Blue Sky and Sunshine and A Ride Down King Valley Road

Saturday, March 4, 2023

This morning was a little warmer so we decided to sit out for awhile with our coffee. Deb and Riley joined us then the wind picked up and Riley decided to head inside before her sinuses started to bother her. The wind picks up quickly out here; one second it is as calm as can be and the next it is gusting. It was not to long after that we all headed in as that wind, also, brought a chill to the air. 

We decided to drive over to Parker for 5 o'clock mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church this evening.  After Mass we made a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a few groceries. Then we decided to try the El Sarape Mexican Restaurant in Parker for dinner. Not bad food and the service was decent we would stop again if we were in Parker and hungry. What it was not was a restaurant that we would say lets go to Parker for dinner at El Sarape's. 

Bottom Picture: Last week we turned the corner and most 
of the mountains were hidden in dust.
Top Picture: This week we could clearly see the mountains ahead.

This will be our last time attending Mass here for this adventure.
The bottom left was the sky as we walked out of Walmart.

We were home with our groceries around 9 o'clock and after putting them away the rest of the night was spent relaxing. It was just another day living our lives and enjoying the journey we are on.

Friday, March 3, 2023

Somedays go by and if I do not have any pictures it is hard to remember what we did. I know we sat out for a little while but otherwise I am not sure what we did until later in the day. At around 3:45PM Riley, Tom, and I joined Deb in the Dogsled and she drove us over to LaPosa South LTVA for Happy Hour at Cheryl and Dave's. It was nice to sit out in the sun and just chat for a couple of hours. This may be the last time we will see some of these guys for this adventure so we were glad for the invite. Plus, we had another opportunity for hugs all around before parting ways. 

Starting on the left: Cheryl, Bill, Riley, Deb, Patsy, Tom, and Dave

The sun had already slipped behind the Dome Rock Mountains
when we got home. I aimed the camera on my phone to where
the sun sets and it picked up a little light and some pretty colors.

It was a good day. 

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Today started slowly and that was pretty much how the whole day went.  Tom and I did drive into Quartzsite after lunch to run a few errands and stopped at La Posa South to fill our water bladder. We were back home in time for Happy Hour and that was pretty much our day. 

Sunset

Some color over the mountains to the Northwest.

We decided to test our Solar System to see if the adjustment the tech made helped. We never ran the generator today and watched a movie this evening. When we went to bed the batteries were at 12.4 and they held at that overnight. So it does seem to be doing better and we are happy with how everything is running at this point.

Tuesday, February 28, 2023 (Ride Down King Valley Road)

Today, Deb and Riley joined us for a ride in the "Little Black Limo"  to the King Valley Road. Our destination were the Horse Tanks off of this road on a 4 wheel drive recommended road. I took the pictures below after we turned off of King Valley Road. This area is part of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.

Kofa National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939 for the protection of desert bighorn sheep and other native wildlife following a 1936 campaign by the Arizona Boy Scouts. 

Originally designated Kofa Game Range, the refuge was managed jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management for decades. In 1976, control of the refuge was awarded to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and it was renamed Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge's name was derived from an acronym for one of the area’s most notable mines, the King of Arizona gold mine. 

The Wilderness Act of 1964 created the National Wilderness Preservation System "in order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas in the United States, and its possession, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition..."

Congress designated 547,719 acres or over 80 percent of Kofa National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness through the 1990 Arizona Desert Wilderness Act. Along with the Kofa Wilderness, the New Water Mountains Wilderness was designated at the same time on 24,600 acres on the north boundary of the Kofa Wilderness.

Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Southwest Arizona National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuge complex consists of Cibola, Imperial, and Kofa National Wildlife Refuges.(https://www.fws.gov/refuge/kofa)

There are a lot of Teddy Bear cholla in this area.

If you are interested in the information above clicking on 
the picture will open it larger.

At this point we started a short hike to the Horse Tanks. There will be more pictures in the next couple of blogs. 

After our ride we decided to head into Quartzsite to try out the pizza at the Outback on Main Street. First we stopped to check on Doug, who at that point was still parked at Dave's Diesel, to see how he was doing and if he had decided on what he was going to do next. We also stopped to invite him to come and join us for pizza. The Outback is a serve your self type of place. You order in one area then walk to another area where there is a bar and tables to sit and eat at either inside or outside. Outside was covered.   From the signs it sounds like they do have live music on certain days.  The pizza was quite good and we all agreed we would go back again. After hugs all around we all headed home.

It was a wonderful day. The ride and hike provided some beautiful views of the Kofa Mountains and we found what we think is a good pizza place. The best part we spent time with friends.

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.

Cold and Rain, Our Neighborhood Decreased By One & Last Pictures of Friday's Ride

(Clicking on the pictures should open them larger in a new window.)

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

An English proverb describes typical March weather: 

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. 

