Hot weather, slow times

We have been laying rather low this week.  The afternoon temperatures have been consistently over 90 which is at least 10 degrees above our comfort range.  Though the humidity is low--usually under 15%--the clear skies provide little relief from the direct sun.  Hot!  Thankfully, temperatures quickly fall off in the evening making it very comfortable by 7 or so.

One of the highlights of the campground experience is watching for snakes, ducking the droves of humming birds in the area and watching for the owl at night.  An owl likes to perch in a tree (one of the few in the area) about 100 feet from our site.  When he's there, people congregate hoping he will pose for a clear picture and then fly.  He cooperates once in a while:

We did venture out about 60 miles north of Phoenix to the city of Wickenburg.  The city began as a gold mining town ($30 million dollars worth was taken) and once the railroad came to the area, it became a destination for "dude ranchers."  It is a touristy town with a large western museum downtown, a few restaurants and the usual souvenir shops.  It still has several dude ranches.  And, of course, it has a "jail tree" downtown:

As the town originally had no jail, the bad guys were chained to an old tree to await their punishment.   Tourists who do  not leave enough cash in the souvenir shops are often found chained to the tree until they can come with more cash to buy worthless junk.  We got out of town quickly.

St Patrick's day brought a double treat.  The male cook in our rig made a corned beef and the female member made a blueberry pie.  We would share, but leftovers are quickly vanishing.