Sunday, November 16, 2008

Hanging out in Quartzsite


Both shots taken from beside our trailer.
Nov 13
We packed up and moved on to Quartzsite today. We got on the road shortly after 9 and arrived in Q about 5 hours later. It was only 240 km. We drove via Joshua Tree Park south to I-10 and stopped at most of the displays and much of the speed was only 35 mph until we hit the freeway. At one stop we met a couple who live full time in Port Neville which is boat access only from Sayward, BC. They are spending about 6 weeks traveling in their VW camper van. It sounds like they saw some fascinating country and are now heading out to the California coast north from San Francisco. We have set up on BLM land in Tyson Wash well back from the highway 2 or 3 kms south of Q. I can still hear I-10 truck traffic but it is muted when we close some windows at bedtime. It was 29C when we arrived and had been up to 32C along the way. The ladies are not too impressed with the warmness but hopefully it will be okay parked here. There was a nice cooling breeze which helped. The humidity is 8% here, that’s right – less than 10%. Mitzy and I went chasing the sunset before supper then shot the moon when we got home. There were coyotes yodeling on both sides of us before we went walking. I haven’t heard them again.

Nov 15,
We’re still relaxing in Quartzsite. I did go to town yesterday to gas the truck, get some tourist info and a loaf of bread while Aileen had a nice long nap. In the evening we went to town and pirated an internet signal so we could catch up on things. Aileen cut my hair this morning then we took a drive over to Bouse stopping along the way at our “secret valley camp” where we had such a quiet restful stay last winter. There are very few RVs anywhere yet. Along Plomosa Rd were perhaps 15-18 in total and the BLM long term spots near Quartzsite are nearly empty. In our Tyson Wash unit there was one check in yesterday and only two the day we came. It’s a really weird feeling after it was so busy last time we were here when there were thousands of RVs. There are hardly any vendors yet and the empty buildings and parking lots are eerie. I think there are only 4 small RV dealers so far also. I’m not sure how many there will be later as some of the dealers from last winter have gone bankrupt. We carried on to Parker and had a nice Chinese lunch before going to Safeway for groceries we were unable to find in the smaller towns. Today the weather is a little cooler with the high being 27C but the air was clearer than yesterday. Aileen, Mitzy and I went for a good walk in the desert before supper last night and tonight. Darkness comes much faster than it does in BC. You think you have so much time to return to the RV then suddenly it’s dark and the going is harder. It’s a good thing our trailer is so white as it shows up well in the dusk. It really cools down in a hurry too; as soon as it’s dark the temperature plunges. We’ve decided to stay here through the weekend then carry on to the east in a few days.

Nov 16,
Aileen and Mitzty went for a couple walks this morning. I went for a long walk climbing a couple of ridges then following old walking trails along some of the ridges. No telling how old some of them are but they could date back to the miners and their mules. It was warmer with less wind today so we sat and read and the girls all had their naps. Tonight is internet piracy again so I can publish this blog and see what we’re missing in the rest of the world. We’re certainly enjoying the intense blue skies and the many stars at night. Every morning the eastern sky is orange an hour before sunrise and most evening we’re rewarded with orange or pink sky.

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