I had a couple of ideas for my next spot to boondock. My plan was to travel down the Colorado River south of Blythe and see if I could find a spot to dip my kayak in the water for a second time this winter. If that didn’t work out, I’d travel to Joshua Tree National Park to meet up with friends. If I couldn’t have water, I could at least have some trees to look at I figured. Read on to see my difficult choice of spots I ended up having to pick from!
I was on my own again, exploring the north east end of Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. I had explored a bit of the west side previously, but even there I only scratched the surface. Kofa is big. I started out camped on the edge of the park, with the plan being to take the motorcycle into the park and see if there was a better spot I could drive to with the RV. Read on to see what I found!
Contrails decorate the sunrise sky
I’m not strictly chronological in my tales of the desert. There is an advantage to being able to tell the tale of a month past, being able to group common themes together like my tourism bits in my last post.
This time I was meeting with some new friends who had started the nomad life about the same time as me. We both have had our trials and tribulations with snow.
Bouse Museum as you drive up to it from Highway 72.
While staying so close to Bouse, I decided to take the opportunity to explore the village a bit. I must play tourist at least once while I’m down in the desert! There is a long history of mining and some interesting WWII history in the Bouse area. I also took advantage of the motorcycle to meet up with some friends at a bar in the middle of nowhere. History, with food and drink to wash it all down!
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Remains of processing near Little Butte mine
It was time to resupply. Rather than hit Quartzsite with its limited grocery options, I went up to Parker. Parker isn’t big city level of selection but it’s a hell of a lot better than Quartzsite. My plan was to make use of the scouting information I picked up with the Grom the last time I was in the Bouse area. I was going to camp at what looked like an awesome spot from my little five minute visit with the motorcycle. Read on to see if the spot lived up to my expectations! Continue reading
I found cacti in white rocks
I made my way north from Yuma knowing I probably would not be back this far south again until next winter. I was headed up to Quartzsite to meet Carolyn for her Arizona meet and greet. After that, I had no plans other than boondock somewhere in the area. I have to admit, I’ve been lazier than expected about seeking out new places. When there is no time pressure to see stuff before you have to go back to work, I find I just linger longer wherever I happen to be. But not having a direction to go now left me rudderless. Read on to see where I ended up!
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Larry and I shadow selfie. Who is who?
My visit to Yuma ended up being a two week stay. As this was my “destination” for my travels south in the USA this time, I felt I should make the most of it. I walked around the Fortuna suburbs, did a little hike on the edge of town, had some expected and unexpected RV repairs, plus I treated Larry and Diane to some of nights out for dinner. Read on for all the details.
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At the desert gardens
I was spending a bit of time mooch docking at Larry’s place, in a suburb of Yuma called Fortuna Foothills. While I have been in the Yuma area previously, my experience consisted mostly of stocking up at the local Walmart and driving through Yuma on Interstate 8. This time, I was staying for a while, to deal with some little RV fixes, visit with Larry, and see the sites around Yuma. Continue reading
Palm jetty on Mittry Lake, at the main boat launch
I had done some initial research on free camping in the Yuma area. While there is desert camping around, and some cheap long term camping that includes use of water and a dump station, I was after some free water spots. I had previously visited Fortuna Lake. This time, I was headed for Mittry Lake, to see if I could find a camping spot near enough to the water to dip the folding kayak in. I was willing to crowd in with other people to get my time on the water – but would there be a spot available at this popular lake? Continue reading
An RV could fit down this hole.
My holiday season camping spot near Bouse turned out to have lots of backroads leading lots of mines and other surprises. There is a long mining history here. You just have to look at a topo map to see how much mining activity has occurred in the area. While I wished I could have been a little closer to the hills, there still were some things within walking distance. I had plenty of destinations to pick from with the motorcycle. Read on to see what I saw!
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