Phoenix to Temecula CA --- good times

Roger here...  I have to say that a lot has happened since our last post.  We intend to post daily for the next four days to get up to date.  The striking sunset above was taken during our last night at the Cave Creek Recreation Area, just north of Phoenix.  I could not stop with just one picture...

Dianne took these pictures, not me.  She usually criticizes me for taking the sunset pictures that I love.  She got carried away, don't ya think?

This one is not what you think it is!  What minds you must have!















Enough of the sunsets.  We had a short drive the next morning, so we decided to take a longer hike with the dogs through the desert hills at the park.

 Please forgive my fascination with the saguaro, the ocotillo and the cholla.  As a small-town midwestern boy, these are still intriguing to me. 

 The vistas along the trail were amazing.  We were counting on our dogs to find us a rattlesnake or two so we could jump away and run --- none on this day.





Howdy!  We encountered a couple of groups enjoying a morning trail ride.  Our dogs politely stood at the side of the trail while they passed by. Good dogs.

Time to hit the road!  Since we did not want to have a super-long driving day, we opted to drive a couple of hours to Quartzsite, AZ for the night.  Quartzsite is famous for boondocking (camping off the grid).  During the winter it is overloaded with campers, but at this time of the year it is virtually abandoned.  We found a BLM spot near I-10 where we spent the night for the astounding price of $0.  Not a scenic place, but the price was right and the relative isolation was welcome.

 We bought firewood at the grocery in Phoenix so that we could have a campfire that evening.

California here we come...  When we crossed the border into California, the inspection station was closed (Sunday).  Typically, you are required to report if you have any fresh fruits or veggies, many of which are confiscated.  But, not that day.  Our destination was Aguanga, CA, which is near Temecula, which is near San Diego.  We had hoped to take a route through the mountains, but opted to avoid possible steep grades and drove further to stay on the interstate highways for most of the trip.  I am not sure if that was the best decision, because as we got closer to L.A. the interstate traffic was somewhat harrowing.  I guess we will never know if it was the best choice.  The bottom line is that we made it safely.

We planned to stay at an Escapee park, Jojoba Hills.  We knew that the office would be closed and we would need to boondock for a second night in the park's dry-camp (another term for boondock) area.  We spent a second pleasant night away from our computers (except for our iPhones) and looked forward to moving to a regular site early the next morning.

 This is the view from our boondocking site. Not bad.  Trees provided shade on both sides of our motor home.  They had the most interesting red berries.  Anybody know what they are?

The next day we moved up the hill to our full hookup site.  AND, what a site it was.  More to come in the next post, so check back soon!

Rattlesnake Avoidance Training + Beauty in the Sonoran Desert

Hi all, Dianne here.  We are just north of Phoenix, Arizona at Cave Creek Regional Park, a Maricopa County park.  The above photo shows the view from our site.  This park is a gem!  There are miles of hiking trails right from the site, and interesting desert plants, including lots of saguaro cactus.  

We have a very nice patio area with a beautiful desert view, and Roger wasted no time in setting up our Sport-brella for a shady nook.

Springtime in the desert has a beauty different from anything Roger and I grew up around in the midwest.  It's all still new to us, so bear with us and enjoy a few more photos of the beauty surrounding us here:

I love these tall ocotillo plants.  Much of the time they look like dead sticks, but when they receive water they are covered in tiny green leaves and beautiful plumes of color.

Most of the photos were taken right around our camp site, but the two ocotillo photos were taken with my iPhone during a brief hike we took with the dogs this morning here in the park.  

Our stop here near Phoenix had a very important

 purpose.   Our two dogs are very inquisitive, especially Tequila.   She is obsessed with lizards and is constantly looking for them.  Last summer she had a close encounter with a rattlesnake.  (To read that entry, see this blog link: Pa'rus Trail Hike, Zion National Park).

My friend, Sue, in Texas has a lot of knowledge about both dogs and deserts, and she encouraged us to take our dogs for rattlesnake avoidance training.  I had never heard of that before, but it sounded like a really good idea, especially with all the hiking we do with our dogs around the country, and the fact that there are plenty of rattlesnakes right there in our Texas neighborhood.  

We contacted Jim Walkington, the person who trained Sue's whippets and also our friend Brenda's little dogs, and made a reservation for the time that we would be passing near Phoenix.  Today was the day!  After our short hike this morning, we put the dogs in the car and made the short drive to Viper Voidance.  Bandido went first.  The first step was to put on the shock collar...

Next was to introduce the dog to an empty cage which had never held a snake, so that they wouldn't associate the upcoming shock with the cage, just the rattlesnake smell and sound.

Then he was introduced to the first cage of rattlesnakes...

Here's a peek inside the box, in case you're curious!

They were coiled and ready, and rattling away!  The training shock happened so quickly I didn't capture it on film, but let's just say that Bandido got the point.  When encouraged to approach the second cage of rattlers, Bandido said "No Thanks!"  

What I really wish I'd gotten a photo of was the "test" at the end, where Jim dropped a recently shed rattlesnake skin out of a wastebasket in front of Bandido.  As soon as he got a whiff of the skin, he jumped straight up in the air about three feet!  Jim explained that from now on, they will smell rattlesnakes and be able to differentiate that smell from lizards and other snakes. 

Next it was Tequila's turn.  

 I did capture Tequila's "moment of truth" on film.  If you look closely, you'll see that two of four legs are off the ground.  She didn't react as much as Bandido (he did a four-legged leap), but she did get the point!  

