Day 71 - 9 Mar - Apache Jct, AZ to Needles California
Photo: The beautiful Arizona & California desert landscape.
Odometer: 128,970 Weather: what else--sunny & 78 degrees
We were up early, had breakfast, showers, did 3 loads of wash and were on the road by 10:30. The Apache Jct KOA was fabulous…heated pool, Jacuzzi…and it wouldn’t be hard to stay here longer BUT Las Vegas calls us!
We headed towards Phoenix and each time I’m here I’m struck by how the State/City planners have tried to incorporate the roads/buildings with the landscape. The overpasses, sometimes 3 & 4 high, are all done in terra cotta colour with Aztec designs along the sides. The shoulders & median are planted with indigenous plants, cactus and have pea gravel or natural stone in various shades of terra cotta shades of beige.
The buildings and houses are also coloured to compliment the surrounding countryside. You won’t see any red, blue, orange, or other bright coloured houses/roofs here. Everything is done is shades of terra cotta and beige with coordinated roofs. There is enough of a difference in design and shades that nothing looks the same or boring, but is quite beautiful. The climate virtually eliminates grass as the front yard of choice so most houses have used natural plants on pea gravel & natural stone and then have pots with bright flowers or bushes for colour….it’s effective and beautiful.
The highways are long and straight and we’re enjoying being able to just look at scenery and enjoy the ride. We are on Hwys 10 & 95 going through the Big Horn and Eagletail Mts towards Blythe, Calif on the Colorado River. Once we turn off at Blythe, and start heading North, the traffic lessens and we almost have the road to ourselves and are able to looks at the stunning hills and landscape around us.
This is definitely desert country…the land is quite flat, covered with small rock, more than sand, and the hills are often huge masses of rock, covered with the same smaller rock and some scrubby vegetation. Off-road racing and ATVs are very popular here. We can see clouds of dust where one or more are racing through the desert. There is lots of discussion about the effect of these vehicles on the landscape and as much fun as it must be, it’s not hard to understand why environmentalists are concerned. In places like Baja, the sand dunes are blowing away because ATVs have destroyed the grasses that hold the sand in place. Here, we can see tracks all through the area, up and down some of the smaller hills and it’s certainly a blight on the otherwise pristine landscape. Years ago, I guess people rode horses and it wasn’t an issue.
Once again, we are driving to specific destination within a specific time frame so it’s hard to keep stopping and starting to take photos. It’s a bit frustrating but unavoidable if we want to see the things we want within the time we have left.
I’m looking forward to see Las Vegas and while we aren’t gamblers, many of the the hotels are worth visiting. We’ve booked a couple of nights at the Circus Circus KOA which has some amazing things on site so it should be exciting.
Until next time, we love and miss you all and really do sympathize with all the snow issues you are dealing with--we are watching the CTV videos on the latest storm and the effects! Take care. xx
We headed towards Phoenix and each time I’m here I’m struck by how the State/City planners have tried to incorporate the roads/buildings with the landscape. The overpasses, sometimes 3 & 4 high, are all done in terra cotta colour with Aztec designs along the sides. The shoulders & median are planted with indigenous plants, cactus and have pea gravel or natural stone in various shades of terra cotta shades of beige.
The buildings and houses are also coloured to compliment the surrounding countryside. You won’t see any red, blue, orange, or other bright coloured houses/roofs here. Everything is done is shades of terra cotta and beige with coordinated roofs. There is enough of a difference in design and shades that nothing looks the same or boring, but is quite beautiful. The climate virtually eliminates grass as the front yard of choice so most houses have used natural plants on pea gravel & natural stone and then have pots with bright flowers or bushes for colour….it’s effective and beautiful.
The highways are long and straight and we’re enjoying being able to just look at scenery and enjoy the ride. We are on Hwys 10 & 95 going through the Big Horn and Eagletail Mts towards Blythe, Calif on the Colorado River. Once we turn off at Blythe, and start heading North, the traffic lessens and we almost have the road to ourselves and are able to looks at the stunning hills and landscape around us.
This is definitely desert country…the land is quite flat, covered with small rock, more than sand, and the hills are often huge masses of rock, covered with the same smaller rock and some scrubby vegetation. Off-road racing and ATVs are very popular here. We can see clouds of dust where one or more are racing through the desert. There is lots of discussion about the effect of these vehicles on the landscape and as much fun as it must be, it’s not hard to understand why environmentalists are concerned. In places like Baja, the sand dunes are blowing away because ATVs have destroyed the grasses that hold the sand in place. Here, we can see tracks all through the area, up and down some of the smaller hills and it’s certainly a blight on the otherwise pristine landscape. Years ago, I guess people rode horses and it wasn’t an issue.
Once again, we are driving to specific destination within a specific time frame so it’s hard to keep stopping and starting to take photos. It’s a bit frustrating but unavoidable if we want to see the things we want within the time we have left.
I’m looking forward to see Las Vegas and while we aren’t gamblers, many of the the hotels are worth visiting. We’ve booked a couple of nights at the Circus Circus KOA which has some amazing things on site so it should be exciting.
Until next time, we love and miss you all and really do sympathize with all the snow issues you are dealing with--we are watching the CTV videos on the latest storm and the effects! Take care. xx
posted by Lynne @ 6:26 PM
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