Well, it only took me three days to do it but I finally got book two of The Virgin Prince series “The Boars Tooth” published to the blog. If you want to read it just click on the “Boars Tooth” link at the right side of this page.
This evening Patti and I are going with Becky and Dennis to the Riverside County Fair in Blythe CA. Entry to the stock car races is included in the fair admission so we will be staying for the races.
I’ll let you know how that works out tomorrow.
Patti and I wanted to go on the Wednesday ride but I didn’t get the word on the meeting place (my fault). We drove to (white Jeep) Dennis’s but they were not there so we went to the fire station. No luck there either so we went to the Arco station on the east end of town. No one there either. We decided to take a ride by ourselves. We drove out the road heading east past the Arco station to where Gold nugget Road crosses I-10. We turned north and followed several trails that ,of course ended up in cul-de-sacs. On one of the trails we came to a two inch galvanized pipe coming out of the hills. We parked near the end of the pipe
and I followed it up an interesting canyon. After about a hundred feet the pipe changed from Galvanize to black plastic. I continued to follow the pipe until it went straight up and through a notch in the cliff above me.
It was too steep for me to follow so I tried to circle around but got into a canyon that I couldn’t climb
so I gave up and followed a trail into the canyon
looking at the rock formations
and enjoying the views.
I came to some sinks (depressions in the bedrock) that had water in them. The water was green and scummy
but I suppose that animals would use them for drinking. I turned down hill and followed the wash back to the jeep.
From there we continued our exploration, driving up and down a couple more trails, all dead ends. On one of the roads we found an old ruin of some sort.
Inside the walls the ruin was filed with Cholla balls.
We often find Cholla balls in shallow caves and depressions. I don’t know if they are blown in by the wind or brought in by animals to guard their nests. Either way we don’t go into places where the Cholla balls are because they collect on your shoes and some times will even penetrate the shoes and stick in your feet. Bad stuff and an effective barrier.
We stopped for lunch in the shade of a Palo Verde tree.
After lunch we headed for home.
Things have been rather slow of late. Many of our friends have gone north. Suzanne and Roy left a few weeks ago. Junior, Missy, Shirley and Bill left yesterday. Becky, Dennis, Jo Ann and Dave are still here but Jo Ann and Dave will be leaving on Thursday. Becky and Dennis will leave when the weather up north warms sufficiently for their vineyard to need their attention. This time of year, the end of the season, when our friends depart is very sad.
On a lighter note, the Red Spotted Toads are returning to the pond
and have been serenading us for the last few evenings. We have only seen one but I am sure that more will answer its call soon.
On Friday Patti felt the urge to visit the Blue Water Casino so she took the jeep and drove to Parker to try her luck. She returned in the late afternoon with considerable winnings. Last evening she treated me to a Prime Rib supper at the Mountain Quail. Jo Ann, Dave, Debbie and Mike joined us.
On Tuesday we had a small pot luck at Becky and Dennis’s as a send off for everyone who is leaving in the next couple of weeks. We had some good food and lots of laughs.
On Wednesday we went on a ride with the Wednesday Jeepers. Junior was leading. We drove to the town of Salome where we turned north on Indian Springs Road. We followed Indian Springs Road to where it turns west. We continued north on a smaller trail toward the Sheba Mine.
This mine is the only one that we know of in the area that has Stalactites. We found it accidently earlier this winter but the Wednesday Jeepers had never seen it. Eventually we got to the mine
and some of us went into it to get some pictures.
From the Sheba Mine we went over Cottonwood Pass. Cottonwood Pass is interesting in that it is very narrow, rocky
and the sides are built up with rock.
On the other side of Cottonwood Pass we stopped for lunch.
After lunch we drove through the desert and went over Tank Pass on a narrow rocky trail. There is one rough spot near the top of the pass.
After we got over Tank Pass we headed back to Salome. From there I lead the group to the King Tut Mine. We took Harquahala Road heading southwest. In a couple of miles we turned east into a mining area where after wandering around for a while, we climbed the rough trail to the King Tut mine.
None of the others had been there before so several of us entered the mine to take pictures of the many bats within.
After leaving the King Tut Mine we stopped at the Kofa Cafe on Vicksburg Road for the all you can eat spaghetti special. All I could eat was one plate full. When we left Dennis (with the white jeep) was starting his forth plate of spaghetti.
Even though we had been over this route before it was still a good ride.
Bob and I kayaked the Bill Williams River yesterday.
We started at the Kayak launch at the Wildlife Headquarters north of Parker and just south of the 95 bridge.
It is a long paddle from the launch to the mouth of the river.
The mouth is wide with islands splitting it up. We stayed to the right here and paddled up the river and under the bridge.
Along the way we saw a couple of muskrats but they were too fast to get pictures of. I did get a shot of an Egret.
A little ways further along we took the left fork. It was narrower than the main channel.
and got narrower
and narrower
and narrower
until we got to a spot that was choked with branches where we decided to turn around.
We found a spot along the shore where we stopped for lunch. It took two tries for me to get out of the boat.
but I managed it without upsetting the boat and we broke for lunch.
After lunch we returned to the main channel and continued up stream for another mile or so before we decided to head back.
We saw more birds. I got a picture of a King Fisher
and some Coots.
and another Egret.
When we got back to the main body of the lake it was very windy
but with a little hard paddling we made it.
Bob left for home this morning around 9:00. I think he missed the River.Thanks Bob, for all the pictures you took on our adventures.
Dave went to Yuma yesterday to get Detroit lockers installed in the rear of his jeep.
Today (Saturday) we went to Dripping Springs to try them out. We stopped to play at one of the waterfalls in the wash. Junior was the first to take on the steep part of the step and scared himself going down the easy part.
But he made a successful run going up the hard part.
Then he tried to climb the rock but couldn’t get all the way up.
Next it was Dave’s turn.
but unfortunately his bumpers are too long and his tires too small so he didn’t make it ether dew to clearance issues.
The next one to try climbing the waterfall was Dennis in his Rhino.
He probably would have made it but ran into clearance problems also.
I know my jeeps limitations so I didn’t try any of those obstacles.
From there we went to Dripping Springs for lunch. We all sat around in the ruin to get out of the wind.
After lunch we went over the Hog Back the back way and down the tough trail from the top.
We stopped at the hill we had to be towed over last time. This time was easier since we were going down.
Dave made an attempt to go back up it but without success.
The next hill was a bit challenging, Junior had to make two attempts
but the rest of us made it over with no problem.
We made it home by around 4:00. The storm that we were expecting arrived around 6:00. It is raining now and is supposed to rain all day tomorrow so I guess I’ll finish reading the last book in The Hunger Games. Thanks Gaby.
