Bumper Crop

One thing about being a visitor to an area is that you don't have any frame of reference to gauge what you're seeing. Since the monsoon season started here effectively about six weeks ago, we've gotten about 5 and a half inches of rain. It has resulted in the growth of large stands of yellow flowers. There are patches of these flowers on the hills that are over an acre in size. Some of the plants are four feet tall or more. Down in the valley it's the same way. There are large patches of yellow flowers but those are a different species, looking almost like black eyed susans except that there are several blooms to a stalk. I though it was all pretty and nice but when my cousin got home last Monday, she said this is the first time in the 15 years in this location that she's ever seen such flowers. Who knew?

I  believe what we're seeing at our elevation is something called Golden Crownbeard or Cowpen Daisy, a member of the sunflower family.

Another plant growing in profusion right now is this Feather Finger Grass.

It's normally 5 or 6 inches tall but right now there are patches of it that are 36" high.

Of course, with abundance comes predators. I spotted this guy waiting for the sun to warm him up yesterday morning.

Yesterday we went in to town to shop for some last minute supplies before we head out in mid-week. We went to Walmart to get some of those modular plastic storage drawers that are so popular with RV'rs. As we often do, we got one of the motorized carts for Diane to drive. As so often happens, it died on us in mid-store. We trudged up to the checkout and an employee finally saw our plight and got us a basket. Why is it that Walmart can't keep their carts in decent shape? If I knew the cart wasn't going to last, I'd just get the wheelchair and be done with it. If I go to Fry's or to Lowe's, the carts are in good shape and work just fine. At Walmart, they're junk. It can be done but Walmart apparently doesn't care enough about their customers to do it. If I take the wheelchair I need a hand-basket to carry the purchases in. But Walmart most times doesn't have them available either. And not in just one store. I find the same problems with Walmarts across the country. I try to avoid Walmart if I can, even though their prices are attractive, but sometimes, especially on trips in unknown areas they are the only choice.

I had to stop at CVS to pick up some prescription renewals to keep us going. They screwed up another one. This time they said my co-pay was $196 for one prescription. I told them I didn't think so and to put it back on the shelf. They said I should call my insurance to check it out. I'm seriously going to look for another provider when I get back home.

As I mentioned, my cousin got back home on Monday evening so we're preparing to depart this week for points East. Hurrah! But today another cousin is coming to visit for a couple of days which will delay us until mid-week. She lives in central New Mexico and is the sister of the gal we've been staying with. I haven't seen her in over 40 years. So we'll stay and visit until she leaves and then head out, probably on Wednesday. Our goal then is to make it to central Michigan to visit our son and his family. We're trying to get there by the 23rd of Sept. I've got an aggressive itinerary laid out for that trip but I don't know if we'll make every stop. For sure there will be some brewery's in Colorado and then the Black Hills area with Mount Rushmore and then a stop in Northern Michigan. I hope to increase the pace of the blog as we see some more interesting places.