Sunday, February 12, 2012

 We are on our way to Red Rock Canyon via the riverbed.
 A view from where we came, mighty dusty, but the worst was yet to come.
 We have arrived at the edge of the lake where it used to be.  The view in the distance shows what is left of the lake.
 Ahead is Red Rock Canyon.  The land goes from a beige to red in an instant.
 We have arrived at the area where the dirt and rocks are now red.
 We are beginning the ride through the wash.  It is probably 3 or so miles long.
 A shoot off the main wash is this side wash.  We walked about .6 miles to its beginning in another wash.  Here we are showing our strength while we celebrate our 21 anniversary.
 Farther into that wash the sides of the canyon narrow.  Notice the path at the bottom.
 Here a desert donkey has scratched for some water farther into the wash.
 A honey comb with bees flying around, we are still in that side wash.
 A view from the other side of the lake from ground level. A few boaters fish for supper on a daily basis.
 Three desert donkeys in the distance.  Two are center and the third on the right in the center.
A view of Alamo Lake as we leave Red Rock Canyon.  It was another spectacular ride.

Friday, January 13, 2012

 The ride through the Hassayampa River was awesome.  We started in the valley then within 2 minutes we were on top of this narrow ridge.  This is the only place wide enough to pull off and catch our breath.  Wonderful ride.
 The trail continues around the bend still climbing up.
 Finally at the top, this view shows the grass.  First time we had seen grass in the desert.  We are at approx 3000 ft elevation.  And actually it warmed up after we got into the sun.  But it was still pretty cold.
                   A close up view of their 'grass'.
 This is where I screamed like a girl every time my wheels came off the ground.  The only reason you could not hear Terry screaming is because he was drowned out by the guys.  Well, maybe not!
 A miners ranch along the Hassayampe River.  The mine was scattered throughout the walls of the canyon.
 The water was running.  We crossed it several times along the way.  I did get wet but I had no choice.  Water splashed up onto my leg.
 This is the way out of the box canyon next time.  "There will be no screaming allowed on the next trip guys".  This time we back-tracked and took another trail around.
 This is the box canyon.  The rock formations were gorgeous. Too narrow to drive the quads.  Besides, it led no where.  Duh!!  It is a box canyon.
This was a sissy rock to climb over.  No squeals here.  Come join us!!

Friday, December 30, 2011

 We are headed for Swansea Mine.  Eleven quads and RZRs took the trip.  It was not windy enough when we started.  Lots of dust. We are 6&7 from the front. 
 It gets cold here too..........but no snow!!!!
 Taking a break on the Swansea Mine ride.  This is Janis, great lady!!
This is our fearless leader Curtis.

This is a river we went through on the ride.  There are times when the water level is above the seat of a quad and unaccessible.

 Another pic of Curtis.  He is the 'gold' expert I confer with.  He is 75ish and runs with us kids.
 A bird of prey seen while Terry and I were taking a ride the other day.
 We met a couple Canadians on the trail and they took us to this cabin.  The land has been given to the Colorado River Indians so we were on the 'reservation'.  We kept looking for the Indians to be watching us from the hilltop, but none there. I watched too much Lone Ranger as a kid.  A lady lived in this cabin for years.  What a view.  The pic does not capture the view that our eyes saw.
Everyone from Salome came to Quartzsite and we took them on a ride.  Eight quads, 4 RZRs, about 20 people. A 65 mile trip.  Great time, great people.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

We had requests for new pics of the house.  Here we go.  This is looking at the front on the right and the basement. The break in the railing on the deck is for the sky walk which will go around to the front door.

 The basement patio uses some of the bricks from the old Goodyear store in Bloomington.  Some of these brocks and bricks have been moved and handled numerous times, I lost track.
 A view of the front minus the front porch, decking and driveway.
 A view of the back from the basement level.  The triple window and 2 single windows are in the master bedroom.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

 The convicts from Yuma Prison were chained to these granite rocks to live and work for weeks at a time.
 These massive granite rocks were  broken down into cubes and used in the construction of the Yuma Courthouse.
                  Hills and hills of raw granite.
                    A cube, rough cut by man power.
                     Lots and lots of granite.
                         The guard quarters.
 What is this Explorer doing on our trail???  Getting majorly stuck.  The passenger side was on top of that row of rocks.  "Oop mom, I don't know what happened to your car on a ride after school today".
 The 100 year floods in 2009 caused these huge washes.  Every thing in sight was uprooted. 
                  A view from the Three Ladders Mine.
           Our riding buddies breaking for lunch on top of a hill along the trail.
 Can you believe this "Fan Cactus"?  Only 5 in the whole state.  It was really a fantastic find.
We are so short
compared to these huge specimans.  And I don't think anyone said Terry was short.

 A phenom.......
These Barrel Cactus usually
only grow about knee height.  Only a hundred feet away from the Fan Cactus.  Wonder what is in the water there?  hehe

Around the hill
was the other fan.  Similar, but different.

A closer view
of the different fingers.  Look, the thumb is smoking.

 Such odd multi finger cactus out here.  I could only include a few.
This guy lost a finger then another grew out of the edge of the broken part, three times.

 So odd..........
 Only saw 2 like this, a perfect split.
 They grow tall here too.  They begin to die at the base while new fingers grow at the top.
An Eagle found the perfect perch.