A week already

It's been a week since we left our overnight stop in Congress, AZ and arrived here in Boulder City, NV. 

It was a nice trip, mostly on two lane roads cutting diagonally across the northwestern part of the state and up into the southern tip of Nevada.   It was our first time driving this route.   Part of Rt. 93 is aptly named Joshua Forest Parkway.

we passed through forests of Joshua Trees

if looking for Boulder City (the town built to house the workers building the Hoover Dam).
follow the power lines!

and follow the power lines

our first glimpse of the Colorado River

crossing over the bridge above the Hoover Dam (originally called Boulder Dam)

view of Lake Mead from Boulder City

We're staying at Canyon Trails RV "resort" (our favorite Elk's Lodge was full) for another week while we explore this area's plethora of off road and hiking trails.    Pam and John are next door and we thought we'd use some of our time here helping them shop for a place to put down roots.    If you know Pam, you'll know that help wasn't needed and that she'd waste no time in running down the perfect place.    We arrived on Sunday afternoon and by the very next day they had not only found the best house, but put in an offer that was immediately accepted.      And....it comes completely furnished, right down to the dishes in the cupboard and the tools in the 3 car garage!   I think that may be a record.

In between giving us the house tour,  getting the necessary inspections, taking care of home owner's insurance details, etc., we've managed to try out most of this town's restaurants to eat and talk about all the exciting plans coming up.

The last three days in a row Dave and I have been out exploring some of the many dirt roads and washes around us.

We took Lewis along with us as we drive Callville Wash North Road.   He enjoys these bumpy rides and especially loves it when we stop so he can get out to race around in the sand.

come on!   Hurry, we're going that way, come on!

sometimes he waits patiently

Lewis poses on a green mudstone mound with the gorgeous Bowl of Fire in
the background.

At one end of the green volcanic ash mudstone outcropping,  the ground was littered with what looked and sounded like shards of pottery.

This wash travels through wide, flat areas dotted with catclaw acacia loaded with desert mistletoe, and alongside colorful and interesting bluffs spidered with lines of gypsum and that same green mudstone.   

Dave does a bit of trail clearing with his trusty Leatherman

in one spot the walls get close

After about 5 miles the wash narrowed sharply and we could drive no further.   The three of us continued on foot, through the close sides of the canyon, up and over 4 or 5 pour overs until we reached the top and the wash widened out again.

let's go!   I know the way!

This is Lewis's very favorite part.   He races ahead of us flying up the smooth, curved rocks and, if we don't come along quite fast enough, he flies back down to find us.

such beautiful colors and shapes

Weeeeeeeeee!

Some of the pour overs are a little higher than expected and we ask him to wait at the top before jumping down.    He is getting older and we worry about his shoulders and hips.     He doesn't, so we have to.    He would rather leap down and continue along, but he dutifully waits for Dave to lift him down, even if the technique is sometimes a bit unorthodox and embarrassing. 

tail up, nose down

Once the wash flattens out again, we end our hike and head back to the Jeep.   Lew always beats us there. 

Come on guys!   What's taking you so long!

We return home the same way we came, but we don't mind.   The light is different and nothing looks exactly the same from the opposite direction so we get to enjoy the ride all over again!

It's getting late so I'll close for now.   More on our explorations next time, but in the meantime, here is a little tease......

Leaving Tucson in the morning

We took one last day to drive south and look at birds.    This time our destination was the Tucson Audubon Paton Center for Hummingbirds in the quirky little town of Patagonia, Az.

MonaLiza has been tantalizing me with her photos of unusual Hummingbird varieties taken there so of course, we needed to see them!    I guess we weren't as prepared for the experience as we should have been because we decided to take Lewis along for the ride.   Not the best idea.   Bird watching requires quiet.   Lewis is sometimes quiet, but mostly when he's tired.   When we go to a new place and get him out of the car he screams with excitement until he "works through it" and settles down.   Bird watching also requires sitting still for long periods of time....not his forte either.

We left him in the car while we wandered the wood chip covered trails, sat beside little ponds and brush piles, scanned the hummingbird feeders.   To his credit, he was quiet and waited calmly for us to return.      We saw a few hummingbirds, but they were familiar to us.  No Rufous, no Rivoli's, no Violet Crowned.    We did see and hear lots of birds and enjoyed the quiet time spent there.    Next year we'll come back earlier in the morning (a chore for me to accomplish) and leave our sweet boy home.

a chubby little Cassin's Finch

Lewis was happy when we returned to the Jeep and his ride could continue.   Hope springs eternal in dogs.....surely they'll let me out for a run soon.

We ate our lunch at the nearby Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve and continued along the dirt road, oddly named Blue Heaven Road, looking for Salero Road to cross the creek and return to the paved Rt. 82.     The creek was running high and we found the connector road was closed at the creek so we had to turn around and go back the way we came.    We stopped in the "downtown" area of Patagonia for a quick ice cream before continuing our drive to Patagonia State Park. 

We have stayed at this small park before and found the campground not to our liking.   We thought it may have been the circumstances, or our particular site that left us with a bad taste in our mouths so we wanted to check it out again.

The lake is pretty, the area is interesting to us but, once again the campground left us cold.   It is small and far too crowded for our tastes.    Ah well.

