Another busy week is upon us with Wayne and Teresa vacationing with Lorne and Marilyn. They have not been here before so Marilyn has all sorts of things planned for them. Some of which includes us!!
We joined them for the annual Stanton Ghost Town trip. John, Kay and I met them up in Congress then headed to Yarnell and took the back road to Stanton. Wayne is a bit of a "rock hound" so was very interested in the local lore and was hoping to find some gold of his own!!
We toured the town then headed for home. Of course that was a long way off but the weather was awesome and we were not in any hurry.
We were all blessed when we spied a Gila Monster crossing the trail in front of us. I was totally thrilled as I know these creatures are under ground for 90% of their lives and only come out to eat and mate. They are the only venomous lizard in the Untied States and is one of only two venomous lizards in North America. Although they will seldom "kill" a healthy human, the venom is neurotoxic and will cause several "issues" for you!! Another interesting fact about these creatures is that they only eat five to ten times a year!! When it does, it eats LOTS!! They are also protected by Arizona State Law.
We continued our travels toward home seeing several jack rabbits along the way. Not unusual for this area. We also passed a few "face" cactus. Someone had inserted golf balls into the cactus for "eyes" and they looked awesome!! Of course we all had to stop for pictures.
Kay brought along one of her many guns and all the guys had a fun time shooting it. Wayne's smile never left his face!! He was totally in seventh heaven!!
We accessed Box Canyon to see if it was at all passable after the recent rains and found that although there was still plenty of water around, we could indeed navigate what remained of the "trail"!!
We stopped a few times on our journey towards town for beverages and had a wonderful time "playing " in the sand. Fun was had by all and of course, the sunset was awesome.
The following day, we once again headed into the desert to show Wayne and Teresa what remained of the old stone house. I had also promised Wayne a hunt for geodes. Being a rock hound, he was more than thrilled when we found some. I bet he couldn't wait to get the hammer out and do some smashing to see if they contained some crystals.
We stopped by Trueman's Gold mine but he was not there so could not introduce him to the clan. Instead, we carried on and did a bit of trail. It wasn't too long before we took the u-joints out of the rear drive shaft so had to do an about face and slowly get back into town before the fix it shop was closed.
On the way past Trueman's, we noted that he was there so wheeled in and had a nice chat with him. Wayne was really interested in his mining operation and got the chance to hold some "real" gold. He was totally thrilled. The smile never left his face!! Man, talk about a kid in a candy store!! LOL
We got to talking about rattlesnakes and before too long, Trueman had his stash of snake rattles out and ended up giving Wayne a couple sets of buttons and also a set to Lorne. All in all, it was a very good visit for the crew!!
We got back to town in time to make an appointment for the jeep. It is to go in for repairs later this week.
On Saturday, we headed over to Lake Pleasant via Castle Rock Trail. We took the Toyota as the jeep was out of commission. It was a lovely warm day and we made several stops along the way and Wayne of course took every opportunity to rock hound. He got several really nice pieces of mica on this trip.
The Hedgehog Cactus were starting to bloom so of course we had to stop and take pictures of them.
The traffic was minimal so we had the trail to ourselves for the most part. It was a fun and relaxing trip and was a very good way to end this week.
Teresa and Wayne have yet to see the javalina and now think that both Marilyn and I have been lying about them. Hopefully they will make an appearance before they leave!!
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| Heading into Stanton |
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| Wickenburg Mountain in the distance |
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| Gila Monster |
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| Crazy cactus |
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| Going through Box Canyon |
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| It was a good trip |
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| Heading out to Trueman's mine |
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| Snapped a u-joint |
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| Real gold |
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| Heading out to Lake Pleasant |
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| Road soon turned to dirt |
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| Cactus in bloom |
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| Weaving our way through the mountains |
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| Beverage |
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| Marie and Marilyn |
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| Wayne |
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| Coming into Castle Hotsprings |
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| The beginning of Lake Pleasant |
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