CAMPED ON THE SHORES OF CALIFORNIA’S SALTON SEA

Off to the east on the darkened desert floor I could see a jewel like twinkling of many clustered diamonds in the cold clear starry night.  From our slight elevation I knew it to be the wee sparkling town of Quartzsite Arizona in the valley below.   A faint warm glow on the far distant horizon south of the Q I knew to be the big megapolis of Phoenix.  I remember seeing that nightly glow whenever we camped in the Kofa Mountains south of Quartzsite before.  It was Monday night and we were west of Quartzsite Arizona at Dome Rock.  December 19th 2016 would be the first night since March of 2012 in the new chapter of our once again on the road resumed RV travels:))

WAKE UP MOM THERE’S A GREAT BIG RED SUNSET GOING ON OUTSIDE

THANKS FOR WAKING ME UP TO SEE THE SUNRISE PHEEBS:))

BACKGROUNDED BY THE PLOMOSA MOUNTAINS QUARTZSITE ON THE LA PALOSA PLAIN SHIMMERS IN MORNINGS EARLY LIGHT

THESE JAGGED KOFA MOUNTAIN PEAKS ARE ONE OF OUR MOST FAVORITE MOUNTAIN RANGES AND WE HAVE CAMPED IN THEIR MORNING SHADOW AND JEEPED FAR IN AMONGST THOSE PEAKS….. iN OUR SEARCH BAR TOP RIGHT TYPE IN ‘KOFA MOUNTAINS’ TO FIND MY POSTS ABOUT OUR ADVENTURES THERE

Been a long time since we’ve seen an unobstructed sunrise not filled with power lines, poles or some kinds of man made structures.  This morning here west of the Q was such a morning with nothing between us and Mother Natures natural finery.

AND HERE COMES OLD SOL HIMSELF

WHAT A NICE WAY TO START ANOTHER DAY

MANY GREAT MEMORIES OVER THERE IN THE KOFAS FOR US

FELLOW BOON-DOCKERS AND NOTICE ‘CASPER THE GHOST’ HIGH ABOVE THAT 5TH WHEEL ON THE LEFT

Now that we are away from suburbia so to speak with it’s barking neighborhood dogs, pavement, and chatty morning walkers I have once again resumed my early a.m. walks with Kelly and Pheebs after almost a 2 year hiatus.  Have always enjoyed morning treks in desert and mountain settings and now that I can again walk with my cameras without frequent traffic or people interruptions I’m looking forward to the much needed and beneficial health benefits those early morning walks will bring me.

THAT BIG ROCK AHEAD IS WHY THEY CALL THIS AREA ‘DOME ROCK’

A LOT OF DESERT BOON-DOCKERS LIKE TO LANDSCAPE THEIR SITES WITH WITH THE EVER PRESENT ABUNDANCE OF ROCKS ON THE DESERT FLOOR

HOW NICE TO BE OUT FOR EARLY MORNING DESERT WALKS AGAIN

OVER THE YEARS WE HAVE COME ACROSS MANY CURIOSITIES WITH THIS BEING JUST ONE OF THEM

Being free at the moment from hordes of January RV’ers Dome Rock where we were is a nice area as it nestles in against the north-south running Dome Rock mountain range.  With it’s moderate elevation west of Quartzsite the view from Dome Rock to Quartzsite on the floor of the La Posa Plain below backed by the Plomosa Mountains to the east are of wide sweeping vistas.  Jagged peaks of the Kofa Mountains to the far distant southeast, the Plomosa Range east of Quartzsite and the close in Dome Rock range to the south, north and northwest.  California is only a 10 minute drive on I-10 due west to the other side of the Colorado River.  Pretty nice area I’d say:))

AN OLD ABANDONED MINE SHAFT BURROWED INTO THE NORTH-WEST SIDE OF DOME ROCK

BETWEEN THESE ATV BOON-DOCKERS AND THE PLOMOSA MOUNTAINS CAN BE SEEN QUARTZSITE ON THE VALLEY FLOOR

HEY THAT LOOKS LIKE ‘LITTLE CESERS’ OUT THERE DRIVING THROUGH THE DESERT

North of us about two thirds of a mile runs busy Interstate 10 in an east west direction.  We can hear a bit of traffic noise but not enough to be bothersome.  It is amazing how many trucks are on that Interstate.  Sitting here watching them from my window it seems they far outnumber cars nowadays and we did notice a large number of trucks from east of Quartzsite to west of Quartzsite Monday when we arrived in this area.  A lot of Fed-Ex trucks on the road.

