The Border

 Late afternoon sunlight on the dunes across from Algodones.

 The Border

 The border fence...VERY long and VERY high!

 All-American canal

After leaving Salton City, we continued down the road through Holtville and Winterhaven, and then to within viewing distance of The Border.  That's the border with Mexico.  There was some kind of huge fire over there, which we could easily seen.  Neither one of us had seen the dunes across from Algodones, so I pulled over and we took some photos.  We were also very close to the border fence.  Man, that thing is HUGE! (click on photos to enlarge).  The All American canal also ran right next to the road and we crossed paths with it several times.  These dunes were beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight and soon we were in Yuma...to be continued...

Overnight to Yuma...

I went to the accountant's appointment Saturday morning and by noon, hubby was home.  Seems he decided to close and take 1 1/2 days off.  His assistant is out with carpel tunnel syndrome and he said business was slow.  Poor guy...he's worked, I think, 12 days STRAIGHT.  So, he wanted to drive down to Yuma overnight and check out the sand dunes at Glamis.

We left about 3 p.m. Saturday and drove down the western edge of the Salton Sea.  I'd been down that road, let's see...about 20 years ago when we took a group of students down to the Imperial College astronomy lab and the museum next door.  Gosh!  How time flies!  We drove through Westmoreland and Holtville and saw the fence at the border (our first time seeing it)...Saw some dunes across from Algodones, too, in the late afternoon.  Got to Yuma, saw some trains backed up, which seemed unusual.  It was a beautiful night there and we saw a spectacular sunset.

Here are some photos near Salton City...to be continued...

The weekend is here and I have a WHAT?????

It's tax season time, so that means today I have my appointment with our tax guy.  I really like the place where we go.  We use a CPA firm, since several years ago, I inherited some money from my grandmother.  We just stayed with them.  I don't dread it like many people do.  I realize we will owe some state taxes, even though I'm at the highest bracket for withholding, but I have money put away for this.  So, off I go this morning at 10:30...

It looks like today is going to be 100 degrees here, so I'll stay close to home and do errands.  I may drive around Palm Springs and take photos, since I'll be out there anyway.  Phew.  100 degrees in March...OYE!  See, Al, aren't you GLAD you left the desert?  It's going to be in the high 90's next week, but then a "cool down" will begin...back into the 80's.  Just in time for my spring break!   :-)

Not much going on here, then.  Tomorrow I'll drive up and do horse stuff.  Here are some pretty views of the Coachella Valley from the Santa Rosa mountains.  At several points, I can look down and see the windmills.  If you click on the top one to enlarge it, you CAN see the windmills!

Finally Friday!

Just some pics of the flowers in my yard.  I actually have one sunflower in bloom and I'll get some photos of it this afternoon, after school.  I also have something blue blooming right outside my office window, but I haven't had time to investigate it this week.  Just too busy with parent/teacher conferences.  Oh, and I have now discovered that I have another ADHD student!  Oh, joy!  That's 4 out of 25, with one meth baby.  I'm going to have to rethink how I present lessons...chunk them into smaller parts.  I'll be reading up on ADHD this weekend, FER SHUR!

Have a great weekend and take care during your travels.  Our daughter is flying to New York City today with another high school's band to perform.  She will be there 5 days and visit the art museum and the natural history museum, as well as the 911 Memorial.

~~Cheryl Ann~~

Feelin' GOOD!

I finished my antibiotics a couple of days ago, and on day 4 of them (a z-pak), I felt normal again!  And, it was the first time in ... 6 WEEKS that I felt normal!  Thank goodness.

I had parent conferences until 7:30 last night and managed to stay awake the whole time!  I believe I had about 10 parents show up...sigh...that's less than half the class, but I DID learn a few things about my kids.  One of them has ADHD and was on medication two years ago.  She isn't now and she cannot sit still and focus...sigh... Another one is a meth baby.  Oh, joy!  And, mom said he has "anger management issues".  Oh, great!  Another one is so hyperactive that he literally cannot control his impulses.  Wonderful!  Such are the challenges of teaching in today's world.  Whatever happened to the days when kids came to class, sat down, and LISTENED, and followed directions?  Those days are gone forever.  A couple of kids are losing privileges such as their X-box and iPads at home due to their grades going down...oh, well...Kids today just don't seem to sit down and read BOOKS anymore.  Have you noticed?  I sure have...they have too many other items which demand their attention!  We do use an online reading website where the kids pick a book, read it, and then take a 5 question quiz, and I pointed that out to many parents.  One boy will be reading tonight and through the summer in order to make up his fluency.  GOOD for that parent!   :-)

Yesterday I had to whip out my speech, "Why you should go to college..."  I think it got to a few kids, but others were out in lala land (where they are MOST of the time anyway...)  We'll see...

Another beautiful day is in store for us here in the desert.  And, Al, it was in the mid-90's here yesterday and it is edging up to nearly 100 here by the weekend.  Ugh.  I'm NOT looking forward to that!

Ok...I'm done venting.  Here are a few photos of Spring around the desert...

Spring in the desert

Spring is alive and well here in the desert.  I went around Friday morning (before I exhausted myself!) and took a few photos...Also, those are my cosmos and African daisies out in the front yard, by the fence.  There are a lot of lupines blooming up on Highway 74, also.

Even the cholla are starting to blossom!

Pretty mountain lupine.  There is much more this year than last.

