Starting Our Journey Home

Today we left Tucson and drove to Sedona making a side trip to see Montezuma Castle.  Craig and I had seen it a couple of years ago but thought his parents would love to see it also.  We were there for about 1/2 an hour then on the road again to Sedona.  

 

It was about 3pm by the time we arrived in Sedona and we were a bit hungry so we ended up having 'lupper', you know that meal between lunch and supper.  Since it is Saturday and in true LeBleu fashion we found a burger joint to have a burger and fries.  After we ate we explored the area taking many pictures of the gorgeous red rock. 

 

We couldn't get a room close to the airport in Phoenix so we decided to stay in Camp Verde as Craig had enough driving for the day.  We will leave Camp Verde around 9am tomorrow as Craig's parents leave early afternoon and we leave a few hours later.  Craig and I will arrive in Edmonton in the wee hours where we will get a few hours of sleep then off to pick up Molly & Blitz in Yellowknife.

 

Here are some pics from today.

 

Montezuma Castle

Craig's parents among the Arizona Sycamore tree

These Sycamore trees have a beautiful unique bark on them

A trail that we walked in Sedona

Of course I needed to stop to take a pic of this tree

We pulled off and drove into a viewing area just outside Sedona

Some very beautiful scenery

The clouds were very wispy

More wispy clouds

People were actually climbing up this rock formation

 Cathedral Rock

Another view of Cathedral Rock

 

Talk soon!

Saguaro National Park

Since it is midnight I will let the pictures do the talking on this blog entry.  All I can say is what a great day to be in the desert. 

Park entrance

A sign of many as you step out of your parked vehicle.

We didn't see any but we did see many lizards

This saguaro cactus looked like it was a bit wind blown

Saguaros for miles

One of the park staff said that this was last year's fruit on this barrel cactus

Everything was in bloom

So many colourful flowers on the cactus

I could take pics all day long of these old and very interesting trees

Then we headed over the Desert Museum where dad and I took the tour

The first cactus I saw in bloom

Well hello beautiful

The Mexican Grey Wolf - it was hot in the sun so many of the

animal took to the shade

Beep Beep!!

This Ocelot would not look at me - maybe a bit camera shy

A female Gilded Flicker

This cactus took your breath away but the gorgeous colour of

it's flowers

Time of head out of the park as it was 5pm and it was closed

Talk soon!

Quail, Burros and Horses...Oh My!

We drove to the Imperial Dam area a couple of days ago to explore and to shoot the area.  Craig's dad really wanted to go and I wanted to head over to Martinez Lake to see what it was all about. So glad that the Imperial Dam was closed to the public as it pushed us to drive further to explore the area.  We had seen Gambel's Quail before but this whole area had tons...everywhere. They are a small ground bird and it is named in honor of William Gambel who was a 19th-century naturalist and explorer of the Southwest.  We ended up at a gorgeous spot called Senator Wash where as soon as you rounded to corner you could see a couple of wild burros along the shore.  We walked up high along a trail to see if we could get a wee bit closer to the pair and sure enough we got to about 25 feet from them. Thankfully I had my big lens with me to get a closer look at them.  As we were driving out of the park Eeyore was standing in the middle of the road, slowly walking by some trailers. 

 

We spent a good hour there before heading to Martinez Lake and then back home.  Martinez Lake is a resort town which is packed full of trailers and homes...not my cup of tea but the area is pretty.  Driving home through the Proving Grounds I saw something in under some trees so Craig turned around and there they were, about 5 wild horses taking cover from the hot sun. They were all black and too far away to take a good pic but what an experience. As we drove down I95 to head home we saw another small herd of wild horses...our lucky day!  This time they were pretty much in the open desert so it was my chance to get a few pics of them.  It seemed like Craig just got going again and we came across 5 more wild burros.

 

As we were driving into the sunset on 32nd Avenue in Yuma Craig pulled into a side road for us to watch some planes come in for a landing.  Can you say loud?  Craig's mom stayed in the truck and she said that it shook when the F35b flew over it. Very cool!

 

 

The very handsome Gambel's quail...where's my bird dogs when I need them? lol

Senator Wash - if you look closely you can see the two burros

along the shore among the trees.

A lady stopped and pointed out the Old Man of the Mountains for us.

 I had to change my lens to the 500mm to get the next few pics.

I wonder if you have to pay this guy to drive through?

Perfect attitude for Eeyore, he turned around as if to say

"Thanks for noticin' me"

Beautiful Wild Horses

The burro gang

F35b heading into the sunset

 

Talk soon!

Imperial Sand Dunes

Last night we drove across the border into California to have a much closer look at the Imperial Sand Dunes, North America's largest,  stretching more than 40 miles and averaging 5 miles in width. These dunes continue to creep about 12 inches to the southeast every year.  The sand was beautiful and it is paradise for dune buggies and ATVs, wished we had the Commander down here.

 

I thought this was a tumble weed but then realized it was

actually growing out of the sand

Dunes as far as the eye could see

As the sun was setting the colours of the dunes changed with it

Craig's mom on top of the world

The sun was setting on the opposite side of the road but

the clouds were still pretty

This guy must of had a break down as he was being pulled

Sunset over Imperial Sand Dunes

I decided to do a pano view of the dunes.

 

Speaking of pano views I forgot to add this one the other day of

the Keys View in Joshua Tree National Park

This is Violet, our neighbours dog, you may remember her from last year.

She is so adorable and I am not sure if she was looking for Blitz or not.

She helped herself into our condo the other day and had a good sniff of the dog beds and toys.

 

Well I better get to work as I decided a couple of days ago that I would strip the kitchen door which leads to the outside.  One side was painted and the other side needed a fresh coat of stain.  Well my one day project is on day #3 and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel...stay tuned.

 

Talk soon!