Even though we are settled down in Vegas to see the kids and
get our annual medical appointments out of the way, the wanderlust is still in
our blood so we continue to find new things to discover. Today that included
the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. At over 1.6 million acres, it is the
largest wildlife refuge in the US outside of Alaska.
We toured the fairly newish visitor center and took in their
film. Then we drove in a bit – all of the roads within the refuge are unpaved,
and the ones we drove on weren’t suitable to do over about 10 mph, so we didn’t
get all that far. But the views were spectacular! We just plopped our carry
along folding chairs on the side of the road and had our yummy picnic lunch.
There was absolutely nobody anywhere in our field of vision, except birds and
hares and a few skittering lizards.
We did get one big bonus. When we were in Tucson rubbing
elbows with Ken and Georgia Halloran they told us we would no doubt see some
Phainopepla if we kept our eyes open. They said we would recognize it since it looks much like a Blue Jay, but is jet black. Well, we did, and we didn’t – kept our
eyes open, but were denied our Phainopepla sighting. Well, when we got to
Desert National Wildlife Refuge, the ranger there mentioned that people had
told him they were present. And sure enough, we bagged another “lifer”. Perseverance
pays off!
Talk to you soon!
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