Monday, November 24/2014

The wind is blowing again today but not to the excessive degree that is was yesterday. It is a travel day today and I think we are headed to the east side of Kingman today. John wants to check out a few trails there so I guess we will be getting the trailer loaded and the camper into "travel mode".
We had no real need to hurry as we will only be travelling about 50 miles today.
We got showered up, packed the trailer and got the camper ready and we were off down the road, heading towards our next adventure.
We stopped to fill up on water and fuel then accessed I- 40 and headed out. We got off at exit 66, took the Blake Ranch Road and soon found ourselves on a minimally maintained "primitive" road.  Actually, the road itself was in pretty good shape but we found that dispersed camping sites were few and far between.
We eventually found a spot (I am sure it is the only one in the area) and got set up. Before we were even done though, a friendly Game and Fish cop stopped by wondering what our plans were. We told him that we were going to be quadding some of the trails for the next few days and he was OK with that. He was looking for poachers and told us that the only open hunting season was for Javalina so if we saw anyone with a deer or and elk in the back of their truck, we were to call them. Apparently, there were already two incidents of poaching in this area. We assured him we would keep our eyes open and asked him if he was coming back this way in the next few days to bring us a map of the trails. He said he would and he carried on his way.
We spent the evening watching Monday Night Football and John cooked us supper. Mmmmm!!

Our spot for a week

Heading down Blake Ranch road

Leaving Clhoride

BBQ chicken breast......
It was so quiet here - no noisy highway around!!  Life is good.

Sunday, November 23/2014

The wind started to blow during the night and it continues to do so this morning.  Man, it is very breezy out there today!!
It is football Sunday today but Kay and I are going to head into Kingman to pick up some dry ice for the frozen food cooler and of course there are a few groceries that we need to pick up.
Hopefully this wind settles down as the day progresses.
We got to Kingman and our first stop was The Cracker Barrel restaurant for breakfast.  Now, that was quite the eating experience.  Not only is it a restaurant, it is also a country store!!  My meal came with "grits" - a rather aptly names food as it tasted like I was eating grains of sand!!  Good thing I only had to have a taste!!  It also came with apple butter, fried apples in a wonderful sauce and, biscuits and country gravy.  Not to mention the over easy eggs, hashbrown casserole, a piece of bacon, ham and sausage.  Wow - It was called the "sampler" breakfast!!  There was enough food on our two plates to feed three people!!  I was not crazy about the gravy but the apple butter and the fried apples were awesome.  All in all, it was pretty damn good and when we left, I must say.....we were no longer hungry!!
We stopped at the grocery store, picked up what we needed to and headed back to the camper.   The wind continued to blow all the way into Kingman and all the way home.  We were both glad that today was not a travel day as the wind was buffeting the truck pretty darn good!!  We could only imagine what it would do with the truck and camper!!
We arrived home only to realize that we had forgot the ice for the beer cooler.  We remembered the dry ice for the food cooler but the beer cooler had been sorely forgotten.   So....it was back into the truck and down the highway a mile or so to get some ice at a roadside food mart.
We were soon back at the camper and ready to start watching football.  It is Football Sunday you know.  
The wind was still screaming like a banshee and it was good the sit in the trailer, get the heater going and turn on the TV.  We watched both CFL and NFL today.
It was a football filled day but,  I did manage to get some reading in though.
Although the wind remained, John was able to keep the bbq going and we all enjoyed steak, baked potato, caesar salad and fried mushrooms.   A feast fit for the queens that Kay and I are!!
All in all, it was another good day although I could have used some 40mph hairspray today!!  Instead, I had to settle for a hat!!

