Adventuring around the park

 Now that I have gotten the lay of the land it's time to go on a few adventures around the park. 

First up is a short little hike to Ryan Mountain.  The tip we got is to go early, so we did.

Windy up here.  Do you see the Joshua Tree in the background?

A better view of the Joshua Tree (and you can see the wind blowing my paw around).

I made it to the top of Ryan Mountain.  Pretty easy little hike. 

Time for another adventure.  After doing the little walk around Keys view (yes, the same Keys from the ranch) it was time to get away from the crowds and do some hiking.

I'm on a trail to another viewpoint. Apparently my roommates want to tire me out today.  Hah, this fox doesn't get tired.

So much cool plant life.  Anyone know what this is?  Be careful with your paws. 

Juniper grows well here.  These are much bigger than the juniper that grows in my state. 

A cholla cactus, you will meet a new friend of mine soon with the same name.

Made it to the top. Off in the distance is the Sultan Sea, the Palm Srpings Metro area and lots of desert.

These hikes certainly got me some elevation, now it's time for lunch.

Travel or Archaeology blog....you decide. Either way.....Welcome to Joshua Tree National Park.

 Good Morning Blog World,
Little Fox here. I am enjoying the sunshine of the California Desert at Joshua Tree National Park.

Is today's blog a travel blog or an archaeology blog?  That is to be determined by the universe.  Today, my adventure starts out at the History Keys Desert Queen Ranch in Joshua Tree National Park.  Bill Keys homesteaded the ranch in 1917, then when he passed in 1969 the park service traded the current owner for some land in San Diego and the park service got the land for the Key's ranch.    

Key's Ranch has been untouched since Keys died in 1969 and the desert air has maintained the equipment.  The park service plans to keep the ranch in the same condition you see it today.  Lot's old old vehicles at the ranch.  This is a ford truck from back in the day.  One of Bill Keys children got the engine runing in 2013.  Maybe it still runs today? 

So much ranch and mining equipment. I need to put a proposal together for the museum to see if they will let me catalog the site. 

Living in the middle of the desert makes one resourceful.  Keys built his ranch and expanded the buildings any time he could.  In fact, this is his table saw.  It's hooked up to the tractors motor to move the blade.  Pretty darn resourceful Mr. Keys.

Keys was a rancher, a miner and a scavenger.  When other homesteaders left the desert Keys would fire up a truck and collect anything usable and/or left behind.  Being that he has 160 acres homestead he has lots of space to store everything he scavenged. 

This would be a great challenge for an archaeology student like myself.  I need to email my advisor. 

Keys built everything on the ranch.  House, shed, overnighter cabin, fences, dams, you name it he built it.  Anyone with those skills needs a good workshop and Bill Keys had a great one.  

So much to catalog. 

The ranch is only open via ranger led tours.  The ranger did a great job sharing information about the ranch.  This good looking dog is Ruby.  She's a 10 year old rescue and lives at the ranch with a caretaker.  How does one get that job? 

Onward my friends more of the park to explore.

Onward

 "All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...."  Hiya gang.  I'm hanging out here at the airport waiting for my flight.

Let me check in and see if my flight is on time.  What, I'm at the wrong airline.  Time to dock my sekrebeary/travel agent for sending me the wrong info. 

Let me check the board.  Aha, I got it now. 

Now, I am at the right gate.  Just have to wait a few minutes.

Before my flight takes off a small breakfast.  

Hooray!  I'm in the plane waiting patiently for our takeoff.  

I made it.  Anyone have a guess where I am at?  Hint: It's a national park. 

 

Little Fox master gardener????

 This is the year!  Yes, this is the year that I finally get my staff to control some of the weeds in the yard.

First up, you can see how they have repurposed some Amazon.com boxes as a weed barrier.  Now, I am just waiting on the tree mulch delivery.  The problem is that you never know when the tree clippings are coming, being that you have to wait for an arborist to have a load in your neighborhood that they want to drop off.  I have to be patient.

Pulling these weeds was yesterdays task.  There are still more to pull.

And more....you can see I am amassing quite the collection of weeds.  This little fox has been busy supervising the humans, how do Jerry and Ben do it? For that matter, how does Sandy get his people to do all this work?  My roommate is threatening a strike.

Strike breaker Sequoia has come out to refocus the roommate on their task at hand.

Time to start planing the garden.  First up are the free seeds from the colleges extension department.  Marigolds, more marigolds, snap peas and a 12 foot tall sunflower plant.  

Zuchinni, snap peas, California Poppies, and a hummingbird mix.

Perhaps....um....I might have gone overboard with the seeds.

In my defense, the seeds were buy one get one at half price (and/or free) and this little fox can't pass up a bargain.

According to the internet the last frost is coming up, April 11th.   It's almost time to start planting.

Mail Call

 Hiya Gang,
Little Fox here.  I'm working through some recent mail.  First up.  A card from Jerry and Ben.

This is my favorite card from them.  So many hot dishes to make.  Let's see....where J and B live the official hotdish is green bean casserole.  My roommate visited a few areas of J and B's home state back in the day and the hotdish is saucy fish rice.  So many dishes to try.

Jerry also mentioned that a little bear is entitled to on hot fudge sundae per Covid Vaccine.  This is where everything gets tricky, if said little bear got the J &J vaccine which is a one shot deal does that mean said little bear only gets one sundae?

Next up is a card from a little bear up North.  Sandy's card came about a month and a half ago.  Yes, I know, I am a tad late on my mail. 

Sandy mentions that he needs to get out on more adventures....amen brother I need to get out more too.

Sandy is prepping his garden (after cleaning out the raised beds).   Kale, snap peas, radishes are also on the plan.  I hope Sandy plants tomatoes as well.  

My human got some free seeds today....marigolds, sunflower, snap peas and zucchini.  The were last years seeds but we are keeping paws crossed that they still work.  Of course, we purchased onions, zucchini, California Poppies, a plant that is supposed to attract honeybees, spinach, arugula, and more snap peas. 

It seems as if Cocoa Beanie is struggling with the pandemic.  I hope he gets to visit Beanie soon and perhaps do a US trip. 

Finally, Sandy mentioned that they made a pizza with basil, spinach, artichokes, and balsamic glaze.  Yum.  Recipe please.....

Thanks for the mail everyone!