Sunday and Monday, February 5 and 6, 2017 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Sunday morning we were ready and waiting when Ruth and Dale picked us up shortly after 10:00...they had invited us to go with them to Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. It is located on the floodplain of the lower Colorado River between Arizona and California and surrounded by a fringe of desert ridges and washes, southwest of Blythe, CA.

Before continuing into Cibola, though, we stopped for an early lunch in Blythe at Rebel BBQ. We all had various sandwiches...all very yummy...and then we were back on the road...

The Visitors Center was open so we stopped and took a look inside...

The lady behind the desk was very friendly and gave us a map along with some spots along the auto-tour where Burrowing Owls had been sighted. By the way, there is BLM land across the road from the Visitors Center where there were a few RV's boondocking...another free camping area. There is also camping on the river. It was $10 when we camped there in 2012.

Then we were back in the truck and off on Canada Goose Drive...the 3 mile auto-tour.






Lots of waterfowl!

Sandhill Cranes and Canada Geese...

We stopped at the Cornfield Nature Trail and walked the mile long loop, stopping at the observation platform overlooking the marsh...

It also says that you might see song birds, bobcats, quail and mule deer along the trail...nope, not us.
We continued along the loop drive where there were numerous burrowing owl "homes" but unfortunately, we didn't see any...

This is a picture of one from the last time we were here...November 2012. Back then we saw far more birds of all kinds...

Egret...

Heron...

Hart Mine Marsh with some white birds in the distance...

They are white Pelicans...

Dale took us on quite a tour of the area...driving along the Colorado River...

Homes on the other side of the river...

The "end of the line" Cibola Lake, where we stopped at the lookout for pictures...that's the Colorado River in the background with the riverfront homes in the distance...

On our way back down to the river from the lookout...

After a quick stop at Albertson's in Blythe, we were back just before 4:00. Ruth and Dale joined us for a drink outside before they continued home to watch the Super Bowl. Thanks so much for the great day, guys! We really enjoyed it!

Monday started off with a beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately, though, the wind has returned and is expected to be with us for the next few days. After our usual start to the day, we did our resistance exercises, showered and then after breakfast, went out for a walk.

 After lunch we drove out to visit fellow Vancouver Islanders Ray and Anne, who just arrived for a short visit at the BLM area on Plomosa Road. Ray has a very good and informative website called Love Your RV as well as a community site called  RV Happy Hour with a forum and group sites etc.
Anne is an accomplished photographer and has her own website as well. Anne McKinnell Photography  She takes awesome pictures!

Steve, Anne, Ray, and Aileen. Missing is her husband Eddie. Eddie has an RV solar install business called Mobile Homestead Solar Services We've never met Eddie an Aileen but I understand he does very good work. They used to have an HVAC business and Steve was in the HVAC wholesale business so they have something in common. Too bad we missed you Eddie!

On our way home, we stopped at a craft store in Quartzsite where I managed to find the yarn I needed to finish the second slipper for Steve.

At 4:00 Dave and Diane popped by and we had a nice visit. They have been under the weather...both just getting over bad colds. We forgot to take a picture...but we'll get plenty when we host another happy hour here this Thursday. One final RV-Dreamers get together before more folks leave the area.