Part 3 of ...............

If you're just getting back to my blog (like I am - ahem..) as few words of intro
We recently returned from a 2 month trip and I have finally managed to get my photos ready to post. I am doing the trip in order, beginning from a couple of posts back. Hope you enjoy our "vacation" even a little as much as we did :)

We spent another night at our favorite little RV park in Quartzite again - the usual - laundry, showers, dump, and fill. Then we met up with Jim and Janet again headed for gold country - we hope!
We spent a rather "interesting" night in a camp spot near Stanton, Az - home of many gold claims. That's the problem - there is probably gold in the area, but everything is pretty much claimed up. The dirt road to get there was - bumpy, to say the least, so we were somewhat disappointed to find - nothing! Our campsite for the evening was loaded with spent and not spent shells of many sizes. I picked up probably 15 pounds of spent and at least a box of unspent 22 shells and various others. It gave me something to do.......... Strange, I know.
From there, we climbed, and climbed, and climbed some more - gained maybe 3000' through some very interesting country on our drive to Prescott. That's Pres'-cut - - not Pres-cot. Through town - no bypass in this area - and out to Lynx Lake. This area has public mining, similar to that at Keysville, managed by the Forest Service and BLM. We found a site at one of the 2 campgrounds on or near the lake and settled in - we thought for a couple of days, but ended up staying for a week! Obviously, they guys FINALLY found some gold!!! Here is our campsite - a double site with a shelter, nice tables, a fire pit, and dumpster, water and restrooms nearby. Paradise!
The guys are hard at work

A couple of days before we were to leave, the guys met John, a real nice kid from Flagstaff who was up doing some panning for the weekend. He learned from his grandfather and wanted to try his luck. He spent our last day there with us and we had a great time getting to know him. John is in the white shirt in the photo below - Janet to the left and Jim to the right.
While the guys were out finding our fortune (NOT!) Janet and I took Abbey for a walk along the lakeside trail. Again, fishing piers extending out into the lake. I think the fish here would be fine to eat :)
After Lynx and a night in an RV park to refresh, we said our goodbyes to Jim and Janet. They were headed back to Vegas to see the house they bought - a whole story in itself - and Jimbo. We were on our way to see Shannon - Dean's youngest - in Overgaard, Az.
I had no idea how beautiful the area would be. Up on the Mogollon Rim at about 7000' in elevation, the scenery is much like the pine forests of the Pacific Northwest. The night we spent camping on our way to Shannon's was a little chilly, so Dean was looking for his favorite flannel shirt . It was here that I realized that I had left it - and 2 pair of his jeans and one of my favorite shirts - in the dryer at the RV park in Prescott. Woe is me - it is hell to get old and forget things!! I'm sure that none of you have ever done anything stupid like that!

So, we get to Shannon's and get set up in his front yard. Nice! The next day, we went out to see his property which is about 45 minutes out of town - seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He is buying 82 acres of fairly flat land and has great plans to build an earthship someday, so has collected hundreds of tires for the foundation. He has actually lived in the trailer and in the schoolbus you can see on the property as well as in a teepee - since removed.
Dean and Shannon replaced the front brakes on his car while we were there. I think they did as much talking as working though.........
Shannon's dog, Sage, and Abbey became good friends - thank goodness - because Shannon is coming up here to stay with us for the summer as soon as his mother visits him in Overgaard. We are looking forward to having him around - and having his help around the place for some projects that Dean has planned. Dean - projects? Always!We went for a ride one afternoon up Black Canyon and hiked up to an old Indian dwelling that Shannon knew of. Apparently someone else had found it because most of the walls had been knocked over :(Whoever it was, however, left the matate and grinding stone. Someone must have used it a lot because it is very deep.We were fortunate to have been able to get to know several of Shannon's good friends. Twice we went to Betty and Wayne's for dinner. Photo below was a birthday dinner for Betty's Dad - James Bond. Really - that is his name!This is Betty and JamesGeorge Bond, Betty's brother, Shannon, and James. They've adopted Shannon, I think! George and James live near Shannon's property.Betty, James, and Dean. Since Dean's birthday was coming up in a few days, Betty even made him a cake, too!
Betty and Wayne
Thanks to all the Bonds - we had a great time getting to know you all and hope to see you again!

