Shopping in Quartzsite

How can I describe a shopping day in Quartzsite. Maybe these pictures show it best. Norm and Ron are coming up just one of the many rows of vendors and this is just in one section. More vendors and the big tent of commercial exhibits are across the street.

Just about anything is here and there is lots of it. Look at how many bits there are and this is just one box. Boxes and boxes of tools and nuts and bolts. It's a giant Hardware Sales! The boys can keep busy for hours looking through this stuff.

This vendor had old books, kids toys, glass figurines, plants, tools, glassware, etc and etc. We don't need or even want any of this stuff, but we are here for the adventure!

This machine is making homemade ice cream. Did we have any? No, it's just a little to cold outside. Shortly before this picture was taken the wind started to come up and the clouds were moving in for our evening rain.

Quartzsite, Arizona

Here we are arriving in Quartzsite, Arizona. This is the land of sunshine, RV's, vendors, and PEOPLE! It's like going to a HUGE state fair. Look at the people parked at the side of the road and the traffic. They are all going to see the RV show and shop at the various vendors.This is what the town looks like from the air. At times there have been around 75,000 RVs here. I haven't heard a number for this year. Look for the overpass in about the middle of the picture. Follow the road to the left. Do you see what looks like a dirt road taking off to the right? We are just to the right of that road.Here are a couple camp pictures. Everyone just drives out onto the desert, finds a little bush and clear spot they like and sets up camp. There are a few "roads" that are used for getting in and out of the area. They are nothing more than well traveled dirt.This is looking out the door of our motorhome to where we park our car. You can see one of the "roads" in front of the rigs across from us.

This is one of the vendor tents. It sells kitchen gadgets. Ron found an oyster knife that he liked.

However, when we went to pay we noticed that the handle had a crack in it. The vendor told us to get another and that he would give us the broken one for FREE. Turned out they were all cracked, but we still got one for free. It was Ron's lucky day!

This is what the main road looked like as we were heading into town today. It is bumper to bumper for miles and this is all day long. Fortunately everyone is patient and courteous. If you need to turn onto the street or make a turn to get of you don't have to wait long for someone to let you in.

We went to the auction this afternoon. It is held twice a day at 12 and 6. You get your number when you come in the door and then take a seat. I was number 79. The auctioneer is sitting in the chair up front. As he is getting bids he keeps telling you "cheap, cheap, cheap" and he is right. Norm bought 800 toothpicks for $1.00. They also had microwaves, generators and everything in between, even fur coats. There were lamps, glassware, licorice, M&Ms, heaters, and just about anything you can think of. Ah, I bet you are wondering what we bought. We got a couple lids that go on 2 liter pop bottles, a couple candle lighters, and some lawn size trash bags. Nothing very exciting really, but they were "cheap, cheap, cheap!
Remember I said this was the land of sunshine. Well, I was wrong on that. We have seen very little of it since arriving in Quartzsite. Today started out beautiful and sunny, but that was short lived. The wind started to blow, the clouds moved in and we are having a real storm right now. It has been raining for hours and the desert is now one big mud puddle. YUK! I thought we drove this far to get away from the rain.

Scottsdale, Arizona

We had a great time visiting with Amber and Jerad in Scottsdale. Amber is here to run the Phoenix Rock and Roll Marathon.

One of Amber's co-workers has a condo in Scottsdale. Her and Jerad have stayed here before - Thanks Sam. This time we got to come and visit them since we were in the area. We returned to our Lost Dutchman campground at night. It was a little drive, but actually worked out very well for us.

We took several walks around the condo complex as the weather was perfect for walking and the complex is quite beautiful.

We went through the rose garden. Yes, they are blooming this time of the year down here, and they smell soooooo good.Next we went through the cactus garden. They have their own special beauty and are quite remarkable.Our niece Jodie flew in on Thursday night as she is running with Amber on Sunday. Here they are with their bags of race info. What you can't see hidden behind their orange shoe tag is another number. Jodie's is a 3. Yup, she was runner number 38,651. That's almost like the population of Bellingham running through Phoenix.Jodie and Amber are by a cactus outside the condo. These don't look to prickly, but Jodie got her shirt caught on one as she was trying to move away from it.
The girls got a packet of recipes in their race info bags. One was for citrus salsa. We went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and bought the ingredients we needed. I think they actually picked a few oranges off the trees right outside the condo to use in it. It's a pretty fun thing to do. It's like picking apples at home. The salsa is not only very bright and pretty, but it was delicious.

Jerad and Amber were sitting by the fireplace and you know I never pass up a photo opportunity. So, here's my cute kids!
And my cutie niece Jodie!

Phoenix Freeways

I told you I'd try and get some pictures of the freeways. It's kind of hard to do going 75 MPH, yes, the speed limit here is 75. We were not going that fast, but it's still hard to get a picture when you're zipping by the subject. I know freeways are not usually very exciting, but the ones in the Phoenix area are works of art. Here's a sample of just one of the designs. They are made out of different colored rocks. Notice NO litter. This design has a little more detail and even more colors.

This is a good example of the red concrete they use. It blends in with the natural dirt and mountains in the area.

This shows an overpass with a design in the cement and also a section of another design.

We plant bushes along our freeways and they plant cactus. There were actually 3 of them at this spot, but I only managed to get one in my picture.

This is the freeway exit we take to go see Amber and Jerad in Scottsdale. We are on the exit ramp and will be turning left and going under the freeway. As you can see there are designs in the concrete as well as on the side hill with the plantings. What you can't see is the huge design that is under the overpass. I was to close to get a picture of that.

Arizona Lightning

We had a beautiful warm day today. It was 72 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. However, look what happened about 8:00. A storm started and moved around the camp for about 2 hours. The thunder rocked the motorhome a few times and then the rain hit and did it ever come down. We saw all these warnings about flash floods as we were driving across Arizona. I bet there was water in those places tonight.

The Mining Camp Dinner

Amber and Jerad flew in this evening. They came our way for dinner before heading to their condo. We went to The Mining Camp Restaurant. It's a great place that was built to resemble an old mining camp. We have been here to dinner before when we came to Mesa to visit my mom and dad many years ago. This restaurant has been in business for many years under the same ownership. It's a very popular spot.Here's some of the food we had for dinner. We started with fresh rolls with Prickly Pear Cactus jam, raisin bread, baked beans, and coleslaw. Then they brought chicken, ham and barbecue ribs. For dessert we had oatmeal raisin cookies. Notice that the food and our dinnerware is all tin. Quite fun! Oh, and I forgot to mention the water, tea, lemonade and coffee to drink. We hardly put a dent in the food, so we have lots of leftovers.

Lost Dutchman Mine State Park

We pulled into The Lost Dutchman Mine State Park just at sundown. Doesn't this look like a classic Arizona picture? The conditions were perfect for a beautiful sunset.This is a picture of Superstition Mountain taken from our campsite. We are definitely out in the desert and it has it's own special beauty. This is another picture if Superstition Mountain. Notice the fuzzy looking tree in the lower left corner? Don't let it fool you, it is actually a very sharp cactus. However, we are seeing little birds building nests in them. The pokies must not bother them.Here is a close-up of the tree the birds are building their nests in. Hard to believe they can get in and out without getting stuck.
Here is one of the famous saguaro cacti. They only grow in Arizona. This one must be very old as it has many arms.