FOR THE BIRDS

Upon leaving 29 Palms, we ran into snow on the ground at Yucca Valley and were very glad to be going downhill into Palm Springs and Indio. We have had a very relaxing time since 29 Palms. Marty has gotten his racket fixed in the tennis capital of the USA at Indian Wells. This is a beautiful facility with seating for 16,000 and 20 courts. They only wanted $20 per day per person to play. We just got the racket fixed and played in the local free courts. But they gave us our own private tour. Showed us the semi-private box seats with their own private dining facilities and a tour of the men’s change room and the champions’ locker area with all of the champions’ names engraved onto the lockers. It was very interesting and the courts are all below ground level and so have easy wheel chair access for the tournaments.

While waiting for the racket to be fixed we stayed at Lake Cahuilla County Park and there really is a lake. We have seen major birds over the past week and this blog is going to be mostly the birds as we have not done any major hikes. The hosts at Cahuilla had out hummingbird feeders who allowed us to photograph the hummingbirds for awhile. The Vermillion Flycatcher has now been identified and it originally showed itself to us at the Tennis Garden and then again later on at McIntyre County Park.

We by-passed staying in the south end of Joshua Tree Nat. Park due to elevation and cold temperatures again. But we did do one short hike prior to leaving the park. We went onto Blythe and found the county park on the Colorado River. Did another short mile hike along the levy. This is where we saw the Vermillion Flycatcher, a downy woodpecker, red wing blackbirds, grey gnat catcher, and a loggerhead shrike.

We have moved on into Quartzite and have met up with Val. Will be leaving here in a few days to go into Yuma area at Mitry Lake to meet up with Tim and Jackie for Christmas. Val has taken me a bike ride through town and we have stopped and shopped at all the Flea Market Vendors. Apparently there are only a few right now and a whole hoard of vendors will be town for the Gem and Rock show starting in January. Thousands and thousands of RV’ers will be in town for the show. Not sure if we will be among them.

A TIPTOE INTO JOSHUA TREE AND THE HOT TUB

Drove across the Parker Dam, this was one of the few dams still open for traffic. Most have been closed after 9/11. This dam is the deepest structure in the world at 235’ but is not very long and does not have a big water level drop. Most of the depth is under water. It is very narrow and closed to commercial traffic and RV’s. We were lucky they didn’t stop us and that we fit between the width restriction barriers at the approach. Drove down the California side of the river from Parker dam, one of the scenic routes and we saw some wild burros again. Saw a foal nursing off the mare and decided to stop for lunch. The power of suggestion! 

We crossed a bridge into Parker in Arizona to gas up and fill our propane tank (Less tax than California.) Went back over the bridge and kept on going right into 29 Palms at the north entrance to Joshua Tree Nat. Pk. We were told the temp. that night would go below freezing into the high 20’s. We did a re-think and decided not to go into the park to spend the night in the high country where our water lines could freeze if we didn’t winterize with antifreeze. The RV campground in town recommended by the Ranger, was a Resort so we booked one night to be able to have electric heat which helps protect our lines from freeze up. In addition to electrical and water hook ups, the resort has a tennis court, indoor pool, spa, exercise room and a golf course. It is only 2 miles from the park entrance and we could also hike during the day in the park so we decided to stay here for a week until the cold weather and rain had passed through. From truck stops, casinos and street corners, to National and State Parks and complete RV Resorts, blind travel in an RV is a roll of the dice and an adventure every day.

After we booked for a week, we played tennis and Marty broke the strings on his tennis racket within an hour. We had to drive a 40 mile return trip to get to stores which sold tennis gear. None did restring. He ended up buying a new tennis racket, with a big off season discount on the price. Marty also got a new pair of hiking shoes to replace his old worn out, squeaky shoes that were full of holes. I can start walking beside him again when we meet people on the trails, instead of dropping back and pretending that I am not with someone who looks like they could be homeless. He sometimes plays this roll well, without even knowing it. He actually threw away the old shoes but kept their ratty laces and put them into the new boots. He claims they stretch less, and give more support on rock climbs. I thing he just likes the look. Oh well, maybe he will stop bitching about my new jacket now that he has something new of his own.

Did a hike in the park today, saw an old mine and crushing mill. We hiked through an area where the ancient, twisted trees and shrubs with their roots spidering out over wind sculptured rock made us feel like Lilliputians walking through the world’s biggest Bonsai garden. Gotta go now and have a shower, spa and swim to ease the aching muscles after our hike today.

Shopping for a four wheel drive to get us up to our Time Share in Nevada.












Monday, December 7 sky looks like we are going to get the weather that was predicted. Got out early and played tennis till noon with a fellow we met in the hot tub last night. Returned just in time for the rain to start. Spent the afternoon relaxing, updating the blog and emails.

