Travel Tuesday: Valley of Fire

Valley of Fire State Park had never been on our radar. Only because of staying nearby were we even made aware of it. We are so thankful that we got to see it!. It is the most breathtaking landscape with all kinds of colors of rock and soil right next to each other, sometimes in layers, sometimes in folds, sometimes jutting out. Every turn of the road brought more amazing sights and I was very busy with my camera trying to capture it all.

Below is the best of what I took. We did two hikes which was enough for me, but there are more for next time. The $10 entrance fee per vehicle was easily worth it. 

Driving into the Valley of Fire State Park. Even the drive in is fascinating.

So. Much. Color. Every turn and twist of the road brought more breathtaking scenes!

The Seven Sisters is a series of tall outcropping with nice picnic areas nearby.

It's not hard to see why the destination of this walk is called Fire Wave! What amazing colors and shapes! The walk began on the other side of the large red rock outcropping at the top right. The next few pictures are in the same area, just looking in different directions. The variations of color, texture, shape and height are amazing!

On the left, the red and white striped rock, the next to it a greenish and brown color, and behind that a deep burgundy color! The arid climate makes all of this so dramatic since there is sparse vegetation.

Returning along the Firewave trail, just past the large red outcropping looking into the next valley. 

To the right, this is what is left of a movie set built in the 60s. There is a plaque explaining that this area has been used for many movies over the years. The fantastical shapes and colors makes for great backdrops, especially for filming movies like Star Trek Generations. 

Layer upon layer of different colored rocks. I can't help but wonder what the composition is to create all of these varied colors. Coming from a place where the vast majority of rocks are just grey, I'm always fascinated by the colors of rocks in the Southwest and especially here. 

This slot canyon may not be as large or as deep a red as the famous Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ, but it's still beautiful, picture-worthy and fun to walk through. I love the contrast of grey gravel on the floor to the pink walls. The picture just above is near the entrance to the slot canyon just before it got narrow. There were so many holes and caves dotting the walls. And a very sturdy bush stubbornly growing in the barrenness. What a great reminder that life continues, that life can grow in unexpected places and survive when it doesn't seem possible.

This Valley of Fire is a place that warrants repeat visits. It's hard to take it all in in only a day. They have a campground there which is in a beautiful setting, and staying there would be a great place from which to go on the many hikes. It's first come, first served so you have to be early and quick to grab a spot. We drove all through the park, but only did two hikes: Fire Wave and White Dome. That was enough for me for one day. I'd like to return some time and do the other hikes. It's a place that begs to be explored, photographed and enjoyed. 

Sanctified Saturdays: Mosaic Canyon, Death Valley

I love those "God Moments" that happen unexpectedly. In Mosaic Canyon, I had one of those when I was between a slower and faster group and I had a few minutes with a section of the canyon all to myself. It was one of those moments when the clamor of the crowd disappears and in the quietness, the presence of the Creator is very near. As I slowly walked along drinking in both His presence and the beauty of this canyon, trailing my hand along the amazing marble sides, I was struck with such awe at His creativity and imagination! I'm so humbled that He thought up this amazing planet for us to live on just because He loves us so much! He didn't have to make it beautiful, but He did because that's Who He is! The unimaginable power it took to crush these rocks together, to carve out the canyon, to form all of this causes me to stand in awe of Him, because as huge as all that is, He is so much bigger! He is not a distant God as many suppose, but as near as our breath, longing to be in relationship with us. As I’ve drawn closer to Him and learned more of His character and of His vast love, I see Him in all kinds of unexpected places. As I felt the rock wall, I thought of how He is called my Strong Tower, and the solidness of the rock was but a hint of His strength.

"He alone is my rock and my salvation, my defense and my strong tower; I will not be shaken or disheartened." Psalms 62:2 The Passion Translation

 I think of His faithfulness, of His mercy, of His kindness. When the vastness of creation overwhelms me, I think of how He has chosen me. Out of this enormous planet, solar system, and galaxy. He chose me. Wow. And to think that He loves me enough to not only create this amazing planet I call home, but He made a way for me to be restored. Restored not only to a right relationship with Him, but restored in my heart through healing and forgiveness and letting things go. Restored in my body as He touches places that need His healing touch. Restored relationships that had gotten broken. Restored sense of purpose that had been trampled and left behind somewhere. Abundantly restored! When He goes to do something, I’ve discovered that He doesn’t just do almost enough or barely enough, but more than enough! This is an extravagant God! He loves with more than enough, with abundance of goodness and resources. He brings order from chaos not just in the universe, but in our lives. His power is beyond what I can imagine, but I get a glimpse here and there, like in that canyon, and it gives me hope. This hope does not disappoint because He has promised and He is faithful.

"And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!" Romans 5:5 The Passion Translation 

Perhaps to some who have never experienced His goodness, it might seem a bit too good to be true. In this world which is fairly cynical, it seems crazy to have such hope, to know such love. Satan has been very busy defaming God so that people won’t see how good He is. Once you have tasted of His goodness, you totally get it! Not only that, you don’t want anything else because you discover how much He satisfies every longing of your heart. He is more than enough! There is such rest in that. Such rest in knowing that I don’t have to strive to please some angry God waiting to strike with lightning if I blow it. Rather, I can rest in His goodness, rest in the work that Jesus did by dying on the cross and then coming back to life to make a way for me to be friends with God. He did all the work. I just have to believe and trust.

 How amazing is that? I get to believe and accept and rest. I get to trade my sin, sadness, brokenness for His forgiveness, joy and restoration. It’s pretty clear to me that I’m getting the best part of this trade! Clearly I'm His favorite. But then, you can be His favorite, too!

"Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to Me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis." Matthew 11:28 The Passion Translation.

Travel Tuesday: Desert Life

Note: It's not Tuesday, but I didn't get this posted on Tuesday, so I'm posting it now! I don't know what kind of internet will be available to me next Tuesday when we'll be in Quartzsite in the middle of all the activities. I'm not likely to post very much until it's all over. In the meantime, enjoy my pondering on the desert experience!

Deserts are by definition dry places where it rains seldom. In the winter, we can go for weeks or months with no rain or at the most a few drops here and there. This winter seems to be on the rainier side. I've always like rain, so I enjoy seeing it in the desert.  Things begin to come to life! This coming spring will likely have some beautiful blooms!

Ocotillo in varying stages, from leaves just starting to peek out, to fully out and topped with blooms.

This one is definitely dead!

One of the most fascinating plants in the desert to me is the Ocotillo (oh-koe-tee-oh) which is Spanish for "Little torch". It gets its name from the fiery blossoms. It's not a true cactus, but one of 11 species of the Fourquieria genus, all of which are native to the Southwest deserts. When there is no rain, it looks like a dead stick with holes and thorns reaching for the sky. But give it a little rain and leaves begin to push out through those holes until it looks feathery and green. I've never seen one blossom this early in the year before, but they can go through several cycles per year of being dried up, leafing out and blooming. We could tell that this area definitely got some serious rain prior to our arrival. When going on walks, the ground crunches beneath our feet like breaking through a crust,  making the sound that snowy ground gets when it thaqs and refreezes. It keeps the dust down quite a bit except for the areas where people have been driving. In the wind we've had here, that's been a blessing!
  The wind has been at times pretty fierce, so we have been inside quite a bit. It's not inviting to go for a walk in the high wind, or to sit out even in the sunshine to gather for "Happy Hour" with the wind blowing so much. However,  I've bundled up really well and headed into the wind for walks, anyway.  I don't get many steps inside the rig after all!
    Today we moved from this place off Sidewinder Rd northward to Ehrenberg where the ocotillo are fewer and barrel cactus grow. The view from the plateau is beautiful and it's one of our favorite spots. We won't be here long since we move on in a few days to Quarzsite and all the group meet-ups going on there.

Boondockers at Ehrenberg

Dramatic clouds

  After leaving Jojoba Hills, we headed on to Ehrenberg, AZ to meet up with the Escapees Boondockers Birds of a Feather (BOF) group. We had shopping to do first, so we drove north into Palm Desert, stocked up and spent the night at Spotlight 29 Casino.


hiking back up from  the canyon

red cactus seen on the hike

  On Tuesday, we arrived in the early afternoon, our first time to actually meet up with the Boondockers group, although we have had their newsletters for the last year. The have meet-ups for 14 days in various places usually one right after the other, with different combinations of people. It was a nice sized group, plenty of people to talk to, but not so big you didn't get to know the names everyone. There were several old-timers and we enjoyed hearing their stories of life on the road and how things have changed. There were a few newer people like ourselves and several in between. Many are early risers and get up to have 'cowboy coffee' over the fire at 7:00am. I made it out there one morning when there were still people hanging around talking. I'm not that much of a morning person! Happy Hour was earlier than we were used to at 3:00pm, but that's because in early January, the sun sets so quickly. A couple of nights there was a fire, so I sat out and chatted with the few hardy souls who were out there. There were some days too windy or cold to sit by the fire, but some days were beautiful.

We are parked on top of the mesa

   The view from up on the mesa where we were was quite beautiful, overlooking the valley into the town of Blythe, CA, a mere 4 miles away on the other side of the CA/AZ border. It made for some interesting moments when we were trying to figure out which time zone to use! Our phones were using Pacific Time, but I changed the rig clocks to Mountain Time.
   The day after arriving, we joined the group in Blythe at the Sizzler Steakhouse for dinner. It was a large bunch and fun to see most everyone in the group at once. I was hoping it would help me to figure out who was who, but it still took me several days to get everyone sorted out.


desert artwork

   On one of the days, several of us went on a hike down into the canyon and along the dry wash and then back up. We saw coyote prints all over, some scat of varying kinds, and likely javelina hoof prints. Someone saw a lizard, which I missed, but I was able to see one another day.
  Another day I went shopping with a few of the ladies in Blythe. We checked out the Walmart and a thrift store and then got groceries before heading back. They also drove by the best place in the area to dump tanks and fill the fresh water, always a good thing to know!
  Jerry and I went into town one day to do the laundry and brought back some damp clothes to hang dry, rigging up dry lines from the ladder on the back to the truck. One experienced RVer who washes their own laundry using a hand crank washer and spinner came over and offered the advice to use tent poles for stringing the drying lines up. I will have to look into that! Clothes dry quickly here, and the dryers eat up quarters.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

We took a trip up to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It was a beautiful hike on a lovely day. The wind forecast was for high winds and not wanting to stay at the rig being rocked back and forth, we set off. The hike up on the ridge trail at the Preserve was the only place we felt the wind there, while deep in the lower areas amongst the trees it was calm.

Some of the paths were eerie and we thought they would make a good creepy movie scene! A few years ago there was a fire that burned many of the trees, but their skeletons still stand, holding the soil and providing shelter for little critters. In some places it was hard to tell what was burned and what was dormant because of the season. Not being familiar with the life-cycle here, I wasn't sure. In other places the growth was lush and even huge! There is a creek that runs through the bottom of the canyon, so some trees were quite large, wearing their Fall colors.

Around one corner in the path we came up on a bird sitting on a limb near the trail. He was happy to sit there posing for us, so we were able to get some great pictures for later identification. Turns out he was a Scrub Jay, and quite beautiful.