Quartzsite Sights

 We are in Quartzsite and we were digging for gold until the rain came.  It poured and even hailed but the hail was clear not the usual white stuff that looks like snow.   So the dirt is too wet to run through our drywasher.  We have been doing some metal detecting but no luck there unless lead is worth something.  

We have been doing some trail riding for something to do.  I thought the turtle in the picture was a big rock in the road and drove over it.  Luckily I didn't hurt it.  We decided to move it off the road so the next person didn't hit it.  Its tricky moving desert tortoises because they have a water bladder that they store water in and that's how they survive in the desert.  If they are threatened they will dump their water which they might not be able to replace fast enough so they could die.  I moved the turtle off the road holding it very close to the ground.  The turtle made it without losing its water.  We're not sure where it wanted to go but hopefully its on its way.  

We also stopped to look at this medicine wheel that a group had made out in the middle of the desert.  It's just rocks piled into the shape of a spoked wheel.  It was well done and had some pretty quartz rock in the middle.

 

Grand Canyon Railroad

When we were in Williams we stayed at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park.  It's part of a big complex including a hotel and restaurant as well as the RV park.  The park is very nice with paved streets and long pull through, level, paved sites.  We were tired of our gravel, muddy clay site that we had for the summer.   If you stay here you get a discount to ride the train to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  It is a very popular ride and seems to have lots of riders everyday not just weekends.  Some people had luggage being stowed on the train we figure they take the train and spend the night at a hotel at the Grand Canyon and then come back the next day.  You leave Williams around 9-9:30 and come back around 6pm so its a long day.  Everyone packs a backpack and we also saw coolers being loaded so they must have a picnic while there. 

Its fun to see the train unload and all the families with small children having to carry them back to the RV park.  The kids get pretty worn out from the long day .  Although the adults look pretty worn out as well.  We haven't taken the train but if we were asked to go with friends we probably would give it a try.  The pictures are of the old steam engine train.  They run a regular diesel locomotive and passenger cars nowadays but on holidays they do still have the steam engine going.