A Queen

This afternoon, after a nice relaxing soak in the spa (how luxurious!), Salem and I wandered up the hill into the desert (Salem did not soak in the spa!). There is a wash, which recently had water in it due to the rains last week, that we meandered through and up the hill. I was thrilled to see this gorgeous butterfly, snacking on the golden head flowers. It is a Queen Butterfly and can be found in the California deserts year-round.

I also took some pictures of the bees in the Canterbury Bells and what looked like broom flowers. Nothing else was moving except a few birds. 

This morning, my sister and BIL visited the open air market down in Palm Desert. Let me save you the time if you ever come here and think about going to it. We hoped to find more of a farmer's market but only found a few fruit/veggie stalls. Oh well, we had to go in to town anyway to go to a grocery store so it wasn't a total waste of time. The husband used the time to wander around up the hill, hoping to find a better trail or at least another tortoise!