Apache Junction, Scottsdale, and 29 Palms 1/24-2/23, 2017
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We traveled once again to Quartzsite, Arizona, arriving for the last couple of days of the annual Blue Bird Rally. After that we spent a few days in Apache Junction, then Scottsdale, and finally a week in 29 Palms.
At Apache Junction we had a good visit with Pat and Don. Pat is an "ankle buddy" having had a replacement ankle around the same time I did.
On a day excursion up the Apache Trail we stopped at the Superstition Mountain Museum. There were some riders practicing, presumably for an event that day. They have quite a large model railroad exhibit. The video is mine.
Apache Junction leads to Canyon Lake, where Nikki got to go swimming. Good swimming opportunities are rare in Arizona.
In Scottsdale we stayed at West World, the city-owned horse park. Last stayed there in 2002. We were parked above and overlooking the polo field, where there were occasional practice riders.
The annual Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson Car Auction had ended a few days before our arrival, and they were still loading up the last of the cars.
Despite having grown up in the Antelope Valley I don't think I had ever been to 29 Palms before. The major attraction in the area is Joshua Tree National Park. Lots of Joshua trees, of course, but also a lot of interesting rock formations, and high points where you could all of the way to the Salton Sea (last picture, bottom right).
North of 29 Palms is the near-deserted town of Amboy, on Route 66. The Amboy Crater is a couple of miles outside of town.
While at 29 Palms we couldn't pass up the Giant Rock and Integraton in nearby Landers. Site of UFO conventions and having a weird history (Google them).
On the way home we spent a night in Lancaster, and drove by my "ancestral home" there. Hadn't seen it in more than 40 years, but it still looks the same.
It was a very wet winter, so the Kern River was flowing like I had never seen it before (used to live in Bakersfield). We drove up to Lake Isabella for a side trip, then it was on home to Eureka.
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