IN SEARCH OF THE BIG HORN SHEEP

 

PHEEBS WAS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR BIGHORNS THIS MORNING:))

Despite our efforts to find Bighorn Sheep on & around the mountain near us we have come up empty handed each morning.  We did Jeep ourselves around to the far side of TV Antennae mountain today but to no avail.  We did see more mine shafts though.

  

KELLY SURE DID A LOT OF LOOKING FOR BIGHORN SHEEP THIS MORNING 

We did come across one shaft with crumbling timber still shoring up the entrance.  Didn’t have a flashlight with us but using the flash on the camera I was able to follow it in for maybe 300 feet until it abruptly ended around a corner.  No sign of any animals having lived in it & no old Miner’s bones.

THE MINE SHAFT WENT IN ABOUT 300 FEET

 

PIECES OF MINE MACHINERY & OLD ROOF TIMBERS OUTSIDE

 

KELLY WAITS AT THE ENTRANCE

 

KINDA DARK IN HERE AS KELLY HOLLERS, “ARE YA STILL IN THERE”

 

MY CAMERA FLASH LIT UP THE END TUNNEL WALL….NOTHING BUT SILVER & GOLD IN THOSE ROCKS SO FIGURED I’D BETTER GET OUT OF THERE 

We were again back to the rig by noon & dropped the Pheebs off.  Figured we would take us a drive on down to Quartzsite now that the January crowds have departed.  Knocked around a few vendors here & there but really couldn’t get ourselves interested in anything much.  Just one of those cloudy kind of days I guess.  Jeep needed some gas so we filled er up & headed back to Bouse.

BROWSING AT ‘THE GAMBLERS’ IN QUARTZSITE

 

‘THE GAMBLER’ IS WHERE WE SOLD OUR RV FURNITURE A FEW YEARS AGO…..STILL SOME VENDORS LEFT BUT THE CROWDS ARE GONE

Scouted out some more campsites along Plomosa Road.  If it wasn’t for the ‘iffy’ Verizon signal, Plomosa Road is where we would be right now.  We kinda like that area with all it’s greenery.  Being Northerners, we like our trees so we always try to find a tree or two to snuggle up to when searching for a cozy campsite.  Found some nice spots with Mesquite & Palo Verde trees today so might consider a move tomorrow.  We need to take on some fresh water anyway so we could do that in Bouse on the way.  If you don’t hear from me tomorrow night it just means we moved & do not have a Verizon signal.  If that’s the case we may just exit the Bouse area as early as Wednesday morning.

  

CAME ACROSS THESE ORANGES WHILE CHECKING OUT SOME NEW CAMPSITES

Particularly liked a photo on John’s site today, JOHN & BRENDA'S INCREDIBLE JOURNEY.  Check out his ‘dusty horses’ photo at the bottom of the post.  Good example of being in the right place at the right time with a PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE.

 

OH OH……THE ROADS TOO ROUGH & THE FROGS GONNA HEAVE!!

A few new Blog Followers today.  Kurt “Onestep” Cedergreem from ONESTEP OUTDOORS! has joined our travels & we welcome Kurt aboard.  And, a surprise……Kelly’s Son, Ben & his brand new bride, Bri have also joined our travels as Blog Followers 441.  Thanks for your interest guys.  Who would have ever thunk it eh:))

THERE’S A JEEP OUT THERE SOMEWHERE

 

A DINOSAUR SKULL & BIG ROCK FACE

The Last Paragraph:  One of the precarious pitfalls of being a daily Blogger is the fact that whatever transpires during the day generally ends up in the blog at night.  If one has a frustrating day, those frustrations show up in the post without a few days to mellow out a bit & think things through.  This happens to me from time to time & last Friday’s trip up through Lake Havasu City is a good example of that.  Should have waited a few days before posting my thoughts but being a daily Blogger, everything is current.

GOOD THING FOR THAT ORANGE FLAG ON THE JEEP

In retrospect, we should have stayed at the Desert Lily Sanctuary near Desert Center until after the long President’s Week-end & we should have not headed into the Parker/Lake Havasu area during their annual big fireworks due.  We just kinda got off on the wrong foot once we left Parker Friday morning.  It’s true, we are not city people at all but I feel we really didn’t give Lake Havasu City a chance.  Never even set foot out of our vehicles.  Never even stopped for a coffee & a friendly Hello.  Next time we are around your way Lake Havasu City, we’ll stop in & spend some time getting to know you better. 

 

SHE’S STILL LOOKING FOR THOSE BIGHORNS…..

GROANER’S CORNER:((    One Saturday morning, the pastor noticed little Johnny was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. It was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so The pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning Johnny." "Good morning pastor Ron," replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor, what is this?" Johnny asked. "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service." Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Johnny's voice was barely audible when he asked, "Which one, the Wednesday night or Sunday morning service?

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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

FROM A MINE SHAFT TO A FLEA MARKET, AND……… GARFIELD:))

We had noticed a cave/mineshaft in the hillside beneath yesterday’s hike up to the TV repeater station so figured we’d go have us a look see in that dark hole this morning.  Silly me forgot to put on my hiking boots so it was a slip sliding away hike up a lot of loose pebbly stones.

 

The cave turned out be as expected, a mine shaft going straight into the side of the hill/mountain.  I’m guessing it went in for maybe a hundred feet or so & stopped.  These old mine shafts always amaze me when I think of the huge effort, sweat & toil it took those old prospecting miners to sledge & pick their way through solid rock.  And all that loose rock then had be be either carried out or hauled up & out of those mines.  And these old mine shafts are absolutely everywhere out here in the west.

  

THE TUNNEL ENDED AFTER ABOUT A HUNDRED FEET

From the old 49’er miner digs we headed ourselves into the hustle & bustle of downtown Bouse about 3 miles away.  Well, not to much hustle & not to much bustle in little hustleless , bustleless Bouse, but it’s our kind of low key town:))  Kelly spotted a flea market which had Quartzsite written all over it.  Flea markets are not my favorite thing because I am not much of a junk collector, but we did find something I had been looking for ever since we got our Jeep.

NO, THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR…

Jeep people, like Harley owners have always been known for their attitude.  It’s just one of those little foibles of society.  I remembered a cartoon series years ago which featured a cat with a big attitude & his name was Garfield.  This morning, in the sleepy little town of Bouse Arizona, in a dusty & tired looking market of fleas alongside highway 72, I at last found my elusive, & packed full of attitude……… Garfield:))

GROOVY:))

This whole region of Arizona was a huge desert training ground during the Second World War & many of the places we have been the past few years have shown evidence of that.  Remains of abandoned army camps are everywhere with Slab City being one of the best known.  BOUSE was also within the army’s grasp in those days with a secret camp located about 30 miles east of town.  General GEORGE S PATTON roamed this land with his many ‘in training’ tank brigades preparing for overseas action in North Africa & Europe.  Many military artifacts can still be found scattered throughout the desert.  Probably still a few live tank rounds buried here & there too.

 

M60 PATTON TANK

M109 HOWITZER SELF PROPELLED GUN 

The day turned out to be warm & sunny but the winds kicked up swirling a lot of dust into the air giving the horizons a hazy look.  Not a cloud in the sky & it looks like warmer weather is on the way to the whole area.  Still pouring over our maps considering where we will go next.  Really hoping the weather is going to warm up enough for us to get up into Monument Valley next month. 

When we are out Jeeping I generally let Kelly pick the roads we are traveling on.  That way, if we climb a rise with a 3,000 foot drop off on the other side I can at least say to her on the way down…."well, you told me to go this way”!!

Wasn’t satisfied with the resolution in Saturday’s post photos so went back in this morning & made some improvements.

LIKED THE COLORFUL FLOWERS AT THIS BOUSE HOUSE

There are still some Comcast folks having problems accessing our site.  Fran sent us an email this morning with a possible fix for this annoying problem.  “I found out that the problem lies within the services area in the control panel under Administrative tools. click on the services shortcut and scroll down to google update service (gupdate) and google service update (gupdatem) make sure that they both have check marks in the boxes next to them. then in the (gupdate) under the startup type make sure that that is automatic and the (gupdatem) under startup type is manual. exit out of the services window and exit the administrative window and open Internet explorer and surf to your web page and walla it works.”  Thanks Fran:))

  

SATURDAY NIGHT AT OUR HOUSE   

GROANER’S CORNER:((  An airplane pilot had had a particularly difficult flight and a rough landing. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile and give them a ''Thanks for riding Royal Airlines.'' But, in light of his bad landing, the pilot had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally, everyone had gotten off except for this little old lady walking with a cane. She said, ''Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?'' ''Why no, Ma'am,'' replied the pilot,'' ''what is it?'' The little old lady said, ''Did we land or were we shot down?''

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com