Baja Holiday

We just had a lovely 9 day vacation in Baja California Sur. Flew into San Jose del Cabo international airport, stayed at a delightful small boutique hotel B&B in San Jose, visited tourist/cruise ship town of Cabo San Lucas & artisan community of Todos Santos, spent 4 1/2 incredible days in 'autentico' LaPaz, had some great adventures in and on the water, and pigged out on really great MX seafood & other regional cuisine. We saw first-hand the areas, mostly San Jose and the tourist corridor between San Jose and Cabo (BTW, these are two different towns & residents don't want you to lump them as one), decimated by Hurricane Odile Sept. 14, 2014 -- many of the huge sea-side resorts were horribly damaged or even completely destroyed. The people are most hospitable and congenial -- they really understand the 'service' industries there! Here's an overview map of our trip. I'll follow with several posts & narratives of our holiday.

Pesca del Dia

I finished a 10" x 10" watercolor of the osprey we spotted at Puerto Penasco MX last month. He was all wet; he'd just caught this fish and was attending to the 'task at hand' before hauling him off for lunch. Here's my finished painting, the reference photos, and several PIP (painting in progress) images. Thanks to my hubby for taking these pictures out the truck window!  'Pesca del Dia' is Spanish for 'catch of the day'.

Greetings from the Sonoran Desert!

We're currently parked on BLM land north of Organ Pipe National Monument in SW Arizona, and just over the hill from the little town of Ajo, about 10 miles by road.  We're loving the 'desert solitude'. We get incredible sunrises (first 3 pics) and sunsets (last 2 pics) here. Enjoy!

Open Range

We were driving in the Chiricahua Mountains a few miles from where we've spent the past few weeks. We spotted a small herd of Shorthorn cattle grazing in the woods along the road near the tiny burg of Paradise Arizona. This bull caught my eye and my camera caught his! I painted 'Open Range' as a gift for someone dear to me; maybe I'll get to visit this macho toro once in a while . . .

Another piece from New Mexico

Recently finished this little trapezoid-shaped watercolor of 'Windmill #2', City of Rocks State Park New Mexico.  This was our view from our trailer, way down the road.  The windmill is actually down the slope behind the behemoth boulders, so there's a drop-off to the background.

Happy Turkey Day!

Wishing you well from a few miles north of Rodeo NM, literally the Middle of NoWhere! We're parked at Rusty's RV Ranch & will stay here a couple more weeks. We're having Thanksgiving dinner with other guests right here at the rv park -- Rusty's doing turkey & ham & everyone's bringing sides to share.

This place is in the desert in SW New Mexico right on the Arizona border & 40 miles north of the Mexican border. It's quiet, clean, well-sited, and sparsely occupied at the moment. We have mountains (Chiricahua, Pelloncillo, and Animas) about 300 degrees around us; Rusty (lady formerly of Denver area) powers the park with a large solar array.
 

 
While there are no malls, Walmart, Costco, etc., there's a lot of hiking & exploring to do: mountain towns, ghost towns, ancient Indian ruins including rock art, a Desert Museum & Art Gallery in Rodeo . . . and it's a birder's destination + it's a Dark Skies Community which attracts astronomers from all over the world. We've really enjoyed being somewhere with NO streetlights and city light pollution; the stars are quite amazing.  Today we'll drive a few miles into the Arizona mountains, just a few miles away, do a little exploring, then come back to the park for pot-luck dinner.

Be Thankful for what you have, and please do what you can to ease the lives of those less fortunate.

Taos Memento

Just finished this watercolor from the Taos Balloon Rally; it's titled 'Mass Ascension'. It'll fit in one of the remaining sloped-roof areas in our living room, across from our reading chairs so we can enjoy it regularly!

The big yellow balloon features the New Mexico state symbol. This is the ancient Zia Indian sun symbol; the Zia considered the sun, as well as the number four, Sacred. The four points of the symbol represent the four points of the compass, the four seasons, the four periods of each day, and the four seasons of life.