EVEN SOME DISTANT FELLOW DOGGY WALKERS OUT THIS MORNING

Had only planned staying one night then pulling out early in the morning but for awhile now we have noticed our coach batteries have been having trouble holding a full charge for very long.  First became aware of that this past summer so we suspect we might need our system checked and maybe some new batteries.  Kelly made 3 phone calls this morning regarding our problem.  One to Solar Mike in Slab City, one to mobile Brian in Quartzsite and one to RV Lifestyles to have our coach batteries checked.  I was really hoping it would be Solar Mike who called us back…………..and it was.

KELLY SEARCHES THROUGH OUR RIG’S PREVIOUS OWNERS FILES TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW OLD OUR BATTERIES ARE

WESTBOUND TRUCK TRAFFIC CAN BE SEEN MOVING ALONG I-10

That call altered our Yuma destination so without further adieu we climbed back on I-10 about 2 p.m. Arizona time and headed west into California.  I was glad to be moving again.  Wind gust warning signs were posted but we never really felt anything much. 

LOOKING SOUTH CROSSING THE COLORADO RIVER INTO CALIFORNIA

THIS GUY WAS MOVING SO SLOW ON I-10 I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE A TRUCK PULLING THIS LOAD AND NOT A HORSE

WE TURNED LEFT FOR MECCA

LOOKING EAST WE CROSSED BACK OVER I-10 ON BOX CANYON ROAD

Might have been about 15 miles east of Indio we swung off I-10 onto a very familiar piece of road for us.  At the stop sign on it was a right turn towards Joshua Tree National Park or left to the small agricultural town of Mecca through Box Canyon.  We have made this favorite drive of mine through Box Canyon half a dozen or more times over the years coming and going both ways.  I have taken many photos driving through this area and was determined not to overdo myself on photos yet again.  Well, so much for determination.  Wasn’t ever much good at that D word anyway.

ROLLING THROUGH BOX CANYON WITH IT’S MANY SHARP CURVES AND SOFT SANDY SHOULDERS…..EH CHRIS AND CARON’:))

Dropping down out of the Canyons west side landed us at the Northeast end of the Salton Sea where the seemingly barren desert landscape does an immediate flip-flop to acres of green palm trees and huge stretching fields of neatly cultivated vegetables shaking themselves off under miles of irrigated jet spray water sprinklers.

LUSH CALIFORNIA FARM FIELDS AT THE NORTHEAST END OF THE SALTON SEA

REFLECTIONS??  WHAT REFLECTIONS:))

NO IDEA WHAT ANY OF THESE CROPS ARE

Zipped ourselves around Mecca’ s only round-a-bout, crossed a set of busy railway tracks and hung a left turn onto highway 111 heading for Nyland California and Slab City.  We have traveled this highway both ways and it’s always a scenic drive as we headed south along the shores of the Salton Sea off to the west.  We remembered one other time heading for Solar Mikes when we overnighted beside the Sea so decided that’s what we do again, and we did.

CAMPED FOR THE NIGHT ON THE EASTERN SHORES OF THE SALTON SEA

NOW HERE’S A SAD WALK TO THE GARBAGE CAN…..KELLY BROKE THE HANDLE OFF HER FAVORITE TEA KETTLE SO IT’S HEADING FOR THAT WHITE TRASH BARREL OVER YONDER…..I THINK LITTLE ELMO WAS QUITE SURPRISED BY IT ALL TOO

The last time we overnighted here we thought we saw a UFO high over the Salton Sea but after mentioning and describing what we saw in my blog that night several readers said what we saw was one of the rocket boosters from a rocket launched that night from ?? in California.

