Interesting Stuff

On my side-by-side (desert buggy) ride yesterday I saw:

an abandoned commercial gold mine--building on the right, tailings (what they dug up but discarded) on the left, 

several interesting saguaro 

and lots of signs of the unusual recent rains.

It is always amazing to me what a little water will do.

Tomorrow?  We never know.

Louise and Duane

No Ladies Ride

On my previous buggy ride I went with our Ohio friend Barbara on a Ladies ride (see Ladies In Charge blog).  Today I went with (our other Ohio friend) her husband Gene.  

The Arizona desert was a bit chilly and we started out with extra layers and gloves.  The dust masks were an absolute must.

Today we went the opposite direction--away from Saddle Mountain.  We zigzagged around the desert floor heading north and east, crossing several little gullies of varying depths.

The first stop was to inspect what was left of a house, long departed.

 In the distance we could just make out the dome of a monastery.

As the ride progressed the roads became more rugged.  

Lunch stop in a mountain pass.

View to the right--we came up from this direction.

View to the left--we went down this way.

On the Ladies Ride we couldn't go under I10 because the tunnel was full of water.  Today it was dry.

The more challenging terrain made this ride an adventure for me.  To top it off when we took this road,  

Gene put the pedal to the metal and showed me what else his buggy could do.

Fun's over.  Chores tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Raising Ructions

One day Eagle

Harley

Indian

Yamaha

and Spyder

decided to have some fun.  The sky was cloudy and the breeze was chilly, but they didn't care.  They raced up and down mountains.

They swooped around curves.

They flew across valleys

They stopped to rest

 

at a desert water hole,

where they stuffed face, made a bunch of noise, and misbehaved in general,

 before flying, 

swooping

and racing home again.

The End.

Louise and Duane

North Of Congress

Gene asked Duane if he wanted to be a part of an exploratory desert ride today.  The leader of the group ride on Friday wanted to map out a new route today.  Gene and Charley (the group leader) loaded two side-by-sides (but not Gene's) into Gene's trailer for an hour's drive to the desert at the feet of the Weaver Mountains.  After the buggies were unloaded the four men drove across the desert to access the Hassayampa River bed.  On the way they encountered this herd of cattle

and two tanks--one man made

and one natural.

The roads were more rugged than usual, which gave Duane the heebie jeebies a time or two.

The bright sunshine reflected from the saguaro and cholla (choya).

The river bed led to 

a box canyon.

After exploring the canyon, they piled in their machines for the ride back down the riverbed,

and back across the desert to where the vehicles were parked.  

The entire trip took 8 hours.

Back to the usual tomorrow.

Louise and Duane