A PROBABLE & LOGICAL ANSWER TO OUR UFO SIGHTING…AND WE HAD A VISITOR TODAY:))

SUNRISE AT OUR CAMPSITE THIS MORNING

By golly if we didn’t have to crack on some heat in the night then keep it going on & off till the sun was up.  These desert night’s can become mighty frosty indeed.  Computer said we were at 38F.  We were happy to feel the warmth of old Sols rays when he finally lumbered up & over some tall rock formations just east of us.

Couple things about our Unidentified Flying Object sighting Friday night over the Salton Sea.  Have seen lots of meteorites over the years & this is not what we saw.  No it was not the Moon or any Planets.  Nor was it any of Earth’s orbiting satellites including the International Space Station.  Have seen those & know what they look like.  Yes there is the possibility of some kind of advanced military aircraft.  Nobody knows for sure just what the American Air Force is working on at any given time or what they are flying in the Nations skies.  Because we couldn’t positively identify it the term UFO applies to our sighting. (Unidentified Flying Object)  Thanks to mgypsy97 for the MUFON website.  Mufon means, ‘Mutual Unidentified Flying Object Network’.  I will definitely fill out a Mufon ‘report a sighting’ form & submit it.

UPDATE: I wrote the above paragraph Sunday morning……then we received an email & a possible explanation to our UFO sighting.  One of our faithful blog readers Daniel writes from California….Hi Al, What you saw, what many of us in California saw was a launch of the Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg.  (The Atlas V is the largest rocket launch on the west coast.)  The bluish cone was the last of the sun's rays reflecting off the exhaust spray.  As I watched it from Santa Barbara I thought, "I should have emailed the Bayfield Bunch to be on the lookout."I have seen three of these when I lived in  Phoenix.  I'll email you when the next launch goes off.  Atlas V Launches NROL-35 Out Of Vandenberg…..Atlas V Rocket With Top Secret Satellite Payload.  Al here again…..I’ve seen video footage of rocket launches & the plumes of light emitted from the engines & stage separations & I would say that is probably what we did indeed see.  The timing was right as was the rockets position in the sky from where we saw it.  Daaaarrrrrnnnnn, & here after 70 years I had thought for sure I had seen my very first UFO which technically I did of course but it just wasn’t what I had hoped it to be.  But no matter I will keep looking up because I know they’re out there & for sure we are not along in this Universe……….  

 

Had ourselves a nice walk up to the entrance of the 660,000 acre KOFA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE this morning.   Upon our return to the rig Pheebs & I hiked up a tall hill near where we’re parked & it wasn’t the first time I had been to the top of that particular hill.  In 2010 we were parked in this same area with the original Bayfield Bunch gang Max, Checkers, & Cora. (Motormouse)  Looking back in my blog archives I see it was a Wednesday afternoon on February 10th when I hiked up that same hill with our beloved pure bred Boarder Collie Checkers.  Checks was always up for a good hike & I thought of her this morning as I stood atop that hill with Pheebe.  The very same spot I had once stood with Checkers nearly 5 years ago.

 

THIS HILL TO THE LEFT THAT PHEEBS & WALKED UP THIS MORNING IS THE SAME HILL I WALKED UP WITH CHECKERS NEARLY 5 YEARS AGO

THIS IS CHECKERS & I HEADING UP THAT HILL IN FEBRUARY OF 2010

AND THIS IS PHEEBS & I ATOP THE SAME HILL TODAY

 

THE PILE OF STONES ATOP THE HILL

PHEEBS IS LOOKING DOWN AT KELLY STANDING BESIDE THE RIG’S DRIVERS DOOR

  

I PLACE A STONE IN MEMORY OF CHECKERS & NOW CALL THIS ‘CHECKERS HILL’

YOU CAN SEE WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY WE ARE ALL ALONE OUT HERE

Nice to have our coach’s power system working properly again.  With our re-installed & repaired inverter all plugs are live & functioning, batteries are charging normally, & all our solar & inverters monitors are once again providing all the correct information.  It’s been a long stressful time from the night in Williston North Dakota in early October we first noticed we had some kind of big inverter problem.  Total repairs came in at over $500 but with 2 new boards in the inverter now it should be like new & yes there is a 90 day warranty on both boards.  Don, our good friend & long time blog reader from Brandon Manitoba wondered if the same gravel road that smashed up our Jeep’s lights in southern Saskatchewan could have damaged our inverter but no our inverter is totally sealed in a bin with no outside access unless the bin door is unlocked & opened.

