RETURN TO THE SECRET HIDEOUT

Despite the threatening weather, yesterday was the last day we had with Laila, for a return walk to her "secret hideout". She had been asking all week if we were going to hike to this oasis in the desert, and we had been telling her that we would make the trek on Saturday.  It was a chilly day, with a few sprinkles, but we decided it was now, or never, and headed down one of the small canyons on our property.

 Looking back at our motor home from the north.

It's about a quarter mile to the main line of the Union Pacific RR, then a right turn to the east, takes us along the tracks to this drainage tunnel, where we go under the tracks into the dry creek bed.  From there, it's about a half mile to the secret hideout.

Even though we haven't yet witnessed water flowing in the Cienega Creek, there's lots of evidence of massive flooding, probably during the very wet, and intense monsoon season of mid to late summer.  Walking through the dry river bed always reveals several treasures, which are usually inspected, then cast aside.

 

This was our second trip to a place where the creek is diverted into a pipe, and presumably, it's used for irrigation downstream.  The small pond below the dam was not present on our last trip, and it presented a barrier to where Laila wanted to have our picnic lunch.  So we found another spot to sit and have our snacks. 

 Climbing on the rocks is all part of the fun.

 Sitting on Grandpa's legs, was better than the hard rocks.

When we got back to the house, Laila warmed up with a nice hot bath, and the rest of the afternoon was spent watching movies.  It wasn't the best weather for a hike, but at least we didn't get wet, and we all had fun.  Later this morning, we'll take Laila home to mom & dad, and she'll be back to her normal routine, starting with tomorrow's school day.