The volume increased with the daylight. We got up early to rise with the thousands of sand hill cranes that winter in Willcox Arizona. We staked out a spot where we heard low chatter and waited. Before long, a huge black cloud appeared against the mountains across the valley. Thousands, likely 10s of thousands of cranes were rising simultaneously to move to daytime feeding grounds. It was fantastic to watch. They swirled and milled in mass as smaller groups broke off to seek pasture land. We were close to a primary feeding spot so watched the waves of them come in. I have seen them before but it never ceases to amaze. We spotted a Bald Eagle hanging out here too.

We took the opportunity to try some local BBQ. Not spectacular but better than cooking!
And oh yes, back to using Laundromats. Oh joy..

We have an evening breeze and I am sure that I hear the cactus singing. It is a low whistle-like sound generated by the wind through the needles/spines. That is amazing.

We are on I-8 as we start in earnest our trek East for 2012. First stop, Organ Pipe National Park.

Well, not exactly. The earth shaking “boom” (just like in Jurassic Park) turned out to be the report of some really big artillery and rockets being tested by our neighbor, Yuma Proving Grounds. The alien search lights were a little more difficult to identify. Near as we can tell, it is night time aerial spraying of the truck farm fields around Yuma. At first we see flashing lights, they go through a hard bank turn which is followed by blinding spot lights for a few seconds then goes back to strobe lights. This pattern methodically makes it s way across the wide flat valley. Sort of creepy; and that is even before I think about what exactly they might be spraying! Maybe aliens would be safer?

We have been at Mittry Lake in what used to be flood plain of the wild Colorado River. The river is dammed and controlled by channels but the ground along the shore shook under passing traffic reminding us of its soggy bog-like history in stark contrast with the desert we see out our window. We had the boat in the water and did a little bird watching. It isn’t quite the right time of year so the numbers are not real high but we saw cranes and herons and egrets and coots plus the usual collection of ducks. We wet a hook too, but not a single bite. Just as the sun set we heard the yipping chorus of coyotes, a fun sign that we are at least a bit out from civilization. The dark night sky was pretty cool too. It was a nice quiet place to spend a couple days.

South from Quartzsite we come to a wide valley covered with a patchwork quilt of small vegetable fields crosshatched with irrigation channels. They seem to be sized and timed to be ready to harvest just a few at a time. We saw the harvesting lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower. We were not close enough to see who exactly was in the fields but I suspect this work is exactly the work they claim no Americans will do. We bought some asparagus and some tasty strawberries. Good stuff.

When the wind blows at a certain angle we hear the sound of galloping horses. And, we are camping in the open desert. (?) It led to some tentative sleep until the exact source of the noise was defined. The rock shield(full width mud flap) under the back of the motorhome makes the noise of galloping horses when the wind blows at just the right angle making the individual strips flap against each other.