Yeah, We're Just Getting Started

 Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion. 

 ~Leigh Hunt

  
Zip-lining, eating, exploring, wading, birding, and - most of all - celebrating filled our weekend. YC completed her program last year, but we celebrated now with each other and her advisor/committee chair.


We wandered and visited with each other, enjoying our time together in this state that is at once so familiar and so different...places, creatures, and people as my naturalist guides might say "in the family of."

That's the right expression for the weekend - in the family of. 

Here we go.

Beach:

Beaches here are special. We had a quick meal and headed to the beach for shelling and wading.

This could have been a great photo, but for that darned palm tree. The gulls were pretty brazen.

DH enjoying getting his toes wet - hard to see, but he kept his shoes on.

I am told these are NOT coquinas, but are something else "in the family." I defer to local experts.

Seaweed I do not know, but I will find out.

Kids on the beach

No, I did not pick up every shell on the beach...only a few.

Limpet. Likely a keyhole limpet that has tumbled a bit and lost more shell.

It's a busy beach...people, seagulls, vehicles...

The water was cold and surf not too rough. People were swimming.

There were birds out just past the breakers.

A Western Gull, I have been told.

 Zip-line anyone? (No, not me. Thanks!):

Driving out to Skull Canyon. Really. Not sure dried bone decor is the appropriate thing for sliding down a series of cables more than 800 feet above rocks and cactus (and rattlesnakes). Maybe it's just me.

It is quite the professional outfit. Geared-up.

DH on the "bunny" slide, actually the practice zip-line at the bottom to learn procedure and form.

We think this was our peeps on the mountain. There were a number of routes. Here I counted about 5 cables across the canyon.

A friendly race to the bottom (BR beats DH to the finish). My photos of folks higher on the hills  are either of other people (we discovered) or video.

While most of the party climbed and zipped, JBF and I stayed behind discovering birds, flowers and lizards while scanning the hills now and then for our party. He has good eyes and saw many things I missed. There was plenty to see and we chatted a bit with some of the staff.

We learned about some of the (few) emergencies they had on the mountain and their concerns about people starting late in the day, unprepared for the rigor of the hike.

It started getting pretty warm out there in the desert and we were glad to see our group transiting the final few legs of the "monster" zip-line.

Here are a few:

Large sunflowers with appropriate pollinators (honeybees - what did you expect?).

SPIDER WARNING NEXT TWO PHOTOS

 

We had a three hour wait for the team to complete the "monster" route. There was plenty of time for exploring..including these holes lined with the downy seeds of willow that was filling the air like snow and caught in the spiderweb.

I managed to trigger the alert just enough for this funnel-weaver spider to edge out and look.

 OKAY - NO MORE SPIDERS FOR NOW!

I always head to the "holes" in the ground and debate what might be there. This area is known for an endangered mouse of some kind I was told.  Here is a lizard. It's not his hole as far as I could tell. He did not take shelter there as he ran from me. He was identified as a Common Side-blotched Lizard. That's alright by me. I was just excited to observe anything moving in this desert. We saw 4 lizards and got bad photos of 3.

Here is a detail of the willow with its fluffy seeds. I read that willows are hard to identify. As a person with allergies, I would call this "hell." I was relieved to discover the floating snowstorm of seeds was from these and not cottonwoods.

One of the few "showy" bloomers was the Sacred Datura.* AKA Datura wrightii. AKA Western Jimson Weed.

It was gorgeous. Don't eat it.

I spied this vine and thought, "really? It's here too?" Yes, I discovered Buffalo Gourd has an extensive range. I searched for flower and gourd to verify identity.

I've seen Buffalo Gourd in a couple of places in Texas with this kind of growth. It is hard to miss these.

Bloom

Gourd. Don't eat this either. It is on the foraging site,** but does not sound very appetizing or good. Just because folks used to eat it does not mean it is good for you. They ate what they had.

I am usually better with wildflowers than this. I have checked a number of websites and I am still looking. No one online has provided any assistance yet. [Found it. Stayed up late one evening and found it. Actually found a cousin and the hunt was easy after that - Seaside heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum).

 This may be one of my best "surprises." I did not see the frog until I got back to the hotel and downloaded the photos. Do you see the frog?

This little hummingbird was very busy. I never got a good look - even through the binoculars that regular readers know I rarely have with me. [Aren't we all proud.] Them what know identified this as a Costa's Hummingbird. I thought Black-chinned Hummingbird, but I'm going to trust them.

Another lizard -  Western Fence Lizard

Little brown bird!

BEACH SUNSET

We planned one dinner at beach. It was worth the drive and wait. As we watched the ocean 3 dolphins went swimming by.

Kind of amazing. The food and company was priceless.

THE REASON FOR THE TRIP:

Bunny ears at my urging. Sometimes family tries one's patience.

Proud parents.

The work was incalculable. The ceremony? It's called "hooding." "New doctors, come forward!" was the command.

Done - heading for our ride to the party (OC, YC, LO'C, DH).

Flowers all around. Grandparents grew these. Message?

LAST CHANCE TO VISIT:

I am always glad to see yarn bombing. This rocker wears a great sweater (other chairs sported knitting too).

This gorgeous grass grew in the flowerbeds of the un-mall where we had breakfast. A sparrow flew in and ate its breakfast as we were leaving.

Maybe someone can help us with the identity of this little brown bird. I'm calling sparrow, but it could be something else. [6-19-17 I'm going to call it a Clay-colored sparrow and see what happens. OK. It didn't take long. It has been identified as a House Sparrow. Go to "All about birds" and compare the two.]

THIS AND THAT:

Funny that our trip began and ended with birds. We observed 6 Great Egrets off the end of the airport terminal.

My screenshot so that I would know where we were for future reference.

I have to give DH credit for spotting the first two birds. I was ready when the last two showed.

When we arrived at YC's complex, I navigated by neighbors' cats. This ghost was on the porch ledge and another cat was looking out a window. I knew we were in the right place.

There were funny things that happened throughout. One was being upgraded to a Jaguar.

NOTES:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_wrightii 

**http://www.foragingtexas.com/


[E]veryone who comes to California brings a little of his own state with him. His own old state, regardless of where or when, is always lurking in the back of his memory for comparison with what he finds here. ~ Max Miller, It Must be the Climate

I think this was the only hunde toilette we saw.