NEW FRIENDS AND OLD

Jim cresting a hill

Jerry checking out some diggings

Jerry, Donna and Jim with the walking trail up Q Mtn in the background.  I must get up there before we leave as there is a geocache hidden near the top. 

Jerry and Donna in front of some old mining relics

Friends Jerry and Donna and Jim and Judy from our ATV club in Florence are in Quartzsite for a few days and came by to visit yesterday.  They asked if I could show them around today.  Why, certainly!  I put together a 26 mile loop of trails I was mostly familiar with plus a few that I was sure I could incorporate in.  Jerry and Donna were the only two to make it today as the other two were concerned it might be too dusty for them.  I did the mountain part of my route in the reverse direction from what I did the other day as I thought it would make a better trip.  I did take one wrong turn and ended up a dead end draw but, hey, the scenery was great.  I was going to have our lunch stop at the Deere Run B&B, pictured in the last blog post, but there 17 Jeeps already there and it was noisy and crowded.  It was a powder puff Jeep rally so all lady drivers but most did have a man riding with them.  We moved a little down the road and had a very peaceful spot for our lunch.  We stopped at a couple of stone cabins on our way home then at a viewpoint for Jerry to get some pictures looking over Quartzsite.

Yesterday, we headed a little east and met Kim and Don who are camping with fellow Escapee members on the other side of the camping area from us.  Their link is on the side of my blog as http://kanddintherv.blogspot.com   Kim and Don are from northern BC, but summer in the Shuswap near Salmon Arm, our home base.  They are a friendly couple and we had a great time chatting.  They have invited us to their Escapees Spring rally and we hope to be able to join them in Merritt for it.

Jim and I did an afternoon of geocaching off to the south and west of camp on Saturday.  I took another turn around the RV show this afternoon and it wasn’t as crowded so more relaxing.  I found a couple small things that were on my list.

GEOCACHING

I went to a geocaching meet and greet yesterday which had a large turnout.   It was fun meeting some of the people who have been placing the caches or have found them before me.  We were told of a four day geocaching rally happening from January 27-31 which I hope to attend as much as possible.  It is free and there are several seminars happening as well as fun things. 

I went mountain climbing to get one cache today.  It was steep climbing with lots of loose rock.  There was a good breeze and the temperature was mild so I didn’t get overheated, but my shirt was sure wet under my pack.   It was neat to sit on top of the world eating my lunch.

I went after a few more later on, with mixed results.  On one that was at the end of a pretty bad road, I didn’t find the cache but I sure found lots of cholla cactus.  I grabbed hold of some several times and my shoes were plastered with it.  I spent quite a while with a pair of pliers removing the prickles after I got home. 

More RVs pulled in today so it is getting quite crowded right here but I think in general there are a lot less RVs camped in the area.   More of these people could use some solar power as there are a lot of generators running right now.  Our group of four grew by another three today so we’re a fairly solid block of RF estate now.

This is where I started walking heading for Granite Peak which is just right of center 

I found the cache

Looking back down to my ATV which I have circled with a blurred border

Looking down to Quartzsite from Granite Mtn.  That little bump in the middle is Q Mtn which seems high from the ATV area.  Our motor home is right over Q Mtn

Here's a zoomed in shot and I have circled our group with the blurred line.  If you click on the image to enlarge it, you should see our car on the right facing this way with the black and gray motor home to the left

 

It was nice to see some Brittlebush in bloom and a bee  working

Way up a really rough road I was surprised to see this set up.  I guess it must be a miner's accommodation although I didn't see any sleeping arrangements.  There was a fire burning in the barrel though, as you can see the smoke.

Aptly named road as you'll see in later pictures

The view down the LaPaz Valley south of Quartzsite from the end of the road

The reason for the road

The next three shots are of the O S Run road

When I drove by where I started my climb this morning, I noticed the afternoon light was a lot warmer

BOY WAS IT COLD FOR A COUPLE DAYS!

