Day 52 Saturday February 29

   

     Sun up over the channelled Deschutes. S woke and fed and walked B in the crisp. Met her at the breakfast arena and managed to hold back on consumption of items available - no waffles. Ripped out onto 97, a beautiful road over the rolling highlands before the mighty Columbia, then on interstate to interstate through rain and shine. Rather taken with Maupin on 97 before it dropped to the big river.
Anyway home and pretty glad.

Day 51 Friday February 28

Leaving the tanks this morning

     Made haste northward. 95 Vegas to Tonopah, 376 Tonopah to Austin, 305 Austin to Battle Mountain, I 80 Battle Mt. to Winnemucca, 95 to 78 to Burns, OR, and finally 20 Burns to Bend. Funky canyon town of Austin, NV for breakfast. Read a 3 page profile of the town and got a load of diesel. I liked the vibe of Burns, not sure what it was. Bend and the Hampton Inn and Suites again. Bend all modern and hip and bustling. Snow predicted for tomorrow; we will make a run for home anyway. B accidentally fed twice at dinner, no problem. Found a drink at Anthony's Home Port across the foot bridge spanning the Deshutes in front of the hotel, nothing to write home about.

Day 50 Thursday February 27

B poses in front of Tonopah Library

establishing shot of S, B and tank

105º

exiting camp on Friday looking west

Out of Vegas on 62 which was a lovely 4 laner new and shiny over the first range and into the great basin to the north. After switching to 95 and reaching Tonapah we stopped at the Brewery barbecue place which S said could not hold a candle to Coopers in Llano, TX and she was right. After a while S said something about a hot springs up ahead to the right on a dirt 5 miles easterly. We went. There was a large round galvanized cattle watering tank with a pipe coming out of the hillside that was 105º and in we went. So did B in the muddy pool in front of the tank and got a bit stuck. We rocked up the clay bank to a flat spot and set up for the night. After another while two tall young East Indian guys showed up apparently following a white Subaru with two young women who they knew not but who had disappeared up slope  to what S found out on a walk later were more tanks. The two guys were wandering down from Reno and eventually left without a soak. We had a fire and it was cold enough and we had been packing the wood for a while. S went for a 2 am soak and as she came back a large commercial truck drove up and the guy got into the tank below us and S went back down to check it out. Turned out he helped set up the site and was returning from a haul. He was still in the tank at 5 am. The whole thing was kind of a kick but B was a mess from the mud.

Day 49 Wednesday February 26

remembering Senator W

remembering S W 2

RSW 3

S insisted I post this Hueco Tanks pictograph. Personally I find it in poor taste.

      Out of the Reservoir after breakfast and pack up. Tar pourers working the cracks on hwy 95 north, border patrol check only hiccups on the way to Quartzsite. Turned out the Yacht Club was closed because of problems with their alcohol license, so a very mediocre lunch at another spot which had that slightly haunted air. Quartzsite has that air all over. Picked up some Halls and later some Fritos and Jalapeno Cheese Dip.
     Hooked the distance to Las Vegas, ricochetted off edge of city to Red Rock Canyon camp but it was full of Hollywood types (well, utes anyway) in small cute tents so we dodged into the Hampton Inn and Suites overlooking the Strip, I guess. I mean from the 4th floor we can see off in the distance the lights of downtown LV. S is noisily finishing off the fritos and jalapeno cheese dip that I spent a lot of time with in the way back of the van as we passed through LV earlier. B is resting in the van just below us after her walk and dinner bowl.

Day 48 Tuesday February 25

Morning at Senator Wash

Tamarisk grove at Senator next to campsite

Rest area in the grove

     Another clear and warm day in the lower Colorado River Complex. A rather do nothing time. Got the kayak out but never blew it up due in part to the need to futz with he electric pump - who knew it had a battery that needed charging. More lentils and lunch leftovers from Sophia’s for lunch; lots of cold Sonoran Enchilada for me none for S. Breezy to the point of rolling up the awning by 10 am. Fine layer of dust on everything. Good hammocking in the tamarisk grove listening to the Kim Stanley Robinson space epic Aurora. S did swim to the small local island while I napped; good for S. Cell signal sketchy but present so some intertubing. Some concern for the iPhone 9 coming out on time plus death in pandemic. Late bike ride for me  hardly significant except it got dark and couldn’t see the deep soft sandy parts too good. Bright crescent moon and one planet. 

     Some gun fire from Yuma Proving Grounds throughout the day also reconnaissance  dirigible visible to the east presumably over the Grounds. Must be a funhouse over there for the guys and gals - loads of weapons, no enemies. Plan to scoot tomorrow using highway 95 up through Nevada. Maybe hit a motel or two.
     

Day 47 Monday February 24

our own saguaro at site 174 Organ Pipe Cactus Nat Mon 

Ajo square

Did bike to Alamo primitive camp, 6 miles round trip. Nice day, clear and pleasant. Alamo camp no big shakes but okay. Split for Ajo the elegant old copper town. Got a coffee on the square and thence into library. Heading back to Yuma and Senator Wash.

     Stopped in at Sophia’s Mexican Cafe in Gila Bend for a late lunch, had much of it for dinner as well. Hit Frye’s Foods in Foothills, a stepchild of Yuma, for supplies, forgot the Halls and almost put gasoline in the bus. Took 95 and Imperial Dam Road through the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds, which seems like a place where you learn to drives tanks and other things through mud and difficult spots, to good old Senator Wash Reservoir where we found a quiet spot but the res had been drawn down again probably for the produce that was coming up in perfect rows in vast fields between the cattails and the desert. This area is like a successfully terraformed Mars. 

     S chose not to join me in my lentils and slop from lunch with the diced fresh tomatoes as dark fell in the tamarisks and dirt here at the res; she’s on the mend and wants to stay that way also she didn’t care for the presentation at Sophia’s of the Sonoran Enchilada which was too radical a departure from the regular enchilada to her way of thinking.

     We hung the hammock from the tamarisks over the beds of needles several feet thick and I am thinking nice but maybe snakes. Speaking of snakes there were 2 or 3 tiny stupid mosquitos as dark fell, then none.

     There are several other campers on this bit of the shore, some sitting around a fire some watching tv in their unit some apparently not home. Can’t see anyone from our place only if you walk to the outhouse on the hill.

We may stay here a day or two, launch the kayak, fish, read, hammock, etc.

Day 46 Sunday February 23

Morning after we weren't washed away

Walked a ways up to the road closed sign

     The big water didn’t come and Sunday was clear and warm. Before or after breakfast we walked up the road to the closure and the Carr House which was closed for the winter and we walked on for a ways and looked out on the valley and the sprawl of Sierra Vista. There was a tall strand of waterfall high up in the cliffs.

     We hit Sierra Vista for diesel, Fritos, etc.

     

     S is coughing up a storm. She got some Halls yesterday but that wore off.

     Drove 86 after skirting Tucson  to Why and Organ Pipe Nat Mon where we were greeted like old friends, sort of. Probably won’t go to the Star Party tonight in camp due to it being at the dumping station and we overheard it once some years ago and it didn’t go well and S is sick and I am writing this and B is tired. S made lentils with sweet potatoes which was fiery but yoghurt fixed that. Tomorrow though we may try to reach the primitive Alamo camp by bike.