Rocks, rocks and more rocks!

As we travelled through California we passed many different crops – olives, citrus orchards, grapes, cotton and probably rice. We missed the fires, only saw a bit of smoke in the air. Getting closer to what we were looking for – palm trees, cacti and Joshua trees! We spent a couple of nights in hiway rest stops, noisy but free! Near San Bernadino we set up the “rabbit ears” antenna and picked up 94 channels! Surprised to see so many people sleeping the night in their cars in these rest stops – one had over 20!

cotton field

finally - palm trees

California windmills

 I try to do some of the driving, so far 3 or 4 hours worth. I am not ready to tackle city driving yet though.

We arrived in Quartzsite, Arizona on Oct. 29, usually we would dry camp in the desert but it was 31C so we opted for an RV park, for the A/C and a chance to do laundry (in the coach – these machines are nicer than the ones at home!). No trees to speak of, gravel everywhere but nice big sites and decent WiFi. And amazing sunsets!

watching Global Edmonton on our fancy TV

not fancy, but "home"

someone here sure likes birdhouses!

shopping in Quartzsite

rocks cut into slabs

amazing amethyst

pretty paperweights

Arizona petrified wood

We had heard of the Quartzsite Rock & Gem club from fellow club members in Edmonton (we belong to the Edmonton club), we checked them out online and discovered that they do weekly rockhounding fieldtrips. Great! We have joined them on two trips and have gone out with some folks we met here on another trip. We must admit that we are rock hoarders – we have a hard time leaving behind good specimens. Our rock collection has grown, lots of porcelain jasper, red, yellow and green jasper, chalcedony roses, fire agate, hematite and green banded rhyolite – all of which can be cut into ¼” slabs then shaped and polished to create beautiful pendants and other jewelry. Luckily we don’t need to take the rocks on a Mexican vacation – the manager here has agreed to let us leave them here until our return in March. We are now seriously considering that staying in this area for a winter would prove enjoyable, maybe next year – then we could see this town of 3000 increase to over a million “crazy” folks that come here for the Rock & RV shows in January and February! We could even set up at the regular craft fairs and sell our wares, as we do in Edmonton in the summer.

Porcelain jasper, the raw rock, a slab and some polished pieces

a tarantula

our newfound rockhounding friends

Arizona desert

red and green jasper

We remain in Quartzsite but are leaving tomorrow, heading to Yuma for a few days before we cross into Mexico. Need to stock up on a few things and change out a bunch of our lights in the RV – there are 60 lights inside this thing! Need LEDs to save power and make it brighter as we are old and need better light!

So far our trip has been good, we love the new motorhome, lots of space and very comfortable. We won’t have the same level of luxury once we get into Mexico but the ocean makes up for that. We will cross at Mexicali and aim for Gongzaga Bay, for a nice long beach stay. Next update once we find internet, probably a few weeks from now.