Desert Mushrooms;
On Sunday Patti and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood and came across these mushrooms on a corner of our spot.
I looked them up on the internet and here is what I found out.
The Desert Shaggy Mane
- Podaxis pistillaris
The desert shaggy mane bears close resemblance to the far more moist true shaggy mane; hence, the name. Stalked puffballs are well known for their specialization to dry environments, and they intentionally dry out to form brittle, papery "lollipops" filled with a mass of brown spores. When ready, a small disturbance, even wind, will break apart their outer layer and release their spores.
P. pistillaris is a very common resident of urban desert environments. It prefers sandy areas, and can appear in very large numbers in disturbed locations, such as those under construction or development. The most common locations are the edges of roads and in medians, where they recieve drip irrigation water and gain nutrients from leaf litter.
This info is from: http://www.tanelorn.us/data/mycology/myc_loc_des.htm
The New Jeep:
Monday morning we went to the bank to see if we could get our money to buy the new Jeep. It took some finagling but eventually we had the cash.
Dennis (white Jeep) drove me to Phoenix so he could check out the jeep thoroughly.
After he did a good check out I asked him what he thought. His reply was, “I’d buy it”.
That was all I needed to hear. I counted out the cash to the seller and away we went. I in my new jeep and Dennis following.
A day In Blythe:
We got back to Quartzsite late due to a 3 hour traffic jam on I-10 so I didn’t have time to go to Blythe to get the new jeep’s title transferred.
As it turned out, we couldn’t have gotten it done then anyway as it took all day Tuesday to get it done; what with smog checks and all. The DMV part was pretty easy but expensive. Unbelievably the lady in the DMV office in Blythe was very accommodating and friendly. I don’t think I have ever described dealings with any other DMV office in that way. It was refreshing.
We had a couple hours to wait to get the smog test done so we did some shopping and had lunch at the A&R bakery and deli. Great sandwiches.
We finally got everything done and were home by 4:00.
The Jeep is now officially Mine.
Here is a list of extras on the jeep.
New 35” X 12.5 X 15” BFG TA radials. My favorite tires.
New 4” lift.
New Mickey Thompson 15” wheels
New custom bumper with a swing out tire carrier.
And most importantly it has a Dana 44 rear differential which are rare on older jeeps and the best differential to have on a jeep.
The jeep has a 6 cylinder engine and three speed automatic transmission.
The Transmission will make trail driving a lot easier.
The only things I will need to add is a Detroit locker in the rear and rock guards. Eventually I will probably also add a winch.
The New Jeeps First Trail Ride:
We met the Wednesday Jeep group at the fire station north of town around 9:00.
Of course everyone wanted to inspect the new jeep so we hung around there for a while.
Eventually, it was time to go. Everyone decided that the new jeep should be the leader, So, off we went to lead a trip on a trail that I am only slightly familiar with. We were headed for the high cliffs on the south side of the Colorado River between Parker and Lake Havasu City.
We drove north on 95 from Q to just south of Parker where we turned east on Shea Rd.
We followed Shea Road to the Arizona canal. Here we turned north onto a small trail under the power lines. This is where we stopped to air down.
Once we were all set we followed the power line road into the wash and drove in the wash for a couple miles.
It was very rough and we were getting bounced around a lot. I mentioned to Patti that I thought Clifford was a lot smoother riding.
Eventually we got to our first view spot. A place where the power lines drop down the canyon toward the Colorado River.
While we were there I decided to disconnect the sway bar on the front of jeep to see if that would improve the ride.
It was easy to do and made a remarkable difference in the ride. That is a relief.
We continued on our way rolling over the rocks and up and down steep hills.
This is actually an easy trail, just a lot of bumpy rocks.
We wandered around looking for the correct trail to the other view points.
Views from the trail were spectacular.
This view is looking north across the Bill Williams River (the green area in the foreground).
Eventually we came to a perfect spot to have lunch.
The views were awesome.
This is a view of Lake Havasu.
After lunch we headed back down the trail. We stopped at another view spot for one last look.
A visit to the Indian res.
It was an uneventful drive back to Shea Road. We got there around 3:15.
Everyone wanted to stop at the Indian reservation to get a new reservation travel permit. I know that it is necessary to get the permit if we want to travel on the res. but I hate to have to deal with that grumpy old broad that issues the permits. I was hopping that she may have been replaced by now but no, she was still there and just as grumpy as ever. It is real hard for me to hold my tongue when dealing with this bitch but I made it and got the permit. I hope this will be the last time I have to do this.
After getting the permit we went to Maya Mexican restaurant in Parker for an early dinner. The food was good and so was the service.
We stopped at Walmart for a couple of things and were treated to a nice sunset.
Okay, that brings us up to date.
The new jeep works great!
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