03-30-11

Early in the morning before we left to for Laughlin, Nevada with Kathi and Bob, I was sitting on our patio and got some pictures of a Dove

and a Mountain Quail drinking at our pond.

Patti and I got a room on the 12th floor of the Aquarius Hotel and Casino. The view was better than the last time we stayed in Laughlin. We could see the river,

the tennis courts and the swimming pool.

Kathi and Bob stayed at the Riverside RV Park.

Patti and Kathi had a good time gambling. I don’t know how Kathi did at the machines but Patti lost a little over $100 in the two days.

Monday morning we went to the tee-shirt town of Oatman, AZ.

 

We got there early so the town was kind of dead.

We wandered around for a while, looking in the shops.

Patti was disappointed that there were no Burros in town. Around 11:45 we left Oatman. Just south of town we came upon a group of Burros running up the road.

I guess they were late for their job as town mascots.

While we were in Laughlin we had some really good meals. We ate breakfast at the Black Bear Cafe in Bullhead City, had lunch at the Cafe Aquarius at the Aquarius Hotel, had great Mexican food at Casa Surrano at the Riverside. We had a wonderful supper at the Outback Steak House in the Aquarius and a good breakfast at the River View Restaurant at the Riverside Casino.

We got home around 4:00 on Tuesday. Shortly after we arrived Patti was sitting on our patio and got some pictures of our local Road Runner.

Just now, Patti came in with the Camera and showed me a picture of the Road Runner with a small lizard in its beak.

03-26-11

The other day a lot became available along the East wash where an old lady with a trailer had moved out.

Patti mentioned that she thought it would be nice if we could get the spot. I agreed with her so we went to the office to see if it was taken. Judy the manager told us that there was someone that had been interested in it but they decided to pass on the spot so if we wanted it we could have it. We said that we wanted it so she put us down as the owners. The spot is very nice with a rocked patio in the back

and a view of Tyson wash and of course I-10. The old spot was nice in that it had two citrus trees on it but it was not conducive to sitting outside because there was no view and I felt like we were sitting in a fish bowl. The new lot also has a storage shed on it but we had to buy it. It cost us $400 which is a good deal as the shed’s cost $1000+ new. We intend to put a washing machine in the shed but there will still be plenty of room for storage. We moved onto the lot today.

Patti has been happily pulling weeds around the cactus.

There is a small pond on the lower level of the backyard that I plan to turn into a water feature next year. We filled it with water and already have had a dove and mountain quail come to it to drink.

We are right next to Jo Ann and Dave so we have good neighbors and I think we will be happy with our new spot.

Yesterday we took a ride with Jo Ann, Dave, Becky, Dennis, Suzanne, Roy, Kathi and Bob. We went to Scull Rock for lunch.

As always it was a great ride and the scenery is spectacular

with stunning rock formations,

Jo Ann and Dave bought a Jeep on Thursday. It is a 2005 Wrangler and appears to be in real good shape.

This was their first trip in it and they were very happy with how it performed.

Tonight we had a ice cream social to celebrate our first day in our new space and to give Kathi and Bobby a good send off. 

Tomorrow morning, Kathi and Bob are leaving for home so we are going up to Laughlin, Nevada with them. We will come back to “Q” on Tuesday.

03-23-11

Yesterday we took a ride out west of town to see if we could find the Cinnabar Mine again. Unfortunately we missed the road but now we know where it is so next time we will go right to it (I hope).

The party consisted of: Jo Ann, Dave, Missy, Junior, Becky, Dennis, Kathi, Bob, Patti and I.

Dennis and Dave loaded Dave’s two quads and the rhino on Dennis’ big trailer.

We got under way at 9:00 and drove west on I-10 to Tom Wells Road where we crossed to the south side of the freeway, found a wide spot and unloaded the ATV’s.

We headed south on Tom Wells Road and took a couple of wrong turns where we had to back track. After a few other wrong turns we decided to just take a ride not trying to actually find the mine. Eventually we got on a fun trail

that wound through the Yuma Proving grounds and eventually came out on The old Yuma Road which is a wide graded road that took us back to Quartzsite.

Along the way we saw many fresh wild flower and cactus blooms.

Hedgehogs

Ocotillo

Brittle bush

Beavertail

Greasewood, or Creosote bush.

Of course we stopped in a wash for lunch.

Patti took a few macro pictures of very small flowers.

 

Later she got one of her famous lizard shots.

We knew we had circumnavigated the mountains when we saw the Kofa range to the east from Weaver Pass.

We had a good ride and everyone was suitably tired when we got home.

