Lizard eggshells?

When we were out digging for gold we kept finding these little eggshells barely the size of a peanut.  They were all cracked and if you touch them they want to crumble.  We were digging in a wash and at first I thought we were finding them just in the top layer of soil under a creosote bush.  That would make sense since critters like to make homes in the dirt under these bushes but we kept finding them no matter how far in we dug.   The shells were so small and so abundant I guessed they might be from a lizard nest.  That is what I keep telling myself since I don't want it to be snake or scorpion eggs but who knows.  

I also found a rock with a little fossil in it.  The white stripe in the middle is actually a skeleton of some small creature like a centipede.  You might have to click on the picture to see it better.  

Just weird things you find out digging.  

We might not be digging for awhile now that it has rained some.  We will have to see how wet the dirt got but there is another band of rain coming this week and if we get any of that we will be done digging for sure for a month or so.  
 

More Minnsota

While driving to various friends and relatives I got to see lots of wildlife.  I saw lots of turkeys and they can move fast when they want to get away from you.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of the more than two dozen that crossed the road in front of me.  It was hilarious to watch because they followed right behind each other single file.  I saw dead porcupines on the road and a live coyote that insisted on crossing the road in front of me.  An eagle rose out of the ditch and almost hit the windshield in his effort to skeedaddle.  I thought I only had to worry about deer and traffic.

At one friends house it snowed so I had to get a picture.  It's nice to have a reminder of why we left Minnesota.  I love the lake view but it comes at a cold price.  We have been starting to look for a house somewhere warm like Arizona.  Prices are skyrocketing so we aren't sure now when we will be able to afford something decent.  It's surprising because we are looking at very small places like 1200 to 1400 sq.ft. with a very small yard.  We are seeing prices go up by as much as $50,000 or more since we first started to look last year.
 

St Paul, MN Cathedral

 Yeah! I have good internet so I can put more than two pictures up.   I visited relatives in Minnesota and got a chance to walk through the Cathedral in St. Paul.  It is beautiful with lots of alcoves full of statues and stained glass.  It was built in the beginning of the 20th century and my great grandfather was involved in the construction.  I was in this cathedral when I was young but didn't remember much from that visit.  I have to say I have been to the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and I found that cathedral a very sterile and uninteresting building.  St. Paul's cathedral is a much more interesting and beautiful church.  

I flew to Minnesota while Jim stayed in Yuma.  I had a great visit and got to see lots of relatives and a few friends that I haven't seen in quite awhile.   Flying is kind of a chore with having to wear a mask from the minute you step into the airport until after you collect your luggage and leave the building at your destination.  It was a little "cool" in Minnesota being the end of October and fall colors were all but done.  I saw a little snow and scraped a little ice off the windshield.  It was a good reminder of why I prefer winter in the southwest!  

Before and After Monsoons

 I took the top picture when we first got to Clay Springs.  It was June and the temps were in the 90's.  It was hot and very dry.  We thought we would be up in the cool mountains riding trails in a national forest.  We thought we would at least see some green in the forest but they had had a very dry year.  So everything was very brown and dead looking and crunchy.  There had been no new spring growth because there had been no snow or rain to give plants some moisture.

After it started raining after fourth of July it was amazing to see the change.  I took the bottom picture in August and everything was so green and lush it was hard to believe the difference.  Water can do amazing things and it is wonderful how nature can bounce back.

We got to Yuma a week ago and found large weeds growing in the lot we rent.  Usually the owners beat us down here and have the lot cleaned up but we got here first.  They had had enough rain in Yuma that the weeds grew.  There are leaves on the ocotillo bushes so it must have rained enough for them to sprout.  The hummingbirds were buzzing around our windows soon after we got settled so Jim put up the post I hang my feeders on and I got to work making sugar water for them.  I have hummingbirds, finches and a verdin (a small yellow headed bird) all trying to get at the feeders.  

Its nice to be back in Yuma for the winter and the weather is very nice now with only one or two 90 degree days to put up with and then its 80's for awhile.

Ant Lions

 I am fascinated by these insects called ant lions.  They make these tiny funnel shaped traps in sandy, shady spots.  We had these traps by one of the trees on our RV site.   The ant lion waits at the bottom of the trap for ant to fall in and become its prey.  I've watched an ant fall in and they cannot get back out.  They try to climb up the side of the funnel but they just slide back down on the loose sand.  These funnels are only an inch or so wide and only an inch or so deep but they work well for trapping ants.  I couldn't feel sorry for the ants because they were invading my hummingbird feeder so I was rooting for the ant lion.

