Grab a Rock...and Enjoy your View!

Waking up this morning was pretty sweet, I'd have to say...our surroundings are amazing. When we got up to our spot last night, I knew we were sitting on top of a mountain but we couldn't really see anything else around us...whoa momma is it cool here!

We are "overlooking" Laughlin and Bullhead City, about 7 miles away, last night all of the Casino lights were shining so bright...I actually thought it looked cooler than Vegas, but it's probably just because of where we are (and we can still see all of the lights). We have a great view of the Colorado River, there are monstrous mountains all around us that are a million different colors throughout the day. It's spectacular!

[caption id="attachment_2342" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ...and from this side[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2341" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Panoramic View[/caption]

I was walking Savannah this morning and as we were walking down the road we drove up last night, I saw something that started to get me pretty freaking excited...either Pony or Burro tracks.

[caption id="attachment_2340" align="aligncenter" width="225"] They're here![/caption]

I was so excited I started looking all around, hoping they were just here...no luck. We walked around, Nana sniffing everything a million miles a second...over here, over there, wait what was that, ears up, tail going crazy. I thought her head was gonna pop off! We walked back up to the van and just as I turned the corner J' was standing there with his arm out (like STOP) and a big smile on his face. He pointed down to the ground...oh my goodness!!

[caption id="attachment_2343" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mr. T, the Black Tarantula[/caption]

We have seen a Brown Tarantula in Pahrump and now a Black Tarantula...wherever we are now! Very cool. J' moved him off to some rocks so we wouldn't step on him, he was pretty much in our path to get in and out of the van...don't wanna hurt the lil fella!

We hung out mostly all day, waiting to see if we were going to get any heavy traffic due to it being Sunday, our location (we are not very hidden here, we are on a pretty high perch) and with the weather being pretty nice....and we watched the 'foosball' of course. We saw some people come and go. One group in a bright yellow Hummer, which turned out to be about 4-5 girls taking pictures of each other with one of those reflectors, it was windy so it was pretty funny to watch...I think they were planning on taking them at "our" spot but since we were here they took them at a different spot.

[caption id="attachment_2345" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Reflector almost blew out of her hand![/caption]

We were doing some stuff outside and had Savannah tied up to the van, she kept whining...when we finally saw what she saw I almost jumped out of my pants I was so freakin' excited! BURROS!!! A group of 6! I took some pictures but my camera doesn't zoom in that well, they always turn out blurry, so I started walking very slowly toward them. They were kind of far away but I still didn't want to scare them...that didn't last very long! I got what I could before they took off and turned back for the van.

[caption id="attachment_2346" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hellooooo Donkey![/caption]

As I was walking back up the trail, some people in a Jeep were heading out of the mountains down the trail to the main road. The driver saw me, turned around and came right on up to where we were parked...he was pretty excited! I guess he had seen my try with the Donkey's and wanted to tell us about something else, I'm all ears dude! He got out and showed J' where they had just seen a group of Bighorn Sheep! WHAT!?!? Oh.My.Gosh. I thought ponies and donkeys were cool, Bighorn Sheep! Yes, please! He was a super nice guy and made sure to tell us to not leave lil Nana tied up without having eyes on her or a Mountain Lion or Coyote will grab her and there won't be anything we can do. Ummm, thanks for scaring the royal crap out of me dude! From that moment on, I will not leave her anywhere, she does not leave my sight and I am well armed when I walk her now. I think there's that 'thing' of knowing these animals are out there but if you never see them you start relaxing and then usually that's when something happens. No animal will take my Nana, so now I will be taking my walks with her with bear spray, big rocks in my empty hand and pockets and a good set of eyes!

[caption id="attachment_2347" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Armed and Crazy![/caption]

Now I try not to roam too far from the van for I feel like I'm being stalked by ravenous predators...thanks again dude for scarring me for life! haha

[caption id="attachment_2348" align="aligncenter" width="300"] That's a long way to run![/caption]

It sure is beautiful here. Even though we are still in the desert, it seems different. You still have to watch where you walk, I've already pulled a few stickers out of Nana's feet and had to have J' pull a few more out that were a little deeper. The ground is much rockier than Pahrump with these teeny cactus' under the plants and bushes...that's where she gets hurt, because she hunts in them. We'll just have to learn how to adapt to our surroundings as well as being aware of everything around us, from plants to animals to other people. I think it will be interesting out here and will give us that much more experience on (and off) the road. We may move tomorrow just to see what else is around us and see if we can get off the 'main entrance' to this road.

Until then, we are going to enjoy our view and the amazing nights sky...through the windows of course and I am going to dream of Bighorn Sheep! haha

[caption id="attachment_2349" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Goodnight[/caption]

PEACE