The next installment........

Since it was terribly windy at Parker and it was coming from the south, we decided to stay an extra day instead of heading into the wind. Good decision! From Parker, we headed down to Quartzite. Since we had been dry camping for several days, we stopped at a nice little RV park for the usual, then the next morning headed to the desert. In January and February, there are gem shows in and around Quartzite and the population swells to almost 1 million, but at this time of the year, the snowbirds are winging their way north, so we were able to find a pretty nice spot to park for about 5 days. The guys went out every day with their detectors - no luck, but they had a good time and got some exercise. Janet and I went for walks and read. The weather was pretty decent.
This was our camp site at sunset one night.
Before heading into civilization, we drove up to Mitry Lake - kind of backwater from the Colorado River which then is sent to canals for irrigation. I had no idea how many crops are grown in the Yuma area! The lake is a haven for wildlife - birds of all kinds - so we enjoyed our days there. Kayaked several times. The lake has about 10 of these constructed fishing piers out in the water - complete with palm trees. During the day, people were using them pretty heavily, but we read somewhere that the fish from the lake are heavily contaminated with fertilizer, pesticides, etc. I don't think I would want to eat them! I took this photo from my kayak - Abbey is wondering what the heck I'm doing!Janet didn't want to get out! Now that we got her in a kayak, we can't get her out of it. There were lots of these reeds and grasses around the lake - very few places to get from land to water - or water to land!All those days in the dusty desert made us long for a nice warm shower, of course, so we found a VERY nice RV park in Yuma where we hung out by the pool (after showering.....) for 2 days. Nicest park I've ever stayed in, for sure!
While at the RV park, we met Ron in the pool - remember Ron Michaels from 910 KISN days? Well, one and the same!! When we went to Los Algodones. who did we run into at the dentist office, but RON! While his wife (whose name I can't for the life of me think of) and Jim were having dental work done, Ron, Dean, Janet and I went to lunch. As luck would have it - there was a resturant that was having their annual birthday celebration - free food and FREE MARGARITAS!!!!!!!!!!!! We started out on the patio - very HOT!Ron took our photo.
We were able to move inside where is was much nicer. There was music, various kinds of entertainment, and excellent people watching. Ron called his daughter and we all talked to her. The ceiling of the resturant/bar was plastered with paper money - from where, I don't know - couldn't get close enough.
Time to head back over the border. This day, we were a bit late, as you can tell from the lines - of cars and of people. We parked on the US side and walked over. Our wait was a couple of hours, but someone in a car said theirs was even longer. The next time we went over, we went early and came back earlier. Very little wait.(I don't know how to move these photos - I wanted them all in a row......)
This little cutie was one of many little kids who were either entertaining the tourists or selling some sort of trinket. They were EVERYWHERE! Walking around Los Algodones is a real experience. Every vendor wants you to buy something from them. I got pretty good at saying no. But this little guy was soooo cute. Blowing bubbles with his gum and playing the little accordian. And looking at all the tourista.






Time to get back on the water. As many of you know, there is not much left of the Colorado River around Yuma. It has been piped all over the place for irrigation and drinking water. More about this in another post........
So, we headed up to Squaw Lake (they evidently haven't got the politically correct message around there yet......) There was a dump nearby at the Long Term snowbird area, so we took advantage of it before heading to the "campground" - which ended up being basically a parking lot. With lines - 1 RV to a spot, just like in a mall parking lot. But, they did have nice, hot showers, so that was a plus. And a lake - again, just kind of backwater from the Colorado River. We kayaked to our heart's content - hours every day we were there. We found a nice channel that ran somewhat parallel to the river and it was a pleasant paddle - until someone on a jet ski came blasting around a corner. Now, I'm sure that they are a ton of fun, but a 10' wide, very windy channel might not be the best place. Just sayin'.

