Pictures Tell Lots of Stories

Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go where there is no path .. and leave a trail.

Just when you think there is nothing to blog about, it’s time to pull out the pictures taken over the last couple days.  Pictures are a wonderful reminder of everything you’ve done especially when you’ve been so busy not doing a heck of a lot … or that’s what you  might think.  At least that’s what I thought this morning.

Julie’s sunset shot.

I normally take a lot of pictures.  However, I don’t seem to be taking as many this year as last year and certainly not as many as the years before.  I think that’s partly because I’ve blogged about this area before.  I was surprised at how many I had actually taken.

To begin with we’ve had some absolutely fabulous sunsets on the desert. That’s one thing Arizona and Texas can boast about … their gorgeous evening skies.  They come in all colors and all kinds of  beautiful.

Another thing we noticed was how fast gas prices can jump in Quartzsite. One day we were driving down the middle of Main Street and the advertised pump price at the Shell station was $3.19. The next day we noticed the pump price had jumped to $3.39!! Now that’s quite a jump in one day but right down the street the Pilot Station had gone from $3.14 the day before to $3.15.

  

Terry loves the turquoise!

The Desert Oasis Bookstore in Quartzsite has quite the reputation.  The reputation as most of you know is due to the attire the owner wears (or doesn't wear).  I’m sure his attire alone is the big draw to his store and accounts for quite a few purchases there.  He even poses with people but not with ME!  We made a stop at his store but really had a reason for it.  You might have guessed …. I wanted a detailed book on chromosomes and Terry was looking for something on polishing gemstones.  There certainly are a lot of those around this area.  It didn’t matter what we were looking for though.  We struck out on all three.  First of all 3 Socks wasn’t there, I couldn’t find much about anything to do with science and Terry couldn’t find what he was looking for either.

We made a trip with Freddy and Delcie to the Parker Wal-Mart.  On the way there we made a side trip down Shea Road.  This is where the races will be held this weekend.  RVs can park along the rim of the canyon and watch the cars race below.  It’s about 7 miles east on Shea off of I95 just south of Parker.  

We finally made it to the Parker Walmart and got our shopping finished.  While I stood guard over the groceries that were packed in the back of Freddy’s truck, I felt the truck jerk.  I thought about it a second and then got out.  The occupant in the truck next to him was loading groceries and there was a big scratch right down the side of Freddy’s truck …. perfect to his grocery cart. It appeared as though the cart had been jammed in but hard to prove, of course.  However, I'd probably be a little cautious if this small tan truck from Oregon pulled into a spot next to me.

Duchess met a couple new friends on the desert.  Dogs tend to do that.

Here's another Doberman ................... and, here is Nell

  She also chased the fella in the sky.

You can find just about everything in the shops around Quartzsite including hats.  Here are a couple silly hats.

Delcie has been knitting some pretty gorgeous scarves.  What do you think of this?  Hand-made by Delcie!

The weather has been perfect for campfires and we’ve been having our share of them.

And, to think … I thought I didn’t have anything to blog about.   All I had to do was look at my pictures and see that I really had lots more than I thought.

‘Tis life on the road.

Plomosa and Overwhelmed with DNA

 

There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

 
The rain finally moved away from the area.  Our solar kicked back in on Sunday and actually charged our batteries again.  In other words even the sun was shining.  It’s predicted to be out and sending its rays our way for the near future.

   

Big Tent crowd is gone!

Most of our little group also moved from the fee area at LaPosa.  It’s not that we’re cheap …. but we are.  Actually, it really isn’t even the $40 as much as getting a little change in scenery.  We stayed up until the day we needed to renew and then moved in the rain and puddles and mess. 

There are seven of us now sitting here.  It’s peaceful and seems just a tad cleaner than LaPosa.  We like it here.  Alas, though that time is catching up with us and we will soon be moving back to the Phoenix area for another week or so before we start edging a little towards the Northwest or is it Southwest?  You know how we rarely know where we're going until it's time to go.  However, every once in a while we have a commitment or two and that's why we're going to Phoenix.

