Quartzsite, AZ March 19

 

Quartzsite was great place. In the winter it is pretty crowded. But  now it is deserted, we were basically  by ourselves. the quiet and isolation were really nice. It was warm, we could eat outside, we hung a sun shower off the back of the bus. It was nice sunbathing and biking. We drove down to the border of Mexico. John wanted to go to the lowest spot in the state. It is on the Colorado river at the border.  We got down there, it was really hot and the river is only a tiny canal by then, the rest is sucked out by the US for irrigation and drinking water. the water in the river from Quartzsite south is so salty it tastes to terrible to drink.  The border of Arizona has this gigantic fence built on it. At least 20 feet high. We could not get near the actual lowest spot, it is closed off since it is by the border. The whole thing was really depressing.  The next day John got a virus on his computer and had to take it to get fixed, so I shopped in the Quartzsite thrift shop and the famous Quartzsite markets. Almost all the venders are gone now, it is the end of the season. but there were enough to keep me occupied. I got some screaming deals on some glass beads and some silly t-shirts (RV Diva and Quartzsite Trailer Trash).  Today we packed up and left. On the way thru Blythe, CA we stopped at the Blythe Intaglios. They are these giant petroglyphs made on the ground, you can get the best views from the air, but you can still see them on the ground. The figures are over 100 feet long. Also stopped at the Palo Verde Dam, it was on the way and mentioned in the book I just finished and John is reading. Wet Desert- a really good  fiction book about the river and blowing up the dams.

View of the mountains, an Indian grave-Stands with flies, an ocotillo in bloom and our home.

the sun shower on the back of the bus, my latest basket and some sunset photos

Top John wearing the new fleece pants I made him, John at the lowest place in Arizona, drinking water vending machine, Next row the border patrol station., desert scenery, La Poma long term BLM camping $180 from Sept 15 to April 15 Last row: Hi Jolly monument-he was a camel driver for the camel corps the army experimented with in the 1930s, a RV proctologist and the depressing  20 foot fence that is on the border  between Arizona and Mexico-it ended at California border.

Sunsets and rising full moon. Dinner in the desert under the full moon, and John toasting the full moon

top row- the sign at the Intaglios, next row John standing near one of the figures, it is over 100 feet long, the sign from the mountain lion intaglio and a photo of the spiral in it. Spiral is 9 feet wide. A phacielia flower, Palo Verde dam and John on the foot bridge at the dam.