 

Someone mentioned about pop-ads appearing on my Blogsite.  When I click it I don’t see anything.  ED wrote: “Firefox with AdBlock Plus does not show any pop up ads on Al's blog nor do I get any on other blogs. I do get some on other websites, not blogs, but not nearly as many as without AdBlock Plus.

QUARTZSITE AZ LIES JUST UP THAT VALLEY TO THE RIGHT OF THOSE MOUNTAINS

Reader BobM in a comment asks, “any plans to get Pheebs a little brother or sister”?  No, no active plans but that’s not saying we wouldn’t consider it if circumstances led us down that path.  I can assure you having one dog is much easier than having 3 dogs like we originally had when we started out on our RV Snow Bird lifestyle.

PHEEBS STARTS BACK DOWN THE HILL

Jim & Rene from live. work. dream. just traded in their 7 year old Arctic Fox 5th wheel for a new one.  For any of you satellite ‘do-it-yourselfers’ out here you might want to read Jim’s latest post on transferring and re-installing their large satellite dish.  Also his previous informative post on the do’s & don’ts of trading RV’s also serves as another good read for newbies as well as seasoned travelers as well.  We have met Jim & Renee several times over the years in our travels.

 

<<< PHEEBS HAS GROWN A WEE BIT LONG FOR HER BED

As luck would have it we’re camped only about 10 miles from Ivan (Roadtrip 2014).  Of course we didn’t know that till Ivan mentioned in a comment where he was.  Dashed him off an email this morning giving him our location & sure enough Ivan rolled up to our campsite a couple hours later.  Last time we had seen him was January 2012 when Kelly & I had joined Ivan & Wandering Willy boondocked just west of Bouse for a few days.  It was good to see Ivan today.  Being a bit familiar with this Kofa Mountain area now we know where there is some nice hiking & points of interest.  Asked Ivan if he was interested in seeing a couple spots nearby & of course he was.  Kelly held down the Fort while Ivan, Pheebs, & I headed off in the Jeep to check out some water holes in the mountains called ‘Tanks’.  Ivan was anxious to try out his recently purchased new GoPro camera.

 

IVAN SHOWS US SOME GOPRO FOOTAGE THAT HAILEY TOOK WITH THE GOPRO CAMERA ATTACHED TO HER

IVAN HANGS ON AS WE MAKE OUR WAY ALONG A ROUGH & TUMBLE JEEP ROAD THROUGH THE DESERT

Of course the Jeep road was pretty choppy in spots but 20 minutes after leaving the rig we arrived at Horseshoe Tank.  This is a an area Kelly & I & Pheebs scouted out the last time we were boondocked here in the Kofas last winter.  We hiked up to the first water tank (water hole) & just far enough further for me to point out a higher tank.  

ARRIVING AT THE HORSESHOE WATER TANK (WATER HOLE)

IVAN CHECKS OUT A CRITTER CAM I POINTED OUT TO HIM…CAN YOU SEE IT??

STOPPING TO SECURE HIS GOPRO CAM ON THE END OF A POLE

HI-HO HI-HO IT’S OFF TO THE NEXT CANYON WE GO

From the Horseshoe Tank we Jeeped a quarter mile over to our second hike where we were able to check out a shallow cave with nearly a dozen Morteros (Indian seed grinding holes)  From there we followed a wash through some gnarly brambles in spots to a second set of waterholes that Kelly & I had been to last winter.  I have forgotten the name of this water hole.  Really, really, nice spot.  I was happy to see this area again for the second time & Ivan of course was happy to see it for the first time.  All & all we had a great couple hours & it was especially nice for me to have something to do instead of just idly sitting around all afternoon doing about the square root of nothing.  Ivan’s a Corner Gas fan as well so we had ourselves some good laughs remembering different episodes of the show.  Ivan & Brent Butt the leading character, writer, & producer on Corner Gas come from the same home town & Ivan actually met Brett one time.  Cool:))

ARRIVING AT THE SECOND TANK

 

REFLECTIONS IN A WATER HOLE

IVAN (REFLECTED IN THE POOL) TAKING A PICTURE OF ME TAKING A PICTURE OF HIM >>>

Sun was beginning to set in the west by the time we got back to the rig.  Chatted for awhile & as the Sun sank lower so did the temperature & it was time for Ivan to head back to his rig & the Hailey cat.  It was great to see Ivan today & who knows if & when we will ever cross paths again.  It is the way of the RV lifestyle.