We are now in Quartzsite and its still in the mid 90's during the day but it cools off into the low 70's high 60's at night.  We have been going out gold prospecting at 5:30 in the morning while its still dark so we can get set up and ready to run dirt before the sun rises and it gets hot.  Now that its October some snow birds are starting to come in to the park.  We are also seeing a lot more RV's on the highway heading to Yuma or Phoenix or Tuscon for the winter.  

All the Pretty Horses

 

 We really enjoyed watching the wild horses.  They know where to eat and drink and find shade.  They always looked so much happier than the ones penned up in small fields waiting for their owners to throw them some hay.  The wild ones always have something to graze but the "tame" ones have nothing left to graze on in their fenced yards.  

The weather was very nice in Clay Springs most of the summer.    Temps were mostly in the 80's which is very nice for a summer in Arizona.  When we left Clay Springs we stopped for a few days in Williams by the Grand Canyon.  The temps were nice in Williams.  It would be a nice place to stay in the summer.  Lots of 4wheeling to do in the area and you can go all the way to the Grand Canyon if you want.

We are in Quartzsite now and its in the 90's and mid 70's at night so a little too warm.  We have been out gold prospecting and have found a little so that keeps us motivated.  Not many people here, its too early for snow birds.  Our entertainment is going to the Dairy Queen and people watch.  Its a truck stop and also has a Subway so its a hub of activity.  Its probably the busiest place in Quartzsite this time of year.  

 

Northeast of Clay Springs

 Once the monsoon rains came the whole forest greened up and flowers of every kind were blooming.  Lots of Orange Mallow flowers and lots of different yellows, reds, purples.  Everyone said it was the greenest and prettiest it's been in years.  One old timer from the area said "It's so green it hurts your eyes".   All of the critters are happy with so much to eat and lots of water holes full of water.  

This pronghorn was all by himself.  Earlier in the year we saw two of them together all the time.  Not sure what to make of him being all alone.  

We said goodbye to Clay Springs and are on our way to Quartzsite for a month of gold mining.  It's still hot there so we will only be able to go out early in the mornings for a short time.  We spent a few days in Williams, Arizona by the Grand Canyon.  Friends were staying there so we stopped and visited with them.  It is nice and cool most of the summer in Williams, like Clay Springs, because of the altitude.  

We are now in Kingman, Arizona for a few days starting to adjust to the heat.  We love the Kingman Airport Cafe for breakfast so we had to get at least one breakfast while we are here.  

Alpine Area

 We took advantage of having a loaner car while our truck was in the shop and took a day trip.  We went to Alpine, Az.  Alpine is a small town - very small -- with a few RV parks and a cafe, a few cabins and summer cottages.  It's at 8000 feet so its nice and cool in the summer.  We thought we would check it out as a possible summer getaway place.  We decided it was a little too remote but it was a very pretty area.

We went a little farther - almost to the New Mexico border and found a pretty lake.  You can see the egrets and herons fishing in it.  We saw quite a few folks fishing along shore and from boats and canoes.   We stopped at another small reservoir and I got pictures of this hummingbird moth.  I've never seen one with so much color to it.  

Water Tanks

 At the height of the drought there was no water within the forest by us for a good ten square miles.  The only water available was water troughs set up by ranchers for their cattle grazing in the forest.  The wild horses weren't close to most of those tanks so a group of horse lovers were hauling water to tanks they set up for the horses.  The owner of our RV park was filling the tank in the top picture which holds 500 gallons and hauling it into the forest to several troughs like the one in the bottom picture almost everyday for several weeks.   He was one of many doing this as part of the Equine Well Being Rescue.   They pay for the water and drive their own vehicles to get the water into the forest.  They don't get any kind of reimbursement.

We rode out there one time just to see how many horses were enjoying the water.  There were several big herds not too far from the water.  The effort saved them and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the monsoons started.  The rain filled up all the catch basins, creeks and any other low spots that would hold water.  Now the forest is green with flowers of every kind blooming.  

  

Wild Horses

 We see lots of wild horses out here in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.  We have seen small family groups like this one.  We have also seen as many as two dozen or more hanging out together.  Sometimes they are even mixed with cattle.  The forest is full of cattle because the ranchers are awarded grazing rights.  It doesn't seem to bother the horses or even the elk that the cattle are in the same area.   The horses all look healthy and the little ones are very cute.

Now that it has rained and rained and rained there is green grass everywhere for all the animals to graze.  There is also water in ponds and puddles and catch basins all over the forest.  It is so good to see everything green and growing with plenty of water for all the critters to drink.

