02-03-2018 to 02-05 2018 Hanging with Judy

I think most bloggers that read my blog know Judy, either in person, or from her very popular blog, Travels with Emma.  Everyone called her the Bird Lady of Blogland, with good reason.  Judy spent ten yeas of her life traveling from refuge to refuge across the United States, volunteering.  Judy is especially good with the birds, being responsible for doing extensive bird counts on many refuges.

We first met Judy on our southern trip to Florida, stopping at Anahuac NWR for a visit.  The story of my kitty Jeremy and Judy’s dog Emma meeting was a good one.  On that trip, Judy took us on a private tour of some of the hidden places at Anahuac, and I saw my first roseate spoonbills in person.  Gorgeous day.

Since then our paths have crossed a few times, with Judy visiting us at our home in Rocky Point, us visiting Judy when she volunteered at Harris Beach,  and a visit to her home base now in Jojoba Springs.  Judy hung up her blogging hat a couple of years ago, but in spite of her quiet absence, we managed to stay slightly in touch.  I was thoroughly tickled when Judy called me last month asking about when we planned to be at Desert Hot Springs.

We shared dates and plans, and got caught up on Judy’s new life at Jojoba.  The big rig that she never really loved to drive is now gone, and in its place is a nifty new….not park model.  I can’t remember what you call it, but technically it isn’t a park model because at Jojoba you are required to have a holding tank.  Anyway, it sounds lovely, and Judy’s stories of her life and community at Jojoba were good to hear.

But you know how that travel bug gets to us if we are stationary for too long.  Judy found a sweet little Chinook Class B and wanted to try it out with a visit to Desert Hot Springs, and decided to stay at Catalina Spa where we could spend a bit of time together.

She arrived late in the week, and I made supper for us to share  inside the MoHo since we didn’t have an outdoor table big enough for all the fixin’s.  The next morning, Judy invited us over for a Sunday brunch, with the best Bloody Mary’s I have tasted in a long time, and some breads from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

It was Super Bowl Sunday, and without following football this season, we decided it was our last chance to get to the movies in Palm Desert, and Judy joined us.  We sat in those great big comfy recliners with our wine and popcorn to watch Darkest Hour.  An excellent movie, and the wine was cheaper than the popcorn.

On Monday we left Mattie safe in the cool MoHo and took Judy to the Visitor Center and ponds at 1000 Palms Oasis.  It wasn’t too crowded when we were there, and I think Judy enjoyed seeing the visitor center since she has so much experience with different centers at different refuges.  Thousand Palms is a Nature Conservancy site with a great history, and there are some lovely hikes from the main area, but those were for another time.

On Monday evening, Judy treated us to her dinner, “stuff” is what she called it.  She said when her kids were growing up it was either white stuff or red stuff, and the red stuff we had was delicious.  Patio time and conversation time as we both prepared to pull up stakes the next morning and head out in opposite directions.  Judy back to Jojoba and Mo and I to one of our favorite desert boondocks on Ogilby Road.

It was great to have some time to catch up, and to see that Judy is doing well.