Archive for Roadtrips
January 14, 2008 at 9:43 pm · Filed under Roadtrips
In my quest to find the lesser-known Quartzsite, I have been picking the brains of people who have been coming here for years.
One person told me of “Patton’s tanks”. Apparently southern California and parts of western Arizona were used by General Patton to train soldiers the skills of desert warfare with tanks, in the WW II era. I picked up Mike, Tracy, and Jim and we headed up the Plomosa Road to see if we could find them.
We were thinking we’d find a rusting old hulk of a tank abandoned in the desert somewhere, but the only ones we spotted were on display in the center of the little town of Bouse, about 20 miles from Quartzite to the northeast. There are a few plaques there commemorating the heroic exploits of the 739th tank battalion, the 554th ordnance heavy maintenance company (tank mechanics), the 701st tank battalion, the 740th tank battalion, and other companies organized out of Camp Bouse. No mention of Patton at all.
The drive over wasn’t a waste at all. The history of these tank battalions was interesting (lots of action in Europe during WWII), and Plomosa Rd from Rt 95 to Bouse reveals a lot of great boondocking spots. This is a boondocker’s paradise, in fact, if you want to get away from crowds. Nearly all of it is BLM land with free camping for up to 14 days, and there are primitive roads that will get you into some very secluded and lovely desert spots.
Along the way we spotted these rocks with natural “windows” eroded into them by the wind. Mike and I couldn’t resist, so we pulled over and hiked about 1/4 mile to them, then climbed to the top and cooled off in the strong breeze through the window.
The “window”; Mike lays in the window to take a photo
Back in Quartzsite, Mike showed me a hidden neighborhood where people have been creating “glass gardens”. The owners of the houses weren’t home, so I couldn’t ask how they got started. Several of these gardens exist in Quartzsite, and you might find one if you hunt around carefully.
People are doing all sorts of things here, but you’ve got to look beyond the many flea markets and swap meets to find them. For example, I keep seeing these crazy dune buggy enthusiasts on- and off-road. They look like something out of the movie “Mad Max” and they seem to be having a lot of fun.
I also browsed yet another flea market in the afternoon. No doubt about it, this is an off year. Everyone’s business is slow. The question is whether this is a fluke caused by the recent spikes in fuel prices, or a trend? There’s evidence that it’s a trend caused by some political and economic changes happening in Quartzsite, but it’s too soon to be sure.
My last stop this evening was over at Jim’s place. He invited over a few other Airstreamers for pad thai, which means I got another interview in addition to a free dinner. (By the way, the Trader Joe’s pad thai dinner is darned good.)
The other Airstream guests have been coming to Quartzsite for 13 years, so they had some good information for me about how this place is changing. I hope to catch up with them at their trailer tomorrow to get pictures of them in it. They’ll make interesting photographic subjects — that’s all I’ll say.
I think I have almost all the material I need for my article. One more day of research ought to do it. I’ve got a couple of appointments on Tuesday, and then I’ll head out on Wednesday.
Solar report: at 8 a.m., batteries were -68 amps. At 4 p.m. power was – 35 amps, for a net gain of 33 amps today. That’s a little less than yesterday despite equally sunny skies, because I used some power during the day for the laptop. Still, I’m about holding steady. I can have a blow-out night tomorrow, with lots of lights and web surfing if I want to, since I’m leaving on Wednesday anyway.
January 12, 2008 at 5:09 pm · Filed under Roadtrips
I have discovered that Quartzsite has its own pace, and it is slow. People drive slowly. They walk slowly. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because they savor what there is to see. But I have had to adapt to this, since it is not my usual mode to move slowly.
In Quartzsite itself, there is not much. The town is dominated by a series of permanent flea markets, including one called “The Big Event”, and several satellite markets. These are motley collections of tents and a few permanent structures, filled with whatever vendors go along with various “shows”: rocks & minerals at Tyson Wells, more rocks at Desert Gardens, “stuff” at The Main Event, etc. To explore all of them, you must be patient. It literally will take days to walk all of the possible flea markets. This seems to be a primary activity for the people who are here.
The town also features all the things that RV’ers on a budget tend to value: truck-stop-type gas stations, a zillion barbecue restaurants, discount groceries (several run from tents), RV supplies, propane tools, and all the usual types of fairground snack foods. Once you’ve seen that, you have to dig a bit to figure out what to do.
