A Day

Clown fish are cool.

Trains are cool.

Clown fish really are cool.

Cora left today to join her sisters.  Her sisters were going to be there as support for her when she cut her hair.  She is tired of it being so long and, well, can explain it better on her site.

That left me free for the afternoon.  Not one to do normal things, I set out to see if I could find a what to the top of the Rattlesnake Hills.  I could, as it turns out.  I had to do a little creative driving, but I managed it.  Below you can see the roads were pretty good.  There were a bunch of cows in the way.

They were curious about me as I passed.

After some tense driving I found a high point and stopped.  Here is the view.

I think my truck is cool.  I have always liked the look of it.  I don't car if it is 9 years old.  It's a pretty good looking truck.

There are a few valleys hidden from the rest of the world.  It looked as though man had forgotten their existence.

I walked around the hill top looking for evidence that the US Navy had used it for target practice.  I found none.  I did find a few spring flowers!

I turned the truck around and went looking for that valley, since the maps say it has a road down through it.  Turns out it was a cow trail.

Yes, perhaps vehicles had been this way years ago, but I thought it best to check the road ahead before my two wheel drive tried it.

I found that the road did not go much further, rather it ended in a small canyon.  As I was checking out the road ahead, I chanced upon two coyotes.  I did not even think to take a picture, though I could have.  I was enjoying the sight, then they saw me and took off.  ONLY then did I remember the camera.  Still, here's their den.

This is the bedrock, which seems to show the columnation that is so common with basalt.  Still, usually, you see it from the side, not from the top.

Here is why the truck could not continue.

There it is in the background.  It was a beautiful little valley.

There were some tracks of a wheeled vehicle going a different direction.  i followed them to see if there was an outlet.  I found none and assume the vehicle had turned around and returned the way it had come.  Like I decided to do.

I got out to inspect the bottom of the draw and like this picture of the truck looking back toward the Lower Valley...that's Toppenish in the background.

There were some young calves that were in my way on the way back.  I let them cross in front of me.  I gunned the engine a bit more than I needed and startled them.

I got a moove on...get it, MOO-ve?  Yeah, I know, I am a comic genius.  They did not go far and stopped to watch me drive by...then followed.

Apparently they believe every vehicle brings hay...they were wrong.

This is the time to see the flowers of our desert area.  Most are small.

I made it back to paved roads without any trouble.  Overall, it was a fun outing.