We took Lewis for a long walk, leashed, along the lake.    No great romp for him but at least he got a chance to stretch is legs and see new sights. 

We saw lots of assorted ducks and Coots, Cormorants and a large group of Mergansers.

We got back to Beluga 10 minutes before we were due at Gay and Joe's for dinner.     We only had to walk down a few sites to arrive, so we made it with time to spare.    We had a nice time chatting with Gay and Joe, Pam and John and we all enjoyed a delicious chicken dinner complete with Lemon Chess Pie from their resident lemon tree.   Who could ask for more?

I only took one picture the entire time we were there, once again, I'm bad with people pictures.   I even managed to chop little Jack's nose off in the shot (don't tell him)!

One of the reasons we like staying here in Tucson is that planes from nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and  the Arizona Air National Guard's F-16's do frequent maneuvers over our heads.   Yes, they'e loud and that bothers some people, but not us.   One or the other of us is always racing outside or jumping up from our chairs to see what's flying over.      This weekend the regulars have  been joined by historic military aircraft flown by civilian pilots in a certification course to practice flying in formation together.     It's loud and it's exciting to watch.    The skill of these pilots is unbelievable. 

We're breaking camp in the morning.   After a one night stop in Congress, we'll arrive at our next destination, Boulder City, Nevada, on Sunday.     We spent the afternoon putting away the things we've taken out over our month long stay.    Chairs, tables, Lewis's nemesis - the fish eating rug, candles, plants, etc.      It's hard for Dave to concentrate.    Every time I look out the door to see what he's doing, this is what I see.....

eyes on the skies

 

our last week in Tucson

In between living life we try to get out and see the area, perhaps do things we haven't done before.

SHE's here, guys, guys, Gramma Pamma's here to see me!

Of course we leave plenty of time to keep our pleasant routines.   Almost daily Lewis gets to go to Gramma Pamma's house to play games with her and that man.

he knows which pocket contains his treats...

She usually comes over to get him with her pockets "loaded", but sometimes she stays and talks with us before he gets to go over to her house.    He thinks she spends much too much time talking with us.

bla bla bla bla bla, he hears.....

 Most days we spend second cup outside in the sun while we let Lewis play his "the rug ate my fish" game.  A real favorite of his.

he kills the rug dead, it ate his fish

Dave also set aside a little time for a couple vehicle projects he's been wanting to do. 

Mr. David's Creative Solutions routes the WiFi Ranger wire through a light....

then adds an oil pan skid plate on Rocky's nether region

He did those jobs while Pam and I took a little excursion to  the Mini Time Machine, Museum of Miniatures.    I had read about it in Atlas Obscura and then when fellow blogger, Jodee went last year my interest was really piqued.   This is an interesting place housed in a purpose built facility in the north part of Tucson.

You enter this realm through an interesting door within a door, preparing you for the time and size warp within.

do you see the three doors?

Pam prepares to enter the correct one

Inside we were first treated to a temporary exhibit entitled "On Point" which was a collection of sculptures on the tips of lead pencils!

A fascinating project, each sculpture was so tiny we had to use the provided magnifying glasses to even see them.

making of pencil art

The rest of the museum is broken up into three galleries, History Gallery, Exploring the World, and the Enchanted Realm.    We allowed ourselves 2 hours to do the entire museum and were both brought back to reality when the PA announced that the museum was closing in 10 minutes and we didn't even get to the Enchanted Realm.   

I use a tiny flashlight to illuminate a funny vignette in front of the Georgian apartment house.....

it was little girl crying because her dog ripped the head off her dolly

my finger tip in front of a bathroom store complete with tiny embroidered towels.

I finally stopped trying to take photographs and just looked and looked deep into each exhibit.   So many tiny details to see.    We both noticed other people using small (of course.....) flashlights to search the darker recesses, so Pam went and secured two of them (after signing her life away).

We tried to race through the Enchanted Realm in the remaining 10 minutes, but decided that we would just need to return another time to do it justice.   And....I'm sure we missed things in the other Galleries so I'll look forward to another visit next year.

Monday Dave and I enjoyed a pleasant waterside picnic lunch in Madera Canyon, south of Tucson.   This area is a renowned birding area and the occasional home of a much sought after, seldom seen bird called the Elegant Trogon.    We muchly sought after it as we walked the creek side but we did not see it.    We had lots of other bird encounters (and one beautiful butterfly), however, and it is such a beautiful place to spend some time.

can you see Dave watching quietly?

searching

nature's wood carvings

a new to us bird.....Acorn Woodpecker

Wood Thrush or is it a Hermit Thrush? 

black swallowtail

Instead of driving home the same way we came we decided to head off in the opposite direction on rt. 62, a graded dirt road that looked like it would take us through Box Canyon and connect with rt. 83 near Sonoita, then north toward home. 

heading into Box Canyon on our way home

We enjoyed our alternate route very much.   We wound through grasslands and then up along the edge of Box Canyon.   It must be something to see when the water is running and forming the numerous dry waterfalls and pour overs we passed.

I wonder if the water would run across the road if this fall was running?

looking back

Yesterday we spent the day running errands so we treated ourselves to a wonderful lunch of Cioppino and Pinot Noir at Vivace.   That soup always makes Dave smile!