Travel

RV Camping in Phoenix and the Blog Bash

We decided to rent an RV and camp in Phoenix last week while attending the NRA Convention because we wanted to bring our dog, Bear. She’s eleven years old and we’re quite attached to her. Besides, Damsel and I had such a wonderful time camping out last December for our Winter RV Cruise, that we knew this would be fun.

One problem we had because the dog with us, was a logistical balance between getting her in a doggie day care center near the campground and getting transportation to the Convention. We wanted to go to the exhibits on Friday and did OK with that, but we had traffic, parking and proximity to the Center problems because of the overwhelming attendance. By the time we finished with the exhibit hall, it was time to head back to doggie day care and thence back to the RV.

One thing that needs to be said is that without Bitter and the 2A Bash groundwork, we would have waited in the two-hour lines to even get into the place. We got our stuff in the media room and headed into the exhibits. Thanks again to the organizers and to the NRA staff.

We’re sorry we didn’t have the chance to attend the Bash meetings and mingle in the media room. I actively looked at people in the exhibit hall hoping to spot another blogger and say hello, but that seemed to be a needle in the haystack proposition. Plus the guns and exhibits were there to distract us, naturally.

Eventually, we will be able to hook up with some of the other bloggers. We especially would like to meet Bitter and Sebastian to personally thank them for their help this year. I’m going to be retired next year and I assume we will have more time to get involved.

It was fun – I composed this panorama while we were parked in the campground – we’re the Cruise America rig in the middle. Several of the other rigs in this row were also there with NRA folks. Click the panorama for full size.

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View of the San Andreas Fault

During our visit to Joshua Tree National Park yesterday, we took the short drive from the main road to a place called Keys View. From that point, you can see the Coachella Valley and the Palm Springs area five thousand feet (1525 meters) below. You can also see the San Andreas Fault (underlined in red) which has been the cause of many Earthquakes in California, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Click on the image to enlarge.

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In the distance behind the ridge of hills thrust up by fault motion, you can see desert communities including Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Indio and La Quinta. All of these places will have a front row seat for the next major San Andreas movement in this area.

Speaking of quakes, the ground here at home is still shaking from aftershocks form the earthquake that happened in this area last Sunday. That was on the Inglewood-Newport fault, not the San Andreas. We missed the main shock since we were in Wickenburg, AZ when it hit. No damage here at home, thank goodness.

Back to California

Joshua Tree

We’re back in California (for the time being) and planning to spend our last day on vacation visiting Joshua Tree National Park. We drove through the park from the south entrance today, so we have our preview of tomorrow’s tour. We’re camped in Twentynine Palms, CA, tonight, and plan to head back to the park in the morning. After the visit to the park, we’re headed back to the grind at home – for now.

We enjoyed our trip and look forward to our upcoming retirement and eventual return to Arizona when we get our affairs in order. While in Arizona, we both enjoyed our 2nd amendment rights to carry in a place that gets it. We can hardly wait to get the freak out of liberal California.

The Road From Phoenix

We drove out of the campground today and headed toward Wickenburg, AZ. We had a great time in Phoenix at the NRA convention and afterward just relaxing and camping.

The picture below shows typical scenery along Arizona SR74 en route to US60 on the way to Wickenburg, where we currently are camping. Among the several varieties of vegetation seen here are Saguaro cactus, Cholla, Ocotillo, and mesquite. We think these are very beautiful and many are flowering. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Crossing the Desert

One of the interesting things about crossing our southwestern deserts is the large variety of vegetation. One such variety is the desert tree known as palo verde – green wood, literally. In the springtime, it sprouts tiny yellow flowers. Click the image to enlarge.

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Tonight we’re going to relax at the RV Park and plan to head to the convention sometime tomorrow. We have the dog with us and need to get her into day care.

The Road to Phoenix

We’re on our way to the 2A Blog Bash and NRA Convention in Phoenix. Tonight, we’re camping along the Colorado River in Blythe, CA. Here’s a photo Damsel took of the river from our campsite just as we arrived.

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