KELSO SAND DUNES & A RETURN TO KELSO DEPOT….OH, & A NEW HAT:))

Winds had picked up Saturday afternoon & intensified iduring the night but not enough to keep us awake.  Things had settled down by morning & we both noticed those winds had brought in some even warmer air.  Temperatures higher than normal for this time of year in this area.  It has been a bonus for us having sunny days repeatedly in the mid 70’s.

MORNING SUNRISE

Our body clocks are still on Arizona time so we were both up before 5 a.m. working on some travel plans.  Decided to head off for the Kelso Sand Dunes on the early side.  It’s Sunday & we wanted to be in & out of there before any tourists show up.  Yes we are tourists too but we just like to be on the early side when the air is quiet & free of noisy chatter.

Good thing I thought to bring extra gas with us.  Jeep was down to a quarter tank & the nearest affordable gas was in Baker California over a hundred miles away.  There was one other place east of the Preserve but they were taking advantage of the areas remoteness & selling gas for $5 a gallon.  Dumped in our can of gas which put our gauge up to three quarters & we were off.  It was 8 a.m. & via the 62 mile I-40 route we were at the Kelso Sand Dunes one hour later.  The morning desert air was still without hint of a breeze.  No blowing sand to mess up my cameras.  Even better….nobody at the trailhead so we had the place to ourselves for awhile.  Bonus:))

SEEMS DOUG WASN’T THE ONLY ONE WITH A LOST CELL PHONE…THAT PIECE OF PAPER UNDER THE ROCK HAS A TELEPHONE # ON IT & IS OFFERING A $300 REWARD TO ANYONE FINDING THIS PERSON’S LOST CELL PHONE SOMEWHERE HERE IN THE 45 SQUARE MILE KELSO SAND DUNES

IT’S A LONG SANDY WALK TO THOSE BIG 600’ DUNES

 

WE’RE OFF BUT WITH NO INTENTIONS OF HIKING ALL THE WAY TO & CLIMBING THOSE BIG SANDY HILLS

  

STOPPED FOR A WATER BREAK

 

AN OLD RUSTED TIN CAN & KELLY EVEN FOUND A QUARTER

Our intentions were not to try & do the whole 3 mile trail & reach the top of the 600’ high sand dunes.  Trail was hard packed gravely sand for less than a quarter mile then turned into soft beach type sand.  Not the easiest walking.  We decided rather than push ourselves along the trail in the direction of the big dunes we would branch off & just spend an hour exploring around & enjoying the smaller sand dunes.  And that is what we did.  It has taken us a long time to understand & respect our limits so we knew enough not to push ourselves to the top of the dunes.  We could already feel the day heating up plus my short quarter horse legs are not what they used to be & we have to be ever vigilante with Kelly’s health.  She has been doing great & we don’t want to jeopardize that greatness.

 

CRITTER TRACKS IN THE SAND

THIS LITTLE FELLOW IS LOOKING AT THAT LOLLIPOP ‘HAVE A NICE DAY’ HAPPY FACE IN THE SAND

I THINK THESE ARE THE TRACKS OF LILLY THE PEG LEGGED LIZARD

 

NOW I KNOW FOR SURE THOSE ARE PHEEBER TRACKS ON THE RIGHT

 

 

HEADING BACK TO THE JEEP

KELSO 8 MILES AWAY AS SEEN THROUGH MY 300mm LENS & THE KELSO DEPOT IS THE BUILDING ON THE EXTREME LEFT

It was after 9 when we headed ourselves back the 4 mile dusty dirt road to Kelbaker Road & turned left.  It was an 8 mile slow descent to the Kelso Depot.  Just gotta love the southwestern colors & architecture of this building.  And to think it had been abandoned & slipped into disrepair after the railroad lost interest in it.  Thanks to the Mojave National Preserve & a group of dedicated people for their efforts in saving this fine building from destruction.

