Mail Call!

 Hiya Blog Pals.

Little Fox and Cholla here.  We are admiring the cool stamps of Sandy.  

Looks like Sandy's human is on the sticker kick again.  Lots of stickers on these cards.

The first card is dated April 19.  I always like these cards, in case you can't see this one is a Litter of Pigs.

Looks like Sandy is staying busy.  New flooring.  Working in the garden. Waiting for a Covid shot which I hope comes soon.  Lot's of exploring and hiking as well. Lucky bear.

Another card from Sandy is a Husk of Hares.  March 29, 2021. Sounds like they are doing more hiking, exploring the old mine (looking forward to that blog post(s),  trying to find a swimming hole for a certain niece and more gardening.  Sandy is planting similar vegetables to us.  Greens and  Sugar Snap Peas.  I also supervised the planting of zucchini and delicata squash (from seeds).  Paws crossed they are doing something.

Next up is a cool card from Droopy and gang.  April 26 is when this card is dated.  It's a motorcycle on historic route 66 near Williams, AZ.  My roommate used to work at a canyon (dare, I say grand....) about 70 miles north of Williams.

Droopy is on a road trip through the US SW and we are all excited to see future posts of his travels through the Southwest.  

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Blog Update!  Hello Blog World, it's the Easter Bunny and his pal Hedgehog disguised as the Easter Bunny. 

.  Little Fox got a postcard from Ajdin and it's from the Grand Canyon. Little Fox read the postcard to us and since it's a long time until Easter, we put some calls into our travel agent and we are going to see if we can get on the next plane to the Grand Canyon.  

 Thanks for the mail everyone.  

Little Fox, Easter Bunny, and Mr. Hedgehog disguised as the Easter Bunny. 

Introducing Cholla....the Australian Woodrat.....not the Cactus

 Hello Blog World. It's me, Little Fox at the Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree.  It's sunrise and the cacti are amazing.

I was wandring around the park and noticed there were lots of Desert Woodrats at the park. 

Woodrats here?  Perhaps.

Probably some here at Keys mine.

Lot's of old mines and homesteads in the park.  Homesteading in the Mojave has got to be hard. 
Probably a few Desert Woodrats here in another deserted homestead.

Sigh, no pictures of any Desert Woodrats but they were around.  I did meet an Australian Woodrat who  likes the desert but was looking for a new climate.  A little milder.  Perhaps an area with 4 mild seasons.

It didn't take me long to convince her to move to my place.  I got her booked on the same flight as me. 

Blog world, let me introduce Cholla the Australian Woodrat.  She goes by Cholla for short.  Being good global citizens we are maintaining our 6 feet social distancing.  

I didn't have many seeds or nuts for Cholla to snack on but I did have some bread with seeds on it that she seems to like.

It's time to head back home.  Garden needs work, Sequoia needs attention and this fox needs to hike. 

A side trip to Palm Springs, PioneerTown, and a big date farm.

 The park is a cool place.  No doubt about that but today I am off to see what the nearby (relatively speaking) town of Palm Springs can offer.

First stop: Shields Date Farm.  Okay, it's not in Palm Springs but pretty darn close.  Shields is in Indio, CA about 20 minutes east. 

Let's go!

The date farm has a manicured garden, a cafe, and I heard that if I am a well behaved fox I might get a treat. 

The garden was closed today due to the wind. 

The staff didn't want anyone to get hurt.

Let's explore inside.  Perhaps there is something for me?  Oh man, a 24 ounce (only size) date milkshake.  All for me right?  Right?

This is the life. 

My roommates decided to take me to see a temporary art exhibit called Desert X.  Desert X only happens in February, March and April in the Palm Springs area.  First up: A tiny home to represent the urban sprawl that was Southern California experienced after WWII.

A few miles away a maze made out of reed mats to simulate the challenges immigrants face navigating in a new country.  
Reed mats were used in honor of the native peoples who lived in this area before it was "settled"

Next up is one titled "What lies behind these walls" to simulate the different layers of peoples lives and cultures.

Remember the wind at the date farm?  It followed us for two days.  This art installation was on top of a hill and so windy. My right paw is catching the wind nicely.

Time for lunch.  What's on the menu?

Vegan, yes vegan, Cuban Sandwich and a nice big salad. 

Now that I have more energy in my body time to explore Pioneer Town.

In 1946, Pioneertown was founded by a group of Hollywood investors with dreams of creating a living movie set — an 1870's frontier town with facades for filming and interiors open to the public.  

People still live in Pioneertown and periodically they still film.  I think they did a truck commercial and a Cindy Lauper video.  

One more stop.   Oh, this looks promising.  It's not Sunday but the Mexican place has an all you can eat buffet in the morning.  

My roommates mentioned we were only here for drinks.   This margarita looks like a refreshing drink for a little fox. 

Around Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park is a pretty darn cool place.  The sun accents my fur very nicely.

Apparently, the Joshua Tree isn't a tree but a succulent, however according to the internet, they are considered trees in their ecosystem.   If I was a biologist (not an archaeologist) I could explain what all that meant.  I know they are cool trees....um succulents....um things.

Time to explore a little bit of the town of Joshua Tree.  A nice artists community.  I found these nice looking stuffies in a crochet museum.

They explained that the museum was a former drive through photo stand....you know of of those drive up places where people dropped off film, then came back three weeks later for their pictures (and negatives).

After spending time with these stuffies I decided to walk around town.

Cool art.  Careful, prickly catcus.

I need to get to bed early. I am off to see the sunrise at Cholla Cactus Garden.   Yawn....Good Morning.

I made it to the garden at the right time.  This is the Cholla cactus garden, Cholla's are also known as Teddy Bear cactus.

These look really cool when lit up by the sunrise.

This fox is off on another adventure.