Saturday, November 22/2014

The sun is shining this morning and it looks like it is going to be another great day. This is the second time we have not needed the heater running to stay warm. Life is good!!  Since there is no restaurant close by, I guess I will actually have to think about cooking breakfast. Kay and I have gotten into a real nice habit of going out for breakfast but I guess that stops today!!
John got busy changing the oil on the quads and I started cooking breakfast. Kay was busy being the "go for" for John while he was lying on the ground.
The oil got changed and we all enjoyed breakfast.
Then, it was on to the quads and we headed for the nearby Cerbat Mountains where we accessed an trail that took us up along the upper ridge of the mountain. Much of the trail was "shelf" trail with a million feet below and I spent most of the time looking at the wall next to us.
Kay was driving, I was in the passenger seat so it really made no difference when I closed my eyes!!
The wind was blowing like crazy for most of the day and at an elevation of at least 6000 feet, there was a bit of a chill to it as well.
We stopped along the trail at one point where there was a U.S. Fee Area where one could pitch a tent and camp if they wished. I am not sure who would want to camp way up here in all this wind!!  I am sure it must blow all the time.
We carried on down the trail, passed a rather well preserved mining site and eventually came down the mountain and into the Murals of Chloride.
They looked to be painted again as the colours seemed to be much brighter than when we saw them two years ago. There was another couple there looking at the murals as well. Apparently they were riding a Harley and had left it at the start of the trail. They were told that they could easily hike to the murals and they did...... all 1 1/2 miles of trail that they could had ridden.
They didn't look like they were looking forward to the walk back so I offered to drive them back down to their bike.

On the  Rim trail in the Cerbat mountains

It is a long way down

Lots of switchbacks

Shelf trail - my favourite!!

Beverage stop.  I think I need two after all this lousy shelf trail.

Cactus - must be in Arizona!!

U.S. Fee Area.

Recreation area way up in the mountains.  Nice spot but for small campers
(very small campers) and tents.

Not sure what kind of tree this was but the bark was an
awesome colour.

Kay and Marie under a pinyon pine tree at the
recreation area.

The trail ahead

At one of the many old mine sites.  This one was particularly
well preserved.

Further down the trail.  Some sort of  mineral
deposit on the face of the rock.   Calcium perhaps?

The Murals of Chloride

Sunset starting

The trail home.

More sunset

There was lots of room on the quad for the three of us and they were very happy with the ride.
Once I got back to the murals, we decided to take the trail back to the camper so we started our ascent up the mountain and back along the same trail we had just travelled.
We managed to get a few nice shots of the sunset and before too long, we were back at the camper.  It was a good day on the trails and Kay enjoyed riding my new quad.  She loved the power steering and the quietness of the machine.
Hogan was glad to see us back too.

Friday, November 21/2014

Today we travelled through Valley of Fire State Park. We have been through the park before but it is always a pleasant ride and the scenery is incredible. Today, the park entrance was open so it cost us $10.00. The last time we travelled through the park, no one was in the entrance booth!! Oh well, the scenery is well worth the price of admission.
As we travelled through the Park, we were lucky enough to see a mountain goat and her baby!! We totally played crazy tourist and stopped in the middle of the road to snap a picture!!  It was a good thing that the traffic was minimal and there was only Kay behind us!!
Once through the park, we turned south and again were faced with the Lake Mead State Park but on this occasion, the admission booth was not open so we were able to travel through this park without paying the $10.00 entrance fee.
This park is much bigger than Valley of Fire and offers much less in the way of scenery.  For the most part, it is miles of barren, ugly terrain but there are a few picturesque areas where I managed to get a picture or two.  As we got closer to Lake Mead, the scenery improved and I must say that the lake itself is the most beautiful colour of blue I have ever seen.
The Park ends at Highway 93 just a few miles from the Hoover Dam.
Before too long we were just outside of Chloride Arizona and parked for the night.

Heading into Valley of Fire State Park

Lake Mead

Back in AZ

We are boondocking in the middle of no where and hope to do one of the trails that takes us up into The Cerbat Mountains.
Kay has not been on this trail nor has she seen the Murals here at Chloride so that will be a new adventure for her.
Tonight, it is time to relax, get the quads unloaded and have a few refreshments. Tomorrow, we ride!!

Thursday, November 20/2014

We continued South and stopped for the night at the Moapa Travel Plaza in Nevada. We are truly in the warmer weather now as the sun is shining and both John and Kay are in their shorts.

I-15 south

Our stop for the night

Hogan is happy and all is well!!
Tomorrow, we will top up on fuel, propane and water and carry on down the road.