FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

45

Knockin Tail Lures by My Coast Outdoors

Dusk to Dawn

As we headed to Joshua Tree National Park from Laughlin Nevada on the interstate it was time for a stop and some coffee.  There is no other place for 100 miles so we stopped.  The place was called the Oasis and it is a dirty dusty stop literally in the middle of nowhere.  In the store was a sketchy long haired dude and his old German Shephard.  Not anothe soul in sight.  If you have seen the movie you know what I am talking about.  And here is the punch line.

And the sign at the door said it all, and I paraphrase:  We are 100 miles from nowhere so don’t bitch about the gas price.

Suffice to say we used the facilities and got some coffee and hit the road before the vampires got us.  As a side note they had a wrecker service there and a big truck pulled up.  When we got a few miles down the road there was a semi on it’s side sitting off the road.  It had obviously been there a while and there was no cops.  Just another day crossing the desert.  Also answered why next to the station there was a semi graveyard.  Never a dull momoment traveling.

The park entrance.

Being the big park fans we are we were looking forward to visiting.  As it was the start of spring break in many places we knew it would be busy but before the morning was out it was nuts.  With LA only a few miles out no wonder.

Not sure but we have spent some time in the desert and this is the only place we have seen these.  Amazing.

It really reminded us of some of Big Bend.  There are sheep there but the guy at the visitor center had lived there for 32 years and only seen them once.  But after the world showed up no wonder.  If I was bighorn I would hide too.

Headed up sheep pass.  Not a sheep in sight.

It is about a 30-mile drive through the park and as the morning wore on more and more folks came.  When we excited the park the line waiting to get in was over a mile long.  To make matters worse, though what has been going on with the firings has the employees petrified to talk for fear of repercussions, one guy said 6 Park Rangers had been fired so far.  With the number of folks there, it was bumper to bumper when we left, nothing like reducing the Rangers.  Our parks are going to be a free for all which will lead to the phony justification to sell them and the rest of our public lands.  A crisis is coming, trust me.

The geology of the park is amazing.

The park has some interesting rocks, bluffs, mesas, you name it.  Folks were climbing all over stuff and there are plenty of trails.  Most of the parking areas were filling fast.  One thing I have never understood is if you are visiting the park why the hell are the tourons speeding?  You can not really enjoy or take in all the parks have to offer at high speed.  The lack of rangers will only make it worse.  So sad.

The iconic Joshua Tree.

It was worth the drive but also made me sad.  Our country is blessed with so much public lands and parks and this weekend proved it.  We ended up driving in Colorado, Arizona. New Mexico, Utah, and maybe one or two more.  Being the beginning of spring break folks were on the move.  Whether desert public land, parks, monuments, sites to see there were folks enjoying the outdoors everywhere.  The effort to shut it down does not involve a few folks but thousands of businesses and small towns supporting our lands.  Since apparently maga does not care for facts I will not repeat the truth, but what we spend on these places is returned x10.  So short sighted and just plain not fiscally responsible.  But hey the 2 folks responsible for it have never hiked in solitude, slept in a tent, smelled the fire or made smores.  (Much less the Boss and I paid HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars in taxes more than both Trump and Tesla combined paid the last few years.  Guess we are the suckers who got screwed.)  Glad I am old, but I hope for my grandkids sake this will pass.

And the Travel Turned Out to be Interesting to Say the Least.

In the middle of nowhere.  Got to love their marketing so get ready Western America the Beaver is on the way.

And here is one of the more interesting signs on our travels.

Wonder Valley

Crossing the desert in the middle of nowhere we came across this sign.  It reminded me of Lou Holt and his firing at Arkansas.  When he appeared on Johnny Carson he was asked about Fayetteville, and he said:  It is not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.  And he was promptly fired.  So at the point we had to look it up and what an interesting story.

In the late 50’6 and early 60’s the state basically said if you come and build a house or business you can have 5 acres.  Folks swamped there and thousands took advantage of the offer.  Now there are a few small structures scattered around but thousands have been demolished.  Free desert land sounded great until you actually had to live there.  There are a few left with the occasional artist and back to the landers left.  This is an amazing country and we intend to see as much as we can and are able.

TIME TO HEAD HOME

So the plan, get up Saturday morning and hit the road to return home.  We headed down to Kingman to get on I40 but on the GPS it looked closed.  When we stopped to get gas the lady told us semi’s were trapped on I40 and folks had gotten killed.  No wonder it was closed for 100 miles, turned out it was a blizzard and they were threating arrest if you tried to get on.  To get back to Colorado there is only so many ways to go, the southern alternative route was all over the place, the northern route was interstate to Vegas.  We choice that route.

Turned out we went in and out of Arizona, Utah, Neveda, then New Mexico.  Took a bit longer but worth the drive.  Then today we learned a friend of ours who drives a truck was also stuck in the same area.  Looks like he missed the snowstorm but was stranded due to the sandstorm we saw the same day.  One thing we learned this trip was just how vast some of the areas really area.  In the end that is what makes them so amazing.

One interesting thing was on the way out of Colorado we saw a bunch of elk and deer.  Then 1500 miles and not a one.  Last night on the way in we saw at least 100 elk in 5 different places, much less the usual random mule deer.  One of the big reasons we moved here and as usual were not disappointed.

THEFT OF OUR PUBLIC LANDS

I am sure some of you think my ongoing rants on the potential theft of our public lands is misplaced.  Ok, try this on for size.

Nevertheless, the White House told The Washington Post that it planned to eliminate two national monuments in California that were established by Biden at the end of his tenure.

These monuments are the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, which protect a combined 848,000 acres of particular significance to Native tribes in the region.

This is just the beginning, they said it was to open drilling and business.  They are still laying folks off in the parks and public land bureau and opening up the national parks to logging.  Not sure what else I can say but the assault continues and it is just not right.

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Thanks

To those that thanked me for my last post I appreciate it.  Not because I think I am right but that you responded with a legitimate comment.  No what about the other guy, you better shut up this is Texas, or yelling over that dumb ass Rudy.  I am not against the exchange of ideas, only those that are not fact based.  And speaking of Texas……

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TEXAS IS A JOKE

Some representatives from Waco Texas just introduce legislation to disband TPWD and split it up into 3 or 4 different unrelated departments.  While Texas is in my rear-view mirror all I can say is WTF.  Who is this guy and what is his motivation.  Is he butt hurt for some reason?  Stupid?  Maga mad?  What is he up to and why?  A deer breeder?  Connected rich guy?  If you live in Texas and you are not concerned and wondering what this is really about do it at your own risk.  This is just plain nuts!

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My mother passed away peacefully at home yesterday at the ripe old age of 91.  Some of the kids were there and plans are up in the air.  So on that note I will end this post.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines