SETTLED IN AGAIN IN CALIENTE

    We are pretty well settled in again.  Lots of people aren't here yet but they keep trickling every day.  At least 85 properties have sold since the beginning of the year so the pace has picked up.  Rentals are even tighter this year.  If this keeps up, perhaps the prices will start to climb.  We have new neighbours next door who arrived yesterday and the lot next to them also has new people.  That's the thing with a place like this with an abundance of seniors, lots of turnover.
I've been riding at least twice a week and Aileen has been out three times already.  We went out with friends Richard and Judy today and amazingly, we only saw one dirt bike the whole time we were off road.  We won't try riding the rest of the week as it is Thanksgiving Week and the wild ones from the city will be invading.  Many of them ride very fast and it usually gets very crowded.

For a little while when we first arrived, one area on the way to Box Canyon was nicely carpeted with flowers.

This is a closeup of the above and I think they are called California Goldfields

Some fruit on this tiny Hedgehog Cactus out in the desert

This is a domesticated cactus in a yard in Florence Gardens.  I used the flash on my little camera just as it was getting dark.

When we first moved down here in November 2008, there was a huge development that had gone broke before building any houses.  All the infrastructure was in place and there it sat ever since.  We were surprised to see many new homes in various stages of construction when we came back this year.  There are new developments every where we go this year between here and Phoenix.

Last Monday we hosted a party for some of the neighbours.  We celebrated Marie's 80th birthday at the same time and everyone seemed to have a great time.  We served a totally gluten free meal.

I have seen the sheep a few times already.  There was a nice big ram in this shot and the ones below were mooning us.

This is an Ocotillo bloom and that's an Ocotillo bush in the background.

A Harris' Hawk

I went out in the desert behind the park one evening to catch the sunset

A cow and her calf

More desert cows

Red-tailed Hawk

I thought this decaying Saguaro's droopy arms looked like a pair of legs hanging there

This cow came and joined us at lunch out in the desert yesterday.  She was quite vocal announcing her presence.

We checked out the bee hive in a cut bank this afternoon

Another desert cow