Saguaro National Park

Saguaro....say it like with tomorrow with an S...National Park was a bit of a disappointment.  If you are seeking a destination National Park complete with trails and variety; give this place a pass.  They did have a fun entry sign and the scenery is lovely.

The Saguaro Cactus is the monarch of the Sonoran Desert and one of the supreme symbols of the American Southwest.  Many physical features help explain the Saguaro's ability to store and conserve water.  Accordion like pleats allow the cactus to expand and hold water through its roots.  Spongy flesh in its trunk and branches serve as a reservoir.  The Saguaros collect water with a network of roots that lies about three inches below the desert surface and stretch as far from the main trunk as saguaros are tall.  In a single rainfall, these shallow roots along with small root hairs that grow in response to the moisture may soak up as much as 200 gallons of water, enough to last the saguaro a year.

We did a bird walk with a ranger and saw about nothing....and drove on down the road!

Saguaro cactus

Fun Sign!

What a Week!

We are so fortunate to have stumbled on Desert Trails RV Park.  Everyday there are new activities, new friends, and a bustling University town to explore.  We have ridden bikes, hiked in the hills, and taken a dip in the pool!  Yup....sunbathing was this afternoon's most ambitious activity.

One of the most unique aspects of the Park is the active music program.  A couple of nights a week, artists are invited to entertain the residents.  It is all "pass the hat" so if you want to hear folk guitars or blues or jazz or oldies....sooner or later it will be on the schedule.

Friday evening we attended a local favorite -- an award winning, high school mariachi band!  They were great!  I am amazed at the stage presence of these kids:  hardly old enough to be in high school and up on stage singing and playing.  They introduced themselves:  many had been playing for 8 to 10 years.

Saturday the birthday of Robert Burns was celebrated by a park resident and an expert on everything Whiskey!  He came with 16 bottles (and a pitcher of Bloody Mary Queen of Scots!) and after talking a bit about whiskeys he invited everyone to taste -- anything you wanted.

I tryed a few; the Scapa was my favorite--oh so smooth!   And in the mean time, Alan was working to learn more about his Scottish genealogy.  A truly fun day.

Half of the Band

The Other Half of the Band....most of them anyway

Robert Burns....a toast to him!

Quite an offering!  Work right to left:  light to dark!

Our generous host!

Tucson Mountain Park

Desert Trails RV Park lies adjacent to the Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park.  Multiple hiking trails begin near the park.  On Thursday morning joined the weekly Hiking Group for a trek up King Canyon to the saddle for a view east to Tucson.

The area here near Tucson is part of the Sonoran Desert--one of the most biologically diverse deserts in North America.  This diversity is driven by 2 "rainy" seasons (not 1 as in many locations) as well as a great range in elevations.  Plants "Do It in the Desert" by developing a myriad of solutions to the water problem:  meeting the demands for growth and reproduction.

We had a great hike (watching out for all those plants with spines just waiting to poke us) and finished through a creek wash with a petroglyphs.

Trail View near the RV Park

Great Horned Owl in the Park

Relaxing by Bessie in our cactus garden

Desert Wildflowers are out early this season.  

View west from the saddle near King Canyon trail

Mexican Poppy

Petroglyphs

View from the creek wash.

Habitat Restoration with the Audubon Society

One of my goals for the winter is:  GET INVOLVED and GIVE BACK.   So I scoured the internet for opportunities to participate in community volunteer activities, especially ones that are drop in or short term durations.  As luck would have it, the Tucson Audubon Society held their monthly habitat restoration work day on Saturday.  OFF we go!

Tucson Audubon Society has a long term funding to restore and monitor a small watershed on the east side of Tucson, a place called Atterbury Wash.   To date, the project has planted hundreds of desert trees and shrubs but our assignment was building small rock structures to help manage the rainfall -- when it rains.  And when it rains around here, I gather it pours!  The rock structures are designed to help slow down the run off and allow more of the water to spread across the landscape and soak in.  There is quite a science to building these rock structures, based in theory on how the Ancient Peoples managed the water in this region.

And in a few hours a group of volunteers had built several structures!  A great feeling of being part of a team doing valuable work.

My team & team lead adding an "apron" to an existing one rock damn.

Alan's team built a media luna.  See behind him to other rock structures to help restore this small runoff area.

Moving Along to Tucson

We wandered around Yuma a bit and could not quite figure out how to enjoy a couple extra days.  Yuma is built around 3 industries:  military, agriculture, and tourism.  And the tourism is really snowbirds in RVs--who fill up the 20,000 RV spots and dry camp through out the BLM lands nearby.  But what they do all season--beats me?  So on we drove.

We opted to try out Tucson as our "winter roost" having found an RV park online that was small (200+ spots), located out of town on the edge of park lands, and offering all sorts of activities and amenities.  We pulled in and felt grateful that they had an open spot (only 2 spots remained!) & are going to try to keep us here for as long as we are interested.  Our spot comes with our own cactus garden!

Desert Trails RV Park is where our hydraulic jacks are down for now.  We are thrilled with the community, the activities, and the opportunities available in Tucson.  The weather is perfect--cool to chilly nights but mid 70s in the day time.  I just might have to try out the heated swimming pool this week!

