Friday, March 27, 2015

Saddle Up! -- Mar 27, 2015

Nikko and I are at our first stop on this, I guess, third leg of our adventure --  1) 2014 summer across the U.S.;  2)  our winter spot;  3)  2015 summer...beginning now!

This first stop is only a couple hours away from the Yuma BLM, but about 8-9 degrees cooler. Eventho' it is still plenty warm, a few degrees makes a difference.  I don't mind the heat, but it's a little tough on Nikko.  I got us both a Frogg Togg Chill Scarf....  it's pretty "cool" -- don't mind the pun! It's made out of some kind of special fabric that is kinda rubbery, but not really.  Just soak it in water and it stays cold for a long, long time!  He seems to be enjoying it....


Ok - where are we?  We are near Tonopah, Arizona at Saddle Mountain.  It's about 8-10 miles off I-10 which runs east/west L.A. to Phoenix.  We're about 52 miles west of Phoenix.  Here's a view from the road while we're trying to find a place to get onto the property.... I guess I can see why they call it "Saddle" Mountain.....


This is more BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land....public land, so it's free to stay here up to 14 days.  I don't know how long we'll stay -- will just depend on the weather.

We got here mid-afternoon on Wednesday after stopping in Quartzsite to pick up a couple of things and having to go 12 miles PAST the exit to get gas...then come back.  (Very few stations along that stretch of I-10).   After weaving around on a few roads off the exit and finding an entrance to the area, we ended up about two miles (maybe a little less) up an inclined gravel road (what else is new?? LOL!) Tons of land, but very few places to pull off to camp. We passed a few, but I wanted to be closer to the base of the mountain.  Finally came to one that looked pretty good and decided we'd better take it. It's virtually impossible to turn an RV around in these kinds of places.   I got the RV situated with the doorway facing the mountain (which is south).  It's a very level spot...also not always easy to find.  A "must" for keeping the refrigerator working properly.  

I thought I would wait until Thursday to take a look around, but my curiosity was stronger than my waiting ability!  So here's the first look at Saddle Mountain....the section directly in front of our door. (I'm not sure why the sky looks green here....maybe it's just my screen -- it's actually azure blue!) There are some blooming ocotillos around....

Apparently this a popular hiking area...need to research that a bit more.  But I doubt Nikko and I will be scaling the mountain!  

Here are some quick mid-day shots.  It's a pretty area.  Luckily there are some wispy clouds to give the photos a little "extra" umph!   There will be a lot of exploring to do!


Even pretty in black and white!

Blazing Arizona sun!

We could probably hike up this section...

Nikko really likes looking around the new area!  

He went ahead as a "scout" !  LOL!

This was our first "preview" of our new yard.  We like it!  Now, back inside to get settled in and have some iced tea!   I'm going to try to keep the posts rather short and report on specifics, separately, if I can....instead of lumping everything together in one big post.  I'm back on limited internet time, so that's another reason to keep 'em short and sweet! 

Normally I say, "don't put something right in the center of your photo"... I think it works this time...

I see this as a pretty Christmas card!  

That's it for now.....just wanted to clue everyone in on where we are.

Will post again in a day or so....  in the meantime, enjoy the Spring weekend, wherever you are!








2 comments:

  1. Looks like a nice, quiet spot to spend a few days! LOVE the b/w photo...looks like some of the old postcards we used to have!

    Nikko looks right at home as an RVer! I'm sure you will always enjoy his company!

    Thanks for all the new pictures!

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  2. Love the spot! And good to have a scout on board! 😊😊😊🐶🐶🐶 I will like the little posts as you move along! Enjoy! Thanks!

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