TORREY UTAH, TO LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

October 28, 2014

We leave Torey, Utah and descend the mountains toward Las Vegas.  As the altitude drops, John's breathing as well as our attitudes improve remarkably. It is amazing what altitude and oxygen levels do to our bodies.  

Late in the afternoon, we enter Las Vegas and find ourselves in a forty foot Tiffin Allegro Bus towing at sixteen foot trailer with our Miata aboard rolling down THE STRIP!   John did just fine, as usual.  

Finally, we pull into the Silverton Casino lot for our dry docking experience.  We are close to McCarran International Airport and it's landing and take off runways. 

Take offs are quiet, but landings are annoying.  Would we stay there again?  No Way!  Free overnights are one thing, but noisy, aggravating overnights are just not worth it.

                                                                                        After a great breakfast, we headed into the city.  We meet the "boys" from Toy Story.  My, they seem to be very tall, or am I really, really short?                                                                                                         
  I am modeling the terrible haircut that I got in Moab, UT. It has been said that the difference between a bad haircut and a good one is two weeks.  It is going to take more than two MONTHS for this cut to grow to my desired length.  I have found that good haircuts are hard to find when traveling.

                         

                                                                                                                                                                                  

We visited many of the high end boutiques and marveled at the prices some pay for clothing and accessories.  

                                                We worked up an appetite for a non-vegetarian, burger and wanted to find Bobby Flay's restaurant, Bobby's Burger Palace.                                                                     The Bobby Blue was calling our names.

   

                                                                                                      The colors were warm and inviting, reminding us of the atmosphere of a '50's diner.  

                                                                                         How did we begin our meal of blue cheese burgers?  We shared a chocolate milk shake!                                                                             Then we indulged in the Bobby Blue, onion rings, and fries for John.

                                                With shrinking wastes of our pants, we headed out to see the night sights.  Thank goodness we had the opportunity to walk off a few of the calories.

                                                                                                                                                Evening approached before we could see everything we wanted. It is going to take another day.  But, Las Vegas at night is beautiful.                                                                          We will need to see more of Las Vegas at a later time.  

Our arrival time at Borrego Springs, California was rapidly approaching.   

We begin the short trip to California and our daughter Jojo's home to collect our mail and lemons from her tree. 



You know you are in southern California when you see dust storms on the horizon.    

Soon, we are on the road to Borrego Springs and our favorite camping area at Clark Dry Lake, BLM land just south of the Springs.

Ahhhh, our home in the southwest.  No more travel for a while.  It is time to enjoy the mountains and the quiet desert! 

Today, this blog ends and begins with photos of the Anza Borrego desert, our favorite place!                                                                                                                                                                              Thanks for visiting our blog today.  It has been a long time since I posted.  The rest has been good, but now, it is time to share some of our activities.  More to come.  

And thanks for making your purchases through our Amazon link.  By linking to Amazon through this blog, we earn a very small percentage.  You pay nothing extra.  

God bless.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

AND THE HEAT GOES ON

Anza Borrego Desert State Park was not getting any cooler and we decided to throw in the towel and move to the nearby State Park.  

Our last day at Clark Dry Lake was spent relaxing in the shade of the motorhome and let the breezes keep us feeling cooler than the temperatures were indicating at ninety nine and one hundred three degrees.

The sky was full of wispy clouds and we were hoping for a beautiful a evening sunset.  

Due to the heat, Oliver, Olivia and Noah were not interested in eating and bulked at taking their walks to take care of their business. 

                                                                   They, like John and I just rested while waiting for sunset.

 I enjoyed watching this cloud formation as the evening progressed.    

The air currents created a beautiful scene as you will see in later photos.   

I would love to know why cloud watching is so relaxing.  I can sit and make up stories, find interesting figures and just daydream while gazing at the glorious sky.   

A pink tinge is beginning to color the lower edges of the clouds!  Hallelujah, it is beginning to cool down.  


The fur kids are up and feeling a bit of energy.


Oh, oh, watch out. They will not be this quiet for very long, I promise.


After being quiet for so long, they are ready to play.  

Olivia is just baiting Oliver. She is such an instigator.  


