November 29–30, 2022 Quartzsite and Yuma

November 29, 2022

We woke to a beautiful day in the desert.  I just love this area of Arizona and I really missed the desert! 

We decided to check out some of the areas where we will be in January.  There were rumors that those areas were closed but we found out that it was just rumors.  It is empty now but will be full in January.

From there we stopped at the visitor center to pick up some information.  All my information was over 6 years old and I figured I needed some new stuff – LOL!

Since I have not been here in six years, I just wanted to ride around and check out all my favorite areas.  Quartzsite is one of these quirky towns where I will spend a season one year.. .

We stopped at the area across from Tyson Wells to browse thru some of the shops.  Can’t wait until January when everything is open.

We spent the rest of the afternoon back at the RV in the desert enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.

Oh my, the sunsets!

The moon rise:

I love this picture of the moon.  I have done photography for well over 50 years and this is the first camera I have that has captured the shadows of the moon easily!  Can’t wait to see what else it does!

And supper cooked over the fire – Wonderful – it has been too long!

Did I say how much I missed the desert in the winter?!

November 30, 2022

We woke this morning and realized that we were almost out of water – our fault because we did not fill up when we got here on Monday.  So we decided that instead of just going for water, we would go dump and partially fill with water and head south to Yuma.  We have reservations at Yuma Lakes for 12/1 but there are so many other BLM areas that we can camp for free.  We would find a place – .

So we dumped and partially filled at the camp area behind Silly Al’s and headed south.

SAGUAROS!  It was so good to see them!

SAGUAROS! It feels like home to me – my other home.

The Big Guns:

From the stark hills:

To the green fields:

Orange groves:

More farms:

The Little Church:

And the Bridge:

I wrote about the bridge and the church in other blogs.  If you would like me to add links, please let me know.

Oh the trains, always the trains. 

We parked on BLM land behind the VFW and took off to explore some of our favorite places.  We ended up at the Amvets for dinner and the Moose Lodge for drinks.

Another wonderful day.  Tomorrow we head to Yuma Lakes for a few weeks so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for Today:

Miles Traveled  100 Miles

Arizona: US-95

 

November 28, 2022 Travel to Quartzsite

We were up early, packed up, emptied our tanks and away we went south!

Past solar farms:

Love those mountains:

At the top of the “hump” (Mountain Springs), we found this great metal sculpture:

Going down the other side – that is Las Vegas in the distance:

How beautiful:

Red Rocks Canyon in the distance:

Mesmerizing, isn’t it!:

This is the outskirts of Las Vegas.  There were so many developments!  I have been coming to Las Vegas since the 90’s and I am amazed by how much it has grown and spread out!

Many of the developments look alike:

And they go for miles:

Even the apartment buildings look similar:

Cell phone tower disguised as a tree – :

Sandstorm in the distance – we missed it!:

South of Las Vegas, another solar farm:

Into California:

  

Over the Colorado River:

Into Arizona:

Mounds and mounds of sand:

Cool rock formations along the Colorado River:

Past Lake Havasu:

Past the Steps (we camped here a few years ago):

Around the bend of Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge: 

Still along the Colorado:

Going into Parker:

In Parker, we headed southeast to Quartzsite where we set up in Hi-Jolly BLM Land.  It was great to be here again.

We took a ride around town and were very surprised at the changes on Kuehn Street.  All of the businesses have been removed and RV parks have replaced them.  What a bummer.  There were a few places there that we loved to frequent. Oh well!

We finished the evening at Silly Al’s Pizza and the pizza is still as yummy.

We are going to do a little more exploring tomorrow so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 260 Miles

Nevada: Manse Road: NV-160; I-15; I-215; I-11; US-95

California: US-95; I-40

Arizona: I-40; US-95