Monday turned out to be an indoor type day with really strong wind gusts coming right out of the frozen north.   I was only out to take Mitzy on her walks and the wind cut like a knife.  There was lots of traffic moving on the highway but not many pedestrians out and about.  Tuesday was a little less windy and today was actually pleasant.  We’ve been very pleased with how the little Mr Heater “Buddy” is keeping the motor home warm in the mornings and evenings.  I think we ran it all day Monday.  It gets downright cool in here still at night as we aren’t running any heat source and several mornings were down in the low 20’s F.   We haven’t run the furnace for about four days now.

Quite a few of the bloggers I read are actually here in Quartzsite.  I hope to meet some of them in person.  I met a couple of geocachers today when I was out and had a good chat with both.  One was very experienced and the other just started a couple weeks ago.

Aileen and I went to an afternoon music concert yesterday.  It cost us $5 each but there was two hours of music.  The main performer is famous as the naked book seller in Quartzsite.  In the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s he had a career as a naked blues piano player in the eastern US and Canada.  He plays a great boogie woogie type of music and has an interesting line of chatter to go with it.  He was accompanied by his childhood friend and former band member who could really play the harmonica.  He also had a great washtub bass manned by a career music sessions man who is in the Guinness book of records as the most married man.  He’s been married something like 56 times but it turns out each time was to the same woman but in different states and provinces.  He was joined on stage by an 83 year old country singer who did a great rendition of the Blue Boy Blues.  RV humour as a blue boy is what you can haul your RV sewage away in if you don’t want to drive to the dump station.  There was also a ten year old girl who joined in on a couple numbers.

Jim was working on a project so I went caching by myself this afternoon.  I met a guy at the RV Forum camp area and he gave me a couple of his path tags.  He also showed me his moving travel bug permanently attached to the back of his Jeep.  I logged all three tonight along with the seven caches I did find.  I also met Pedro43 on the hill above Rainbow Acres.  He told me about a new cache that was posted after I had gathered my info on this area.  He was looking for it and about the time he gave up, I finally found it.  I was about to give up too.  He has only been caching a couple weeks, lives in Las Vegas but has a place in Rainbow Acres right near where we were caching.  He also has a house on Nimpo Lake in the BC Chilcotin as do three others in Rainbow Acres he told me.   It was a gorgeous day out in the hills.

The camp area really started to fill up today.  Tonight the generator chorus is quite loud and obnoxious.  At least we aren’t having to run ours.  The next week will be the very busiest of the year for Quartzsite.  The big RV show starts Saturday but by the time it ends on the 27^th, many of the RVs will have departed.  

This was at what's called Picture Rock just southwest of Quartzsite

These five Mortero or Indian grinding holes are near Picture Rock.

More of Picture Rock

I took the trail up to the flag and found a geocache back beyond a bit

Interesting patterns made by the ATV trails

Looking down from the hill with the flag on top.  That is the second geocacher, who I met on top, working his way up the trail

Some of the RVs parked in the desert to the south of us.  Quartzsite is out of sight to the left

A BRIEF VISIT TO FLORENCE

We continue to be super busy.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day!  So much for having lots of time to do things when you’re retired!  Some days I don’t even get to pick up a book to read.  You’ll notice it’s a while between blog posts too.  I don’t know how some people can post one every single day. 

We went to Florence on Wednesday as planned.  We had a good trip both ways via Phoenix which had lots of traffic but for the most part it’s 55 and 65 mph all the way and we were doing at least that the whole time.  We went to Casa Grande on the way to get a few things and have an early lunch at In and Out Burger.  They are very dependable in preparing gluten free for Aileen.  We met some Caliente friends coming in as we were leaving.

We got busy cleaning and putting the park model in shape when we got home.  We have family of friends using it for a couple weeks.  I did nine loads of laundry Wednesday afternoon and
Thursday morning.  The back of the car was full from our three plus weeks on the desert.  We went to LB’s Mexican Restaurant in Florence for supper Wednesday night and had a good meal.  We visited with some ATV friends who were also having supper there.  I went and visited with the group Thursday morning while they were gathering prior to going on a ride.

