Moapa Valley Drive - Part I

5/27/2010


We stayed home two days and Mallery seems to be doing much better. She vomited one time and then things seemed to get better. Today we decided to do a scenic drive out of a National Geographic book I have. We took 15 North from Las Vegas to Hwy. 169, then we headed south. After a while on 169 we come to a state park. We stopped to use the restrooms. While Joe was using the restroom I found this wild flowering bush. I believe it is called a trumpet flowering bush. Correct met if I am wrong. Our first stop is at the Beehives. Next stop- The Atlatl Rock. It has 84 steel steps to a well preserved wall of petroglyphs A piece of clear plexiglass has been placed over the ancient artwork because present day visitors were adding their own art work as well. Sad to think people would do such things. A view from the platform. Arch Rock. (two days after taking this picture, Joe saw a front page story in a Las Vegas newspaper stating that park rangers had just discovered that this arch had collapsed sometime in the last few days. Imagine that, we were one of the last people to see this arch!) As we move on we view a wall with many holes. We saw some other visitors get out of their car, so we stop and get out to see what has caught their attention. I ran out of batteries, so Joe headed back to the car as I investigated the area. I found a little cave, where it looked like others had added stones to create a wall in front of it. I added a stone also On the way back to the car, I saw this large rock formation, it looks like a side view of Mallery's head with her ears down. Here is one of those purple bushes I saw in Anza Borrego Park, in CA., that was just starting to bloom. Now here is one that is just about done blooming. I would have liked to see it in full bloom. Maybe someday. What's Joe looking for in that hole. Just me! Now how do you think I manage to fit in that very small hole? I must be very small! The blue sky, red mountains, and green mountains in distant was real pretty, but the picture just doesn't show it. Now we are on the Mouse Tank trail. We brought Mallery along, but we left her in the car with the windows completely open. The trail is 1/2 mile round trip and I walked her at the last stop and she wore out fast. We decided she would be better off in the car. All the while I worried someone might steal my baby and not know she is sick. I didn't want to leave her home because I wanted to keep an eye on her. This is a rock on the path with bubble bumps. Weird.

The temps are in the high 70's to low 80's with a really great breeze. It is a beautiful day as long as we have that breeze or stay in the shade.This bush has these little white crisp air filled sac. I think they have dried out and probably were soft when they first bloomed. See the girl with the hat and her arm and hand. The trail had numerous petroglyphs up high on the rocks. Joe is always ahead as I look for flowers that are still in bloom. We saw a lot of this white stuff on the rocks. At first from far away we thought that it was where the rock had chipped away and that was the color inside the rock. But up close we could see it was something growing on the rock. Some lichen probably. We get to the Mouse's Tank. It is a natural basin in the rock where water collects after rainfalls, sometimes remaining for months. There is about pint of water in the hole with lots of bees flying around down there. This bush has long fuzzy yellow things on it. Probably seed pods. Just a look up into the ceiling of one of the hole in the rock. There was a lot of these flowering bushes up high on the rock walls. This one was low enough that I could climb up to. Joe just shakes his head at me and tells me not to climb up where I could fall.

By the time we got back to the car, we were pretty warm. Not much breeze on the trail and in full sun, as well as we are getting to the hottest part of the day. My baby is still in the car
and not panting at all!

To be continued: