Travels with haRVy

Posted by: sunnyharvy | March 24, 2014

Curious Chloride, AZ

First stop after leaving Las Vegas: Hoover Dam. By the way, if you’re thinking that you didn’t see a blog post about our time in Las Vegas, that’s because we basically did a drive through. Just not our cup of tea.

Further along our route to Kingman, AZ, I noticed that we would be just 4 miles from the eclectic town of Chloride, AZ about which I had read enough to be curious. A few miles off the main highway and many miles back in time, Chloride is a small village of 250 people with 1 motel, 1 convenience store and a few gift shops and lot of local color. The residents pride themselves on their “yard art,” examples of which appear below, but the town is best known for the murals painted by artist Roy Purcell on the granite faces of a nearby canyon.

After a quick pass through, we drove up the dirt road behind town, across the wash, and up the hill. A shop keeper had told us it was “less than a mile” to the murals. After what seemed like a bit further than that, the road got a bit nasty, so we turned around and pulled over to hike the rest of the way.

After what seemed like at least another mile on foot, they finally appeared.

It was pretty late in the afternoon by the time we returned to haRVy and when we got there we realized that we were in a beautiful spot to spend the night. We enjoyed a lovely sunset and quiet night overlooking Chloride. We didn’t see another car until well into the next morning.

After breakfast we went back into town where we took in all the sights which included some local characters, a fake ghost town, an historic jail and train depot, and lots of the aforementioned “yard art.”

I will wrap up this post with a bit of nature’s art. I’ve never seen so many blossoms on one cactus plant.

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Posted in Arizona

Posted by: sunnyharvy | March 17, 2014

Death Valley Days: 5

I started this day with a walk in the desert adjacent to the campground at Stove Pipe Wells. The tracking skills learned in the previous night’s program came in handy as I spotted tracks made by coyotes, kangaroo rats, and rabbits. On our way out, we couldn’t resist taking one more look (and a few more photos of course) at the sand dunes under very different light conditions.

Fewer people climb the dunes in the morning.

After driving down yet another dirt road, we walked the boardwalk trail around Salt Creek to view the endemic Salt Creek Pup Fish. They were quite interesting to watch, but at just an inch in length impossible to photograph. Al did get some video footage, so you could check back to see how that came out.

After lunch out at Furnace Creek Ranch we reluctantly drove out of Death Valley having had a tremendous experience there. We stopped for smoothies at the cafe in Amargosa where we also had a quick tour at the T and T Railroad Museum. We headed for that evening’s campsite at the Sanders Family Winery, another hospitable Harvest Host in Pahrump, Nevada (our 19th state!). Owner Jack Sanders treated us to a delicious and entertaining wine tasting before we settled in for delivered pizza and a good night’s sleep.

Death Valley Days: 4

Started our day with a hike up the mesa behind our camp site.

There are cairns all over the park. This is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

This day got very hot very fast. Once we reached our next campground at Stovepipe Wells around noon, our energy was sapped. I had heard there were showers in the village here and was delighted to find that for just $4 we could shower AND swim in the pool…perfect! Just before sunset we headed over to the nearby sand dunes for a walk around and photo session.

We went back out onto the dunes after dark to experience them under the light of a full moon. A park ranger led a group program which taught us about the animal activities in the dunes and how to spot their tracks.

Death Valley Days: 3

Headed up the valley to take a guided historic tour of Scotty’s Castle. I guess I wasn’t expecting much because it was a LOT more interesting than I thought it would be. The tour guide dressed in period (1939) costume and ours acted as a young newspaper reporter collecting facts for an article. Ranger Kate was absolutely terrific and brought the story to life as we toured this most unusual (and unexpected) mansion in the desert.

Then it was off to nearby Ubehebe Crater.

Day three concluded at remote Mesquite Spring campground further north in the park. We checked in using our credit card in the”Iron Ranger” shown below. There is no cell coverage and no Internet out here, so I was compelled to ask the camp host how this machine can process credit cards. Via transmissions to Federal Government satellites of course!

We enjoyed a brilliant quiet evening here.

