Metal Detecting by Quartzite

I'm still learning how to take pictures from my new smartphone and put them on my computer.  Somehow these pictures turned into little videos.  I hope they work if you click on them.  We had a great Thanksgiving with friends we worked with at the Imperial Wildlife Refuge and are all staying in Yuma this winter.  We bought a big Weber grill so I could cook a turkey on the grill like I used to do.  It turned out good and we had quite a feast. 

We had to drive up to Quartzsite for some gold mining supplies so we decided to do some metal detecting along the way.  When you get close to Quartzsite there are lots of open camping areas that you can hike, drive a 4-wheeler, metal detect, gold prospect, etc.  We didn't find anything but its nice to get out and hike around the desert.  It was a very nice day but it did get a little hot -- close to  90 degrees.  It's supposed to start cooling down and by next weekend be in the 60's. 

Having a View

Our friends are renting a lot close to us.  We worked with them at the Imperial Wildlife Refuge and have stayed friends because they keep coming back to Yuma for the winters.   The lot they are on has a building with a room for gathering.  It has a large tv and some seating.  It also has a bathroom and washer and dryer.  Jim is very jealous of the dryer since he has to hang all of our clothes on our clothes line.  What is really neat about the building on their lot is that it has a rooftop seating area.  You go up spiral metal stairs to the top. 

The view over all the lots here in the foothills is very nice.  You can see a virtual sea of RVs, homes and park model type homes.  The view west at sunset is great especially when there are clouds full of dust to pick up the color.  The view west is also over the open desert so even though we are in a little subdivision it doesn't feel overly crowded. 

Creepy Crawlers

Had to get a new hard drive for my computer so I had it in to the Geek Squad for a few days.  The camera is also having issues so its in being fixed -- maybe-- it may be too old.  My WIFI hotspot died so I thought I would get a smartphone with hotspot already in it.  Now I'm using my phone for pictures and can use it for WIFI.  It was lucky I had the phone or I would have missed taking a picture of Mr. Tarantula.  I was sitting outside on the patio and he came crawling right toward me. 
He went under the 5th wheel and tried to hide but Jim hit him with the water hose.  He came out from underneath so I captured him in a coffee can.  I took him down the road to the open desert and let him go. I guess its migration time for the tarantulas.  They aren't poisonous and they don't bite but they can jump at least six feet and they can fling tiny hairs on their back that are irritating.  They don't  creep me out so much anymore.

We have had a few beautiful sunsets and sunrises.  Its cooling off a bit.  Its only in the 80's now.  We are trying to find a little gold and have had a little bit of luck.  After last year and the dirt being too wet we have decided to dig like mad while we can.  It usually rains sometime in December -- just enough to make the ground too wet to use a dry washer. 

Quartzsite Gold Mining History

Miners have been working the area in and around Quartzsite for a very long time.  Every time we go hiking around in the desert here we find old mines and holes in the ground.  Most of these were dug long ago.  Its very difficult to get a permit these days that allows mining with heavy equipment.  We've been gold mining on some claims that the local metal detector club has.  Once you join you have access to the claims.  We've had fun and found about $10.00 worth of gold.  We don't work very hard so that's all we got. 

We have seen local folks with nice nuggets they found.  If you want to find more gold you need to dig down and in this area that means at least a four to twelve foot hole.  That's a lot of work and we aren't ever here long enough to try it. 

We are headed to Yuma now and will be trying our luck there this winter for a little bit of the yellow stuff.  Its something to do but we'll never get rich!

The Quartzsite area

We are spending some time in Quartzsite, Arizona.  The weather is perfect right now.  It gets in the 80's maybe 90's during the day and 50's at night.  We've been out hiking checking out some back country.  There was a nice rain this summer and you can still see some of the growth from a little rain.   Normally this time of year it looks very brown but there is actually some green grass and green leaves on the ocotillo bushes.  I had to take a picture of the vultures.  It looked like part of a migration there were so many vultures in the air. 

Its very quiet in Quartzsite this time of year.  So we enjoy checking out the area.  Once all the snowbirds get down the desert will be full of 4-wheelers and the dust will be swirling in the air. When the "big tent" show happens in January there won't be a bare spot of desert because it will be covered with an RV.  Everyone comes and camps out in the desert (dry camping) -- no hookups for water, sewer and electric.  They live using their generators or solar for electricity and fill up their fresh water tank.  When its time to dump all the waste they have to drive the rig to a dump station.  No thanks we like staying in parks with full hookups. 

Valley of Fire State Park

I was able to take a few pictures when we went through the Valley of Fire State Park by Lake Mead.  This was the scenic route we took to avoid going through Vegas.  Its a beautiful drive (in a car) -- you can see how the road just disappears going up and down and around these impressive rock features.  There were a bunch of Japanese tourists going through the park when we were.  When we stopped to do the self pay thing at the entrance they gathered around our RV.  I think I could have charged money for tours inside if we would have had the time. 

Of course I got these few pictures and then the camera decided not to continue working.  So when we got to the Lake Mead Rec Area and tried taking pictures of more gorgeous rock features no luck.

We are enjoying our time in Quartzsite not working too hard at gold prospecting just kicking back and relaxing mostly.

Heading South Fast

We headed south as fast as we could with the threat of snow in the high country.  We stopped at a rest area north of Ely, Nevada.  Its called the Pony Express station rest area.  It was a stop along the famous Pony Express route.   The rider looks like he's trying to beat the snow coming just like us.  When we got south of Ely and at a much lower elevation we were back in warm weather.  Las Vegas is full of road construction and heavy traffic.  We opted to go the long way around by going through a state park and the Lake Mead Recreation Area.  It was an extra hour of driving and the road in the state park was not fun pulling an RV but we didn't have any traffic or road construction.  We met people later that went through Vegas and said they missed their exit because of poor signage with the construction and spent an extra hour on the road.

We enjoyed some time in Kingman, Arizona.  The weather was perfect -- 70's and 80's.  We went and picked up our boat out of storage.  It survived nicely and Jim already has the batteries charged up.  We are now in Quartzsite, Arizona where it is still in the high 90's.  We are enjoying doing a little gold prospecting -- early in the AM while it is still cool.