KELLY ‘BLACKBERRIES’ THE SUNSET

In the morning we’ll head for Solar Mikes and see if we can get our coach battery problem resolved.  Where we will head from there we’ll figure out tomorrow…….:))

SALTON CITY ON THE WESTERN SHORES OF THE SALTON SEA

AND HERE WE SEE A HUGE FIERY DINOSAUR LIZARD STREAKING HIGH ACROSS THE DARK SKIES OVER CALIFORNIA’S SALTON SEA

LOOKING SOUTH DOWN THE SALTON SEA I SUSPECT THOSE LIGHTS AND GLOW ARE FROM THE CITY OF BRAWLY CALIFORNIA

LOOKING NORTH UP THE SALTON SEA WE SEE THE HORIZON’S GLOW OF INDIO’S BIG CITY LIGHTS

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A group of third, fourth and fifth graders accompanied by two female teachers went on a field trip to the local racetrack to learn about thoroughbred horses and the supporting industry. During the tour some of the children wanted to go to the toilet so it was decided that the girls would go with one teacher and the boys would go with the other. As the teacher assigned to the boys waited outside the men's toilet, one of the boys came out and told her he couldn't reach the urinal. Having no choice, she went inside and began hoisting the little boys up by their armpits, one by one. As she lifted one, she couldn't help but notice that he was unusually well endowed for an elementary school child.
"I guess you must be in the fifth," she said.
"No ma'am," he replied, "I'm in the seventh, riding Silver Arrow. Thanks for the lift anyhow."

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Q: What nationality is Santa Claus?
A: North Polish.
Q: What do elves learn in school?
A: The Elf-abet!

‘YAHOUIE LOUIE’ IT’S OFFICIAL, OUR HOUSE IS SOLD AND WE ARE ALREADY 92 MILES AWAY:))

HERE WE ARE 336 MILES EAST OF LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA  TONIGHT

Well as it turns out Sunday night was our last sleep in the house.  Monday morning bright and early we hit the decks a runnin.  Busied ourselves all morning with a lot of very last minute things and keeping a close ear to the phone waiting for Andrea at the Pioneer Title Company to call saying everything is complete and the house is 101% officially sold.  That call came at exactly 11:45 while Kelly and I were standing in front of the house checking with each other that we hadn’t forgot to load anything into the Motorhome.

ALL LOADED UP AND ABOUT READY TO GO

Five minutes after that phone call Kelly was in the Jeep and headed for Wickenburg to pick up the final documents at the Title Company.  I did a final check of our shed and closed the doors.  One of the last things I took out of the house was our sirius satellite radio music source and once I did that the house fell silent like a tomb.  In my opinion once the music dies the soul of the house is gone.

EVEN SAID GOOD-BYE TO ALL MY STUFF IN THE SHED

KELLY BROUGHT BACK SANDWICHES AND COFFEE FROM WICKENBURG FOR OUR LAST SIT DOWN ON OUR FRONT PORCH….IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER 2 P.M. AND FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER WE WERE GONE

BELIEVE IT OR NOT I’VE ACTUALLY GOT A BIG SMILE GOING ON HERE BUT IT’S JUST THIS DAM CRANKY OLD FACE OF MINE

KELLY LEFT TONY OUR HOUSE BUYER A LITTLE WELCOME SIGN OUT FRONT

I had quite a time with myself saying good-bye to everything today.  Said good-bye to all my photogenic birdy pals, my wheelbarrow, all my cactus plants, our big Eagle statue, all the chairs on the porch, our backyard patio, my watering pails, all the Mesquite and Palo Verde trees, my bedroom, the birdfeeder, our Saguaros, all the dust on our picture frames, my recliner, all the rocks and stones we had carted home from the desert over the years, the fence I built, our backyard fire pit, my garden tools, my, my, my, well it just went on and on and on seemingly forever.  And with every good-bye I added a thank-you.  I always make these kinds of situations harder on myself than I really need to make them but that’s me and it’s always been me.  I get attached to stuff.  Had just finished doing a walk around the whole property saying good-bye and thank-you to about everything in sight when Kelly rolled in from Wickenburg.  She very smilingly had the final house sale documents in hand as well as a couple sandwiches from the Local Press Sandwich Bar, a couple coffees from McDonalds and 2 huge apple fritter donuts from Bashas.  Wow what a celebration eh.  We went over to our front porch and had us a last sit down as we ate our goodies.

