28 January 2023: Finally Quartzsite

 

So Tucson was one of those places that is all about the air force and planes.  I cycled past miles and miles of 'dead' airplanes of various shapes and sizes, saw the Prima Air and Space museum (from the outside) and had a squadron of warthog planes fly about 30ft above my head.

Weird bubble plane at the museum

Crazy shaped cargo carrier helicopter

Pimp my ride...

Warthogs

and here they come to die

Our tax $$$ wasting away

The RV park was nothing spectacular.  On the outskirts of Tucson, but the first one I saw that has a roof over the sites and on the roof are solar panels - simple but great idea.  The good part was that there was a open veld next door where I could go walking - cactus are just amazing...

Spot the rabbit...

No idea how the bird can sit in those thorns

Tight

Tucson apparently has the longest cycle path in the world - circles the whole city at 130miles.  I did not do the whole path, but a good part of it. Point of interest - the electric bicycles are now nearly a year old and I am going to clock 1,000 miles this week.

Also saw some really poor neighborhoods - squaters sleeping in open spaces in the veld in tents, caravans - and they all looked like long-term residents.

That is a school in the background.  These people have been here for quite a while.

Took Friday off to get to Quartzsite in time as the big tent RV show ended on Sunday.  Slept over at a casino just outside Phoenix.  Somehow I always see casino's as sad places - unless I am on a winning streak, but was not feeling the juju that night. Parked between all the big rigs - they were probably all gambling inside.Saturday was spent grocery shopping in the morning to stock up for Quartzsite and then it was off on the last 120miles.  

Stopped off at a truck wash and lined up with all the big boys for a good wash to get the salt off from my stint over the mountain.  Nicest thing about the Phoenix area was the decorative overpasses - all desert-like motives.

Lining up with the big boys for a wash

Nice and clean whale - see the wheels!!!

Great graphics on the I10.

After that it was a straight line west - Quartzsite is actually only about 250 miles east of Los Angeles - so I was nearly across America.

Arrived in Q around noon, checked in at the Hi Jolly blm site (blm = Bureau of Land Management - they basically manage huge swaths of federal land and anyone can camp on them for free - or a small fee if they actually have toilets and trash services).  Took a rest and then jumped on the bike to get to the big tent.  It was all as expected - RVs everywhere.  From $2mil versions to clunkers and everything in between. Luckily I had arrived on Saturday, as on Sunday everyone started packing up by about 12 to get out of Dodge.

My first night in Quartzsite, AZ

The number of other RVs boon-docking was amazing

More on Q in the next installment.