A Jeep Ride in the Foothills of the Plomosa Mountains and Meeting Friends

(If you click on the pictures they will open larger in a new window.)

Friday, March 3, 2017

I am typing March but I am still having trouble believing it is here already.

Today we were up early enough to see the sun rise. We had our coffee, breakfast, and then headed out for a Jeep ride towards the Plomosa Mountains.

The sun peeking out between the clouds.

Pretty light pink clouds in the west.

We turned off Plomosa Road and the hillside was covered in purple flowers.

The picture Tom was taking  above.

Pretty purple flowers.

We saw this road from Plomosa Rd and decided to see where it would take us .

As we came up over the hill this is the road we saw ahead.

When I got out of the Jeep to take the picture above this tough little
flower was growing up through the stones on the edge of the road.

Where we are going and where we have been.

The desert floor and the mountains are a beautiful green.

A stone foundation.

When we stopped to check out the foundation above we could see
what looked like an old mine in the distance.

Then just down the road, off to the left, we stopped and checked out the
foundation below.

The view, from this spot, was wonderful.

Just ahead one of the many small washes we went through.

One of the smoother and flatter parts of the road.

More of the road ahead. We went up and down quite a few washes and
rocky hills.

When we got to this wash I took this picture from above while Tom took a
walk.There were two ways down and back up the other side. Both entrances
 and exits, out of the wash, were steep and rocky. Tom said, the one above
narrowed, and was pretty much a rock climb out with what looked like loose
gravel above. He thought the other one was a better choice but as we looked
 ahead we were not sure there was enough room between the trees and a large
 boulder for the  Jeep to make the climb out.   

Looking across the wash we decided was not worth the risk of going
into. It was at this point Tom backed us up, turned us around, and we
started back the way we had come.

We missed what looked to be an abandoned mine the first time by.

We drove through this wash coming and going.

More of the road and the green.

As we got close to where we came in off of Plomosa Rd. we could see a
road that continued straight ahead. Instead of making the rock climb
back up the hill we came in on we decided to continue straight ahead.
We were pretty sure it would take us to Plomosa Road.

And it did. 

It was not a pleasant moment when we decided we had no choice but to turn around. At that point we could see Bouse and the Plomosa Road in the distance. We had been up and down several rocky washes, up and down several steep rocky hills, and driven over a lot of bumpy road. So the thought of backtracking was not really that appealing but the alternative of not making it up and out of the wash, which would mean we would be stuck at the bottom, was even less appealing. Strangely enough it did not seem as bad backtracking as we thought it would and the views of the mountains so green against the blue sky certainly made it a beautiful ride both ways.

We have been following Kathy and Rick's blog It's About Time since we started thinking about "Snowbirding". I had made some comments on their blog and then they started reading ours. So when we all came west this year we were hoping to cross paths. For a while it seemed like we were destined to keep missing each other then a few days ago we all landed in Quartzsite. They had tried to find us yesterday without any luck but after a few exchanged comments we were able to finally meet in person this afternoon. We spent the next few hours sitting outside in the warm Arizona sun chatting and getting to know a little bit more about each other. It is amazing how fast the time goes by when you are spending time talking with people who are enjoyable to be with. At some point noticing the time Rick mentioned they were thinking of going out for Fish and Chips and would we like to join them.. Tom mentioned the Fish Fry the VFW Post in Quartzsite puts on and they thought it sounded good so that is where we all headed.. (Tom is a Lifetime member of the VFW and we like to support different Posts when we are traveling.) We had a nice meal and the great conversation continued. We are glad that we finally had the opportunity to spend some time together and hope we have at least on more chance to sit down and visit before we all start slowing making our way East.

Kathy and Rick

We saw him take off just a short way down from where we are parked when
Kathy and Rick were still here.
This is the first time we have seen him this year, we are guessing
it is the same guy as last year who we saw take off almost every morning.

"If you are going to enjoy life, now is the time.

Not tomorrow or next year.

Today should always be our most

Wonderful Day!"

~unknown