My Side of the Adventure

While in central Arizona, I decided rather on the spur of the moment that it was time for me to get another canine companion. I checked online at “Best Friends Society” in Kanab, UT, that my friend Bobbi had told me about and to my delight, found they had just the type of dog I was looking for. I immediately contacted them and was soon told that dog had already been adopted. So disappointing. I kept looking and soon found another one, a puppy named Starla. Although I had not planned on a puppy, I decided to apply, anyway. She was available! Five hours to Kanab the next weekend and this precious little kangaroo was mine. A short time later, she became “Sadie” and the rest, as they say, is history.
Turns out the route to Kanab was quite picturesque so, of course, I got photos.

Close to Pahrump–but at a higher elevation–is beautiful Lovell Canyon which is on the way to Las Vegas. It provides a little relief when the temps go up in Pahrump. After some time there, I had to travel to Arizona for a work thing. Here are a few photos from both.

Back to Pahrump for another several days. Misc photos.

I took advantage of being so close to Death Valley in Pahrump and made a short trip over. I stayed at an abandoned campground just outside the park that is well-known to boondockers. It still conveniently has the level concrete slabs from each site. I wasn’t sure about security, so I opted to take my trailer with me into the Park. That turned out to be a poor choice for Death Valley, as I found the western route through the Park that I took at one point involves an extreme descent which heavily taxed my brakes. I actually had to return without reaching the bottom of the descent, as I was afraid my brakes would go out. (I’m still not sure if leaving a rig at the “slabs site” is safe, but I will probably risk it next time. I did notice others leaving their trailers/fifth wheels behind.)
Death Valley is definitely a unique place – lowest land point in the Western Hemisphere, extreme heat, sand dunes, “sailing stones”, etc. I went to the lowest point and to the sand dunes but went during a cooler season and did not drive to see the traveling stones, since I had my trailer. Next visit. Another fact I was surprised to learn is Death Valley is the largest national park in the whole system after four Alaska Parks. I had no idea! It will take multiple trips to cover this one.

My job with the non-profit, Homes on Wheels Alliance, often necessitated trips to Pahrump, NV, near Las Vegas, for various events. This post contains misc. images from an extended stay there – a tiled gallery, a video, and a second tiled gallery. (Don’t miss the second gallery which features furniture made by my talented friend Michael).

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The superbloom fun continued in Borrego Springs, California, where the area also sports interesting sculptures.

I was excited to experience my first desert superbloom in Arizona. Friends Tracey & Rachele and I traveled together to this area along Arizona Highway 10 in the area of Kingman and Oatman. We enjoyed a day of flowers and more flowers, prominently featuring California poppies. I didn’t take the time to identify all of the other flowers we saw. Too much catching up to do right now.

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This post is of miscellaneous images from several spots in Arizona and California. I was starting a new job so I didn’t have much time for exploring or photography. Also, because this was wintertime, I generally had to stay in the desert southwest for temperate weather.

While in Cibola, we heard about a nomad who had turned over her schoolie in an accident. Remarkably, her bus was still operable but the inside was a total loss, and she was asking for help on an interior re-build at a nearby location. Friends David and Michael decided they would go help and, though I’m not particularly handy, I also went to help. I ended up learning to make window screens and helping with general gopher duties.

My next destination was a camping area a couple miles down the road from Cibola National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. Several friends joined me at the “Hippie Hole” camping spot. Not sure why it’s called that – ‘probably a story there. It’s just an open area on the river with free camping. The only amenities I can remember are one pit toilet (which I did not use) and trash pickup (which was very nice). The Refuge was great in the winter as many birds were migrating through. It also has a very nice, quiet walking path away from the Refuge road. In addition, I recommend the visitors center which has a lot of helpful and interesting information.

(Please follow these instructions for the tiled photos below)