ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Left Ajo AZ Saturday and landed in Bluff UT Sunday afternoon. Uneventful drive, smooth sailing, sad to leave Ajo but happy to be at Cadillac Ranch RV Park in Bluff in the heart of Canyon Country. Saturday the 22nd we go to Durango CO to meet Grandson Miles and Son Greg (who is on spring break from his doctorate program in Tuscaloosa Alabama) to celebrate Greg's 50th BD and Miles' planned move to Boise ID. I'll post some photos soon.

A Tropical Adventure

Just back from a lovely trip to Barbados and the Grenadine Islands of Bequia and Union Island.  Had a great time, had nice accommodations, ate super local cuisine & fish, and got in a couple sailing trips with snorkeling.

We spent the first few days in Barbados, then flew a small plane (Twin Otter) to Bequia, sailed on the Friendship Rose to the Tobago Cays for snorkeling, had a water taxi pick us up in the Cays and ferry us to Union Island for a few days, then the 1-hour flight back to Barbados.  It was a perfect two weeks!

The first pictures are from Barbados: the view from our room, looking out at where the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans meet; and a typical seaside village (shot out the window of our tour van).

Bequia: frangipani bloom (also name of our hotel), a delightful rainbow over the harbor (shot from our room), the biggest sailing ship in the world, the Friendship Rose schooner, us kids on the beach.

Union: 2 shots of the Scaramouche, which was in the first Pirates of Caribbean (Johnny Depp reportedly loved it), Scaramouche crew -- this ship actually sails without aid of engines!, a shot of the Windjammer Mandalay (which we've sailed twice between Antiqua & Grenada), and an amazing caterpillar.

We had a great time, very relaxing, and always so enlightening to experience cultures other than our own.  Still trying to recover from jet lag, but enjoying our own bed & pillows immensely. 

NEW EXPLORATIONS

Taking a break from realistic watercolors and delving into acrylic/mixed media/collage. Lots of fun! There's metallics and stones in this piece, including copper stones found in the parking lot outside our trailer. Ajo AZ, where we're spending a good part of the winter, is an old copper mining town.

Copper Canyon Too

Fond memories of Venice Italy

I started this painting 18-20 months ago and then we got busy with the 'liquidation' and selling the house . . . . It's really big for our 5th-wheel, but I brought it along anyway with hopes of finishing it and subsequently discovered there's a perfect spot -- in the bathroom! So last week I dug it out and got to it. I'm pleased with the final product. It was Sunday afternoon, families strolling the neighborhoods as were we. This lovely lady was taking it all in from her second floor window. Any suggestions for a title?

REMEMBER THIS?

A while back I asked for input on which scene to paint from our Zion National Park canyon hikes and #3 was the overwhelming winner.  I finished this last month and never got around to posting it.  It's a nice size piece, 10" wide X 22" high, and we have a great place for it in our 5th-wheel trailer.  I'm pleased with this painting; I really should do the other 4 scenes I captured 'on film' as I love the canyon landscape.

 

Catching Up!

I've been remiss in posting to my blog.  We're having a wonderful time in Ajo, Arizona -- 100 miles SW of Phoenix in the heart of the Sonoran Desert and about 40 miles north of the Lukeville crossing into Mexico.  We've done lots of exploring around here; this is the most biodiverse desert in the World and it's pretty darn amazing.  Great hiking & nice biking; Jamie's been riding in the desert some and has 2 flat tires to show for it -- I prefer to stay on asphalt so I don't get hammered to pieces ;-).  The folks who winter here in the Ajo Heights RV Park are delightful, and people passing through on their way to MX add diversity to the daily 'wine time' (which we attend rather sporadically).  The RV park is one of the nicest we've stayed in, but we still like to 'boondock' in the desert for a dose of solitude now & then.  Our recent 9 days in desert camp rewarded us with incredible sunrises and sunsets.  I captured the intense colors with watercolor on YUPO, which is a polypropylene surface -- imagine water on oil . . .  It's so fun to paint on and great to get me to loosen up and just let the paint do what it does best.  Here's a little piece I did of the desert landscape at sunset.

HANGIN' in the DESERT

January 7, 2014:
We're currently parked in a lovely spot in the Sonoran Desert north of Organ Pipe NM in SW Arizona.  Sleepyhead me, I just missed getting pictures of an incredible sunrise today but got these shots as the sun was bouncing off the hills around us -- I'll be ready for tomorrow's sunrise, you can count on it.  There's also our view from the 'office' window. 

We paid our RV park rent for another month so we have a spot in Ajo when we run out of water or maybe the weather will turn chilly (70s expected today).  We do well without hookups; solar + generators provide all the comforts of home.

It's awesome here, painting scenes everywhere I look, very quiet, secluded from the road but easy access.  We're lovin' it!