So for 10 days in January, we hung out in the desert. I always expected all sand and rolling baby hills like in Arabian Knights. But the desert is so different. Rocks, shrubs, cactus, trees, mountains, and sandy dirt. There are times of flat, forever roads and other areas with ups/downs every other miles. We took a 4wheel drive path with 6 others to an abandoned copper mine. Fun drive but very, very dusty. Doesn't do well on a full bladder either. Did not see any wild life (rabbits but they are a dime a dozen here)
The copper mine was in the middle of "nowhere". Developed in the late 1800's. The concrete and stone barricks and foundry walls were somewhat intact. They brought the railroad out to "nowhere" to ship the copper. Also 4 day journey for water, food, supplies, and workers from the nearest city. (Took us 2 hours by car). I can not imagine making the huge decision to travel west and work in a mine. But I am glad to be able to experience the area, and drive home to my nice bed and shower.
this was the view from the foundry area. Beautiful colors in the landscape. I expected John Wayne to come riding over the hills at any moment.
Back in Quartzsite we checkout Hi Jolly monument. In 1850's the government experiemented by bringing camels to the desert from the Middle East. Worked great until the Civil War broke out and they dropped the camel idea. The camels were let loose in the desert and a camel jockey nicknamed "Hi Jolly" took care of them and changed to mining to make a living. The last known camel roaming the southwest desert was seen in the 1940's. The monument was in memory of the camel jockey, Hi Jolly and what he did in the area for the camels.
This was our high tech parking area for the 10 days. We are parked with a group of 76 Beaver RV's in a massive BLM (Bureau of Land Management) are in the southern Quartzsite. Plus there were tons of others all around and miles away from each other. We would get together each morning for a group breakfast and each evening for a dinner together in the middle of an RV wagon train. We had 2 campfire areas and a huge eating area where we all brought our own tables/chairs. Dish to pass, ect.
In town, population 3654 - January/February population 1.5 million. It is known as the Rock Capital of the World. Tons of Gem and RV and swap meets going on throughout the winter. Too much to see in just a few days. I stocked up on the beads and beautiful rock related gifts - super cheap. The stars at night had no lights of the city to compete with, so they were just brilliant and a zillion more then I normally see.
