JOSHUA FOREST PARKWAY

From Wickenburg we followed highway 93 AKA the Joshua Forest Parkway. We also wanted to take this route last and so we were happy to be on a new road for us!

The novelty wore off pretty quickly though!

Interestingly I had asked one of the ladies at the Wickenburg Chamber if the 93 had steep grades...

'no' she said!

Now I can't figure out if she just didn't want to tell me the truth - or it just doesn't seem steep to her...

Well let me tell you - it DOES have some steep parts - I felt pretty bad for our little truck trying to pull the trailer up some of the climbs through the Poachie Range.

The Joshua Tree for which the parkway gets it's name.

We thought the word 'forest' was a bit strange for the collection of Joshua Trees but I guess that is because we come from a place of dense forests - but there were quite a few Joshua's in one place.

This was one of the steeper climbs although hard to get from a photo.

Interesting rock formations along the way - not the best pic but the best of the bunch.

Now here is a good story for you!

As we were flying down a hill we looked to the left and saw - just in the nick of time - what appeared to be a group of wild horses running and kicking up some serious dust. There was also a truck and trailer parked out there also. There was left turn lane in but by the time we realized what we were seeing it was too late to slow down. 

'DARN!'

said Derek.

All the way down the hill he was upset that we missed the turn off! 

'That would have made a great picture! Wild horses! and Cassia could have seen them!' says Derek

And so by the time we were at the bottom of the hill and found a crossroads....

tick, tick, tick

yup - Derek was going to go all the way back UP the hill!

At the turnoff at the top - there was what you ask?

yup - a GATE! so we couldn't go in

and the 'wild horses'?

They were wild no longer and calmly grazing in the bushes quite a ways away - we could only see 2 of them.

And so the three of us just stood for a few minutes realizing that what we thought we saw and what we really saw were two different things!

We couldn't get in, it wasn't a boondocking site and they weren't wild horses.

All was not lost - Derek got a nice mother - daughter pic.

Now don't get me wrong. If you have power to spare - or a nice little sports car - this is a great drive. Very scenic - good road. But for us - with a V6 pulling our trailer we just don't do mountains very well.  

The alternative is the Quartzsite - Parker - Lake Havasu - Kingman route along the SR 95. Since we had done that before - and lets be honest - it is a pretty busy road - we thought this would be a better way. Now that we have done it I'm not sure - pros and cons on both.

We actually weren't even planning on this route until sometime around Buckeye. Our original plan from way back in Florida had been to FINALLY visit Prescott and Sedona - up to Flagstaff - back to the Grand Canyon - onto Page and Kanab and over to Cedar City Utah and through the Great Basin. 

But not to be this year.

We ultimately decided that it was 1) too early - brrrrr 2) too steep and 3) too far out of our way - the last two mainly being affected by the quickly rising fuel prices and our corresponding falling bank balance.

The landscape is desert - beautiful but dry. Just before Wikieup the highway intersects the Big Sandy river - WoW! the moisture has allowed Cottonwood to grow - what a neat combo!

The lighter green are the trees.

Not a whole lot in Wikieup - pretty much a gas station town.

We eventually hit the I40 and rolled into Kingman. We headed straight to the Home Depot on N Stockton Hill Road. Sadly a delivery truck parked right behind us and kept his engine running all night. Because our truck was running rough we didn't move - finally we fell asleep. First time that has happened to us at HD.

A beautiful sunset over Kingman that night - Derek took these two pictures - and if you can believe this is exactly how they came out! Amazing colours!

And so another day on our journey came to a close - a very busy day - Buckeye Hills Recreation Area to  Wickenburg to Kingman! All the traveling was good for Cassia though - she got a few naps into the day and thankfully her fever was gone and she was feeling much better by the time we reached Kingman.

We knew that the first thing we had to do in the morning was head to Auto Zone to try to figure out why our engine light had come on and why the truck was running so rough. The engine light had come on during our 2008 tour and we had pulled into the Ottawa, Oklahoma Auto Zone - a new chip was all that was needed. We were hoping that this would be a repeat!

Cheers!

P.S. I see we have passed over the 10,000 mark of site visits! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: Interested in weather? Derek and I sure are - it's one of our hobbies I guess. On fb we have 'liked' Firsthand Weather. Here is the website - actually in adding this link it was my first time at the site - we really appreciate all the regular updates on fb - especially during the last few days with all the tornado activity in the east.

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