Thank you for visiting RV Ramblings, the daily happenings of full-time RVers, James and J, as told by James.
You may share this particular blog entry by referring to www.rvramblings.com/?date=2010-03-18.
Visit www.rvramblings.com to view the latest blog entry. Click here to create a bookmark that will take you to the latest blog entry.
March 18, 2010, a Thursday
near Why, Arizona, USA
— Took it easy in the morning and photographed in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
[You may view a map of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in PDF format here.]
We took it easy this morning. I had my regular breakfast for the first time in a long time: a bowl of Post Raisin Bran with skim milk followed by a cup of LavAzza Gran Filtro Dark Roast coffee in my Bodum Bistro Double-Wall Mug — mmm. We prepped our laundry and packed up our computers and left in the Jeep around 10:40.
We went to the Hikiwan RV Park in Why around 11:00 to do our laundry. It took us a while to find it because we were looking for the Hikiwan Casino and didn't think about stopping at the Golden Hasán Casino which is at the entrance to the Hikiwan RV Park. All four washers were in use when we arrived, so we had to wait — seems other people thought doing laundry in the cool morning hours would be a good idea. I downselected the images from yesterday in Capture One (C1) and had lunch of Clif Bars. We finally left at 1:15.
We returned to the RV at 1:30 after missing our turnoff. :( I was pooped so I took a nap at 1:43. Well, J discovered that she didn't have the power cord for her computer, so she asked me around 1:50 if I brought it back from the laundry — so much for getting to sleep. J left in the Jeep to go get it. I might have drifted off for a few minutes before she returned around 2:15 and I got out of bed. I processed two images for the blog then worked up a blog entry. I did some computer work, then we left in the Jeep around 4:30.
We went to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and there were some nice patches of yellow wildflowers along the road. We reached the Visitor Center at 5:10 — 10 minutes after they closed. :( Fortunately, they had some maps outside by the door, and we picked one up. We headed up the dirt road to Alamo Canyon Campground to get closer to the Ajo Mountains to use as a background for the saguaro cacti and blooming wildflowers. We stopped at a promising location and discovered that it was windier than we thought. As I was looking around for an interesting composition, I was drawn to the tiny wildflowers. Even though they were getting blown around in the intermittent wind, they would settle down occasionally. I spent our whole time photographing two different flowers (below) and largely waiting for the flowers to stop moving.
We returned to the RV at 7:10. I downloaded the images I took this afternoon and downselected them in Capture One (C1) while the hot water heater was running. I took a shower while J prepared dinner.
We had dinner around 7:40 of tuna-salad sandwiches and a Greek salad — a nice meal for a hot day! It got up to about 85°F (29°C) today.
After doing the dishes, I had some Asbach Uralt while looking at some travel plans. We called my mother and talked for a while. I did some computer work before going to bed.
We took it easy this morning. I had my regular breakfast for the first time in a long time: a bowl of Post Raisin Bran with skim milk followed by a cup of LavAzza Gran Filtro Dark Roast coffee in my Bodum Bistro Double-Wall Mug — mmm. We prepped our laundry and packed up our computers and left in the Jeep around 10:40.
We went to the Hikiwan RV Park in Why around 11:00 to do our laundry. It took us a while to find it because we were looking for the Hikiwan Casino and didn't think about stopping at the Golden Hasán Casino which is at the entrance to the Hikiwan RV Park. All four washers were in use when we arrived, so we had to wait — seems other people thought doing laundry in the cool morning hours would be a good idea. I downselected the images from yesterday in Capture One (C1) and had lunch of Clif Bars. We finally left at 1:15.
We returned to the RV at 1:30 after missing our turnoff. :( I was pooped so I took a nap at 1:43. Well, J discovered that she didn't have the power cord for her computer, so she asked me around 1:50 if I brought it back from the laundry — so much for getting to sleep. J left in the Jeep to go get it. I might have drifted off for a few minutes before she returned around 2:15 and I got out of bed. I processed two images for the blog then worked up a blog entry. I did some computer work, then we left in the Jeep around 4:30.
We went to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and there were some nice patches of yellow wildflowers along the road. We reached the Visitor Center at 5:10 — 10 minutes after they closed. :( Fortunately, they had some maps outside by the door, and we picked one up. We headed up the dirt road to Alamo Canyon Campground to get closer to the Ajo Mountains to use as a background for the saguaro cacti and blooming wildflowers. We stopped at a promising location and discovered that it was windier than we thought. As I was looking around for an interesting composition, I was drawn to the tiny wildflowers. Even though they were getting blown around in the intermittent wind, they would settle down occasionally. I spent our whole time photographing two different flowers (below) and largely waiting for the flowers to stop moving.
Blue-Eyed Scorpion-Weed
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument,
Arizona, USA
Arizona, USA
Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III, 180 Macro,
0.7 sec, f16, ISO 100
0.7 sec, f16, ISO 100
Gordon's Bladderpod
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument,
Arizona, USA
Arizona, USA
Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III, 180 Macro,
0.3 sec, f8, ISO 100
0.3 sec, f8, ISO 100
We returned to the RV at 7:10. I downloaded the images I took this afternoon and downselected them in Capture One (C1) while the hot water heater was running. I took a shower while J prepared dinner.
We had dinner around 7:40 of tuna-salad sandwiches and a Greek salad — a nice meal for a hot day! It got up to about 85°F (29°C) today.
After doing the dishes, I had some Asbach Uralt while looking at some travel plans. We called my mother and talked for a while. I did some computer work before going to bed.