Someone forgot their hat on this paddle!
From Squaw Lake, Jim and Janet went back into Yuma to the fancy RV park, and Dean and I went exploring. First destination - Palm Canyon. "Perhaps the only native palm trees in Arizona are tucked away in narrow, rugged canyons on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The Palm Canyon Trail is a rugged hike and takes you near a stand of these unique plants, called California fan palms, Washingtonia filifera."
We're headed up this canyon
From the top of the trail looking back down to the parking lot.
A VERY pooped puppy! But she is clean - got a nice bath in Yuma and a cute little scarf which stayed on for almost the rest of the trip!
So, we get to the end of the trail and here is the sign..............
And here are the palms - as indicated by the arrow. You can see them, but it would have been a steeper and ruggeder hike to see them up close and personal - so we didn't!The trail - up to the sign - was, indeed, pretty rugged. This is the trail - all the way like this.
Next bit of exploring was Crystal Mountain - where you're supposed to be able to pick up real crystals. Not! We scoured that place - found a lot of quartz, but no crystals. Oh, well, good exercise, huh!
We spent the night at one of the many areas around Quartzite and went out exploring the next morning. Only interesting thing we came across was this "golf course" Had to put these photos in for all you golfers! I guess when there is no course around, you go out and make your own!
To be continued.................

Oh, My Goodness!!

I can't believe it has been this long since I last updated!
We left on our big trip on March 13th and returned in mid May. It has taken me this long to:
do laundry, clean up our little trailer - it's amazing how much mess can be in such a small area - , get the photos ready to post, and, most time consuming of all, clean up the yard!! It is not finished, by any means, but I must get back to regular-ish blogging.
So, as I said, we left on March 13th, heading south, of course, for some better weather. First night stop was unexpectedly East of Weed at the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden. If you have never been there, put it on your list. It is a rather obscure stop on the highway - we originally intended on just taking a break, but ended up spending the night. The art is a labor of love of Vietnam Vet Dennis Smith. Quoting the brochure: "His work is specific yet symbolic, monumental yet intimate, patriotic yet cautionary: 'I don't think the purpose of art is to entertain, but to uplift, edify and educate.' " There are 10 large sculptures and/or groups and a memorial wall. I don't consider myself particularly patriotic, but the place really moved me. Here are photos of only 2 of the sculptures.
The flute player - along with a group of dancers............POW-MIA - outside the cage is an arch draped with bracelets, flags, flowers - remembrances of the many, many victims.

It was cold that night - we had to get out the down comforter. The next morning, after a long walk amongst the sculptures, we headed to Weed and south on I5. Not very exciting, I'm afraid. And the rumor was confirmed - California drivers - eech! Sorry, Lori! Driving a trailer in traffic is not pleasant in the first place, but some people just have to make it even more difficult!

