I'm still enjoying long hikes and bike rides out here in the desert southwest, as well as some tasty, nutritious food. We're still in Winterhaven, California, which is very near the Arizona border, and about a 30-minute drive to Mexico.
I do have an issue to talk about, and welcome any input you may have. My blood pressure, which I've had under control for quite some time, has occasionally crept up a bit recently. Luckily I still have some of the medicine I used to take for my blood pressure. When I see my blood pressure is up, I've been able to bring it back down with one of my old pills. I think the problem may be that I'm getting too much sodium on those days when I'm in my "happy zone" and taking a break from logging everything I eat. If my blood pressure continues to be an issue, I'll talk to a doctor about it. I really don't want to go to a doctor's office during the pandemic though, so for now I'm monitoring it and will avoid sodium. Hopefully, that'll bring it back under control.
Photo Descriptions:
1) This is one of my favorites of the meals we have regularly. It's roasted chicken breast (with the skin removed) over brown rice and topped with a little gravy, along with lentils and green beans.
2) Another of my favorites are these Buffalo wings. I fix them on the grill and then simmer them in sauce until the meat falls of the bone. I serve them with light ranch dressing. Unfortunately, these delicious wings may be one of the culprits messing with my blood pressure, because they are high in sodium. I hope I don't have to give them up completely.
3) Here are some of the hills I've been exploring on my many hikes out here. I've hiked as much as ten miles in a day, although my average is probably around six miles a day.
4) This is a view of the Little Picacho Wash, which runs past our campsite, with the Castle Dome Mountains in the background. Rain is rare in the desert, but it's rain through the ages that carved out this wash and many others that course through the desert. This wash carries rainwater to the nearby reservoir. Can you see the crack running through the bottom of the wash? You'll see this crack is really a small canyon in the next pictures.
5 & 6) I hiked through the bottom of the Little Picacho Wash. This is what that crack looks like when you're standing in it. Last year, after a hard rain, I saw this empty space turn into a raging river.
7) One of my favorite things about staying in the desert is seeing the amazing sunsets. That's our campsite as the sun was setting.
8) This is the view from our campsite of a particularly fiery sunset.
