Burropalooza

We woke up early to another glorious bright, sunny, warm day.  We hopped on the motorcycles heading for the Parker Dam Scenic Byway, which is on the California side of the Colorado River.  We traveled through the back roads of Ehrenberg, with its miles of plush green farmland, breathing in the sweet smell of fresh cut hay. 

 
 

By taking this route, we stumbled upon the Poston Memorial Monument.  This is the site where all persons of Japanese ancestry living in California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona were imprisoned during World War II, under the Executive Order of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Most of these folks were second-generation Japanese who had never stepped foot in Japan, American citizens by birth.  Isn’t is sad what we do out of fear?

 

 

Poston Memorial Monument

 

 

We turned onto the Parker Dam Scenic Byway, where the signs say, “caution:  burros on road”.  Boy, they weren’t kidding.  Burros everywhere:  on the road, in the washes, in campgrounds, even on a golf course!  It was a burropalooza!  A bonanza of burro sightings!

 

We encountered our first dozen burros at Cross Roads BLM area, where we hiked for a few miles.  They didn’t seem to mind us visiting their homes, and were happy to strike a pose for our pictures.  Cross Roads was a bustling town with 3,000 inhabitants in the 1930s, most of whom came to work on the Parker Dam project. Now all that remains are the stone walls from the general store, which operated from 1933 through 1973.

 

 



This one I call "Dominick the Donkey"

 

We continued on the road to the Parker Dam, the world’s deepest dam at 327 feet.  Unfortunately, most of this magnificent structure is not viewable—it is all underground.  Along the way, we passed a golf course, where a pack of burros were teeing off at the third hole!  There were another three standing in the road.  One of them was either very happy to see me or was lusting over the frisky female burro across the road.  I sure hope it was the latter!


 

Parker Dam



 

On to Buckskin State Park, which has great hiking, a nice campground, boating, and terrific riverfront views. We arrived just in time for an ice cream social! Of course, Daddy and I insisted we participate. We worked off the calories by hiking to Interruption Point, the highest peak of the mountain range. We took in all the desert plants and vegetation along the Buckskin Trail Loop, admiring the desert’s diversity and colorful blooms. My favorite: the beavertail cactus, with its brilliant magenta colored flowers. The park even has a cactus garden with a resident desert tortoise. He was quite elusive, though. No matter how many times I visited his den, he stayed hidden from view. I’ll catch him out next time I visit, for sure!
 

Reminds me of "The Partridge Family" Logo

The views from Buckskin Mountains

Beaver Cactus

We headed back to Quartzsite, taking in another magnificent sunset.  We are so grateful to enjoy these simple pleasures of life, the natural beauty of our Earth, these wonderful gifts from the Master Builder of the Universe.

 

Another Magnificent Sunset