Let the wild play begin!

And they are off!

This goes on and on. Both toss and roll each other over the desert floor ending up as two huge dust bunnies...Or is that dust puppies?    
  
Sunsets are not only beautiful in the west.

I love to see the eastern sky as the sun plays on the distant clouds in the east.  

I decide that this cloud appears to be an amoeba with it's tendrils flowing from it's sides.

Desert sunsets have a beauty of their very own with the mountains and the desert floor to provide contrast between soft lights and hard and harsh mountains and desert floor.  

This cloud formation reminds me of a rocket flying through the sky. 

Fire seems to be lighting the sky.  The orange, yellow, lavender, pink, purple and blues all do their magic act.

And the sun's last hurrah promising that it will be back in the cool, early morning hours to trek through the desert sky once more.

Our Anza Borrego Desert hikes have ended for another year. 

Thanks to all who make your Amazon purchases through our blog.  Amazon donates a small sum to us when you make your purchases through them.  

And a huge thank you to all who take the time to join us in our adventures.  Be safe out there and most of all.....
May God go with you in your lives.      

CLARK DRY LAKE HIKE

Since the weather is cooperating with us, we decide that we are going to take another hike.  This hike is right in our own front yard here at Clark Dry Lake in the Anza Borrego desert. We decide to leave Oliver and Olivia home.

In comparison to last year, the desert looks dead. Plants, Creosote bushes, grasses, Ocotillo, cholla cactus; they all are not dead but have gone into dormancy.  What we see this year is grey and brown,  with one exception, a tree that I cannot identify.  

Rather than starting from the motorhome, we drive the Miata about a mile north  toward the dry lake that looks close enough that we could walk to it.  In the desert, everything appears to be closer than it actually is. 

As we walk, little sights draw our attention. We marvel at what wind, rain and heat can create.                                           Here, the shrub and grass are the same color as the sand. 

                                                                                                                                                                Talk about monochromatic!  At least in this next photo, I am able to get a touch of the sky and clouds.                

What creature of the desert has lived in here?  Is it still in there?  Did it cover it's track while inside sweeping the floor?

 




Looking north, the sky and the varied hues coming from the mountains provide distraction from the desert floor.

The tree stands in the wash waiting for next winter's rains.  Hopefully, the drought will end and next year bring green in the sleeping desert.  

 I climb a nearby hill and look out toward the dry lake.  Ahh!  I see something green!  Maybe there is water down there?  Let's go see.  

John says he has walked far enough knowing that we have yet to return to the car.  Good decision on his part as we have lost sight of the car long ago.


I continue on and on and on.  Until I reach my goal.   

There must be an underground water source.  But it is deeper than the other desert plants have reached.  

Since I have totally lost sight of John, I turn back and spot this interesting formation in my path.   


 What do we have here?  A mini volcano?  An aunt condo?  What desert creature lives here.  

Any ideas?  Where do the scorpions and tarantulas escape the hot sun only to come out at night?  That reminds me why I am so thankful that we have a black-light flashlight.  Those critters only show up at night with that kind of flashlight.

Continuing to walk back to where John is supposed to be resting, I find he is not there.  OK, where did he go?  I look around expecting to find him venturing out of the wash. Nope, no John.  

I look for shoe prints in the sand.  They all point North.  If he were returning to the car on his own, some would be in a southerly direction.  

I continue to walk south looking for tracks.  Only a Black tailed Jackrabbit darts across my path startling me enough to make me scream.  Tense?  No!  I'm not stressed...

Ahhh, after a while, I find John's tracks heading south. Rounding  a curve in the wash, there sits John in the midst of rocks.  That's my rock hounding husband all right. Geesh.

Oh well,  we return to the Miata and drive back to the motorhome.  We have had a great walk.  It was longer than the previous day, therefore we are both making progress.  

Did we arrive at Clark Dry Lake?  No.  It looks just as far away as it did from the motorhome.  Now, I am wondering how far from the motorhome the dry lake is.

The day was so nice that we could have taken the dogs with us.   

