All God's Creatures Sunday

White-tailed deer.
Yes, she did get it.  She went on to use her front legs to bat the seed out of the feeder.

Views from my Window

Beautiful Medina Lake, TX.  There are deer everywhere, sprauling oaks jacketed with moss, warm soft breezes, and a beautiful lake. 

Medina Lake is best known among fishermen for its large yellow catfish. Medina Lake's 4,246-acres of clear water, sheltered by hills and limestone bluffs, are also haven for SCUBA divers.
Fish species found in Medina Lake:

• Bass: Hybrid Striped, Largemouth, Smallmouth, White
• Catfish: Blue, Channel, Flathead
• Crappie: Black, White
• Shad: Gizzard, Threadfin
• Others: Bluegill, Walleye

We are loving this place!  Haven't had the chance to fish yet, but we will.  Shasta about lost her mind when she saw all of the deer! 

The weather has been in the upper 70s to low 80s. So awesome!  Today we saw a young deer with a plastic grocery bag entwined in his antlers.  So sad.  The other deer were freaked out by it, and he didn't know what to do about it!  Please, please, please, don't think that a plastic bag is no big deal!  Imagine how long he'll have that bag on there.  All of his herd are running from him and there's nothing he can do.  We bought some corn to feed them, thinking that we may be able to get close enough to help him out.  We didn't see him tonight.  I don't mean to be a downer, but, we need to realize the consequences of our littering.

HUMPH!

Me: Um, there are some very breast-y looking mountains around here.

Hubby: Yeah, flat.

Me: (thinking to myself: Psshht, that's wasn't nice!) (Looking at him for a minute) Uh, what do you mean by that?

Hubby: Well, they're really flat.
Ha!

Leaving New Mexico

This is a GIANT metal sculpture of a roadrunner somewhere around Las Cruces, NM along Hwy 10.  This is totally made out of junk from a landfill.  Isn't he FABULOUS???  Do check out the website because you'll find it interesting.  He's like 20' tall, and I apologize that the photo isn't sharper, but moving at 60-65 mph, it's hard to get a great photo!
Also, as we were getting towards the end of New Mexico, we drove by some mountains that looked to have a hole in them, and others that were bizarrly shaped.  We were enthralled, but I couldn't seem to take a picture of them!  As we made our way down the road, we discovered that it was an optical illusion!  No hole in the mountain, and no weirdly shaped hills.  :#
So we moved out of New Mexico and forged ahead in to Texas.  Not much difference in landscape, until we hit El Paso, TX.
El Paso is huge. Really.
It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 22nd-largest city in the United States.  Its metropolitan area covers all of El Paso County. El Paso's metropolitan population for 2010, is estimated at 800,647 according to the US Census.
The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called Juarez-El Paso, with Juárez being the significantly larger of the two. Together they have a combined population of 2 million.
I was SO thankful that I was not driving today!  Way too busy, too fast, too much.  I didn't have a warm, fuzzy feeling driving through here.
YIKES! I know that driving through AZ at 75 mph just felt out of control, and I would envision what would happen at one wrong move.
Ahhhh, that's more like it!

Hello Deming!

We're so excited about being "on our journey."  Turning right on Hwy 10 in AZ, we looked at one another, smiled, and high-fived!  Finally.
There is a whole lot of wide open spaces in New Mexico too!
I wonder how different this scene looks in the spring and summer? 

We spent a contented night in Deming, although any of the rv parks right off of Hwy 10, all have road noise and train whistles.  But that's only for a few more nights until we get to our campground on Lake Medina, TX.

So this morning we're headed into Texas! 

All God's Creatures Sunday

I haven't run in to any creatures this week in my wanderings, so I went back through some old photos.  This was taken in St. David, AZ a couple of years ago.  A Dragonfly, but what kind?  I remember he hung around the campsite for most of the afternoon, flitting from branches to car antenna. 

Speaking of creatures, I was sitting in the truck waiting for Hubby to do his daily grocery run, (I hate going in to the store every single day), watching the pigeons, grackles, and doves in the parking lot.  I think they live in their own little worlds, conscious only of their own kind.  Yeah, they have to scurry to get out of our way, or spend time picking away at the grills on the autos for bugs, but it's really just all about them.  It made me laugh to watch how oblivious they were to the shoppers and how they seemed to just be interested in one another, who had what to eat, or who might be their new girlfriend! 

I hope you have a wonderful week!

My Window View

This is the view from our front window.  The Mule mountains in the foreground and the Dragoons in the backround.  Throughout the day, the mountains off in the distance change color and mood.  Unfortunately, I've been too busy to document that change. 

Oh my Lord!  CRAZY WINDY here today!  We've been working all week long to get things buttoned up in Sierra Vista, AZ so that we could leave tomorrow, heading for TX.  Made some TV commercials, met with clients, reworked the inside of the motorhome to decide what can go in to storage while we're in the same town as said storage, and scanning family photos so that I can leave the originals in storage as well.

Then we checked the weather...  !#@*^%!  Wind.  Not just a little wind.  LOTS OF WIND!  And not just for the day.  ALL WEEK LONG!  Well, we've decided to stay here one more day, then do the best we can on a daily basis to get to our next destination in Texas.  I cannot wait (!) to show you pictures of that place!  We'll be there for 3 weeks, amidst 80* weather, along a lake, with deer!  Oh, heaven for me! 
So excited to actually begin our journey.  Chomping at the bit, as a matter of fact.  But, as much as we want to get on the road, our mamma's didn't raise no dummies.  Monday shows much better travelling weather!

All God's Creatures Sunday

On my old blog, a fish's beach wishes, I used to post unusual creatures on Sundays.  Sometimes the creatures were creepy (scorpions, tarantulas), sometimes very sweet (bunnies).  Arizona is good for finding wildlife photos.  We'll see if I can find enough unusual things to continue the Sunday feature.

This morning on Shasta's morning constitutional, she flushed something out of an oleander bush.  I heard the wings flutter, and when we got to the other side of the bush, here stood this little roadrunner.  He didn't run, and actually just stood in the sunshine for a good half hour.  He looks like a baby doesn't he?  All fuzzy with pin feathers.  Odd time of year for a baby I would think.

I hope your day is filled with sunshine and happy.

Seriously Awesome

Isn't it a thang o' beauty?  Seriously.  Awesome.  Yes, there's some work involved, and you may not have everything on hand in your pantry.  But it's so worth the effort! 

1 quart vegetable broth

2-inch piece fresh ginger, cut in half

Pinch sugar

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce 

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1/2 teaspoon Sambal (careful, it's hot)

1 pound firm tofu

1 cup bread crumbs, Panko preferred

Pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon hot paprika

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoon peanut oil

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 dried Hawaiian chile, chopped (can use habanaro, but we didn't use either)

1 pound Chinese broccoli, roughly chopped (we used napa cabbage)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 pound udon noodles, cooked

1 bunch green onions, julienned

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (we at least doubled the cilantro)

1/2 cup peanuts, roasted and salted

To prepare the soup, in a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the vegetable broth, ginger, sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sambal. Allow to simmer 15 minutes to mingle the flavors.


To prepare the tofu steaks, cut the tofu block lengthwise, then cut in half to make 4 slabs. Lay several layers of paper towels on a cutting board then place the tofu, side by side, on top. Cover the steaks with more paper towels and press down to drain out some of the water in the curd (making it denser and hold together better when cooked.) Combine the bread crumbs, cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper. Dip each piece of tofu into the beaten eggs then dredge in the seasoned bread crumbs to coat. Heat peanut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the tofu steaks 4 minutes each side. Remove to a platter lined with fresh paper towels. Add sesame oil to the skillet, stir-fry the ginger and garlic with the chili for 2 minutes to build a base flavor. Add the broccoli and saute 3 minutes until it begins to soften, season with salt and pepper. Divide the udon noodles and spicy broth among 4 bowls. Add the broccoli then lay a piece of tofu on top. Garnish with a sprinkle of green onions, cilantro, and peanuts before serving.

