Catalina State Park, 2017

For years we have been camping in January at this state park nested by the Catalina Mountains.  Usually, we have cool, sunny days during our time here.  Usually.......this year is completely different.  And NOT in a good way.  While the sun did make an appearance every once in a while, for the most part it has been cloudy, cold, windy and rainy. 

Last weekend, there were six rigs out here.  Here is a composite picture of our group.

The first Saturday when everyone was here, we did have a chance to sit outside and enjoy the weather. It was nippy, but at least it was dry at this point.

We even had a visitor during this time, Mary Kobida.  We have known her since she was a little girl, when her family lived behind us on Sol Place in Tucson.  Even though many years have passed, you would still recognize her!  It was wonderful seeing her again (thanks to connecting on Facebook).

What we had hoped for were days like this:

But instead we got:

Oh well, not much we could do about it.  Days and nights included lots of games: Dominos, Uno, Skip-Bo, Sequence, Bingo and Phase 10.  Weather warnings on our phones or on TV were numerous.  At least the snow was above the 5000 foot level!  You can see how bundled up all of us were on our morning walk.  Don was even in long pants!I stilled enjoyed capturing photos of the wildlife.  Right behind Doris' trailer was a very fat Coopers Hawk. 

 The hawk and one very unlucky ground squirrel:

There were a lot of beautiful, gold Lesser Goldfinches sitting in the mesquite trees,

and House Finches.  These two were enjoying the seed from the bird feeder.

The only one we didn't want to have in the campground was this fellow:

He was between our trailer and Doris' trailer.  This was the first time we have seen coyotes in the campground, even though we hear them yipping during the day and evening hours.  Maybe there are more rabbits and ground squirrels this year, who knows.  At any rate, the owners of little dogs sure can't leave them alone outside.  They would be appetizers for Wile E. Coyote!