Parker Dam Drive

 

Parker Dam Drive

One morning, Jeff and I took a drive across the Parker Dam, which is about 10 minutes from where we’re staying.  The dam was built between 1934 – 1938, and once it was finished, Lake Havasu resulted.  There were a few other things we also saw on the short drive…...

Unlike the Hoover Dam, the Parker Dam is open to drive across.  And, the lower right image is of Lake Havasu (through some protective fencing).  It’s a rather small dam and takes about a minute to cross.

Once we crossed it, we stopped to get a bit better shot of the dam, and also of the barrier to boats, so they don’t accidentally get too close to the dam.

There were some nice views, and surprisingly, we actually did see wild burros after seeing a sign telling us to watch for them.  Well, we did and these cute little creatures were our reward!

Here’s a view of the floating bar at the RV resort where we’re staying.  It can be a friendly bar, although we steer clear of it on the weekends, when it’s far too crazy for us!!

On the way back into AZ, our bridge crossed under a cool looking train trestle – no train, though!!!

Enjoy!!

Swansea Townsite

 

Swansea Townsite

One day, Jeff and I decided to take a bit of an off-road exploration to see if we could find the remains of the Swansea Townsite, outside the town of Parker, AZ.  Come along for the ride!!

We did get to enjoy some very nice views on our drive down what’s called Swansea Road!  We did have a bit of a drive to get to the townsite and thank goodness the weather cooperated with us – warm, but not hot!

Don’t these look like some nice, fuzzy soft plants?  No – stay away!!  These are cholla, and altho the needles look fuzzy and soft, they are very hard and sharp!!  And, if you ask me, they are magnetic to people!!  Why do I say that?  Our neighbor has some and I once got too close to the plant, but was still several inches away, ant it felt like the thorns leaped away from the plant and onto me!!  The second image shows you a bit of a rarity – the cholla, the spindly “trunks” of the ocotillo plant and saguaro cactus.  Saguaro are only known to grow in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the state of Sonora in Mexico, and the Whipple Mountains of California, they have managed to grow here, it seems about midway between the Whipple Mountains and Sonoran Desert of Arizona.  I’ve seen the ocotillo plans throughout the southern part of Arizona, so I wasn’t surprised by them, but the saguaro surprised me!  Ocotillo are interesting plants – when they do not get much, if any water, they look like brown sticks waving in the breeze.  But, when they get rain, the “trunks” get very green with tiny little leaves, and they burst into bloom.  There is no “season” for ocotillo – they can bloom all year long with enough rain!

So much for back roads!!  As we drove along, we passed an aqueduct carrying water from the Colorado River down to Phoenix.  This is part of the Central Arizona Project, or CAP.

Besides the lovely view, in the distance, we could see the remnants of Swansea (look on the right side of the image, about mid-point).  Swansea was once a busy mining development.  Now, it’s an archaeological site to learn more about this bygone era.

These foundations (and some wall) were the first things we saw in Swansea.  We believe this to be the General Store and General Office, in one building, circa 1916.  You can see the large pipe in the bottom image, so there was some modern convenience here.  The walls (image on far left) were, at least in part, adobe – you can tell by the clay bricks, covered by what was commonly called “mud”.  Often, the walls were then whitewashed on both the inside and outside – lighter on the inside and protection from whatever rain, etc., fell on the outside. 

Prospectors first began working the area back in 1862.  It grew in fits and starts until 1915 when Ernest C. Lane became the manager and ran the mine for a number of different owners over the years.  Adobe houses were built, the buildings mentioned above, and these worker cottages (above image).  By 1918, it was a truly successful operation and town. 

The image on the left shows the foundations of the actual mill operations, and the other image is the foundation of the water tank.  Water was brought in from another location, which we hope to see in a future exploration.

I’m standing on the remains of a trestle which allowed (perhaps) the water to be placed in the water tank, as that’s directly behind me.  This town and the mining operation fell victim to the Great Depression and the last milling was reported in 1944.

I’d love to know the story of how this truck came to be left here by the side of what looks to be a road around town.  As of now, it just remains as a good subject for photographers like me!

This image speaks to the lack of water in the area.  We were driving over a bridge of what, at times, may be a river, or maybe a creek.  But, right now, at the end of a hot summer, it is bone dry.

Enjoy!

In and Near Custer State Park

 

In and Near Custer State Park

 Our next exploring stop was at Custer State Park.  The park has a great drive around its interior called the Wildlife Loop Drive.  We drove it one morning we were there and were not disappointed!  After that, we checked out another cool site to see!