We have been living with rental cars all summer because our truck has been in the shop waiting on parts.  We will finally get it back this week but it has been frustrating to not be able to get something fixed because everything is on back order.  Even if we wanted to buy a new truck we have looked and there is nothing new available.  I guess we should be grateful that we are getting our truck back at all.

National Forest Critters

If you look at the top picture you will see a bear standing next to the tree.  He is covered by some branches but you can see his lighter colored snout.  He came out of the woods and spotted us.  We were sitting a little ways away from a water tank filled with water.  At the time that was the only water in the area because of the drought so the animals were coming to the tank to get a drink.  We figured if we sat quietly eventually something would come in for a drink.  The bear saw us and then tried hiding behind the tree.  He then peeked at us from around the tree.  It was cute but we made sure we were ready to hop in the 4wheeler and get out quickly if he got aggressive.  We knew he must be pretty thirsty so we left and hoped he got his drink.  

The mule deer are plentiful and we always see a few every time we go out.  Now that the drought is over we can't sit by a water tank and wait for the critters to come to us.  We have to ride around and seek them out.  We have seen several small herds of elk.  They are always too fast to get pictures but I will keep trying.  We have seen turkeys and coyotes.  We are seeing more coyotes now that there are more rabbits hopping around the forest.  The forest is very green now after almost 7 inches of rain.  We now know what the monsoon season is like and are hoping it is over soon.

  

Covered Bridge

 The little town of Pinedale close to where we are staying has this covered bridge on the one road through town.  It is the only covered bridge in Arizona.  There was a plaque near the bridge that explained it was built as part of the bicentennial celebration.  So it isn't as old as you might think.  You can drive through with a car but we opted not to try our truck although it probably would have fit.  

It had been so dry here and with forest fires starting all over the place they finally closed the forest.   Most of the national forests in Arizona were closed over 4th of July which put a damper on some of the tourism.   Now it has rained enough that they have reopened some of them.  Ours is open again but the rain has been spotty.  There are areas where the rain washed lots of debris on some forest roads.  Other areas not far from us still haven't gotten any rain and the fire danger is still extreme.  There is rain in the forecast every day so hopefully the rain will hit where it is needed.  

Fire Towers

 We took a 4 wheeler trip to see the fire towers in the area.  The picture on top is of the fire tower at Juniper Ridge.  That is as close as we got to it.  The road got really rough and narrow and we were traveling alone so we didn't want to chance anything happening to us with no help close by our location.  The fire tower at Deer Springs is easier to get to even though part of the road is badly rutted.  There is a lady that is stationed there and she will answer questions but she can't come down while she is working and they don't allow anyone except authorized personnel up in the tower.  

The tower she was in was the oldest one we have seen that is still being used.  It was not very modern at all.  We were told the other one at Juniper Springs is much bigger and nicer.  The fire danger is so high now that everyone is on high alert watching for fires to start.  They have closed all of the national forests in Arizona - so we have been told-- to all public activity, no campiing, hiking, atving, so we are done 4wheeling for awhile.   

Views from the Mogollon Rim

 

We have been riding the forest service roads and trails in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.  The Mogollon Rim is a kind of ridge and there are many good views from there.  There is a trail named the 300 that follows the rim and is along the border of Apache reservation and public forest land.  You need a permit to camp or fish on the reservation otherwise there is no trespassing allowed.  We have seen lots of wildlife on our rides.  They didn't get much snow this winter or rain in the spring so nothing has really greened up.  Its a good thing the Ponderosa Pines and Juniper needles are always green or everything would be brown.  

We have been doing a lot of riding being afraid that the views would be gone because of all the smoke from all the fires that are going.  So far we haven't had any smoke at the campground and the haze has been in the far, far distance.  We did have one scare with a fire starting twenty miles west of us.  They had to close the highway all the way up to where we are staying.  Our truck was in for repair so if we would have had to evacuate we would have had to throw what we could in our rented car and leave.  Thankfully, the fire moved north instead of toward us and they reopened the highway.   It is supposed to start raining this week which if it really does should reduce the fire threat.  The fire danger right now is so high that they have closed the forest to all activity.

Our Summer Home

 We are enjoying our stay up in the mountains of Arizona for the summer.  We are in a small campground and our site backs up to the national forest.  We set up our chairs in the shade overlooking the forest.  So far we have seen cows and coyotes.  The cows are gone now after having finished grazing on what little grass there was.  They were rounded up and moved to greener pastures.  There isn't much green here with it being the driest here in years.  We are hoping to see some rain soon with the start of the monsoon season but everyone is skeptical that we will get much moisture.

