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