TRAIN DEPOT’S TELEGRAPH OFFICE

 

TICKET BUYING WINDOW AT FAR END & THE BAGGAGE ROOM

PARK RANGER TOLD US THEY HAVE 15 FREIGHT TRAINS A DAY THROUGH HERE

Happy to see the ‘Open’ sign on the door as we entered.  I just love these old style buildings with their large foyers.  Beautiful tile & hardwood floors.  Inside the door to the right was the great horseshoe lunch counter I had seen so many pictures of.  To bad & definitely sad this fine piece of American history & culture no longer is an active restaurant.  Just not enough customers to make it profitable with the last operator of the facility retiring & closing it up in 2013.  A fellow there says they are hopeful one day it will re-open.

OH HOW I WISHED THIS EATERY HAD BEEN OPEN, IT JUST HAD A NICE FEEL TO IT

  

2 PARK RANGERS AT FRONT DESK & A FINELY FINISHED STAIRCASE LEADS UPSTAIRS

NO THESE STOOLS ARE NOT PLASTIC, I’M GUESSING THEY MAY HAVE BEEN A FINE CHERRY WOOD >>>

A few days ago in the Visitor Center at ‘Hole In The Wall’ campground I had spied a hat I liked & this morning I saw the same type of hat at the Kelso Depot.  And they had one in my size…..'huge’ or as the tag says, x-tra large.  I never think of myself as having a big head until I go to buy a hat.  Just imagine, a big head with short quarter horse legs.  Well I’m quite a sight sometimes I tell ya.  My old summer Walmart straw hat is nearly 2 years old now I had been thinking of replacing it anyway.  This well constructed made in the U.S.A. Henschel hat is called a Breezer & is made of a new nylon mesh.  I’ve noticed my big 22-10 ton Tombstone Cowboy hat gets awfully warm on hot sunny days while out hiking so I was needing a lighter cooler Chapeau.  This one also has ‘Mojave National Preserve’ written on the head band.  Buying another hat may seem a little strange considering I just posted a blog last week entitled, ‘Hats….Who Needs Em’!!!!

KELLY PAYS FOR MY ‘MOJAVE HAT’ & THIS FELLOW THROWS IN 4 KELSO DEPOT POSTERS FOR A DOLLAR

MY NEW MOJAVE BREEZER HAT…I SAID BREEZER NOT GEEZER!!

Back to the Kelso Depot.  They have some nice displays & exhibits set up at the Depot depicting Mojave’s history of the Preserve & they also have a small theater with an excellent 18 minute documentary film about the Mojave Preserve as well.  It would be my wish to return some day when the restaurant is re-opened & sit on one of those fine wooden stools at that counter & have myself a bite to eat & a Mojave coffee.  Don’t ask me what a Mojave Coffee is…..the words just went together well:))

Probably half a dozen cars in the parking lot as we finished up our peanut butter sandwiches & headed north up Kelbaker road.  Bye Bye Kelso see you again.  The southern route from ‘Hole In The Wall’ to Kelso is 62 miles & paved all the way.  The road north back to ‘Hole In The Wall’ from Kelso is partially paved but mostly hard packed gravely sand & it’s only 29 miles & that’s the route we Jeeped back on.  Nice drive all the way & we took our time just soaking up California’s great southwestern scenery surrounding us.  What a beautiful place this Mojave Desert is.

 

WE SKIRTED ALONG THE SOUTHEASTERN EDGE OF JOSHUA TREE FOREST

Stopped at Hole In The Wall’s Visitor’s Center where we took a short hike to have a look at some petroglyphs.  Could have done the whole loop trail but it was just after noon & the sun was too hot for us.  Pheebs was tiring as well.  Next time back we will do this trail all the way round from start to finish.  And oh yes there will be a next time back.  With the Preserve’s vast remoteness & lack of traffic & people it is a natural draw for us to return.

WILD HORSE CANYON ROAD ON THE LEFT & DEAD CENTER IS THAT PRIME BOONDOCKING SPOT

Rest of the afternoon was spent in quiet relaxation mode.  Hauling out our maps & plotting a new travel plan we will dump our tanks & head out in the morning.  And no we are not heading home to Congress just yet…………:))

At great risk of jinxing ourselves I’ll mention how much better our internet connection is now that we simply turned our rig around.  Antennae of course is in a slightly different place but maybe that is all it took.  Internet signals are a strange thing & we’ve experienced this before where moving an antennae just a few feet can make all the difference.  We were on-line all day Saturday & all day today with a solid steady connection.  Super:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The first-time father, beside himself with excitement over the birth of his son, was determined to do everything right.  "So, tell me, Nurse," he asked as his new family headed out the hospital door, "what time should we wake the little guy in the morning?"

