Parker to Quartzsite to Gila Bend
Wind raged all night, but finally tapered off slightly around 6. Quick coffee … trailer ready … all pumps off …. everything that can jump off shelves/counters secured … said goodbye to Craig . . . on the road by 7am. Literally had the road to ourselves . . . it was an event to meet another vehicle or see a bend in the road. Straight roads to the horizon. Landscape becoming more and more arid . . . scrubby, almost dead-looking bushes thinning out . . . still the roadside creosote bushes waving in the wind.
An abandoned Gas station in the middle of nowhere is bestrewn with old shoes and sneakers . . . not exactly sure why . . . but it’s marked on the map.
At Parker, on the border of California and Arizona we stopped for breakfast. A quick McDonalds egg McMuffin, we thought. Older lady behind the plexiglass shield, picking her fingernails –”Nope … we’re on lunch menu!” It’s only 10:30 in the morning! Well, Subway then . . . they have a scrambled egg breakfast sandwich. “Sorry, we ran out of eggs!” “What, it’s only mid morning”. Alright, a regular Sandwich then. Groceries at Safeway . . . and while gassing up I spotted a Bud Light Beer delivery driver who was smoking, talking on his cell phone AND operating a hand cart.
Quartzsite is renowned for “Boondocking” . . . a place where people can ‘dry camp’ for free (no hook-ups). Bring your own water and have holding tanks . . . 20 miles of ‘pick-your’own’ campsites. They cater for RVs and campers . . . booths where people can buy things . . . get water . . . have sewer services . . . often convention events. Also the nearby town is set with all manner of RV ‘stuff’. It was pretty quiet when we arrived, so acres of places to pick from. We have a lovely spot . . . trees and bushes to buffer the prevailing winds, and well distanced from any other camper. 18C (65F). Considering BC has a cold front . . . we’ll take it.
Apologies . . . it has been pointed out <grin> that I omitted to mention the Road Runner who made a brief appearance in Joshua Tree, I included a photo but went on to talk about California Quail (for which I didn’t have a photo). Disappointingly, the Roadrunner did not go “beep, beep”. . . nor did the Coyotes we heard yip, yip, yodeling at dawn wield paintbrushes and have regular packages from Acme!
There was a sprinkling of rain overnight but looking out this morning, everywhere appears bone dry again, and despite patches of blue sky, dramatic-looking dark clouds glower . . . threatening more rain. The mountains look an uninviting deep grey, too. With no sun to activate the solar panels and charge batteries over the next couple of days, we decided to reserve a place in Gila Bend (great name) with all hookups. We’ll be prepared for the following 3 days at Organ Pipe Cactus reserve.
Swung through the town of Quartzsite itself . . . one would be complimentary in describing it as a blend of wild west …. Value Village … and a junk swap meet. RV parks jammed together – most were intensely ugly, but a few ‘nicer’ ones boasted a couple of palm trees. No doubt anything is obtainable here . . . rocks, gems, guns, knives, kettle corn, RV stuff galore. Great roadside sign advertising “RV Proctologist – holding tanks cleaned”.
A steady stream of freight hauling trucks to and from Phoenix . . .. FedEx, UPS, Amazon, steel pipe, milk and oil tankers, cement, rock, cars, new trailers, houses . . . you name it. We seem to be keeping just on the edge of rain . . . behind us blue sky and puffy clouds. The sprinkling of wet has brought the Rabbit Bushes into brilliant yellow bloom, and the roadsides are attractively edged with pale blond and orange grasses . . . . and a tasteful line of shredded black truck retreads.
Gila Bend has startlingly green fields . . . a nice change . . . and apparently is home to the 2nd largest natural gas plant in the country, plus a major producer of solar power. What it doesn’t have . . . is a grocery store. Thankfully we had stocked up in Parker, just needed a couple of items. Google only offered up five dollar stores, and a Mercado de Amigos. (the dollar stores sell milk, eggs and canned goods, but no meat). We drove along Main Street to get gas – no Mercado visible. Drove back down Main Street . . . nothing. But once more, Miss Google was insistent, “turn right here“. But this is ‘Don Jose’s Burritos restaurant’!! We went in to ask . . . and lo and behold this was the Market! I guess one has to live here to know where it is! Neat place though. Excellent meat counter — beautiful yellow skinned chicken thighs and legs . . . plump, pink pork chops, some kind of marinated chicken floating in a yellow liquid (?) . . . two kinds of ground up Chorizo (probably like the stuff in Mexico and not at all spicy, but we have spices!) . . . fresh prawn tails, and some delicious-looking fresh salsa too.
Down the road 7 minutes to the Sonoran Dessert RV park. Speed limit 9½ mph! The owner gets grumpy with people driving over 10! Pleasant place … clean, neat, quiet (apart from the distant highway noise) . . . and capacious pull-throughs … our little rig is quite lost in its vastness. Quarter-to-five . . . . bit too early for a beer? Hold on a minute . . . we’re in Arizona, it’s an hour later! Everything ‘pluggable’ is plugged in and re-charging. Toasted up flour tortillas on the griddle . . . spread them with refried beans, spicy chorizo, salsa and grated cheese. Yum.
Not sure what kind of WiFi we’ll have at Organ Pipe National Park, so I’ll send this early.
