A BIT OF A WAKE-UP CALL...

 We had a great sunset last night, but not as good as the previous ones...I don't understand why the sunsets are so much better here than Illinois, but they sure are. We were lazy butts this morning ( as we seem to be every morning) and got up about 7:40AM. Maybe it is the walks in the Arizona sunshine, maybe it is the bike rides every day, or maybe we are just too darn lazy to get out of bed! After all, what is the hurry? I really revel in the fact that we can lie in bed , watch the weather channel and grin at the Illinois weather...sorry....Heck, it's even freezing in Houston, TX.  We couldn't have picked a better year to head out to Arizona!!
  It was 47 degrees when we got up and quickly warmed up to 70 degrees. The wind was out of the East at a pretty good clip. I did a token vacuum and dust job on the RV..One thing I do notice is the dust we get...but I refuse to shut my camper up and run the air..First of all, it hasn't been hot enough!
 We took our walk around the campground about 10:30AM. Instead of wandering out into the desert, we did about 5 laps around the campground and up by the Casino. On the road to the Casino Den noticed this Barrel Cactus just off the road....

...I'm not sure if these are future blossoms or what...but I will keep track of this one to see what those yellow things do, if anything..
 It is very dry here, almost no humidity, so it looks very strange to see any green grass. The office is a modular home right at the entrance to the park and here it is....

...that road just ahead goes to the Casino, just around the corner. We frequently run into Hickiwan Ray watering his little patch of "green heaven" outside his home. I told him he was gonna have to mow it pretty soon....well, maybe not..
We went back to the camper and FINALLY had the Mexican Taco on Indian bread...It was terrific..even warmed up in the microwave. I made some guacamole with a couple avocados I had on hand and plunked some on top with sour cream..Dennis thought it was quite good..The Indian bread was very similar to the elephant ears they have at our county fair, only without the sugar...very light and puffy...Yumm!!
 Of course you know by now that I am a sun worshiper and I took my book, water, sunglasses and cell phone outside. I moved my "spot" to behind our camper in  order to get a better view of the neighborhood.  We did lose one neighbor to our North and got a new one in a couple days ago..
And now for a scary story to remind us where we are....As I was sitting in the sun, our new neighbor lady came out of her fifth wheel ( all dressed up , I might add..headed to the Casino, I'll bet). I spoke a friendly "hello"..and so did she. Then she said, "Did you get a knock on  your camper door very early this morning?"...I replied that no we didn't, and wondered to myself who in the world would bother someone at that hour..She said "Well, I opened the door and 2 young men asked me if we could give them a ride to Phoenix"...NO WAY! WHAT???..She said,"I told them we were not headed to Phoenix and then realized I probably shouldn't have answered the door so fast"...DUH,....NO, LADY, YOU SHOULD HAVE HOLLARED, "WHO IS IT?," FIRST!!!
About this time, one of the people from the park office was stolling by and he heard her talking to me. I told her she should tell him her story, and then he said that she did call the office right away, and they called Border Patrol. Apparently they caught the two illegals and 3 more with them... in the desert right around here...You know, in the back of your mind you know that this is a distinct possibility...running into some less than stellar characters...but that certainly put it in perspective...AHA...and now I know why I saw this police presence driving through our park this afternoon!

I kinda just aimed in his general direction and took the photo indiscretely...I found out the hard way 2 years ago, not to aim a camera at any officers of the law.I almost had my camera confiscated coming across the border from Mexico a couple years ago....Note to self...Border Patrol and Police down here do NOT want their picture taken!!
  So much excitement... and we slept through it..I asked Dennis if he heard anything and told him the lady's story. He said he would never answer the door, first of all, and no he hadn't heard squat. At least she and her husband thought to call the office right away and the office summoned the Border Patrol..Yes, it is becoming a very real problem all along the Mexican border...I filed that incident in my brain under"JUST WHEN YOU THINK NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN, IT CAN".
 Well, after I had enough sun, I made Den take a bike ride with me . There was a really neat tree up where I got the great food yesterday..I wanted to take a picture of it....

I have no idea what it is, but this tree had very green stalks growing out of the base. The leaves were almost like long needles with little tiny frons..Here is how it looked at the base of the tree...

...Those 4 dark round things at the top right corner are not rocks..It appears the illusive burros like this tree, too.
Well, the hazy clouds are now moving in...Could be another great sunset..Ya gotta have some clouds to make it really good! Tomorrow morning we are going over to the Why Rec Hall for a flea market/craft sale from 9A to noon. They say it is just up the road from here, so we should be able to find it..(key word here is SHOULD.) We are also going into Ajo in the afternoon to stop at a couple shops at the Plaza, take a few more pictures, find a cocktail and get a carry-out pizza..The hardest job will be finding a cocktail..They don't have pubs here...There is an Elk's Club, (for Elk's ONLY)...and Dennis isn't the correct animal, he is a Moose..close...but no cigar. Also there is a VFW, and Den IS a Vet, but he is not a card carrying member of the VFW...Our best bet might be the bowling alley in town...they do have a  lounge. It is a little scary looking, but hey , I'll follow Dennis into any place he will go...(sometimes this gets me into trouble).
So, that was our day...Got our eyes opened ,yet one more time...Just a reminder of our world today...A very real threat down here...More tomorrow.....