Q aka Quartzsite, AZ

Getting out of Yuma, well, Boo's backyard took a while the morning we left for Quartzsite. Fred n Joanne were parked in the driveway behind us, therefore two of us had to disconnect our RVs. Here's a pic of their RV going back into the driveway. Lucky for them we left. Now they have all the hook-ups. They had been a week without dumping their tanks. A couple has to be real stingy with their water usage, including flushing the toilet, in order to make it for a week.

I guess everyone got tired of saying the whole name of this little town...now it's 'Q'. We were the first to arrive in our spot in the desert. The couple who is always 'first' couldn't make it down from Eugene this year...sad ;-( AND they didn't send us a blueprint of circling the RVs. Norman and I had coach in half a dozen different places before settling down. Then as each couple arrived we had to hear, "You're too close to the road". Well, everyone just laughed about it AND the party got into gear.

Not near as many people arrived in the area this year. They missed some very, VERY nice weather. We didn't even have to put on heavy jackets to sit around the campfire each evening...GOOD FIRES...SKY FULL OF STARS ABOVE...GOOD FRIENDS...what could be better.

We didn't do much shopping this year...thank goodness. Laughed over some of the bargains(?) we found. Norman tried very hard to buy some stuff, but only managed a 'free' repair of our tow bar. I tried to dance with the Geico gecko, but he was tied down.

More on the Q trip later....

Bingo...the desert...geocaching

Catching up a little bit...Norman did have to help put in the wiring, drop ceiling and lights in the sunroom of Boo n Ethel's. But we're headed to Quartzsite in the morning to camp in the desert with Eugene friends for a week or so. By the time we get back, the sunroom should be completed...yippee!

I've been heading to Margo's park to play bingo and learn some line dancing. The bingo?...well not winning...sigh. The line dancing class (only took one) was a basic beginner and lots of fun, but don't know if I'll follow through, when we come back to Yuma. I'll see then...

We've found about 12 geocaches around here mostly in the desert. I thought you'd like to see the "micro" kind. The fellow who hid this one did several at benchmarks (the bronze plaque near Norman) in the bombing range south of us. All of them are cleverly hidden. Here he took a lid and glued it to a rock, put a rolled up paper inside the bottle for finders to sign and buried the jar up to the rock. We've also found small capsules hanging in bushes or slid inside hollow spots in trees. It's been a lot of fun trying to find them.

We did some climbing around on the rocks of that far mountain looking for a camoflaged ammo box. Then as we headed back to the RV, Norman noticed how neat our long shadow was on the desert floor. So we stopped for a moment and took this picture.We've really had a lot of fun riding the quad and using our GPS to find the caches. If anyone wants to know more about this sport, you can look at geocaching.com ...

That's it for tonight. We're headed over to Applebees for dinner...thanks to Todd, Corri and Derian for the Christmas gift!

Bowlin', haulin' & dust storm

The Girls wanted to do something for my birthday and gave me the choice. They really were thinking facial or pedicure or shopping, but that's just not my idea of fun. Last year my choice was to do a 5K walk. And Norman and I really enjoyed it, especially the stopover for steak lunch at the casino...Pondering thoughtfully for a day and a night, I decided to go bowling. It was great fun! Everyone really enjoyed it, and all plan to do it again this season. Our scores really ranged, all the way from 133 to 9. Yep, one of our group got one gutter ball after another, but she plans to go again...lol...

LIKE MY FORM? I WAS TRYING A LITTLE HIP SWIVEL TO HELP MY BALL

Boo and Ethel added a nice sunroom to their place. Here are Norman and Boo unloading their first load of tiles, grout and thin set for the floor. They could only do half at a time, because it is all our pickup could haul. Fortunately, Boo has hired a guy to do the interior, and Norman will only have to watch...bonus!

We got up this morning to beautiful blue sky and no wind. I got the RV dusted and vacumned and two loads of white wash on the line. Then the wind began to pick up...soon it had gone beyond blustery to downright blowing...took in my now dusty wash...put up the awnings...and will dust and vacumn again tomorrow... ;-(

The left picture is the sheriff with his warning lights already on heading to the corner of the desert near us. I believe he was going to stop anyone from crossing it. We definitely could not see more than a few feet into the desert...The right picture is taken from the same spot just showing the traffic up our way and the dust....