Kathi, Bob, Patti and I went to the new restaurant in town for supper. The food was ok but the service left something to be desired. It took us an hour and a half to get our food. Perhaps it is just due to the fact that the place just opened a week ago but if they don’t fix the problem they won’t be open very long.

03-21-11

The storm that crashed into Southern California and caused a lot of damage In LA and Santa Barbra, reached us this morning about 4:00. It started with some wind and light rain. Now the rain has increased and is forecast to last until this evening. It is 9:15 am and the sky has already cleared up.

We were going to go for a ride today but we postponed it until tomorrow. The rain is a good thing down here as it will settle the dust and bring out the cactus blossoms.

We finally had the  Nopalito’s (or Nopalies) feed on Friday.  We fed 22 people. Almost every one brought something to share so we had plenty of food and desserts.

I made up two double batches of Nopolito’s and Becky made a double batch. Every one loved the Nopolito’s even those who were a little apprehensive about eating Cactus. For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about. Here is an explanation and receipt for Nopalitos.

I am not sure if the name of the finished product is Nopalies or Nopalito’s The jar says Nopalitos but the first time I was introduced to them by Wayne (Patti’s brother-in-law) he called them Nopalies.
We have found two varieties of Nopalitos. The mild one is just beaver tail cactus slices preserved in water, salt and vinegar. The spicy one has cactus, cilantro, onions and one or two Cerano chili’s, salt, water, and vinegar. With this variety, after pouring the Nopalitos into the colander I take the chili out.  If you like it real spicy just leave in the chili.

For a single batch that will feed two or three adults use:

2 pork steaks
2 cloves of garlic chopped.
½ onion
2 TBS salsa
½ can Mexican style stewed tomatoes. I use a full can because I don’t know what to do with what is left.
Pour a jar of Nopalitos into colander and rinse well.
Cut the bone out of the pork steak and save large bones.
Cut steak into small pieces.
In a large deep pan or Dutch oven, add oil, steak and large bones, fry until brown.
Add onions and cook until clear.
Add garlic and cook for a few minutes.
Add Nopalitos, Salsa (I use a mild salsa), and tomatoes.
Salt to taste (I found that there is enough salt in the Nopalitos and tomatoes).
Stir it all together and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve with Mexican style rice and Tortillas.

Saturday, Bob and I went to to the Bouse shooting range to check out the muzzleloader club. There were only two guys there and they weren’t shooting, they were having a work day. I talked to one of the guys to find out about their rendezvous. It sounded like their rendezvous isn’t a strict Primitive affaire it is more like a paper target shoot. I will probably bring one of my guns down next year and attend the shoot.

On the way back home I took Bob through the north end of the south Plomosa Mountains. We took the trail that goes by the Climax Mine and then drove back to “Q” via Sunkiss Road. Along the way we saw the first of this year’s cactus blossoms, a beaver tail in full bloom. Unfortunately neither one of us had a camera.

Yesterday (Sunday) Kathi, Bob, Patti and I went to Yuma. We went to the Arizona Market Place, a large open air market with a lot of venders. We only spent $6.00. $2.00 to get in, I bought a belt for $3.00 and Patti bought two chopping pads for a buck.

From there we went to lunch then went to Harbor Freight Tools so I could buy a cargo net for the jeep and a tow strap.

After that we went to Welton to visit Dianne and Wayne. It was their 36th Anniversary so we took them a card, some flowers and a cake. We left there at 4:00 and were home by 5:45. 

03-18-11

Yesterday Patti and Kathi took the casino bus to the Fort Mc Dowell Casino near Phoenix.

Bob, Suzanne, Roy, Missy, Junior and I took a ride to the north end of the north  Plomosa Mountains. We left the park at 12:00 and drove almost to the town of Bouse where we turned on to a trail heading west. We drove around in the hills until 3:30. It was an area that we hadn’t been to before.

The terrain was very volcanic in appearance and there were several abandoned mines to check out and deep shafts to look into.

We found a deep deep shaft that I think was the deepest one yet.

We dropped some very large rocks in to the hole and they took a long time to hit the bottom. When they finally did hit bottom, we could hardly hear the impact. On the way back to the highway we stopped so I could show Bob a large natural cave that I had explored last year.

We got home around 4:30

Patti got home at 7:00. She  didn’t win at the casino so I took her out to dinner. We went to the Grubstake. They were serving only Corned Beef or Irish stew as it was St Patrick’s Day. Bob and Kathy had the corned beef. Patti and I had the stew.

Patti and I are going to Blythe this morning to get our Taxes done.

This afternoon I am cooking two double batches of Nopalito’s for 22 people. Becky is cooking another double batch to help out.