Celia's Garden

Today we discovered a unique little park in Quartzsite called, "Celia's Rainbow Garden." It's a memorial park begun by the parents of a little girl who lived in Quartzsite and died in 1995 when she was almost nine. I think it is quite a beautiful tribute to Celia in itself, but what is unusual about it is that it has expanded to become a memorial garden to 50 or 60 other people whose friends or families have taken little areas and built little memorials in them for their loved ones.

Here's the tribute to Celia.

And these are the names of people who have been included since the inception of the garden.

People have used native plants and rocks, along with a few other creative objects, and many benches, to build a little desert haven on the edge of Quartzsite.

I'll show you a few. Since the rocks, shrubs and plants are all shades of tan and gray, they don't photograph well and you will have to add atmosphere with your imagination.

Pets were remembered as well.

Chorro and I remembered the ones we have lost too, as we wandered about.

It was a lovely, peaceful discovery that made our day special today.

Coyotes and Mountains

We fell asleep last night to the sound of the coyotes yipping. This morning Chorro woke me up with a little "woof." He was standing on the bed looking at the back window so I pulled up the shade and what do you think we saw!

Is this a coyote slinking past the back of our RV?

Snuffling around for some little desert animal?

Retreating off across the desert?

Stalking a human?

Well, maybe not. But we really wanted it to be.

Unlike the wolf, which originated in Eurasia, the coyote evolved in North America and now ranges all the way from Alaska down to Panama. Interestingly enough, they have not been affected by the human population expanding into formerly wilderness areas, and their population continues to grow.

We have not seen nor heard them in the daytime, but after dusk they sound quite close and are noisy as well. Our first few nights on the desert, they woke me up several times a night, complaining, I think, about our taking over their territory.

These are the Kofa Mountains and of the mountains that surround us they are the ones near us that I like best. They were named for the King of Arizona gold mine, which stamped its supplies with K of A, and became known as Kofa. Although their highest peaks are less than 5,000 feet, the surrounding terrain is around 600 feet above sea level, so they really tower up from the valley floors.

They have such interesting shapes.

We found a field of saguaros stretching out in front.

Here's a little closer view.

We drove south down the highway to get a better view of them today. We found a road that led up into them, but it was pretty rocky and looked like it would be hard on our little car, so we didn't go very far.

Then we came back for pictures of the sunset. It was not brilliant tonight, but beautiful nonetheless. The warmth of Arizona's sunset skies rivals its weather.

Today was a good day.

Desert Dawn

We thought you might like to watch the dawn with us this morning. Here it is with the first color in the sky, clouds very dark.

Now watch as it gets a bit lighter. Lavender sky and coral light.

I'll be quiet and let you watch for a few minutes.

Isn't that a cool experience? I am so lucky. I took those pictures through my RV window as I sat at my breakfast table.

I like knowing how a town began and I especially like thinking about how people lived a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, or more.

We learned that before Quartzsite, there was Tyson's Well, a stage stop, which still stands. Today it is the museum and has had it's exterior walls reinforced with adobe but is basically the same building it was in 1869 when it was an important stop on the Butterfield Stage Route. Here in the desert, a man named Charley Tyson dug for water and found clear, clean water at 35 feet. Tyson's Well and the Stage Stop are a part of Quartzsite's Main Street now, and elsewhere the town wells were dug thousands of feet deep to find sufficient water for more than a stage stop.

The museum docent assured me that Wyatt Earp had warmed his boots in front of this fireplace and probably many others who are known as legends of history.

Outdoors, a Quartzsite long time resident has built scale replicas of many of the early buildings.

Everyone who sees my hair thinks I am a feminist (I am, but not because of my hair) and the museum docent felt sure I would want to know that here at Quartzsite, many women had been trained as pilots to serve in World War II. They were members of the Women's Air Force and their job was to deliver fighter planes to US troops around the world.


The US government has done stranger things. In the mid-nineteenth century they imported a few dozen camels from Arabia to use in transporting goods across the desert. A man named Hadji Ali, also from Arabia, was hired as a driver, and soon became known as "Hi Jolly." His remains and the remains of one of the camels are buried under this Quartzsite monument erected in the 1930's by the Department of Transportation. Those were simpler days when the DOT got to do that in their less busy season I guess.

Knowing a little more about Quartzsite, Chorro and I were happy to make our way back to our little spot on the desert to watch another sunset. Not as brilliant as the sunrise, but a wonderful last sight before going to sleep.

Today was a good day.

Did We Find Spring Today? Maybe!

Every once in a while I encounter someone who sees I have a camera and wants their picture in my blog. Here are two guys I met this morning who begged to have their pictures taken. Humor them.

Then I asked Chorro if he would like to go on a treasure hunt. He was excited.

When I told him we were going to visit Parker, a small town about 40 miles to the north of Quartzsite, his enthusiasm waned just a bit, but he's a good sport and came along to keep me company anyway.

We were searching for Ezekiel bread, the only all whole grain bread I have ever been able to find that is made without sweeteners. Usually we find it in health food or natural food stores or co-ops, and once in a while in a well stocked grocery store. Unfortunately, Quartzsite has none of those so I haven't been able to replenish my supply for quite a while.

Parker is about the same size as Quartzsite, population about 3000, but I heard that it had a good grocery store and thought it would be fun to explore.

Today was a day for surprises!

Parker has a Safeway store that does stock Ezekiel bread!

And what's that little green logo over to the side, my goodness, it's a STARBUCKS!
A Desert Starbucks!

And this gives me the opportunity to show off one of my Christmas gifts from my fabulous daughter-in-law, who makes the best tall non-fat decaf latte in Starbucksland. My own personalized Starbucks giftcard.

This little town is less tourist oriented than Quartzsite and has some lovely little neighborhoods with color. ;-)

I may have found spring here in Parker, Arizona! Where will I find the next trace? Here was my last little surprise of the day as I returned to Quartzsite.

It must be a promise of spring.

Today was a good day.

Quartzsite for the RV Tourist

We can "sleep in" here and still get up in time to get photos of the sunrise. Here are a couple of pictures of this morning's dawn.

The light early in the day or late in the afternoon is so appealing, and yet it changes every day so it has that element of surprise too.

Over in the northwest, the morning had this misty look.

We drove into town to see some of the huge flea market that is unrolled for the benefit of RV tourists.

Row after row, street after street of vendors.

Merchandise and fast food of every conceivable variety. Quartzsite is an area rich in semi-precious gemstones and has been a rockhound's paradise for many years. The tourist events in January and February began as a gem show whose attendees often brought RV's since the little town of 2000 really didn't have accommodations for visitors.

To say that the gem show grew would be the understatement of all time. It literally exploded, attracting vendors of all sorts who saw an opportunity to soak up a little winter sunshine while turning a tidy profit hawking to the folks who attended the show. And for RVers who didn't mind boondocking on the abundant BLM land surrounding the little town, Quartzsite became a winter destination, many staying here for several months. Many, like me, are not particularly interested in the gem show. This week, probably Quartzsite's biggest week with both a big RV show and the big gem show, there are an estimated 250,000 RVers camped in and around the town. And over the season, that number will total about a million. Quartzsite itself has grown too, from 2000 people to, now, over 3000. :-)

Chorro and I browsed. One never knows when or where that one thing that life will not be complete without will appear. But it didn't happen today.

He met lots of interesting dogs. We are especially happy that dogs are welcome almost everywhere here.

Some really had the transportation issue handled!

We returned to our campsite in time to see the most remarkable Arizona sky at sunset.

What a beautiful ending. Today was a good day.