I drove around a little to see what else was in the area. I found seemingly endless expanses of RVs spread out across the desert in LTVAs and other unmanaged desert areas. They go for miles in every direction. I was more than five miles outside Quartzsite’s official boundary on Rt 95 before I saw desert without little white dots of RVs.
Quartzsite is near several pretty mountain ranges. The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is not far away, and it has a lot of dirt and 4WD roads the bring you to tinajas, canyons, historic sites, and hikes. Bighorn sheep live up in the mountains too. I took a 7-mile washboard dirt road into Kofa because it led to the only palm canyon in all of Arizona — and I couldn’t miss that.
The hike to see the palms is only about 1/2 mile, but it is moderately steep. The views from the canyon of the desert floor are worth the trip alone, but with the prospects of bighorn sheep and a palm oasis, I felt the hike was a must-do. Unfortunately, no bighorns today.
It has been unusually quiet at Quartzsite this year, say the vendors. They are blaming $3/gallon gasoline. Hardly anyone seems to be selling much. But there are still thousands of RVs here (although they are hard to spot since they are so widely scattered), so there may be more to it than just expensive fuel.
Adapting to the leisure life, I am beginning to see how people fill up their days here. I filled my propane tank this morning and did a little grocery shopping. Then I drove out to Kofa and hiked for a while. Then a trip to the post office, some browsing of flea markets, and before you know it, it’s 4 p.m. and the sun is beginning to settle down to the west. Time to fire up a few burgers before it gets cold, and then retreat inside with a book, a friend, or TV for the evening. That’s the pace of Quartzsite.
Solar power report: at 9 a.m. batteries were at -58 amps. At 4 p.m. we had gained 29 amps, for a net of -29 amps. I did better on solar gain today because I didn’t use much power during the day. Yesterday I worked on the laptop for five hours, which dinged my overall gain for the day, and I forgot to account for that when I was figuring my power budget. Today it was less sunny (some thin cirrus clouds) and yet I got 4 net amps more.
January 11, 2008 at 8:00 pm · Filed under Places to go, Roadtrips
Quartzsite is working out, so far. There’s not much nightlife, which is to say, there’s virtually none. I’ve been told that some restaurants close down at 7 p.m. because everyone eats early. So last night I hung out at Jim Breitinger’s trailer over in the flea market area. Jim is a full-time Airstreamer who travels around selling meteorites, jewelry, and rocks. (We last saw him in Denver, and previously in Vermont.)
A few of the other rock dealers came over for dinner. On the right in this photo (with the lanyard around his neck) is Jose, who sold Emma a meteorite back in Denver last fall. The people who travel around selling beads, rock, jewelry, gems, and other things always have interesting stories to tell, so it was a pretty lively night.
Sleeping here in La Posa West LTVA was peaceful. The Interstate is less than a mile away, so it can be heard, but not through closed windows. The only real noise was generators running for a couple of hours starting around sunset. The town of Quartzsite is along the north side of I-10, and the largest LTVAs are along the south side, so there’s no city lights or traffic to speak of over here.
One nice thing about boondocking in the desert is that there’s no problem getting a good position for solar gain. The trailer is oriented so that the curbside gets hit squarely with the early morning sun, which warms the trailer in the morning and lessens my need for the furnace. The solar panels really kick in after 9 a.m. and there’s nothing to obstruct getting the maximum gain all day. If my panels tilted I could generate more power than I need, but since they are flat-mounted I can only get about 25 amp-hours per day, which means I need to watch my power consumption (see solar report below).
View from Q Mountain. La Posa LTVA to the right.
Near La Posa West and the highway frontage road (Kuehn Rd) is “Q Mountain”. It’s a hill with a giant white “Q” painted on it. You can drive up to the base of the hill if you have 4WD and climb it in about five minutes for a nice view of the area. In the photo above, if you follow the torn scrap of flag straight to the right, you can just barely see a speck of silver. That’s me. (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)
There are tons of RVs being sold here, most of which didn’t interest me. But this one did. It’s a Casita knock-off called an “Oliver“. Actually, calling it a knock-off is somewhat unfair. It’s actually a huge improvement. I toured them and was more impressed with it than any other RV I’ve ever seen (barring Airstreams, of course). It has a double-wall insulated fiberglass shell, aluminum frame, big holding tanks, electric levelers, beautiful appointments, and so many bells & whistles I can’t even list them. They cost almost as much as an equivalent length Airstream at about $26k, but my initial impression was that they are worth the price.
