Boy, three days without a post. Not much happened, but here's the high points.
Monday we headed up to
Swansea, an old copper mining ghost town. Gravel road, nothing too spectacular.
 |
| The view coming down the pass towards Swansea. |
 |
| Gabby thought the ruins were pretty cool. That's adobe, btw. |
 |
| Stone & mortar foundations with adobe uppers. |
 |
| These are reconstructed "staff cottages". Kinda duplexes: each of those windows is a "cottage". |
 |
| This is the entire cottage: 1 door, 1 window, and about 10' x 12' space between. Cozy. |
 |
| Spotted another arch on the way out. |
We left Swansea towards Parker, then headed up to Lake Havasu City. Stopped in at the BLM field and picked up a bunch of backcountry maps so we're good for a little exploring now. I have to say, the grey bearded gent who served us was about as close to the typical fed government employee stereotype as |I ever expect to see. I dare not say any more.
After we got the maps, we got brave and took another stab at activating the TracFones which had been useless since we came down. With the help of Harold at TracFone we got the older one working, and with the help of Stephen at Wal*Mart the newer one got activated too. Harold said the SIM card was bad, so Stephen is a genius. Or maybe Harold was tired of talking to me, repeating everything four times so I could hear it over the traffic noise on the pay phone alongside the highway. You be the judge. TracFones used to be my favourite, but not lately. Anyway, both working now.
On the way home we scouted camping spots for the baloon festival next weekend - we'll move up to Havasu for 4-5 days rather than commuting.
Tuesday was a camp day. We both had the effects of the flu that Wendy swears is the guy at Dairy Queen's fault. I managed to get up and move around a little but Wendy was down for the day.
 |
| Took Gab out for a short walk. Found this abandoned mine near the camp. Hah! Actually just a zoomed in shot of a mouse hole. Sometimes I kill me. |
 |
| Also found what I think is a dried up Saguaro flower. Never seen one before; we've never been down here long enough to see the blooms. |
 |
| I love these old dead Ironwood trees. There's a lot of character in old decrepit things, no? |
 |
| This one was interesting because of the Saguaro skeleton in the middle. |
 |
| On a GPS, you have a "Go Home" button. On a walk with Gabby, you don't even have to press a button. Anytime after 10 minutes or so you can turn in the general direction of home and she's more than happy to show you the way. Sometimes she even checks to make sure you're following - probably just because she doesn't know how to open the door on her own. |
 |
| I managed to keep up with her this time so wasn't left to wander lost in the desert. |
Since it was a camp day, I went ahead and did something I wanted to try: cook a roast in the dutch oven. I'd barely made it through a cup of noodles for lunch, and Wendy wasn't going near anything looking remotely like food, so I knew that this would become the supper that nobody ate. Still, charcoal cooking takes time and I had plenty of that so I went for it! Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
 |
| The roast is spiced and in the oven, the coals are almost ready in my home-made coffee can briquet lighter. Lesson learned: if you're going to put air holes ONLY in the bottom of the can (done intentionally), DON'T put the can right down in the ashes. Cost: About 45 minutes wondering why the $%^&* briquets weren't getting grey. Briquets ready in about 10 minutes once I put the can on rocks. |
 |
| Now we're cookin'. 20 briquets on the top, 10 on the bottom. I read somewhere that that equals about 350* (I wonder who figures this stuff out?). Cook for an hour before adding more ingredients. |
 |
| After about 45 minutes, added some Italian sausage. Not part of the recipe but it had been in the fridge for a few days so I figured it had better get cooked. 20 minutes or so later: potatoes, carrots, and onions. Half hour after that, sweet potato. I'm not sure at what point this was but obviously I'd decided I should have some more briquets. Half an ear candle in the bottom of the can for a starter, btw. |
 |
| Half hour after the sweet potatoes, called it done. The roast was overdone, actually - next time I think only a half hour headstart before the veggies. |
 |
| I called it the supper that nobody ate, but that's not actually true. It smelled so darned good I had to have a plateful. Wait a minute. |
 |
| OK, that's better. Everything's better with a little hooch, and I told you I wasn't as sick as Wendy. Back story to this photo: somehow a gust of wind or something knocked over my glass, and I had to spend a half hour mopping the floor and pouring a new hooch before I could take the pic. So my supper was cold. Just so you know, one of the sacrifices I make to keep you up to date. |
 |
| Truthfully, Gabby ate and enjoyed the supper too. So really, the only person who didn't eat the supper that nobody ate was Wendy, whom I couldn't encourage to have even a small taste. Here's an after dinner shot; everyone's tuckered from the day. Meanwhile, the supper sits in a Tupperware bowl in the fridge awaiting an actual meal one of these days. |
Wednesday (today!) started out a whole lot better. We both felt somewhat better this morning and celebrated with a couple pieces of toast. Then when I went to get something from the jeep, Gab climbed in (yes, by herself) so we knew that was a sign that we should get out for a drive.
 |
| Not very often you get a sunRISE photo from me, so treasure this rare occurance. |
 |
| Part way up Dome Rock, just west of Q along the interstate. Only went up just past the first switchback, on account of the rocks were pretty jagged and I was nervous about my factory tires... and still wasn't feeling up to the possibility of having to change a tire off the side of a bluff. Damn you, Dome Rock! (shaking fist) You beat me this time, but I'll be back! |
 |
| We stopped at the corner just ahead. Y'know, it never looks nearly as drastic in the picture as in person... |
 |
| Coming back down. Quartzsite in the distance. |
 |
| Dome Rock. First switchback is on the right; we made it just past there. From here it looks like it terminates in the middle where those tailings are. |
 |
| This Ocotillo was green and in leaf. Not sure why - none of the others nearby were. This is only supposed to happen after a rain, so maybe somebody peed on it? |
 |
| The rescue that almost wasn't - the only documented evidence. I'd say someone was asleep at the wheel, but there's no steering wheel in front of her... I mean that... seat. |
So, headed into Bouse for a loaf of bread, and on the way back we come across this Ford Motorhome pulling a quad trailer, suspended over the ditch without enough traction at the wheels to move. Back bumper is on the pavement, trailer's taking up a lane, wheels are hanging in shallow self-dug trenches. Wish there were pictures; that would be a lot easier. Stopped to offer a hand. The Dodge was trying to pull the MH up but just spinning 4 tires in the loose gravel. So Mighty Sarah (new name, like it?) moved in, anchored her tail to a Palo Verde tree, and used her powerful winch to pull the motorhome off the road and to safety. The Dodge still helped a bit, or at least we let him think he did.
Right at the end I realized that nobody had grabbed either a regular camera, a video camera, an IPAD, a sketch pad, or anything else when she got out to chat and gawk with the rest of the chatters and gawkers, and I took this one pic after we'd pulled her up and before everyone parted ways. A grateful (elderly female) MH driver, some good ol' boy pickup drivers that are now impressed with what a winch can do, and a chance to use my recovery gear on someone other than myself. Pretty good finish to the day, and a chance to say "Shucks, twern't nuthin', ma'am" (only missing thing was a cowboy hat to tip).
Met a couple cop cars before we got home... wonder if they were headed to check out an accident... heh heh heh. Smokey's late to the party again...
Sure wish I had more pictures, though. Or video. Or hieroglyphics, even. Maybe next time.