---

"Just relax," the hospital staff kept telling the young father-to-be, but it was to no avail. His wife was in labor and he was a nervous wreck.  After what seemed like a week, a nurse came out with the happy news, "It's a girl!" she announced.  "A girl! Thank God!" said the new dad. "She'll never have to go through what I just went through!"

---

A group of expectant fathers sat nervously in the hall. A nurse beckoned to one of them and said, "Congratulations, you have a son!"  Another man dropped his magazine, jumped up and said, "Hey, what's the idea? I got here two hours before he did!"

AN UNSUCCESSFUL CELL PHONE SEARCH IN THE MOJAVE DESERT

MORNING DESERT WALKS ARE JUST THE BEST
Our days have turned out much warmer than anticipated so this morning we turned our rig around with Big EEE’s side door facing cooler north.  Usually at this time of year we would face our side door south for extra warmth.  Yes we could have used the awning but it’s much less of a hassle to just turn the rig around.  From my dining room computer spot I can now look out through our passenger side windows & see a few faint outlines of RV’s about a mile away to the northwest at ‘Hole In The Wall’ campground.

TWENTY MINUTES AFTER THIS PHOTO WE TURNED THE RIG AROUND & FACED IT THE OTHER DAY
We rolled into Doug & Yuma's camp around 8:50 a.m. & within minutes we had both Jeeps rolling through the desert to a spot about half a mile west of Doug’s rig.  It was here we saddled up our feet & spanned out in search of Doug’s lost cell phone.  One maybe doesn’t notice how vast this land is until one is looking for a tiny lost object like a cell phone.  Kelly had our phone along & with Doug’s Son trying to dial the lost phone from somewhere east of the Mississippi we tried to get it to ring.  Every so often we would stop & listen.  Only thing I heard was the sound of a light breeze & birds.  Hey, hope Doug didn’t download a ‘birds’ ringtone.  We climbed down into rocky ravines & washes trying to re-trace Doug’s invisible footprints Friday morning.  Just about every square foot of desert terrain we were in this morning looked just about the same as the last square foot of ground we had just walked over.  At one point we were so spread out we couldn’t even see each other through or over the countless Creosote bushes & Mojave Yuccas.  After about an hour we all independently realized finding this proverbial needle in a haystack was not likely going to happen & began making our way back.  Good thing Doug had a bright orange flag strapped to a tall aerial on his Jeep or the Jeeps might have been hard to locate.  Pheebs & I were first back & I wiggled the flagged aerial to make it even more visible to Kelly & Doug who were out in the scrub making their way back.  I could see them coming from different directions & 5 minutes later Kelly wandered in followed by Doug another 5 minutes later.  Nobody had found anything.  Jeeped ourselves back to Doug’s boondocking spot & gave him a hand to get his side awning down.  From there Kelly & I headed back to our rig.  We had had our exercise for the day.

WE FOLLOW DOUG WEST INTO THE DESERT

OUR LOST CELL PHONE SEARCH BEGINS
 
DOUG CHECKS HIS CAMERA & OUT THERE SOMEWHERE IS THE LOST CELL PHONE

LOOK CAREFULLY & YOU CAN SEE DOUG & YUMA WALKING JUST BELOW THAT MOJAVE YUCCA

MAKING MY WAY BACK TO THE JEEPS & IT WASN’T LONG I SAW KELLY MAKING HER WAY BACK AS WELL IN THE PHOTO BELOW


DOUG & YUMA HEADING BACK TO THE JEEPS…THIS IS A 300mm TELEPHOTO SHOT SO HE WAS A LONG WAY OUT THERE

DOUG’S CAMP ABOVE WITH DOUG HIMSELF BELOW


A JEEP WINDOW REFLECTION SELFIE:))
A lazy afternoon with a short drive to ‘Hole In The Wall’ campground to refill some water jugs & stop at the Information Center.  Ranger inside said they are open every day now from 9 to 5.  Other than trips for food or gasoline a person could boondock out here indefinitely.  Water at the campground is free as is the dump station & garbage bins.  Boondockers are encouraged to use the free facilities.  Not a lot of boondocking spots though but we do know of 4.  Doug is in one, we are in another, & the other 2 are empty at the moment.  One of those sites (my fav) is big enough for a 40’ diesel banger with a reasonably good short quarter mile road leading to if off Black Canyon road just south of ‘Hole In The Wall’ campground.