Geocaching

Our new obsession...geocacheing...we use our new GPS and follow coordinates to hidden boxes full of silly treasures. They're hidden all over the world...hundreds here in Yuma. So far we've only looked for a couple that are along our morning walk. But in the next day or so we'll be going out into the desert to find some. That will be a lot of fun.

Here is a picture of me putting Anabear in a cache here in the Foothills. Our granddaughter, Hannah, picked her up out of a cache near Frog Lake on Mt. Hood Labor Day weekend. She's got a dogtag with numbers so the person putting her in the first cache can keep track of where she travels toooooooo....

From SNOW to SUNSHINE in 3 days!

The kids and grandkids joined us for dinner, gifts and laughter Christmas Day after the snow melted. During that time our tree came down and out of the house. The next day we finished packing the RV, completed any further tasks to leave the house on its own for a while and took down all the outside lights...whew, what a task that was!

Two days after Christmas the weatherman (trusted?...lol) said the snow level would be above 5000 feet, so we hopped in the RV and headed south. This is a pic of the summit of the Siskiyous as we went over. No snow on the road...happy, happy...joy, joy!

The first night is ALWAYS spent at a casino, so Marie (me) can play a few slots. Surprise of surprises, friends from Eugene pulled in right behind us. We compared trip notes and met up for breakfasts and dinners for the trip south...and lots of phone calls during the days.

We arrived in the Yuma Foothills after dark and found both Boo n Ethel's and Donzella n Bill's places full. Fortunately Ethel saw us pull by and called. So instead of another night in the desert, we parked at their place.

The next half day was spent in cleaning the vehicles. The RV is easy because the carwash does a really nice job on RVs. But my pickup had to be handwashed. Then it was steaked with salts from the water. I had to keep it wet as I dried it with the wet n dry wax. It looks pretty good now, and I can take it to the carwash regular from now on. Last year it took 3 times through before it was clean. All the vehicles coming from the north are really filthy. Everyone can tell who has just arrived.

Then it was off to the parties...we had definitely arrived at PARTY CENTRAL! First was the neighbors n friends after-Christmas "naughty Santa" party. The next night was the friends get together dinner for New Year's Eve. The next morning we joined a bunch of old friends in Ron n Margo's park for the 'bloody Mary' party. And we've had a couple get-togethers for games. Right now we're tied...women 1/men 1....

We brought Tom n Cheryl their new computer laptop. Cheryl and I have spent a couple of good sessions at The Grocery Store (yep, that's its name) going wi-fi for the cost of a drink getting it up and running. She's really smart at this stuff...Cheryl has already set-up home pages on their dialup and added all their e-mail addresses. Today we're just getting all the updates. Can you believe over 60 just from Windows on a brand new computer?...Seems kind of crazy...

That's it for today...maybe........

to the Ozark Mountains and back

Mountains?...Well, to those of us in the west, they're hills! But the Ozarks are nothing but rock covered with a thin layer of soil that supports scrub oaks and other decidious trees and shrubs. I guess because they're mostly rock that makes them mountains. And the Ozarks are old mountains well eroded by time.

With Marian n Earl, our good-time traveling pals, we recently got back from a fun trip to Branson, MO. We had a good flight with just one connection both ways out of Eugene, well, except for our seats on one plane too close to the bathroom...sheesh, stinky!

We kept busy the whole time we were there...so many shows...so little time...going from morning to night. The Irish Tenors were good, but I really would have liked to have heard a little more of the lilting melodies of Ireland. Although the blonde kid 'really from Ireland' was easy to watch...SIX was the biggest kick in the pants! They had no band backing up their singing, but made all the music (sounds) with their voices...Andy Williams was the smooth, elegant veteran we expected...Shoji Tabuchi's show was full of high energy. What a great violinist he is! We also really enjoyed the presentation by the Chinese drums (worth close to $1 million, by the way)...No Dolly Parton at her Dixie Stampede. But the North won the Civil War again thanks to the pigs and ostriches that raced. The stampede by the long horn cattle was funny; they didn't, stampede that is...lol...then before leaving town for the Springfield airport, we took in the Red Skelton Tribute show. The fellow wasn't as good as the original, but we still got plenty of belly laughs.

