Mohave Desert March 22,2011

 

We left Quartzite and went to Desert Hot Springs for a couple days.  Quartzsite is in the Sonoran desert, Joshua Tree is in the transition between the Colorado desert and the Mohave desert. Salton sea is in the Colorado desert. We stayed in a 55+ RV resort. It had 5 hot spring pools, a club house, gym, bistro, golf course, classes, functions. Huge, beautiful place. You could buy manufactured homes or just an RV lot. We could have saved 50% on the cost of the stay by taking a 2 and half hour tour, but we missed the tours, which was probably ok, that is too long. I thought the place was beautiful, luxurious, John didn’t like it because the people were older. Not that we are looking anyway, we just wanted to sit in the hot springs. We visited Joshua tree National park, Thousand Palms oasis and Salton sea. We left today to go to Mohave Preserve, camp there and tour some caverns. We drove on route 66. Missed a turn, went to the 29 palms marine base, got to Mohave and they are not giving cavern tours now, so we went down the road and found a boondock camp (free camp) on some  BLM land. It is beautiful, in the middle of no where. We can still hear the marines shooting and blowing things up , which is kind of interesting. We also have good internet and cell service-in the  middle of no where. We are going to see the sand dunes and Joshua trees in Mohave preserve and then go back to Shoshone and go on the annual Death Valley trip with my sister Judy, her husband Laurie and his friend Neils.

Desert Hot Springs resort, pool and John in one of the 4 hot springs.

Huge windmill farm in Palm Desert, Joshua tree forest and a couple other Joshua trees. In the last photo if you look in the left corner you can see a picnic table. These trees are 30 and 40 feet high

Joshua tree is know for its excellent rock climbing. John under a Joshua tree

to the right are the climbing routes, if you look close you can see climbers. Not sure which one is banana crack, but I thing the guy on the left found the buttress. . . you can see them on the top of the right photo.

Sue with a Joshua tree and some photos of the trees and the cool rocks

Sue trying to be a Joshua tree, It was so windy and cold we were glad we had our gortex and fleece in the car, John elbowing his way thru the rocks and the car with the trees

above jumbo rocks, skull rock , some rocks on skull rock trail, below is a pencil cholla and a Mohave yucca , more skull rocks trail and John with skull rock.

spider web and cotton tail rabbit at the Oasis of Mara

thousand palms oasis in Coachella Preserve. Fan palms are the native to  California , the palm leaves are about 4 feet across. All the springs run in a line along the San Andres fault. the rest of the photos are of John in wild flowers and hiking to the top of the San Andres fault, you can see the stairs up in the 2nd to last photo.

the Salton Sea, beach, and beach with pelicans and the last one is dead fish on the shore. They had a cold snap and it killed a lot of the tilapia, which are warm water fish, the lake is usually between 70 and 90 degrees.

flowers on the Mohave desert

the bus, the desert and Erigonium, more Mohave desert, a smoke tree and sunset. The last one is a grave or a memorial in the middle of no where in the middle of the desert.

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.