January 24th, 2013

We traveled from Quartzsite to Parker AZ where we caught up with friends Sue and Jim we met at Amazon in Fernely, NV.

They are here for a few months relaxing before they start their Camp Hosting at Lake Tahoe. WOW I think I might be a bit Jealous. The area is gorgeous and I can only imagine how nice it will be when the rest of the nation is burning up.

We met at Tommy's Paradise a local place for all you can eat fish last Friday, it was a busy place but pretty effieciently ran and the food and company was good.

This Saturday we are going out into the desert to see "Desert Bar" a man created a bar out in the middle of no where and is totally powered by solar. Built on the grounds of an old mine and is only open from 12PM to 6PM on Saturday and Sundays prior to it becoming too hot to be there. I understand there is also a church there where weddings and other events are held, no church services. I am sure it will be a picture op.

We made our way to Lake Havasu and took in the London Bridge too

We are about to experience the "425" where there are over 200 off road racers competing to run a race thru the desert and the course is 425 miles long. We've seen a couple photo shoots of the cars and some of the racers. Not to mention all the trailers with cars and road teams to support the desert race. I think this little town is really going to become very busy.

I am going to attach a couple pictures that we have taken while here.

                                          Blue Water Resort and Casino

                                           Photo shoot with racer and car

                                          Downtown Algodones, MX

                                            Racers preparing for the 425 race Saturday

                                          Colorado River

                         Burrows are all free roaming in the area, maybe leftover from mining days?

                                              London Bridge

                                                               London Bridge

                     Art Deco Parker Dam, the deepest dam in the world 75% of the dam is below water over 320' tall

January 17, 2013 Quartzsite, AZ

We made our journey from sunny Palm Springs, CA to also a sunny Quartzsite, AZ. We are staying on Bureau of Land Management land where we are dry camping (i.e, no water, no electric or sewer). We've had to move from our camping location we had picked from the vast desert to get water as we had gotten here w/o a full tank.

We have attended the RV show or a just one big swap meet. You can buy anything here imaginable from RV supplies to rocks and gems.

We've taken pictures of an area near I10 looking over the area to illustrate the number of RV's here.

Many come here with clubs, Wander Lodge a high end motor home manufacture. There are many who also like to come here to make use of their ATV or four wheelers.

A night or two after arriving a motor home behind us caught fire and burned to the ground. We were startled when we heard an abrupt knocking on our door. The man at the door ask for a cell phone cause his RV was on fire. We dialed 911 and some 15 minutes later a fire truck showed up. I guess they were able to keep it from completely melting, I will include a picture for your comments.

We plan to spend another couple days here and then we are going to head out to our next destination which is undetermined at this point.

January 13, 2013 Salton Sea and Slab City

The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperialand Coachella Valleys.

The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death Valley, it is below sea level. Currently, its surface is 226 ft (69 m) below sea level. The deepest point of the sea is 5 ft (1.5 m) higher than the lowest point of Death Valley. The sea is fed by the New, Whitewater, and Alamo rivers, as well as agricultural runoff, drainage systems, and creeks.

The Sea was created by a flood in 1905, in which water from the Colorado River flowed into the area. While it varies in dimensions and area with fluctuations in agricultural runoff and rainfall, the Salton Sea averages 15 mi (24 km) by 35 mi (56 km). With an average area of roughly 525 sq mi (1,360 km²), the Salton Sea is the largest lake in California. Average annual inflow is 1,360,000 acre·ft (1.68 km³), which is enough to maintain a maximum depth of 52 ft (16 m) and a total volume of about 7,500,000 acre·ft (9.3 km³).

The lake's salinity, about 44 g/L, is greater than that of the waters of the Pacific Ocean (35 g/L), but less than that of the Great Salt Lake (which ranges from 50 to 270 g/L). The concentration increases by about 1 percent annually.

Pretty unique site for sure.

Slab City use to be a Marine Base during WWII and in the 50's was dismantled leaving only the slab to 

all structures. The land was turned over to the state of CA via a quit claim with no restrictions. Snow birds discovered the location and would annually come to the area for the climate and a place that was available at no cost to spend months.

Over the years the are area has changed to not only include snow birds but also people that might have lost their homes and etc.

Very interesting place for the free spirited. 5 star quality provides mud baths and warm showers in the water canal.

January 10, 2013 Palm Springs

Well I have been a bit behind on posting here, however we have made it to Palm Springs and everything here is very scenic. All the walled subdivisions are nicely landscaped on the outside as well as the medians. Makes for a very scenic area.

We have went out with friends from New Mexico and found some geocache's and took in the scenic drive thru Joshua Tree National Forest. We choose to travel a road that said you should have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, by the time we saw several more warnings and a picture of a jeep on a sandy flat road.

Well so much for that, after a half hour into our drive we are not slowed down because the road is no longer as smooth, then we round a corner between to ridges with a wash out. We spent about the next hour walking in front of the car tossing rocks in ruts to insure that we didn't bottom out or get hung up.

Mind you this route was shorter in miles, however the time it took to get over the route was maybe double what it would have took if we ad returned the other route.

I think I can say it was still a very enjoyable afternoon with friends. I also think everyone was glad to see a real paved road again.

 ooops where did she come from...

we also took the picture below of this read art at the entry of Warm Sands, an area where there are several small quaint hotels, one which use to belong to Howard Hughes where he would meet his mistresses.

We also visited a place called 1000 Palms, pretty interesting I guess the palms are very old and cropped up from an aquifer.

 Bill was fascinated with the stripes on this rock