This was money well spent, and could well spare our dogs' lives (or ours!) if we encounter a snake in the wild.  Sue said she has learned to always trust her dogs' reactions because time and again they have proven to be correct.  Bandido was so well trained that after he was put back into our car, he got upset the moment he saw Roger and Tequila approach the first snake cage.  Everyone I have spoken to about this, vets and dog owners alike, highly recommend this training if you are in an area where you or your dog might encounter rattlesnakes.  Here's a link to Jim Walkington's web site: Viper Voidance.  He also has an upcoming book due out in a month (more info can be found on his web site; the Kindle version will be available on Amazon).  The description on his web page (under the heading "movie snakes" is below:

       "The book uses the process of snake proofing dogs to show how truly amazing dogs are. The stories in this book range from funny to fantastic. This book is a celebration of how quickly dogs can learn something new and put it into practice in unusual and astonishing ways. The dog stories are all true and happened during training at Viper Voidance." 

Instead of a pet photo of the day, here are a few more photos Roger took of some of the local saguaro cactus:

This morning we had a special treat; about a dozen hot air balloons lifted off near enough for us to watch from our windows.  Roger went outside for a better look.  

We plan to be "off the grid" for a few days (no electricity), so we'll check back in in a few days from sunny California.  Check back soon!

Chiricahua National Monument - the path not taken

Roger here....  What a great day we should have had!  Don't get me wrong.  Nothing horrible happened, but I am very disappointed that we did not get to have the wonderful day we expected, partly our fault, very much the fault of the National Park Service.  I also know that this sounds a little whiney.  I apologize.

Last night Dianne investigated the trails at Chiricahua National Monument where we intended to spend the day.  The trails through the rock formations do not allow dogs, not a surprise.  However, one of the trails (a five-miler to a natural bridge) did allow dogs.  After some discussion, we decided to take the dogs instead of taking them on a long walk and leaving them in the motor home.  It should have been a good decision.

The high temperatures for the day were forecast to be in the lower 60s, and the winds were supposed to die down.... a perfect day for a five-mile hike in an interesting place with the dogs.  

The drive to the national monument was about an hour and a half, a little far, but not too bad.  As you can see, the winds were a little more than predicted.  We were thankful that we were not driving the motor home through that sand storm.

We bypassed a local tourist trap on the way.  We also, after a quick drive through, bypassed Tombstone yesterday.  There seemed to be a charge for everything there.  They even walled off the OK Corral so they could charge admission.  No thanks.  Did I mention that I am in a poorly mood?

Anyway... on to Chiricahua.  We pulled into the visitor center parking lot so that I could show my National Park Pass and get a windshield pass into the park.  When I mentioned to the ranger how pleased I was that at least one of the moderate trails was allowable for our dogs (a rare occurence), she informed me that the Natural Bridge Trail was no longer accessible to dogs.  When I told her that the night before we downloaded different information from the National Park website, she informed me that information has changed.  When I asked her when the change occurred, she said over a year ago.  WOW.  We based our entire day on a decision that was made more than a year ago, and not changed on the website.  It was not the ranger's fault and I was careful to let her know that my irritation was not focused on her.  However, I am sure she perceive that I was upset --- an entire day of hiking that we now could not do because the webmaster did not update the information (for more than a year).  She gave me a complaint form to fill out.  Why would I relive my frustration?  Not worth it.

As you can tell, I am still fuming.  However, the day was not lost.  The dogs were allowed on a couple of non-challenging trails in the flat area of the park.  They were restless and ready for exercise, so off we went.

 The trails followed the banks of a dry stream-bed.... a pretty place.

Lots of nice views along the way.

At one point, the trail was diverted through the dry steam-bed and away from a bridge in disrepair.  Sad.

A very cool alligator pine tree hugged the trail next to the abandoned bridge.  Does anyone see the "tree gnome" in the right branch of the tree?

 More impressive views from below.

The one-way trail ended at the Faraway Ranch.  The total mileage, including the trip back logged about five miles. Not bad.  Good exercise for the dogs (and us), but not what we came here to do.

We packed a picnic lunch to eat along the trail.  After we returned to the car, we decided to go down the road to a sunnier spot for lunch.  It was chilly in the trees by the visitor center.

So up and onward we went in the car.  We saw lots of scenic views along the way.

It looked a lot like last year's trip to Bryce Canyon (without the pink colors).  What fun it would be to walk through those formations!  Not to be.

When we arrived at the end of the paved road, we ate our picnic in the car.  It was sooooo cold.  We expected it to be in the low 60s, perfect hiking weather.  We did not allow for the drop in temperature due to altitude (my fault).  We did not bring sweatshirts (my fault).  We did not expect the intense winds (weather forecaster's fault).  

It was sooo cold!  Even if the dogs had been allowed on the trail, we would not have taken the trails in our shorts and t-shirts.  Our bad!  There was so much in the pathways through the rocks; however, the pictures that you will see were taken during quick and windy (cold) stops along the roadway.  Lots of interesting stuff.

Ok. Ok.  We certainly did get to see some amazing scenery.  Time to head back to Benson.

The wind was still kicking up the dust and sand.

I can't wrap this up without a picture that we took on the way back at one of the rest stops on I-10.  We drove through miles of stacked boulders on both sides of the highway.  This area would be an attraction unto itself, if an interstate highway did not run through its center.

One more shot of the blowing dust.  The next post will be from the Phoenix area and will involve SNAKES!

Dianne here:  There is no pet picture of the day from our day at Chiracahua, so I looked back and found a cute one of the kids sharing a drink back in Texas: