Thursday Today started with the same weather pattern - overcast and misty. We determined to drive up the coast to one of our 'Bucket List' destinations - Goat Rock. This beautiful coastline is where the final scene of The Goonies was shot and we wanted to see it. The Goonies is a film that our family grew up with, as it was one of the few videos we had, so it was watched over and over again. So its familiarity added to the magic. Goat Rock is also the home of a seal nursery. We set off and as we passed through Bodega Bay (the town) we stopped off at another famous location - the gas station used in The Birds to depict a terrible fire. Though we knew we were on the very spot where they filmed it was completely unrecognisable, apart from the presence of the sea, which was a backdrop to the scene in the film. However we did see a little group of sea lions waiting for fish scraps from the fish packing station there. We continued up the coast, once past the town the road rises up along the cliff top and wonderful views of the coast can be seen. Highway 1 is quite narrow and windy here and getting a good view as a driver can imperil the passenger as taking your eyes off this road is not a good idea. The whole coast here is a State Park, so there are plenty of stopping places, which we used. The whole coastal area, roadside, fields and hills are covered with many beautiful spring flowers, making the scenery even more spectacular. We approached Goat Rock and dropped down to the car park where that final scene of The Goonies was filmed. It is all still the same as it was in 1985. The view along the beach and out to sea, the stony beach and the car park with its beach signs. I tried to get some pictures which reflect those of the scenes in the film. It was great fun and once again we felt the film come to life (though we did not see One Eyed Willie's Ghost Ship disappear over the horizon.
From the headland of Goat Rock we moved on a few hundred yards to the mouth of the Russian River, where there is a Harbor Seal Nursery, unfortunately the seals live several hundred yards out on the sand spit, which is at the mouth of the Russian River. The sand there is very soft and difficult to walk on. So we sat in the dunes and ate our picnic lunch, while we sat the clouds lifted and the sun came out, there was now a clear blue sky, what a contrast. Instead of going to see them from the sand spit we drove round the Russian River Estuary and parked in an overlook, where we could get a great view of the seals. We took out chairs and sat and watched for about an hour. There are probably up to one hundred seal mothers and pups spread along the sandy estuary. We watched them basking in the sun and swimming round in the little bay. We also saw an Osprey fishing out on the sea. As we could see across the sand spit to the bay we were also keeping an eye out for any whales. We expected them to pass by way out in the bay, so were completely thrilled and surprised to see two whales (we assume mother and pup) rising right at the mouth of the river, perhaps twenty yards from the shore. We did not see them arrive, they were just there! So we then stayed for another hour watching the whales, this pair stayed in the bay. However we say another pair transit the bay about a half mile out to sea, followed by yet another pair a little later. We really had a great time mammal watching this afternoon.
Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Friday, April 26, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
April 4th - Buckskin Mountain and Lake Havasu
Thursday We are now heading North along the East side of the Colorado River to visit Lake Havasu. We took AZ Highway 95, which is long and very straight, cutting straight through the Yuma Army Proving Grounds to Quartzsite. (not to be confused with the CA Highway 95, which runs up the West side of the Colorado River, although at one point, in Needles they actually meet on a bridge cross the Colorado). WE now left the Sonoran Desert, seeing that last Saguaro somewhere south of Parker. We stopped just North of Parker at the very pretty AZ Buckskin Mountain state Park, right on the edge of the river. A beautiful park only marred by the enormous number of recreational boats moving up and down the river, jet skis, ski boats, pontoon boats, power boats. Good fun to watch, but a constant noise. We discovered that the river from Parker to Lake Havasu is one enormous water activity centre. Footnote. Interestingly the weather in Yuma was getting noticeably warmer, with the temp creeping above 100F, so the tourist season was winding down for the hot summer. Whereas in Parker, 150 miles North, the temperature was getting noticeably warmer, with the temperature creeping above 100F and yet the summer tourist season was just starting! Go figure. (as they say over here). Lake Havasu and its links to London On Saturday, after our two nights at Buckskin Mountain, which were very pleasant, we were ready to move on. We planned to take a very short drive to Needles, just 70 miles north, but to stop off in Lake Havasu to visit the Famous London Bridge. We found the bridge without any trouble. It was bought by a man named McCulloch in 1968 , dismantled, stone by stone, transported to the middle of the desert and rebuilt by 1971. (Now a theory exists that the guy must have been insane, can’t imagine why). Then they dug a channel beneath the bridge to connect two more bits of desert together. Then they waited until the tide came in (a bit like Noah), in the form of Lake Havasu, which is a reservoir about 50 miles long which has been made by damming the Colorado at the Parker Dam. Now the bridge sits happily spanning a beautiful blue expanse of water. A far cry from its dirty damp days in the middle of London.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
March 27th - Picacho State Park and on to Royal Palms
Wednesday
Having pulled into Picacho State Park we found our site, a large flat site, but then when you are in the middle of the desert space is not really at a premium.
We spent all of Wednesday doing nothing but relaxing in the sunshine, with a short drive to the visitor centre and I had a short walk through the desert, checking out the local birds and the giant Seguaro. Very pleasant.
Thursday 28th March
Time to move on, we want to make sure that Phoenix it self is not missed out of our itinery so we are returning to Royal Palms (where we finished our last trip) for a few days, mostly to take advantage of their pool.