Remember at Christmas time I received a DNA testing kit?  There are several companies that offer DNA tests for genealogical and/or health results.  The companies all have their differences, indicate they have the largest DNA base for sharing and have different fees.  Some of the differences are minor and others are major.  My results were finally available and it’s been difficult to break away even for a campfire at times.   I have been glued to my 991 from one website and 883 from another.  These are just early matches and I'm reading all I can about chromosomes, hablogroups, genome, mtDNA, markers, SNPs, STRs and such.  I don't know about you but much of that is new jargon to me.  I’m like a sponge though and trying to absorb every bit of information I can.  There’s so much to read about genetics and so much to learn in order to be able to use the information. Science was never my bag but boy I find it interesting now when it applies to my ancestry.  A few of my matches have helped by leading me to other databases and DNA sites.  Right now though I’m a bit overwhelmed.

 

Some of the DNA websites allow you to upload your raw DNA data to their databases and others won’t.  Some are more  detailed, use different testing techniques and need to be converted. Some collect DNA via saliva and others by a cheek swap.  In addition to your ancestry composition you can also learn what genes you carry with tendencies for certain diseases, traits and such.  Genealogical research has been my big hobby  for over 35 years so this is just the next step.  To me it’s absolutely fascinating.  I just need time to get into it more.

I did break away from all my reading and studying yesterday for a couple little outings including a jaunt on the JAG (aka RZR).  We also went back to the Big Tent to see if there were any specials.  I can report that there weren’t any big ones.  We made a couple small purchases.  One was a speaker to plug into our little AC/DC TV we use while boondocking and the other was a stove top grill.  The speaker was $10 less than a week ago so we did get a deal on that.  The grill … well, we paid $2 more than Freddy and Delcie did the day before.  I guess you win some and lose some.

The other night we took our dinner over and sat out with Freddy, Delcie, Toni and Doug.  It wasn’t a potluck.  It was just taking the time to sit together with our own food.  Jeff and Tina brought us some wood for our campfire but the wind was a little breezy so we figured that a campfire will have to wait.

New place …. new view

‘Tis life on the road  

Arizona Desert Hopping

"Never let yesterday use up today."

 

Saturday was moving time again.  We were moving from spot in the desert to another.  As our luck would have it, it was one of the few days that it rained all day long in Arizona.  That’s right …. all day long!!  What made that even worse was the fact that the lines to the dump at the LaPosa BLM had been mighty, might long.  We had a choice.  We could either decide we were just going to kill a couple hours in line waiting to dump and fill up with water or we could get partially ready the night before – in the rain, of course --  and finish up early in the morning.  Well, not real early but at least before many others did.  That was the plan and it worked. 

Not a creature was stirring except for Roger and Lynn who were parked by us.  They had the same plan.  They had no intention of sitting in that line if they didn’t have to.  All four of us looked like wet mops but that’s the way it was.

There were mud puddles just about at every dip and if the ground wasn’t packed, you’d definitely sink in because the rain made it soft.

There was no line whatsoever and only one other RV was dumping and filling.  Our timing was absolutely perfect.  We figured no one else wanted to get out in the rain.  They probably thought since we were Arizona it wouldn’t rain all day and they’d do it later.  Wrong!  It rained all day.

 

We didn’t have a long drive.  It was one of the shortest moves ever …. 13 miles.  However, it was raining there too.  It seems we may have better cell service and internet here though.  That’s a plus because over the last few days our phone couldn’t call out or get data and our internet – both AT&T and Verizon – were sometimes on and sometimes off. 

We do have puddles at the new place.  Duchess found them for us.

Over the last few days the weather had been nice and there was a bunch of outdoor activity that took place.  One was the fixing of Denise’s rig.  Terry and Doug went at it building a box to hold her batteries.  Doug also added bins to the back of Lee’s (aka IYQ’s) truck.

Denise had been ill and wasn’t up to moving her motorcycle into her toy hauler. Thank goodness we had a couple in our group who also had Harleys. Mike and Julie took charge and did it for her.   Again, thank goodness for that. 

Now that part of our Quartzsite adventure is behind us.  We’ve moved and are on to another one.  The first thing on the agenda was Happy Hour at the Prather’s.  It was an inside event because it was still dripping outside.

