While the trip west this year went without incident, it was by far the wettest of the 11 years we have been doing this. It was drizzly and gray with low hanging clouds when we left home. They hung with us well into PA.
Late into the morning the skies brightened and this rainbow appeared giving our spirits and hopes a big lift.
Our view near Williamsport where we stopped for lunch. Unfortunately the good weather was not to stay with us for long. It rained through MD and WV and through much of KY and part of MO.
Views of Keenland - a thoroughbred racecourse in the famed Bluegrass region of KY.
And just down the road a piece.......... If a man's home is his castle, this is the home of quite a man!
We cross the Mighty Mississippi River using two narrow bridges into Cairo, MO. The second is so narrow, I always hold my breath in fear that a trucker in the opposing land will sneeze and life, as we know it, will be over for us. Naturally it had to be raining with reduced visibility......
And this one is the wider of the two.
Big round cotton bales in MO
By the time we reached central OK we had dry weather which would stay with us for the duration. This particular day there were high winds aloft creating some unusual cloud patterns
We stayed a night at Beaver Dunes State Park in the panhandle of OK. It seems all dunes we have visited are different and these were not to be ane exception. Skunkbrush and sandhill plums (plum thicket) provided most of the vegetation.
As we hiked around we heard a loud chirping. Finally we located the source - most likely a type of cricket but as there are over 100 different species of crickets, we don't know what this particular one was. The chirping sound was made as it rubbed its wings together rapidly.
The raccoon population must have been huge - not only in the size of a few of the individuals....
but in the number of them as well. This hillside was covered with tracks made only by raccoons.
When we see Thumb Butte we know we are nearing Bullhead City, AZ. Outside of town, at Katherine Landing, we spend our final night on the road
The campground at Katherine Landing on Lake Mohave (part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area) is a favorite spot of ours.
In the visitor center they have two examples of dried Birdcage Evening Primroses. We were told they are found in the Mohave Preserve. Perhaps we'll have time in spring to scout one or two of our own on BLM land. They are not a tall plant but surely must be impressive in bloom.
They also had this wonderful example of the endangered Desert Tortoise.
The following day Vic drove the final few hours to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Eight days and nearly 3,000 miles were covered.
Late into the morning the skies brightened and this rainbow appeared giving our spirits and hopes a big lift.
Our view near Williamsport where we stopped for lunch. Unfortunately the good weather was not to stay with us for long. It rained through MD and WV and through much of KY and part of MO.
Views of Keenland - a thoroughbred racecourse in the famed Bluegrass region of KY.
And just down the road a piece.......... If a man's home is his castle, this is the home of quite a man!
We cross the Mighty Mississippi River using two narrow bridges into Cairo, MO. The second is so narrow, I always hold my breath in fear that a trucker in the opposing land will sneeze and life, as we know it, will be over for us. Naturally it had to be raining with reduced visibility......
And this one is the wider of the two.
Big round cotton bales in MO
By the time we reached central OK we had dry weather which would stay with us for the duration. This particular day there were high winds aloft creating some unusual cloud patterns
We stayed a night at Beaver Dunes State Park in the panhandle of OK. It seems all dunes we have visited are different and these were not to be ane exception. Skunkbrush and sandhill plums (plum thicket) provided most of the vegetation.
As we hiked around we heard a loud chirping. Finally we located the source - most likely a type of cricket but as there are over 100 different species of crickets, we don't know what this particular one was. The chirping sound was made as it rubbed its wings together rapidly.
The raccoon population must have been huge - not only in the size of a few of the individuals....
but in the number of them as well. This hillside was covered with tracks made only by raccoons.
When we see Thumb Butte we know we are nearing Bullhead City, AZ. Outside of town, at Katherine Landing, we spend our final night on the road
The campground at Katherine Landing on Lake Mohave (part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area) is a favorite spot of ours.
In the visitor center they have two examples of dried Birdcage Evening Primroses. We were told they are found in the Mohave Preserve. Perhaps we'll have time in spring to scout one or two of our own on BLM land. They are not a tall plant but surely must be impressive in bloom.
They also had this wonderful example of the endangered Desert Tortoise.
The following day Vic drove the final few hours to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Eight days and nearly 3,000 miles were covered.