Aileen went for her driver’s licence medical at the clinic at our park gate.  The doctor was from Vancouver, BC and he couldn’t understand why she even needed the exam.  The motor vehicle division had suspended Aileen’s licence about ten years ago when her MS was acting up and after five years it improved to the point where she was able to pass a medical and regain her driving privileges.  They said then she would have to have a follow up medical so this was it.

As soon as she left the doctor’s office, we hit the road back to Quartzsite arriving before dark and in time for supper.  

I’ve been out a few times looking for geocaches but only one day that I took a lunch and covered lots of ground.  I did get into some interesting country and mostly was by myself.  There are lots of neat trails around here.  I hope to explore many more before we leave around the end of the month.

One day when Jim and I were out caching

I was surprised to see this regal old home in Quartzsite.  I haven't found out any history on it yet.

The Quartzsite Golf Course

I was amazed how busy it was

There's a cache just where the road disappears over the hill

ATV trail

Geocache guardian!!

Scorpion in defensive pattern

My very peaceful lunch spot. If you click on the image to enlarge it you can see Quartzsite in the far distance.

I saw several of these little lizards

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We’ve been so busy lately I haven’t found time to put together a blog post.  I’ve been geocaching three times in the past week but much of our time has been taken up with getting the RV solar working correctly.  I had to put four new batteries in December 31 as the others had failed from being run too low too many times due to the faulty solar controller and/or original install.  This past week has seen the addition of two more batteries, another solar panel on the roof as well as replacing the charge controller.  We seem to be finally where our BC dealer promised us four years ago.  After many return visits to him over the years including moving the system from the trailer to the motor home, I feel he just doesn’t understand solar.  Dealing with Solar Bill in Quartzsite has been an eye opener.  He seems to have corrected all the mistakes and his pricing is far cheaper.  He understands what is required in each situation and isn’t bashful in giving his opinion.  We wish we had never had the work done in Salmon Arm but had made the trek to Quartzsite in the beginning.

We cooked a big ham outside in the electric roaster for New Year’s supper.  My sister Wendy (and Randy) came through Quartzsite on their return to BC in their new to them motor home and stopped for the night and supper.   We played some cards for a while after supper.  We have also had a couple of card games with Jacquie and Jim this past week.

Jim and I have had a couple of great ATV rides seeing some neat country.  We saw three desert bighorn sheep one day.  We have installed more LED light bulbs and they are much brighter than the old ones.  We replaced our water pump and it is nice and quiet again.  We’re glad to be rid of the burping pump!  We are enjoying our new floor although it is rather cool on the feet these mornings.  No frost this morning for a change.  Today’s temperature got up to almost comfortable which was appreciated.  We have gone to the LaPaz County Flea Market the past three Saturdays and then Walmart and Safeway in Parker on the return to stock up on groceries etc.

We will be moving down into town to the BLM pay area tomorrow or Tuesday.  It costs $40 for two weeks and that gives you use of the sani dump and water as well as garbage removal so it is a pretty good deal.  Where we usually park allows us to walk to most of the RV show and flea market areas.  However, and it is a big HOWEVER, we lose the peace and tranquility we have enjoyed for since December 18^th.  Not everyone notices but with our sensitive hearing, Aileen and I both hear the freeway traffic on I-10 which is continuous 24/7.  Aileen and I are going back to Florence on Wednesday in the car so Aileen can get her driver’s licence medical done and we can catch up some business.  We will also gather our mail and I imagine there will be some more Christmas cards to enjoy.  We hope to return here on Thursday.  It will be a faster trip in the car as we don’t drive the motor home at the 75 mph speed limit.   The CRV cruises along just fine at that speed.   

LaPaz market is pretty busy and lots of vendors

Visors

Caps

The Colorado River at LaPaz County Park

This is how Mitzy sleeps these cold nights.  We don't keep any heat on so we dress her in her fleece jammies then wrap her in a fleece blanket.  She usually stays put all night.  I get up and light our new little portable propane heater about 5:30 or 6 am and it gets comfortable for when we get up later.

An old well and tank near here

An old Mesquite tree