Saturday, March 30, 2019, CAF Air Show

I received a call from my friend Glen that he and Bob, aka "Dutch", were going to the Commemorative Air Force air show at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa, AZ. I had heard about it and wanted to go but had completely forgotten about it so I was more than happy to join them.

There was quite a crowd, but fortunately, they ran a shuttle service from the parking lot to the show area. Our driver might have been practicing her stand up routine and had us laughing as we headed over to the show. She asked how we were doing and then told us she was having a pretty good day since she just got her driver's license back. She made the short trip pretty entertaining and it was a nice start to the day.

Not far inside the gate, we encountered what I suspect was the highlight of the Commemorative Air Force fleet. There were probably few if any B-17s flying in WWII that were quite so polished as "Sentimental Journey" below. I would have enjoyed crawling through this lovingly restored work of art but the line was always longer than I was willing to accept. 

I had to stop for a "selfie" below. The pride of ownership was apparent in the attention to detail on display in these aircraft.

The beauty below was identified as an "experimental aircraft" but it looked pretty authentic to me. I loved the "bomb" under the fuselage that actually was just an auxiliary fuel tank.

If you're going to fly it seems like an open cockpit would be the best - one of these days I may just find enough nerve to strap myself in and give it a try - just not today!

Did I mention the CAF was located just a few miles north of our park so I was already pretty familiar with seeing today's formation flying? Their practice flight path was usually within view of our site and the distinctive sound of big radial engines announced their approach so you always knew when they were overhead.

As we were walking around the B-25 (sporting nose art "Maid in the Shade") we were cautioned to stand back as it was towed to the end of the runway in preparation for take-off. Anyone with enough cash and a sense of adventure could buy a ride in the vintage aircraft and they had apparently booked enough hardy souls to fly. The engines fired up with a mighty cloud of blue smoke and with a satisfying rumble, the old girl sped down the runway and launched into the wild blue yonder. We never did see them return making me wonder just how long was that ride.

Yes, you could also fly in a U.S. Army Cobra helicopter!

I was never able to find out if John Deere actually made a small utility aircraft or if the plane below was just owned by a rabid John Deere fan who really loved the green and yellow color scheme.

I loved the paint on the local water tower that left no doubt we were at "Falcon Field".

Tuesday, March 26, 2019, Early Cacti Blooms

This year Arizona had an abundance of rain and the cacti blooms were expected to be exceptionally beautiful this spring. The Desert Botanical Gardens was only about 12 miles away and our Horticultural passes made it an easy visit so we went to assess the situation. There were so many buds on the various cacti, but we were still just a little early to catch them at their peak.

A bit of lucky timing allowed us to join in a docent-led tour of some of the grounds. While she was talking, I noticed the Gila Woodpecker (below) about 20 feet overhead drilling into a mature Saguaro. Our guide seemed prepared for his visit and even had some props to explain the strange nature of his home building. She told us that as he dug a hole in the cactus it was just a wet spongy mess inside, but after a few weeks the cactus would form a hard shell around the intrusion called a "boot". The woodpecker would return then to build a nest and hatch its next generation.

We saw some beautiful blooms, but we saw the promise of so much more to open in the next few weeks so we will be returning again soon!

Tuesday, March 12, 2019, Move Back to Mesa, AZ

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes you have to break camp and drive in the rain even though you are in the desert. That was our morning as we left the North Ranch SKP park and headed back to Val Vista Villages in Mesa, AZ. It was only 103.8 miles (92,489.0 total) but with some heavy traffic and a few wrecks, it took much longer than expected. I'm not complaining, mind you, it was still an easy day heading back into familiar territory. 

This interstate stack reminds me of spaghetti junction in Atlanta.

We had a lot of Kroger points from buying gift cards on 4x points weekends and we were already familiar with the station layout at Greenfield and Main in Mesa, so we topped off the tank before parking the coach for the next two months. I think that this was officially the lowest price we have paid for a gallon of diesel since we have owned the coach - all the way back to September 2008!

I looked out our window and saw this guy on the neighbors RV. By the time I got the camera out he had moved but was still nicely positioned for a welcome-to-the-park portrait. According to my birding book, he was an American Kestrel standing about 12 to 14 inches tall.

The American kestrel (Falco sparverius) is the smallest and most common falcon in North America.

Joani, of course, could hardly wait to get back to the lapidary lab to start cutting and polishing her finds from the Arizona desert and California coast (and the Michigan specimens she wasn't able to investigate when we were here last). Did I mention she has more than 270 pounds of rocks to play with in the lab - I know where I will have to go to see her whenever the lab is open for the duration of our stay.