So, what else did we do? Oh, LOTS!...The Titannic Museum was packed with artifacts from the ship and passengers and lots of original stories from survivors. We had our pictures taken in front of the rendition of the Grand Staircase. We each received a boarding pass for a different person and discovered just before leaving the museum whether we had survived or not...We attended an IMAX movie "Ozarks, Legends and Legacy" telling the stories of the area. Thought we would be the only ones in the theater, but a few other tourists joined us just before the show began...I loved the Five & Dime at Branson Landing. It had all kinds of joke gifts, popguns, whoopee cushions, candy, mugs and cheap t-shirts. It didn't take any of us long to go through the Bass Pro Shop. Well, truthfully, Marian and I barely made it in the door. But lunch along the waterfront in the sunshine during a lazer light, fire & water fountain show to the National Anthem was spectacular!

Marian and I spent some time at an outlet mall. We found a few good buys and a lot of empty shops. Hmmm, economy is suffering everywhere....Meanwhile, Norman and Earl did a little drive around the countryside of northern Arkansas. They really enjoyed seeing the beautiful green farmlands.

We spent some time at Silver Dollar City including attending the old time show at the saloon. It was Fall Harvest time and the decorations were beautiful. There were many, many craftspeople throughout the complex, but not enough time to see everything...darn. Norman and I did take a 2 minutes 16 seconds ride on the Wildfire roller coaster that drops 15 stories, travels at up to 66 mph through a half-loop/half-roll, a full loop, a cobra roll with 2 back-to-back inversions, a corkscrew and a high-speed spiral. FUN!!!

The fun slowed down as we headed to Springfield airport with a lunchstop at Lambert's Cafe in Ozark, MO, "the home of the throwed rolls". Yep, rolls come sailing across the room to your table, whenever you want one, and the kid has good aim. We ordered what we thought was plenty to eat (each dinner arrived in a frying pan), but then we discovered people going around the room dishing out macaroni & tomatoes, fried okra and fried potatoes to anyone wanting them. We were so full after lunch we rolled out the door.

Our conclusion about Branson? A fun place to visit, especially during the off season...it's not cheap...sort of a mini-Las Vegas without the lights, liquor and gambling. But we did it up in style, and we probably won't go back. After all...TOO MANY MORE PLACES TO SEE IN THIS UNITED STATES!

Heading for the Barn

Last post for this trip, we're heading home this morning...sigh...We'll be hanging around Bob's until about 9 or 9:30am hoping, that most of the morning rush hour traffic is over.

The last couple days...no pictures...were fun. I said in my last post, "I wanted to go to the Glass Museum". That didn't happen. Kicking around with a couple guys nixed that idea, and also going to the Weyerhauser Business and seeing the bonsai collection. Saturday I called the local Honda dealer and spoke with Cindylu. She promised their dealership had 2009 Honda CRV's in stock. So, that's where we spent some of the afternoon. Between Bob n I and our crazy antics (he doesn't fit well in the little Honda sports car with the seat all the way forward), and sweet little Cindylu from Texas, it was a pretty good time...The Honda CRV? It sure isn't as comfy as the Avalon, but rides pretty nice and is much quieter...And despite my best efforts and sunny smile, I was unable to get Bob a date with the Honda receptionist.

Oh yeah, our Saturday also included a trip to a Jeep parts dealer for a new shock for Bob's Jeep. And it was on the way home he discovered the dingle balls on the rollbar and the boobies on the antenna. Guys are really different! No woman would have driven out of her garage let alone miles before discovering something different hanging over her head...hee-hee!

Saturday ended up with the three of us watching a "guy" movie...Stealth. It's a good one, but not two times around.

Yesterday we watched my Seahawks win!!!! And during the commercials we watched the Mariners lose. The evening was topped with a rousing game of Mexican Train.

Now it's off to my hot cocoa and a little TV before I begin putting things away for the drive home.

Bob's birthday day

Yesterday...well, OK...guess I should start with the day we arrived, Wednesday. We didn't have a birthday gift for my brother. After setting up in front of his house, we walked to Value Village (second hand stuff) and Lowe's. I found a neat stuffed teddy bear dressed in red, white and blue (a year 2000 bear) that played God Bless America or something???? Then at Lowe's we picked up contractor's flags and spelled "happy birthday" on them.

Now then...yesterday we put the flags in Bob's front yard and added some balloons. Then we headed downtown to find the Democrat and Republican headquarters for buttons to put on the bear. Sadly...they weren't open....We thoroughly enjoyed the farmer's market in the area, and especially the great eats we had for lunch. I had a blintz with nutella, strawberries, blueberries and topped with whip cream! Oh, was it ever yummy!...But back to the buttons for the bear...the political headquarters still weren't open after we ate. The bear gift was still a hit.

