Happy New Year……

 

Our Location:

Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California 

A quiet few days here in the desert. A bit of a flare in my hip so I’ve been doing very little.  However I do hope to get back to doing something in the next day or two.

Yesterday’s happy hour crowd included Brenda, Ken, John, Keith

Back on our Little Rock in Lake Huron the weather is definitely not winter like, much more dreary, damp, and depressing for a number of days now. The temperatures are mild for this time of the year with mostly above or at the freezing mark. I think they would enjoy some sun.

Deb D, Oreo,and Tom. Kim somehow slipped away.

Nephew Jason has arrived safely in the area of Revelstoke, BC for the next month or so. His new sled looks pretty fancy after he dressed it up. I do believe he’s had a break down already but I’m sure it hasn’t slowed him down much. Jason celebrates a birthday on Jan 2. He is a wonderful young man and I enjoy every chat I have with him. He is always busy, he always has a smile and is a hard working guy. He has opened his own business while still holding down a full time job elsewhere. His lovely bride Leah and two children Hudson and Lainey make him a very lucky man! Happy Birthday Jason!

Sunset, Dec 30.

Goodnight from Ogilby Road.

Riley and I would like to wish everyone a very safe and Happy New Year. May the new year bring us all peace, happiness and good living. Forgive those that need it, love those that want it, and realize we can’t change those that don’t wish it. Thank you all for brightening our world, giving us the gift of friendship and laughter. I hope the new year brings you some of what you wish for!

Until next time….

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

A very quiet day……

 

Our Location:

North of  MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California 

A very pretty sunrise today. Other than a couple of nice happy hours, nothing else registers on the share worthy meter. Although I do want to wish my nephew Jason a very Happy Birthday today as he celebrates # 33. He is currently on vacation for a month in BC, Canada sledding with some friends. Jason and his lovely bride Leah are proud parents of Hudson, an adorable little boy soon to be two. A wonderful family, we see them often when in our summer spot. Thirty three years ago today my late husband Richard, our daughters Courtney and Bradey, myself and my parents were in Myrtle Beach, SC, we received the news of his birth while vacationing there. Happy Birthday Jason!

Sunrise over the Cargo Muchacho Mountains Jan 2, 2023

Toward the Imperial Dunes, you can see the silver streak and the corner of the WL.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the sunrise. 

 

Until next time...

 

Take care, be safe, 

 

Deb

 

I just can't get there from here, new neighbours, birthday wishes....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

 

 

 

A nice night for sleeping and we both slept well, I think the hike up Pilot Knob may have contributed a bit to that wonderful sleep. 

 

 

  The first sunset of 2020, taken January 1st,  here in southeastern California.

 

We decided to go for separate walks this morning, Riley left first while I stayed behind to have something I haven't eaten for a very long time, eggs and toast.  I just had a craving this morning.

 

 

 It was just so yellow in the western sky.

 

 

I started out heading toward the power lines and met up with Riley just as she was heading home from her walk. She continued home and I kept my feet going toward the big black Cargo Muchacho Mountains. 

 

 

A truly amazing sunset on the first night of the new year, don't you think?

These sunset photos are exactly as they came out of the camera, I did nothing to them. 

 

 

I have been meaning to check out a strip of tailings that I can see each time go back toward the power lines and today  I thought I would do that. It was a really good idea and I headed off cross country in the most direct route I could take. Coming upon a very deep wash I realized I had tried this before and like before couldn't find a place to cross the wash. Alas, I had to turn around and head back home. Close but yet so far. Next time I'll take the truck and start from a different point, one that is too far for me to walk to from the Igloo. 

 

 

 Almost looks like ripples in the sky.

The last shot of dazzling colour before it starts to fade...

 

 

 

 And so ends the first sunset of 2020 here in the southeast corner of California.

 

 

I walked a bit over 4 miles in less than two hours but it wasn't easy walking. This particular area is filled with a lot of rough ground, large stones, dips, washes, troughs, large stones or did I mention that already? 

 

 

 

 I wonder if we need a lawn maintenance company to trim the grass?

 I did not know the inside of an Ocotillo root was hollow.

 But as you can see, this one is certainly hollow.

 

 

Back home Riley and I pulled our chairs out and enjoyed some sun while reading. The wind was a bit chilly and continued to get stronger and stronger as the time went on. Before we headed inside however a cute black Jeep made it's way toward us and behind it came a big motor home, The Stinger Bee. Deb & Tom from Celebrating the Dance arrived and set up not far away. We knew they were coming from our visit yesterday and are happy to have them as neighbours. 

 

 

 Do you see that lighter coloured line back there? That's my goal for today.

 I used the zoom lens today and so it looks much closer than it really is. It was over two miles to the wash that I couldn't cross and I still was a distance from being able to reach the lighter stones.

 

 

The strong winds had us bringing in the big slide as the awing was taking a beating in the wind. About an hour later we had once again put the slide back out and the winds died down as the afternoon continued. 

 

 

It is deceptively close with this lens. 

 

 

Interesting how those little nubs are all so straight, isn't it? 

 

 

With the wind at their backs, Deb & Tom blew in for a visit/happy hour and before we knew it the sun was down and sunset was over without a photo being snapped of the visit or the sunset. The time flew by as I knew it would, a few laughs, a few stories and some wonderful conversation. It was a nice afternoon. 

 

 

Again with the lens, it's deceptive. The coastal mountains and the Imperial Dunes in the background you've often seen in my photos but usually the photo is taken from the general area of the Igloo. In this photo the Igloo is between the Dunes and the power lines. When leaving the Igloo and walking to that power line it's about a mile. I am probably a half mile past the power lines and about 1 1/2 miles from the Igloo. 

