Can't believe it's been 7 months since my last post! I am a bad, bad blogger.

As usual, we have been busy traveling. January and February were spent in the desert with friends. April and May we took a two week cruise to Mexico, Guatemala, Cost Rica, Panama and Columbia. Followed by a week in Kissimmee Florida doing the whole tourist thing. And finally, June was our family camping trip to Coos Bay Oregon.

For those of you not knowledgeable about our neck of the woods, Paradise is usually cold and wet (90 + inches of rain) in the winter. The winters play havoc with my arthritis so whenever possible we try to spend some time during the cold months in the desert where it's sunny and warm and my poor joints can thaw out. This year our friends Lon  and  Brenda (with Sadie the dog) and Dave and  Nancy (with Emme the cat) traveled with us through Nevada and Arizona. It was a jammed packed couple of weeks!

Our first real stop was Las Vegas where we camped at KOA Circus Circus. We saw all the sites, ate way too much food and dropped a few bucks along the way. We even saw Elvis (NOT!) Vegas is a great place to visit even if you don't gamble.

 

Next stop - Oatman, Arizona.



This tiny town is a must see for fans of the old west. Located on Old Route 66, Oatman is a great day trip. The drive is tortuous on the old, winding, rough road, but it's worth seeing the gorgeous rugged screnery. Oatman is a former mining town in the Black Mountains of Mohave County, Arizona, United States. Located at an  evation of 2,710 feet, it began as a tent camp soon after two prospectors struck a $10 million gold find in 1915, though the area had been already settled for a number of years. Oatman's population grew to more than 3,500 in the course of a year. Today, Oatman's population is aorund 100.

This was one of the funnest days of the whole trip.   Burrows roam free in the town and as you go from shop to shop you'll be trailed by the friendly burrows who are hoping for a hand out. In the photo to the right I am not sure who the jackass is.

While we were in Oatman we all dressed up in period appropriate clothes for a fun photo. Trying to cinch myself into a saloon girl's outfit gave me a new appreciation for the perils of being a "working girl."

With Oatman in our rearview mirror we're off to Quartsite, Arizona

Quartzsite is a popular RV camping area for winter visitors. The Town of Quartsite has a year round population of 3,354 people. In winter the town becomes home to thousands and thousands of snowbirds and RVers looking for a warm place to spend the winter. The RVers create a temporary community out in the middle of the desert. For just $180, you can park your RV out in the BLM land for up to 7 months.

Quartsite hosts nine major gem, mineral, and 15 general swap meet shows are very popular tourist attractions. Longtime Quartzsite visitors say that if something's for sale in the U.S., you can find it at Quarsite. The area provides access to thousands of miles quad and motorcycle trails. Just a few miles away are the Imperial Sand Dunes, the largest mass of sand dunes in California. This dune system extends for more than 40 miles. Also nearby is Opal Hill Mine which is actively producing fire agates. Rock hounders frequent the mine for it's gem-quality stones. The mine is privately owned but open to the public for a small collecting fee.

Quarsite is connected to one of the most interesting military experiments of the American West. It involved 77 camels and a Syrian named Hdaji Ali. He's remembered today at a pyramid shaped monument in the Quartsite cemetary.