Thanks again for joining us on our desert walk. It is getting warmer so I think we will take Al's suggestion and hike the slot canyon next time.  Come back again and we will take you with us.  

God bless!

ANZA BORREGO FUN

Our intention was to leave Quartzsite, Arizona Tuesday after we checked for mail at the post office.  Medical supplies were to arrive from Roche that had been ordered the previous week.  

The postal employee checked the general delivery and there was no mail for John.  We returned to the motorhome and John called Roche to see when the supplies were mailed. Just like last year, Roche did not mail them.

Now, going to their website, you find this motto: "Doing now what patients need next"  I don't think so!  

Wednesday, after consulting with John's physician and 

new making arrangements, leaving Roche out of the equation, 

we left Quartzsite for another year and headed to Anza Borrego

State Park and Borrego Springs.  

There were predictions of high wind gusts and John drove with 

much caution.  We had just two mighty gusts as we ventured 

Coachella and Walgreen's to pick up John's medicine. 

After another quick stop at Walmart for a few veggies and fruit, 

we programmed our Verizon Navigator for Anza Borrego State 

Park where we planned to spend a night or two.

I had much laundry to do and wanted to make use of their 

never ending supply of water.

  

Friday evening, we met with Blogger friends Merikay and 

Craig McKenna at Carmelita's for a Mexican dinner.

   

What a nice couple.  They are very excited about beginning their full time life. Florida is their destination for next winter.  

I awoke up early  Saturday morning and took Oliver and Olivia for a hike.  

I was very aware of all the rattlesnake sightings that bloggers have had and was very aware of our surroundings and what the dogs were doing each time they stopped to sniff the pee mail or scent trail.  

A huge Jackrabbit scurried off to our right.  Thank goodness the "kids" did not see it.  I was a bit entertained by it's running pattern.  Starting off slowly and gathering speed. By the time he was out of site he was really racing through the desert.

A bit further on our hike, to my left, I spot something different and of course we are off to explore!  What is this???

It seems that there is an entrance.  I'm too short to see if there is a roof, but I do see a metal cylindrical tube of some sort sticking up at the edge of this stacked rock wall.    Any ideas?  

Yesterday, after shopping at the Farmer's Market on Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, we moved to our current location at Clark Dry Lake withing the Anza Borrego State Park.  This is a boondocking area called the "badlands."   

After the stop at the Farmer's Market, we are stocked with spring vegetables to last the week. I did not find my absolute favorite honey.  I purchased some last year and proceeded to run out by November.  This year I am going to double my purchase. 

Wind was in the forecast for today and the weatherman did not lie.  This is a photo of the mountains this morning.  What a lovely sight.  

The photo also shows our closest neighbors.  

A bit later, the wind began to blow.  And blow, it did!                                                   The wind and dust came roaring down the valley between the two mountain ranges.  

It did not get better for a long, long time.                                 The dust continued to blow and swirl up and into a backward spiral.                                                         Needless to day, we brought the slides in to protect the slide awnings.  

Here, inside the coach, I have prepared split pea, sweet potato curry in the crock pot.  We are just waiting for it to finish cooking.  

Thanks for stopping by.  And again, thank you for shopping through our Amazon link.  

God Bless!  

HEY! SOMEONE JUST RAN INTO THE MOTORHOME! ! ! TWICE ! ! ! & DOG ON THE RUN

Actually, a mere seventeen miles from our location, we had two 4.7 earthquakes within a minute of each other.  Unlike any of the smaller rolling quakes we felt in Indiana, this one felt like someone had broadsided the motorhome.  The wind chimes that we had brought inside started ringing, the dogs stopped their roughhousing and I thought, ‘well, there’s our first California earthquake.
The quake was felt in downtown Los Angeles and San Diego.  No damage has been reported.  At first, it was touted as a magnitude 5.2, but later downgraded.  

The earthquake resulted in an instant phone call from our daughter Jojo.  She felt it on the other side of the mountains and said that if she did not call instantly, the lines would be jammed.  I could not get on the Internet to check news reports on the earthquake for about two hours.
  

Out here at Clark Dry Lake dispersed camping area, people left their motorhomes gathering in small groups to discuss the excitement.  Now, things are quiet again.  So far we have not felt the aftershocks.