Solar report: at 8 a.m., power consumed was 46 amps. At 4 p.m., solar gained was 25 amps, for a net of -21 amps. Given that I had full sun all day, I now know my daily budget. I did a lot of work on the laptop today, so I’ll have to compensate for that drain by keeping the furnace set low. Last night I kept it at 52 degrees, with an extra blanket on the bed, and was comfortable. I can’t wait to get that catalytic heater installed in March!
January 10, 2008 at 6:53 pm · Filed under Roadtrips
All is well. I am mumbling that to myself because my second day back on the road (since we became temporarily housebound) has been very funky.
Last night we pulled into an RV park in Tempe and visited with our friend Brent, who was staying there as well. Apache Blvd in Tempe is a hotspot for Middle Eastern restaurants and markets, and Brent took us to one of his favorites. We love Middle Eastern food (but then, we like almost everything edible). The portions were big enough that we each came home with leftovers. The leftovers reek of garlic and every time I open the refrigerator I am reminded of the meal, but that’s a good memory.
This morning I dropped E&E at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to fly back to Vermont for a family visit. Emma is going to visit with her grandparents and uncles and friends, while I take the Airstream out for my first-ever solo trip. In over two years of traveling in this Airstream I have never taken it camping by myself, so it’s sort of exciting. I’ve been alone in it while they’ve been traveling, but I’ve never gone anywhere.
So after dropping them at the airport, I swung back to the campground, hitched, and pulled out on I-10 heading west to Quartzsite AZ, which is about 100 miles from Phoenix, near Blythe, CA.
Along the road, a truck pulled into the highway and began to spew gravel. A big piece left a nice round 1/2″ divot in my windshield (down low near the wiper blades). I backed off immediately and called the insurance company. By the time I found my next gas stop, I had an appointment to get the glass repaired at our house next week. OK, so that was annoying, but not fatal.
At the gas station, I found myself in one of those tight spots where pulling away from the pump is unexpectedly difficult. This happens at gas stations. I’ve said it many times to friends, the most dangerous place to be with a 30 foot trailer is a gas station. I thought I was going to make it, when I heard a thump, and knew I was screwed.
Or in this case, unscrewed. The left edge of the bumper caught something, and it ripped off the bumper. I found it hanging from the back of the trailer, pivoted to a 45 degree angle rearward, and attached only by two screws at the right side which were acting as hinges.
Well, there’s another first. In over two years of towing this trailer I’ve never clipped anything … but the evidence of the hanging bumper was pretty conspicuous for all to see.
The steel screws stayed, the bumper didn’t.
But once again it was repairable. The bumper itself was undamaged. If you look at it from the top closely you can see it was slightly bent but I’m talking about maybe 1/8″ of an inch, hardly noticeable. The four steel screws holding it on were undamaged. They ripped through the softer aluminum of the bumper, so that essentially the bumper just popped off without anything else being seriously hurt.
The same thing happened to the aluminum cover for the bumper compartment. It is held shut by a pair of spring-loaded clips which are attached to the bumper. They ripped through the aluminum of the cover.
Among my emergency kit I carry a hammer, a wood tapping block, screwdrivers, and some rags. With this, I was able to back out the two screws that formerly held the bumper, tap the bumper back into position, and tighten the screws enough to hold the bumper in place. The top one (pictured) isn’t doing much, but the bottom one is holding it just fine. This will stay long enough for me to get a better repair next week.
There’s also a little narrow scrape along the lower left corner of the Airstream. It looks worse than it is because there’s some plastic embedded on it. This will probably be hard to see once I clean it. It didn’t even dent — just scraped off a little of the clearcoat. And the cable TV/telephone jack cover is cracked. That’s easily replaced. So, I’ll need three parts and a bit of welding on the bumper. Not too bad. As scrapes go, I got off easy.
