THE GOLD MINING MOUNTAINSThe Yuma weatherman said we had a rain storm coming in from the Pacific last night & our computer weather map confirmed a big green rain monster heading our way. We battened down the hatches, put the bicycles under the slides, put the BB-Q away, folded up the tables & covered the chairs. We were ready!! About 9 p.m. last night the big rain hit.......all 25 drops of it!! That was about all we got & it was over. Checked the weather map again & saw the green blob of water had veered south of us into Mexico. Better them than us!!
DUELING NIKONSWe had earlier resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be spending all of Christmas Day inside confined to barracks with pounding rains outside, so when I let the little Motormouse out this morning around 5 a.m. & saw all the stars overhead I knew we had a clear sky & a happy day ahead. Didn't take us long to get the boots & paws on the ground for our morning walk later.
Soaked up some solar until about 10 & then hopped in the car & headed out in search once again for the American Girl Mine. (yes, that's really the mine's name) With the excellent directions & co-ordinates it only took us about 15 minutes after leaving the rig to locate the mine.........or, I should say, where the mine used to be!! First located Vitrefax & Bluebird Hills. http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/jan/kyanite.html The American Girl Mine was located to the north of Vitrefax Hill & immediately east of Bluebird Hill. The mine was closed in the 90's & the land completely reclaimed. Nothing there now except a completely filled in large flat area. I have photos of that in to-day's web album.
THIS IS THE FORMER SITE OF THE AMERICAN GIRL MINE
Once we determined where the American Girl Mine had been we spent the rest of our time scrambling around on & around Bluebird Hill looking at lots of rocks. The hill has been heavily mined but there are still lots of interesting rocks & formations to look at. Besides, this is a big gold mining area so one never knows when one will stumble over a 500 pound gold nugget or two. The weather was great with a warm sun & brisk winds as we scrambled around in the rocks just totally enjoying the day. Felt great to be getting some much needed exercise too. My kinda day again:)) 
SHE'S QUITE THE LITTLE ROCK SCROUNGER
We were back to the rig by 2 & spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing & enjoying our stress free Christmas day. Kelly cracked open some rocks with a hammer & I cracked open a box of Pistachio nuts. Worked on the blog & pictures while Kelly whooped up a Christmas turkey dinner with an applewood smoked turkey breast from Wally-World. Real potatoes with creamed corn & a peanut butter sandwich for dessert. Yesssssirrrr, my kinda Christmas alright. No fuss, no muss, no stress, no chaos & of course by the end of the day.................no gold either. But, lotsa pictures:)) 
YEP, THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE HILLS ALRIGHT......:))
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
