A day for puttering around

30 Apr, 2018; Boulder Beach CG, Lake Mead NRA, Boulder City, NV

Some days are just meant to be relaxing

I had thought that I'd take care of making some appointments for when I'm back in PDX and then take a hike before it got too hot.  But, after making my calls, I was feeling lazy and the overcast sky meant that it wouldn't get too hot - I could hike later - after another cup of tea.  

I had my tea and read my Kindle outside in the shade of a tree.  There are a lot of birds here and the trees were full of birdsong.  A hummingbird visited some flowering bushes about 4 feet from me.  A family of Gambel Quail scurried by in the brush.  

Lately, my fridge has been struggling to keep cool in the unrelenting heat

I had a thought that if I strung up a tarp on the fridge side of the trailer, the resulting shade might help the fridge and my Yeti cooler of ice (frequent iced drinks help me when I'm struggling in the unrelenting heat).  

So, as an experiment, I gathered up several suction cup hooks that I've been using inside the trailer and stuck them on the side of the trailer, hung a small tarp (previously, I had attached grommets along the edges of this tarp) and staked it out enough to make room for the cooler and any breezes to circulate.

The ground is too hard to drive stakes; I had to use rocks

Enough work, time for lunch

One of my favorite things about traveling is visiting different grocery stores, preferably smaller markets that cater to locals.  I love finding food that I have never tried (and have to Google to even figure out what to do with it).  Sometimes, I just find familiar food that's packaged in a different way.  I was in a Food City last week and found plastic bags (instead of cans) in the deli section with different types of refried beans, Spanish Rice and prepared tamales.   

In the pasta aisle, I found small packages of  'Fideo' - which is like vermicelli only in small 1/2" segments.  I've had Fideo in Mexican restaurants where it replaces rice.  I got some general instructions on preparing it from the waitress and am looking forward to trying it myself.

But, the real find was Machaca (dried shredded beef).  Like beef jerky only shredded very finely.  An interesting and practical way to carry meat without refrigeration.  Apparently, you just re-hydrate it and use in burritos or with eggs and salsa or . . . ? ? ? 

So, I added some hot water and a can of green salsa and let it re-hydrate for a few minutes.  Since it's so finely shredded, it didn't take very long.  Then, I made a bean/beef burrito - it was very yummy!

This culinary experiment was followed by more reading and sitting in the shade.  I saw several bunnies, more bunnies, and I may have nodded off for a bit.

A leisurely walk rounds out my day

 I have to get some steps recorded on the fit bit today - so I strolled around the campground and down the road to the beach.  There's about 1/4 mile of beach before you get to the lake - the water is always really low here.

I love the smooth bark on these trees

There are two types of palms here; this is the short, fat kind

And on the left, examples of the tall skinny palms

Moon coming up over the mountains (and the RV park next door)

The crickets are out and dusk is falling as I finish a salad for dinner.  I'm gong to finish this post; sketch for a little while and call it a day.

Maybe I'll take that hike tomorrow.