The wind does blow in Arizona

The desert at night is usually a quiet place but occasionally that changes. Last night, after the Texas Rangers took on the Cincinnati Reds, I returned to a wee bit of a wind storm at the White Tank campground. I could swear even the giant Saguaro Cactus were swaying in the breeze and my poor camper seemed to want to tip over. We’ve all heard of ‘small dog alerts’ when the winds kick up but in the desert I’d guess it’s the ‘large coyote alert’ as I didn’t hear a single howl all night long. What I did hear was tent fabric flapping in the gusts. The White Tank mountains are to the west of the campground and the sound of the wind flying down from the ridges sounded like ocean surf. Of course, being in any tent in a windstorm, especially at night, sounds like a hurricane when you’re trying to get some shuteye but that’s the joy of camping. As Mr. Gump said “Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you’re going to get”. Camping certainly lives up to that and you have to be willing to enjoy the occasional rough night.

I’m usually up at the crack of dawn which in these parts is around 6:30, mainly in an effort to beat the line at the shower but with almost no sleep last night I slept in until the ungodly late hour of 8 o’clock. They say that when life gives you lemons you should make lemonade so in that spirit here’s a quick glance at the clouds as they whiz by my camper this morning...