The Hungry Wolf Moon

Last night found us in another regional park Usery Mountain, a short distance north and east of Phoenix. Named after a local farmer turned criminal this park is well managed with extremely large private sites, trails and clean facilities. Our timing couldn't be better as we hit the full moon, a once per month event when the park holds their desert moon walk. But this wasn't just another full moon, because of the elliptical orbit of the moon to the Earth, this is the closest the moon comes to the Earth and hence, the brightest and largest in 2010. The Hungry Wolf Moon was widely publicized in the local news and brought out the largest crowd in the parks history, over 300. That's a lot of old folks walking in the desert at night in the dark! All went well and we had a wonderful time.

Tonight was a quite night with a campfire and some good star gazing before the moon rose again. While sitting at the camp fire, we were visited by a little Kangaroo Mouse. Tomorrow we will hike the nearby Pass Mountain Wind Cave trail, I'm sure we will have a breathtaking view of the park from atop the mountain.

The photo is not a black cardinal, it is a Phainopepla, uncommon but found in the arid scrub of the southwest.

Our thanks to Dorothy and Lyle

We had a wonderful evening with Dorothy and Lyle last night and a wonderful hike in the McDowell Mountain Regional Park with Lyle and his hiking club. There are so many nice people, things to see and do in this area of the country.

The Apache Trail

After days of rain in the Phoenix area, we had a nice drive up the Apache Trail through Canyon Lake and turned around at Tortilla Flat. The drive is stunning but picture taking was a challenge as the turn offs were eroded but the heavy rain and also by Gary's love of driving the winding turns without breaking in our little car. We needed to turn back in Tortilla Flat do to flooding on the road. Many drove through the flood but our little car is too low to take any chances. We have plans to return so we can hike in the Superstition Mountains and possibly stay in the Lost Dutchman State Park.

Living the RV lifestyle

A few days in a real RV park is something special. It's important to know that "Parkers" take their shuffle board very seriously. Here in the Carefree Manor RV Park they have tournaments with cash prizes! Your skills as a shuffle board champ could be a profit center, amazing. But it is more than that, we saw several seniors bowling on the Wii in the club house until late in the evening, while playing cards. Now that is multi-tasking and I'm not sure if Gary and I can keep up. You need to watch your wallet around these seniors. We have some work to do so we do not get taken to the cleaners.

Apache Junction

We pulled into the Carefree Manor RV park in Apache Junction after traversing the Phoenix Freeway during rush hour in a rain storm. Not the best idea in an RV pulling a car. Whats more challenging, trying to park in a tight space in a rain down pour. But the park is nice and in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains. As Gary and I walked to the laundry Gary spotted a Great Horned owl above the laundry on a light. She hooted several times and let me take a picture. The park has 3 owls, the mother and 2 babies watching over the park every night, serenading the park patrons and taking a small dog or cat from time-to-time. OK, nobodies perfect.

I'm happy to say that the Phoenix area also has some amazing Saguaros and beautiful parks we hope to hike, after we attend the Barrett Jackson auto action in Scottsdale. On Friday, dinner with Dorothy and Lyle.

Quartzsite

After a short day trip we are back in the middle of no-where, also known as Quartzsite. Home of the RVers in the desert. We have had a good time strolling through the RV show tent, reviewing all the money you can spend on an RV to save money while you boon-dock on BLM property. This is land that us tax payers have paid for so we might as well use it. That said, there is not much to do here except to watch the people go by our rig. The Hi-Jolly BLM land that we are on is the same site we were in a few weeks back, with the addition of a few hundred more campers. The only pictures I have are from our drive from the Salton Sea and the beautiful fruit trees lining the road. I'm still shocked to see this growth in the middle of such dry land. It's no wonder the Colorado River is running dry!

Salton Sea, a warm spot in Southern California

WOW! We took a short drive through the Box Canyon to see the Salton Sea and also found the warmest spot in the country, 85! As a part of the Imperial valley, the surrounding desert is filled with oranges, vineyards and produce to make the best salads, all grown with the water from the Colorado River irrigation system. This is a spot that was hot in the 50's and 60's, but with the sea's rising salinity the popularity dwindled. It's not the usual beach but I'm thrilled with the huge bird count, the beautiful vistas and no crowds. We expect the latter to change as we drive back to Quartzsite this weekend for the largest RV rally in the country.

Visit to Joshau Tree National Park

Our last four nights in Lake Havasu were at a large resort near the Parker Dam. During an afternoon sun we had two little ducks come in for a free meal.

The Joshau Trees are beautiful, that goes without saying but so is this park. It is well worth the extra miles to drive into So Cal and tour the park. If we had to do this again, we would come in from the north where most of the adventures lie. This is a great NP with two deserts and two unique eco systems, well marked trails and several campgrounds (no hookups). Ocotillo and Cholla cactus are also included in the plants to see as you move from one area to another. One could easily spend a week exploring the park, and we are trying to see it in a day. The pictures speak for themselves.

London Bridge in the desert

It's amazing to see what extent a town will go to for tourism. In Lake Havasu City, we found a bridge that once spanned the banks of the Thames river in England from 1825-1962 when it was taken down due to the fact that it was sinking, then reconstructed in Lake Havasu City. Lake Havasu is the result of the Parker Dam built in 1938 just down the lake near our RV site. The city and bridge rose up in the 60's as a result of the Dam creating a sporting paradise. The folks in the tourist department need to take a trip back to Europe to learn how a gondola should look. The Lake Havasu version is rather sad.

Cold Runner

This morning as we sat outside enjoying our morning coffee with Tigger in the doorway, our local Road Runner came by to see if we had any treats. Unfortunately I had no Lizards to feed him so I gave him a piece of garlic bread. He ate the first piece but no more. He ran to the front of the rig, hopped up on the site poll and screamed at Mr. Tig who howled back. We learned that the cool morning air was not in the punky dewed road runners list of favorites things. He puffed up with his back to the sun and took in some D.

Colorado River white water rafting?

OK, not exactly, just a nice day kayaking up the Colorado River near the Buckskin Mountain State Parks. The river is a little to cold to swim but the inflatable works great for the 3 mile trip from Buckskin to River Island State Park.

Buckskin Mountain State Park on the Colorado River

After a few days in a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) camp area near Quartzsite, we've moved to the far side of Arizona along the Colorado River. The next few days we will camp in Buckskin State Park between Parker and Havasu. The BLM was a great place to hang for free and see the strange RV town of Quartzsite. We will return to Quartzsite in a few weeks to witness the RV show in the desert. Gary spotted a 4Wheel Drive Porsche, just a thought for our little Toad
Buckskin is a beautiful spot on a bend in the lazy river, flanked by bluffs on all sides. Warm and quite, an oasis in the vast desert of sand and cactus.