Heidi, their Yorkie, even performed tricks for us. You can tell by this picture how fast she was circling to get her little treat. She knows a lot of tricks.

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We also visited Dianne and Tom at La Mesa RV. We caught Tom in the act of actually working! They bought a new-to-them motorhome and were busy unloading and loading it.  It's quite a beauty too.

Notice what we have back with us …. the RZR and the trailer.  We had it sitting at one of the consignment shops in Quartzsite.  While there it was stuck in the middle of all the other stuff accumulating dust.  It absolutely looked like crap.  Terry went down and hauled it back so we got a chance to drive it around again.  What we did discover is that even though the tank was full when we took it there and no one took it for a test drive, the gas tank was now empty.  We also noticed we no longer had a hitch.  Oh well … what can you say.  Besides we thought we had priced it very low but by the time a fat commission was added to it it wasn't necessarily a very low price. Oh well, we’re back to hauling the trailer at least until we get to Phoenix.

I think I’m caught up now.  This is the last day of the Big Tent and we plan on being there around noon.  Normally the crowds have left by then, vendors are closing down and offering sales.  That’s the plan.

Some folks figure out all ways to haul their toys.

‘Tis life on the road.

The Big Tent, The Desert Bar and Graduation

"We are all born originals - why is it so many of us die copies?

 

Evening silhouette of Tom with the baseball cap and Glyn with the cowboy hat in the setting sun.

The Big Tent opened and the crowds were there just as the vendors in the tent hoped.  We were in line even before it opened.  We had learned in the past that early the first morning we could usually find a close parking spot and move down the aisleways faster than if we waited for another day or later in the afternoon.

The items for sale don’t change too much from one year to another.  The same vendors usually show up.  However, there are a few new items splattered through the tent.  We were in and out in just a short time and we even made a purchase.  We bought a flagpole for our motorhome.  It wasn’t a spur of the moment decision as we had been looking for one and checking out prices over the last week or so.  We bought the pole at the Big Tent but bought the flags on Main Street for $5.00 less.  There are many places to buy most of the items for sale in the Big Tent and you can usually find them cheaper.  However, we did hear that the last day of the event you can find big sales.  We will see.

 

The highway is still packed getting into and out of the Big Tent area and it probably will be through this  weekend. 

Here’s Toni getting ready for the evening festivities.

Monday night we had our little “graduation party” complete with potluck and campfire.  Freshmen members of the class were initiated by being required to start the campfire.   A “sample” mortgage was handed out to freshmen classmates as well as those classmates who had not yet attended an RV graduation ceremony. 

The mortgages were required to be burned before graduation certificates were awarded.

It’s a nose to nose meeting for Tom and Dianne's cat and our dog, Duchess.

The first time I caught the pair together they were rubbing noses.  Bored with the act Duchess finally walked away.  This time Duchess barked and the cat ran away.

Guess who we found in their new Travel Trailer on the BLM?  We found Peter and Bea from the American-Traveler blog.   Actually, they found us first.  Then, we stopped by to check out their new trailer.  We can tell you that it is certainly a beautiful one with lots of space.  Later in the evening they joined our group at the campfire.

Last weekend a few of us made a trip up to the Desert Bar.  The Desert Bar is in the desert and definitely in the middle of nowhere.  The bar has been  around for 30 years but only open during the winter months.  It’s a little difficult to get there but still packs the place on the weekends during the months it is open.  My cousin had spent the night with us and I coerced her into taking a trip to the bar with a few from our group.   You can tell by the crowds that it’s a very popular place.

Why is it so popular?  Well,  because it’s  unique but you really need to make a trip up there to see for yourself.  The Desert Bar is known as the Nellie E Saloon and built on the location of a former mining camp.   The most amazing part of the whole saloon is it is powered by solar energy that is stored in batteries.  Other than sun power, there is no electricity and the side road leading up to the saloon is an old dirt road.  It’s popular and usually packed.

 


We’ll be hanging around this spot on the BLM for only a few more days and like others in our group, then we’re outta here and onto another spot in the desert.


‘Tis life on the road.