Bonneville Speed Fun 2018

   This is the Speed Demon .  He went 407 miles per hour.  What fun to  watch him travel  that fast.  Weather was hot, only about 95.

This is just a view of the area. 

This posting is used  because I forgot how to post on my Blog.  More to come, once I learn how to do it all over .

Kitfoxgal.

The Salton Sea Adventure

 CalEnergy Operations  is based in Calipatria, California. They owns 10 geothermal facilities in California’s Imperial Valley.

 

We stopped for a short visit at the 5 Palms Hot Spring.  It is a short distances from  the Dunes.
DesertDale took a  quick dip, as the water was cool.  Last year it was warm.  Plus we had birds last year.  Not many birds this year.

  

This is a Snowy Egret.  They dance in the shallows.  Many have long filmy feathers at  breeding time.  Legs are black are mostly black, with bright yellow feet.

 

Thhe Brown Pelican.

This a a view of Saltton Sea.  As you can see how much the water has droped..
Salton Sea is 227 below sea level.  It was 45 miles long and 20 miles wide in 1905.. 
You can  camp, boating, water sky, Kayaking, bird watching,  go on hikes and of course photograhing. 
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-history-of-the-salton-sea-2015jun02-story.html

Enjoy the article and posting.

The Tortoise

DeseertDale and Kifoxgal was on a mission to  recover his KTM, which went out of  service , some where on the trail DesertDale was riding in  the Cargo Muchacho Mtns. Range.  DeserDale had it stake out good.
DesertDale got his KTM runing again, no problem. 
They came across the Tortoise on their way to find the KTM.

The tortoises move very slow on dry land.
A Tortoise  starts to  dig the ground to form a place to  hybernate at the first signs of autumn.  They dig with its fore-feet , very slowly.  They prefers swampy grounds of course.
They  starts losing their appetite  when  the  temperature drops. They will also stop breathing .
Thhey wake up from hypernation in the spring.  They do not start to eat right away.   They  will slowly get their appetite back and their energy as the temperature warms up.
In the summer eat voracisously.

They sleep  many hours in the summer.  They start to sleep in late afternoons. until the next morning.
They like the warm weather, but  try to avoid the hot sun.

Tortoise feed on grasses, weeds, leafy greens, flowers and some fruits.   Some species may  eat worms or insects .
To much protein they may have some type of shell deformited or other type of medical problems.

 

 

 

Grand Canyon Adventure

Sorry Folks but I was going to post July.  Forgot to do it,  So here it is.

The Grand Cayon Adventure.

The first Federal protection in 1893 as a Forest Reserve . Then in 1919 , 3 years after the  creation of the National Park , it's  was then it achieve  a National Park status.

 They had some 44,173 visitors. Now it receives over five million visitors each year, from all over the World. 

 This site takes you to Administrative History of Grand Canyon National Park.

We have so many photos .   It was hard to post the best ones.

There are many campgrounds  inthe  park.   What ever way you camp tent or R.V. in.
Camping in Grand Canyon National Park.
A good site to check out the camping is : www.nationalparks.org/GrandCanyon/Tours ,

Sorry Folks but I was going to post July.  Forgot to do it,  So here it is. 

 

 

 

Sunset Crater Volcano Adventure

I am a little slow in posting this time.  DesertDale is keeping me busy.   Hope you enjoy this posting.

The Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is in Arizona.  It is within the San Francisco Volcanic Field.
Then in 1930  President Hoover proclation of it a Naional Monument.
There is a one-mile, self -guided loop trail located at the base of Sunset Crater.  Hiking to the summit is not permittted. It is along Highway 89, north of Flagstaff.  The site is some 8028 ft. elv.
Sunset Crater Volcano last eruption about 1000 years ago. It is Arizona's youngest volcano.

Each time the volcano erupts life changes.  Farming in the high desert by the Wupatki had many challenges.  The Wupatki lived with very little water and the climate  was very hot and dry.
Their living structures raged from singles family to high-rse.  The largest dewlling was about 100 rooms.

The environment provided the materials for their dwelling.  They used sandstone  slabs, lime-stone blocks and   chucks of basalt set with a clay-based mortar provided a sturdy building marerial..  Some of their buildings are still standing.

This was a arena was their community room.

People have been living there  for before the volcano erupted.  There is no  evidnce what they called their selves.  They think they are from  the Sinaguma culture.  They were farmers , that lived in groups, next to their corn  fields.  Thier homes were pithomes, dug partly in the ground . 

Life involved sharing and trading.

In 1250 the volcano had had quieted , pueblos stood empty.   The people of Wupatki had moved on and established new homes in the Colorado Plateau.

Thanks goes to  the National Park Service for the info.

Nestled between the Painted Desert and ponderosa highlands of northern Arizona, Wupatki is a landscape of legacies. Ancient pueblos dot red-rock outcroppings across miles of prairie. Where food and water seem impossible to find, people built pueblos, raised families, farmed, traded, and thrived. Today, if you linger and listen, earth and artifacts whisper their stories to us still. From Kitfoxgal

Page Spring Adventure

 We took a Birding Adventure early this morning to Blitzen River Valley Auto Tour .  Before we left I snaped this photo of our visitors we had early this morning of Mom Deer and her Fawn.

The Malheur National Wildlife is managed  by BLM, was dedicated in 1908.  It is a favorite destination for Birds.  About 220 species there.

 We arrived at the of the Blitzen River Valley.  Beatiful over look of the Valley.  It is a 42 mile self -guided auto tour, which is south of our camp site at Page Spring.

Each pond of water has it own name: Mud Lake, Harney Lake and  Maleur Lake. In a wet year they become Oregon's largest lake. 

 

From the overlook you might see birds such as the Yellow Warbler

 

or even a Great White Egret

Then once on the road back to Frenchglen for our stop at the only grocery store in town for our a ice cream fixed.
Somerange post office was established in1923.  Then  in 1930 the name was changed to Frenchglen.

DsertDale stopped on the road so the snake could pass safe

One last look at the wandering deer going through our campground..

Enjoy life.   Kitfoxgal

Stillwater Adventure

Some twelve thousand years ago  a lake was created by melting glaciers.  Stillwater Marsh is what is left. 
If you look high for  the old shore line you will see where the shore line was way back then.
Stillwater Marshes remaine a paradise for the migratory birds.  It remains a great site  for migratory birds.









In  the 1900's the Newlands Irrigation Project where the water was dammed and the Lathontan Reservoir was created.  To prevent the loss of the Stillwater marshes there was the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District formed to manage 224,000 acres, which was named Stillwater Wildlife Management area.

Stillwater Marshes remaine a paradise for the migratory birds.  It remains a great site  for migratory birds
  In the 1980's the floods washed away the topsoil exposing village, artifacts and burials dating back 300 to 3200 years ago.

There is a lot to see in the area.

DesertDale taking another view of the Fish Hatchery , near our site at Mason's ValleyWMA.