What a relaxing place this state park is!!  Even thought we’re not far off the “main drag” that runs into the town of Custer, SD, it is generally so quiet we felt like we were miles and miles away from anyone else!  I loved the pattern made in the tree trunk when it was cut (image on the upper right).

We ran into an area full of the chirping of prairie dogs as they talked to each other…about us!  Well, actually, I think it was about Max, and they were driving him crazy!!  Here’s a photo of two of them on the other side of the fence from us.  They kept sitting there looking at us, and just talking to each other, and, at times, the other prairie dogs!!

And so we begin with what seemed like a lone bison grazing in a field.  I thought that was a very peaceful scene, and wondered where the other bison were…

And here they are.  This was the beginning of a herd of bison that tied up a road through the state park, just meandering around, sometimes munching on grass, and others checking us out.  I especially liked the bison, below.  He just seemed to settle in on the ground, watching the cars go by, ever so slowly, and munching all the time!

Here is the end of the herd.  Some were just standing in the road, and we drove slowly around and past them.  One of my favorite scenes is the one on the lower right – watching one bison munching in the shade of a tree.  Might as well be comfortable when eating!

Not that much farther down the road were some wild burros.  We were told in the state park information not to feed the burros, but apparently, people disregard that notice, as the burros kept coming up to the cars asking us for food.  I have to say, those eyes were hard to resist!!  Good thing we didn’t have any appropriate munchies for them!!

We weren’t quite finished with the wildlife in the state park, though!!  We ran into some pronghorn antelopes, with one munching right at the side of the road.   This one barely noticed that we were there!!

The last image I want to share wasn’t from the state park, but about a half hour away from the park, at the Crazy Horse Monument.  I had never been here, and Jeff said he was here several years ago, and was eager to see how much more had been done.  Oddly, we really couldn’t find any real change in the monument.  Perhaps the work being done is on the far side of the monument, and we weren’t able to visit that side.  Maybe next time!!

Enjoy!

Two Days at the Badlands

 

Two Days at the Badlands

After we left the bison ranch, we headed toward Wall, South Dakota, which is well known for the huge store there, known as Wall Drug.  As you drive toward Wall, you see billboards advertising Wall Drug for what feels like hundreds of miles!  And, yes, we did stop at Wall Drug while we were there, which is more like several stores under one roof, than one huge store.  But, Wall, South Dakota is also at the doorway to Badlands National Park.  Badlands National Park protects over 240,000 acres of buttes and pinnacles, as well as the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the US.  It was first established as a National Monument on January 29, 1939, and as a National Park on November 10, 1978.

We first approached the Badlands from a side road called Sage Creek Road.  We thought that it was a nice way to see some scenic sites before entering the National Park.  You could tell it was the beginning of the fall season, with all the landscape taking on the warm glow of autumn.

Another couple of signs of fall were the fields of sunflowers, blooms spent and gone to seed.  An amazing sight to me was a farmer’s truck loaded with what are the modern version of hay bales, moving them from one location to another.  The round bales (which is how I think of them) seem fairly large when viewed from the road when they are out in the fields.  However, seeing just a few of them on this truck, gave me an entirely different perspective about how large they are!

There were also animals on this roundabout way to get to the Badlands – pronghorn antelope and bison, either from afar (with a hawk or falcon flying close to him) or a bit closer!

As we continued on our drive, we saw some old train trestles (from a time when the trains would travel through the area), a river flowing up against a bluff, and just the road unfolding ahead of us through the scenery.

Then, we entered the Badlands, with the rock formations that are synonymous with the area.  I love the layers of rock and sediment that built up over the centuries.

This is White River Valley Overlook, which provides an expansive view of the Badlands close to a set of tall formations, known as the Castle, to the west. The view continues downward into the White River Valley.

The Burns Basin Overlook is named after the homestead of Wilson Burns, who raised sheep in the basin during the early 20th century. A freshwater spring was a rare commodity that kept this operation going. Now wells must be dug a few thousand feet deep.  As I looked at this, I wondered how he managed to keep track of his sheep!

This view is called the Homestead Overlook.  The Homesteading Acts were laws issued by the US government to promote Westward expansion by giving away free land. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the first Homesteading Act into law. Under this initial law, a US citizen could claim a 160-acre plot of public land in the West by filing an application, living on and improving the land for a minimum of five years, and filing for a deed within seven years.  The thing to keep in mind about this “free” land is that it was land seized from the Native Americans who previously lived in the Great Plains.

The Conata Basin Overlook has some incredible views of the park’s paleosols. Paleosols are ancient soils that often take on bright colors in the rocks. At this overlook, one can see two of the park’s most vibrant paleosols: the Yellow Mounds (more about that later) and the Interior Paleosol

The Ancient Hunters Overlook is an area where you can see several low areas where plant life and grasses can reside. Early prehistoric residents were able to collect rain and spring water that were trapped in these low areas. The low areas formed as a result of active landslides in th.is area.

