A bit of touring today.....

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, Arizona


I was asleep by 8 pm last night and didn’t hear anything until shortly after 6 am this morning. I think I am now rested. If not I don’t think I’ll ever be. My bout with the cold is over, with only a bit of a stuffy nose left. I’ve only had 2 colds in the last 20 years, this one is the second one. Both lasted about a day but that day is full of all the symptoms, shakes, chills, sweats, nausea, headache, fever and exhaustion. After that one day all I have left is a stuffy nose. I wonder if it has something to do with my arthritis. However that is just a ‘wonder’. 

 

Heading west on Courthouse Road....

No real sunrise this morning, the sky is just getting brighter and I think I can see the sun behind the haze. I think it’s haze because the rest of the sky looks cloudless. So I’m not sure just what is hiding the sun. 

 

When we stopped for fuel we noticed this dog. It's a real dog, it eventually laid down but for a long time it just stood absolutely still and didn't move at all.

Not a cold night at all, temps reached about 47F/ 8C with maybe a slight breeze. It promises to be a nice day. It is  now 8: 15 am and the sun has just popped out from whatever it was hiding behind.

 

The town of Quartzsite off in the distance.

 When I opened this curtains this morning I noticed our nearest neighbour has left the area. That leaves only 3 people parking off of this particular road. There are of course numerous roads into this BLM land and like I said before they all connect below the mountains but one would only want to walk or use an ATV to traverse that particular road. The first and second roads have a number of folks camped off of them. The third, fourth and fifth roads have very few folks. In our little area we have two Canadians on the same road.

 

Quite a view at this LTVA (Long Term Visitor Area) in Quartzsite.

Riley rolled out shortly after 8 am this morning. She’s feeling much better, still somewhat stuffy but the other symptoms seem to be easing a lot. I’m sure in a day or two she’ll back to her sweet self. Or at least back to her regular self. We chatted about what to do today, we were late making up this week’s menu and grocery list but also managed to accomplish that this morning as well. I did a quick tidy up of the entire Igloo as it was starting to look a bit like a hovel instead of a place to live. Okay, it wasn’t quite that bad but cleaning is always a good thing. 

 

I didn't realize this type of cactus could grow so tall. Look at it compared to the fence post which is a regular height.

Around 10:30 am we slipped into the Dogsled, let him warm himself up for a run and when we reached the roadway tugged on the left rein and away we went. We headed toward the mountains to the west of us and just kept following the road. Bella (US GPS) took us on a bit of a turn here and turn here before pushing us onto I-10 WEST  where some new black top along the way made for a nice quiet ride. We stopped at a rest area to just stretch and look around. Not much to see though so we didn’t stay long. We stopped to give the Big Dog a drink on the way, the sign advertising diesel fuel at $2.69 per gallon but upon reaching the pumps, which had most handles covered with bags and out of service, the price was $2.60 per gallon. The Big Dog lapped up $75 worth to take us from about 1/4 tank to a full tank. Within a few more miles (about 60 altogether from Saddle Mountain) we reached the little town of Quartzsite, Arizona. It looks pretty spacious from a distance but I think it’s simply that the sun shining off all those RV’s gives one the feeling of an huge population. I’m sure as the winter goes on it will indeed grow rapidly with the Big Tent Event. After that I think it might drop off as quickly as it grew, but I don’t know that for certain. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. 

 

I'm just amazed at the views out here.

We found the LTVA (Long Term Visitor Area) and dropped in for a quick chat with some lovely ladies behind the counter. When I asked the ladies about recycling at the LTVA they told me we can certainly separate our waste for recycling, and that we have a couple of options.  We can leave the cans in a separate bag beside the dumpster so people can collect them and take them on their own to a recycle station and collect the money, put the rest of our trash in the dumpster and/or we can take our things to the local Landfill which will accept all of our recycling including plastic, glass and cans, as well as regular garbage at no charge. I didn’t ask about kitchen waste recycle but I can ask at the Landfill. The nice ladies answered all of our questions, gave us a few pointers and hints, wished us a fantastic day and sent us on our way to have a look around. We managed to find a number of areas that we feel we could stay for a while without being too crowded or over run. We like our space and while we have enjoyed the campgrounds on the way here, we also enjoy not stepping on other folks as we step out the door. We found the dump station, water fill up area, dumpsters and public bathroom. The area looks clean, large and well tended but BUSY. 

 

Would you say it's a dog's life?

We even found the public NO FEE BLM land or at least one or two areas. We took a quick tour around them as well, and found a number of places we’ll enjoy with some privacy. We have made tentative plans for moving to this area between Christmas and New Years but we’ll wait until closer to the time before we actually decide where we’ll go. 

 

See the strip of sunlight on the middle of the mountain?

We didn’t tour the town as it was getting later, already past 1:15  pm and we wanted to head home. The journey home was uneventful and pleasant. We managed to reach Saddle Mountain BLM land by 3:00 pm, and having a debate about a coach that was tucked up against the mountain we passed by the Igloo to see if it was truly the same coach (which I thought it was) or if it was a different coach (Riley’s thoughts) and of course we managed to find the only traffic in the area. A nice fella riding his bicycle towing a trailer with a dog riding on it. Yes a big boxer looking type dog. Sitting there looking around, not overly impressed with the bumps but just taking in the view. We followed them to the end of the road way where we all turned around. The fella and his dog stopped as did we, chatted for a while and found out that he’s a few roads over but looking for a better spot. I think we’ll have a new neighbour tomorrow. The dog is too old to run very far and so he takes her on the trailer when he rides. It’s very cute and the dog doesn’t look overly thrilled but doesn’t complain either. We didn’t catch his name but he’s very friendly and sounds full of energy and enthusiastic. A foot note, it’s a new coach, in a new spot, Miss Riley was correct. 

 

The beginning of the end of the daylight hours...

Back home we whipped up some salads, cheesy garlic bread, spaghetti and sauce. It was truly very good and hit the spot. We were late eating as it was almost 4:30 by the time we actually sat down to eat lunch. I suppose it could be considered the Early Bird Dinner special too, but for us it was simply a late lunch. 

 

Can you see the dust in the sun's rays?

After cleaning up inside I grabbed the camera, headed outside to see the sunset once again behind the mountains. Truly it was wonderful. A little fire for a half hour after dark just to enjoy some of the night air and the smell of creosote as I’ve gathered up some of the dead branches of the nearby creosote  bushes. Truly a nice smell in the crisping night air. 

 

See the hints of red in all those clouds....

After that, inside to edit pics and write my post. Riley doing whatever it is that causes her to make the occasional outburst, so I think maybe it’s a game she’s playing but who knows. I don’t ask, she doesn’t tell. Probably safer that way. 

 

Fire? No, the sunset reflecting off a very shiny, bright motor home across the way.

That’s our day, nothing life altering but we like it. Thanks for dropping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. 

 

So ends the daylight hours here at Saddle Mountain.

Until next time…take care, be safe,

Deb