We have been out 4wheeling in the forest.  We can ride right from the park and there are many miles of roads and trails to explore.  We have been checking out areas with water tanks.  The tanks are for the cows that graze out in the forest but elk, deer and wild horses use them also.  Our best chance to see and get pictures of wildlife is close to these tanks.  

Cemeteries and Memorials

 Out by the old Vulture Mine west of Wickenburg is  the cemetery for the people that lived and worked out by the mine.  It had some really old graves from the 1800's.  One section was for children -- very sad how many of them died so young but it was a tough way of life.  

When we left Quartzsite and headed toward Wickenburg we made a stop in the little town of Salome.   There isn't a lot to see in this town - one good bar/restarurant and a few RV parks that cater to snow birds.  So I thought it was interesting that they had this memorial in town.  It is a piece of melted steel from one of the two towers of the World Trade Building.  It would be interesting to know the story of how it got here in the middle of nowhere Arizona.   

Another Old Mine

 While we were in Wickenburg we took one ride out into the desert.  It was a nice road and a beautiful day.  We went as far as this old mine.  There is another mine along this road but we opted to turn around at this point.  We never ride too many miles in one trip or at least we try not to because the farther you go the farther you have to come back.  There are several other roads/trails you can take by leaving right from the campground.  Wickenburg is a great town to visit but there is a lot of traffic that comes through there because two main highways come together right at the start of downtown.  

We left Wickenburg and got through Phoenix early on a Sunday morning so the six lanes of freeway traffic was fairly light.  We drove up to our summer destination in the White Mountains.  The road we took was good but you still go up and down some pretty good hills with some 6 percent grades.  This road gets heavy traffic on the weekends.   Many folks from the Phoenix area come up to the mountains in the summer to escape the heat.  So far we have to agree the mountains are much cooler.  While Yuma is hitting the 100 degree mark we have enjoyed 70's and low 80's.  

Wickenburg Museum

 

 While we were in Wickenburg we visited the museum in town.  We have been before and they always have a nice collection of art.  They were featuring women artists that specialized in western themes.  Most of the art was for sale.  We liked the picture I have here but a little too spendy for us.  The sculpture on display was a Remington.   They have a few other Remingtons but most of what was on display was the featured womens art.  The basement has the museum artifacts.  They have recreated a few of the town's buildings and stuffed them with antiques.

Wickenburg is a fun little western town to visit.  There is a guided tour you can take if you want to pay.   We saw some folks in golf cars being ridden around town taking the tour.  They would stop at one of the old buildings downtown and someone in old time costume would give a little spiel about the history of the building and the people that were noteworthy.  If your in need of a saddle or cowboy hat, etc.  You can find it here.

Baby Quail

 You might have to click on the pictures to see the babies.  Our RV site in Wickenburg was up against the backside of the park.  There was a mulberry tree with ripe fruit right next to us and it attracted all kinds of birds including these quail.  If you look at the little ones closely you can see the start of their little crowns of feathers on top of their heads.  The babies were fun to watch.  Mom would get a nice berry and one of the babies would come and snatch it from her.  What really amazed us was that when they were startled and started to run for cover they could actually fly.  You wouldn't think they have enough feathers to make flight possible. 

We enjoyed our time in Wickenburg.  We took one ATV ride which was nice.   We walked up town on the nice walkway they have put in to get across the Hassayampa River.  The river is dry most of the year but it does run underground.  What is hilarious is your looking down from the walkway on the bridge at the dry riverbed below and they have "no fishing from bridge" signs.

Quartzsite Gold & Lead

 

Our big haul from our gold mining in Quartzsite is what you see in the blue pan.  Small amount but very pretty.  Now if only what's in the other picture was gold.  It is all the lead I have found with my metal detector.  The detector can tell you if its iron or non iron meaning lead and/or gold.  It cant tell the difference between lead and gold.  I have watched U tube videos of how to use my metal detector and if you get good enough you can tell by the slight difference in the sound it makes.  I think I will be digging up a lot more lead before I get that good.

We packed up and left Quartzsite just as it was starting to get really warm.  The weather for the month of April was very nice while we were there.  We still had to go out early in the morning to gold prospect but it wasn't beastly hot by 9am so that was nice.   Now we are in Wickenburg which is about 90 miles east of Quartzsite and closer to Phoenix.  It is a little cooler here because it is at a little higher elevation.  The campground we are staying at is close enough to downtown Wickenburg that we can walk uptown and see the sights.  We  are staying here for a little while waiting for it to quit snowing up by Show Low --our home for the summer.
 