The tennis courts the next morning had ice on them. We decided to do a hike to the 49 Palms trail in Joshua Tree as the sun was shining again, although still very cool. 49 Palms is 1.5 miles one way with a 300’ rise and fall down into the oasis which had to be done again on the return. A moderately strenuous hike according to the brochure. No animals today but lots of birds.

If you look really hard you can see our van at the bottom of the valley and we hadn't yet reached the top.
Made several attempts to get a picture of the flighty wee birds at the oasis, but they moved about too quickly to get the camera focused. During one attempt I saw the shadow of a bird on a large boulder to my right. Looked left and there was one of them 3 feet away in a bush. Later identified it as a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. Didn’t get the kinglet, however, I managed to snap a picture of a canyon wren which looks just like the picture in my bird book.

We have enjoyed our respite in the resort, we have had two club house dinners, some tennis, a few swims and hot tubs and a hot shower every day. Being semi-permanently set up has made us slightly lazy and we did not hike as much as we would have had we stayed in the park. However, we can also put that down to the very terrible (for here) weather.


 
 
 
 
 

Our first view of the oasis.
 
Tomorrow (Friday) we leave here to head further south, eventually towards Quartzite and Yuma, Arizona. We are hoping to meet up with Val, Tim and Jackie for Christmas. The week here has given me time to bring the blog totally up to date. Marty finished some drawings of a drop down canoe rack for the roof of the van. We will stop tomorrow at several metal fabrication shops he has located in Indio, to see about having it made. Having a canoe would greatly expand our exploring and particularly the birding opportunities.
 

Marty living life on the edge.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Me not quite so close to the edge.

UP DATE TO LAKE HAVASU

When I finished with the last entry, I realized that I was missing a few pictures.  There was none of the London Bridge which I new I had taken.  Where are the pictures?  Oh Yes,   Remembered to take the shock proof camera while riding the bikes to protect the good camera and the pictures were still not downloaded to the computer.  So here are the pictures of the London Bridge and the quaint shops beneath the bridge in Lake Havasu.

View of shops from bridge and below is the view to the island from the bridge.

This is the beach on the Colorado River at the Avi Resort and Casino.

ROLLIN' DOWN THE RIVER (COLORADO THAT IS)

Still having water pump problems. Bought a bottle of bleach and dumped some into the tank to disinfect and clear out anything that might cause excessive wear on the throne due to over use. After arriving at the park we drained off the tank and refilled. Marty had to crawl under the vehicle again, to clean the filter and be drowned in the bleach water pouring from the pipes. He is a clean machine now too.

The visitor’s centre had a very well done and interesting display including a live snake, spider and scorpion. Went to Mouse’s Tank and saw the petroglyphs. Mouse was an Indian renegade in the 1890s who hid out in a bad land area called the tank until a posse came and flushed him out. (Seem to be on a tank cleaning theme here, first Marty’s then Mouse’s.) On the way back to camp, we stopped at some additional petroglyphs which we had to view from a platform at the top of a large metal staircase.

Now you know how I am always being teased about my left handed navigation. Well, we disagreed about which way to leave the campground and I was right. It was a really good feeling as Marty was quite adamant about turning left. I almost let him go left just to find out for himself, however, a ranger came along and Marty did the unmanly thing and asked which way to go.

Then he was wrong again about the petroglyphs being exposed. He thought they would be in caves away from weathering (actually I did too) but they were right out in the open. (Editor’s defensive note: Donna seems to think that being right twice in 6 weeks deserves mention in the blog. Would anyone like to guess at how many other decisions she has made in this time period that she thinks don’t deserve a mention here? The defence rests!)

Elephant Rock was a little disappointing, we had to do a quarter mile hike to get to it and when we got there, it was right beside the road we came in on. It probably looks better at dawn or dusk but we weren’t waiting around to see.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Leaving the Valley of Fire, we headed into Lake Mead National Recreational Area by a back road. What a surprise, this bay on the lake is practically dried up. The huge boat ramp goes nowhere near the water. The camp ground has closed down and the entire recreation area is abandoned. But the route down to where there was water was a good choice…saw a golden eagle and a herd of Big Horn Sheep.

Vegas was a horror show. I had thought it was Thanksgiving, but a week away still and traffic and construction was a nightmare. We drove the strip until we were held up by the construction and waited through four red lights travelling only about 3 car lengths on each light change. Jumped on the freeway as fast as we could and got out of town.

We stopped at a library to try to update the blog, however, there were some restrictions and could not upload any pictures. Left after a very frustrating day with the sun setting about 3:45. Did I mention how early the sun sets here in eastern section of the Pacific Time Zone? So now we are driving in the dark. Something we try to never do. Stopped at a truck stop in a small trailer town called Searchlight, had dinner at a road side casino. Survived another wind storm by nestling in between semi-trailers, a dumpster and rotted out school bus. Oh, the high life again.