The park has a "summer camp for adults" feel to it.  There are multiple activities each day, live music a couple of nights a week (local artists), and a real community feeling.  Many RVers return year after year and welcome us newbies.  Monday morning is the park meeting and the week's activities are discussed.  What a hoot!

Friday night at the park we listened to a concert by the Ellington Big Band of high schoolers from the Tucson Jazz Institute.  This group is no slackers -- they won top honors at last year's Essentially Ellington Festival at the Lincoln Center in New York.  Give a look to youtube -- I'm sure you can see & hear a performance.  It was a "pass the hat" event to raise money for  their return to the Lincoln Center and a trip to Europe to play the jazz festivals.

And we watched some football games in the Oasis Room.  Yeah, I was cheering for San Francisco as I don't quite believe I am from Seattle yet.

Alan is off with the cycling group this morning.  I am going to a crafts group this afternoon.

On tap this week for us:  the hiking group will explore part of the Tucson Mountain Park (my new back yard), 2 music events (including a high school mariachi band), spanish class, and a celebration of Robert Burns Birthday.  One of the residents is hosting a party to honor Burns and offers to serve malt scotch and explore your potential Scottish genealogy.  Oh yeah and food trucks and bocce ball and yoga and bingo and you name it!  And that is just in the park.

Tucson Mountain Park.  Our new backyard.

Tucson Mountain Park is adjacent to Saguaro National Park West Side

Yuma

Hello from Yuma!  We finally made our way out of California...all the way to Yuma, Arizona.  If I look out the window--there is California.

Yuma is a sunny town--a bit breezy and dusty.  And home to lots of agriculture.  If you are eating lettuce this winter, well, think of Yuma the lettuce capital.

We are here for a few days and then on to Tucson.  We are free camping in a wildlife refuge, so our mornings are filled with birds.  Weather is sunny (Yuma speciality) and the wind blows in the afternoon.  It would be a great place for star gazing but the full moon!

And in the morning...we get a hello from the Yuma Proving Grounds.....boom, boom, boom!  Weapons testing and training:   boom, boom, boom!

View from one side of Bessie

View from the other side of Bessie....that be California (we think!)

Salvation Mountain

Only in the desert....would you find a sand dune remade into an adobe mountain and painted in bold colors...all to bring people to the True Faith.  Salvation Mountain.  Located near Niland (which is really near nothing), Salvation Mountain began as a labor love by a guy named Leonard Knight in the 1980s.   He arrived, looked around, and decided to begin his ministry.

First he put concrete on the dunes and then applied paint.  That broke down and he perfected the means of making an adobe covering on the dunes and then applied the paint.  It sort of lasts...sort of.  It grew and grew--topsy turvy.  And all supplies were donated so the colors are eclectic and mismatched.

Salvation Mountain is located next to Slab City.  And Slab City...well, when the military left the area everything went with them, except the slabs from old buildings.  And folks long on heat tolerance and short on money, have moved in and call it home.  Slab City.  Everything you need except trash, water, and sewage services.

Leonard is no longer able to maintain the Mountain...so he wants corporate sponsors.  Interested??

Salvation Mountain

Ummmm

A work in progress!

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Salton Sea

Destination Salton Sea:  a vast inland lake, in fact, the largest lake in California measuring in at 380 sq. miles (versus Tahoe at on 193!)  But the Salton Sea faces incredible challenges.

It is a bird lover's paradise and more than 400 species have been spotted here, including about 100 that are breeding species.  It is a key stop on the Pacific Flyway.  There is one predominant fish:  the tilapia that supports the birds.

The Sea is salty.  Really salty.  And getting saltier every year.  The Sea has no water rights of its own (and water rights are everything in this part of the world)!  So a bit of runoff enters and a whole lot of water evaporates...and the Sea gets saltier and saltier.  At some point the fish and birds will not tolerate the salty water....and then it will become an inland, dead sea.

We camped on the beach and did a bit of birding.  Listened to the trains rumbling along the tracks.

And left for Yuma!

Sunset View from Bessie

Sunnylands Center and Garden

Sunnylands Center & Gardens is the public access point to discover and experience the legacy of Walter and Leonore Annenberg.    Walter (1908-2002) was a communications entrepreneur, diplomat, and philanthropist.  And we assume, dedicated to all causes Republican!  Leonore (1918-2009) was the consummate hostess and together they welcomed world leaders and entertainment icons to their winter home:  Sunnylands.

Both were generous philanthropists and this legacy continues at Sunnylands.  The Sunnylands Center has been restored and renovated and is now a high-level retreat center.  The center is used to advance world peace and facilitate international agreement.  Recent example:  The June 2013 summit between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping occurred at Sunnylands.

The Gardens are open to the public (free) and one can wander the Center and the Gardens.  While we wandered, a free public yoga class was held on the Great Lawn.  Photos on the wall included famous politicians, golfers, and royalty.   The remodeled home (now the retreat center), golf course, and guest areas can be toured...if you plan WELL IN ADVANCE.  So...next time.

