AJO AREA

We are now in the Ajo area of Arizona with our friends Gary and Georgine.  Been here for a couple of weeks mostly just hanging out in the warm sunshine!  Been doing a lot of walking and hiking.  Also a side trip or two with the jeep.  Below are some of the pictures of the area.

This is actually Gila Bend Air Force Station Fam Camp where we stayed a couple of nights before we drove down to Ajo.

Our camp in the desert.

We have had some great sunsets but the sunrises are few.  Not sure of the reason but they are not very spectacular this year as in years past.

Connie and Zeph in front of an Organpipe cactus.

Sometimes rabbits eat the bottom of the saguaro.

We found this bicycle frame out in the bombing range as we were driving along.  Must be a story here but we do not know it.

Some of the roads have a bit of slope to them.

Old railroad tracks that haven't been used in years.

Some rock formations near Dead Man's gap.

The base of an old dead saguaro.

Connie and Zeph about to change tracks on the railroad!!  That will surprise the engineer if they were still using these tracks.  And it is functional still.

Trash that accumulates on the railroad bridge.

We got quite a surprise when a barn owl flew out of this mine test hole one morning.

 

Yuma Proving Grounds

 

10 March 2022:  Connie and I our now down in southern Arizona near the town of Ajo. We left Quartzsite and drove down to Yuma where we spent a week at the Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds FAM CAMP.  We were plugged into electricity and hooked up to sewer and water.  They have a great place there and we have stayed there before and will again.  Did a little exploring of the area and a few good hikes.   We left there and drove to Gila Bend and stayed there for a couple of nights at the FAM Camp there at the Air Force Station.  Then headed to Ajo where we have spent a lot of time.  Great hiking and views.  But this year like last, there are no flowers.  Hardly any rain has fallen in the past year.  What a shame as the desert is so pretty when it is in bloom.  We will hang here for a while and then start our journey north to home.  Not sure which route we will take back and will make that decision then.  

 

A picked lettuce field

A farm tractor in downtown Yuma.

A lot of date palms in this area.

A fresh planted field. Water and sunshine will make it green.

Guys jumping out of airplanes almost everyday at the Yuma Proving Grounds while we were there.

And they used the soccer field for the landing zone.

Watering the crop. I am pretty sure this is lettuce.

We took a drive out to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and did a little hiking.

Pretty Sure this is Hat Top Mountain.

There a lot of abandoned mines in this area.

The miners look like they ate a lot of beans!

Connie and Zeph on our hike.

Pretty sure that is Hat Top Mountain.

 

SOUTH TO ARIZONA 2022

 HEADED SOUTH TO WARMER WEATHER

Connie and I headed down to Jackpot, NV on the 9th of February 2022 to start our trek south to warmer temperatures and visit our winters haunts in Arizona, Nevada, and maybe even southern Utah.  Our second stop was Overton, NV where we camped out on the shore of Lake Meade.  We stopped there last year and were just amazed at how many RVs were parked out there at Stuarts Point.  Well this year we were amazed at how few there were!  We were even able to park in the same spot we camped years ago when we first camped there.  The nearest town is Overton, NV  

Lake Mead at the east end.

Zeph with his frisbee.

The lake is very low again this year.

Everybody is an artist!

More of the east end of the lake.

Now that is smooth water. Not a ripple on it!

This was our jeep drive for the day. 

More donkeys.

A tunnel through the old mud in the river bottom.

And lots of donkeys in this area.