Windy still, errand day....

 

 

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

 

 

A very windy and coolish night. I had a hard time sleeping with the wind. It seems to have died off today but now as I type this, it is picking back up once again. Not big scary winds, just annoyingly awning flapping winds. Our neighbour has added tie down straps to her tent. A motor home adjusted it's parking so the cargo trailer behind helped to block some of the wind on their slide. If you've ever been out here, you know the kind of wind I'm talking about. 

 

 A course sand bottom wash, the banks are not overly steep but the left bank is less high, in fact more gradual than the right. Most washes have growth in them, Palo Verde trees, some living, some not, lots of sage brush and Ocotillo are usually nearby on the upper edges of the wash or the upper sides, seldom do you see any in the bottom of this kind of a wash. It seems too deep for Ocotillo here.

  This is a very narrow wash, the bottom consists of larger rougher round stones that have been beaten on their journey from higher places. This beating of the stones has also caused smaller stones, course sand and finer sand the further along the wash you walk. As it's narrow I think you can see the sides are not deep but are more than a slight dip as well.

 

Sunny today, still very cool though if you are in the wind. Not as cool as yesterday though, still much better than the cold, frigid, snowy days of Ontario. We aren't complaining.

 

 

The wash runs across the photo. It is not deep, only a dip in the road as you can see. It is a medium course sand bottom.

 This is a three level wash. You can see on the left, sand, in the middle is a course rock with course sand, and on the higher right side, small stones, course sand type bottom. The main part of the wash would be the left with the sand bottom.

 

After breakfast we loaded up the Dogsled and headed off to do a number of errands. To the rest area to get rid of some garbage, a stop at the Chevron for some water, and then it was off to Yuma. A quick stop to pick up a car before a stop at Home Depot, Fry's Fuel, Lowe's, and then Walmart. It was an unhurried day, we walked a lot looking at various things, comparing a few prices and just enjoying the outing. 

 

 

 Note the sand bottom on the right of this photo. That would be the bottom of the wash. This photo gives you an indication of the height and slope of some of the sides.

This wash has basically petered out into a roadway. Rough gravel, rough stones and course sand have all been washed out on to this flatter end. 

 

We were home around 2 PM, unloaded the Dogsled, put away all the groceries and then decided to have a 'fend for yourself lunch'. Riley having picked up a roasted chicken from Walmart, added a few things to her plate and called it lunch. I opted for a grilled cheese sandwich, a little salsa and chips, followed by a single serve Pecan Pie. Try as I might, I just do not care for the taste of the Walmart's chicken. They always smell so good though.

 

 This Palo Verde tree is on the edge of a wash bottom. The gradual slope on the sides are lined with sage brush.

 Washes join at various places on the desert floor.

 

A bit of a tidy after lunch dishes and time to read our books or in my case, to do my post. We've been slowly topping up our supplies with each shop and of course we shop often because we eat a great many fresh veggies every day. We find that 10-12 days is usually the limit for our fresh veggie supply before we need to restock.  As we usually use the veggies in a medely of sorts, we run out of most veggies about the same time.

 

 

You can see the difference in colour and texture of the wash bottom and the wash sides. 
 

 A rough sand bottom wash.

 

Today's photos were taken a few days ago with my phone while out on a walk. Washes, arroyo,gullies, ditches, whatever one would like to call them are the focus today. If you have never been to the desert you would be surprised to find it is not flat, nor is it all sand dunes. There are many water ways in the desert floor. Some are deep, over 6' to the bottom, some are mere inches, more of a dip than anything else. They range from rough bottoms to smooth sandy bottoms. Course sand, fine sand, big rocks, small rocks, flat rocks, round rocks, gravel, and so on. So I thought I'd give you a little sample of what I see when I walk here in our little corner of the desert. 

 

 Pretty rugged bottom, difficult walking in this stuff. Can you see the Ocotillo in the wash farther along, they seem to like shallow washes and are often found along the side slopes.

 

 A close up look at the bottom of the above photo. 

So that was our day. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

 

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

 

Deb