IT WAS TIME TO HEAD BACK TO THE JEEP

A FINAL CHAT

AND IVAN DRIVES OFF INTO THE SUNSET

 <<< ANOTHER GOOD DAY FOR THE BUNCH:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( My friend's husband is always telling her that housekeeping would be a snap if only she would organize her time better. Recently he had a chance to put his theory into practice while his wife was away.
When I popped in one evening to see how he was managing, he crowed, "I made a cake, frosted it, washed the kitchen windows, cleaned all the cupboards, scrubbed the kitchen floor, walls and ceiling and even had a bath."
I was about to concede that perhaps he was a better manager than his wife, when he added sheepishly, "When I was making the chocolate frosting, I forgot to turn off the mixer before taking the beaters out of the bowl, so I had no choice but to do all the rest."

A MYSTERIOUS UFO SIGHTING, OUR INVERTER IS RE-INSTALLED, & WE’RE BACK IN THE KOFA MOUNTAINS

LOOKING SOUTH ALONG THE SALTON SEA SHORELINE EARLY THIS MORNING

It was while my post was publishing Friday night that Kelly happened to look our door’s window & said, “there’s something up in the sky”.  I didn’t react right away until she said it again & I saw her looking up & pointing.  Got up from the dining room table & went over to the door.  Peering out I could see what I at first thought was a puff of cloud but it didn’t make sense because skies had cleared & the night sky was filled with stars.  I opened the door & looked again.  I knew instantly this was not something I had ever seen before.  It was moving slowly over the Salton Sea from north to south.  Maybe a few thousand feet up hard to tell.  What I saw for maybe 4 seconds was a large mass of light in a semi-circle.  Kind of like the letter C with the light shining from the center out through the open part of the C & in the direction the object was traveling.  I also colors in the seemingly projected light with a bright ball of red light in the center.  I turned to Kelly & hollered, “grab my camera” which she did but as I quickly turned back the object had totally vanished from the sky.  I’ve seen airplane landing lights at night & this didn’t look like that.  Also no blinking lights that would also suggest an aircraft & this object emitted no sound.  Now had I been the only one to see this & the fact I’m reading a UFO book at the moment I could understand people scoffing at me but the fact Kelly was the first to see this unidentified object in the night sky removes the scoffs & makes this sighting credible…..whatever it was.

A PREDAWN MOON HIGH OVERHEAD

Despite a busy main line double train line about half a mile to the east the rumbling train sounds in the night really didn’t bother us much.  No crossings nearby so no whistle blowing.  When I stepped out of the coach this morning around 5 I could hear the gentle swish of waves lapping on the shore of the Salton See about 500 yards to the west of us.  So nice to again see the long thin chainlike line of lights along the far shoreline.  Salton City lit up like a stretched beacon in the night.

A NEIGHBORING 5TH WHEEL WITH SOLAR PANELS & SATELLITE DISH UP SILHOUETTED IN THE MORNING AIR

SALTON CITY IN EARLY MORNING’S GLOW

 

A TRAIN LUMBERS ALONG BEHIND OUR RIG & I REALLY LIKE THE AERODYNAMIC NOSE ON THIS 5TH WHEEL (SAME ONE AS SILHOUETTE)

STEAMY THERMAL POWER PLANTS CLUSTER AROUND THE SOUTH END OF THE SALTON SEA

SOUTHBOUND DOWN HIGHWAY 111 HEADING STRAIGHT FOR THE SEA ITSELF

An early morning southbound drive rolled us into Niland around 8:20.  From there we bumped our way a couple miles east out to Slab City & Solar Mike’s.  He was just finishing a morning coffee as we pulled in.  Always a nice fellow to talk to.  Wasn’t long he had our repaired inverter out of it’s shipping box.  Gary, one of Mike’s 2 helpers immediately got to work removing the loaner inverter Mike had put in for us a couple weeks ago.  Didn’t take them long & our inverter was back in the coach up & running.  Mike spent some time with us going over the inverter’s remote control panel & he made sure all the settings were correct.  A final check & all systems were go.  We settled up with Mike, had ourselves a wee chat, & we were on our way.  If nothing goes wrong with our solar set-up between now & eternity this just may very well have been our last trip to Slab City.  Kinda sad in a way because we have had some good memories there over the years……….

