Meep! Meep! Finally saw a Roadrunner!

We are nestled at the edge of the camp parking area, beside the desert, in our own private oasis with wind block tree, saguaro cacti and mountains fit for the sun to drop behind each evening. Quartzsite is a crazy place well known by the RVers who winter here for $180.00 for the season. There are thousands of motor homes and trailers parked across the miles of desert land. Many areas look like crowded suburbs but we sought out a quiet, less populated area.

The actual town of Quartzsite is small with only a hand full of gas stations, small food markets and   restaurants, a library and a post office. During the winter season however, there are large tent shows that bring in vendors and antiques aka junk-floggers galore! Currently, there is a week long RV Show featured which switches to a Classic Car Show which is followed by a Hobby, Craft & Gem Show. These exhibitions draw in the crowds!

I have never seen such a huge collection of sunhats including all shapes and sizes of ball caps; paisley, animal-print, plaid, camouflage, floral, tie dye; speciality fabric extra wide sun bonnets;genuine and fake cowboy and Tilley hats; hippie and biker bandannas; military inspired headgear and funky artsy-crafty oddities. With the hats, come the dogs. The number of small dogs per square foot here is astronomical. Although a few of these mini canines actually walk on their own four feet, most of them are carried: balanced in the crook of an elbow, popping out of a handwoven basket, sprawling their paws through the openings of  infant snugly carriers or riding regally in baby strollers. Many of these dogs come in pairs or triplets and are often decked out in sport shirts, bandannas and collars matching the fashion style of their "parents".

We purchased three really cool things here, a "Waterboy" 60 gallon water container and pump to supplement our supply of H2O in dry camping situations; a flagpole and Canadian flag to show off our national pride and easily find CC in off-road campsites and a new easy-breezy braking-towing system for our toad.

On our daily desert hikes we did a lot of rock hunting, cactus spotting, especially enjoying the iconic "Saguaro" cowboy cactus and avoiding the sharp needles of "jumping" cholla alias teddy bear cacti.  Nature hunting; we've seen a coyote skull, a jack rabbit, a roadrunner, Gila woodpeckers, a dehydrated tortoise, some little lizards and many antelope ground squirrels. Daily temperatures range from 65-80 F.degrees. We even witnessed a desert rain and rainbow. For 24 hours afterwards, the air was filled with a pungent odour emitted from the many creosote bushes across the desert floor.

Ten weeks after breaking my metatarsals, I put my foot into the hiking shoe in which the fractures occurred. Foot and shoe carried on a long and nasty discussion wherein neither would accept any responsibility for the broken foot but they did agree to blame the brain. I hiked a good distance in the shoes and I'm happy to report that the foot feels good and no longer looks like a puffy roasted marshmallow at the end of the day.

Despite the madness of shopping vendors, ATV and dirt bike trail riders, hordes of RVers crowded together with their rigs circled around the fire like the covered wagons of old and the eerie nightly howling competitions of nearby coyotes,we had a delightful week relaxing. We watched a unique sunset each evening followed by a campfire under the star-dome, whose feature this week, was a lustrous new crescent moon.