The town of Parker, AZ, lies entirely within reservation land belonging to the Colorado River Indian Tribes. This is a link to some information about the town. Pay particular attention to the average temperature and precipitation information. On Saturday, I think we experienced the April rain quota which, by my estimate, appeared to be about 5 to 10 drops per square inch; just enough to turn our already very dirty car into a very, very ugly, dirty car.
Parker is a town of surprisingly broad streets and mostly very nicely kept buildings, but, like so many other places these days, there are many shops, etc., that are unoccupied due to the state of the economy. This link will take you to a few photos from around town.
Photo from Space.com
We hope you had a chance to view some part of the "Blood Moon" on the 14th. There is another great night sky event coming up on the 23rd, a meteor shower that will be visible toward the East after dark. If the weather is not being cooperative in your area, there should also be some visible on the nights before and after.
Our photos for this time include more shots of our current location in Parker, AZ, and some from a short trip we took across Parker Dam and South along the Colorado River on the California side.
Quartzsite, not Quartzite the metamorphic rock, is a small town in La Paz County, Arizona, that straddles Interstate 10. Ever since the start of our RV travels, we've heard tales of this town and since we are presently situated just an hour's travel away, we decided it was time to see it for ourselves.
Quartzsite has achieved a position in RV Lore for a number of reasons. In the Winter, the average temperature is in the 60's/70's, it has become the site of one of the country's largest RV Expositions, it hosts nine major gem shows and at least 15 swap meets and attracts about 1.5 million visitors each year, mostly in January and February (the average temp is 100+ in the Summer). Folks stay in their RVs at a whole host of parks, campgrounds and resorts located in the town as well as many, many acres of BLM land that surround the town and facilities range from full hookups (elec., water, sewer, cable TV, WiFi) to absolutely nothing but some sand to park on.
I know there lots of folks who find this to be an ideal way to spend their Winter, but Deb and I very quickly decided (even before we got there) that the extent of our interest was our quick drive through the area in our car.
For our photos, click here.
For more information, click here.
Why the camels? Click here.
As indicated in our previous blog, a few days ago we moved from Davis Camp to our new home for a month at Pirates Den which is located on the Colorado River at a beautiful spot just a few miles to the South of Parker Dam and an equally short distance to the North of the town of Parker.
At this point we've done very little in terms of exploring the area other than a few 'essential' locations including the 3 local grocery stores. Otherwise, we've been occupied with taking care of some tasks such as cleaning, laundry and the like, but we also managed a nice walk along the river and into the neighboring county park. We also started to give our rig a much needed bath, but quickly discovered that the spotting caused by the local water was worse than the dirt and we've thus put that project on hold for now.
There are just a few photos to view this time, but you can expect something a bit more interesting with our next publication.
