Waterfront property

We're transfixed.   We did nothing today except sit outside and look at the view.

water views from every window

Yesterday afternoon we arrived at our site at Lake Havasu State Park along the Colorado River in Arizona.    Somehow the time changed - again - so now we're really mixed up.     When we pulled in we had gained an hour, I think.   This confusion is compounded by the fact that we're in Arizona (in one time zone) but directly across the river is California (in another time zone).      So when we're inside Beluga the clocks say one thing, when we go outside for second cup or happy hour my phone tells me something else.       Sigh.

And.....we don't care what time it is here.    We're in our glory in this site and all we really feel like doing is sitting still and experiencing the views of the sand, the water, the mountains, the clicky, buzzy sounds of the busy little coots, the thunderous sounds of the high performance cigarette boats, the gentle lapping of the water in front of Beluga.    We love how the sun sparkles on the water and how the huge super moon turns night into day.

We enjoyed second cup outside under the light shade of our funny little tree and didn't come in until after happy hour tonight.    We read and talked and not much else and it was a perfectly lovely day.

We're here until Saturday morning.....I suppose we'll get around to a bit of sightseeing by then, but perhaps not.

Last day in Boulder City

We've had an incredibly good time here in Boulder City.   The Elk's Lodge RV park is wonderful, good hook-ups, friendly people and a perfect location.   In between jeeping marvelous desert backroads,  hiking and sightseeing we've managed to take care of mundane tasks of life and complete a safety upgrade to Beluga.

Dave works on his project in our outdoor laundry room!

outside portion of the fire suppression installation

working hands

 sprinkler head installation in the engine bay and the system is complete

We've washed and mowed the poodle.   Fuzzy Wuzzy really needed it this time.
Hiking makes his hair grow.....

Friday was our last hike for this trip.   All the other hikes we took were at the end  jeep roads, but this time our start point was at a parking lot/picnic area (33 holes overlook) in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.     After we parked and put on our boots we followed the birdandhike instructions and walked to the western most picnic table to look for the trail.    They couldn't be right, there was nothing past the table but a steep and stony erosion gully leading down to a wide wash with several paths and elevated saddle areas.    I wasn't crazy about scrambling down that gully without knowing which way to head for the trail to White Owl Canyon.    We got back in the car and went to the Visitor's Center for a map of some sort, or at least some better directions.    No luck, no map.   All the ranger said was that the Canyon hike was very worth the trip down.     Do we go back and see if we could figure it out?    Yep, that's what we did.

Dave scouts ahead while waiting for me patiently......

  
We (I) took our time, used our hiking sticks and were at the bottom before we knew it.   After a few changes of direction we came upon a clear trail and we were on our way!

Is this the right way Dave?

The Canyon walls became more narrow as we approached the slot area.

 We could see evidence of the Canyon's namesake, white owls, along ledges and outside deep holes in the porous rock sides.

We never actually saw an owl but their sprays of "white wash" were everywhere.
Pam wrote about finding numerous owl pellets below these roosts so we were on the look out as we walked along.

Dave found a pellet outside one of the large holes.   After teasing it apart he found the remnants of an owl's recent meal, a small rodent of some sort.  Tiny, delicate bones and fur were all that was left...burp.

Not fun for everyone, I suppose, but we were fascinated by these pellets and the minuscule remains contained in them.

We spent quite awhile in the Canyon, walking and looking.   We enjoyed the cool respite the high walls offered.   It is still quite hot here and the steep crawl down combined with a shade less hike along the wash made the dim White Owl Canyon feel luxurious.

Here and there the hot sun found its way to the bottom and lit sections of wall in a most beautiful way.

Once through the narrows we came upon a huge culvert carrying the trail under a road.     It gave us an odd sensation as we followed each other through it.   Sound was deadened and accentuated at the same time and the rings of steel made my vision zig about.....twilight zone!

Don't go into the light Dave!

We decided to head back, the sun was beginning to sink in the sky and we knew we had limited time left.    We didn't want to be wandering about in the dark.

ready to hike back up that hill?

he waits patiently

the two Italian cars eye each other jealously....

Mother Nature showed up tonight to wish us beautiful farewell.

Tomorrow we'll be in Arizona at Lake Havasu State Park.  

Wednesday

Pam turned us on to a wonderful on-line reference site, birdandhike.com, detailing hikes, back roads, birding sites, etc. in the Las Vegas and surrounding areas.    I've used it everyday to plan our jeep road travels, hikes and bird watching adventures.  The other day I noticed something else on their header.....aircraft viewing sites.    Hmmmmm.

I showed it to Dave and he said he'd really (he was really really excited) like to check out some of the listed spots, so that is exactly what we did yesterday.

We packed lunch and headed up to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway which is directly across Las Vegas Blvd. from Nellis Air Force Base's runway.   One of  birdandhike site's suggested spots was at the corner of Eren and Las Vegas Blvd. so we started there.  

It was exciting to sit on the shoulder of the road, pointing toward downtown, watching the aircraft taking off for practice flights over the desert.   One after another after another.    F-15's, A-10's, F-16's, F-22's and F35's, C17's and assorted support planes.  This weekend the base is hosting a veteran's day air show and the runways were jammed with all manner of aircraft.

   

A-10 Warthog, a tank buster, on take-off

F-15, fully loaded

C-17, cargo hauler

The sun was directly in our eyes, so we went looking for another of the site's suggested viewing spots.     We parked along the fence at the take off area of the airforce base's runway, across from a large scrap metal, junk yard.   There were a few other cars watching with us.

F-18 Hornet

The planes would come screaming over our heads, almost low enough to see the pilot's faces.   We could hear the sounds of the electronics moving the flight control systems as they passed barely 100 feet over our heads.    So exciting!

My camera just couldn't focus fast enough, although I tried vainly to capture these missiles.     I tried the phone's camera, without any better results.   I finally settled down and just watched these mammoth birds do their thing above us.   Fantastic feeling to feel the ground shake as they flew.

When there was a lull in the action we moved to the last best viewing spot at a small city park at the corner of Cheyenne and Lamont.    The surroundings were much more pleasant there and we settled down on the Jeep's bumper to watch.

on alert!

the safer end of a A-10 Warthog

F-15

F-18

F-35 joint force fighter aka flying 100 million dollar bill

support plane

We didn't sit for long as we kept jumping to our feet to track them as they approached, flew over and then landed.

On our way home we decided to forgo the busy highways and drive directly through the middle of North Las Vegas (oh my.....) and down "The Strip" on Las Vegas Blvd.    An interesting route to say the least.

We passed a huge area of homeless (or "houseless") people along a cemetery fence.    Later I learned that there were two homeless shelters, a St. Vincent dePaul center, a cafeteria and emergency apartments on the other side of the street but it seemed people preferred to line the fence.

As we began to approach what most people know as "the strip" we started seeing remnants of the original area with wedding chapels and liquor stores a plenty.

Pretty soon the traffic picked up, cars and people, and we found ourselves driving through what can only be described as an adult Disneyland.    Everything was larger than life but not real.   Huge temples, pirate ships, New York City buildings, the eiffel tower, shooting fountains, ten story clowns, an Egyptian pyramid, oh my oh my....

We said that sometime it would be fun to park and just walk the street, looking at everything and everyone.   It was so hard to take it all in as we moved along.   Maybe next time.....but, then we couldn't wait to get back out to the desert and Beluga.