Visit to Wickenburg, AZ

We awakened early to a pretty sunrise and the anticipation of another day trip. 

 

 

First, we headed to Congress, Arizona, to explore Escapees North Ranch RV Park.  What a lovely facility!  Like Escapees KOFA co-op, the park has pretty little desert gardens, an activity center, a clubhouse, and tons of friendly folks.

 

 

 

 

We also met up with our friends from Crazy Horse, Tammy and Marty, for a day of sightseeing in Wickenburg with Claudia and Mike.  We did a walking tour, taking pics of the lifelike John Seward Johnson statues.

 

Our Group Pic With "The Teacher"

 

"The Miner" Statue

 

"The Jail Tree"

 

 

We visited the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, with beautiful paintings and sculptures depicting life, culture, and heritage of the Southwest.  (see my blog of Wednesday, February 4, 2015, for more about Wickenburg).

 

 



 

 

 

 

We strolled along the trails at the Nature Conservancy’s Hassayampa River Preserve, filled with cottonwood trees, natural grasses, and other desert flora.  Caught a glimpse of some mallards wading in a pond, along with a colorful vermillion flycatcher (I’m getting to be quite an ornithologist!)

 

 

 

 

 

No get together would be complete without some great food, so we headed to Nichols West upon the recommendation of the receptionist at the Preserve.  This is a small hole in the wall type of place that you could drive by without ever seeing.  But it is a gem.  Quite a varied menu, from ramen noodle bowl dishes, to burgers, steaks, and chops.  And a ton of seafood options, which I thought weird for being in the middle of the desert.  We all ordered something different, and for the most part (Tammy’s chicken saltimbocca came with a ton of onions, which she can’t eat), all thoroughly enjoyed our entrees.

 

We were blessed with seeing a fantastic sunset—the perfect end to another wonderful day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua Tree National Park

Another road trip with Claudia and Mike.  Destination:  Joshua Tree National Park.   The park lies within two distinct desert lands, the Colorado Desert (which is part of the larger Sonoran Desert) and the Mojave Desert, whose ecological systems are entirely different.

 

We started our visit by hiking at Cottonwood Spring, originally inhabited by Cahuilla Indians, who lived off the vegetation of these lands.  You can still see remnants of their pottery and holes in rocks where they ground/pulverized mesquite beans (part of the pea family) into flour.  The fan palm trees are enormous here, with trunks more than three feet in diameter!  And the yuccas are all in various stages of bloom.

 

 

 

Fan Palm Trees

A yucca in bloom

This yucca hasn't opened up yet

 

Look, up on that rock—it’s a chuckwalla sunbathing!  That’s one huge lizard!  His patches of copper and sand coloring make him blend in so well with the rock formations.

 

 

This is "Actual Size"!  No Zoom Lens Here!

 

 

 

The desert floor is carpeted with wildflowers!  Yellow brittlebush, white dune primrose, and a pretty purple flower whose name I do not know all dot the landscape.

 



 

 



 

On to the Cholla Cactus Garden.  Why do they call a species of cholla Jumping Teddy Bears?  Trust me, there is nothing cuddly about them with their prickly needles!

 

 

As we traverse further down the road, the rock formations, terrain, and plant life change—evidence we entered the portion of the park that lies within the Mojave Desert.  Here’s where the actual Joshua trees live! 
 

 

 

 

And check out this funky “skull” rock!

 

While the four “geezers” take a lunch break, I hike and play among the boulders whose visual characteristics lend to the name "Split Rock."

Rambling RV Rat at Split Rock

 

Lots of "splits" in these rocks

We hike some more after lunch, taking in Barker Dam, built circa 1900 to hold water for cattle and mining use, and Hidden Valley, a legendary cattle rustlers’ hideout.  Here folks are rock climbing.  I want to join them, but my Mom put the kibosh on my adventurous plan.  Instead I watch a couple of romantic lizards giving me a lesson on “the birds and bees”.

 
 
 

Barker Dam

 

Barker Dam

 

Hidden View

 

Hidden View

 

Romance Among Lizards

From Keys View, at an elevation of 5,185 feet, we could see Desert Palms, Palm Springs, even the San Andreas Fault.
 

Keys View

 

There is so much more to see here at Joshua Tree National Park.  Although we saw signs of wildlife, including poop, footprints, and holes, we didn’t get any photo ops.  And I still haven’t seen a desert tortoise!   But alas, dusk is upon us and the park will be closing.  Time to return to Quartzsite. It sure was a fun day! 

 

I’ll sign off now—I find myself nodding off in the back seat of Mike’s car.  Talk to you soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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