This is Chihuly's (sp?) Bridge of Glass. Ain't it imaginative?! I'm hoping we get to go to the Glass Museum before we head out of town.

In the evening we took Bob n Judy to Red Robin for drinks n dinner. Bob's request was a good hamburger and a chocolate milkshake to which he added a Margarita. They sang "Happy Birthday" and gave him balloons and a nummy sundae, which I only got 3 bites. Thank-you very much, Boo. Then as we were leaving, Bob tied the balloons to his ballcap. That was OK, but they got caught-up in the overhead fan. Pretty funny...and we got him some more balloons before we left.

It was a fun evening!

And Bob has yet to find the dingle balls attached to his rollbar in the Jeep OR the little pink breasts on his antenna...lol!!

Mossyrock Campground @ Riffe Lake

On the 13th we headed a little further up I-5 and then east for a few days. Now, a word of advice, when it's been hot, and you're traveling on Saturday without a reservation...it's really difficult to find a place!...But we stuck to it and, after a wrong turn or two, finally found a beautiful campground run by the Tacoma Power company. And by Sunday afternoon nearly had the whole place to ourselves except for the mosquitoes...

On the hottest day there we hiked over to the dam and came back to camp via the shoreline...took us a couple hours to come back...hopping logs...sinking in muck...balancing on rolling rocks...hot...but fun!

One day we did a drive up over the White Pass towards Yakima, looped around through the Canyon and Cayuse Passes, Rainier National Park and back. It was a beautiful day...saw some stunning scenery...and shared some laughs...

Yep...constructions delays on all the roads...but aren't the flowers in the upper meadows by Paradise on Rainier lovely?!

Camp Kalama...September 9

Hmmm, Camp Kalama...what can I say? It's a fisherman's camp along the Kalama River and I-5. It's a fairly nice campground and convenient to visiting with our friends in the area, but, boy-oh-boy, fisherman are a dirty lot. And after they cleaned and filleted their salmon, the guts and heads were thrown back in the river...nasty!

But we spent some wonderful times with our friends. Don & Jeanine, who are old school friends of Norman's, treated us to fresh caught salmon out of the Columbia River BBQed. Then we sat on their porch high on a hill and watched the Columbia roll by as the lights of Portland and the smaller communities along the river came on at dusk. It was spectacular!...We did a few estate sales in the area (Longview to Ranier) with Tom & Cheryl. Bought a few things doncha know...a brass pineapple clock for the bathroom...picture that! And before we left them we gorged on homemade rhubarb and apple pies from fruit right in their yard.

I should say...we did watch several nice salmon or steelhead...whatever...hauled in the few days we were there, but no one offered us one...drat!

Tualatin and around...Sepember 7 & 8

By noon Sunday we had moved to the RV Park of Portland. It was a beautiful park along the Tualatin River right off the freeway and so convenient to visiting with family.

We spent the afternoon at Anne's home with Anne and Nancy. She's really fixed up the house and yard nicely. The yard is mostly in tropical plants with a few orange and red flowers sprinkled here and there. I wish I had gotten a picture...but didn't. BBQ hot dogs and all the trimmings...a walk around the neighborhood to see the house my mom grew up in that Grandpa built...and a couple games of Yahtzee.

Barbara (Coyle side of the fam), Nancy & Anne
The next day Nancy picked us up and off we went to visit my Aunts Jeanette and Elly. At Jeanettes we met a distant cousin from the Brice side of the family. It was a memorable moment in family history. Seems many years ago when our Great Aunt Ola died there was a family dispute and the older relatives quit speaking to my parents...oh, the problems a little money can cause...Any-the-way, we had a great time visiting with the ladies and hearing some of the old stories. I made lots of notes for my family genealogy, which a couple I'm hoping Nancy remembers better than me...lol.

Oh...we took Aunt Elly to the Swan Island Dahlia farm in Canby. They had so many gorgeous dahlias of every color, shape and size. I have a list of about 2 dozen I want in my yard, but first I have to get my yard cleaned up and come up with the money.

