Life in Hemet in March

Our first afternoon in Hemet - a full on rain storm.

This photo was taken on the same rock at almost the exact same day, three years ago  (March 14, 2011)---- lush and green.

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This year, March 12, 2014 .... it's very obvious the winter has been a dry one!

Fun in the sand and water (a fairly rare occurrence in this area at this time of year).

A roadside memorial.  Sometimes wonder how this happens on a straight stretch (speed limit is 65 mph).

The Seven Hills area - four hills that the dogs & I can walk up - no shade and very open as no shrubs or grasses have grown yet.   Ground squirrels are everywhere, and ants but have not seen many rabbits (imagine that's because there is no grass - although the golf course adjacent probably has a lot of them).

Obviously, this photo was taken on a golf course.

Ants everywhere burrow into the ground - all you see is a small opening with freshly piled dirt and ants.   A few years ago - ended up taking Kylie to the vet because she was spasming and kicking her back leg out.   I was thinking she might've been snake bit.   Ended up being a fire ant bite and got a special ointment to take away the pain.   Marc was bitten several years ago near Sedona while checking underneath the motorhome - said it is super painful for a few days.

OMG! - Looks like someone's dead hand coming out of the rock above Kylie's head! 

  (I must be reading too many forensic crime novels)!

Marc and friends from the Comox Valley (Chris & Jim) went to the Red Hawk Golf Course in Temecula (approx 40 mins SE)

Marc, Chris, Jim 
(one these guys does not look like the other!)

RON IN THE BUNKER

Chinese Bistro

A great restaurant with authentic Chinese Food (not the everything deep fried and chow mein dishes) with fresh vegetables and stir fried with great sauces.   The neatest part is, the restaurant is in original train cars and a caboose.

Simpson Park with a view of Diamond Lake (manmade reservoir)

Must be on snake alert.

Diamond Valley - Western Science Centre & Museum

Diamond Valley Lake/Reservoir

HOLDING TANK & POWER STATION

Diamond Valley lake today holds enough water to supply the emergency needs of Southern California residents for six months.  But the rock excavated to create the reservoir held 250,000 years' worth of fossils and artifacts.

The pumping plant had twelve 6,000 horsepower pump/turbines capable of moving 16,000 gallons of water per SECOND into the reservoir!

The largest public works project in California, the excavation area stretched approximatel 5.7 miles long and 1.8 miles wide.    Giane earth cutters, dump truck and earth movers dug down to a depth of 150 - 250 feet.

Hard to fathom (no punn!) 800,000 acre feet of water.

A 1.9 billion construction project began in 1995.  THAT I can believe - when you see it up close & personal - it is amazing!

The lake features three earth fill dams, two located on either side of the valley and one on the north rim.   A viewpoint for those that can not cycle the 22 mile loop is available for people with cars but heavily guarded and monitored at the base with security & gates.






A giant Sloth.  Hard, pebble-sized bones along the back, shoulders and neck provided a defensive armor (similar to a present day armadillo's plates), making it unpleasant for predators.  

Three types of ancient ground sloths exist (Shasta, Jefferson's and Harlan's).   Most times Paleontolgoists do not find fossils from these three species in one place.  HERE, in the Diamond Valley they did.  The Harlan's ground sloth being more prominent.

The Harlan's Ground Loth can be up to 3,500 pounds and a herbivore (MAN - poor plants!).

Mammoths - it has been displayed that each individual preferred either the right or left tusk, based on wear marks.   Mammoths primarily ate grass, while mastodons had a much leafier diet.   The area was rich with grasslands, forests and wetlands.

The tooth is designed for eating grass and grinding.   Unlike the Mastodon tooth (made for much rougher foliage).

"Max" the mastodon was found in the West Dam area - more than 500 mastodon fossils were uncovered from 111 sites.

The tusks and the teeth of the Mastodon are quite different from the Mammoth.   The Mastodon was longer in body and more heavily muscled with shorter legs than the Mammoth.  The male could grown up to 7ft, 7in at the shoulders!

They had cusp-shaped teeth for chewing leaves and branches of trees and shrubs.

The lake is stocked with fish (bass, sunfish, trout, catfish).  The info centre has a huge display and information on the water system for this California region.   All water is pumped from N. California & the Colorado River for the reservoir (264 billion gallons capacity).

Quagga & Zebra mussels are razing havoc on the water system and so no water is supplied from the canals from the Colorado River to S. California at this present time.

Consequently, watercraft inspection program are taking place in California.  

These freshwater mussels native to Eurasia, multiply quickly and encrust watercraft and infrastructures, and compete for food with native & sport fish species.  Quagga mussels were first detected in the Colorado River system in Jan of 2007.

 On the right is the wall of the reservoir, below that is a wildlife corridor.

Highway 74 UP for 23 miles to Idyllwild then down, down into Palm Desert and Palm Springs.

A favorite route for an afternoon on your Ducati!

Shopping at the College of the Desert market.

The roadrunners are out which means so are the snakes.   The roadrunner is a fast running cuckoo bird and some have been clocked at 20 miles per hour and although they prefer sprinting they will fly to escape predators.  The are approximately 18 to 22 inches from tail to beak.  Their diet consists mainly of insects, small reptiles,rodents, scorpions, snails, spiders and rattlesnakes.   

Because the roadrunner is so quick, it is one of the few animals that preys on rattlesnakes.  It is also the only real predator of the tarantula hawk wasp.   I have not yet seen these yet but these wasps apparently have the second most painful insect sting in the world.   And they hunt tarantulas.

Just a quick walk from the RV Park is one of the favorite fields for the dogs to get into their game . . . . ground squirrels and chasing each other.

Some wildlife in the park - rabbits galore and two ducks nesting by the pool in a bed of flowers.   A woman saw a 'weasel-like' animals one night in the park when walking her dog.  

Red-tailed hawks, a large group of squawking crows and a mockingbird that has gone singing nuts this past couple of days.   Kept us up an entire night recently with nighttime serenading.

For such a songful bird with a huge repertoire, the coloring is very plain.  For a few years didn't realize what these little grey birds were.   They look flashy when in flight.

Internet photo

We've had sunny skies ever since first arriving on March 1st and experiencing a day of rain.  Temperatures have been 70's to mid 90s.  (17 C - 32 C).   

The super dry winter has shown through with the drop in water levels at the dam, the lack of grasses and weeds in the fields and farmers fields are starting to get lush and green again.  

Some flowers are blooming earlier - Octotillo in bloom this time around.

These extremely thorny bushes were once planted in back yards are protective hedges/fence lines.

Still in Hemet for another couple of weeks.