Saturday, March 23, 2024

As Another Week Is Passing

 When we think of having around 5 months ahead of us to spend our winter in a warm dry climate it seems like a very long time. After all most people have only a few weeks (2?) for their vacation, while even need more than 2 weeks just for traveling to and from our destination.

And yet, all-of-a-sudden 5 months are over and we are planning our journey home.

Now we have already been spending 10 days in Quartzsite and we are looking into our last week in the desert.

Over the last couple of days friends have shown up coming from Holtville,CA. The heat and the bugs have driven them out and over to Quartzsite. Here we are completely free of the hordes of insects which turned out to be very, very bothersome at the Hot Springs LTVA. Most days we have a nice cooling breeze which makes it even nicer to stay here. While Quartzsite does not sport any big-box shopping malls nor even a Walmart, the local stores have most of what you would need for a couple of weeks camping. There are still a few tent-stores offering RV-parts and camp utensils. And if you are into rock hounding there are still a lot of places where you can purchase rocks for your collection. 

Our days are usually starting with an early-morning desert walk which nets us a couple of new pictures of mother nature's wonders. Besides of an occasional trip to town to get supplies we are mostly enjoying lazy days in camp.

By the end of March we will be heading out seeking a few more adventures until it is time to start the long run home.


This strange looking air vehicle came flying by one afternoon

Grand evening sky view

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Time To Move North

With the heat reaching 30C (86F) and beyond, it was time to move north. The plan was to camp for 1 or 2 days at Oxbow Camping in the Cibola Wildlife Refuge, but we had to change plans. After we left the Hot Springs LTVA we went to the Holtville Dump Station. When trying to open our compartment door the key broke. So we couldn't get to our water hose. Luckily, another user of the dump station helped us out with his water hose, but we needed to get a new key. So we decided to drive to Yuma to "Wally's World" which is the place to go if you need anything for your RV.

I bought 5 keys(!!!) and after filling up with gas we headed off north directly to Quartzsite.

The drive along the Kofa Wildlife Refuge is as scenic as it gets. The Kofa Mountains are just so beautiful, and with its formations really special.

Along Kofa Wildlife Refuge

Along the way we saw lots of flowers and, due to recent rainfalls, the desert appeared lush green.

We turned into "La Posa South LTVA" which is our prefered location when visiting Quartzsite. We found a camp spot along the edge, from where the green desert is only steps away. 

And this morning I took Dixie out for a nice walk. I marveled about the plethora of desert flowers. This kind of landscape speaks to me as it reminds me of so many Western movies I have watched. There is no doubt that the Quartzsite area offers a special atmosphere.

Desert Sunflowers

And for campers it is also very practical as it offers free fresh water for the RV and a dump station, all close by.

Chicory

Of course, Quartzsite is extremely busy from January and February when RV sellers and fleamarket vendors are present. But now, from the middle of March, many RVers have already left the area and there is no problem finding a nice camp spot.



45ft of Saguaro Cactus

Sunday, March 10, 2024

With The HotRod Guys

HOTRODS & BEER

What does it sound like? 

Well, it's a pub-style place where food and drinks are served, and it is located in Holtville.

The lure was that they have a friday night steak dinner for 15bucks. We learned about it from fellow campers who had been there previously. 

Now we were going there together with them to check it out ourselves.

We are normally not great restaurant patrons, but this place's steak dinner is standing out. The steaks are huge and as a couple you order one portion only with an extra plate so you cut the steak in two and share the rest, which is a salad, green beans and mashed potatoes.

Now, the interior of this place is special as their walls are clad with corrugated steel, then painted with some wild motives. A band was setting up, but didn't start playing while we were there. Instead some boom box system spread a lot of noise, which I would'n be able to identify as any kind of music genre.

But let's not forget what we came for - the steaks!

What a treat! Soo tender, soo good, soo tasty. And so reasonable. Last time I checked at the supermarket's meat aisle, steaks of comparable size and quality (?) were around - yeah 15 bucks, and you gotta cook it yourself!

I hope they know what kind of value their chef is producing for them. He should get an award!

Sunday, March 3, 2024

We Moved

 When the temps are rising and there have been rain showers and one has a camp spot near dense desert vegetation, one has to deal with bugs! Bugs come as the nasty "No-seems", which can crawl into your ears, nose hair, short anywhere they desire to be and bite you, and there isn't anything you can do about it, or hordes of flies are doing landing exercises on you or, worse, you get the super-size mosquitoes which have the ability to sit on any skin-exposed area sucking your blood. Neither of those flyin' bastards are especially welcome. And when we  discovered that poor Dixie was suffering under the same attacks, we decided to act upon it.

Our camp spot was behind a slight rise which was fine to stop the wind but it also meant that insects were thriving there.  So we needed to move to a camp spot in more open terrain where the wind could blow and with less vegetation around it.

Such place exist in the very rear of the Holtville Hot Springs LTVA. And today the last and only camper moved out from there. So we rushed to pack everything, hitch on the trailer and move the short distance to a new better spot. 

Soon we were bug-free and happy established again in a place with lots of breezy air, and we even have a cactus out front. This site used to be occupied by friends from Ontario, which, sadly, cannot take the long drive south anymore. 

Dixie clearly was a bit confused as she couldn't access her old spaces anymore, but she will adjust after a day.

A side benefit of this spot is that it much quieter as we can't hear the traffic from the I-8 anymore. Further, there is less vehicle traffic here, and no other neighbours who are being barked at by Dixie.