It’s about Time. For another post!

Lets see.  At last report, Hailey was in the drawer, and we were in the Palm Springs area. 

After visiting a couple of friends from back home in that area, and bringing one of them along the for the ride, it was back out into the desert asap. I scored the same campsite I had earlier near the south entrance to Joshua Tree NP. Next morning, much to my surprise there was a familiar looking truck camper and trailer parked nearby! Sure enough,an e-mail and a later visit confirmed that it was John & Nicole, from BC, and more recently, Borrego Springs. If you don’t know them, it is because I have not been able to convince John to start a blog – even though his e-mails show plenty of action and excitement.  We toured through most of the road-based areas of the park, with a few short hikes thrown in, and a few viewpoints enjoyed.

The water behind Barker dam looked a bit low…  Actually non-existent.

The plan had been to spend at least another day hiking in the park, however the weather turned cold and windy again, so the decision was made to head back over to Borrego Springs!

While driving past the airport, a ‘familiar’ looking aircraft was spotted.

Sure enough, it was a Canadian invasion! Their cover story was that they were there participating in some parachute training, but I hope they annex BS into Canada!

Next was a drive out to the Wind Caves along aptly named Fish Creek(!).

On the way back, a stop at the off-highway vehicle visitor center showed what can happen if you are caught in a flash flood.  I believe this one was caught in Fish Creek wash last year?

Clearly, it is not wise to be in the wash any time when a heavy rain in the area is possible.

After only a couple of days enjoying the Borrego Springs area, it was time to move on.  This time, back towards Yuma.

A little more Quartzsite …

When I hooked up, my general plan was to head over to the Indio/Coachella valley area of California, near Palm Springs.  The reason to go at that time was to catch a certain country band that was playing there at an RV resort.  Luckily, I called prior to departure, only to learn that it was not open to the public.  Although I still planned to go that way eventually, the time frame was now not important.

At about the same time, I received information that retired blogger Wandering Willy was sneaking into the area after spending some time down at Why.  So I decided to track him down and get caught up on news, gadgets, and to check out his upgraded solar system.  I found him out on Plomosa road, where the crowds were rapidly dissipating after the end of the big RV show.

We made a few runs into town and once again, I got to watch someone else spend their money, while I didn’t!  He bought a bunch of LED replacement bulbs to reduce his electrical use, and a pair of brand new 6V batteries.

I soon had my hummingbird re-fueling station set up, attracting a few of the locals.

The photos are not nearly as good as those from Al of the Bayfield Bunch, but I was pleased with them.

Speaking of Al & Kelly; we spotted Kelly in town one day while they were over scoping out the new RV’s in Quartzsite.  We only had time for a brief chat and missed seeing Al, but now we still have a reason to stop in if our route takes us near their place at Congress!

Eventually it was time to pull of stakes and pull in the slides and make another foray into California – but not before filling the fuel tank as full as it would go.  Even the diesel prices in Arizona have been creeping up lately.  In fact, I had just finished fuelling up at Chevron, and as I was driving out, they were out raising the price.  Whew, just in time!  Sort of reminds me of the station in Nevada or Utah as I headed north last spring.  They yelled at me when I was about to start the pump.  They said if I waited 3-4 minutes, they were dropping the price by 10 cents!

I stopped for the night at the slim BLM slice of land on the south side of Joshua Tree National Park, just north of the interstate.  While the hum of the traffic was audible, it was not that bad, and the spot turned out to be quiet – with a good view across the valley.

As I was on the way to Palm Springs, I headed out again in the morning, and checked out the Casino ‘camping’.  The casino at the junction of Dillon road and the interstate is clearly rv friendly, however it is a pretty bleak parking lot – directly between two freeways.  Probably a bit noisy. Next was the Agua Caliente casino.  It has a huge gravel parking lot, that did not appear to be that noisy, and it certainly was empty.

I pulled in to check it out.

Another view of the same place.

Although there are no signs, I believe that they discourage overnight camping.  I guess they don’t want any business from the RV community?

I had assumed that overnight parking at all Palm Springs area Walmarts, etc was not permitted, but when I drove by the one on Monterrey/Dinah Shore, I saw a collection of RV’s, and a subsequent check of the iphone app showed that it was not on the ‘no camping’ list!  Good to know.

I hope to meet some friends in this area, then the plans are open, but it will likely find us back in Arizona before too long.

“Look, you left this drawer open!”

Till the next post …..

Missing your dog?

 

Quartzsite police dept have this dog in custody – anyone missing their dog?  Spread the word!

Quartzsite Police 12h

FOUND DOG- We still have this sweet little girl, please call us if she is yours. pic.twitter.com/Iyd6IRrU

Quartzsite–Getting ready to hitch up!

I can hardly believe that I was in Quartzsite before the big show, and I am still here and it is all over. Not Quartzsite, there are always shows on during the winter, and many of the businesses and vendors are here for several months. But I think the RV show is the biggest of the shows, and I expect many of us will be hitching up and heading on down the road somewhere.

The big GM was getting a tad dusty from hanging around in the desert, and driving on a lot of dirt roads.  I haven’t seen a car wash in town, and would not have bothered washing it anyway as long as it was getting dusty right away anyhow.  But when the rain started to come down, I went outside several times with my big squeegee and wiped it down.  That got most of the dust off it, but I also put a couple of empty pails under the rainspouts on the rig and I had almost 10 gallons of ‘free’ water to use to wash the rest of it (no soap).  I think it looks a lot better now, and since the rains, the dust has not really recovered yet, so the wash job might just last.

I had been meaning to check out the drive and hike to Palm Canyon in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, about 20 miles south of Quartzsite, so I had a free day (!), and decided what the heck.

It is a 7 mile gravel road off highway 95 with some washboard as you would expect, but overall, a pretty decent road, and quite scenic.

I saw a strange sight along the way.  Anywhere else, this would not be strange at all, but in the deserts of Arizona, you hardly ever see a culvert on a secondary (or worse) road.  Well, for some reason, there are a few along this road.

At the parking area, I was surprised to see a tour van from the coast of New Brunswick.  Not many east coast plates in these parts, and even less from Canada’s east coast.

This one is from Campobello Island off the coast, close to Maine.

Hiking up into the canyon, there are good views back out across the valley to the west, including two blimps that were both on the ground at their bases.  Too far away to see in these photos, I’m sure.

I kept my eyes peeled for some Bighorn sheep, without success, but in this terrain you would be lucky to spot them unless they were on the move.

All I saw was these rare palm trees high up in a side canyon.

Headed north again on the highway, there was an unmarked road heading off to the west, in the general direction of the blimp bases, so I thought I would give it a go.  Unfortunately the pavement ended after 100 yards, and the ‘unwelcome’ sign deterred me from further exploration.

Need I say more.  You can’t make this stuff up – seen on the side of a propane tank!