VISITOR’S CENTER AT ‘HOLE IN THE WALL’
 
FRESH WATER AT ANY BLUE TAP & A NICE DUMP FACILITY

NEXT TIME HERE THIS WOULD BE OUR CHOICE OF 4 BOONDOCKING SPOTS…SAME PLACE I HAD A PHOTO OF 2 DAYS AGO WITH KELLY CHECKING FOR INTERNET & PHEEBS LYING IN THE FOREGROUND AT RIGHT
Doug & Yuma came over this afternoon for a few minutes with an awning question & to say he’s heading out in the morning.  Said he did take one last look for his lost Verizon Turbo phone but came up empty handed.  Luckily Doug had insurance on it & plans to head on down Indio way to a Verizon store & pick up a replacement.  He’s not sure of his upcoming travel plans but we told him if he’s up our way in Congress for him & Yuma to drop in.  Pheebs & Yuma were sure racing around again today.  They just get along so well those two little Monkeys. 

DOUG & YUMA HEAD BACK TO CAMP & I DON’T KNOW WHY BUT I OFTEN FEEL A TOUCH OF SADNESS WHEN SAYING GOODBYE TO PEOPLE (OF COURSE I WOULD NEVER LET ANYONE KNOW THAT THOUGH)
 
A FEW PHOTOS FROM FRIDAY SHOWING HOW HAPPY DOUG & YUMA WERE TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN

 
With our very spotty (but speedy) internet connection I am way behind on reading blogs or even leaving an occasional comment here or there.  Have not been able to publish my own posts at night due to no signal strength.  Early morning seems best so that is the time I’m able to insert links, etc.  Then it’s back to a spotty connection all day again as we repeat the cycle.  Very frustrating for a daily Blogger!!

THIS IS WHAT OUR HOUSE LOOKS LIKE FROM DOUG’S HOUSE & AGAIN KEEP IN MIND THIS IS A 300mm TELEPHOTO LENS SHOT SO WE’RE REALLY MUCH FARTHER AWAY THAN WHAT THIS APPEARS
I think all RV’ers have had their days of trials & tribulations, ups & down, & those days when whatever can go wrong will go wrong.  Words like frustration & impatience can kinda go hand in hand with the RV lifestyle sometimes.  But how about if it was your very first day RVing.  Waited sooooo long for that special moment when you pick up your very first rig & hit that big wide open road to adventure.  Well, that’s not quite how it all began for the folks over at On The Road Abode.  And by golly they even got themselves tangled up in some cuss words too.  And keeping with the thoughts of a first time RV purchase & that wonderful day when one picks up their new rig without ever having driven one before & heads out for the first time, Arlon over at Travel Blog By Arlon Boozer can tell you about……scratches!!!!

ABOVE FAVORED BOONDOCK SITE IS LOCATED BELOW CENTER WHERE A TOUCH OF SUNLIGHT TOUCHES A TALL ROCK
I sit here this afternoon at my keyboard with sunlight streaming through open windows as a cooling breeze gently plays with our day-night shades.  ‘Sons Of The Pioneers’ on my laptop, Pheebs stretched out asleep by my chair & Kelly relaxing with her book.  Every window I look out I see mountains.  Oh how I am going to miss those mountains when it is once again time for us to begin our long trek homeward again next month.  Oh how I am going to miss my mountains & deserts along with the freer lifestyle we so much enjoy here in the great American South-West each & every winter……………………

TONIGHT’S SUNSET
GROANER’S CORNER:(( A woman walks into the optometry store to return a pair of eyeglasses she had purchased the week before.  "What seems to be the problem, ma'am?" the optometrist inquired.  "Well, I bought these glasses for my husband last week and they're just not working," the woman complained.
"Perhaps the lab made an error in filling the prescription."
"I'm sure they must have," the woman confirmed. "My husband's still not seeing things my way."
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