Think, Care, Believe

Sunday, January 29, 2012

A Drive Down Main Street in Quartzsite, AZ

This is a view of Quartzsite coming in from the west (California) on the I-10. Usually there is a halo of dust in the month of January.

In the open land on the outskirts of town, BLM land, there is dry camping. That means no hookups. No electric, no water, no sewer. Some dry campers have their rigs fitted with solar panels or use generators. Water and sewer dumping trucks come out and service them for a fee. It's quite a popular thing here. More information can be found on the BLM website here.

Now we're going to visit Main Street which runs parallel to the I-10 on the northern side. On the left (not shown) is T-Rocks, an open all year rock shop, and ahead is the Main Event, the first selling venue in Quartzsite. It's popularity has decreased somewhat in the last years and has shrunk a bit.

As we turn right on Main Street we see Quartzsite's newest restaurant on the right.

This camel is in front of Gem World. Camels have a historical significance here in the desert southwest. The US Army ran a project to try out camels for carrying supplies in the desert southwest. While they proved suitable for the work and the terrain, their dispositions made them difficult to handle and the horses were afraid of them, and the project was abandoned. The lead camel driver was named Hi Jolly and lived out his days and is buried in Quartzsite. The camels were bought by a man who took them to British Columbia for use for the gold rush. Some camels escaped and sightings of feral camels existed into the 1930s.

Continuing down Main Street heading east, we see Hardie's Beads, a lapidary supply store that is open from October through May.

More shops and stores with everything under the sun.

Southwest style gift shops.

The Q-Town Cafe is the second newest restaurant in Quartzsite and it is very good too.

More flea market style venues.

The Big Market, one of the three grocery stores in Quartzsite.

You have to be careful driving Main Street. You never know what type of driving you are going to encounter, so it's best to drive with caution.

One of the several RV parks along Main Street. Information of Quartzsite's RV Parks can be found here.

This is Tysons Wash. It runs north-south through the center of Quartzsite. When it rains hard, the water has to run somewhere and this dry river bed comes alive with running water. When it is dry, like now, it is used as an off-road trail.

Yummy things here.

Silly Al's is probably the best pizza place in town.

The road to the QIA where several community events and the Pow Wow are held.

La Mesa RV dealership is one of several RV sales venues on the east side of town on Main Street.

You can find fun little spots like this all around town.

The eclectic charm of Quartzsite.

Not to miss is the bookstore, home of The Naked Bookseller, Paul Winer, just before leaving town.

Hope you enjoyed our little drive through town.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Quartzsite's Tyson Wells

It's the last week of January. Many of the vendors pulled out after the Pow Wow and headed for the Tucson shows. Many still stayed. More will leave the first of February, and so on as they trickle out and the rock related business closes out by May with only T-Rocks and Hardies Beads remaining open.

Well, I've shown you two of the Quartzsite venues, Desert Gardens and the QIA Pow Wow. Now it is time to show a little of Tyson Wells, which is on the southern side of I-10, next to Desert Gardens. Traffic can get pretty tricky through here in the month of January, so, in these pictures I'll try to show many of the modes of transportation you will see in Quartzsite.

This is called the big tent. There are a couple of large buildings and a couple more large tents here.

Inside one of the tents.

Lots of these too

Lots of these all over

Walking

Bike

Dune buggies.

Lots of golf carts.

Scooter.

I see a green bug.

A three room log house made from a giant redwood.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Future Project Quartzsite Acquisitions

Here are some of my latest Quartzsite acquisitions. All of these are planned for future projects that I have in mind for the year ahead. Look for them in my ETSY Shop in the future.

Archaen Butterstone is a stromatolite, which is fossilized algae in rock. This one is from Africa and was a gift from my friend, Barb. She said she saw some earrings made with it, and said they looked awesome, so I'm gonna try it out.