Spent the next evening in the Wal Mart parking lot in Fresno. Hey - it's free!
Then to Kernsville/Keyesville mining district - a lovely spot to camp and for Dean to do his gold panning thing.
I didn't take too many photos there, but here is one of my favorites
Abbey and I hiked down the river a few miles and enjoyed the scenery while Dean did his thing with the gold pan. Mostly, just a relaxing few days in great country.
From there, we headed to Ridgecrest to stock up and get a new battery for the trailer - seems the 2 we had were not doing too well. We checked at the chamber office to see if there was an internet cafe and they directed us to a great, funky coffee shop - Casa Java - where we had a nice lunch and checked emails. Also, Dean talked to a fellow at the chamber about prospecting who suggested going out some road south of town (Garlock Rd), so we did. Camped in a pull off for the night. Dean drove up into the hills and used his detector for a while - no luck. Sat outside in the evening because the weather was perfect. A nice bird was perched in a tree singing to us. How lovely! And so many different songs, too! How sweet. How aggravating! It went on - and on - and on! We are pretty sure it was a Mockingbird. Here is the description: "If you’ve been hearing an endless string of 10 or 15 different birds singing outside your house, you might have a Northern Mockingbird in your yard. These slender-bodied gray birds apparently pour all their color into their personalities. They sing almost endlessly, even sometimes at night, and they flagrantly harass birds that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches."
Yep, even at night. I can attest to that. It finally shut up close to midnight - and began again around 3:30 AM! Needless to say, we got up early the next morning and hit the road!
Before we left the area, though, Dean took me to an old cemetery up on the hillside. There were maybe 15 - 20 sites, memorials, mostly, I think. Lots of old mining equipment. I found it interesting that people actually had left things there instead of looting them. Good.On down the road. Stayed the next night at a little out-of-the-way spot we found the last time we were in the area a few years ago. Twin Lakes RV Park - east of Barstow. Small, nice and clean, and quiet. I think the nice little lady who runs it actually remembered us. Did some laundry and dumped and filled and charged up.
The next day, we met Jim and Janet in Parker, Az - just over the border. We parked in a casino lot for the next few days while we explored the area. We found a nice spot to launch the kayaks just north of the Parker Dam on the Colorado River in the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge. We had just started out, heading under this fishing platform when we spotted a heron sitting on the railing. He/she sat there until Dean and Jim just got to it, then flew off. A pretty big bird!
Jim took this photo of Janet, Dean and I. It was a nice day, but quite "breezy", so we headed back before it got worse in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the next few days were even beyond "breezy" so we weren't able to get the kayaks out again.
To be continued..................

The Mailboat/Jetboat trip

It was a cold and foggy morning - 8 AM - when we left Gold Beach for our Mailboat trip up the Rogue River. Here, we just left the dock and are headed towards the ocean - before turning up the river. You can tell that people are bundled up pretty well - our "driver", Jon, even handed out wool blankets.
When we broke out of the fog, it warmed up quite a bit. Here are some live oak (as opposed to "dead" oak?) trees on the hillsideWe were able to see a lot of wildlife - harbor seals, bald eagles, osprey, even "Rogue River moose" (cows...) Here is a blue heron that posed for us.
We were able to see a little white water. Jon did several rapids more than once to get us good and wet. We sat at the very back of the boat - in my opinion, the best place. We were able to talk to Jon and get more tidbits of information and the seats are slightly elevated, so the view was pretty good. But the BEST part was that we could stand up for the white water, which made it even more fun. I didn't want to get my camera wet, so this is the only photo I took - not very big rapids, but it was fun.
We stopped for lunch at the little town of Agness. The Rogue sometimes "overflows" it's banks during spring runoff - actually, it ALWAYS does. But back in 1964, there was a warm spell during December which wreaked havoc on the area. A new bridge had just been built over the Illinois River where it flows into the Rogue - it was washed out. There was a suspension bridge to the town of Agness - it washed out - which means you now have to go upriver about 4 miles, then cross ANOTHER new bridge and down a narrow windy road to the town, because "they" decided to not build another bridge. And this wasn't even a "bridge to nowhere"........... The high water marks for various years are indicated on signs on the trees visible as you walk up the path to the Singing Springs Resort which is nestled in the trees in the photo below. The high water mark for 1964 is on top of the roof of the cafe - at the bottom of the arrow. Now, that's some high water!This is Jim and Janet and our driver/guide, Jon.
Jon pointed out many things on the trip, but of particular interest was this section of the river which had a natural "sluice box" in the rocks. Evidently, miners in the early days got quite a bit of gold from the cracks between the rocks. I was on the wrong side of the boat to get a good picture, but hope you can get the idea in the photo below.
On the way back down the river, we finally got to see the otters playing in the sand on the river back. When we pulled over, they scampered to the left and disappeared under some rocks, but I got a couple decent photos - even one in mid-jump!We enjoyed the trip, but it made Janet and I wanting a real whitewater rafting trip. Maybe next year....... From Gold Beach, we went up the coast to Bandon and stayed in a campground with hookups for a night to charge the batteries and take care of all those trailer things (dump and fill) From there, it was over to Roseburg and I5 and the previous post.
The next post will be from the Chetco River out of Brookings.