I was excited to slice open one of my favorite west coast finds. It measures about 6" long and 4" across.

It is locally called DeeDeeite or Avila Brecciated Rhyolite. The dark gray is actually clear agate material (chalcedony).

Sunday, March 3, 2019, Rock Hunting Adventure in the Desert

As soon as we settled in at North Ranch Joani was ready to start rock hunting. Our friend Loren was more than willing to indulge her in her quest. He offered to take her into the desert where he had previously spotted some colorful rocks. Of course, the route to the rocks included a few other interesting features along the way. 

Loren told me it was up for debate why this was called suicide hill. It might be because you can't see if someone is coming up the backside or it might be because it was such a steep climb that smaller ATVs tended to flip over backward.

The area had so much rain the desert had exploded with green.

Bessy was keeping a close eye on us.

Loren took me to a spot that was covered with interesting colorful rocks.

What a cool crested saguaro. I loved the rippled sides.

My research tells me most of this is quartzite.

This rock remained a mystery. It was abundant. The colorful surface was just that, only on the surface but also the surfaces between layers. The layers broke apart fairly easily, like slate.
I FOUND IT!!!  Manganese Dendrites

These are small samples, about 1 inch by 1.5 inches and 1/4 inch thick. My hour of online research did nothing to shed light on my find.  While researching unidentified stone slabs that I purchased in Quartzsite (Silver Lace Dendritic Onyx) I discovered what Dendrite is. Now I want to find more ;)

I think Joani added another 20 pounds of ballast to our rolling home. I know she had a great time and I'm sure some of her finds will be exceptional when they can be evaluated. That will have to wait until we return to the lapidary lab in Mesa where they can be sliced and polished. It will be nice to unload some of our collection after we determine which are keepers and which ones we can be left behind in the gravel parking lot.

Saturday, March 2, 2019 Move to Congress, AZ

Today we made an early start to complete our trip to the North Ranch Escapee park in Congress, AZ. At 212.7 miles (92,385.2 total) the drive was considerably shorter than the day before and we had a nice break midway for fuel.

There are two casinos in Indio that are just a mile apart, but Spotlight 29 is by far our favorite for overnighting. It is such an easy off and on from and to interstate 10. It is also very level (on blacktop) and safe.

As it turned out the diesel in AZ was exactly one dollar less per gallon than the fuel we bought in CA yesterday. My mental gymnastics concerning range and capacity paid off for us. 

When we filled up and only had a little more than a hundred miles to go Joani realized we had not yet made reservations at North Ranch. We were lucky to find one site available for three nights so she booked it.

The mountains that provide a backdrop for Quartzsite have such an interesting profile.

After we settled in Joani tried the office again and we scored another week so we don't have to think about dry camping or leaving before we intended.

As it happened, today was the second day of the parks 15th annual La Fiesta celebration so we joined our friends Sharon and Loren at the huge bonfire.

 The hills to the east turn pink from the setting sun.

I guess I was up too early in anticipation of today's drive or I was wiped out from the previous day's drive because I don't think I quite made it to 9:00 before hitting the pillow for a sound night's sleep. 

Friday, March 1, 2019, Move to Indio, CA

Sadly, it was time to leave Pismo Beach. Since February is a winter month, even in California, we checked the weather forecast. It said with a little luck we would not be driving in rain but more importantly, the passes were clear of snow and ice. (Several times this month the passes were reported closed due to snow.)

Since we were simply retracing our route everything was familiar. I believe I have finally figured out how to drive the steep grades without overheating the engine. Today we never exceeded an engine temp of 190 degrees.

The almond trees Bakersfield were in full bloom.

Terrible picture, but the only one where I managed to capture the tracks my grandfather used as an engineer in the 1940s.

When we reached Tehachapi we pulled into the truck plaza we had earlier found would provide easy off/on access to our route. We needed diesel before we could reach AZ but how little could we pump was my concern. Of course, the only reason it was even a question was the ridiculous CA fuel taxes. I did some figuring and crossed my fingers that we had enough to exit the state. 

After we had a light lunch I decided it was far too early to stop for the night (it was only 1:00) so we pushed on towards Indio. It would have been a better plan if I had not forgotten about the Friday night exodus from LA. That meant we had the opportunity to spend about an hour in stop and go traffic on I-10.

We finally reached the Spotlight 29 Casino in Indio just as it was getting dark. Our driving total for the day was 367.5 miles (92,172.5 total). We both felt the need for a little reward after such a long day on the road so we treated ourselves to the prime rib buffet. Once again our timing could have been better as the extremely long line delayed our dinner by another 45 minutes. Still, well worth every minute of the wait.