January 24, 2021.  There was another storm coming in with high winds so we decided to move on and seek shelter at this spa.  This is the first time since Wyoming that we’ve stayed in an RV park and had electricity.  What luxury!  We are treating ourselves to two soaks per day while getting caught up on some chores (laundry, washing truck etc.). We don’t like the lights and it’s noisier than we’re used to, but the hot springs make up for it.  We figure we’ll stay a week and then head north.

There is a pond out front full of tilapia. They love the warm water runoff from the spa. The owner is a bit of a joker though.

Just down the road is a tilapia fish farm. The egrets have it figured out:

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!

January 18, 2021.  The road where we were boondocking is called Palm Canyon Rd.  At the end of the road is Palm Canyon with a trail up the canyon.  This trail is one mile, pretty much straight up and very rocky.  When you get to the end of the trail you can see a huge crevasse with palm trees growing up the crack.  Amazing.  Thus, Palm Canyon.

The sunsets continue to astound.  

We had a huge rain while here, complete with fog.  Fog in the desert is unusual.  When it rains in the desert, the creosote bushes do something.  They some how open up to catch the moisture and in the process they emit the most lovely fragrance.  Not like a flower, but more earthy.  Very nice.

January 14, 2021.  We are boondocking just south of Quartzsite AZ in the Kofa Wildlife Refuge.  We went looking for rocks but, not knowing what we were looking for, we didn’t find much.   It’s like walking into a casino in Vegas: you don’t know which slot machine to try but you know the odds are against you.  Today (1/16) we went into town to the huge rock and gem flea market. We bought a bunch of stuff we probably don’t need but now we kind of know what to look for while out in the desert, so we’ll try again.  Some of the of the crystals we saw at the rock show are absolutely stunning. 

Along with the sunsets. 

About halfway down this five miles of dirt road, someone built a spiral labyrinth. Whoda thunk it?

January 12, 2021. We found a boondock spot at Saddle Mountain BLM where we stayed a couple of days to get groceries and visit the El Dorado Hot Springs in Tonopah AZ. We couldn’t get anyone at El Dorado to answer the phone so we just showed up. We were told that reservations for the private tubs were filled until February (why they don’t feel it necessary to answer the phone, we are guessing). Guy said we could go into the common area but it is nude only.  Not being shy, we went for it.  It was quite nice but cameras were strictly forbidden.  You probably don’t want to see that anyway.  The sunsets were nice though.

January 8, 2021. Painted Rocks is NW of Gila Bend, AZ. It’s near the Gila River but the river is dry.  We have seen and heard lots of coyotes, javelinas and desert hares but, unfortunately, they see us first and we can’t get pictures, crappy or otherwise.  I was riding my bicycle around Aho just for exercise and a coyote walked out of an alley right in front of me!  We did get some crappy pictures of some egrets wintering around an irrigation ditch near the campground. 

The campground sported a pile of the black rock the Indians like to carve.  We thought this one was like the rock carving school, where you go to learn how.
 

But down the road about 40 miles was Sear’s Point where we found some professional rock art (about 7 miles up a nasty dirt road).  

December 25, 2020.  Today we put a roast in the oven and headed out to visit the Saguaro National Forest. We read at the visitor’s center that saguaros can live for 200 years and weigh 7 tons!  These are trees!  

We hiked up a short trail through the cactus to see some petroglyphs. We couldn’t get close to the best of them because it was forbidden. Wherever we go we have signs with lists of forbidden things. In case we wanted to disobey and get a better view, they posted another sign that said “rattlesnake area.”  Far as we can tell, the entire state is a rattlesnake area but, whatever. 

December 22, 2020.  After a harrowing trip into the Costco in Tucson we decided to visit Tucson Mountain Park. We first drove over Gates Pass, a winding road with spectacular views at the top. 

On our way we passed something called “Old Tombstone Studios” on the map.  We weren’t sure what it was; an art gallery?  Turns out it was a movie set. Probably all the old westerns were filmed here. It was closed but I took a picture from the road. 

On the way back we stopped at a picnic area, ate lunch, and hiked a trail through the cactus.