Quartzsite AZ, and the week in review

Bernie and Marsha camped next to us at Cotton Lane on Saturday the 22nd, had a good time just sitting out in the sun, and having supper together. Sunday morning they packed up and moved on to Quartzsite AZ.








I have wanted to see Quartzsite for years..this is a town out in the middle of nowhere. this is a TDS TELECOM site that I took calls for while working in Winsted  while I worked for TDS (telephone data systems). Population goes from 3,000 to well over 1 million over winer, I would like access to their main frame, just to see what it looks like compaired to Winsted's..don't think I could understand the modern technology anymore !!

Main problems with Quartzsite:
TOO many RV's..
TOO many people
2 Stop lights in town
Thousands of people and cars
RV's parked for miles out of town in the dessert
Think of the MN State Fair X 100

This is NOT for me !!!

Today, Tuesday, they have the water shut off for line repair right next to us...how many men (I'm counting 5 or 6) does it take to fix a water leak ??? Believe me, this would never work in Minnesota..think Wally & Mick at Codger's Cove.
Wally is helping Randy fix some auto problem today, hope he brings home left-overs..June and I had girls day out last Tuesday..now it is their turn.
Weather is great..70 today, cooling off into the 40's overnight.







Ghost Towns and Gold Mines

Road trip time with Bernie and Marsha......picked them up this moring in Mesa. They knew of a ghost town out of Apache Juction, right at the foothills of the Superstition mountain..home of the famous "Lost Dutchman" mine, about which much has been written.

Goldfield was a town back in 1892 when they discovered millions of tons of gold ore. At one time the town had 5,000 people with 50 working mines in the district.

The buildings you see today are all re-creations, supposedly built on the original foundations. After 5 years, the ore vein was played out, and everyone left.  5 years later, with new technology, the town again had a boom time, but that did not last long either. It was fun just to walk around through the buildings and learn some local history.  stopped for lunch at the saloon !!







All right...let me OUT !!!







Too much Arizona sun!! must have been before sunscreen was invented.









One of the most beautiful and tallest  cactus I have ever seen !!





Superstition Mountain

 We also drove over to a campground right at the base of the mountain...talk about a beautiful back yard !!!

South Mountain

I can not believe this is our 3rd winter here, and have never heard of South Mountain..it is just south of Phoenix, what a beautiful dirve..

  Elevation goes from 930 feet, to 2330 feet at the top

From this point, you can see Phoenix, Mesa, Apache Junction, Scottsdale and all 3 mountain ranges that surround us. there was alot of smog, so the pictures are not real clear.

The road just keeps going up from here

They even have restrooms !!!



Good Year blimp haniging over the valley



Para sailing over the valley

Met lots of bikers on the way, including Bob from Mapleton MN

Estralla Mountain and Star Tower

Decided it was finally time to test my knee, and try some hiking again. We did the Estrella Mountain regional Park, this was part of Mexico until 1853. the park covers 19,840 acres

Selected an "Easy Hike" mostly flat good surface 3 miles in length..I made it in 1 1/2 miles and turned around...duh..1 1/2 miles in and 1 1/2 miles out equals 3 miles..WHY did I not go the entire way, it was 3 miles either way !! ( I didn't have my hiking boots on...)

Star Tower...this is a 50 foot spiral tower built as a star observatory, built on the spiral to resemble the shape of the milky way. (Anyone ever hear of Princess Kay of the Milky Way ??) they hold astronomy events at the tower, have a star watching series with "Dr. Sky" a local radio show talk host who specializes in star watching.

View from the top of the Star Tower.

Cotton Lane

Decided I don't have enough exciting things to tell you in a daily blog, so all of you will hve to wait for a weekly update. Pictures today are of the RV park we are in, at least until 01/28, possibly longer. 400 + sites, small by Arizona standards of over 2,000..that is too many people for me !!!  Temp is holding in the upper 60"s during the day, dropping to the 30"s overnight. Mya loves the roadrunners..think they tease her by running while we walk..the neighbor feeds them, and we see them a lot.

This is the main enterance off Van Buren



Pool and Library building






Pool and Hot tub area



This is us on a lazy Suday afternoon..everyone taking a nap.. ZZZZ



As you can see from the above picture..we really are out in the open..this does not show the mountains behind us..actually on 3 sides of us.  I saw 5 coyotes the other morning about 8:15 while I had Moko out..they have warned us about walking the dogs after dark.. We have spent the last week visiting old friends..drove up to Pioneer Park, where we spent the last 2 winters.  The house has been moved out, all that is left is the palm tree in the front, and the grapefruit tree in the back..glad there were a few grapefruit left for us !! Sad to see..but I was happy to touch base with old friends we made there.



My favorite house in Cotton Lane...you would never know it is a double wide mobile home, love the stucco and territorial beams in the roof !! This is Arizona..



Goodyear AZ

Goodyear AZ....In 1912, Goodyear Tire and Rubber purchased 16,000 acres here, with the intention of growing cotton for their tire cords in airplanes during World War I....After the war, the community declined..but cotton is still grown here. I have never seen cotton growing, and can not believe the size of the cotton "Bales"..reminds me of round bailing in MN, but on a much larger scale. Check your car tires for the name "GOODYEAR"

During World War II, Goodyear again became a major manufacturing site, with Goodyear Aircraft employing most of the local people to build the famous "Goodyear Blimps" which we have all seen floating over the football stadiums on super bowl. This is also the home of Luke Airforce Base, which is the largest fighter training base in the world. They have very strict air corridors, training out over the dessert.

This is the famous "Mystery Building"...actually located just behind us. It was built in 1965 as a harness racing track, but since there were no roads from Phoenix coming this far west, it closed in 1967..and has been standing empty for over 40 years. It was used for the movie "No Code of Conduct" in 1997, staring Martin & Charlie Sheen, it is currently owned by the RV park we are in. The neighbors tell us, that before we got here, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) did a raid, using helicopters, dogs and men...rounding up 21 Illegal immigrants, and lots of "Stuff" with a street value of $$$$$$
We have withstood yet another "Arizona Storm front"...thunder, lightening, wind gusts over 48-60 mph..we did get up and pull the slides in..Temp has really cooled off, I can look at the mountains to the north of us and see snow....that is close enough !!!!! sun is out this morning, high today should hit 59*(warmer than it has been)( Grand Canyon had -30*below on New Years Eve), and warming up by weeks end.  Dogs have wonderful places to walk and explore.