Lovely gardens--not much in bloom now.  Apx 70 species of native and arid adapted plants are displayed.

Icon of Sunnylands.  From the back of the "copy" of the redwood bench given by Barack Obama to Xi Jinping.

Lovely view of the San Jacinto Mountains from the Garden.

Coachella Valley Preserve

Nestled south of the peaks of Joshua Tree National Park is the Coachella Valley Preserve dedicated to protecting over 500 species of native plants, 200 species of birds, and 30 species of mammals in this desert valley.  We stumbled on the Preserve while driving from Sam's Family Spa to the towns of the Palm Desert area.

The Preserve includes one of the largest groves of desert fan palms in California.  While a few are reported to be 150 years old -- most are younger.  Again, we walked through a relatively dry and unwelcoming environment -- and then, suddenly:  the McCallum Oasis.  This time the trail was level; some in deep sand, and paralleled one of the faults of the San Andreas faults.  It is one of the only places along the San Andreas fault that the fault is visible.  All was quiet during our visit!

After strolling through a desert wash:  McCallum Oasis with standing water and enormous palm trees.

Looking up through the grove of the palm trees.

Hello to the San Andreas Fault.

Joshua Tree National Park, Day 2

The Park is enormous...stretching for miles and miles of desolate, rock and shrub strewn miles.  We opted to spend Day 2 hiking into the Fortynine Palms Oasis and then driving the park road through to the Cholla Cactus Garden.  Both destinations were amazing!

Fortynine Palms Oasis is on the north side of the Park and require a moderately strenuous hike (up and over a ridge) to descend to a hidden oasis.  It is really a thrill to hike through dry, rocky, and brush filled terrain and then suddenly a beacon of palm trees is spotted in the distance.  This oasis still has a bit of standing water and is used heavily by wildlife in the Park.

The ride across the park took us up and over the Pinto Mountains and then long open vistas to the east and the Coxcomb Mountains.  A whole lot of nothing...I can not understand how the early ranchers and miners thought this was a good place for much of anything.  But one stretch of the road is perfect of Cholla (choy-ya) Cactus.  The perfect soil, altitude, rain (less than 4 inches a year) and drainage that at least a cholla could love.  Don't even think of touching this plant -- even the brochure says:  Be on guard that you do not walk too close to the cholla cactus.  At the slightest touch, the spines will penetrate your flesh and are extracted only with difficulty and pain.  Not too many folks wandered off this trail!

Up, over, down, and around....miles to see those palm trees?  

Busy bees in the desert

The trees are such a contrast to the rocky, dry, hot, steep mountain terrain

A Cholla Cactus Garden with view across the Pinto Basin

Stay Away!

Dead cholla trunk -- peak through to more chollas

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park is our first National Park of the new year -- and, a NEW National Park for us.  The Park straddles the transition zone between the Mojave and the Colorado deserts with a wealth of biological diversity.  The Park protects many species characteristic of each desert ecosystem.  We did not see many birds or reptiles and many of the plants were dormant (well, they looked dead to me).


BUT we saw the fabulous Joshua trees in all sizes.  We hiked a bit and gazed at the enormous boulder fields.  We will go back a second day to explore the eastern half of the park and find some of the hidden oasises.

View along the Hidden Valley Trail -- famous for the horse thieves hiding out in the rocks!

Joshua Trees can grow to 40 feet -- quite a feat at an inch or two a year!

Surprised to see the oak family represented.

View from Key's Point at 5,000+ feet.  The jumble below is the San Andreas fault running through the Coachella Valley.  Palm Springs in background and to left.

Bouldering is a favorite past time in the National Park.

Can Cows Fly?

With the Holiday season winding down, we wondered if Bessie could take flight and act like a snow bird?  Like can a cow fly?

Indeed we were wrapping up the holidays -- a New Year's Eve spent watching a movie & then a final visit with Bryan.  We saw the movie Philomena and recommend it for the great screen play, acting of Judi Dench, and the poignant mix of humor and sadness in this true story.  (Also saw Frozen and thrilled to the music and graphics!)

But then it was time to test the question??  Could Bessie make like a snow bird??

And indeed, the slides came in and the hydraulic jacks came up.  Slowly Bessie pulled out of her Sacramento pad and headed south.  We drove in tandem and bored our way down I-5 through the central valley.  We decided to take the Montaro along as it would be useful for those months ahead where we pretty much are staying "put."  Since we aren't set up to tow her -- it meant we both had to drive.

Our current destination is Tucson, Arizona via the deserts of southern California.  To avoid the LA Basin we drove for Barstow and then south.  Our first night we pulled in after dark to America's favorite parking lot campground:  Walmart.  Oh yeah, adventure!  But our second day found us in Desert Hot Springs at Sam's Family Spa and Hot Water Resort.  Soaking in the mineral pools, gazing at the mountains, putting sunscreen on, and thinking about exploring the local attractions.

We will be here for a week and then keep on our slow migration!

Dry Camping on Night #1-- 

Settled into Sam's in Desert Hot Springs.  We had coffee outside this morning!