From the Searchlight truck stop we went 14 miles into Lake Mohave at Cottonwood Cove. There is actually water in Lake Mohave as opposed to Lake Mead with no water at the north end. We had the entire lower campground to ourselves until we were joined by a begging roadrunner. When we didn’t pay him enough attention, he jumped up onto the bikes and peered in the windshield at us with a glaring stare worst than Marty’s when he is proven to be wrong. Finally got the water system working properly and a good thing too. There was a sign saying the water here is not potable because the arsenic content is slightly above the recommended limit.

Saw a few wild burro on the way into Katherine Mine.  There are tons and tons of houseboats on Lake Mohave. Both at Cottonwood Cove and further down at Katherine Mine, the Marina’s are full of houseboats to rent for $500 per day. We are having cooler temps again and with winds of 20 mph. Did a short one mile hike through a lava field and sand dunes to a beach. We had ridden our bikes and the trip back was uphill and against the wind, a tough chug.





Thanksgiving Day we headed into Laughlin and stopped at the Tropicana Express Casino. Did the Thanksgiving buffet thing and walked the (Colorado River) water front through the row of casinos. Warmer today in the 70’s, but still very windy. Stayed in the casino parking lot for the night to get up early for Black Friday, the supposedly busiest shopping day of the year. We got to the outlet mall for about 8:30 a.m. and bought two jackets. Couldn’t resist—50% off, then 20% off, then another 20% off. (Editor’s clarification. Donna 1 jacket, Ruby 1 jacket, Marty 0 jacket.)

Decided not to stay another night at the casino and went into a really nice County Campground just below Davis Dam on the river. Campsite full of rabbits and saw a date palm full of dates and several Eucalyptus trees. Found some great tennis courts and a library that let me upload pics into the blog. Trying to catch up. We are about 2 weeks behind.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We went further down the Colorado River to the Avi Casino and Resort to watch a blues group at a Bike Rodeo and chilli cook off. We have been back and forth across the river from Arizona to Nevada also crossing a time zone as the river is the demarcation. Neither one of us knows the correct time anymore or even what state we are in. Passed on the chilli and went into the buffet where prime rib was one of the numerous selections. This is a much better buffet than in Laughlin and the Resort is really nice with a pool, beach on the river, WiFi in the parking lot and a golf course.

Happy Birthday Marty!!! I bought him dinner last night which happened to be a 2 for 1 special. Turned out to be the best meal out we have had on the road so far. Lots and lots of desserts as well so the celebration was a day early. (Editorial note. Donna wore her new jacket to my half price birthday dinner celebration.)

Nov. 30 we drove into Lake Havasu and rode our bikes to the London Bridge after getting settled away. There is a quaint English Village under the London Bridge with good looking restaurants but not much in the way of good shopping. We rode across the bridge and circled the island, only a 4 mile loop. Had a fabulous sunset and a really nice camp spot overlooking the lake. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. (Editor’s note. Ruby got a Jacket.)


Found tennis courts close to camp and played a couple of days there as well. Again we had lots of rabbits in the camp ground. Beautiful sunsets here and a full moon rising also.

UP IN THE AIR OVER A TIME SHARE!!!

We had been having problems with the water pump, making loud noises and not pumping water through our filters. Got to a Home Depot and bought replacement filters, stocked up on groceries and headed to Red Rock Canyon in the National Forest. Amazing that we are only about 6 miles outside of Vegas. Pump still making noises and Marty had to crawl under the vehicle yet again to clean the filter. What a mess of junk. Figured out that the new water lines being installed in Big Sur was probably the cause. Marty had a thought that we might try to unplug the filter by backwashing it with coffee. Someone had told him that coffee was good for unplugging plumbing.

Went on our first rough country hike. Marty had me scrambling over rocks like a mountain goat…that is if mountain goats scramble on their bums. Watched some true rock climbers. Today’s hike is into to some high country, we are trying to find big horn sheep. It was a rocky trail, but wide up to a small dam on a seep stream. Saw no sheep or wild life, only a few birds. Track continued to follow the stream and this was the best portion of the hike, with vegetation and a narrower track to climb.

Trail got wet and rocks were slippery but we persevered and reached the one room stone condo that was for sale. It was a bit of a fixer upper but the price was great so we bought it thinking our friends could use it in sort of a time share way. Let us know if you are interested in a 3.3 mile hike up a rock canyon with an 800’ climb. It has absolutely no amenities but the view is great and there is never a problem with neighbours. Time including lunch at the top was almost exactly 4 hours.

My form leaves a little to be desired when compared to the pro above.

Gambels Quail

A brief view of Vegas in the distance.

The trail to our winter home

Our winter retreat

Of course it needs a few repairs.