Unusual Yuma Findings

We spent most of Saturday afternoon in the desert east of Yuma, driving Lil' Red and stopping every 524' to hop out and locate a small container at the base of an electrical pole. Not exciting except for the large jack rabbit who startled us as much as we startled it. And the large bug making its way along the ground. And this...

Sea shells in the desert? 

Lying on top of the ground?

REALLY?

Why? How?

They went on for about a mile

All over the road, ditch, desert floor

We were next to the canal which had water in it.

Do you suppose they came from the canal?

I really am stumped.

Our 2nd completed geo art

A music note

Yuma also has a star & a heart geo art

Too hot to complete them right now

That is a December/January project

Oatman Massacre Site

Once I knew we would be stopping at the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, there was another interesting piece of history in that area on my bucket list. I knew of the Oatman Family story from a little newspaper that is printed monthly sharing the history of AZ, usually focusing on people. The Oatman's story was published in one of the issues this winter.

I learned the graves of the Oatman family were about 10 miles west of the Painted Rock site AND a geocache was near there. We checked the maps and saw roads that would get us near both places. We left the Painted Rocks about 1:00 and continued west on the gravel road. After a couple of wrong roads/turns/no trespassing/private property stops and starts, we drove back to I-8 to take the next exit as my phone indicated a road from the south to the geocache. Another 10 miles north on a gravel road and another wrong turn or two, we finally found...

It wasn't until I was doing a bit of research

that I realized this was NOT the burial ground.

The grave sites are on the No Trespassing/Private Property

land that we would not drive on without permission.

This wooden sign goes with the following sign from Painted Rock:

This was the trail used by the Mormon Battalion

and later became the...

Butterfield Trail

It was after 4:30 when we reached I-8 to continue our journey to Yuma.

If you want to  locate the Oatman grave sites, use

this website:

AZOffRoad

Bucket List to Yuma

We are in Yuma this weekend on another geocaching mission. We have traveled to Yuma via I-8 several times passing the brown Painted Rock Petroglyph Site sign every trip. And on each passing of the sign, I have whined wanting to drive the 10 or so miles off the interstate to check out the petroglyphs. Finally, today we did the 10 mile or so side-trip to see the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site. Yes, you guessed it. We stopped because there was a nearby geocache. That made it a feasible, plausible side-trip, by Hubby standards.

An unofficial website for Painted Rock Petroglyph Site

See the lizard on top of the rocks?

It is a chuckwalla lizard.

I did not realize how huge their burrow might be.

The lizard sightings were a bonus!

The site was just this pile of rocks.

More about this tomorrow.

Lots of history connected with the area.

It was an okay side trip. I don't think it is the best 

example of petroglyphs. I think the one near Camp Verde 

is better. V-Bar-V Heritage Petroglyph Site.

Glad we stopped, but the geocache & lizards

made it worthwhile. 

Another bucket list adventure on tomorrow's post!

Lil' Red Visits the Desert

We spent some time one morning last week in the desert looking for geocaches, snakes, scorpions, and blooming cacti. We found two of the four.

The buds on a Staghorn Cholla

staghorn cholla

About a week or two early for these flowers

A bud on the left side of this hedgehog cactus

More staghorn buds

No buds or flowers on this Teddy Bear Cholla

Some of the Ocotillo were blooming

It is a tall whip-like plant

with many yellow & red flowers

It looks like a clump of candy corn

A Pink-flowered Hedgehog Cactus OR an Engelmann Hedgehog

Another that had open very recently

The red fruit on an Arizona Pencil Cholla

left from last year's flower

American Threefold shrub

A different staghorn cholla in bloom

More staghorn buds

And one that has just opened

Another hedgehog in bloom

A different yellow flowering bush, Desert Coreopsis

If the desert is beginning to bloom, that means

I need to make a trip to St. George's Catholic Church

Stay Tuned...

Oh, yes...

We found the geocaches and the blooming cacti

No snakes & No scorpions!

Four Peaks

There is an Arizona micro brewery bottling Four Peaks beer, but that is not the topic for this post. Four Peaks are the mountains in the center of the Arizona license plates and a nearby attraction. Lil' Red took a drive a couple of weeks ago, before the rattlesnakes were visible. Some of the desert flowers were blooming. It was our first time on the road.

the road's namesake

desert marigold, I think

12 inches high or taller

a much smaller flower 3 to 4 inches high

looks like the desert marigold

but the petals are different

something yellow and orange

star shaped petaled flower

Coors agave

a new flora species???

Lil' Red basking in the sun

the Superstition Mountains from the 'back' side

if it is cold enough in the higher elevations,

Four Peaks often is tipped in white

not so now with 70 and 80 degree temps