Further up the Colorado River we went to Oxbow Lake and the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. Did the 3 mile nature drive (They won’t let you walk or bike because that disturbs the wildlife) at the Refuge. The preserve was very extensive and remote. However, the lower end lakes for canoeing were closed in winter for nesting purposes. Farmers are allowed to sow crops in the fields but have to leave some standing for the birds. Saw an American Kestral, 2 coyotes, gnat catchers, Canadian and Snow Geese and the Sand Hill Cranes.
The Cranes were in the fields in enormous numbers. Even caught some dancing their mating dance which is repeated hops into the air with wings spread wide and necks extended towards their prospective mate. Mother Nature must have popped a bit of avian into the homo sapiens gene pool since men also crane their necks when a looker strolls by. An ostrich gene also shows up in the married ones, right after wifey catches them craning.
We were able to put the canoe in the water, paddled up the lake and drifted down with the wind. Still saw nothing but coots and two lonely egrets. Made one more stop over north of Blythe at a county park on the Colorado River, after tennis in Blythe. However the flow was too fast to paddle upstream and we were not interested in drifting back down to Yuma some 50 miles south of there, so the canoe stayed on the roof again.
Said goodbye to the Colorado River and headed back into Arizona after tennis once again in Blythe. Made a brief stop in Quartzite to say goodbye to Val who we won’t see until perhaps August as she will be heading to B.C. and Alaska in the spring.
WICKENBERG
We decided to leave late that day and travel up towards Wickenberg and try to get as far as a county park in Salome that we had heard had a tennis court. At sun down, along the way, we found a section of abandoned road off to the side and above a new route for the highway. Decided to pull in there for the night. Nice secluded spot and we slept well.
We had been anxiously awaiting news about whether mom and dad were able to head to Florida. Finally, we got cell service while driving the next morning, made the call and received really good news. Father’s test results had come back from the Lab and he has been cleared to go to Florida. His bad blood counts were down and the rest of his counts were so high that his doctor advised him he was good to go, but the results indicate one new life altering risk may pop up….The Dr. recommended that, to manage this risk, he should go shopping at his local pharmacy’s family planning section, just to be safe. As the old saying goes, you just can’t keep a good man down!
We continued up the road in search of the county park. We had stopped just 6 miles short of it the night before. The tennis court was in very poor condition and we were glad we hadn’t come in late the previous evening. The approach road had just been plowed that morning where a wash crossing over it, to clear a foot of mud deposited by flash flooding. As it was still early we drove on to Wickenberg. After we picked out our camp spot we went into town, played tennis at really nice courts right next to the scenic main street. (This time I beat Marty) Then we shopped at Frys for some groceries and went back to camp. We had a spectacular sunset that night and a really orange, full moon rising.
Next day I found the Quilt Shop and browsed while Marty booked an afternoon appointment to get the oil changed on the vehicle. While waiting for our appointment, we went into the Western Desert Caballeros Museum. This is a world famous museum which houses art from some of the most famous western artists and one of the reasons we like to stop here. Also the tennis and hiking are really good. The desert itself is more pleasing to the eye with lots of saguaro, cholla cactus and desert trees and bushes. After all the rain we have been having, the desert is starting to green up and we can see grass growing under the bushes. If we get some warmth, we may see desert flowers yet.
Another beautiful sunset and moon rise. We are on a hill overlooking part of the town, close to the rodeo arena. Next day we did a three hour hike through the hills.
We stopped on our way out of town to take pictures of the bronze statues on the downtown streets. We have an old prospector, the first teacher and the first black lady to own a business in Wickenberg who designed, opened and ran the first brick hotel in town.
