Spanish Peaks

We have great views of the Spanish peaks.  They got a fresh coating of snow the other day but thankfully it didn't snow down in our valley just up on the mountain tops.  We've taken one ride on our 4 wheeler so far and got to see these antelope.  Now the snow is almost gone on the mountains surrounding us and we think it's done snowing for the season.

The campground was full for Memorial weekend but surprisingly quiet.  No loud partying all night YEAH!  What a difference from last year at the forest service campground in Minnesota.  It helps that they don't allow wood campfires and have a propane community firepit.  We all take turns starting the fire and making sure it is out at 10 pm plus it cools off quickly once the sun goes down.

We took a drive over LaVeta pass which is an easy one to drive and drove to Alamosa.  There are cute little towns with some touristy stuff to see and do.  We hope to get out on the 4 wheeler again if the weather is warm enough and not too windy.

La Veta, Colorado

We were going to spend time in Raton, New Mexico and get used to the altitude but the weather dictated that we high tail it to La Veta, Colorado.  There was a threat of rain turning to snow and we had to get over Raton Pass on I-25 going into Colorado.  We don't travel passes if there could be snow and ice.  We got to our new summer home a week early but the owners were ok with it.  They put us to work right away.  Of course it snowed on us a good four inches and got down in the high 20's.  So we had a little taste of winter.  Its still cool but not below freezing at night. 

La Veta is in a mountain valley at 7000 feet.  It is surrounded by mountains and since it snowed they got a pretty coating of snow on them.  It is melting of the mountains quickly and they are a little worried about the river flooding that runs through town and the campground.  Some folks have put some sand bags around their property.  We are waiting to set up all of our stuff until the flood threat is over and its safe.

Meteors and Lava

We left Quartzsite and headed to Kingman, AZ up on I-40.  We took our usual route up US 93.  We broke down about 90 miles south of Kingman at 10am.  Its a desolate stretch of highway and cell coverage is very poor.   Trying to call road service took hours of calling and losing signal.  The road service took forever to find us tow service.  The tow service finally arrived at 10pm with two trucks.  One to tow the truck and one to tow the RV.  They replaced a hose clamp and that fixed our problem and then they followed us all the way to our campground to make sure we made it.  We arrived at the campground at 1am.  Not the best way to start our trip.

Our next stop was Meteor Crater by Winslow, AZ.  It is just a hole in the ground but it is pretty amazing when you realize how deep it is.  There are big pieces of equipment on the floor of the crater but you can't see them unless you look through one of the telescopes they have set up.  I took the picture along the rim looking down at the next viewing platform which has people on it while showing the bottom of the crater as well.  We then stopped at Grants, NM and the KOA we stayed at had a walking path through the lave flows.  It was also a very interesting stop and a nice campground.

We have now made it to our destination of La Veta, Colorado.  This will be our home for the summer. 

Blooms and bugs

I got a picture of one last cactus flower that was different from the rest.  These are large blooms that are good 8 inches across -- so pretty.  The brick wall in the background is made of Mexican brick.  I thought Mexican brick was an Arizona thing but I guess its only found around Yuma and Quartzsite.   The bricks are very colorful but I don't know how they are made.

The other picture is an Arizona blister beetle as best I can tell from looking it up on the internet.  They were all over the desert these past few weeks.  One lady had her dog out in the desert while she was metal detecting and she was worried the dog would try to eat one.  Not sure what would happen but with a name like blister it probably wouldn't be good.

We are staying in Quartzsite an extra day or two waiting out some rain and wind.  If we don't have to travel in it why would we.

More Cactus Blooms

I got another picture of the huge cactus blooming across from our RV site.  There are yellow and orangeous blooms because it is two different cacti growing so close together you really have to look but one cactus has very round pads and the other looks more like rabbit ears.  The fuscia colored bloom was one I found way out in the desert.  Right in the center where the yellow pollen is I saw a bee just rolling around in it.  He looked like he was taking a bath in the pollen. 

We have been taking rides out in the desert everyday.  We have been on some trails that were kinda of scary with very steep slopes that were full of humps and bumps.  We never really intended to take rides like that but once you are on a trail and there is no place to turn around you just do it.  You think it will just be one bad hill and you will be done but that just doesn't seem to be the case.  It is really starting to get too hot here.  We will be glad to be leaving soon and start getting closer to our destination in Colorado. 

Beautiful Cactus Blooms

I've been taking pictures of blooming cactus on our rides out in the desert.   We started gold prospecting on some claims around Quartzsite.  It was fun because we could take the 4wheeler right out from the campground and go out and dig.   Of course the rain found us again.  Now we are done trying to look for gold in the area because we need dry ground.  All the rain this winter and spring is bad for us but good for the cactus. 

We saw the sad news coming out of Yuma.  The city has declared a state of emergency because the migrants coming across the border are overloading the services available.  All the charity organizations that help the migrants are being overwhelmed.  The border authorities catch them but then have no where to hold them so they are just dumping them in town.   The federal government really needs to fix the immigration problem. 

Its getting warm

One last beautiful sunrise in Yuma.   We left Yuma just has it was really heating up into the high 90's.  The businesses in Yuma were starting to get ready for the heat to come.  They tape hotpads to their outside door handles.  The laundromats close at noon because it just gets too hot to run dryers.   They don't even do much road work come summertime so they have to do it during the heavy traffic time of winter.

We didn't travel very far when we left Yuma just 90 miles north to Quartzsite so we didn't escape the heat.  Our first ride out into the desert and we met mister rattlesnake.  We stopped and went around the snake.  The snake was just out doing snaky things and not bothering anyone way out in the desert. 

We are going to stay here for a couple weeks and do some trail riding and hopefully some gold prospecting.   We will just have to be very careful of snakes and other creepy crawlers.  I guess we have spent so much time in the desert that we have gotten used to the critters that live here.    Everywhere we look the cactus are getting ready to bloom.  Can't wait to get some pictures!