Fantasy Island and a TED Talk

We've been having warm weather, finally.  Yesterday we did the trail loop up to the Rillito River, back via Mountain, and then coffee at Starbucks.  Don and Jamie rode with us, and it was a spectacular afternoon with friends and sunshine.
Today we went out to Fantasy Island and rode the south end of the park.  Look at how green the ground is.  Since the recent rains, the desert is covered in short green grass.  Soon it will turn brown and die.

 

The massive pile of dirt continues to grow.  We were somewhat annoyed to discover that they're now dumping dirt on the trail.  We were able to walk through the dirt back onto the trail, but at this rate, they're going to close off access to Fire Loop.

 

Houghton Road is being significantly widened.  This is a new overpass.  It's significantly close to the Fire Loop trail as well.  I am really hoping they don't totally ruin a great riding location

 

When we got home, this is what we saw behind us.  Look how close the Kenworth is to the the Montana's slide.  I do not understand why people use these vehicles to tow a 5th wheel.  It's not that big of a coach!  This is overkill of the first water.  We are sad that we missed watching him park the rig and the tow vehicle.

Changing subjects now; are you familiar with TED talks?  They publish videos discussing a wide range of topics that are worth knowing about.  The Field Lab has one posted on his blog about desertification and how to stop it.  The gentleman speaking is really interesting.  The slides he presented on how much of the earth is turning into desert are frightening.  I don't know how to imbed the youtube, but here is the link.  It's 22 minutes, and it's very interesting.  It's unlikely that the Bureau of Land Management will ever adopt his ideas about how to rehabilitate dying grass lands, but it's absolutely worth watching.
Tomorrow the next storm from the GPNW is due to arrive.  Rain is predicted for Friday and Saturday, as well as really cold weather.  Saturday's high is supposed to be in the 40's.  WTH?  It's MARCH!!!!!