Snow In The Desert

As we made our way back to California following the Kite Fest and other travels in Texas we decided to stop at Kartchner Caverns State Park, near Benson in Southern Arizona.  It has been a favorite of ours since it opened in 1999.  I don't have any photos of the Caverns because cameras are not allowed below ground but believe us when we say they are well worth the visit.  We  have been down several times but are still awed by them, especially the Throne Room.

While there we learned of a major winter storm coming in from the coast, with predictions of high winds, rain, and snow.  We decided to wait it out in the park rather than risk being on the road in it. The location is at 4,500' but is somewhat sheltered, and it has electricity.  The storm arrived at dawn on Sunday February 27 with lots of wind and blowing snow as forecast.  We woke up to find everything including the RV coated with the white stuff. 

Being from Southern California we don't get to see snow very often so this was a treat to us.

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South Padre Island Kite Fest - February 2011

We traveled to South Padre Island in South Texas for their annual Kite Fest. It was our first, but was a home-coming of sorts to David. He was born and raised in this part of Texas.

At that time this was just a barren strip of sand. Now it is heavily developed with hotels and condos, largely oriented to serve "Winter Texans" who come here from the North East and from Canada to escape the winter cold.

We are part of an informal kite club called the Goat Hill Gang. Eight of us made the trip from California to be here. This is the 11th of these Fests and was very successful. At the banquet on Saturday evening the Kite Trade Association (KTA) presented the sponsors, K&S Kites of South Padre Island, with an award honoring them for last year's event which was named "Kite Festival Of The Year 2010".

This year the Winter Texans brought the cold with them. We drove through three days and nights of bone-chilling cold and high winds to get here, with night-time temperatures in the low 20's and chill factors in the single digits. The Kite Spirits were kind however. The two days of the Fest were sunny and warmish.

The photos that follow were taken with our Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) rig. It is a digital camera suspended from a large kite. Camera pointing and shutter are controlled by a model-airplane radio control system.

The yellow rotor on the ground is the creation of "Head Goat" Rod.

The big Octopus is a commercial kite made by Peter Lynn.  The smaller kites are Rod's.

Team iQuad, an internationally acclaimed group of Revolution quad-line kite performers was present and put on several demonstrations.  Here team members, the five on the right, fly with other Rev fliers including Jim and Lynn (in the purple shirts) of the Goat Hill Gang. The KTA awarded Revolution's Rev B Pro Kite Of The Year 2010.  The award was presented to creator Barry "Bazzer" Poulter at the banquet.

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