This Land is a Real Gift

We are in the Laughlin, Nevada / Bullhead City, Arizona area and still exploring the countryside. The two morning doves are in our backyard. They remind us of the doves outside of our first apartment in Mankato. Yes, we have been to a couple of casinos and no, we didn't make any money. So, it seemed like driving the backroads would be a more lucrative way to spend our time. There is the most amazing rock art just a few miles from town - not even a park - just a sign that says "Christmas Pass". Look carefully, you never know what you might see.
I nearly stepped on this one... I know his is probably a directional symbol but it sure looks like a cross to me...

Since we had a little bit of rain over the past week, the desert floor is beginning to show some color. Perhaps one of these blooms is how the pass became known as "Christmas Pass".
Aren't these colors beautiful and they were so small I almost missed them.
And this barrel cactus was showing off when we were in a different mountain range.
In case you are worried that Mike has gotten over his gold fever - fear not... in fact, we are now the proud owners of a metal detector... The Fortune Finder!
And this area if full of mines - some posted ... and others open to go in (against his wife's wishes).

This old miner's shack looked like it hadn't been used in awhile.
The scenery from every turn is magnificent
It seems that people don't always welcome you on the backroads...
And some of those backroads are a challenge - even for Mike and the Jeep (and my nerves)!
This is the view taken through an old mining building.
I do love the rock formations - especially the "Cathedral Rock" (my name, don't know the real name for the mountain).
Well, we have to swap the side roads for "The Track" in a couple of days. Bonnie and Barry are joining us tomorrow and we are moving to Vegas on Monday. News from the speedway next week!

Ruins, Rock Art, and Red Rocks

All of these are prevalent in the Verde Valley of Arizona - the area we are calling home right now. We have had several amazing day trips and a spectacular "red rock sunset".

These pictures show cliff dwellings of the Sinagua People who lived in this area 1500 years ago. This is known as Montezuma Castle although it has nothing to do with Montezuma and was certainly not a castle; but it is very impressive.
This is Montezuma Well (again Montezuma had nothing to do with this area). It is located a few miles from the castle and is really a limestone sinkhole.
This is part of an irrigation system still intact more than 1000 years later.When the Sinaqua (means "without water") left this area, sometime around 1400 AD, they left not only their homes, but petroglyphs and pictographs. We visited two cultural sites that have amazing rock art. Palatki is an area we visited several years ago with Rich and Anita. We all fondly remember the jeep ride over the rough roads to get there. Well, time changes things and now most of that road is paved. It seems a housing development went in and the residents paid to have the road paved; somehow, it just didn't seem right to travel a paved road to this "back in time" site. Anyway, the rock art was still intact.These are just two examples from the Palatki Cultural Site. You may have to study the first picture awhile to see all the drawings.
It is amazing to be able to put your hands in the handprints of those who lived so long ago.
At the Honanki Site, the art is more diverse and what is left of the dwelling is much larger. The road to get to this location is 10 miles of unpaved "for high clearance vehicles only" and it was a fun ride!

Along the side roads, we spotted this "western scrub jay". We also spent some time wandering around by "Beaver Creek" where the red rocks almost look artificial against the blue water. And one late afternoon, we drove to Sedona to catch the sunset.
The sky all around us was amazing!Arizona is a truly diverse and beautiful state... but soon the lure of easy money will pull us to Nevada... or maybe it is the sound of race cars...

Happy Valentine's Day

to each and every one of you. And a Happy Anniversary to Bobbi and David; and Rosann and Craig.

Political Commentary

We're In The Money...

OK, not really, but we have visited two gold mines in the last week!

The Vulture Mine is located south of Wickenburg and it is where Mike got his first taste of gold panning. There were some very cool old buildings around the mine site so I will just let the pictures talk for themselves.

I couldn't believe that we had complete access to some of these, not real safe, buildings. I did step carefully... and tried to avoid black cats!



There really was all kinds of mining equipment and Mike tried his best to explain to me how it worked, but I was most interested in other things.


Then we moved up the road a few miles and visited a mine just outside of Jerome, AZ. This was much less of a mine and much more of a "collection of the old and unusual" (no comments, please) especially old vehicles. Bob G. would have enjoyed the old sawmill and I think brother Rich would really have enjoyed the old trucks.

Mike could not resist shoveling a bit in the mine, just to see if they had missed anything.
Check out the old dump truck in the foreground. The box really went up and down with a hand crank. This washing machine and iron is older even than the one mom used to have in the basement!

This was the lineup of vehicles surrounding the place.