Boyce Thompson Arboretum

sure way to keep you on the trail!

 Last Saturday the sun was shining, temps in the high 70's  and we wanted to get out and enjoy it!  We took a 90 minute drive out to Boyce Thompson Arboretum The Arboretum was created from 1923 to 1929 by a millionaire mining executive who loved the desert and its plants.

View at beginning of main trail

 We had our backyard re-landscaped last fall and now's the time to start looking for desert friendly plants and the Arboretum has hundreds of varieties to explore. There's a small gift shop and plants sale area.  It is a state park and covers about 400 acres near Superior, Arizona.   We walked the main trail which first came to the herb and cactus gardens, looped around the small lake, through a canyon and finally the eucalyptus grove.  There's a few old structures to peak at and many birds about.

Love these grouped together

The variety of cacti and other desert adapted plants is fantastic.  I've been researching what to plant and I was able to see many of the ones I've been thinking about.  Not too interested in the boojum tree, it looks like something out of Dr Seuss!

Boojum tree

Ayer Lake feed by Queen Creek

 The lake created in 1925 has overlooks to sit and rest a bit before continuing on up the trail. 

 Thompson's house is perched on a mountain top (I think its still occupied).

A great way to spend a sunny afternoon.  The staff said that the plants will be coming into bloom in March and April so I'm thinking another trip will be in order soon.

Quartzsite day trip

Ah, the new year and time to visit some spots close to home!  Quartzsite is about 125 miles NW of Phoenix off of I-10.  We headed out there Sunday to catch the annual RV Show.  If you've never been out to Quartzsite, its hard to describe.  In the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing, 1000's of RVers hang out in the desert during the winter.  The standard joke is that you see $200K diesel pushers (large RVs that look like buses) pulling $40K jeeps getting cheap parking for the winter on BLM public land.  And that's just the beginning of the oddities.

The RV show is mostly about RV accessories, although there's a handful of new models surrounding the main tent.  The tent is packed with those "carnies" hawking miracle cleaning supplies, healing medicines, and complicated machinery for chopping food.  Add in a few thousand of the over 60 crowd (were these really the flower children of the 60's?) and you've got an inkling of the experience.

There's always a gigantic junk sale going on, mostly regulars hawking dried foods, motor parts, tools...blocks of the stuff, the rows are labelled "A" through "T".  There's plenty of not-so-healthy food to chose from and many of the winter visitors stop by to pick up every day goodies.  

We picked up some solar lights, ear muffs, lots of brochures for travel north (Alaska and Canada) and lots of dust.  It was windy driving out and it swirled around the outdoor shopping areas.  Oh, and I bought a stainless steel slotted spoon.  Whoohoo!  I wish I'd given in and bought the clever peacock fashioned from old metal.  We made it back in time for the football games around 5ish and agree we really don't need to go next year...but I bet we do!

No pics but here's a link to explore The Desert Messenger says it's an online newsletter for the area.  Just remember, don't go after April 1st - the place is mostly deserted and the heat really sets in.

Where is the prospecting?

This is suppose to be a blog about prospecting and being a prospector's wife. So where's the prospecting? We did drive through the LDMA campground in North Carolina where we'd thought about taking the grandkids sometime. But prospecting in my mind is more about seeking treasures and enjoying the journey in that search. So why we may not be digging for gold, our travels lead us to new places with new adventures and we leave with lots of memories. Stay tuned for some close to home digging!