At about the half-way point across California on our way from the Colorado River to the old homestead, lies the Whitewater rest stop. Whitewater is located in the Banning pass between Mount San Gorgonio and Mount San Jacinto. This is an image of San Jacinto taken from the rest stop while we were taking a break from the grueling drive across I-10. Click on the image to enlarge.
Some readers may recall that I missed the 64th Annual Parade due to falling on my head early the morning of the parade. Fortunately, that did not happen this morning. Damsel and I walked to the parade route (about a quarter mile from home) and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.
Billed as the fourth largest parade event in Arizona, we witnessed the passage of some of the usual and some of the most unusual entries in the event. The American Legion Color Guard (local chapter) led the parade with a herd of Watusi Longhorn Cattle in trail. Popular character actor Wilford Brimley rode in the stagecoach along with the Riders in the Sky western music ensemble and several other “Grand Marshalls.”
Many of the classic cars we saw yesterday rode in the parade along with some we had not seen. There were bands, dancers, cowboy poets and a bunch of the local merchants and businesses that passed by. A couple of unusual entries were the Watusi Bull in a Cadillac and the “Poodle Posse” toward the end. We had fun and although we could see traces of snow on the foothills, there was no rain on our parade.
I took this photo of a Desert Mallow wildflower as we walked back from the car show. There was a honey bee deep in the bud collecting nectar. Although today was a beautiful spring-like day, the forecast calls for a chance of showers tonight and tomorrow, with cooler temperatures in the wake of the rain passage. Click on the image to enlarge.
Last evening, some puffy clouds rolled into the area. I was at the courtyard gate when I took this photo of the ocotillo and saguaro against an interesting sky texture. Click on the image to enlarge.
We could use another guy like this. Via The Patriot Post:
“The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price. … It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We’re not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.” — Ronald Reagan
Today marks President Ronald Wilson Reagan’s 102nd birthday, or as he would have phrased it, the 63rd anniversary of his 39th birthday. The observance of this occasion provides a vital bond with our national heritage of Liberty and those who have devoted their lives and fortunes to advance it.
We were out walking the dogs on a beautiful spring-like day today, when a large bird flew across the road about 200 feet east of us. We couldn’t get a real good look at it, but I think it was the Harris’ Hawk that we have seen hanging around the area this winter. The little birds that are attracted to our bird feeder out back are scarcely seen when this raptor comes around.
I took this picture of the hawk in flight a few weeks ago near our back yard. Click on the image to enlarge.
I am embarrassed that BOTH Arizona senators are behind this sham immigration reform deal:
Via Michelle Malkin:
According to a five-page document provided to POLITICO, the sweeping proposal — agreed to in principle by eight senators — would seek to overhaul the legal immigration system as well as create a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s roughly 11 million illegal immigrants. But establishing that pathway would depend on whether the U.S. first implements stricter border enforcement measures and new rules ensuring immigrants have left the country in compliance with their visas. Young people brought to the country as children illegally and seasonal agriculture industry workers would be given a faster path to citizenship.
That part about enforcing the borders is, of course, total bullsh!t.