The WEDDING

It was be-u-tiii-fullll! Deniece didn't marry Denephew...oh, thank goodness. She found the "man of her dreams" in Tim...The minister broke out in loud, not to be stifled, sobs right at the get-go. What is that????...The minister's wife told stories about their relationship (commitment), which added up to "more than any of us wanted to know". I mean, do we really want to know she massages his head, when she's done something wrong. That is opposed to "washing his feet" as Jesus did???...lol...The food was excellent. We weren't too thrilled with the beer, but after the first one, who cared?!...Saw some family we haven't seen in a long time...and the RV was parked in the bride and grooms backyard with the mother and father-in-law's...A wonderful time...

The next morning we were looking forward to another helping of the wedding cake (marionberry cobbler...YUM) for breakfast. But, no, Deniece fetched donuts and apple fritters from the store. I think she was hoping to save the cobbler until all us family had left...I would have...hee-hee

Puerto Penasco

Our group from 55th Drive...

The only ones on the whole bus who danced slow n easy...waltzed...polka-ed...chicken dance...congo line...electric slide...macarena...we did it!

Within two minutes of checking into our rooms, drinks were mixed and we were around the pool overlooking the bay, the sandy beach and the Malecon of Puerto Penasco.

We shopped, this is the main street of the Malecon (restaurants and shrimp on one side shopping on the other)...we ate (four meals the first day)...we walked the beach...we lazed...

AND

we drank

This is a Miami Vice...strawberry daiquiri on the bottom, pina colada on top...the girls of Spring Break from ASU taught us about this one...the boys of Spring Break from UofA offered us their beer bong.

OUR NEW TOY!

a 2007 Polaris 800...used a little

and, yes, we did ride it around the area and through the big wash dressed just like this...and no tools...just a couple little bottles of water...

And in a few days we'll be acting out a scene from 'Dumb and Dumber' as we try to load it into our pickup. Yes, we got ramps, but the problem is...big toolbox in back that takes up the room we need for the quad. Everyone is offering their ideas...we'll see what works...hee-hee.

Cactus R Bloomin'

Saw it on our bicyle ride yesterday...ain't it boo-ti-ful?!

Mesa

Spent the last few days in Mesa visiting Di. It was another great time! It's working so much better staying closeby, and during her days off. We walked, shopped for a 'mother of the bride' dress, played games and talked our fool heads off. Fun...fun...fun... Didn't buy a dress...but took these great pics...lol...DRESS SHOPPING, eh, not a priority, yet...

Our greatest thrill was attending the Seattle Mariner's Spring Training game!!! Super Seats just a few rows off the third base line. We had such fun...ate hot dogs...drank beer...learned how to howl "Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuullllll", when he came up to bat...Di bought a Mariner visor, I bought a t-shirt...We're ready for another game next winter...GO MARINERS!

A "New Yorker" (how do you type that with their funny accent?) sat in seat number 1 next to us. He told us (as he pointed to his Yankee ballcap) he was numero uno. GADS, they are so high and mighty. But I was good; I didn't tell him what I thought of his Yankees; although I did mention something about the Brooklyn Dodgers. And I didn't make fun of how he said Ichiro...boy, did he massacur his name. And Ichiro was the only reason the New Yorker was at the game.

Ichiro? Well, he was at, well not quite "at", his finest. He hit the ball every time he was at bat, but he never made first base. I dunno...I guess I need to watch more games, he just never seems to do much except swing at everything that comes by, so he gets hits. But, dang, he doesn't seem to get on base much. Of course, his RBI record is really good.

Great mid-week fun!

Ramblings...

Quiet day today...the wind is really blowing. We had to put up all our awnings, lay down all the lawn chairs and put the plants in a protected place, because they kept being blown over. Within a block or two we can see the sand blowing. It's pretty strong, especially the gusts...

It's been really warm, up to 89 degrees the other day. I put up my new awning lights (seashells); they are beautiful. And since the big awning was up, I had to hang some of the windsocks. The windsocks are hung on the awning arms to remind us to DUCK!

The geraniums I trimmed back and brought from home are blooming now...

Peggy and Bill had biscuits and gravy for a bunch of their Eugene neighbors and we were included. Boy, they were really good! Norman, who doesn't usually eat biscuits and gravy, had two helpings. I bought a whole pineapple and took it after peeling and slicing it, of course. It was so very sweet...yum.

Our rent was up on the first, so since we'll only be here a couple more weeks, we've moved back across the street to Boo n Ethel's place. And we have new neighbors here...

