Loitering on Plomosa Road

Hey y'all.  Still hanging about here, watching more and more rigs pull in in preparation for the big RV show starting Jan 21.  I'll post some pictures at the bottom of how the area looks now and you can contrast them with the previous posts.  I've see less crowded RV parks.  Fortunately we parked pretty much at the outer edge of the camping area so we've nobody on one side... almost on two, except we allowed a bit too much space between us and the corner and a fifth wheel from Maryland snuck in there.  Friendly couple, though.  As of today we have a couple days of water left so we'll probably set up over on the Bouse side of the mountains for a week or so after we dump and fill to let this side thin out again.

Wendy's feeling much better, so we're able to get out and about a little more now.  Just had to find the right drugs...

Unfortunately the drone's not faring as well... it's limping badly and one corner doesn't want to lift off, which puts a damper on any aerial photography.  It's been pretty windy and rainy off and on the past couple weeks though so probably wouldn't have got much flying in anyway.  Good news: I called Customer Service and they're sending me another one for free.  Bad news: They'll only ship to a physical address so they're sending it to Ardrossan.  I won't have it for the balance of this trip but it'll be all fresh and new for Alberta in the spring!

BTW, I have video from the drone and dash cam that I'll be putting on Youtube once I get back and get some big bandwidth for uploading, so check there in a few months.  Meanwhile I have a few videos posted from the Utah trip last fall if you want to check them out.  Just search for "Vic and Wendy" and you should find the channel OK.

Took a couple runs around the Plomosa Mountains 4x4 trail... 

pretty mild run with only a couple actual 4wd areas 

(and even those may have been doable in 2wd).  

Saguaro bones. 

Pretty unusual to see arms so close to the ground.  

A little hide-and-seek.  

Ocotillo bloom.  They sprout leaves and bloom within a few days of rain.  

Saguaro skeleton. 

Ocotillo skeleton. 

I call this one "Dad tries to teach son how to grow arms.  Son is slow learner."

I guess this is what happens when you multi-task too much.  

A mine near the top of the mountain.  

Nope, not a pothole... another mineshaft just off the road.  

Obviously you don't want to stumble around this area in the dark.  

Same mineshaft.  

Sorry I didn't get close enough to the edge to see the bottom, 

but I trust there IS one.  

This is another side trail that I thought might be a shortcut home... 

...turns out not.  This part of the wash was a bit more than I wanted to tackle, 

and a few others had felt the same judging from the quad tracks 

turning around right about where Sara's sitting.  

A few did go through though.  

We also took a little run down to Palm Canyon in KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. 

The hike up the canyon is "short but strenuous".  Boy, is that ever true.  

Wendy wisely passed on it.  

Yup, there the little buggers are!  In a little crack in the canyon wall.  Actually I heard some of these are 20 feet tall, so this was from a ways away.  

Nice view from up there though.  

And a LOT more pleasant walk going down than the uphill trip.  

When you're in Q the last week of January you have to go to the big tent.  Once.  

We waited til Monday so the crowds wouldn't be so bad; 

apparently it was a sardine can on Saturday.  

Our need for cookware or bedding or RV park brochures or Ginsu knives isn't that great 

so one trip to the tent is more than enough.  

Some pics from the roof of the motorhome (since I'm currently drone-less).  

Started from the right and turned to the left.  

I suppose I could have stitched these into a panoramic for you, but you get the idea.  

Can't leave without a few pics of sunsets and rainbows, of course.  No sunrises for obvious reasons.