Jeep ride, kitty returns, moving day....

Our Location: Salton City, CA

 

 

 

Again I didn't post yesterday so this will be a double post. 

 

I've been meaning to post this update for a few days now but have forgotten. Kay stopped by and told us that Rascal the wayward kitty has returned home. She heard him at the door in the middle of the night about 5 or 6 nights ago. He didn't look any the worse for wear. He was gone for a long time, I guess cats really do know how to find their way back home.

 

 

 

  Water at the bottom of the open pit mine on American Girl Mine Road. 

 

Love the colours in those layers over there. 

  Doug & Yuma coming up the trail, Tom and I had walked ahead.

 

 

Yesterday morning I spent some time on the computer doing my post, paying bills, and doing a few things on line. Without boring you with details, I waited all morning for a call back from Ontario and of course, since it's the a government agency, the call didn't come until later in the afternoon when I was just about out of cell service range. However, after 5 minutes and a bit of explaining the issue was resolved and things are all good again. 

 

 

Our last sunset on Ogilby Road this winter. Wednesday Jan 8.

 It slips away very quickly......

 

 

The call came when I was in Doug's Jeep with him, Tom and Yuma. We were heading back to the mines that Jerry and I had visited a few days ago. Doug wanted to know where they were and I thought if were lucky I could find them.  We headed back into the Cargo Muchacho Mountains with Doug having more confidence in me finding the mines than I had. I knew I could find the general area but I got lucky and found the mines.

One second it's there and the next....

 It's gone....leaving only fire in the sky.

 

 

We bumped, jumped, walked, bounced, jolted and drove over, thru, around, up, and down the washes and roads but I was eventually able to find them. We all snapped some photos, repeatedly thanked Jerry (even though he wasn't there) and managed some laughs as well. 

 Yuma found Riley's foot very comfortable for sitting.

Tom built us a wonderful fire. 

 

 

Back home around 5 pm Arizona Time, I had a quick bite to eat before heading over to Deb & Tom's  for a fire. Doug & Yuma of course also graced the fire circle. I have to tell you the time just slipped away and before we knew it the time was pushing 8 pm. Where does the time go when one is having a good time? Thanks folks for a wonderful few days. We've had a great time in your company.

 Baby palm trees on our travels today.

 These ones aren't babies.

 

We said our goodbyes to Doug last night before he left the fire circle and I think we'll be seeing him in the near future as we travel around the area. 

A bit dusty in one place along the road today. 

 

 

Either dust or haze, not sure which but there are mountains back there.

 

 

This morning around 8:30 AM Riley and I were all hooked up and just about ready to head over to say our goodbyes when when Deb & Tom stopped by to do just that. Hugs and the usual words of goodbye  were passed back and forth.  You know how it goes right? 

 We are heading close to those mountains. It will be our destination for today.

We are getting closer and closer. Don't you love the shadows?

 

 

Riley and I pulled out of our spot by 9 AM Arizona Time, went east first to the Chevron Station to dump and met Mr. Grumpy Pants, filled a couple of water jugs and then proceeded to the rest area on I-8 to rid ourselves of our garbage before continuing along on our way. Now we switched our time to California time, or Pacific Time, so we are 3 hours behind Ontario. 

 This is the view out our dining room window. I will take a closer shot tomorrow or the next day when the sun light is better and you can see the beauty we see each time we peer out the window.

When I turn slightly to the east I can see the Salton Sea out there and the mountain range behind it. 

 

 

An uneventful trip, the kind we all like and hope for, had us reaching our final destination of BLM land located at Salton Sea. We had to search a bit to find the entrance but after a walk I found it and before long we were snailing our way to a spot we liked. I'm not sure how long we will stay as it's windy here at the east ends of the badlands. Yes I know it's windy everywhere in the desert. However we'll be here a couple of days for sure. 

 

 Sunset tonight here at Salton City. Due to flying dust I took some of the photos tonight through a screen.

It's just amazing how much energy and beauty are in the sky. 

 

 

I called my dad after we got the feet down and the slides out.  It was 1 PM Pacific time when I called, we were thinking about lunch and he was thinking about supper since it was 4 pm in Ontario.  We spent the rest of the day just resting, both of us feeling a bit tired for some reason. 

 I am always shocked by the beauty and awed by the colours.

The wind let up for about 10 minutes and I was able to snap a couple of photos outside. 

 

 

The wind picked up shortly after 2:30 pm and we pulled in the big slide. We expect it to be windy here but maybe not quite this windy. However we'll see how it goes. We have plans tomorrow but if the wind continues we may head out sooner than we thought. We shall have to see how things go.

 

 

 Isn't it amazing?

That's us down there and the Salton Sea way off in the distance. It's very windy up here on this hill overlooking the Igloo and cold enough to make me hurry back home to the warmth inside the Igloo. 

 

 

A Happy Birthday to my oldest niece Amber today as she celebrates another year. Amber is my sister's oldest daughter and the mother of 3. Happy Birthday Amber. 

 

I wonder if I can find a way to walk down in that wash and see where it goes.

 

 I'm sure it connects to that one and I'm guessing I could probably find a way into that for some hiking.

 

 

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

 

Can you see the moon in the clouds? 

The wind has died down suddenly, just like it came.  Goodnight from Salton City, CA.

 

 

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

Deb

Dreary day....

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

 

A very dull, overcast, grey day with some rain. Cold enough that we ran the heater off and on throughout the day. Our neighbour Kay dropped by for about 30 minutes just before the rain came. Rascal still hasn't come back and someone heard the coyotes a few nights ago. So I doubt that he will be back. A chat with SIL Janet today as well, we are making tentative plans for lunch in a few weeks. A very wonderful sunset even in this very cloudy sky. 

I enhanced this photo, it was so grey before I did. You can see the cloud cover and the grey skies. It was like this all day to the north and to the east.

 

 

The beginning of sunset. 

The show started getting better. 

 

 

 

 

It faded to black quickly after this photo. 

We hope you had a wonderful day, thanks for stopping by. 

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

Deb

 

We had visitors....

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

 

I had good intentions last night of writing this blog and as you can tell, my good intentions, well they stayed as intentions. 

 

This a photo that was on my phone, I had forgotten about it. While at Home Depot the other day I noticed this cactus. I have no idea what kind it is, I didn't look for a tag but it was the most interesting cactus I've ever seen. 

 

I'm sure it's looks are deceiving and I didn't touch it to find out. I've never seen this kind of cactus in the outdoors so I'm sure it's a hybrid of some sort but it's definitely interesting, don't you think? 

 

The last couple of days have been very nice with a surprise tossed in. We enjoy a surprise or two, keeps life exciting. 

 

 

 Friday night sunset. A ball of fire falling from the sky.

Our fading sunset is becoming another's sunrise. Causing their morning sky to lighten, while our skies darken. 

 

Walking has taken up some time for us, putzing around, reading, house keeping, you know all those things that we do that wiles away the day for all us. Yesterday morning I headed back toward those hills but didn't quite reach them. I almost did but when I realized where I was I stopped and headed back home. 

 

 A last blast of colour as it slips lower and lower beyond our horizon.

 Fading, fading, fading...

I was more interested in walking than taking pictures and so I left the big camera at home.  After I reached the power lines way back there I decided to walk one of the bigger washes. It was a bit rugged in places but not bad over all. Washes do not run in a straight line and this one curved ever so gently to the northeast bringing me very close to a feeder trail off of the left hand road on American Girl Mine Road (you recall Riley and I took that left hand road a few days ago). Last year I walked this same feeder trail to reach the western edge of the tailing pile, while the road Riley and I took the other day brought us in on the eastern edge. So at this realization I turned around and headed off back home. I have no doubt the wash I was walking would lead me back to the huge tailing pile that I posted photos of just a few days ago.  A little over 4 miles round trip took me about an hour and a half. 

 

 Very course sand back here, rocks, stones and gravel. The left side of the wash is deeper than the right. Therefore that side takes most of the water's force on it's trek through this wash.

This is the point where the bigger wash divides, those two trees are actually in the very middle of the wash. Water would flood this whole photo and some would escape on the left through a wash as deep as the one on the right. The right one is more visible because of the off road vehicle tracks. 

 

Back home I wasn't interested in lunch but as I finished a little snack I noticed a nice silver Jeep making it's way in our direction. It slowed down, it slowed down and soon it turned in. Heading outside I found Elva and Jerry Shannon climbing out of the nice silver Jeep. It was a wonderful surprise. Had I read my email I wouldn't have been surprised as Elva told me she had sent me a message but as I was not diligent in reading email, you can see why I was surprised.

 

 

 All of the photos of the wash were taken with my phone. It's pretty wide here and there is only course sand, small stones and gravel here.

 The banks are quite high, and hard to climb out of. You can see the bottom is getting more course with bigger gravel, rocks and even debris.

 

We chatted for a while, getting to know each other a bit more. Some laughs and a few stories. You know how that goes right? As we're chattering our neighbour Kay from up the wash came by looking for her cat Rascal. He's been missing for three or four days. It seems he bolted out the door before she could catch him and hasn't been seen since. We all chatted for a bit until Kay headed home and before long Elva & Jerry were also climbing in their Jeep to head out. It was a wonderful visit and we will be seeing them again before we leave the area. Thanks for stopping by Elva & Jerry, we enjoyed the visit.

 

The closer to the hills the rougher the bottom of the wash becomes. The stones are bigger, less sand, less gravel. 

You can see the force of the water, it has washed away everything except those buried deep. You can also see the fine sand deposit in the middle of the photo. I believe that has been beaten off the bigger stones and rocks as they bounce over these more deeply embedded ones.  

 

Our day wound down with a good book and a few little chores. Nothing says good living like putzing around enjoying the day. Over the past few days I've spoken with Dad, daughter Courtney, and friend Linda. All of them are in Ontario, Linda being the farthest north by a little. Snow, cold, more cold and more cold. Seems to be the order of the day. All are doing well, and wishing for the cold days of winter to be over. I can't say that I blame them. 

 

 

It's getting more difficult to walk here, less sand or small gravel. 

 

It is about this point I turn around. I've discovered where I am and where I'm heading and looking ahead, it's far too rough for me to continue today. 

 

So there you have it, our last couple of days. Hope you enjoyed your visit.

 

 

 Myself, Elva, and Riley.

 Elva, Riley and Jerry.

 

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

 

Deb