The Pinnacles Overlook displays the expanse of the Sage Creek Wilderness area. On clear days, the Black Hills are visible on the horizon. Sometimes, bison might be visible in the distance, in the valley below or the upper prairie to the northwest. This overlook is also a popular spot for Bighorn sheep to gather, although we didn’t see any. This is also a lambing area for Bighorn sheep in late April to early May, so it’s not unusual to see lambs traversing the rocky slopes of the Badlands.

This area, called the Yellow Mounds is often called the most colorful portion of the Badlands, and for a good reason! Formed approximately 69-million-years ago due to geologic forces of deposition and erosion, the red and yellow soils in the area became fossilized, resulting in this incredible color!

Panorama Point Overlook offers a wide view of the Badlands landscape, downward towards the White River Valley.

This is NOT a part of the Badlands National Park, but it is located very close to it.  It is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.  This site is one of six throughout the US that was built as a deterrent to a nuclear first strike by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.  As of now, these missiles are deactivated.  Although there are tours of the area, we weren’t able to take any of them, and were content just to see this part of history.

Enjoy!

Steinke Ranch

 

Steinke Ranch

After we attended my niece’s wedding, we headed for western South Dakota to explore around there.  Before we got there, though, we spent a nice on a buffalo (the rancher’s term) ranch.  It was very nice to be able to have our choice of where on his ranch we would set up camp.  He gave us a tour, and we actually were with him in his UTV when he had to herd a couple of buffalo back to the field where he wanted them to be, at least temporarily!

Once we chose our site, the rancher said that the buffalo needed to be herded into the field next to us.  He told us to remain in our rig while he herded them right past us and to the “next door” field.  They weren’t moving fast as they headed toward us but knowing each one of them weighed in at about 1200 pounds made my heart flutter a bit.  I was certainly glad to be in a very sturdy RV!! (Just as an fyi, the small white building is a blind, which is used by hunters when it’s deer season.)

Here's a good view the buffalo strolling past our RV.  One important piece of information – these are actually bison.  I began to call them buffalo on this blog, because that is a common name for them.  However, bison have the large hump on the back of their shoulders, which you can see well in this image.  Buffalo do not.  Now, you may be wondering why all you ever see is the humped shoulder variety.  That’s because bison (with the hump) live in North America, while buffalo (no hump) live in Asia and Africa.  From here on out, I’ll be calling them what they are – bison.

This was kind of a cute sight – a baby bison!!  All babies are cute, or so they say!!  I actually do think this little guy (or girl, I don’t know which) is pretty cute.  Mama wasn’t too happy with the RV, and in the second shot (on the right), you can see her giving me “the eye”!  Another interesting thing about bison, is that both males and females have horns, so you can’t use that to figure out their gender!

So, this guy (I’m assuming he was a guy because he seemed rather aggressive toward the RV) decided he wanted to try to intimidate the RV into moving.  Even though I knew I was safe in the Dodge Ram 5500 that our RV is built on, as he came closer and closer without slowing down or moving over, my breath did come a bit quicker!  He did slightly move over at the last minute, but he walked very close to the side of the rig.  I do want to explain that we were inside the RV, because the rancher said it was mating season, and the male bison could get very aggressive very quickly, so he wanted us inside for our own safety.

After the bison were on their side of the fence, we did get out and wander around our campsite a bit, just as the sun was setting.  I’m always amazed at how flowers can bloom in what seems like the most inhospitable environments and had to take an image of one of them!  The two sunset views are from early on in the sunset (more orange image) and just before the sun disappeared behind the trees and horizon.  It was very peaceful at our campsite, as the bison traveled toward the other end of the field, and we had no other campers around us.  Just a lovely evening!!

We were up early the next morning, and I was able to capture this beautiful beginning to the day before I was even fully awake!!  The peacefulness from the previous evening carried over into the morning.

Here were a couple of bison who came relatively close to the fence to have breakfast.  I think this was the same Mama and Baby as the previous day, simply because there weren’t that many in this herd.  And the male bison looked very majestic just standing n the field, calmly watching us.  They were especially watching Max, as we think he may have looked a bit like a wolf to them, and they are not fond of wolves!

And here’s another sunrise view, a bit later, just before we headed out to continue on our journey.  What a lovely break from the more populated areas of our trip!!

Enjoy!

Summer's Inspirationa

 

Summer’s Inspiration

This summer, while on our August’s travels, there were some images that really called images, as they speak for themselves….

 

Enjoy!!