Maquitta Mine

 Where we dig for gold is part of the old Maquitta claims that were part of the Maquitta mine.  Mostly what we are digging in is tailing piles from the mine or surrounding area around the mine itself.  We are finding tiny pieces of gold.  We are hoping that the tailings might have a few bigger pieces of gold that the old miners missed.  Not likely but one can hope.

The mine is still somewhat active and guys live there year round.  There is no electricity or water so it is a little primitive.  They have a large water tank and when it gets really hot most old miners just go down in their mines to stay cool.  It is only April and it is already in the 90's but it does cool down to the 60's at night.  We have been getting up early and heading out to dig before the sun comes up.  When it gets to be 9am the heat comes and you really start to feel it when your shoveling.  This means we only get an hour or so of actual run time on our drywasher so it is amazing that we find any gold.  

Our New Diggings

 We left Yuma a few days before the end of March and headed up to Quartzsite, Arizona.  It is a short 90 mile drive just enough for a shakedown cruise.  Our rig was all clean and shiny from the RV wash service.  It is pretty reasonable to have a rig washed in Yuma and because the tap water is so full of minerals and salt if you wash it yourself you have to wipe it off as fast as you wash it.  Much easier to "pay the guy" who uses reverse osmosis water to do the washing and rinsing.   We also added some cleaner to the holding tanks with some water and let it slosh around on the drive to Quartzsite.  This way it helps loosen crud that may have built up in the tanks from sitting so long.  Our rig is now twelve years old so we need to give it more tender loving care.

When we got to Quartzsite we were excited to get out to the gold claims.  The gold mining club we belong to in Quartzsite added a large new claim so we were anxious to give it a try.   We thought we found a good place to dig in the photo with Jim and his shovel.  He came back out quickly when he realized it was full of  nasty cactus needles.  They were in his shoes and he had gotten some on his gloves.  When we checked closer there was a dead cactus and all of the arms were on the ground blowing around filling the gully up with needles.  So we moved to an area that has piles of dirt that we think are from the nearby gold mine.  It might be dirt they wanted out of the way to get down to the gold veins or it could be tailings that they had run through their equipment.  We have been running this dirt and finding a little bit of gold so we will probably keep at it.

More KOFA

 We tried going out to the valley of names on the California side of the river.  We started to park our trucks and trailers to off load our 4wheelers when the local Indian law enforcement stopped us and told us the reservation was closed and we would have to go another 5 miles to BLM land to park.  Well we started to follow the gravel road and had to turn around and give up because it was too washboardy for our truck.  Our friends kept going and did the ride.  When they got back they told us when they came back on that road lots of people had parked their stuff on the reservation.  We just hit it at the wrong time when someone was around to enforce the no parking thing.  What is strange is even though the reservation is closed their casinos are open which are on reservation land also.

So I'm posting a few more pictures of the KOFA wildlife refuge.  It is such a beautiful area. 

 We are getting ready to move to Quartzsite for the month of April.  We hope to do some more gold prospecting while we are there.  We will then be going up into the White Mountains northeast of Phoenix for the summer.  It should be cool up there and there is lots of 4wheeling trails.  Right now it is still snowing and below freezing at night up there so we aren't in any hurry to get there.

KOFA MINE area

 

When you follow the road back to the KOFA mine area and stop before you get to the road that has a sign indicating no motorized travel then you are close to the mine and the cemetery.  The pictures face toward the mine.  The opposite way is the way to the cemetery.  In order to find the cemetery we had to get on top of a hill and then could see it down below us.  It is an easy walk through a wash  and around the bottom of a hill and there the cemetery was. 

When we went back we headed north at the T in the road and headed north to the Polaris/ Anterres mine area.  We have explored it before but took some new people who enjoyed going into a small opening in the hillside where they stored core samples.  They are pretty colored rock and make a nice little souvenir.   

The weather now is pretty nice staying in the 70's and low 80's with some days only in the 60's but plenty of sunshine.  The only thing that hasn't been pleasant is the wind has been kicking up in the afternoon.  We got caught out in it when we went for a walk.  The sand really stings your legs when it is whipping down the street at 30 miles an hour.  The dust gets stirred up and the mountains disappear in the dust filled sky. All the dust in the air makes for pretty sunrises and sunsets if there are clouds to reflect it.