Don't you just love 'em

Just so's ya know...we do the mundane things too...read the Sunday paper, did my toenails, got mail ready to go to the g'kids, did the dishes and the laundry, took a nap...

THE Border Fence

Went for a walk into the desert, more than once. It's only a couple blocks away.The area we walk in is full of trails people have taken with their vehicles to park and walk their dogs or unload their quads to ride. It's quiet...full of bunny (jack rabbit) holes and flowering now with low-growing purple verbena and white mallow or desert lily.

At the end of Foothills Road, which we take from the freeway to get to our place, the road enters the Barry Goldwater Firing Range. We're not allowed to enter this area unless we have a permit and make a phone call on the day we want to go in.

At the beginning of the desert road is the equipment to install the border fence. We stopped one day and took a look at the materials. It would be impossible to climb the expanded metal unless you had three Mexicans and a rope...hee-hee. But it is easy to see through when a person stands a few feet away from it.

We've been told conflicting stories about driving out to see the actual fence. One was that everyone was doing it...the other is it is in forbidden territory and you can only get within seven miles. We won't be finding out this year. Not too many days until we leave; not enough time to bother getting the permit this year.

But this is a picture of the fencing material. Standing with me is our neighbor Joel and his dog

Penney.

MCAS...Marine Corp Air Show

Yesterday was the FREE air show on the Marine base. This was our third time going; we really enjoy it. Yesterday morning about 8:30 we left with our neighbor in the pickup, took the 6 mile shortcut through the desert to be one of the first to enter the base. There is always a big crowd. The lines on the two streets used to get to there are always a mile or more long. Then the young Marines drive shuttle buses from the parking lots to the show alongside the airfield.

There are all kinds of aircraft to look at...a B-52 bomber, a huge cargo plane (it has six wheels on each side...whew), a F-16, a F-18 Hornet, a F-5 (made like a Soviet fighter), a Blackhawk helicopter, oh dear, and many more planes and helicopters which are either on display or can be walked through. Some of the planes did flybys for us. A fuel plane did a flyby with a Harrier and a F-18 attached to the fuel lines. Darnit...I missed this demo because I had just sat down in the 'blue boy' and couldn't get up at that moment...lol. But, WE STAYED TO THE VERY END TO SEE MY FAVORITE PLANE, THE HARRIER do a flyby, land and take off like a helicopter and fly sideways.

We also got to watch several stunt planes do all kinds of tricks. Two of my favorite tricks are the hammerhead (they fly straight up until the motor stalls) and when they go straight up and fall end over end. We even got to watch a wingwalker stand on the upper wing of a stunt bi-plane. As the plane did loops and flew upside down, she would wave to us. Now I don't think I would be comfortable doing that even though there was something holding her on.

Oh...then there were all the vendors. I tried to win a t-shirt from an Indian casino nearby, but just got a little purple sack of freebies. And I got some free wings to send to our grandkids. And I had a lady take my picture behind this cardboard cutout with my cellphone (forgot the camera).

KOFA (King of Arizona) Wilderness

I'm creating a new song..."OH, I got desert pin stripes, desert pin stripes on my truck..." That is creosote brush beside the truck. It almost grows in the road in some places scratching the truck on both sides, as we did about 35 miles of 4X4 road through the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful drive! The desert is really greening up. The creosote brush is fully leaved out as are the ocotillo (walking stick cactus). The cholla and another small cactus is budding and will be in bloom soon. The saquaro didn't appear to have any buds, but I did notice some small new arms forming on a few.

This was a stunning view across the King Valley with the Kofa Mountains in the distance. We did some exciting 4-wheeling sections over rocks and up some steep but short climbs. And laughed about the cars that had tried to make the road and found it necessary to turn around. One followed us quite a ways.

We stopped several times and poked around looking at rocks, cactus and a tiny lizard, the only wildlife we saw other than birds. We found a huge (three foot across?) obsidian boulder, which surprised us. Most of the rocks do not look like the volcanic type to us. We're told this whole part of the desert was once a huge sea, and shells or shell fossils can be found. But we found none.

We began our trek at the Dome Valley museum/ghost town. It's the re-created town of Dome Valley that served the hundreds of mines/miners in the area in the late 1800's and early 1900's. At one time it was bigger than Yuma. It was a fun stop and worth the fee. An easy drive for cars over a well-graded dirt road.

This was a great day that began with me waking up grumpy "wanting to go home, NOW".