^{SOLAR MIKE EXPLAINS A FEW THINGS TO KELLY BECAUSE KELLY’S BRAIN IS MORE BETTER AT RETAINING INFORMATION THAN MY BRAIN IS}

  

GARY REMOVES THE LOANER INVERTER WHILE MIKE DOUBLE CHECKS THE RE-INSTALLATION OF OUR MAGNUM INVERTER

GARY, SOLAR MIKE, KELLY, & CHRIS…CHRIS INSTALLED THE SOLAR PANELS ON OUR CLASS C WINNEBAGO LAST WINTER

Heading back into Niland we still hadn’t decided where we wanted to go next.  Not unusual for us.  I was leaning towards heading on to Borrego Springs & Kelly was leaning towards heading back towards the Kofa Mountains south of Quartzsite.  We finally reached a compromise.  We turned right onto highway 111 in Niland & headed for Arizona’s Kofa Mountains.  Rather than just spend 3 days in Borrego we figured it would be better to come back in possibly late January or February when we can spend more time in one of our favorite areas.  Besides it’s been well over a year since I’ve made my annual trek up Ghost Mountain.

NORTHBOUND ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE SALTON SEA I LOOKED BACK WONDERING IF THAT DISTANT MOUNTAIN MIGHT BE IN MEXICO

It was a nice day with big puffy white clouds in a deep blue western sky.  We retraced the previous day’s journey north to the little Mexican flavored town of Mecca whereupon we hung a right & headed back through Box Canyon.  Wasn’t long & we could see white objects moving in a single line across the distant landscape.  Trucks on Interstate 10 far off to our left.  Box Canyon Road & I-10 run parallel for quite way before slowly merging at the interchange to Joshua Tree National Park.  It was here we once again climbed aboard I-10 only this time heading east.

HEADING BACK THROUGH BOX CANYON

WE FINALLY SEE WHITE 18 WHEELER TRUCK TRAILERS FAR OFF MOVING ALONG I-10

STRAIGHT THROUGH IS JOSHUA TREE BUT AT THE TOP OF THAT RISE WE SWING EAST ONTO THE INTERSTATE

NICE CLOUD PATTERNS ON THIS MOUNTAIN RANGE

EASTBOUND ON I-10 CROSSING OVER THE DOME ROCK MOUNTAINS ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF QUARTZSITE

An hour & something later we were in Quartzsite, picked up some fuel & headed south out of town down highway 95.  Oh how I have always loved the looks of those jagged Kofa Mountains right from the first time we ever saw them back in early 2007 I think it was.   After our time spent exploring around them last winter they now hold a special place in my heart.  We made us some great memories bumping our way through & around those mountains late last December & again in February I think it might have been.    

ONE OF MY KOFA MOUNTAIN FILE PHOTOS…WE HAVE ACTUALLY JEEPED OUR WAY AROUND, THROUGH, & TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THOSE MAJESTIC PEAKS

Roads were rough & washboardy coming in off the highway.  The roads seem worse this year than last.  We were surprised not to find anyone around anywhere.  Figured we would at least see half a dozen rigs scattered about but nothing.  I think we are the only ones camped out tonight in the Kofa Mountains.  Of course that suits us just fine & we will enjoy our quiet solitude nestled up against the mountains just fine.

OUR SPOT FOR THE NIGHT & WE’RE THE ONLY ONES HERE…NOW HOW NICE IS THAT EH:))

 

THE YELLOWISH ORANGE TINGE IS FROM THE LATE AFTERNOON SUN

Happy hearts over at Karen & Steve's place with the arrival of a new little cutie patootie fur ball.  A great companion for Finney & this little fellow just might even end up with the name Binney.  Always so nice when folks are able to reach out & help give a poor little animal a good home.

KOFA MOUNTAINS WITH PALM CANYON IN THAT SHADED AREA FAR RIGHT

Pheebs & stepped out into the inky black blackness tonight around 8.  So dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face.  Brilliant stars from mountain top to mountain top.  A glow on the southwestern horizon showed me in which direction Yuma was hiding.  Quartzsite was a much fainter smudge to the north.  And a very faint glow low in the east can only be the far distant lights of the great megapollis known as Phoenix.

CRUISING ALONG JUST ENJOY THE DAY

And to add one more thing to our unusual sighting last night over the Salton Sea……At Solar Mike’s today while I was telling a fella about our sighting Friday night Gary, the fellow installing our inverter suddenly turned around & said, “Hey I saw that too”.  Gary had been outside his rig when he spotted the strange object slightly west of his location moving in a slow southerly direction.  Seeing it the same time we did he watched it for about 30 seconds saying it was the strangest thing he ever saw.  His description of it was the same as mine.  He said all of a sudden it just up & disappeared & that was it.  So that’s 3 of us who saw it now.  Strange happenings out here the night skies!!

NOT EXACTLY WHAT WE SAW OVER THE SALTON SEA  BUT IT’S LEANING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. He wrote:  I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?  An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who said, "I've been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I've never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I've never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I've never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you're welcome to stay here, too.