Queen Canyon

Monday, January 25, 2016
Another beautiful morning with the sun rising and the moon setting.

After breakfast this morning, Yuma and I headed out in the jeep to Queen Canyon.   It is the canyon just north of Palm Canyon, but the road is rough and it winds around for five miles before it ends up at the canyon.
I wanted to mention that when Dolly and I were heading south on hwy 95 after the Bloggerfest on Saturday, something quickly crossed the road ahead of us.  We thought it was a roadrunner, but as we got to the location and looked to the right, we saw a Kit Fox hiding behind a creosote bush.  He thought he was hidden, but he wasn’t. 
We didn’t know what kind of fox it was till we googled it.  He was very small with large ears and had a black tip on his tail.  That described a Kit Fox.
The canyon had beautiful rock formations and was about 3 miles in length.  Yuma and I walked most of the 3 miles along the wash.  We could have driven the jeep all the way up the wash, but we thought we needed the exercise.  My feet hurt so bad now, I wish we had just driven the three miles.


Helicopter broke the silence flying through the canyon.

See right through the bottom of this huge rock formation.

Yuma leading the way.


Rough roads.
 
After returning home, the whole gang jumped in the jeep and we drove 10 miles south on hwy 95 to Stone Cabin.  Stone Cabin is just a row of buildings and tents along the road.  Its about 40 miles north of Yuma or 40 miles south of Quartzsite.  Only place between the two towns.
Randy, the man that runs the place handles everything.  He sells shakes, ice cream, hamburgers, fries, old DVDs and essential oils.  We had a cheeseburger, curly fries and Dolly had a date shake and I had a coke.  Can’t say much about the cheeseburgers or curly fries, but the shake and coke were good.

Got back to camp and watched the news and the second segment of X-Files.  Kind of nostalgic to be watching the same Mulder, Scully, Skinner and smoking man, just as we did back in the 90s.  We watched that show every week back then and are ready to do it again.  Hope it continues and is not a flash in the pan.
See you later.

Football Play-offs

Sunday, January 24, 2016

This was my view as Yuma and I took a walk this morning.  A moonset over the mountains.

I debated whether  to take Yuma and hike a canyon in the Kofa Mountains today, or stay at the camp and watch the football play-offs.  Decided that the canyon could wait till tomorrow, but the football games were only today.

First game, the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots in a close contest 20-18.  Went down to the last minute before the winner was determined.  Dolly has Denver in our family football pool.  She is in the superbowl.

Watching the Carolina Panthers destroy the Arizona Cardinals in the second game.  The score is 42-14 so I am going out on a limb and say Denver and Carolina will be in Superbowl 50 two weeks from now.  Our son, Jim has Carolina, so it will be Dolly and Jim battling it out for the big money.

Yuma and I did take several walks today and I got a few photos of the Sonoran Desert around our camp.

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See you later.

Bloggerfest 2016

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Woke up to this view from my bedroom window this morning.

Today was Bloggerfest 2016 near Quartzsite, Arizona.  The event was located about seven miles south on hwy 95 in the La Posa South LTVA (Long Term Visitor Area).

Dolly and I dressed in our best jeans, washed the dogs and off we went to meet other bloggers.  Some blogs we follow; but we learned of many others that are new to us.

The weather was overcast, but warm.  Perfect for an outside event.  No sunburns today.

Like a dummy, I never read the directions to the event.  I just assumed it was at the place we had it last year.  Got to Plomosa Drive seven miles north of Quartzsite and found no signs to Bloggerfest.  Finally, I pulled over and read the directions on the Our Awesome Travels blog and I saw the word south.  I knew right away, I was on the wrong side of town.

After reading the directions carefully, I knew where to go and off we went back through the mind boggling traffic in Quartzsite for the second time.  We arrived at 1:15, so we were barely late for the 1 PM start time.

When we arived there was already a large group gathered.  Fifteen minutes means a lot to this group.  They were well underway and ready to make introductions.

The first thing on the agenda was for everyone to give their names and a brief history of where they are from and years of travel and their blog (if they had one).

Dolly and I met many fellow bloggers.  Fergie and Yuma got to meet new doggie friends.  I must say, Yuma wore me out trying to keep him out of trouble.  He wanted to meet and play with every dog there.

The dogs are taking over the show; time to go.

We had a great time and are looking forward to talking with our fellow bloggers online.  

Beautiful sunset.

See you later.

Palm Canyon

Friday, January 22, 2016

After coffee and breakfast this morning, the whole crew headed up to Palm Canyon.  We intentionally waited until about 12:30, hoping to catch the palm trees in full sunlight.

Here is a view as we are driving east on Palm Canyon Road.  You can see the white line in the center of the photo running right up to the canyon entrance.

Dolly and Fergie coming up the canyon trail, taking photos as they go.

 

Yuma walking the trail.

This is the view of the Chocolate Mountains looking west as we enter the canyon.

This is the view of the Trigo Mountains looking west as we enter the canyon.

The trees are located about a half mile into the canyon in a crevice high on the canyon wall.  The sun only hits them for a short time during the day.

We were lucky and hit them at the perfect time.

 

 

After our long hike the dogs were pooped, so I helped them to rest.

 

See you later.

Travel to Palm Canyon Road

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Today is a travel day.  Luckily, I did most of the packing yesterday, so we could lounge around this morning and have coffee and breakfast.

We left camp and went into Ajo to dump tanks, take on fresh water and fill the propane tank.  Took us an hour to get all that done and we were heading up hwy 85 through the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Base to  Gila Bend, Arizona.

 

We had heard there was a motel and restaurant with a space ship design in Gila Bend, so we drove into town looking for it.  Found it.

We then grabbed I-10 going west.  Did this for 110 miles till we hit Yuma, Arizona.  Stopped for gas and then headed north on hwy 95 toward Quartzsite, 82 miles away.

The road is freshly repaved and as smooth as glass.  Nice to travel on.  We pulled off the hwy at Palm Canyon Road, about 20 miles south of Quartzsite and found us a beautiful camp.  Got here about 5:30 PM.  Glad we got here before dark or we would have had a problem finding a campsite.

Got all set up and got the TV going for Dolly and we’re ready to call it a night.

See you later.

Laundry Day

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

This morning started out with clear blue skies, slight breeze and warm temperatures.  Unfortunately, it is laundry day.

Here is Fergie, fresh from her bath.  She is looking and feeling like a princess.

 

Headed out to the laundromat after breakfast.  The Lemon-Brite Laundromat is located in a drive-in restaurant converted into a laundromat.

Dolly thought $2.50 a wash tub was a little steep, but it is the only game in town.  Ended up costing over $15 to wash and dry two weeks of clothes.  But it’s done.

They still fly the Confederte flag at the R.E.B. Supply.

 

After we finished the wash, I laid in the warm sun for awhile and Dolly caught up on her Facebook correspondence.

Later in the afternoon, I packed the backpack we found at the Locomotive Rock formation and took it down to the wash.  Hopefully, someone needing sleeping blankets and a backpack will find it.

The wash runs for miles in the Sonoran desert and is used by four-wheel drive vehicles and there is a lot of foot traffic.

Yuma is smelling stuff and Black Mountain is in the background.  You can see how deeply the water cuts in the hillside.

After our walk, I started on the packing.  We plan to leave in the morning for the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  There is a place just off hwy 95 on Palm Canyon Road about 20 miles south of Quartzsite, Arizona that is remote and close to the Kofa Mountain range.

See you later.