Easy moving day...

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, AZ

 

We awoke this morning to dead calm, no wind of any kind. The sky was filled with fog/haze and the sun was hard to see for a while. We pulled out of our spot and headed for AZ at 7:45 AM.

 

 

 

 Very hazy over the KOFA Mountains this morning.

 

We met Doug & Yuma of Miss Adventure Travels at the rest area on I 10 East between Quartzsite and Tonopah. From there they followed us to our current location. It's one we've stayed in before and have enjoyed. 

 

 

 This guy was floating slowly over the Saddle Mountain area this morning as we were setting up on our home dirt as George would say. 

 

The wind has been steadily increasing all day and as I write this post we have the big slide pulled in and are going to keep it in as the winds are supposed to continue overnight and into tomorrow. 

 

 What a difference colour makes.

  

I have a few plans for tomorrow but I'll fill you in on those tomorrow or at least whenever my next post will be. Before settling in here we travelled to Saddle Mountain Vista Ranch where we dumped and took on some water, also emptied some garbage. It is about 5 or 6 miles from our location and convenient. 

 

 

This guy is still standing and I thought he was finished last year when we were here. 

 

 

A bit of a gathering this afternoon at the Igloo, as it blocked some of the wind but after an hour or so Doug & Yuma went home and Riley & I came inside. The temps are frosty here, only 56F/13.3 C but with the wind it doesn't feel very warm.  Not getting any warmer either, brrr.

 The mountains out behind and to the right of the Igloo. Can you see the face?

Can you see it now?

 

I called dad to tell him we  made it, but instead told his answering machine. He'll be happy now, we have full bars on the phone. 

 

 

 Miss Adventure, Doug, Yuma and the little Silver Jeep, just across the courtyard from us.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all had a wonderful day. 

 

Until next time.. take care, be safe, 

 

Deb

Visitors, liking this spot....

Our Location: AZ 95 BLM, near Quartzsite, AZ

 

 

A nice quiet night last night, the road traffic died down quickly as the sun sank in the sky. Although I didn't take any photos of sunrise, it was a nice view. Cooler mornings here in the Quartzsite area than in Truckhaven. However the day time temps heat up nicely and before long we're taking layers off.  This afternoon's high was in the mid 70's/23ish in Celsius degrees.

 

 

If  you look really closely you can see our neighbour that pulled in just after we did. He's in the trees there. 

 From this distance Kofa Mountains look a bit more interesting but I'm still not feeling any pull to visit. 

 Now that section looks a tad more intriguing to me.

 

 

A walk this morning had me enjoying the flat areas of the desert, and the Saguaros of course. Some very interesting plant life in the desert. I'll share those photos tomorrow.

 

 The sun is starting to set now on the Kofa Mountains. 

Can you see our neighbour now? This is a zoom lens so he isn't nearly as close as he looks. 

 The pink over the mountains is reflecting on it. 

 

We were expecting company this afternoon and sure enough a nice little dusty black Jeep pulled in, weaving and dodging until they arrived right in our little yard. Friends Deb & Tom (Celebrating the Dance) were smiling as they stepped out of the jeep. Hugs and how are ya's of course followed. We moved around so some were in the shade and some not. The afternoon was gone before we realized it and all too soon we were hugging and saying our see ya's, and I didn't take a single photo. It was hard to believe the entire afternoon was gone so quickly. We had a great visit and enjoy spending time with this wonderful couple. We feel fortunate to have met them last year and hope to spend more time with them in the future. Truly an awesome couple. Some laughs, some chatter and just easy visiting. Who knows maybe we'll see them again before all of us leave this area. 

 

 

 

 Last nights sunset, Jan 25 here just a little south Quartzsite, AZ. 

 Other than add  my logo, I have not enhanced these photos. All of the sunset photos are as they came from the camera. 

A call to dad to see how things are going and inquire about Jason & Leah and their where abouts. They are currently in Great Falls, Montana and will head north to Lake Louise, Alberta. Leah wants to skate on the lake, as she did swim in it a few years ago on their honeymoon.  Then it's a short jaunt to their final destination in BC. They have travelled approximately 1600 MILES/2600 KILOMETERS in two days. They left yesterday at very dark thirty in the morning. 

 

 

 The light is reflecting off of the Igloo and the Dogsled. You can just see them there in the darkness.

 

 

 

Today's photos were taken yesterday and the sunset photos are LAST NIGHT (January 25), our first night here in this new location. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your day. Feel free to leave a comment, I try to answer them all. 

 

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

 Our neighbour and Kofa Mountain.

An amazing desert sunset! 

 

Deb

 

We've moved....

Our Location: Mile Marker 91, AZ 95, Arizona

 

As you can see we've moved. Not far, but far enough to not be bothered by loud voices, constant dogs barking and music. The party carried on until midnight with music, singing, loud talking and dogs barking. 

 

 

 The view out the dining room window.

 

 

We were up and out the door by 9 AM this morning, a quick trip for a few things we needed, propane, water and diesel and a look around at some where else to park. We checked out a few places including Le Paz Valley and would have ended up there except this location we've been told is also BLM and is not marked no camping.  Closer to Q there are many 'no camping' signs.

 

 

A large propane tank, totally empty, filled at Pit Stop for $17 USD, I think we in Ontario are getting so ripped off. To get a tank this full I have to exchange it, and the price runs anywhere from $35 - $45 plus tax. I'm sure you can do the math well enough to know it's dirt cheap here. The Dogsled had a big drink this morning with about 20 gallons being slurped up at $3.17 per gallon. I can't complain. He's not completely full but he's close to the full mark. 

