We moved our campsite back to the Yuma area and stopped at a u-pick farm stand on the way. It is located at “the bridge to nowhere”, the original McPhaul Bridge over the Gila River on highway 95 in Arizona. The highway was rerouted and the bridge stands, decaying, over the trickle of the river. Ironically the ‘new’ bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1993, while the abandoned old bridge withstood the waters!

Built in 1929 it was abandoned in 1968 when the road was rerouted.

Robert's keen eye spotted this huge beehive in the ironwork of one of the towers.

Interesting objects encountered on our long walks.

Maybe an indigenous peoples grinding stone, but probably just an erosion pattern.

The skeleton of a saguaro cactus.

A bunch of tiny versions of the previous erosion pattern in a soft desert rock.

A hummingbird bush in bloom.

The main attraction in terms of wildlife in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is the Desert Bighorn Sheep. We were privileged to have a pair observing us from the peak of Crystal Hill in the northwest corner of the Refuge. We camped in the same area several years ago and had several sheep watching us then too!

The male gave us a great profile pose.

Two days later we climbed the hill, where Robert and Mav posed at the peak.

It was so windy in the desert we decided to head to town hoping the wind would lessen. It did, so we enjoyed several hikes in the Yuma East Wetlands where Mavrik could run and even swim in the Colorado river. We were camped across the river at the Quechan Indian Casino and were able to walk across the Ocean to Ocean Bridge to the wetlands area and even into town. We toured Main Street in the historic old town and even picked a mandarin orange to enjoy from a tree in a parking lot!

A picture of a picture of the Ocean to Ocean Bridge!

Detail of the interior of the restored Yuma Post Office, now a commercial building.

The sunrise this morning was gorgeous. We are only about 5 miles from the Mexico border, the city lights we see at night are in Mexico!

Mavrik turned 4 today and got a special treat, a beef neck bone, to chew on while we enjoyed a campfire.

When we returned from a hike on Friday, Jan. 6 we were pleased to see our neighbors the desert tortoises. The reason we named this site we’ve camped at before is because we met these two, probably the same, tortoises we saw 2 years ago. They were busy grazing on the sprouts growing in the wash between our campsite and the hill.

The male eventually wandered off down the wash, grazing between spurts of rather quick hiking.

While the female finally had her fill and hiked up the hill to the same hole she retired into when we saw her last.

For some reason I bake double chocolate biscotti only when we are out camping for an extended period of time. It is a great accompaniment to a beautiful sunrise viewed from our ‘deck’.

Rain fell in the desert in December creating conditions that allow us to enjoy the desert abloom with ocotillo flowers at the tips of the long branches that are covered in verdant leaves.

Happy New Year!! I decided to start the new year with a new head of hair. Yep, I went all GI Jane, Sinead O’Conner, Sandy Baynham (for those who really know me) and cut off all of my artificially colored hair. I want to know the true color and texture of  my hair. I’ve been coloring it for so long I don’t know what it really looks like.  And at least now I know I don’t have a misshapen head!