We drove the 85 miles and arrived in time for a dip and then took up the invite to play bingo with the residents.
Bingo
US bingo is different. they use a grid of 5 x 5 numbers (free in the middle), each column has a letter above Col 1 is 'B', col 2 is 'I'' etc. then the numbers are split into 15's which are distributed at random in each column, so col 1 can be 5 numbers from 1 - 15 in any order. So when they call it is a letter and a number.
I don't know if it was just this caller, but there were no number descriptions, like "two little ducks 22", "Two fat ladies 88". However as wit most bingo the people we were with were lovely and welcoming and there were home made cookies and coffee while we played. I felt really, really bad by scooping the rolloever jackpot, which had been standing for a few weeks, of $60!!!!! But again everybody seemed very happy for me to have won.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
24th March - Tuscon Botanical Gardens
Sunday
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Monday was designated a quiet day, we lazed around in the sun and then mid afternoon took off to the local Texas Roadhouse for our first steak of this trip! Very nice meal, then a quick waltz round Walmart, which happened to be next door.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Monday was designated a quiet day, we lazed around in the sun and then mid afternoon took off to the local Texas Roadhouse for our first steak of this trip! Very nice meal, then a quick waltz round Walmart, which happened to be next door.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
March 21 - Arizona Desert Museum
Thursday
Today we drove out from Tucson into the Sonora Desert to visit the Desert Museum.
A museum dedicated to the desert. Fortunately we took lunch with us as the visit took longer than we anticipated.
We followed the guided walk along its paved paths, visiting sections about the desert. It's geology, climate, minerals, animals, plants, birds, insects and, yes, fish!
The highlight was visiting the hummingbird enclosure, where we spent nearly an hour. It was lovely to see hummingbirds with their young, or sitting on their nest, or just bombing around finding nectar in flowers, or from the feeders. A great day that gave us a good insight into the Sonora Desert.
Today we drove out from Tucson into the Sonora Desert to visit the Desert Museum.
A museum dedicated to the desert. Fortunately we took lunch with us as the visit took longer than we anticipated.
We followed the guided walk along its paved paths, visiting sections about the desert. It's geology, climate, minerals, animals, plants, birds, insects and, yes, fish!
The highlight was visiting the hummingbird enclosure, where we spent nearly an hour. It was lovely to see hummingbirds with their young, or sitting on their nest, or just bombing around finding nectar in flowers, or from the feeders. A great day that gave us a good insight into the Sonora Desert.
The visit prompted me to put a couple of more specific blogs up, so just before this blog you can find:
These and all ourblogs are indexed by date in the list on the right hand side of this pageFlowers of the Desert 2
Our visit to the Arizona Desert Museum enabled us to see a variety of flowers that are found in the Sonora Desert. My practice in Sabino Canyon helped to get some more really nice photos.
Seguaro Cactus
Nothing defines desert in Arizona more clearly that Seguaro Cactus (pronounced say-where-oh).
It is a feature of the Sonora Desert, which stretches from New Mexico almost to the Pacific, from Mexico north to Needles AZ.
It is an interesting plant in many ways.
Its habitat is defined very clearly by climate: it must remain frost free during the day all year round.
It must have summer rains (monsoon).
They only grow from the top. If the top dies (say struck by lightning) it does not continue to grow upwards, though may well put out arms to continue growth
It grows very slowly, about one inch per year
Seguaro can live for more than 200 years, thus often exceeding 20ft tall.
They only flower after 45 years
They only grow 'arms' after 75 years
Their roots are rarely more than 6 inches below ground, but are as long as the Seguaro is tall.
A mature plant may weigh several tons
The seguaro is not just water inside, it has a wooden structure which is left behind when the plant dies.
All things considered it is a fascinating plant.
It is a feature of the Sonora Desert, which stretches from New Mexico almost to the Pacific, from Mexico north to Needles AZ.
It is an interesting plant in many ways.
Its habitat is defined very clearly by climate: it must remain frost free during the day all year round.
It must have summer rains (monsoon).
They only grow from the top. If the top dies (say struck by lightning) it does not continue to grow upwards, though may well put out arms to continue growth
It grows very slowly, about one inch per year
Seguaro can live for more than 200 years, thus often exceeding 20ft tall.
They only flower after 45 years
They only grow 'arms' after 75 years
Their roots are rarely more than 6 inches below ground, but are as long as the Seguaro is tall.
A mature plant may weigh several tons
The seguaro is not just water inside, it has a wooden structure which is left behind when the plant dies.
All things considered it is a fascinating plant.
March 20th - Flowers of the Desert
Wednesday
Today we visited the Sabino Canyon, just North East of Tucson. We took the shuttle ride up the canyon for a picnic and the rode back. We had a lovely time.
While walking there we found a huge variety of flowers,, such as you could not really imagine in a 'desert environment'. So here are some pics of the flowers we found. No names for them I am afraid, except the red fluffy flower which is called Fairy Duster.
While walking there we found a huge variety of flowers,, such as you could not really imagine in a 'desert environment'. So here are some pics of the flowers we found. No names for them I am afraid, except the red fluffy flower which is called Fairy Duster.
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