January is Moving Along

Here I am again after another great week and today I will start with a sunrise that I managed to see one morning.  

We must be getting lazy as it seems each week we seem to do a little less.  I know, you ask a little less of what.  Well that is a good question because even when we do more, that isn’t much so a little less is just that – a little less of not much!!

We did a couple of off road trips this week.  One day we went up Grapevine Canyon which is always are great trip.  Apparently (according to the guys), it isn’t as much fun as it used to be.  They now grade the road so most of the challenges are gone but all the scenery is still there.  The terrain changes from sandy washes into canyons up to the hill(mountain?) tops

You can see for mils

A strange plant

A natural spring

and from a lot of small shrubs to bigger shrubs to cactus to huge boulders.  You are never sure what you will see around the next corner.  On our way home there were several vehicles parked along the edge of the road – look up and there is a mountain sheep up on the rock.  While we were not able to get a photo of this, one of the fellows there said “I got some good ones.  Give me your cell and I will text them to you.”  Sure enough, next morning they arrive.

We headed out to the pumpkin patch which is quite amazing.  These rocks are a unique geologic feature called concretions, which form when layers of sediment build up around a nucleus like a pebble or a shell. While you can find these “pumpkins” in various places, they are plentiful just in this one area.

As we were travelling along, we stopped at 17 Palms.  Here in the arid old desert is a grouping of palms - we counted and there are more than 17 (we think). 

There is, however, a desert mailbox.  It is almost full of old notebooks where people have signed their names and dated.  Here is our friend Rick checking some of the postings.

 I had read about an area that is called “the little people”.  In searching online, I was able to find the co-ordinates but little else as far as directions.  In the area we needed to look, there are thousands of trails and roads – some are not bad, and some are almost impassable for us.  So the question is – which one is the right one.  We wandered around in the area, stopped for lunch, then debated whether we should continue our search or move on to something else.  We, let’s try this one trail because it seems like it might go somewhere.  After all, the was a cairn someone had built so it must mean something.  So up the hill, across and around the corner and surprise – there they were. These "little people" are all creations made up of various shapes and sizes of rocks and the limit is only your imagination.

This is just a small sampling

The temps have been very pleasant although last night the wind blew hard which seems to make it feel cooler.  As well, today it was windy, somewhat overcast so it was a perfect day to go do laundry.  One thing is that in about an hour and a half, the laundry is done so not too bad.

Now, one is never sure what you might see.  Everyone takes their pet along and they have various ways in which to accommodate them.  Here is a perfect set-up for your cat!!

I hope everyone had a great week.  Stay safe and stay healthy as I end with a sunset.