The final episode of the day occurred upon arrival at Quartzsite. I went to the BLM (Bureau of Land Mgmt) Long Term Visitor Area called La Posa. These LTVAs are basically just spots in the desert with minimal services, administered by the BLM. For $40 I can stay two weeks, but when I went to get my permit I found that I might not be allowed because of the decals on our trailer. Apparently the Federal regulations prohibit vehicles with “advertising” or commercial references on them. This rule even extends to work trucks being used to tow recreational vehicles.
A 30-minute long process began as a result of this, which culminated in the head Ranger talking to me via cell phone and actually loading this weblog to ascertain whether I was “commercial” or not. It was concluded that I was, even though I promised I wasn’t here to sell anything. The solution was to cover up the spots on the trailer where “tour.airstreamlife.com” appears, and also the decal that says “AIRSTREAM LIFE”. The rangers actually drove down to the hardware store and bought the necessary paper and tape to get this done, which was very nice. So now this is what my Airstream looks like:
I am “anonymous” now. You’ll never find me!
By the way, if you want to try the BLM LTVAs here at Quartzite (or other spots in the west), keep in mind it’s sort of the Wild West out here. You’ve got to come prepared. Some of the LTVAs have portable toilets, and all have dumpsters for trash. The dump station is down the street at La Posa South. Otherwise, it is just you and what you brought. In my case, that includes a ton of food, 39 gallons of fresh water, and all the comforts of home. I should be self-sufficient for a week easily, but if I need anything the town is not far.I’ll be here for at least a few days, exploring the seasonal RV phenomenon that occurs here every winter: thousands of RVs congregate and spend months here living cheap among the creosote bushes on Federal land. Half a mile away there is an enormous flea market area which is currently hosting the Tyson Wells Gem & Mineral Show. My plan is to explore the area and find a story for Airstream Life magazine. For the next week or so, you can come along.
December 31, 2007 at 7:41 pm · Filed under Home base, Roadtrips
When I was preparing to leave Denver, Fred gave me directions home: left onto Monaco, right to I-25, left ramp, then right on I-10 and right to Tucson. That’s basically it if you want the fast route, I-25 for about six hundred miles, then I-10 for another 220 miles. Not much chance to see the back roads and “blue highways”, except for one spot where the best route is to cut the corner between I-25 and I-10 on NM-26.
That’s where I found the town of Hatch, which is known as the “chile capital of the world”. I had no idea it was here, but of course a stop was called for. See the chiles on the roof?
Via phone Eleanor put in her order for a bunch of chipotle chiles, which are smoky and fantastic (and are really jalapenos, not chiles). I picked up a quart-sized baggie of them, and I am sure to be rewarded for this minor effort with something really delicious.
Hatch has a chile festival in September that we’d like to attend. I’m not sure if we will be here in September, however. Our long-term planning only extends through August at this point.
At long last I am home again. I’m not sure what constitutes “home”, either Airstream or house. I think it’s really just Eleanor & Emma. In any case, our family is once again reunited. The little Fit is tucked into the carport next to the Airstream and it looks happy to be here too — or at least, it will once I get it to a car wash to remove the gray splatters (souvenirs of the Denver slush).
With all the traveling rush I had forgotten that today is New Year’s Eve. A lot of Airstream friends of ours are up at Picacho Peak State Park (about 40 miles from Tucson). We had planned to be there too, until my Thursday flight got canceled. Instead tonight we will make a fire and eat pizza on the rug of the living room (because there is no furniture), and perhaps watch a movie. It will be a quiet New Year’s Eve, but a memorable one. We are settling into our new house, Emma is seven years old, and never again will this moment happen. It’s good to be home.
December 30, 2007 at 7:48 pm · Filed under Roadtrips
It’s always hard when I have to be dropped at the airport early in the morning. The whole family has to get up in the dark with me. This morning Emma was a sport about being woken up at 6 a.m., but I was less happy about it. Actually, I would have been OK with 6 a.m., but Eleanor mis-read her watch at 4:20 a.m. and woke me up then, thinking that it was nearly time to get up anyway.
That wasn’t the most glorious start, but at least the flight was uneventful and nobody sneezed on me. I may yet survive this flight without a cold. From the jetway, it was three moving walkways, three escalators, and an underground train ride just to get from Concourse B at DIA to the Main Terminal. Huge place, and yet it looks just like every other modern airport in the continental US.
