December "flew by" way too fast.
We have been "busy" around our place most of the month. Darian has been planting flowers and rearranging some of the planting areas. We also bought some used bricks and will be adding to our south patio area.
Christmas was spent in Montana (flew up & back via Las Vegas) then back to Yuma and to the BMW Airheads Club annual New Years Campout at Agua Caliente County Park in CA
. We arrived home at 8:00 PM on Dec. 30th....then off to Ca. @ 12:00 pm the following day. In the camping area, the sun drops behind the hill by 4:30 PM and the temperature drops a few degrees instantly.We had our camp set up before the temp. drop.
(click on images to enlarge)
The attendance was typical this year with about 60 hearty folks showing up. "Keith's Camp" (below) is always a great spot to visit....these guy's & gals know how to "rough it" properly!
New Years eve was pleasant with temps in the low 40's. I happened to "over imbibe" a tiny bit, resulting in a pretty fierce headache the following AM. Did not drink large amounts, just too many different types of small amounts. Not as tough as I used to be and don't "practice" like I used to......thankfully.
A group of us decided to hike the "Moonlight Trail" in the daylight. For many years a group would hike the trail in the night time hours. A short 1.5 mile (or so) loop which follows canyons around the camp area.
Had a great time hanging out with friends and enjoying the hike. Some steep terrain and climbs on the route.
"Mountain Lion Warnings" were posted as Cats have been recently spotted. None seen by us....
Much safer hiking in the day light, plus photos are possible.
Years back, many of us would hike this trail in the dark and "under the influence" of various substances. We always came through unscathed!....ahhhh the good old days!
A couple of "springs" along the trail result in a lot of growth. Amazing that there is water in the harsh environment. The spring below is where the hot springs is "tapped" for the Parks Pools.
The final night, the anonymous builders of the annual "Chair Sculpture" were hard at work:
We made a pretty quick ride home, taking an alternate route through Calexico CA.
A beautiful day for a ride and temps. in the 60's.
Thinking about the Death Valley Rendezvous for Feb....we'll see if that comes together....If we sidecar the trip we'll turn it into a 10 - 14 day route around NV. / CA. / AZ.
I've been making a few changes to the Gold Wing...added the somewhat rare "Califia" seat which was purchased. Haven't ridden too many miles with the replacement seat so am not sure how it will work out. The seat does shift me forward / upward a tiny amount, and the padding is better than the old seat. I'll have to make a couple hundred mile ride to properly try out the seat. I will keep the old one and keep it as a spare.
I had found some new old stock "Honda" emblems for the valve covers (originals were missing) a couple years ago, but when I went to install them I found that one valve cover was miss-matched and did not have the screw holes required to mount the emblems. I recently found a pair of proper valve covers for $20.00 on EBay so I polished them and installed them with the "new" emblems.
