Las Vegas, Nevada
4/6/08 - On our trip to the Red Rock Canyon we met a friendly Great Dane. Beautiful dog.
As big as our dog friend was this flower was as little -- the flower is not probably much more than 1/4 inch across.
Do not know what these flowers are called -- I just loved their color in the desert areas.
I am trying to learn the names of the beautiful flowers, schrubs and trees we see along the way. This particular cactus is a Mojave Yucca. The Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera), also known as the Spanish Dagger, is a flowering plant in the family Agavaceae. It is native to the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert of southeastern California, Baja California, southern Nevada and western Arizona.
The Mojave yucca is a small evergreen tree growing to 5 m tall, with a dense crown of spirally arranged bayonet-like leaves on top of a conspicuous basal trunk. The bark is gray-brown, being covered with brown dead leaves near the top, becoming irregularly rough and scaly-to-ridged closer to the ground. The leaves are 30-150 cm long and 4-11 cm broad at the base, concavo-convex, thick, very rigid, and yellow-green to blue-green in color.
The flowers are white, sometimes having a purple tinge, bell-shaped, 3-5 cm long (rarely to 7.5 cm), produced in a compact, bulbous cluster 60-120 cm tall at the top of the stem. The fruit is fleshy and green, maturing into a leathery, dark brown six-celled capsule 5-11.5 cm long and 3-4 cm broad in late summer.
This yucca typically grows on rocky desert slopes and Creosote desert flats between 300-1200 m altitude, rarely up to 2500 m. They thrive in full sun and in soil with excellent drainage. It also needs no summer water.
The following are Joshua Trees in Bloom. They are actually of the Yucca species. Joshua trees can grow from seed or from an underground rhizome of another Joshua tree. They are slow growers; new seedlings may reach a height of 10-20 cm in their first few years, then only grow about 10 cm per year thereafter. The trunk of a Joshua tree is made of thousands of small fibers and lacks annual growth rings, making it difficult to determine the tree's age. This tree is not very sturdy because of its shallow root area and top-heavy branch system, but if it survives the rigors of the desert it can live to two hundred years of age. The tallest trees reach about 15 m tall.
The leaves are dark green, linear, bayonet-shaped, 15-35 cm long and 7-15 mm broad at the base, tapering to a sharp point; they are borne in a dense spiral arrangement at the apex of the stems. The leaf margins are white and serrate.
The flowers are produced in spring from February to late April, in panicles 30-55 cm tall and 30-38 cm broad, the individual flowers erect, 4-7 cm tall, with six creamy white to green tepals. The tepals are lanceolate and are fused to the middle. The fused pistils are 3 cm tall and the stigma cavity is surrounded by lobes. The fruit that is produced is green-brown, elliptical, and contains many flat seeds. Joshua trees usually do not branch until after they bloom (though branching may also occur if the growing tip is destroyed by the yucca-boring weevil), and they do not bloom every year. Like most desert plants, their blooming is dependent on rainfall at the proper time. They also need a winter freeze before they will bloom.
Once they bloom, the trees are pollinated by the yucca moth, which spreads pollen while laying her eggs inside the flower. The moth larvae feed on the seeds of the tree, but enough seeds are left behind to produce more trees. The Joshua tree is also able to actively abort ovaries in which too many eggs have been laid.
4/16/08 - You never know what you will see in our travels. I was shopping at Trader Joe's in Henderson NV and as I was checking out I saw this parrot. I asked the clerk was that a real parrot. He said it was and that a customer had trained it to stay there while he shopped. It had so many beautiful colored feathers on it.
Pahrump NV
4/19/08 Took a day trip to see Pahrump. It has a population of about 33,000. It is located 63 miles northwest of central Las Vegas and borders California on the west. We climbed the Spring Mountains to get there. Its elevation is 2,695 feet above sea level, considered high desert. This is the road after climbing the mountains.
The weather in Pahrump is generally clear and sunny 216 days, partly cloudy 84 days, cloudy/rainy 65 days. Annual rainfall is 4.5 inches. Bet all of you back in Washington could go for a few days of this kind of weather.
The first thing I noticed coming into Pahrump was the huge and numerous road signs. Never seen a town with so many.
On the way in we started to notice these little clusters of trailers and motorhomes with tables set out by the road. Then we discover it was the Baker to Vegas Relay race. From their website we learned it starts in Baker, California (gateway to Death Valley), through the California desert, over the moutnains, to Las Vegas Nevada.
The teams are restricted to Law Enforcement teams (Police and Sheriff departments, judges, bailiffs, and other agencies and service teams). All of the teams are responsible for providing their own logistics and support efforts, including communications. Did not see any runns but saw cars with numbers on them like this one.
The first sign of business in Pahrump was this castle. I thought it was a casino until we looked a little closer and discovered it was a "gentlemen's club". Oops!
There actually were casinos -- quite a few.
One thing we figured out that in Nevada this single blue marker indicates just up the a way is a place to make a u-turn. In those long desert roads it is the only way to turn around for miles.
Salt Lake City, Utah
4/21/08 - Well, today we hit the road again. I drove the motorhome. We fight over it -- can you image -- never thought that would happen. We stayed the the Leeds RV Park which is 10 miles north of St. George UT. The area is full green with spring upon us. So is a mild allery that came with it. I learned in all my testing that I have sleep apnea so I use a CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure). However, when my nose is stuffed up it does not work too well -- cannnot breath! The CPAP does not allow you to open your mouth (or talk). Did not realize I was sensitive to trees.
We visited the Discovering Dinosaurs in St. George, Utah.
While shooting a course Lance found his dream home. It was two "homes" connected by a glassed in breeze-way. I loved it too, however, I think I would need a housekeeper, gardener and two or three assorted helpers to keep it up.
4/26/08 - Onward North -- Heading for Fillmore, Utah which is halfway between St. George and Salt Lake City. We try to keep each leg of our itinerary under 250 miles. This trip has had a little shorter legs which makes the trip not so tiring. Below is what we see a lot of (well, not quite some many motorcycles usually), however, when you are sitting in a soft chair that has a foot rest that comes up with your slippers on and are looking out a true picture window -- it is not so bad!!
The Fillmore stop was full green also. Achoo! Lance discovered there was a nine-hole golf course next to us. So off he went and about an hour later called me to come out an wave to him at the back fence as he was finishing the fifth hole. He said the course was quite picturesque.
4/28/08 - Salt Lake City is breath-taking. It has the mountains -- still snow covered -- on one side and the Great Salt Lake on the other side. Our RV park this time is at Hill Air Force Base. A great park -- pull throughs, full service and large concrete pads plus the mountains and trees.
It is not flying close -- just a musuem piece at the base.
A rare picture -- Lance in downswing. He has been testing clubs. He is getting some new ones for his upcoming 60th birthday.
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