OUT IN KOFA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

12 FEB 2019:  We had lunch with Audie Mortenson the other day and had a great visit with her.  She is doing good.  Got her a little dog so that will keep her company.  Spent a couple of days getting organized and did a little shopping at the outdoor market in Quartzsite.  Also stopped and visited Mac who is a volunteer with the BLM here now.  He used to be a regular visitor at Gila Bend AFS for many years and that is how we got to know him.  Moved out to KOFA National Wildlife Refuge a couple of days ago and hardly anyone around here.  Nice and quiet.  And it is a great place to walk.  Just go until you get tired of walking!  Did a trip to Burro Canyon and hiked up to the spring there.  That used to be one of our regular things down here when we had the little red jeep.  We got a few desert “pin stripes” on the new jeep going through the brush and trees getting there.  Quite a few poppies are blooming out there. 

THESE PICTURES SHOULD BE CALLED THE OLD, THE DYING, AND THE DEAD. 

It is so dry here that things hardly rot.  They just hang around.

THE PICTURES BELOW ARE JUST RANDOM PICTURES TAKEN IN THE LAST FEW DAYS.

Lots of berries on this bush.

Some of the road into the spring at the head of Burro Canyon.

Some of the road was quite rough.

This is a tank for wildlife to use.  It used to be filled with water from the windmill.  Now it is solar powered.

A rock dam that catches some of the water upstream from the new solar tank.

Water just comes out of cracks in the rocks.

A pin cushion cactus with some "fruits" on it.

Lots of poppies showing up.

Just the desert landscape.

Our campsite.

Sunset.

UPDATE: WE ARE DOWN IN ARIZONA

Connie and I decided to head south this winter a little earlier than we usually do.  Both of us were getting very tired of the ice around our place and the frozen crunchy snow we had to walk in every day.  The weather forecast was not looking very good following week so we hustled and put the camper on the pickup and loaded it as quick as we could.  Checklists are great so you don’t forget things, and we were pretty good at getting everything.  My brother Gary will feed the horses while we are gone and check the cat once in a while.  She has an automatic feeder so it will have to be filled once in a while also.  And Connie’s family was having a Super Bowl party on Sunday so we thought we would crash it!  Left Saturday the 2^nd of February and drove to Hill AFB, UT where we camped for the night at the FAMCAMP there.  It rained a lot and the wind blew pretty hard a couple of times but we made it there in good time.  The next afternoon we drove out to Rob and Heather’s place where the party was and drove up just before kickoff.  They were all surprised to say the least.  It was sure fun and we had a good time.   The next morning, we drove down to Nevada and spent one night then on down to Quartzsite, AZ and camped out in desert.  It is a little cooler here than it is normally when we go down, but not that bad.  It was 28 degrees the first morning we were here.  Our heater works good though so no problem.  Took us part of a day to get organized and are getting used to living “in the dirt” as we call it.  The days are in the mid to high 60’s and predicted to get warmer.  

Dell jumped up on the top of the camper maybe thinking she could go along with us to Arizona!

You can see Connie is wearing ice grippers on her walking shoes because of all the ice.

Very slick where ever we drove.

Down in the meadow there was just some snow in places - no ice.  But the road down to the meadow was very slick.

Connie saying good bye to her horses.

Washing the jeep and camper in Overton, NV.

Lots of rain and wind on the drive.

Just pulled into where we are camping and had a nice sunset.

Frost on my bike seat.  Had to clean that off before I went riding for my morning ride.

A view from our first walk west of camp.

Spoiled dog.

Beer thirty.

Went out to one of our favorite places in west central Arizona, KOFA national wildlife refuge.

Some of the flowers are starting to bloom out there.

The first poppies we have seen this year.

This can has lain here a long time.