Fred Coldwell met me at the airport. Fred writes the “Old Aluminum” column for Airstream Life magazine, and he also writes the “From The Archives” photo spread that we run every issue. He has been storing our car in his garage since September, so I took him out for lunch before hitting the highway.
Since the lunch was long and included discussion of business (IRS take note), I didn’t get on the road until 1 p.m. Fortunately, the speed limit along most of I-25 is 75 MPH, so the Fit and I were able to make some good time and wound up in Las Vegas NM by 6 p.m. That’s 300 miles from Denver, a reasonable start on my 900 mile roadtrip.
I have been wanting to drive I-25 for a while. It passes through a section of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico that we never visited in the Airstream. As I suspected, from the interstate highway there’s not a lot to be seen (other than a range of mountains to the west all day, and a lot of grassland) but there are a lot of hidden things to investigate on a future trip. The historic Santa Fe trail passes by here, and there’s quite a bit of old railroad history too. Some summer we will check it all out with the Airstream. Right now it’s too cold for me, and there’s snow on the ground, which is my cue to keep heading south.
December 12, 2007 at 6:28 pm · Filed under Roadtrips, Travel / lifestyle musings
I have this strange feeling of turning a corner today. It started when I woke up and realized that I no longer had a sore throat, and the sensation of having been pummeled by a samurai in the recent past was gone. Eleanor and Emma are not fully recovered yet, but I think we are finally getting past that little souvenir of our Hawaiian vacation.
We also got the Airstream washed at long last. The poor thing was starting to look downright abused. There is a 24-hour truck wash near the Spotlight 29 Casino, and although we had to wait nearly an hour, the job was finally done and the aluminum sparkles again. I had forgotten how good the wheels can look when they are shiny. They were lost in a cloud of brake dust smudged with wheel bearing grease.
After the truck wash we pulled the Airstream into the local Albertson’s for grocery restocking. Although there are groceries to be had in Borrego Springs, our next stop, the shopping is better elsewhere.
We picked up the mail at the Post Office in Indio, one box of Business Reply Mail from magazine subscribers, and another box of miscellaneous mail. Despite my best efforts we still get paper mail from various organizations that I don’t care to hear from. I am considering going to a service like Earth Class Mail to eliminate most of the paper before it reaches me. They will scan the envelope and let me simply check off for each piece whether I want it forwarded, recycled, or opened (and the interior pages scanned).
By the way, our last mail pickup will be next week:
Rich Luhr
General Delivery
Borrego Springs, CA 92004
Anything sent to that address must arrive by 12/19. After that, we’ll no longer be full-timers. We’ll be part-time travelers (insert heavy sigh here). We have a few trips planned for January and February, but for the most part we will be parked in Arizona until mid-March. Then we’ll get on the road again for perhaps six months.
So the sensation of turning a corner probably stems from all these “last” activities. Last mail call, last big grocery re-stock, last few nights “¦ The knowledge that our travels are ending, even temporarily, has begun to hang in our subconscious and our daily choices. We bought less at the grocery store because we only need food for another week. We washed the trailer so it will be clean when we store it in the carport. We are picking up things that we would otherwise leave behind; we know they are destined to be unloaded in the house.
But I will not dwell on that prospect. We are in one of our most favorite spots in the world and we have eight days to enjoy it. It was a beautiful drive along the western side of the Salton Sea from Palm Springs to Salton City, with the long blue sea and the reddish mountains framing it.
Once at Salton City, we turned west onto S-22, which leads to Borrego Springs, and I commented to Eleanor that from here on in we’d probably see a lot of great boondocking sites. Just seconds after I said that, we spotted a nice open area with a scattering of picnic shelters and absolutely not a soul around. [Edit: This was a few miles east of the Arroyo Salado Primitive Campground, somewhere in the state OHV area.] We turned off the pavement onto the hard packed desert floor and bumped our way over to the site you see in the photo. It’s the kind of spot that I live for: secluded, quiet, scenic, and still a bit wild. There are no roads, only a few tracks left by ATVs and trucks. We’ll spend a night here and then move to Borrego Springs for a week.
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