A Sunday afternoon drive

Back before 1956, when my Dad died, I remember him taking us on Sunday afternoon drives to get out of the city of Chicago.  That was before those suburbs like Rolling Meadows even existed.  We’d drive out to see the farm fields, and occasionally end up at Russell’s for a BBQ pulled pork sandwich.  My brother Kurt, aka Nurse Ratchet, and I were small enough that we’d split a sandwich and fries.  I can still conjure up the taste of that pork in my mind. 

Anyway, seeing as my work week starts tomorrow, I thought I’d take Emma on a ‘Sunday afternoon drive’ on Saturday.  I’m just about out of those ‘bargain’ shriveled oranges that I bought a month ago, and the Gila woodpecker screams at me each morning for his orange halves stuck on the mesquite tree. 

After picking up a month’s supply of ‘bird’ oranges for four bucks, I decided to take a side road south of the Imperial Dam LTVA area to Mittry Lake.  I hadn’t been there before, and wanted to check it out.

With no wind today, the lake was as smooth as glass and would have been perfect for kayaking.  Only problem is I don’t have a kayak.    I also noticed that the shoreline was becoming choked with phragmites, an invasive species.  That’s the tall stuff with the puffs on top.  It’s a problem along many waterways in the south.

The boondock camping places here have a ten day limit per calendar year.  Most spots today seemed to be taken by weekend campers.

I did find one empty spot though with a wonderful view.  If I were a boondocker, I’d like this one.  See that white dot at the top right?  It’s the radar blimp put up by the Army on the Yuma Proving Grounds.  I can see that blimp from the refuge.  And that bump in the mountains on the far right is Castle Dome.  I can see that from my rig also, and it’s about twenty miles away as the crow flies from this spot.  You sure can see a long way here in the desert.

Some of you may remember this pic I took from the VC on Christmas Eve of the fire south of us near Mittry Lake.

Well, I saw the burnt results of that fire today.  In areas with water, the green is quickly coming back.  Fire is a natural occurrence, and Mother Nature knows how to deal with it.  Not sure this fire started naturally, but things will grow back.  There’s that seed bank buried underneath you know.

It was a great day for a drive.  Tomorrow it’s back to work in the VC.  Thankfully, I have all seats reserved for the bird tour.  It’s the highlight of my week.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

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