First, I need to throw up the pictures from the Arizona riding the hills adventure.
Liz and I before our ride. The stable place offered the use of the hats and chaps. They highly recommended the chaps because of the environment.
Liz's blog had butt shots of me...I got to watch the back of the wrangler. I had the better view. The young man had just taken the wrangling position at Cave Creek. He had just returned from a visit out east with his girlfriend and her family. He said he liked being able to earn a living outside and on horses.
And Liz was the bring up the rear....
It was the sunset ride that we took.
Patrick said that the horses spend their summers up in Idaho taking the summer tourists on rides up there and their winter season down here in Phoenix.
The next morning as I was pulling out was another great balloon launch time. Patrick, the wrangler, said that he figured that was a lucrative venture also.
From the campground in Phoenix Liz and I headed to visit with our friend Sheila, who winters in famous RV wintering location.....Quartzsite, AZ . We both parked at a campground in town and used their laundry. Later in the afternoon we found Sheila's campsite out in the BLM lands. With Liz driving, Sheila gave us a tour of the BLM lands and the town of Quartzsite.
Remember this is still December and the amjority of RV'ers arrive in January and February. We got to see were everyone parks and where all the vendor set up for the great influx. I think Quartzsite might me fun for a week but I am not sure I would want to park a mile out on the BLM for the entire month. When looking at the photos you will need to imagine the additional RVs parked through out the lands. I liked the stones that folks laid out to define their "driveways" and their "lot"lines.
This was a small compound made up of three rigs. Later in January some of the groups that gather have 20-30 rigs in one area....
Car in the road! What road? The tracks of vehicles go every which way leading off towards what have been folks sites. Sheila seemed to know where all the main passages were.
Sheila's home place tucked up under the trees near the wash. There were still rocks left from when Larry, her husband, had decorated the drive back to their site. Sheila said that most folks that return to Quartzsite year after year have their favorite places and try to return to those spaces every year. Different groups are known to gather in the different BLM areas year after year, also.
This area of the BLM seemed to have more rigs with built on attachments.
This one is primarily a utility vehicle with add ons....
And not everyone has an RV.
Come back next month and it won't be this empty. Folks park where ever they want.
Sheila made sure that Liz and I got directions to find the Nudist section...but Liz was driving, the sun was going down and, hey, we hadn't eaten dinner yet......maybe next time.
Sheila and Shadow have a great place. We missed her offered campfire because it was getting late and was already dark by the time the tour and dinner were completed and Liz and I had another full day ahead planned. We made it back out onto the main highway in the dark but only after having driven in and out a couple of times with Sheila's supervision. And though Sheila's place is over a 1/2 mile off into the BLM lands, the drive was pretty straight forward. It is easy to see how someone could get turned around trying to get out after dark from some of the areas.
Anyone driving though Quartzsite this winter better look up Sheila.
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