Fire update

Well, it seems the two backfires are not out of control and the fire is spreading....sigh...


Hubby and I may take a drive later, with our cameras, and take photos.  In the meantime, here is the latest update, as of 5:45 p.m. today:

http://www.sunrunnersw.com/#!Lake-Fire-Updates/cjds/558c77f60cf2ef0f928ca5ac

There are some pretty awesome photos here.  The one of the horse trailers all lined up is pretty scary, though.

Here's another update, especially about folks who are moving their animals out of harm's way:

http://www.kesq.com/news/residents-evacuate-pets-in-midst-of-lake-fire/33779414

FIRE!

There is a huge fire up in our local San Bernardino mountains, above the Whitewater Preserve (which is now closed).  It started the day we left on vacation and has been burning now for one week.  It is only 30% contained and with gusty winds in the forecast, who knows what will happen next.  As we came down Interstate 10 to Indio yesterday afternoon, we were horrified to see all the smoke from it.  The smoke is now drifting toward Arizona.  Apparently firefighters set several backfires in an effort to control it and we were seeing those.

These mountains are not the ones I drive through, up by Deep Canyon.  Those are the Santa Rosa mountains, which are part of the San Jacinto wilderness.

This fire is up by Big Bear and is 11 air miles from Pioneertown and Morongo Valley.  Another fire swept through Pioneertown a few years ago and residents there are, of course, extremely worried.  This one is burning up Highway 38, the road to Big Bear and Mt. San Gorgonio.  So, it is across the valley from us and is moving toward Joshua Tree National Park.  I believe the park is still open, but there is a health advisory from all the smoke.

Here is a link to one of our local news stations' reports:

http://www.kesq.com/news/photos-of-lake-fire-burning-in-san-bernardino-mountains/33653860

Here is also a link to the Los Angeles Times article.  According to them, it is now up to 21,000 acres that are burned.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-wildfire-san-bernardino-mountains-grows-winds-shift-20150624-story.html

Santa Fe, Part I

Instead of driving anywhere yesterday, we puttered around Santa Fe.  We went to the Georgia O'Keefe museum and I was really awed by her work.  I've seen her artwork before, but never so close.  There are certain works that you cannot photograph, and you cannot use flash, so hubby and I used our cell phones (without flash).  That worked out just fine.  Next, we walked around the area by the museum and took photos of the buildings there.  Eventually we found the U.S. Courthouse and even the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assissi, which was very peaceful.  We also found a French cafe and bakery for breakfast!  We stopped at Whole Foods, bought dinner, and by 2:00 p.m. we were back at the hotel for the rest of the day.

Durango to Silverton Railroad

We pulled into Durango, Colorado about the same time as the return train.  This is the Durango/Silverton railroad.  We could hear its whistle coming into town once we lost sight of it.  It is an all-day trip from Durango to Silverton, with a 2 hour layover for lunch.  SOMEDAY we'll take it, but not this trip.

We really enjoyed the scenery from Durango to Santa Fe and even saw a bald eagle's nest along the way.  We stopped to take photos and the adult eagle wasn't too happy with our presence.  We didn't bother it; it was just annoyed (I think).  I spotted the nest on top of a telephone pole as I was driving.  Hubby was fiddling around with his camera and didn't even see it.

We pulled into Santa Fe and immediately made a beeline to the nearest Whole Foods.  We bought sandwiches for lunch and kabobs for dinner.

Rocky Mountains

We were surprised to see how green Arizona and Colorado are, considering that California is in one of the worst droughts it has ever had!  But, green they are!  And, the Rocky Mountains have plenty of snow and waterfalls!  There was a waterfall around every corner yesterday.  Water was seeping out of the rocks, running down mountains, and we missed taking photos of quite a few waterfalls.

We left Chinle, AZ yesterday morning and headed for Durango, with a trip to Telluride.  Some kind of bluegrass festival was going on there and we couldn't WAIT to get out of town!  We saw two herds of elk, several deer, and a bear cub eating a dead deer right off the road!  We heard the scream of magpies, but I never did get a photo of one of them.  It was a LONG drive yesterday and today we head to Santa Fe.

 Love the cottonwoods in Chinle.

 Looking down at one of the farms in Canyon de Chelly.

 4 corners.  $5.00 PER PERSON to enter the park.

 Bear eating the deer.  Does anybody know if he/she is a grizzly cub?

 Large herd of elk outside Telluride, Colorado

 Rocky Mountains

LOTS of water from the snow runoff.

Navajo ponies, Canyon de Chelly

Once again, we were treated to a view of some Navajo ponies at Canyon de Chelly.  This herd was quite healthy.  The white horse was the herd leader and she decided to move the herd because we were BOTHERING THEM!  Well!!!

Watching the turkey vultures

We traveled out to Canyon de Chelly's south rim late yesterday afternoon.  When we arrived at Spider Rock,there were a dozen turkey vultures lazily soaring on the thermals.  They stayed in the area for about an hour.  Some soared down by Spider Rock.  Others soared by the west end  of that area.  A few crows even joined in! I'm always amazed by what we see at Canyon de Chelly.