This river is truly gorgeous, we saw several nice, deep spots for trout to hide in, the floodplain showed signs of lots of water, from the immense rains that fell here, hawks were sitting in the pines , waiting for an opportunity.      Did we ever sleep well, all this forest air, the soft gurgle of the river, aaahhhhhh………

Spring is on the way, little green sprouts showing themselves!!!!

All along route 299 ,following the river , are government camp sites, most of them down below the road, they seem to be used mostly by fishermen, but for now, all of them were empty!!!    We stopped at Shasta-Trinity , Cedar Flats, a nice and private spot, with lots of greenery and very tall Ponderosa Pine.     A lot of these pines were cut down, and upon inspection, i noticed that the stem roots were totally rotten, these are the main root, basically holding the tree up.      It could be root rot, a disease that has hit B.C. in the past also, we didnt see any sign of  the pine beetle.      The quiet was so lovely, we could hear the river, and some birds, the air smelled of fresh water and greens, a soft breeze was stirring the trees, this was wonderful!!      We loved the desert also, but i dont think i could do without the forests!!!

Bert set up the camp, i cooked dinner, we have a propane heater for in the Westy, there was no power hookup in the campsite, and it was going to be a cold night, Bert rigged up a special holder for the heater, in between the two front seats, so it could not fall, and if it ever did, it would shut off immediately, a nice safety feature!!!

Our little propane heater.

The very best camp spot.

I just lost four posts, due to some very strange things going on with my blog, i am not too happy with the new settings, especially since i surely didn’t ask for them.  I pay for my blog so should be able to work on it the way i see fit.

After a restful night in Williams, we headed towards Redding, bought groceries there and gas, and started towards the coast on route 299.     They have had a lot of flooding here, and for  a long time, the road had been closed, we were warned that there could be up to 15 minutes waiting time, but with the engine shut off, listening to the rapids of the Trinity river ,which the road follows , almost all the way to the ocean, we relaxed and had some snacks.     The road was being reconstructed and rebuilt on the sides, huge chunks of earth had broken loose, and thundered all the way down to the river.   It sure looked like it had been a huge mess, here and there they are taking out  very sharp turns, and rebuilding the very high shoulders.

Route 299, whole chunks of hillside were washed away.

I took these while driving past, sorry about the bit of blur…..

Going through the Old Mohave desert, things look pretty bleak, the mountain peaks have snow on them ,and its cold.    Along the roadside, some Joshua trees grow, we drove on route 58, and in Rosedale village, where Bert and i stayed before, we ended up in a motel, the RV place was full!!!      Roel and Ineke had decided to head to the I5, they had to go home, and we wanted to drive some of the coastal roads.   Along the highway, we saw lots of windmill turbines, small ones, huge ones, it seems to be a big thing here, and a good thing, lots of strong wind in these mountains, along the Mohave desert.    The train tracks follow the road, or is it the other way around…. not sure, the trains are well over 125 cars long, being pulled by 5 or 6 locomotives.   After a while, the scenery changes, once we came down from the mountains, everything became very green, cows grazing , a very welcome view after all the desert.

Oranges, anyone??

Snow on the Mohave mountains.

Wind turbines, a perfect place for them!

very long trains, the way to transport , out here in no man’s land.

Now , what exactly is this boat doing out here???

here, the train disappears into the mountain side.

After Lake Havasu , we headed on route 66 towards Bulhead City and Laughlin,.     Route 66 is very desolate here, nothing but sand and the odd bushes, and once a sand storm started ,this became quite the ride!!       I felt i had sand and dust in my hair and teeth, despite the fact that the windows were all closed tight.        Within a short time, the van was covered in dust, so were we, and this storm lasted well into the night. Roel and Ineke wanted to head to Laughlin , to the casinos there, now i was really not too keen on that, as the money wasn’t exactly flowing happely , and again, there is that US dollar, worth so much more then ours.      But, they found rooms for us in Harrah’s hotel and casino, $ 18.00 per night, and the though of sliding into a hot bath suddenly became very important!!!   Bert and i ended up with a room with a king size bed, now for us that is just huge!!!!     I had trouble finding him in the morning!!!!        In the evening , we had dinner at the buffet downstairs, where i found the most delicious things to eat, a lot of them Paleo, so i would not get sick.    We stayed 2 nights, and did some gambling, i won 34 dollars!!!! very exiting, then lost 34 dollars…….    hhmm…… so i am not a gambler!!!!!   But , it was fun.     The dust storm lifted the first night, and the second day, the sun came out, beautiful blue sky, but it was bloody cold!!!!     had to go to the Westy and haul out my winter coat!!!   Gas was cheap here; $1.63 per gallon, not bad…….

Driving into the dust storm.

A very dreary part of HWY 66

We found a great RV place, right at the Colorado river, called the Sandbar Resort, we stayed three nights, and did laundries, i washed everything, we had showers every day, relaxed, ( now dont think we didnt have showers before, but some of the showers on the way were a lot to be desired, and surely not all that clean…)    We played cards, went for walks, Ineke had a chance to relax , she was fighting a doozer of a cold, all in all, a very nice, well deserved stay.    The river is busy here, big, very noisy speed boats go ripping by, i found it a shame that they allow that, the river is pristine, still, but gas and oil float on top of the water……      The banks of the river are littered with RV places, everywhere you look, campers!!!!        After the three nights we headed to Lake Havasu city, January 31.    Roel talked about a bridge there, “London Bridge”, the total length of this bridge is 284 meters,  it originally spanned the river Thames, in London, was built in 1830 ,and was taken apart and relocated in 1967.

This bridge was designed in 1799 by Scottish engineer John Rennie, and it was completed in 1831.    But as time passed, and more and more traffic crossed the bridge, the bridge started sinking on one side, by 1924 the east side of the bridge had sunk 4 inches lower then the west side.   It just could not withstand the traffic.     So, in 1967 the town Council began looking for buyers, and the founder and entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch placed the winning bid of $ 2.460.000!!!    Every block of stone was then numbered, so as to put the bridge back together again in its original shape.    So, there you go, its now a very touristy place, but it was neat to see the bridge and learn of its history.

The old London bridge.

Stone lion, guarding the fountain at the bridge.

We stopped in the desert for lunch, amazing , this huge expanse of ground, it all looks so dry and forlorn, until you start looking around, do a bit of investigating, and there i found an Ocotillo cactus, most of them look like some old sticks , someone stuck into the ground, their nickname is “old man’s walking stick”, i can see why……. but, at the very top of these , are these flowers blooming, the stem of the cactus slowly becomes green, tiny leaves pop out, among the deadly looking spines.   I am totally amazed by cacti, their ability to survive, to grow, and to produce these amazing , most gorgeous flowers.   I once had a cactus at home, a ball, inside a small pot, it just stood there, for 7 years, and then, one spring evening, in April, this long green stalk came up, and then another one, they grew to about  5 inches, and one evening, towards dark, white flowers opened up, and i have never , since that , smelled anything like that, such a beautiful scent, it filled the whole house, and i stayed up, just wallowing in this scent, good thing i did, early morning, the flowers crumpled up, they were done!!   ONE NIGHT!!!!    Just one night to lure the moths, and any other insects that might be flying around.   It now would not bloom any more for another 7 years!!!     Here are some photos of the Ocotillo cactus and its flowers.

Ocotillo caactus.

Buds forming…..

Very tough, young leaves cover the stalks in early spring, but among those leaves, are mean looking ,very sharp spikes, a protection for the plant.