Christmas and Rock Collecting.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve.

We didn’t do much of anything on Christmas Eve day.
About the only thing that got accomplished was that I made a batch of fudge brownies. They turned out pretty good.

Christmas Day.

Christmas day we cooked a full on Christmas dinner for the two of us. It is the first full on meal we have cooked in our new place. The kitchen works well and has a lot more counter space to work with.

We had a three pound half turkey breast, mashed potato’s, stuffing, gravy and candied yams. For dessert we had pumpkin pie. It was all good.

Rock Collecting.

Those who know me know that I am not a rock collector. I appreciate interesting rocks but if I pick one it is usually to give to someone else.

We need some rocks on our new place for borders and such so yesterday, Patti and I went out in the desert for the express purpose of getting some rocks.
After getting some gas in the jeep, we headed out Sunkist Road and turned east at the third trail we came across that went in that  direction.

As we slowly drove along the trail I kept an eye out for interesting rocks.
I was being very particular about what rocks I wanted to pick up. They had to be eye catching and fairly large.

Interesting Trails.

As we drove along we noticed some interesting trails going up the side of a mountain.

Of course getting to them would take us on a long zig-zag course until we found a trail going that way.
As we drove along I found a rock or two that I thought were worth picking up.

Blooming Brittle Bush.

We are seeing a lot of Brittle Bush blooming. It is vary early for them to bloom but it is nice to see them.

Here are a bunch of them.

Speaking of strange bloomers, here is what looks like a dead Ocotillo that is blooming.

Hillside Trails.

We eventually got to the trails on the mountainside but they weren’t all that interesting once we got there. Most of them were just places where a bulldozer had pushed some rock around.
I did notice that there was a lot of flat slabs of stone laying around the area. I will have to remember that if I ever need some flat stuff.

Views From a Saddle.

We did find a trail that went over a saddle between two peaks.

Here is the view looking southeast.

Holy Mountain.

We followed the trail that you can see going southeast and passed this mountain with lots of features and holes in it.

The Pipeline Road.

We followed the trail southeast until we came to a pipe line road that enters Quartzsite behind the Arco station. We followed this until we were home.

Unloading the Rocks.

Once we were home I unloaded the rocks from the back of the jeep.

There were about eight rocks in all.

These are what are left  in the jeep by the time Patti got a picture.

A good hall and the first of many.

We had leftover Christmas dinner and finished it off.

Okay that is about it. It was a nice relaxing ride and productive as well.