Now in Quartzsite, Ar.

We are now in Quartzsite, AR. the Rock Hound capital of the world. This town of about 2000 swells to over a million in January and February when the town host a Gem show that also turns into an RV show of new RV's and accessories. This is also a gathering spot during those months for RVers from all over the USA that want to get away from the cold winter weather.

There are thousands of acres of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land where the majority of the RVer's stay. There is no electric or water so you must have solar power, and or generator, plus enough water to last as long as possible so you don't have to pack up and go for water. We are here for six days.

Most of the people have left for home, and the rest must be gone from BLM land by April 15th which is the end of their winter season.

It is 75 degrees with a nice breeze but the next few days are suppose to hit the high 90's. At least it gets cool at night.

We found our spot.

Here we are in the middle of the desert.

Riding off the beaten path.

Back in town, there's a dealer that sells only classic cars.

Day Trip to Chiricahua National Monument

Our trip took us through the town of Tombstone, Arizona. We have been here in past years but decided to stop for a quick look around. The streets were lacking people, I would guess we saw about two dozen people milling around. It was early and it's not the tourist season yet so things are a little slow for the gun slingers.

OK Corral
Main Street (not high noon)

We didn't stay long in Tombstone because we had a long ride ahead of us so we just walked around for a while and continued on.

Back on the rode, we saw a lot of Dead trees that were perfectly preserved like the one below.

Ranch along the road.

After about a two hour drive across some wasteland before we finally got to the Chiricahau (pronounced cherrry-cow-ah) National Monument. The road through the park was lined with a lot of trees that obstructed the view of the rock formations and HooDoos. This would have made it difficult to get some pictures if we had been in a car but we had the top down on the Jeep so Joyce was able to get some good pictures by standing on the seat.

It was a bit spooky driving along with some of these formations balanced over our heads.

View of the Canyon below

Balanced Rocks

Hoodoos

Saturday - Sunday Events

I woke up at 6:00 AM figuring that we would get an early start for New Mexico but instead I woke to an attack of Kidney Stone pain. I have had this problem in past years and it wasn't fun. I had been passing blood for a couple of days so I knew what was coming.

Well, I was about to have Joyce run me to the ER for pain meds, when the stone must have moved. The pain has stopped for now and the blood is gone. Keeping my fingers crossed. We were on our way by 10:00 AM.

Had to do a pit stop at the rest area for the dog, but Joyce refused to take poor Mac out, I can't understand why not!!!!

Giant Rode Runner along the highway.

Heading for Hidden Valley Ranch Campground in Deming, NM. The problem is it is located 8 miles down a dry dirt road and in totally desolate area.

Wasn't sure if we would ever get here but arrived in a cloud of dust and a hardy "Hi Ho Silver". You wouldn't believe the dust cover on the Jeep and motorhome!

This was the biggest Jack rabbit I have ever seen, when he stood up he was almost as big as Mac. There were Jack rabbits and Rode Runners everywhere.

The view from our window at our site.

We wanted to go hiking to see if we could find some gem rocks. We were told there were some in the area. There were also a lot of rattlesnakes in this area so Joyce was kind enough to let me go first and blaze a trail, I have to admit that she did excellent considering her fear of snakes.

No, we did not see any snakes or find any really good rocks, except for the one that Joyce is sitting on below.

I'm sure there are indians here somewhere.
Check out the Petroglyphs on the rock!

Close-up shot.

Nice Western scene!

We met some really nice people at the campground after we came back from our rock / snake hunt. The women chatted till well after sun down.

Had a late dinner and turned in for an early start in the morning. Hope we can find somewhere to wash the motorhome. Got on the rode by 9:30 AM.

We are here!

Finally found a car wash that I could get the RV in.
We are now camped at San Pedro Resort in Benson, Ar.

Seeing the Sights in El Paso

We were on a mountain road and viewed the Border Bridge in El Paso and want to get a closer look so we went to town.

Border Bridge.

Local shopping at the Border
Main Street

The Border Bridge

Our stop for brunch.

Two eggs, potatoes, refried beans, on floured tortillas topped with red chile sauce.

I found a bakery (love the GPS) and purchased some goodies, problem is I was so wide eyed with the bakery goods that I forgot to get the names of each of them.

All with powdered sugar coating, mmmm!

Took a ride to the US Border Patrol Musuem, amazing what some people will do to get into the USA.

Homemade Motorcycles

Boat made from two truck hoods welded together.

This boat carried 16 Cubans to our shores. Steel frame wrapped in a taupe.

Went off the beaten path and took a ride down a back road that turned into desert, so we did some mild off-road stuff.

OH! OH!, Did I take a wrong turn?

Time to leave