Oxbow BLM Recreation Area

January 21, 2021.  Our next stop was right on the Colorado River just south of Palo Verde, CA. It was also directly across the river from the Cibola Wildlife Refuge.  Both Cibola and Oxbow are technically in AZ but we had to go through CA to get there.  We think we were on federal property but we were a bit worried because CA has closed all of its campgrounds.  We finally decided that if anyone challenged our right to be there we would ask them to prove jurisdiction!  No one did for the four days we stayed there.  It was a very nice spot and we were glad to be near water again after so long in the dry dry dry desert.  We were boondocked directly across the river from an informal campground called “Hippie Hole” which was packed.  There was nobody where we were and we were exceedingly grateful to be across the river from the masses.

We enjoyed hearing water birds again, owls and coyotes but we must’ve parked next to a mouse factory.  One night they kept us up all night with their scritching noises.  It was like a cartoon, with all the meeses coming out at night to party down.  We caught four of them in our live trap and escorted them off the premises.  Haven’t heard from them since!