We also added imitation crab, which was wonderful in there!  Luckily, it made enough for dinner again tonight!

Checking In

We've been pretty busy this last week.  We spent a few days in Casa Grande, AZ visiting friends.  Then left (me driving) and headed for Sierra Vista.  I drove through Tucson, and at one point I told Hubby "I don't want to do this!  I wanna get off the highway!"  There were cars and big trucks on all sides of me and I was definitely scared!  But I couldn't get off because of all the traffic (40' of mh, + hitch, + Tundra) and it takes a lot of room to move over.  Needless to say, I drove on through.  We're still alive. 

It has been our intention to go to Texas to register the mh, get TX licenses, and become residents of TX.  We just found out that in order to register and drive the mh in TX, you need a class B license (bus).  Now, I wouldn't mind taking the driving test in the mh as long as Hubby was in here with me, but he won't be.  Just the DMV person.  Yeah, I'll suck it up and do it, but I'll be practicing driving through towns first!  And I will not be towing the Tundra for the test so that will help. 

Off to have lunch with a good friend of mine.  Turns out, since we're back in AZ we have several new commercials to make and lots to do.  Hopefully we'll be back on the road in a couple of weeks. 

Badges???

We don't need no stinking badges!!!

Yesterday's pin:
Boot camp consisted of seminars on things like RV systems, maintenance, driving tips & techniques, RV weight & load management, fire and life safety, RV tire safety. We also had a truckers' breakfast & a dinner of barbequed hamburgers & hot dogs. It was a LOT of information, and we came away with spinning heads and a long list of things to check & do.  Being RVrs and Escapees, everyone was friendly, helpful, and full of weird, terrible, funny stories about the lifestyle that they could laugh about.  Also for an extra charge we had our motorhome weighed, wheel by wheel, to find out if we are overweight.  Our front axle weight is fine, the back is overweight, but we also had a full tank of fresh water.  So when we travel, we'll make sure to only have a small amount of water in there until we can get back to our storage area to drop more "stuff" off.  We're finding that we don't need or use everything that we packed in here.  We've also been carrying around some of my mother's things that will go into storage as well.

Today's pin:
Yes, friends and loved ones!  I DID IT!!!  We spent about 45 minutes in a parking lot learning to back up around cones and to get the feel of what it takes to not run over said cones.  I came close once, but didn't hit it.

Then we went out through residential areas, highways, dead ends where I had to back my way out.  But the hairiest thing was driving up a mountain road with just a guardrail to my right and occasionally an oncoming car.  Going up was a little nerve-wracking, but coming down . . . I could see how very high up we were.  High enough that without even looking over the edge, my stomach was doing flip flops!  After that I felt pretty comfortable on flat ground on hwy 93 until this huge flock of birds crossed the road.  You know I love birds.  Sad to say there are two less birds in AZ tonight.  I almost swerved, almost went on to the shoulder, but managed to hold it all together.  I'm sure Hubby and the instructor were scared!  Oh!  And guess who backed this 40' building on wheels back in to our camping spot.  Yup! 

Quite the eventful day for me.  I think I'll toast myself with a nice glass of wine, and thank God for seeing me safely through.

Saguaro Park

The Escapees RV park that we are staying in has a beautiful little walk at the edge of the rv park and the great big wide-open desert. 
It's full of plants that are native to the desert. They've done a wonderful job of landscaping & labeling. This also presented the perfect opportunity to show you some photos of them.
My favorite prickly pear!
The colder it gets, the more purple they turn!

You can almost picture these bunnies, can't you?


Cow's Tongue cactus.


There are several Saguaros in the pathway, and someone has named them.
This one, Sheba, has a second sign that says, circa 1870!

Another, cactus condo!
I'm sure there are birds living in every one of those holes!

Speaking of birds...a Palo Verde tree with nest.
Notice the green trunk and branches.  During the summer, it has the most beautiful spring green leaves.

Three nests in this one Cholla!
I wonder if they are roadrunner nests because of their size?

That's it for today. I'll post more tomorrow AFTER MY DRIVING LESSON!!!