I am still a long way from the mountains. I would love to find a path that would get me higher up into those mountains but today I won't even make it to the bottom of them. 

 

A birthday wish for my nephew Jason. He turns a big 30 today. Jason & his lovely bride Leah were mentioned last January in my blog when they travelled to British Columbia for a month long sledding holiday. An event they will repeat this year I believe. Happy Birthday Jason. 

 

 

 Standing on the edge of a very deep wash I can see where I want to get to but just can't find a way through the wash. So I had to turn around and head back home. 

 It's hard to get a good photo of the wash as the sides and bottom are covered with growth in most places and very steep everywhere.

I want very much to hike back there and have a look around just because I want to know what's back there. Another day I guess, or maybe next year. My time here is getting short and I haven't too many days remaining to do this hike. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the visit. 

 

 

 Pretty deep and steep.

No way I could climb down or up that stuff. 

 

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

 

 Like a beckoning finger it stills call to me even though I'm almost home. Thanks to the long lens I can almost touch it , almost but not quite.

My last photo of the day. 

 

 

Deb

 

 

 

A nicer day here but still windy....

Our Location:  South Entrance BLM, Joshua Tree National Park

Another very windy day here in the neighbourhood. We will be happy to leave here and get somewhere that we can open up the slides and feel like we are back on land instead of on a ship. Hopefully tomorrow will be that day. We shall see what it holds in store.
 

That white stuff is traces of snow on the mountains over there.

 

The same far blue mountains.

 The sun is shining, bonus!! The sky is blue, bonus!! The temperatures are a wee bit warmer, bonus!! So you see there are many good things here in the neighbourhood as well. The temperature as I start this post shortly after 1 PM California time is 52F/ 11.1 C. I do not know what the wind speed is but I can tell you it is coming from the North, North East again. 

That is looking from the door of the Igloo over top of I-10 to the area known as Box Canyon Road.

 

That is looking the opposite direction toward Joshua Tree National Forest.

 Riley and I both headed out for a walk toward the other side of the roadway which enters into the park. The park is open, folks are going in and out all day long but probably like last year there are no rangers to assist with questions, take money, etc. A friend of mine showed a post on Facebook that private citizens were cleaning the toilets and dumping the garbage in the park. I can neither vouch for nor deny such a thing is happening. I can tell you that I am not doing either of those things. 

 

Various shades of purple.

 

Bright yellows.

 

The many colours of the desert here at Joshua Tree National Park.

 

Our walk past the road walk had us stop for a chat with a fella in an older motor home from Pennsylvania. The gent’s name is Mike and he is a rock hound of sorts. His son is travelling with him, but we never met the son. The son apparently is a carver of stone. Mike came from Montana way where he said hail stones the size of his fist pounded down on the motor home for at least an hour. It broke or spidered most of the windows on the rig, except the windshield. He says all of the lights on the front have been either cracked or broken again due to the hail. Dents on the roof, fenders, and hood seem to be large and numerous. Glad we weren’t in Montana. 

Getting ready to drop seed in the desert.

I don't care how you hang it, it's still garbage and should be removed by the person that left it there.

 

We continued on down the trail for a bit, covering about a half mile in each direction. We noticed in many areas the levee between the park and the BLM land has been breached or is just missing. The big rains they had in October which closed Box Canyon Road, also washed out these levees in numerous places. It appears in one they’ve built something of cement at the opening, back filled with very course gravel and topped with sand all the way back to the road. I wonder if the cement is to be some kind of barrier for the road way to maybe divert the biggest force by splitting it around the cement abutment? One can see they have repaired the road in numerous places.

 

Mesquite bush flowering and with bean pods. 

 

The desert is alive with colour here in Joshua Tree National Park. Yellows, purples, greens, reds, and various shades of browns. The mountain tops across the way which we have not seen with snow have a light dusting that will melt in today’s sun I think. It is truly not a brown, forsaken sand pit, but filled with living colour and various shadows and shades that keep the palette alive and vibrant. If you are like me, something in this magically land draws me, holds me, and keeps me wanting to return again. I can not describe it, I can not tell you why I feel this pull, I can not explain the hold, I can only tell you, it is, it does and it will continue to draw me for many, many years. Will I heed it’s call? I don’t know but I know I will feel it’s pull, it’s soft whisper, it’s beckoning finger, of this I have no doubt. 

This Palo Verde tree managed to withstand the water that broke the levee right beside it.

To steal a line: The view out our window today.

 

 A birthday wish for my nephew Jason, he turns a whopping 29 today. On this day 29 years ago I was in Myrtle Beach, SC with hubby Richard, daughters Courtney (20 days before her 2 nd birthday), daughter Bradey, (5 months old), and my Dad and Mom. Happy Birthday Jason. I hope you and Leah are enjoying your holiday in BC, Canada. 

 

Behind the levee is a new road that was used to fix the BLM road. The desert is now cracking and drying out.

 

The first picture is the course gravel used to fix the road, you can see the depth of the wash by the cut of the sand bank.  The breach in the levee is pretty plain isn't it? That is the Park behind the levee.

 

As I finish writing this post at 5:20 PM California time, the temperature is at 45F/7.2C. The wind has suddenly stopped dead, not a breath, but who knows for how long that will last. The place is filling up with about 15 rigs coming in between 3-4, then about 10 more dribbled in from 4- 4:30 pm. They seemed to have dried up now. 

 

Another of the many breaks in the levee. The gravel used to fix it and of course the cut in the bank behind the gravel is the path in which the water took as it washed the road out.

The cement piece they placed in front of this hole. I wonder what it is for?

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

 

Very colourful, it would be hard to lose in a parking lot.

 

Until next time…. take care, be safe,

 

Deb