Saturday, March 19, 2011

Jeep rules the day!

We had planned all week to go on a Jeep tour today, so off we went.  Friends of Nelson and Ann’s from Midland, Ontario, spend about 8 months a year here for a few years now and knew where to go! 

1st. destination was Rovi’s Needle…

You can see Doug and Ann’s Jeep Wrangler heading up the  foothills towards the needle on the left…

P3191815

this gives you an idea of the landscape in this area… the needle sticks out like a sore thumb…

P3191821

Ann and Nelson getting out of the Jeep at the needle…

P3191822

We are a group of 8 today, and the Ladies decided to hike up to the needle about 3/4 of a mile…

P3191825

And as you can see it is a very majestic looking needle…

P3191826

We had to climb up a bit to get to the needle.

P3191828

Now check this out… the eye of the needle… look at the honey comb around the eye… I have never seen anything like this during this life time…

P3191830

David is checking out the eye of the needle, and ended up going through it…

P3191833

This was a second eye, but you could not get through this one…

P3191840

We all got through the “eye” and found a whole bunch more honeycombs… the only explanation I have is the wind has formed them… or maybe it was the giant Bee from Omega F9…???…

P3191843

Maybe someone should make a movie up here…

P3191845

P3191847

Instead of going back through the eye we climbed down the face and back to the Jeeps…

P3191852

We headed back out to Hwy. 95, only a few rough spots to cover with the Jeeps… we were about 15 miles south of Lake Havasu.

P3191862

Next we headed further down Hwy. 95 for lunch at a place called “Nellie E. Saloon” or as the locals call it… The Desert Bar.   It is on the site of an old copper mine, about 5 miles east of Hwy. 95 and back in an old Jeep trail… the poor guy in the old Jeep in the picture below, left of Doug’s Jeep, never made it to the Saloon… P3191877

The owner, Ken, bought this property back in 1975 and had plans to made a restaurant/bar out of it… he started small and has built up quite a business… this place is only opened during weekend hours, from noon to sundown, as there is only solar power available.  The Saloon closes during the summer months here as it is simply too hot!

 

P3191878

This sign says it all… 1 more for Kristina’s collection.

P3191880

Doug got his Jeep parked, and was checking out the dust on mine…

P3191885

They built a small footbridge to get over to the restaurant…

P3191889

This place was packed!  Business was booming… with a very simple menu of hot dogs and hamburgers they have done very well…

P3191890

It has a great atmosphere… people were enjoying!

P3191891

The little booth is where he ran the bar for the first 4 years while he built the current 2 bigger building…

P3191892

Live entertainment kept everyone involved… there was even a wedding party here today!  Why not!

P3191895

In the old days the owner brought back water for the saloon in the fire truck before he could afford to dig a new well.

P3191901

The owner also built this Church out of solid steel leftover from the mine…  quite the spot!

P3191906

I know, too many pictures today in the blog… sorry!

We did have a great day and I got back home in time to catch my Leaf’s smuck the Boston Bruins 5 to 2!

Till tomorrow…

5 comments:

  1. That Needle is something else. I've never seen a formation quite like that. Enjoyed your tour of the Desert Saloon and all the photos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. nothing wrong with lots of pictures!..great shots of the 'eye of the needle and the honeycombs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That honeycomed needle is quite the thing. We see so many unbelievable shapes & sizes in nature that is unexplainable. Just boggles the mind to think of the forces involved to create these things. And, so long ago too. Always nice to see people taking the time & making the effort to get out & about to explore things.

    ReplyDelete
  4. honeycombs result from disaggregation of mineral grains within the rock by evaporation of saltwater splashing on the rock surface; algae living within the rock surface protect the walls separating the cavities from further erosion...per GEORGE MUSTOE......great pics J&J...see you at home
    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  5. A whole lot of bloggers have gone to that Desert Bar this year, that guy sure has a good thing going!

    Great pictures of the Needle and the honeycombs.

    ReplyDelete