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Posted in Death Valley National Park

Posted by: sunnyharvy | March 16, 2014

Death Valley Days: 1 and 2

I can’t begin to describe our Death Valley experience in words, so I will try to do so with my photographs. Although, I realize they are inadequate as well. You will just have to visit to fully comprehend the strange and unique qualities of this immense (3 million square acres!) park.

Roadside attractions in Tecopa Hot Springs before entering Death Valley

First stop inside the park upon our late afternoon arrival – Zabriskie Point

Got settled in at the Furnace Creek Campground where we spent our first two nights. Gathered information and viewed an excellent video at the Visitor Center before heading out to explore in earnest. As you can see we enjoyed excellent weather. Daytime temperatures ranged from 70 to 85 during our stay. I wouldn’t want to visit any later in the year as the heat from the sun is intense.

These are the wagons that were filled with borax and pulled by 20-mule teams.

What’s left of the Harmony Borax Works

One of many unpaved roads we would traverse. This one took us through Mustard Canyon:

Above photos taken at Badwater Basin salt flats.

Then it was on to Artist Drive where various minerals create beautiful hues.

Back at the campground “Handyman” Al doesn’t look any too happy to be fixing our window blind as the sun sets behind the Panamint Mountains.

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Posted in Death Valley National Park

Posted by: sunnyharvy | March 13, 2014

Two Nights at the Oasis

There are distinct advantages to staying in one place for an extended period of time. In this case, we had been in Camarillo, CA for a month. This was made possible because of the extreme generosity of my brother and his wife, for which we are extremely grateful. The reasons why we needed to stay here so long do not make for good reading (don’t worry, they’re not health related), but we made the best of the situation by seeking out the area’s pleasures. We found some good yoga classes at the Camarillo Yoga Center, worked out at the new Family YMCA facility, and road our bikes on the Calleguas Creek bike path. We ate some great Chinese Food at Chester’s and delicious homemade Mexican at PJ’s Boulevard Café.

Besides enjoying the warmth of the sun, we delighted in the local farmers’ bounty it helped produce. Our friends in New England probably can’t believe that we got to eat scrumptious fresh strawberries and heirloom tomatoes in late February! My brother and his wife also took us to a few nearby attractions including the Murphy Auto Museum, the historic Camarillo Ranch, Conejo Valley Botanic Gardens, and Gardens of the World.

Saying farewell to my brother Jeff.

It was fun to dig deeper into one area for a change, but it was time to leave the coast to explore the natural attractions of the interior of our Southwestern States.

First stop: Red Rocks State Park, CA. Just a three hour drive, but a world away from Camarillo, this little park provides campsites nestled at the base of drip sand castle like geologic formations. It’s quite a small park, so one night was enough to explore all it had to offer, but it felt like a good start to our getting on the move again.

Our first desert flower sighting

Sunrise lights up the red rocks and haRVy

Next up was a location highly recommended by Judy, our Bookdocker’s Welcome host back when we were in Lompoc. It didn’t take us long to realize we were lucky she thought to tell us about China Ranch Date Farm in Tecopa, CA as it presented an extremely unique and enjoyable experience.

The uniqueness began on the adventurous drive into the property. A few miles off the highway the hard road surface turned to gravel and became very twisty and hilly. Near the end of the road, the valley opened up to show what appeared to be an oasis surrounded by acres of desert.

As soon as we got settled into our camping spot next to the date palm orchard, we realized we needed to stay two nights to take in all this place has to offer. Luckily, this Harvest Host welcomed us to do just that.

As the ranch’s brochure states, “We are not a resort or tourist development, but rather a working family farm in a truly unusual setting.” Brian Brown, who took over from his father in 1989 has done an extraordinary job here propagating different species of dates from around the world. He even provided us with a lesson on how date palms pollinate. Definitely an extraordinary destination worth visiting.

We appreciated an extremely quiet evening and deep sleep as the only sound we heard on our first night was the howl of a pack of coyotes.

The next day we took an extraordinary hike in an unexpectedly interesting canyon area adjacent to the date farm. We hiked down a long, wide canyon that contained interesting artifacts, up and over a mesa, across the Amaragosa River, over an historic railroad bed, and into a really cool (literally, as it provided much needed shade) slot canyon.