and songs.
Also Terry finds it useful in church to look up Bible references.  I prefer my regular Bible.
8. Clothesline
Useful for hanging out towels and facecloths, as they USUALLY dry much faster outside. In the dry Coachella Valley, laundered clothes can dry in a couple of hours.  But not here.
9.  Umbrellas
Terry's never used an umbrella so much in his life!  In fact, he's never before had one of his very own.
10. Duvets
I didn't realize we'd be so grateful to have these winter-weight bed coverings.
 
Least useful:
1. Too many clothes!
 This is the result of double packing.  As we were getting ready to go again, Terry didn't realize I had already selected certain clothes, and packed them away in the trailer four months previously. I forgot just what I had packed.
2.  Two 4 kg yogurt containers full of honey.
 Our neighbours had picked up the honey for us, and stored it in their relative's garage. I didn't want to have to go there again, so brought along both buckets.
3.  Firewood
Last year Terry brought a bin full of lumber, thinking we would need it for cozy campfires.  We only had "cozy campfires"  a couple of times.  Apparently SOWERs don't sit around staring at a campfire, let alone roasting wieners.  The full bin was useful as a step stool, though, when I scrubbed the awning, or as an impromptu seat when we hadn't pulled out the slide, and space was limited.
4.  Vacuum cleaner
The little Dewalt battery powered vacuum sounded like a great idea, but it's so noisy, I prefer to sweep the floor.  Besides, the batteries are usually at the work site when I want to vacuum.
5.  Non-functioning cell phone.  Who knows why it's not working.
6.  Second skipping rope
Another instance of "double packing"  One of these did double duty as another clothesline.
7.  Folding table
This one is a mystery.  It looks so useful, but usually by dinner time it's dark and cold, so we eat inside.
8.  Hair curlers.  Curled hair is not worth the work when you wear a tuque, which just flattens it again.
9.  Extra set of tennis raquets
We haven't found anyone yet who plays tennis.
10.  Slow cooker
I need to research new and exciting recipes so that this item can join my list of useful items.

Next trip, we hope to pack more efficiently.

First Birding Expedition

Our first birding expedition near the coast of southern California began in the rain. I don't mind rain if it makes the grass grow.   Our first ever umbrella bird walk! Despite the weather, we spotted a surprising number of birds, 62 for the two days.

This is a small dam in the Mission Trails Park where we walked.  There's water behind this one!

Walking around the reservoir, we came to a little lookout from which we saw our starting point. At this pond were Black Crowned Night Herons and a Common Moorhen, a black duck with a funny shaped, bright orange bill.  Terry is keeping a bird list for the year, and these two were new ones to add.  The California Thrasher we saw in the bushes was a "lifer", a bird he had never seen before.

The next day we drove to the Tijuana Estuary nature reserve, near the Mexican border.  Although the rain had stopped, my six layers kept me comfortable. The wind was brisk, but we walked along the stream that led to the Pacific Ocean.

Tiny birds, Sanderlings, scurried along the very edge of the water.  They ran so fast on their little feet that their legs were actually a blur.
 A gull flying with a clam shell in its mouth tried to break it open.  It would throw it down onto the sandy beach, over and over, then swoop straight down to try again.  The rocks were actually a few metres away.
Back in the bushes, two "bunnies" were playing tag.  At one point they faced each other, as if they were challenging each other.  All of a sudden, one of them ran for the other, who leaped straight up into the air, as the other ran underneath.  They kept turning around to play this bunny version of leap frog , before they disappeared at the sound of our chuckles.

For you[God] created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased. Rev. 4:11

Indian Hills Camp

Our second SOWERs project is at the Indian Hills Camp in the San Diego area.  Children would absolutely love this place; I wish our grandchildren could be here.  It's like a theme park for the gold rush days in California, with a western "town", teepees, covered wagons, and miners' shacks, which all have bunks inside them.  Different groups use the camps on the weekend, even in the winter, and schools have their Grade Six students do hands-on activities about the gold rush.

Terry and Dennis, whom we had met in Florida, are building gangplanks and steps to this play fort perched high on a rock.  I'm painting a porch with two other women.  It's peaceful work, with the birds singing, and the sweet smell of blooming narcissus, along with the occasional conversation.
One week has gone by already, and it hasn't been very warm.  One morning, the temperature was only a couple of degrees warmer than Red Deer, which was plus 1 Celsius!  The green trees and grass amidst the rocks makes up for the cool weather.

Joshua Tree National Park

a Joshua tree, arms upstretched as Joshua in the Bible

 

Entering the park from the south, Terry and I started our hike near Cottonwood Spring.  We walked through sandy washes and between huge, odd shaped boulders.  Clambering up the rock pile that was Mastadon Peak was our only real challenge.  From our vantage point we were able to see the Salton Sea to the south-west, visible briefly through the low hanging clouds.  We'd been there just a few days ago.
By the end of the day as we drove towards the north entrance, occasional raindrops were replaced by real rain.
"I'm glad we hiked first, and are driving later!"  I told Terry.

Three days later the rain had stopped down in the Coachella Valley, and the sky was clear.  We were eager to explore the other side of the park. Our seven day pass allowed us to go back for another visit.   As a precaution, though, I had put on six layers of clothing.  On the mountain plateau that was the park our hoods went up, and our hands were jammed into our pockets.  Light dustings of snow appeared here and there on the desert floor.

and the wind blew briskly.

 It was not too far above the freezing mark.  "Go and see the Barker Dam,"

recommended the park ranger.  "There might be water in it after the rain."  The only water we saw, however, was a puddle on the trail and a couple of inches in an old horse trough.

 

It was hard to imagine the dam holding a full reservoir of water, with water birds on the shore.

  The next trail led to an old mill that once crushed gold filled ore.  Old cars and the foundations of  houses were nestled among the bushes.  One interesting bird we saw was a Spotted Towhee flitting through the bushes.

Our picnic lunch was eaten inside the vehicle, as it was not warm enough to sit outside comfortably.
Next stop- the Keys Viewpoint, 5185 feet up in the Little San Bernardino Mountain Range.  We didn't linger long, just long enough to pick out Palm Springs and the rest of the Coachella Valley.  As one tourist put it, "OK, I get the idea, let's go!"

What a great park to explore.  I wish we could take our grandchildren there.