Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Wanderlust

Scenic Saguaro Forest

Saguaro Forest

One of the more scenic highways in Arizona is State Route 74 which connects US 60 in Morristown (10 miles south of Wickenburg) and Interstate 17 at New River, near the north end of Phoenix. The highway runs through an area dense in growth of the iconic saguaro cactus. The road goes through some flat desert and then at the east end through gentle hills and across the Agua Fria River just below Waddell Dam at the south end of Lake Pleasant.

It was a beautiful day today with temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s and a little breezy with gusts to around 15-20 mph. High thin clouds and mostly blue skies. The image above is somewhere in the middle of the road but typical of the scenery you can enjoy when out here. Click on the image to enlarge.

22 Mar 2016 by Arizona Environment Photography Wanderlust

Ducks Along The Colorado

A White Duck Ducks Dunking

I took my Canon SL1 and the telephoto lens down to the Colorado river where we camped last night to see if I could get some photo ops of whatever the river and its occupants might have to offer. I was fortunate enough to have a pair of ducks floating near the California side shoreline that were dunking for whatever goodies the river bottom might contain.

The white duck and her mate were about two or three feet from the riverbank when I snapped these shots. They let me approach them without retreating to a range of about fifteen feet so I could get these images of them doing their thing. There were also several other ducks and a number of coots or “mud hens” in the area. Click on either image to enlarge.

15 Mar 2016 by Arizona California Critters Photography Wanderlust

A White Egret

White Egret

This weekend, we are camped in Palm Desert, California on the latest of our several recent visits to visit our grandson. This campground is really more of a desert oasis and resort that features golf putting greens, a driving range and the usual things found on golf courses, including water features (hazards?). We were walking the dogs yesterday when I spotted an egret in the pond near the front gate. I had my camera handy and managed to get this photo just as this magnificent bird was taking off from where it was wading. Click on the image to enlarge.

13 Mar 2016 by California Critters Photography Wanderlust

Another Beautiful Desert Sunset

Desert Sunset

We have had a couple of beautiful days camping here in the Coachella Valley. The temperatures and the weather in general have been very acceptable. This evening, we enjoyed this beautiful sunset. Tomorrow, we will be breaking up camp and headed to the Colorado River to visit with our friends who live there.

While we were here in Palm Desert, we enjoyed visiting with our six-month old grandson, his parents and his other grandpa was here, too. We had a cookout yesterday, when Bob grilled some steaks and I fixed the side dishes which we fed to everyone. It was our first mobile dinner party!

We are planning to prepare another steak dinner for our friends at the river tomorrow. After we spend the night there, we will be driving the Roadrunner RV back to Wickenburg.

14 Feb 2016 by California Photography Retirement Wanderlust

Camping in Palm Desert (Again)

Camping Setup

We left our Arizona home this morning at about eleven AM and arrived to check-in at the RV park at about two PM. That sounds like good travel time, but we gained an hour coming to the PST time zone, so the time was nominal as compared to our previous experience coming here. We had a good trip with one little slowdown where an eighteen wheeler rolled over in the median along I-10.

We got here and set up camp for our weekend visits with the kids and the grandson. We had been invited to the in-laws for dinner on previous trips here, but this time we’re inviting the kids and the other set of grandparents to the campground for a steak cookout on Saturday. With the big RV, we can prepare the sides and grill the steaks right here.

The RV Resort is packed today; we took a walk around and saw vehicle license plates from all over the US and Canada. There is an “Oh Canada” dinner and show here tonight (we will not be attending, eh? $40 USD per plate, hosers). Besides, we brought the food and beverages we need and are now settled in and quite comfortable.

We are using the Verizon Jetpack® MiFi wireless internet hot spot we recently obtained and thus far, it seems to work much better (and is more secure) than the often spotty performance of the unsecured WiFi offered by the RV park. We will probably report on our performance assessment of the new gadget after using it for a while.

12 Feb 2016 by Arizona Photography Technobabble Travel Wanderlust

Back to the Saguaros

First SaguarosAnyone who has crossed the Colorado River on Interstate 10 eastbound from Blythe, CA to Ehrenberg, AZ, will almost immediately start seeing the ubiquitous (to Sonoran Arizona) Saguaro Cactus along the route. I took this photo of some of the first-encountered Saguaros on a rocky hillside shortly after entering our home state after the last visit to Palm Desert.

Image of some of the first Saguaro Cacti encountered after entering Arizona on I-10. Click on the image to enlarge.

After entering Arizona, our route takes us 29 more miles on I-10 to Exit 31, US Hwy 60. We follow 60 all the way to Wickenburg, going through the Arizona Outback and the towns of Brenda, Hope, Harcuvar, Salome, Wenden, Gladden, Aguila and finally Wickenburg. It is a colorful and interesting drive through the small towns, farms, ranches and a lot of RV parks with Saguaro Cactus to be seen most of the way.

When we bought our desert property in 2010, there were no Saguaros on the lot. After building the house, we included three transplanted Saguaros as a part of our desert landscaping. When arriving home after one of our trips, it is always nice to see the big Saguaro at the top of the driveway in front of the house. Other than the Palo Verde at the bottom of the driveway, the big cactus is the first thing you notice when coming up the road.

We love the state, our home and all of the Saguaros.

Saguaro, Saguaro,
I Love you Saguaro,
You’re only a State Away!

Apologies to Strouse and Charnin, composer and lyricist for Annie the Musical.

12 Jan 2016 by Arizona Photography Travel Wanderlust

States Visited Meme

my-states.jpg

I saw this meme on the FecesBook™ thing and didn’t do anything about it. Then, I started seeing it show up on the blogs I read, most notably Every Blade of Grass, so I decided to participate.

I have been lucky to have visited a lot of places, domestically and internationally, because of Military Service, occupational deployment, personal vacation and travel, plus my secondary occupation as a pilot and flight instructor. My count of states visited in this country is up to forty-eight of them, only missing Iowa and North Dakota. I assure you, those two are on the bucket list.

We may visit the missing two this summer, depending on how things work out, but in any event, we will extend our 2017 Eclipse Vacation to include the two missing states. There are a lot of interesting things to see and do in that region of the country and we look forward to the trip.

I made this map using the link to MapLoco to Create your own states map. Click on the image to enlarge.

08 Jan 2016 by Blogosphere Travel Wanderlust

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