 

 

 Looking out and to the left a bit.

 

 

Back at Palm Canyon Road we closed up the Igloo, hooked up and headed out the road. We stopped numerous times to let others go by, around or past us. We have both agreed it's not the type of place we want to park again, nor the type of road we want to travel again. Sorry to all you folks that enjoy it there but it's just not for us. Dad the road into Palm Canyon is worse than the road you take to Whiskey Lake.

 

 

We pulled out and headed north a few miles to between Mile Markers 90-91. We pulled off and headed as far back as this little 'parking lot' allows us to go. We are closer to the road than our normal liking but we are finding it just fine here. We watched carefully on our way back home from Q for 'no camping signs' and found none in this stretch. The host at Le Paz Valley told us this entire side is BLM and there is no parking where the signs say 'no overnight parking' but he said he didn't know about the rest. So we shall see how it works out.

 

 

 We didn't go all the way to the end due to some evidence of horses being in the area for a while. Horse Apples if you know what I mean.

 

 

We were pulled in and set up by noon. Interestingly enough before long we witnessed a neighbour coming in. He isn't anywhere near us and we have no complaints. I just wonder if he would have parked here if we hadn't already been here. I think we have a herd mentality and will follow the leader in doing these types of things. How many times have you parked 'far' from everyone only to have someone pull right next to you almost immediately? Happens to us a lot. 

 

So the photos today are out the windows and the door of the Igloo. Nothing amazing but still pretty nice. 

 

 

We can still see the Kofa Mountains out the door. 

 

 

Thanks for stopping in, I hope you had a wonderful day!! 

 

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

 

Deb

 

 

 

Tent, Kofa photos....

Our Location: Palm Canyon BLM, KOFA NWR, Arizona

 

 

A bit of a breeze this  morning as we started getting around with some plans to do at least one errand today, although there are a few we would like to accomplish. We rested yesterday, both of us being very tired for some reason and I have no idea why. 

 

 

Driving through Box Canyon Road after leaving Truckhaven BLM, heading toward I-10 near Joshua Tree N. Park. 

 Some pretty amazing views.

 We didn't take too many photos though.

Today we wanted to check out the big tent, which we managed to do after finding a place to park the Dogsled. We parked at the end of La Posa West close to the big tent and walked. Lots of folks still around and the vendors are starting to get that glassy eyed look now. A quick tour through the big tent showed us there is nothing in there that is of any interest to us. We stopped at only one booth inside the tent, which was showing the ease of use of a wind screen, easy set up, easy take down, complete with carry bag, weight bags and spikes. We didn't buy one, we didn't price one, but we looked. Other than that we didn't find anything new and exciting for us.

 

 We passed over the Colorado River as we moved from California to Arizona.

 

 

This is the view out the dining room window. I believe that is Kofa Mountain. The day was cloudy and dull. 

 Also out our dining room window. As are most of the photos you will see.   

Our friends were not at the Passport American booth and although we didn't expect to see them, we thought we would know a few folks there, however it was folks we didn't manning it this year. 

 

 

 A splash of sunshine up there on the side of the mountain.

 

 

 

 

There is a fog or haze that comes stealing along just before dark and can be seen in the mornings as well. At times the mountains are not clear and for the most part, while I find them interesting, they don't call to me. I wonder why that is? 

 

 

Our reason for going to tent is very simple, I want a bigger generator and one that is light weight, easy to start, quiet and does what we want it to, which isn't much. I was disappointed that only a couple of vendors were there with generators for sale. Last year there were at least 5 lining one aisle. I found one that I like but when I checked the prices on line I can find it for a better there. So we shall see what happens when I go back on Sunday.  I don't want them to give it away but I also don't want to be taken advantage of either. 

 

We headed to a few vendors across the roadway, finding some nice plush blankets for spring and fall bed toppers. Riley also managed to find some Kettle Corn (which she loves) and other than that we headed back to the Dogsled and on back home. Enough crowds, enough smells and enough tight spaces for both of us. 

 The blast of sunshine in the foreground made the  mountain almost impossible to see in the shadows, clouds and darkness back there.

 This photo was taken out the door, facing southward.

And then the sun broke through the cloud cover to light up the mountain.

We checked out a few other places to park that are of greater interest to us but we'll have to leave them for another year I think. Truthfully, the views are nice here, stunning at times and I'm sure the hikes would be great but the 'getting to and from' are not fun and therefore we have no desire to do a lot of things here that require using the Dogsled. Which of course pretty much everything will require except for a few desert hikes to check out the saguaros which I will be doing one of these days. No complaints, just making note for myself for future reference. 

 

 

   

Yep, a very nice view indeed. The truck and trailer have now left and so we have no one in our view between us and the mountains. 

 

 

Tomorrow we have errands to do as well but will head down Yuma way to do them. I checked it out and the errands we want to do will have to be done either in Parker or Yuma and the difference is 10 miles. With Yuma being the winner since then we won't have to travel through Q with it's stop and go and bumper to bumper roads.  Crazy drivers and Razors scooting in and out of places. The road to Yuma is one we've never travelled before as we always leave from the area of Indian Wells/Salton City which means we don't take AZ 95. 

 Stunning but it doesn't call call to me, it doesn't seem to hold much interest for me and I have no idea why not.

A bit of the sunset over there in the sky.

 

Today's photos were taken the day we travelled from California to Arizona. We arrived here on Tuesday, Jan 21.  The night photos of the mountain are stunning for sure. 

 

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

 

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

 

Deb