Have I mentioned before how we not only have a twelve mile commute to work at this project, but that our rigs are parked in two different locations? We’re only about a 1/4 mile apart as the crow flys (over the desert and through private property), but it’s about a 15 minute walk so it’s not like we can pop over for a quick chat or to borrow a cup of sugar (you know, for all that baking I do!). To try to compensate for our slight lack of “community” and to celebrate the end of the week (yes, even hardworking SOWERS are happy for the weekend!), yesterday we had our very own “Happy Hour” over at the other neighborhood!

While the guys were busy setting up chairs, I took in the view -

Quite nice, don’t you think?
Our Happy Hour is a little different from the traditional HH – we decided to concentrate on Ice Cream instead of drinks! One of the couples picked up some ice cream on the way home and the rest of us raided our pantry for toppings. We had chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, pecans, almonds, chocolate chips, craisens and Cool Whip. And while I wish I could show you pictures of our lovely pre-dinner ice cream social, I was too busy enjoying it to snap any pictures. You know the saying, life is uncertain – eat dessert first. We concur.
I did get the camera out, though, when I saw a bird feeder set up just outside the parking area. And even though the feeder was just about empty, there was still plenty of activity -
A beautiful little House Finch

A House Finch coming in for a landing -

A White Crowned Sparrow -

And my personal favorite (well, today anyway), the Gambel’s Quail-


who were busy scooting around between the rocks under the feeder. They are very fun to watch!
It was so nice to sit and relax with friends after a busy week. Plus the drive home (all 2 minutes of it) was lovely.

(That’s us down on the left.)
We have lots of options this weekend here in the Valley – the Riverside County Fair and Datefest starts today, there’s a Greek Festival on Saturday and Sunday, there’s always the big flea market over at the College of the Desert, different RV resorts offer entertainment and festivals….Phew. Oh, and the weather? Well, the cute girl on the local station is promising sunshine and 75.
Ah……..

Usually when we are on a SOWER project we’re parked within walking distance of where we will be working. Pretty much we leave the house at 7:28 to get to devotions at 7:30. And that has seemed early enough. But this project has a little twist. For the time being, we are parked about 12 miles away from the project. Pretty much in the desert.

While it makes for great sunsets and quiet nights,

it also makes for a morning commute. And while it’s pretty much a direct drive, it’s more than three minutes.
Out the drive,turn left.

Drive down Dillon Road.

And down Dillon Road

And down Dillon Road, getting closer to town

But not too close – still plenty of “country” out here!

Finally getting into civilization (traffic lights and some better road surface!)

And then to work!

We were given a tour of the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission first thing. And my, were we impressed. They have three basic programs – one for emergency housing (one night at a time), one called “case management” where men and women (and their children) can stay for an extended time and work with a case manager to help resolve some of their life issues, and then there’s the New Life Program. The New Life Program is a 12 month program that combines discipleship, job training, and residential responsibilities. The Mission also has a food distribution program and they serve breakfast and dinner to many area homeless. We were blessed to hear the testimony of one of their New Life clients this morning, and we’ll be hearing more in the days to come. How great is our God!
But speaking of commutes – we had a little commute on Sunday for church. This time we turned right out of the drive as we headed to Desert Hot Springs.

I think we’ll be spending a fair bit of time on Dillon Road this month!

I say “Let’s make a Lemon Meringue Pie!”
Not that I have actually ever done that before.
There was a time (in a previous lifetime) that I was considered a pretty good cook. I even dabbled in a little catering off and on. But I confess that the only lemon meringue pies that I made (and trust me, there weren’t very many), came from something that looked like this -

My other stumbling block in doing really any type of baking (other than an occasional batch of brownies right out of the Duncan Hines box) has been the amount of counterspace in my little house. On a good day (read I have gotten the dishes washed and put away) this is my entire cooking work space.

And if I need to actually cook something on the stove (in one of my two saucepans), my space reduces to this.

This arrangement has made me very good at cooking very simple things.
Not so good at complicated, multi-step recipes.
But I had all those lemons……..
Plus, I had that cornstarch that I’ve been carrying around for the last 5+ year.
Why, I even had eggs.
It seemed like the stars were perfectly aligned.
So thanks to my friend The Internet, I rounded up a couple of recipes, and gave it my best shot.
This is what my kitchen looked like after I got the pie in the oven -

But THIS is what the pie looked like.

I was able to reclaim the kitchen (eventually), and I have to tell you, the pie was REALLY GOOD.

OK, so it was a little runny, but my, oh my, was it yummy!
And since that pile of lemons in the top picture is of the lemons I have left, I think there might just be another pie in my near future!

Wasn’t it just yesterday that Toby called and said -
“It’s a GIRL!!!!”?
OK, so it really doesn’t seem like it was yesterday, but SEVEN YEARS?????? Now that seems impossible!
It seems that she went from this

to this

in the blink of an eye!
Happy Birthday, Eliana Grace – the sweetest seven year old we know!

Back in November we made our first foray into Joshua Tree National Park. It was a great day, and we knew we wanted to return. Today we finally made it back to check out a couple more sections of this fascinating park.
The Keys Ranch – or Desert Queen Ranch – Tour
The ranger-guided tour of the ranch includes the colorful story of the 60 years Bill and Frances spent working together to make a life and raise their five children in this remote location. The ranch house, school house, store, and workshop still stand; the orchard has been replanted; and the grounds are full of the cars, trucks, mining equipment, and spare parts that are a part of the Desert Queen Ranch story.Ok – that’s the official summary. Here’s the reality –

We didn’t have a long walk to get to the ranch from our parking spot, but to say the ranch was “remote” was quite the understatement.

Thanks to the recent rain (this area got over 4 inches – quite a deluge for them), there was actually water flowing in the stream. Our ranger/guide said it was the first time he didn’t have to say “imagine water running here….”

Here’s the first view of the ranch –

The actual ranch house –

Windmill and well -

Here’s that stream again –

These folks never threw anything away, and made their living any way they could think of. When the area became a national park, they opened a small store and even had a couple of cabins available for hardy travelers.


Here’s one of the cabins –



It was a very interesting tour – and it made me realize how very hardy and innovative the Keys family was. Someone lived at this ranch until 1969 and it’s a real testimony to the American Spirit.
Barker Dam Trail
From the Ranch we took a short drive over to the Barker Dam trailhead. William Keys helped with this dam in the early 1900’s with other area ranchers. I don’t know if there is always water in this reservoir, but again thanks to last week’s rain, we were treated to some lovely water views. It was a great short hike – really just perfect for our little group of 6.


(I loved the color on this one.)
And finally the reservoir –




Here we all are for the official “group shot” –

We had a really fun day – learned a little history, marveled at the ingenuity of man and the Masters’ creation around us, and finished it off with great lunch at the Crossroads Café in the town of Joshua Tree.

We still have about half of Joshua Tree National Park to explore, so I hope we’ll get a chance to do at least more excursion!