Saturday, our daughter Jojo brought her camper out and parked nearby.  She is leaving it here until we decide to move to Blair Valley when it gets hot here.  Staying near Borrego Springs at is close enough to her home that she will be able to spend some weekends with us.

And we left the shovel back at camp! 

Yesterday, we traveled Rock House Road then across the dry lake using the designated road and traveled into the canyon.  Our destination was the rock house, the namesake of the road.  Jojo’s SUV has much better clearance than the Miata, but we really needed a Jeep with four wheel drive to complete the trip.  We uhhh, kinda got stuck in the deep sand as we tried to turn around.  Not to worry, it was easy to dig out and be back on the road.  
 
Once we were safely on the road, we started out on foot to explore and to photograph the canyon.  It never ceases to amaze me how a desert and mountains can change within a few yards.  The beauty never stops  making me feel thankful to the Creator. 


    

If we get a little rain within the next two or three weeks, the desert is going to explode with color.  The Ocotillo are ready to wave their red flag blossoms.  








  



















The Beaver Tail Cactus’ buds are ready to explode.  New life is
springing from the desert floor.  Color appears from what looks like dead follege. What looks dead comes alive.  Similar to the message of Easter.      



 



I know these were created for a purpose, but I sure do not know what it is!  









Jojo found what looks to be hoof prints of Big Horn Sheep.  She has a book that I  am purchasing.  Scats and Tracks of the Desert Southwest by James C. Halfpenny, PHD.  

When we returned to our site, I found the Big Horn page and yep, she was right.  Can you find the footprint in the sandy road with tire tracks, people tracks? 


As we drove back to our location, I was on the side of the SUV to photograph the dry lake bed.  It is full of cracks and crevices.  The National Park Service prohibits driving and walking on the bed.  Neither do they do not want dogs to walk on the bed. The major concern is the impact of vehicles on Clark Dry Lake’s delicate playa soil structure and the tiny fairy shrimp that lay dormant within, awaiting the next good rain. 

Uncontrolled access to the area could also affect the fragile populations of the Le Conte’s Thrasher and the Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard. By acquiring private parcels of land in the Clark Dry Lake area, Anza Borrego Foundation has helped to reduce some of these harmful impacts by moving traffic onto park-owned land patrolled by rangers can control the impacts. Still, a few people choose to not follow the rules, drive on the lake bed – as you can see in the photos.

    
We returned to out site for our lunch, some reading and good conversation.  Of course her dog Spanky had to be right in the middle of things.  
Spank is dog aggressive, meaning that he would like to attack any dog in his sight.  It is quite a job for Jojo and Cathie to be aware of any dog in the area.

We keep Oliver and Olivia safely in the motorhome.  Of course, Olivia bards at Spanky through the windshield and Spanky returns the bark.  

Later, they had to return home to start another work week. Once they were safely on the road, we let Oliver and Olivia out to run and do their business.  They normally  stay right with me.  But just as they were taking care of necessities, Coyotes howled in the distance.  

Both dogs ran toward the sounds. I called them back.  Oliver returned to me, but Olivia took off in the direction of the sound and my heart skipped a few beats.  Of course I do not have on my hiking shoes, just my Birkenstocks.  Not a good choice for pursuing a crazy Shih Tzu who thinks she is off to see friends.

I called and pursued and called.  Olivia ran zig zag through the desert floor like a crazy, wild dog. I have sand grinding between my feet and the Birks. Ohhh, that feels so good....NOT

I had to resign myself to the fact that I was not going to catch her and she was going to be some Coyote's dinner. I was just sick thinking about it.  I kept calling and on her trail, but that little one can run. 

Lucky for me, another camper heard me calling Olivia and set out to help.  He was off to my left and able to get Olivia’s attention and she ran to him with cactus spines in the hair on her chin and leg.  Luckily, they did not penetrate the skin.  

I can now add a half mile hike to the time we were out in the canyon on Rock House Road. Needles to say, I slept well until this morning then the earthquake.  What a life!  Never a dull moment around here!

Have a great, safe day and God Bless You.