04/09/2020

More sprinkles and mostly gray skies here today. That didn’t stop us from getting out and going for a drive. Bentley was happy to tag along and got a bit of play time along the Whitewater River. We didn’t hike, it was too drippy but we did do some rock hunting and found a few pretties for the landscaping beds. Next time we will take gloves and get some bigger ones.

We drove back though Palm Springs and Cathedral City. Palm Springs proper was a ghost town while parts of Cathedral City looked like business as usual. Not sure why the difference but PS is really enforcing the masks on while out in public and Cat City…not so much.

So here is how day twenty one of our sheltering in place went:

• The breakfast chef was feeling his oats AGAIN this morning and whipped up a delicious Chorizo, Brussel Sprout and Potato Skillet Breakfast. It really was more like brunch because someone, ok me…didn’t get up until almost 10:30. Sucia Kitty technically wasn’t up either, so there!!! The amazing aroma woke me up and certainly did lure me out of bed.

• One of our neighbors, Carolyn, stopped by and brought us these sweet masks she made. She was worried our face gaiters weren’t enough protection.

• Wally, Bentley and I headed out for a drive to Whitewater Preserve. It’s about a 17 mile drive that takes you up Whitewater Canyon. We love this area, exploring the canyon and its history is fascinating. The area has a long history, dating to just before the pass became a road to the Arizona gold mines. The temptation to strike it rich must have coursed through so many a man …guess it still does. Gold mining however was a hard life as was staking a claim and farming. History makes me appreciate how easy our lives are now. Whitewater Preserve is closed because of this damn virus so we spent our time poking around the river and exploring a few rustic roads.

• We used the House Party app to have cocktail hour with 4 other couples and play some games. Normally, this foursome would all be together hooting and hollering, chatting and having fun together. We are all here in the resort and this is our only way to get together for awhile yet. This crazy crisis is forcing us all to find ways to connect and stay sane.

• Fixed Ginger and Green Onion Crab Ramen for dinner. Every summer we have a crab harvesting weekend when we crab ourselves silly, cook, clean and vacuum seal crab which goes in the freezer for the winter months when crabbing is just a distant memory. We LOVE fresh crab and honestly my favorite part of crabbing is jumping in our 13 ft boston whaler which we tow behind our bigger boat, zipping out to where our crab pots are sitting on the bottom of some bay, pulling the pots and waiting, breath held as the pot hits the surface of the water. It’s like playing the lottery, sometime you hit the jackpot and the crab pots are heavy and loaded with vicious crustaceans and sometimes its a bust.

• The fridge has possibilities but I am fantasizing about sitting in a restaurant, poring over the menu while sipping a cocktail. If nothing else comes out of these troubled times, lets not forget to appreciate the small pleasures in life that perhaps we had been taking for granted.

• Worked on this blog post and edited pictures from our drive to Whitewater.

Day twenty one felt almost normal. We actually went somewhere…granted we didn’t see a soul and only had one human interaction at a distance.