another day

Another day we took Lewis for a long jeep ride and a bit of a hike down to the Colorado River.

Crane's Nest road

We were not completely alone.....

this big guy suddenly appeared on the ridge above us

Above us four large male Bighorn Sheep kept a close eye as we moved along the trail.

At our feet, teasing Lewis, were several small lizards.

After a little more than a half mile's hike we came to the beautiful Colorado River.

What to do with a hot hike behind us, not a soul in sight and the cold clear water ahead?   Swim!

Swim

no, we didn't swim - just Lewis was crazy enough to go in that cold water

Shake

and shiver......

Another day we joined Pam and John and their friends, Steve and Joan, on a historic gold mine tour and then jeeped home up and over the mountains and along the gigantic power lines.

The Techatticup Mine bills itself as the oldest, richest and most famous gold mine in Southern Nevada.    I don't know about that but it certainly is an interesting place.   The various buildings house a historical hoarders dream, the outside areas were the backdrop of several movies and collections of all manner of memorabilia and oddity litter the area.    You'd need hours to wander by yourself to see everything.

We were met by a local tour guide who first gave us the area's wild and lawless history in general and this mine's history specifically.   He used many of the old photographs that lined the walls to punctuate his stories. 

John and Pam's new rv?

After his introduction we followed him across the street and entered the actual mine there.

in we go! (thanks for the picture Pam)

Even though it was fairly well lit with lanterns every 20 or 25 feet I still had a bit of  claustrophobic angst for the first few feet.   Pam counseled me to just keep talking and I'd forget about it, but she and I were the last in line in case either of us felt the need to turn around and exit quickly!

The guide showed us the veins of quartz and iron that were indicators that gold and/or silver were nearby.

We crossed a catwalk through an interesting but scary example of drift mining where a long deep drift cut downward from the top through the mountain where it's load of ore was located.   We could see daylight streaming in over our heads while we were deep in the mine, a very weird sensation.

Once outside after the tour we followed Steve and Joan to a beautiful area overlooking the Colorado River.    We ate our lunch there then continued to follow our leaders on rugged Jeep roads through mountain and desert terrain home again.

Pam and John
Joan and Steve

consultation

the scream?

these rocks all have names it seems.....

The ride was through wonderful wilderness, yet often passing the feet of huge, crackling power lines.    At one point, as we were standing outside our vehicles, I remarked that it didn't feel like it was raining as hard as it sounded on the hard packed sand next to us.    Joan laughed and told me that the noise I was hearing was coming from the high power lines above us.   It crackled and fizzed in a most alarming way.

the road taken

At every turn it seemed the plant life changed.    In one area the Cholla was so thick and healthy you couldn't put a foot down without encountering a nasty stab.

Joan called (we carried a walkie talkie in each vehicle) our attention to a small group of Bighorn sheep fleeing up the side of a peak next to us. 

Once back in Boulder City we all enjoyed a Mexican dinner before Steve and Joan headed back to their motorhome.


Another day Dave and I drove up Bootleg Canyon road behind our rv park to take a look at Las Vegas in one direction and Boulder City in the other.

LV

BC

Another day Dave and John played golf so Pam and I decided to make it a girl's day in the desert.      We headed for the Anniversary Mine road and the Ore Car Mine to see if we could find any agates.

We walked and walked, hunched over, carrying hammers and bags.   She took a path in a deep wash and I moved along on the top, all the while stooping to inspect interesting rocks, occasionally stopping to smash one with my claw hammer. 

me on top......

Pam down low

After our bags got too heavy to continue to carry we found our way back to the jeep, set our chairs up in the Jeep's shade and dumped them out for closer inspection

We then continued our search in the other direction.    I'm not sure we found anything of interest to anyone else, but we surely had a great day searching!

And....another day Dave and I drove to the gates of Las Vegas Motor Speedway which happens to be across the street from Nellis Air Force Base's runways.   This week they were holding Red Flag exercises and we joined a number of others parked along the road to watch the various jets take off, land, and do maneuvers above our heads.

My little point and shoot camera just couldn't do justice to the planes, I tried to get some good shots, but......

We're down to our last two days here......We leave Sunday for Utah.

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