The neighbors have cleared out, we've relocated to our usual location, and there isn't another trailer within a mile. If we hadn't been here for Thanksgiving Week, we'd have had no idea how 'crowded' it can get. Crowding is a relative concept, though. As noted before, there was plenty of room between them and us for privacy.
Still, we didn't want to go to the trouble of setting up an outdoor kitchen when we expected to move in a couple of days. Yesterday, we (mostly my darling) set it up. It was more of a production than usual. Our neighbors, or somebody before them, had torn apart our usual campfire ring and replaced it with a huge one. It's difficult to tell by scale, but the new one is at least 6 feet in diameter. Plenty big for social distancing; too big for efficient cooking. My darling built a smaller one, to our specifications.
The previous group left a neat campsite, but unfortunately (in our opinion) were eager to clear out dead wood. The paloverde snag that has been our hummingbird feeder hanger for years is no more. Somebody -- probably the proud 11-year-old who told me about the work he'd been doing -- cut it and uprooted it. You can see the remains in the stack of firewood they left. The tree was quite dead, having given up the ghost over the years we've been visiting, but still. We'll miss it. Here it is, with one of last spring's flash floods as a backdrop, in memoriam.
We haven't actually used the outdoor kitchen yet, but there will be superburgers and hash and a stir fry or two before long. The Thanksgiving prime rib and sides have kept us well fed. Last night we cooked a ham that my darling spotted and simply had to buy when we shopped in Tucson. Picnic ham, or a near facsimile, at less than $1.50/lb is too good to pass up these days. So it's been taking space in the refrigerator until yesterday, and we will be enjoying the leftovers in many ways...
...including breakfast snacks this morning.