a few more desert drives

I'll show you a few more pictures of our social distancing drives into the desert.   They're all I have!

Globe Mallow glowing in the sunshine

nature's nosegay

Mostly desert wildflowers, rocks, mountains, the River, and a few critters along the way.

the winding road

 Colorado River at the end of Montana Wash

Black Necked Stilts working the shoreline

these Teddy Bear Cholla are loving life this spring!

wary Jackrabbit

Dave walks up the hill to check out where we are (see him up there?)

I stay down below and photograph this pretty Indian Paintbrush

these little blossoms completely covered a rather large bush and smelled just like sweet alyssum, Mmmm

painted owl on the dam in Buffington Pockets area of the Muddy Mountains
We climbed up into the rocky shade for lunch and enjoyed the peeping frogs and chattering bird sounds

pools in the rocks from the seeping "owl" dam

ahem.......

what you lookin at......

We have one or two more drives in mind here and then....we're heading home.  We don't know when the "right" time is, or even how to make that call,  be but we've decided that Sunday will be the day for us.

a little more

Today the US Air Force's fabulous Thunderbirds performed low level flyovers to honor the frontline  health care providers working tirelessly during this coronavirus pandemic.      We drove into nearby Henderson and took a few dirt tracks back into the mountains to get some elevation and see the entire valley.

LasVegas Strip in the distance, on the right

Dave had the binoculars and saw the planes clearly as they zoomed back and forth over downtown LasVegas and over the mountains.     I had the camera and tried, most unsuccessfully, to catch the action.

the white line heading towards the Stratosphere is the smoke from the F-16s

coming back over the mountains from Boulder City

Ah well, we had a good time bumping around the rocky roads into the mountains and it was fun to see what we were able to see.    They weren't there for our benefit, after all.     I understand that we would have had better "seats" if we had stayed back in Boulder City, evidently they flew there also..


Another day we we took a graded dirt road  (Black Joe Mine Road), off US 93 at mm 6.   Pam and John had been there recently and told us about the flowers and solitude we'd find.

They were right.   Not another soul around and plenty of flowers....look !

Oh Dave.....

a road of Lupine

one of my feather's flew out the window, Dave kindly looks for it

Easter Bunny?  Peter Cottontail? Thumper? Mr. Bunny Rabbit? Benjamin Bunny? Honey Bunny?

The only other things of importance (to me at least) that we (Dave) did this week was make some yummy tapioca pudding for desert and steal (liberate) a couple fragrant red roses.   The Rose Robber lives!

Thus ends another exhilarating  post.

How we pass the time

Here I am again.   If you're tired of seeing photos of wildflowers and wide open, rocky landscapes, go no further.

As I've said before, our tether is short, as it is for all of us.    At least we have some wonderful scenery within that tether.

One day we took the long drive to find the site of historic Pearce Ferry on the Colorado River in Arizona.   Much of the drive was on US 93 south toward Dolan Springs, where we turned onto Pierce Ferry Road (yes, we noticed the spelling discrepancy but found no answer to it).  Heading toward the small, neat town of  Meadview, the road became graded dirt.

 a crossing guard was needed at this spot!

The scenery was wonderful.   We had views of the distant Grand Canyon Cliffs, Lake Mead as we drove through literal forests of Joshua Trees.

The predominant color was yellow.   Vibrant and fragrant Brittle Bush lined the roads and filled the air with such a sweet smell.

that's the tip of my toe for comparison purposes

In places the ground was carpeted with tiny yellow (and sometimes pink) flowers. 

Princes Plume tucked themselves into the brown hillsides, sometimes alone and sometimes groups formed, clearly ignoring the social distancing rule.

South Cove view point

We made a short detour down to the River at South Cove.    The water was so clear and blue - and evidently higher than before.

There was no one around so Dave went out on the dock to see if he could notice any fish in the clear water.     He did!

Further down the road, it ended at what was once the site of Pearce Ferry, the remains of which now lie under 200 feet of silt. 

There is a modern boat ramp and it's parking lot contained a few pick up trucks with flat trailers attached.    No one around as far as the eye could see though so we decided these must be rafter's vehicles.

We found our way down to a bar at the curve of the river to eat our lunch.   We enjoyed the sun and the sound of the water curling in rapids as it made the turn.

carrot sticks taste better at the river's edge

We also may have spent time watching a large stick trying to extract itself from the swirling rapids and into the escape of the main current of the river.   It never did....round and round and round it went.   Small pleasures.

After lunch, we walked around a bit, checking out bits and pieces of what existed before.

Dave climbs around on an old explosives storage cave

more great CCC work

Another day Dave and I continued the drive to Willow Cove that foiled us last time.   This day we took the paved route down to the River instead of the back way, where you may remember we slipped the Jeep into a wash and aborted the rest of the trip.

It was a Saturday and we were dismayed to find the picnic areas and river banks filled with people enjoying the sunny weekend and each other like there was nothing going on in the world.

I edited out all the "others"....

Occasionally we drive into the little park nearby and check out the duck population.   Don't judge, we're limited in what we're allowed to do these days!

he's clearly interested

In addition to the normally expected Mallards and geese, we got a chance to watch a pair Ring-Necked Ducks paddle around and stop for a look at us.

her, not so much

That's all for now.   Next time I'll show you pictures of another flower filled off road adventure, I bet you can't wait......

Wrong turn

The other day (I think it was Monday, but it's harder than normal to keep track of the days) we set off into the wilderness that surrounds us.

The scenery was less colorful than our failed drive to Willow Beach, less flowers and more rock.

With a few exceptions, of course.....

We intended to drive Boy Scout Canyon to it's end, but somehow we missed the turn (even given very good directions) and ended up driving along back country rds. 58 and 58A into the Black Canyon Wilderness. 

What a pleasant mistake that was!   Bumbling about has it's rewards.

  At one point, as were ascending an unknown hill, my phone rang.....???  It was Pam.   She said "is that you going up the hill?"     How did she know?

see Pam and John's tiny white Jeep?

Great minds think alike, evidently, because they had just explored a spur road (58A) not too far from where we were!      We backed down, and stopped for a short chat before they headed home and we continued our explorations.

Pam had promised a breathtaking view at the end of the road, and she was spot on!   A beautiful slice of the Colorado River, a sliver of the bridge over the Hoover Dam and magnificent vistas in all directions.

We'll take Boy Scout Canyon road another day, we have time!

Today we read, took care of domestic business, figured out how to use our Chrome cast and baked a few cookies from the left over Christmas cookie dough I made over the holidays.   I found it in the back of the freezer - Yay!    It pays to have to sift through the entire freezer looking for ingredients to make interesting dinners 7 days a week.   You never know what you'll find!

 That's all from here!