I saw a herd of 8 bighorn sheep yesterday!!!

I woke up yesterday morning (day #4 of my antibiotics) feeling...well...NORMAL!  No headache.  No tiredness.  No dizziness!  FINALLY!!!

I HAD to drive up the mountain to the horse boarding ranch to pay them for my horses' board and I was already a week late.  Oops.  In my confused mental state, I really didn't even know what day it was!

For some reason, I was really wanting to get up into the mountains, so I left before hubby.  I was driving along when I spotted a herd of bighorn sheep feeding right off the highway.  I was able to see a turnout, so I stopped and parked my car and crossed the road.

There were 8 of them, including a large ram.  He was guarding the herd.  They didn't seem to mind me standing there, taking photos of them.  I didn't wish to get too close to them, and he wouldn't allow me to do that anyway.  So, I just stood and watched them fro my viewpoint and took photos.  I could actually hear them tearing at the vegetation!  There were several females and some "youngsters" in the herd, including some younger males.  Something spooked them and the ram gave the signal and they moved further down the hill, but still within my viewing range.  Boy, when he said, "MOVE!", they all moved!  I wish I had a video of that.  They all appeared healthy and I stayed for a while longer.  The entire time I was watching them, cars went whizzing by.  I believe the ones going uphill could see me, but the ones whizzing downhill probably couldn't because I was down a little hill.  I'm always amazed by the blissful ignorance of people who look but who do not see.

 I know...bad light.  I was facing toward the sun and there was no way I could get behind them.

 The big ram.  He was keeping an eye on me!

 A better photo of them...

 This young one had pulled some vegetation and was eating it.

The big ram finally gave the order to move and off they went!

1st day of spring and yes, I got OUT today!

By 9:00 a.m. yesterday, I was ready to try to go for a little drive and take some photos.  I've been on antibiotics 3 days by then and I'd also been in my pajamas for 3 days (except for a couple of short trips to Whole Foods!).  I was ready to get out of the house!

So, I grabbed my Canon and drove over to the city-owned golf course where I USED to walk.  I haven't walked over there now for about a year.  I NEED to get back and walk, since I've gained 6 pounds.  Ugh.  No fun having that extra weight and not good for me, either.  Unfortunately, I only walked a short distance, then broke out in a sweat and was dizzy.  I made it back to my car and sat for a while.  I decided to go to the city park, since I wouldn't have to walk too far there, so I headed that direction.  And, that was pretty much it.  I was exhausted, so I went home and fell asleep for an hour!  This BUG has really left me drained.

Anyway, it WAS the first day of Spring, so I tried to take some photos of all the desert plants that are blooming right now.  The palo verdes are GORGEOUS!  I don't remember them blooming this much last year.  Some cacti are in bloom, also.  My garden is coming along nicely and I'm very conservative with how much water I use on it.  Anyway, here are some photos from yesterday.

 Palo verdes are in full bloom.

 Palo verde blossoms.  The trees are FULL of bees!

 Yucca blossom...also full of bees.

 Cactus

Ocotillo

Home sick!

So, yesterday I went to urgent care and I FINALLY got a doctor who prescribed some antibiotics for me.  I now have a z-pak and I'm off work for 3 days so I can get some REST!  I slept 10 hours last night!   :-)  I had the flu in January, got over it, had a relapse in February, toward the end of the month, and was BACK in urgent care yesterday.  I have had a sore throat for 4 days.  Well, this doctor said, "Enough is enough...I'm putting you on antibiotics!" and wrote a note for 3 days off school.  I came home, took the first 2 pills, and fell asleep for 2 hours!  I watched a couple of movies yesterday:  Defiance and The Duchess.  Didn't go to the family dinner at our son's house because of the newborn...so I missed that.

We had a large cloud cover here yesterday and I still see clouds this morning.  I may get out and take a few photos just for a while.  I really NEED to get some rest as I have parent conferences next week.

Thinking back, I've had 3 kids with stomach aches this week, and 3 more with headaches so bad that they've put their heads down in class.  Now, if only the parents would keep them HOME when they are sick, instead of sending them to school?  My gosh...

Take care.
Cheryl Ann~Some of the flowers from my garden this year.

Canyon de Chelly ponies, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Williams, Flagstaff videos

Hey, Doug...


This is for you!   :-)  Enjoy!  I made these videos a few years back...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsPXEQSyejQ&list=UUTPTVbo1NWTu_HvRzy9r3uQ

If the link doesn't take you directly to the video of the Canyon de Chelly horses, look for it on the sidebar.  They SHOULD work.  I just tried them both.

Here's another one...Canyon de Chelly morning light:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM4xga7_QIs&index=4&list=UUTPTVbo1NWTu_HvRzy9r3uQ

Oh, and one more:  Our trip to Canyon de Chelly and the Grand Canyon!!! Also, photos from Williams, the Mogollon Rim, Flagstaff, Monument Valley, and Bryce Canyon.

 Music is from The Big Country (Al, you should enjoy this!)  Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0eP60AfA6U&index=7&list=UUTPTVbo1NWTu_HvRzy9r3uQ

Here are a few photos from that trip:

 Canyon de Chelly after a late afternoon thunderstorm.

Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly.

Looking down into the canyon.

Some of my new friends! :-)

Nice Stellar's blue jay.

Just some of my new friends hanging around Saturday morning up in Idyllwild.  We're back home now and back to work...ugh.