February flew by and I think most of the country would agree that March has arrived like a Lion. I do not know about the rest of you but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the other half of the proverb comes true and March leaves as a Lamb. Happily looking ahead it does look like the weather in our little corner of the world is going to be turning warmer by this weekend. Today on the other hand started under blue skies but cold with the wind still with us and before 11 o'clock it was raining. There was on quick moment this morning I thought I saw some snow coming down though I am thinking it was a few small pieces of hail.   

This is the picture of the sunrise I took by standing on our
top step and reaching around the door with my phone. 

Looking West and Northwest the sun was lighting up the desert
floor but the clouds and the rain were coming our way. 

We had an appointment this morning at Discount Solar to have our solar system checked out. First stop was at La Posa South LTVA to dump tanks and fill our fresh water tank. 

Looking West just after we left Roadrunner.

Parked by the water stations waiting for Tom to finish the stars
and stripes was the view out the front window of the Jeep. 

Parked to have a quick breakfast looking out I could 
still see some blue sky.

Looking out the front dirty window of the Stinger "B" we 
could see a full rainbow. It is hard to see in the picture but\
the rainbow was in front of the mountains on the left.

Heading back to our spot in the desert after our appointment it was raining. Our solar system checked out as working just fine. Though the tech did make one adjustment and gave Tom some advice and suggested we give it a week to see how things are running. Nothing major we just felt we were losing our battery power quicker then we thought we should be. 

Back home Deb braved the cold and rain to came over for Happy Hour. After a couple of hours again through the rain she headed back to the Igloo. Even inside today it felt damp and cool but we still had a good couple of hours visiting.

Puddles in the desert.

Tom braved the raindrops and found washes,
tiny little rivers, in the desert.

 No visible sunset this evening as the rain continued.
I noticed this light on the mountains towards the Northwest.

It was a cold, rainy, sometimes windy day and looking at the overnight weather there will be more of the same. There is a prediction of sunny skies tomorrow and though it will still be on the cooler side sunshine will be really, really nice.

As you continue reading our blog you will notice there is no Tuesday, February 28th, included. We, Deb, Riley, Tom and I took a wonderful ride in the "Little Black Limo" down King Valley Road. Deb has already posted about the ride and has some great pictures on her blog, On a long and lonesome highway... If you are interested I will be posting pictures that both Tom and I took in the next couple of blogs. 

Monday, February 27, 2023

We did wake up to sunny blue skies this morning and we did bring our coffee outside for a Coffee Hour. While the rest of us sat and chatted Doug finished packing up to head out. He and Yuma did join us for awhile then, all to soon, it was time to start up the White Lion. He had a plan and if you read his blog you know how it went. If you have not read it check it out here, Miss Adventure Travels. 

After hugs all around it was time to say see you down the road.
The White Lion with Doug and Yuma inside is off.

It is strange after two weeks to open the door and be
 looking at the mountains in the distance and not the WL.

The sun going down on our smaller but still special neighborhood.

Doug, which if you read his blog you know did not have his best day as he only made it to the RV Pit Spot before the WL quit. Deb and I went in to see how he was doing and he did have a tow truck coming to move him. I am behind in writing but he has a plan which he talks about in his blog and he is keeping in contact. 

Here in our neighborhood we ended our day with Happy Hour. It was a chilly one and we soon headed inside to the warmth of our homes. 

Friday, February 24, 2023  

In my last post I talked about the ride we took over near the Harquahala Mountains on Eagle Eye Road. This is the rest of the pictures of that ride. It was a beautiful day for taking pictures with all the clouds in the sky adding shadows to the mountains and the desert floor. 

Driving along the remnants of an abandoned mine could be
seen up a hill. A definite stop for this group.

These first four pictures Tom took.

Harquahala Mountains

Yuma was the first one to reach the mine.

Two more of 

Tom's pictures.

Doug and Deb were next up.

Then I could see Riley with Tom close behind.

Riley headed down towards the left

and Tom went right.

Meanwhile Deb and Yuma headed up

and then Doug joined them. 

Tom took this of Riley and I in the distance.

When Deb got back down to the Jeep she mentioned there was a road that would bring us up to the top so up we went. The views up there were fantastic.  

The shadows on the mountains never stopped changing.

The purple one on the left is blurry but it was so tiny in 
among the rocks.

We saw so many beautiful Saguaros today.

Soon it was time to head back towards Salome Road and then North to Salome, Arizona where we stopped for lunch at Don's Cactus Bar and Restaurant. The food was excellent and so was the service. We would definitely stop again if we are in the area.

After lunch we continued West on Highway 60 until we connected to I-10 then a turn South on to US-95 and we were soon home just in time for Happy Hour.

The sun was still making its way down towards the
Dome Rock Mountains when I took this last picture 
then headed inside. 

We have had so many memory making days this Adventure and today was one of them. Beautiful scenery, special friends, and good food it is a wonderful life.

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.