It was exactly 2 p.m. when Kelly checked our American bank account on line and ‘yessssereeeeeee’ there was the house sale money safely in our account and that was it at last.  It was finally over and done.  I hooked up the Jeep, we did one last quick walk through the house, closed the front door, locked it and walked to the Motorhome.  It was 2:18 P.M. as we had the big wheels slowly rolling out through our south gate for the very last time.  Thirty seconds later we were at the end of Ghost Town Road at highway 71 and there in front of us went a red pick-up truck by with someone giving us a big wave.  It was Janna from the Mike and Janna duo probably heading home to North Ranch from the post office.

ROLLING SLOWLY OUT OF OUR YARD I SNAPPED THIS LAST PHOTO OF OUR FRONT YARD CACTUS GARDEN

KELLY CLOSES THE SOUTH GATE BEHIND US….IT WAS OUR LAST LOOK BACK

Well which way on highway 71 will we go.  East or West??  West it was as I made the wide right turn and watched Congress and the Weaver Mountains slowly begin to slide away in my rear side view mirror.  Rolling westward out of town we chatted a bit about our life and times in Congress over the last nearly 5 years.  But that conversation didn’t last long and as expected the reality of change suddenly kicked in, our spirits lifted and as the past drifted further and further away in my mirror we began chattering excitedly about our future travel plans.  Well as excitedly as a couple 70ish people can chatter that is.

HEAD WEST YOUNG COUPLE HEAD WEST

MY OLD FRIEND HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN LOOMS ON THE HORIZON

WE WERE SOON PAST HARQUAHALA AND EVEN WHEN WE REACHED I-10 AN HOUR LATER I COULD STILL SEE HARQUAHALA FAR OFF IN MY MY REARVIEW MIRROR FADING INTO THE HAZE

Can’t even begin to describe how happy we felt and even though we have driven this stretch of highway 60 west a half dozen times or more we gazed ahead at the distant blue mountain ranges as if we had never seen them before.  The weight of the past year regarding our house sale had lifted and we soared like Eagles down the road.

EVEN PHEEBS IS HAPPY TO BE ON THE ROAD AGAIN GOING SOMEWHERE SEEING AND SNIFFING NEW THINGS

BY THIS POINT WE WERE TRULY SOARING:))

LAST LITTLE SETTLEMENT ON HIGHWAY 60 BEFORE I-10 AND HEY I ONCE NEW A REALLY NICE GIRL BY THAT NAME MANY MANY YEARS AGO……….AND YOU WOULD KNOW WHO THAT IS GB:))

HEADING DOWN THE ON-RAMP FOR I-10

HEADING WEST ON I-10 QUARTZSITE IS JUST MINUTES AHEAD IN A LARGE LONG VALLEY THIS SIDE OF THOSE DISTANT MOUNTAINS

Our first night’s destination was Quartzsite Arizona for an overnighter before moving further west.  Gassed up at the east end Chevron then headed off to find us a quiet spot in the desert.  We have been to Quartzsite many times over the past 10 years so we knew exactly where we were going.  Luckily there is hardly anybody here yet but a month from now there will be thousands upon thousands of RV’ers swarming absolutely everywhere.   Mid January in the Q is the largest RV event in the world.  I like Quartzsite best without the swarm…………..

AHHHHHH, NO SIGNS OF ANY HUMAOIDS ANYWHERE:))

So where will we head for in the morning??  Hard to say and it depends on some decisions based on a couple unexpected variables.  We’ll see how things shake out when the sun comes up.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Police officer pulled this guy over for speeding and told him that his eyes were bloodshot, and asked him if he'd been drinking. The guy said "Your eyes are glazed, have you been eating donuts?"

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How do snowmen get around?
On their icicles.

Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
A: Snowflakes.

What does Santa call reindeer that don't work?
Dinner.

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Christmas is just plain weird. What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree in your living room eating candy and snacks out of your socks?

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Q: What do you call a bunch of grandmasters of chess bragging about their games in a hotel lobby?
A: Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer!