Lots of photos today...

Our Location: AZ 95 BLM, near Quartzsite, AZ

 

 

The mornings are cooler here than in California but still very nice. We both slept well last night and enjoyed the calm, peaceful evening with the door open until just after dark. 

 

 

The dry spines of a dead saguaro cactus. 

I have an idea how they got back there but I haven't checked it out yet. 

This is our new site. We are quite literally parked from where I stood to take this photo. 

 

 

This morning we took a walk to check out an entrance way to a much nicer spot not far from us, and we wanted to check it out for a couple of reasons. I can tell you now that it checked out well, except for cell service which seems spotty in the high winds. 

 

 

 I have photographed numerous saguaros in the past few years but I've never witnessed anything like this.

 It is all one. It appears that one of the 'arms' fell down and another set of trunks grew from it. 

I think it's the most fascinating growth I've seen.

 

 

To keep you from being in suspense any longer, yes we moved. As the crow flies, probably a half mile or close. Driving of course would be longer as we one cannot drive as straight as the crow flies.

 

 

 The sun is directly behind this middle 'arms' of the above saguaro. I love the spines in the sunlight. They are so easy to see and glistening as they are, makes them look transparent, which they aren't.

 This little figure 8 of sunlight shows just how closely these arms are all growing to each other but yet they don't fuse, they remain individual with very little space in between.

 

 

 Can you see the bird's nest up there between these three arms?

 

 

We parked easily and we both think this spot is the one we will use when in this area. It's a prefect spot for us. Of course we noticed that the cell service is a bit up and down and even climbed into the Dogsled to check it out. It's spotty everywhere here, even in our old spot, so I think the high winds may contribute to this. Of course I could be wrong but it's my belief and so we'll see how it works after the winds calm down. As long as we can internet, we will make due. Although the internet comes over the phone and so it doesn't make sense that we get internet but no phone.  I did call my dad and left a message telling him about the spotty service, just in case. My other two daughters never worry about us and so I'm not worried about letting them know but if we remain here for a while I will do so.

This is the top of the above saguaro, as you can see it's hard to believe that these arms come from the same root.

 We are now parked back there, although not when this photo was taken.

If it's true that saguaros only grown an inch a year, this one is a couple of years older than I am.

 

 

High winds this afternoon have us with the door open but the big slide pulled in. How funny is that? The wind is forecast to lessen steadily as the day goes on and hopefully by bedtime there will be only gentle breezes. Wouldn't that be nice? I have a number of photos of the sunset last night (Sun Jan 26) and I can't decide which are best, so I'll include them. I warn you there are lots of them. 

 

 

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

 

 

From this moment the darkness came quickly, the pinks faded to black and very quickly the night sky was bathed in blackness. 

 

 

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

 

Deb

 

 

A spectacular day, start to finish....

Our Location: Quartzsite, Arizona



From our Igloo to your homes, Happy New Year. Please be responsible, don't drink and drive. Have a safe and a Happy New Year!!

Awake off and on through the night I finally stayed awake from around 5 am. This morning I went back to doing what I do at our summer location. I usually am out of bed before 6 am, wash, brush my teeth, get dressed, you know the stuff. Next I grabbed the camera and headed outdoors. I only intended to do a short walk to catch the sunrise and to check out our intended new destination to ensure that no one had parked there over night. I ended up taking about a half hour walk and catching a glorious sunrise.

The beginnings of sunrise at our old spot....

You the readers of this blog are probably tired of seeing sunrise, sunset and mountain pictures but the truth is I love them. They are stunningly beautiful and often times the descriptive words used just do not even begin to weave the image of what one experiences seeing these things first hand. The Great Smokey Mountains are lush and green, with inviting spots nestled out of the way beneath a canopy of green, they seem mysterious while shrouded in their great smoke and hazes. They are truly majestic and no one can see them and not be amazed at their beauty. However here in the southwest the mountains are stark, barren looking, they offer no warmth or invitation of joy, but they do invite, they lure, they insist that you come closer to explore, to venture into their midst. They are harsh and cold in the grey light of dawn but the sun’s rays be it during sunrise or sunset transform them into a magical place with twisting bands of light and dark, then suddenly they are awash in light and look warm, majestic,and inviting. The sun’s rising and setting is also a time of great beauty with red’s and oranges turning to pinks and yellows or vise versa. The sky’s vastness is made smaller by the colour palette that is dancing across the sky with the sun’s blessings. So you see I’ll never tire of them and when I look back in years to come the pictures of these things will bring back wonderful memories for me and so I will continue post them, even if you tire of them.

I just love this pink sky in the morning.....

Riley made her appearance just before 8 am. She looks much better today with her hair not sticking out in every direction. The first thing she did was try her phone and it works just fine, so perhaps the rice helped or  perhaps it wasn’t in the water long enough to do any damage. Which ever  it is, I’m happy.

The sunrise was painting the sky....

We’re moving today as I already mentioned and so after our morning drinks we’ll be tossing things into the Igloo and truck (not packing them all up properly) as we aren’t going very far but to a much better spot in our opinion.
 

It was truly amazing.....

We finished our hot drinks, I headed outside to tuck away the stuff so we could move the short distance without any issues. I had already packed my bedroom and bathroom for travel, Riley did the rest of the inside. We hooked up and headed out for the new spot around 9:30 am and were totally set up in the new spot with salads made, and lunch prepped by 10:45 am. It  took us a while to get level but once we had that issue solved it went quickly from there. It’s a much nicer spot, the views are better, the quiet is amazing, no trucks rumbling by, quads puttering along. They are now just a distant hum. Much better choice this spot. We’re liking it already. We have a few neighbours but far enough away to wave to but not chat with no matter how loudly we talk. 

Don't you just love this colour?

We grabbed our walking sticks and headed out for a walk checking out the rest of the area. We like this area and will return again next time we’re in this part of the BLM. It’s quiet, and away from the hustle and bustle of the main drag. Works for us. We were gone about 45 minutes before we got back to the Igloo and settled down to read some more. 

I'm heading back to the Igloo after my morning walk ....

Riley’s the chef today, she jazzed up jarred spaghetti sauce. So we shall be having our regular Sunday fare, salad, spaghetti with sauce and some cheesy garlic bread. I feel like a lazy bum sitting here typing while she worked away. Although when it’s reverse it doesn’t seem to bother her too much, in fact not at all. Hahaha. 

All set up in the new spot...

I was outside reading and enjoying my salad, just soaking up the rays. The quiet is amazing here, and we aren’t far from the other spot, not distance wise at least but it’s much quieter so far. By the time I finished my salad I was no longer hungry and debated if I wanted lunch. However I did have a few things to do and so decided to get them accomplished and perhaps work my way up to having lunch. 

See the pollution in the sky?

I emptied the left side cubbie, crawled into the cubbie to check out the water pump. It doesn’t seem to want to shut off for some reason but I can’t find any leaks at the pump and I haven’t seen any elsewhere either. So I’ll have to do some research on that I suppose. This process included removing panels from the cubbie and of course it took longer to get the panel on, and the cubbie swept out, along with things being put back than it did to check out the pump. However I feel better and that’s what counts.

I came inside to have a little bit of pasta and a small piece of cheesy garlic bread. It was very good but I didn’t have much, I wasn’t very hungry. I forgot to take a picture though. I’m getting bad at that remembering stuff. I think there’s a name for it but I can’t remember what it is.

I'm not sure it's a full moon just yet.....

Once I finished eating I was back outside to clean up the Dogsled a bit. I gave the floors a bit of a whisking with my little broom. Just to kind of get the bigger pieces out the door, if you know what I mean. Tomorrow I’ll do the dash, etc. Things sure get dusty down here in Arizona. 

Sunset washing the mountains with colour...

I called my sister Jan this afternoon and we chatted for about an hour. We had to catch up on a few things and so that took us a bit of time. Always fun to catch up with her, she has very unique outlook at life. We laughed and chatted and laughed some more, making us both feel better at being in touch. We’re in touch about 2 or 3 times a week in some way, and we do miss her. We visit back and forth a lot when we are at our summer location. 

Such a sweet colour over there...

After chatting with her for a bit I was outside reading and enjoying the sun when my dad called. He didn’t have a lot of news but wanted to wish us Happy New Year before we headed out to do our celebrating. I told him not to worry as our celebrating will be with the lights out and getting some sleep. We aren’t party people. We chatted for about 15 minutes before he said good bye. 

Again the mountains are bathed in sunset rays....

Tomorrow I’ll call my other two girls, my brother, and my best friend to offer wishes for a happy new year. It’s hard to believe this year is behind us already. The time kind of slipped by when I wasn’t looking.

It's starting to sink....

I grabbed the camera and headed outside to catch the sunset and boy what a sunset. It was spectacular to see. The bright colours in the sky slowly turned darker and darker and then the sun slipped away. There appears to be some form of pollution in the air and I am beginning to wonder if it’s smoke from the forest fires in California perhaps. It was consistent yesterday, last night, this morning and most of the day as well. 

Amazing colours....

As I was catching pics of the sunset I was also moving some of the bigger stones around our site. I’ll have to get a new rake and perhaps a small shovel in town to help clean up our site a bit, nothing drastic, just some of the bigger stuff we’re tripping over. Not going to do too much or someone else will be settled in next time we’re looking for a place to park.

I wonder if that is smoke from the forest fires in California?

So there you have it folks, our day. Nothing too exciting I’m certain but we enjoyed it a great deal. We are now truly enjoying this area and are looking forward to spending more time here over the next few months. We hope you’ve had a great day as well. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. 

It's last gasp tonight...

Until next time…take care, be safe…

Good night from Quartzsite.

Deb